Kodiak’s “Big-5″ Fish Processors file Rockfish catch share lawsuit #2
”The other rockfish lawsuit” — by Andrew Jensen, Alaska Journal of Commerce
“Trident, Ocean Beauty, Westward Seafoods, North Pacific Seafoods and
International Seafoods of Alaska sue NMFS over rockfish program. ”
Read more: http://www.alaskajournal.com/Alaska-Journal-of-Commerce/Fisheries/#ixzz1lb7gNya0
See other recent articles at: http://www.alaskajournal.com/Alaska-Journal-of-Commerce/Fisheries/
THE VERY AUDACITY THAT THESE PROCESSORS HAVE A RIGHT TO SHARE IN THE RENTS OF HARVESTERS WHO CATCH FISH AND ALREADY SUFFER MARKET POWERS THAT DEPRESS FISH TICKET PRICES! DO HARVESTERS THEREFORE HAVE RIGHTS TO SHARE IN THE ECONOMIC INTERMEDIARIES’ VALUE-ADDED PROCESSING ALL THE WAY FROM DOCKSIDE TO THE RETAIL READY STAGE?!? If they want a split of the fishermen’s “20% or less” then we want a share of their “80% or more” globally. States and nations must also concern themselves with picking up the social costs of this increasing price-fixing around the world. Alaska sits on its duff and plays dumb to it all, and to Abusive Transfer Pricing and the FISHRON it indicates. At least the fishermen pay USA taxes!
While we ready an update, read this PDF to learn about the corruption inherent in the RPP (Rockfish Pilot Program) Cooperative going back over a decade, which might be insight into how the legal case will see potential intervention or amicus filings by smaller processor(s): GlobalSfds_KodiakCityWS_Nov7-2006
Gulf of Alaska Trawl Bycatch Destruction of Halibut & Crab Fisheries
Groundswell has posted up on YouTube a video “GOA Trawl Bycatch” for friends and associates in the central Gulf of Alaska, re Kodiak Island grounds. Kodiak was once ‘The King Crab Capitol of the World’ and now we barely have any crab fishing – due in large part to bottom trawling, no doubt. It’s all about massive waste and destruction that harms the ocean resources, and can be found at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YI7D7BpLsKM Please watch it – using pause button when needed to read each slide…
Cohen Commission Evidence Available – Net Cage Salmon
Farmed & Dangerous posts net-cage salmon aquaculture information re British Columbia:
Sept. 30, 2011 – Cohen Inquiry: Outcome of the disease & aquaculture hearings – http://www.farmedanddangerous.org/newsletter/2011/09/3506/#cohen
“The disease and aquaculture hearings at the Cohen Inquiry have come to a close. While it wasn’t expected that a “smoking gun” would emerge during the hearings with headlines splashed all over the news, the victories for those working to protect BC’s wild salmon from the impacts of net-cage salmon farming were in the quality of information submitted as evidence that is now in the public domain, and available on the Cohen Commission website. “ Read more
ScoringAg News: IG Office cites USDA-AMS re COOL Law failures
United States Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Marketing Service pressured to enforce COOL Law now
COOL Law Compliance
According to a September 12, 2011 News Release by ScoringAg: The Office of Inspector General has cited USDA-AMS for not enforcing the COOL Law. All Fish/Shellfish, wild and farm raised including handlers up to retail will be accountable for COOL labeling and traceback recordkeeping for one year.
WE’RE HAVING TROUBLE WITH THE LINKS PROVIDED, SO USE THE www[dot]ScoringAg[dot]com WEBSITE TO LEARN MORE…
Catch Shares – Nils Stolpe on Conspiracy, Cooperation, or Coincidence
Call it conspiracy, cooperation or coincidence, but no matter what you call it, the public record isn’t going to change
Nils E. Stolpe/Fish Net USA — May 08, 2011
The following link will carry you to a great article about the framework of Catch Shares promotion — which is a long-term, coordinated effort by a select few to convert Public Commonweal into Privatized Property.
http://www.fishnet-usa.com/Black%20helicopters%20in%20Boston.pdf
The following page contains some federal guideline discussion, which may illuminate the legal underpinnings that favor Stolpe’s perceptions…
And if you have any doubts that a Conspiracy (and the related Damage Control) happened in Alaska’s Crab Rationalization (privatization) regime, just read the Addendum at http://groundswellalaska.com/2010/03/15/catch-share-oversight-hearing-groundswell-taufens-comment-31610/#more-347
Senator Lisa Murkowski – one way of Stealing an Election is revealed
Thank you very much, Senator...
"I didn't promise anything in return" (wink, nod...)
January 14, 2011 — In an earlier article on this website, Groundswell revealed its reasons why Alaskan voters should not vote for Lisa Murkowski as U.S. Senator. We noted her desire to do special legislation to grant the for-profit subsidiaries of Community Development Quota non-profits an exemption from federal income taxes. Since the certification of Murkowski to the Senate, again, she has — along with Alaska’s Democrat in the U.S. Senate, Mark Begich and two Washington State Democratic U.S. Senators (Maria Cantwell and Patti Murray), forwarded a Ted Stevens like end-run legislation on fisheries law, S.1609, to establish a Cooperative for Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands Cod Longliner Catcher Processors. Talk about a payback system working quick! With a little sleight of hand — no thanks to Maria Cantwell for sponsoring S.1609 — the direct kickback nature got washed a little. But anyone on the ground in Alaska prior to the general election is fully aware of the role played by the Native organizations and Seattle and Tokyo-owned fish companies in providing Murkowski with the money to wage an all out write-in campaign.
“Alaskans Standing Together” — Native organizations gave $895,000 to Murkowski campaign.
In our earlier article, we linked you to the website for the campaign contributions received by Murkowski. Media across the nation noted the role of the Supreme Court’s decision to allow corporate money to be spent lavishly and largely unrestricted for such campaigns, and Murkowski’s run as a write-in candidate was noted as one of the first major outcomes of that decision. We’d like to update readers in a simple way, today. Just take a look at the following table of which “contributors” gave to Alaskans Standing Together, and then ask yourself if it is really fair to steal an election by funneling monies from groups who are large recipients of government no-bid contracts and other special deals, where that very Senator has a lot of pull in Congress.
Be a Blood Donor – Give Life for the Holidays and New Year
Nov. 27, 2010 - Groundswell would like to remind readers that one of the most rewarding things you can do is to give blood. It’s a gift that can save a life, at any time of year. On Tuesday, November 9th I was medevac’d out of Kodiak and received a life-saving 5 units of concentrated red blood cells and 5 units of plasma. Somewhere out there are the donors who had the foresight and grace to give selflessly of themselves to help others who would never be known to them. The dictionaries do not contain words sufficient enough to acknowledge them - ’Thank You!’ will have to do. Wherever the donors are, may the holidays be all the more joyous for these givers.
So fishermen, while the economic treasonists in fisheries are busy bleeding you dry economically and attempting to isolate you from living well, please remember that they can’t take away your dignity and care for fellow humankind. The real blood you willingly give can save the life of a child or other loved one, and may help remind you that no head is to be held higher than your own or anyone else’s. Together, you can defeat the elitists, by acting in positive ways for the sake of all others — especially those in need.
Groundswell asks you to please, with dignity, donate a pint of life-saving blood for the holidays.
I’d also like to personally thank all the staff and doctors at Providence Kodiak and Anchorage, and especially the crew of the King Air B200 from LifeFlight Alaska — Mitch and Mike, in particular — and the ambulance crews. I promised them we’d help put out the call for donors, so we hope you take a spare moment to visit the blood bank soon. Thank you!
Genetically Engineered Fish Subject of FDA Hearings
- Picture by vectomega.com
“FDA Considers Approval of GE Salmon–the First GE Food Animal –Yet Fails to Inform the Public of Environmental and Economic Risks.”
Please Get Involved! Go to www.ge-fish.org Deadline for letters is this Wednesday at 9 pm Pacific time. Organizations may contact Heather Whitehead, True Food Network Director, THE CENTER FOR FOOD SAFETY – to let the Center know which letter(s) to sign your organization(s) on to.
“On August 25, 2010, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials announced their process for making a decision on an application relating to the first genetically engineered (GE) animal intended for human consumption, the AquAdvantage Salmon produced by AquaBounty Technologies (Docket No. FDA-2010-N-0001). … Genetically engineered fish pose serious risks to wild populations of fish and our marine environment. Each year millions of farmed salmon escape from open-water net pens, outcompeting wild populations for resources and straining ecosystems.”
Groundswell Letter to Center for Food Safety: GE-Salmon-CFS-Sept2010
Justice Department Prosecutors Sweep Desktop Clean of Don Young
August 4, 2010 – Erika Bolstad and Richard Mauer of the Anchorage Daily News report that Don Young’s office has announced that they have been told no charges will be filed against Alaska’s lone Congressman, Don Young. Maybe they are just sweeping off their desktops to get to other cases, as for now Young’s office is being discreet in what they say before attorneys give them their scripts. Maybe there are clues in that and the words about Young “cooperated” with authorities.
Please visit ADN for the developing story… and look at Alaska Dispatch where Jill Burke gives more detailed coverage … [1730 hrs AST] Opponents in the upcoming House race say the issue of Young and corruption is not over. Let’s elect someone who will go to DC to clean up corruption and stiffen the laws so creeps like Young never serve again!
Steller Sea Lion Biological Opinion publicly released today on NMFS-Alaska site
Credit: NOAA
The Steller Sea Lion Biological Opinion is now posted on the NMFS’ Alaska Regional Office website at:
http://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/protectedresources/stellers/esa/biop/draft/0810.htm
Comments are being accepted through August 27, 2010. Comments may be emailed directly to NMFS at fmpbiop@noaa.gov.
Groundswell recalls 1977, at the New England Fish Company, when fishery development experts recommended no shoreside plants for groundfish surimi operations should be built in Alaska, in large part due to the predictable problems their captive near-shore trawl fleets would cause in harming marine mammals like the SSL.