Category Archives: fishermen

Fishermen monitor pregnant fish to aid conservation

Posted on by

Port Orford fishermen are working with scientists to find out whether releasing pregnant rockfish can help conserve the resource – and their way of life.

Research assistant with rockfish

Research assistant with rockfish

Fishermen are working with the Port Orford Ocean Resource Team (POORT) and researcher Selina Heppell, of Oregon State University’s Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, on a project to determine whether releasing “big old fat fecund females” (BOFFFs) can contribute to the species’ reproduction and survival, ultimately sustaining the local fishery.

Their efforts, supported by a grant from Oregon Sea Grant, are focused on the live fishery – a market that began in California and expanded into Oregon in the mid-1990s.

Read more: [.pdf] [HTML]

Celebrate fisheries at HMSC

Posted on by

oregon-fisheries-dayThe HMSC Visitor Center and the Oregon Coast Aquarium join forces on Aug. 16 to celebrate Oregon Fishery Day, a chance for visitors to learn more about Oregon’s tuna, salmon and sablefish industries.

See fishing gear, talk to fishermen, try on a survival suit and taste some samples!

The Visitor Center is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and admission is free (although your donations to support our programs are appreciated); admission to the Oregon Coast Aquarium is at the usual ticket prices.

Download a .pdf flyer about the event here.

Gear Retrieval Project Creates Jobs

Posted on by

marine-debris-projectOregon Sea Grant’s early involvement with a pilot project to retrieve lost crab pots helped lay the groundwork for a $699,000 NOAA grant that will hire commercial fishermen to clean up 180 metric tons of abandoned gear off the Oregon coast.

The 2009 Gear Retrieval Project, announced last week by NOAA chief Jane Lubchenco during a visit to Newport, will employ fishermen during the off-season. Working with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, the fishermen will locate and remove discarded crab pots, fishing nets and other marine debris that can  trap and kill marine mammals and fish and endanger fishing activities.

In 2006, Sea Grant collaborated with commerical fishing groups and the Oregon Crab Commission to test whether local fishermen could effectively locate and retrieve lost crab pots. In their first two test runs, fishermen found and hauled in nearly 60 crab pots and more than 600 feet of abandoned trawl cable.

The new gear retrieval project is among $7 million in coastal habitat restoration projects NOAA is funding in Oregon under the  American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Read more about NOAA’s stimulus act projects here.

Crabbers collaborate with OSU researchers to monitor ocean temperature, hypoxia

Posted on by

launching a crabpot with a sensor attachedCORVALLIS, Ore. – In a unique, symbiotic relationship, Oregon crabbers are working with Oregon State University researchers funded by Oregon Sea Grant to use their crab pots as underwater monitoring stations where data collectors attached to the pots gather vital oceanographic information.

This information might help crabbers more effectively locate their catch while helping scientists provide answers to challenging research questions, such as why and when hypoxia zones form in coastal waters.

(Read more …)