Saving Seafood

Notifications sent following fishing license data breach

September 6, 2016 — BOISE, Idaho — ” Notices that personal information might have been compromised will be sent to hunting and fishing license holders in Idaho and Oregon following the breach of a vendor’s computer system. They likely will be sent in Washington state, too.

Officials in Idaho and Oregon said Dallas-based Active Network will mail the notices to people in their states following the computer hack last week that shut down online license sales.

Washington officials said they’re in contact with the company and expect similar letters to be sent in their state, but that hadn’t been finalized Friday. Officials say the number of records exposed could be in the millions.

Online license sales have been halted in all three states until the extent of the hack is fully understood.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the New Bedford Standard-Times

CALIFORNIA: No claws for fishermen this Christmas

December 23, 2015 — Most days at around 7 in the morning you can find local fishermen at Ketch Joanne’s Restaurant and Harbor Bar. They come to catch up over coffee.

The turnout varies from day to day along with the topics: Politics, local events and personal stories are all fair game. There is one conversation the group would prefer to leave alone and it involves a particular crustacean struck with a naturally occurring neurotoxin that is keeping it off Christmas dinner plates.

“We’ve got a group of guys being optimistic, thinking it’s going to open soon,” said longtime salmon and crab fisherman Jim Anderson, in reference to the Dungeness crab season. And then there are others, Anderson explained, who are more involved and believe this could be a much lengthier process.

“People are kind of edgy,” Anderson said. “Conversations have gotten away from crab.”

On a recent morning, a group of fishermen crowded around the table nearest to the restaurant’s front door. Sometimes they can fit 11 or 12 guys into the little booth, they say. Often, another group of the younger fishermen will set up at another table.

Read the full story at Half Moon Bay Review