Daily Archives: December 29, 2012
Louisiana – Commercial Fishing Season for Non-Sandbar Large Coastal Sharks Opening January 1
Commercial fishing for Non-Sandbar Large Coastal Sharks will open in Louisiana waters at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, January 1. 
The National Marine Fisheries Service will also open the federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico at this time. Read More
ENDANGERED STATUS SOUGHT FOR WHITE SHARK – California
A group of state legislators is urging the California Fish and Game Commission to declare the white shark endangered, warning that the marine predators are in a “perilous situation.”
On Feb. 6, the commission will consider whether to make white sharks a candidate for protection. Within a year of that meeting, it would decide whether to list the sharks as a state endangered species.
Assembly members Paul Fong, D-Cupertino; Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco; Bob Blumenfield, D-San Fernando Valley; Mark Stone, D-Scotts Valley; Bob Wieckowski, D-Fremont; and Das Williams, D-Santa Barbara; and state Sen. Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills, last week submitted a letter to the commission in support of the listing.
In August, three environmental groups — Oceana, Center for Biological Diversity and Shark Stewards — petitioned….. Read More
“I prefer my Sea Otter in a nice stew, thank you!” In Our View – Santa Maria Times- Ensuring life for all creatures
Good news for the otter, however, is not such good news for fishermen, especial sea urchin divers, who insist that the otters decimate the shellfish population. They’re right about that dynamic, but unfortunately for them, otters were fis
hing these waters eons before human divers came around.
The otter population is far from what it once was. By the time federal agencies began their attempt to relocate otters in an effort to save the species, the count had dropped from an estimated high of more than 16,000 in the late 18th century to less than 3,000. The dramatic depopulation was mostly a result of hunting during the early 19th century, in search of the otters’ luxurious fur.
This was a good year for otters, to be sure, but it looks like some fishermen will have to find a new way to earn a living.
And 2012 has also been a thumbs-up month for California’s marine reserve network, as the final piece of the underwater puzzle fell into place earlier this month in waters off the northern coast. Read More
Yurok Tribe Dispute with State over Coastal Access Entangled in Alleged Embezzlement – “fake marine protected areas” (wow)
Dan Bacher, an environmental writer, calls the South Coast region “fake marine protected areas” that shield the ocean from fishing but fail to protect it from “oil spills and drilling, pollution, military testing, corporate aquaculture, wind and wave energy projects.”
The MLPA blue-ribbon task force that developed the marine plans was originally chaired by Susan Golding, ex-two-term San Diego mayor and former CEO of the Golding Group. She has sat on the boards of 1st Pacific Bank, Avinir Pharmaceuticals and Titan Industries. Others on the panel include Bill Anderson, president and CEO at the nation’s largest owner and operator of waterfront marinas, and Catherine Reheis-Boyd, president of the Western States Petroleum Association, who has repeatedly called for weaker environmental regulations and new oil drilling off the California coast.
The MLPA also takes its share of flack from the sport fishermen and the political right. California Fish and Game Commissioner Daniel Richards, when he was commission president, said, “These radical, left-wing environmentalists want to put up massive reserves to keep people from fishing. It’s all being funded, this takeover of California’s marine resources, by the Packard Foundation, backed by a billionaire with nefarious intentions. They are anti-fishing, anti-hunting, anti-people.”
Early in 2012, the Yurok Tribe discovered it had another reason to be suspicious of MLPA motives. Arrest warrants were issued for three men, including the co-chair of the MLPA Task Force Science Advisory Team, who were suspected of conspiring to embezzle $870,000 from the tribe. Read More
Dispute rages on over low energy seismic testing – former vice president of the Port San Luis Commercial Fishermen’s Association – lack of an environmental impact report
The former vice president of the Port San Luis Commercial Fishermen’s Association is resigning over PG&E’S fault line surveys near Diablo Canyon. He claims some of those tests were carried out without the proper permits and said he’s owed compensation for lost catches during the two year low energy testing From 2010 to 2012, low energy testing was completed in the waters off Port San Luis and Morro Bay. The information was used to measure the seismicity surrounding Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant. According to the now former vice president Brian Stacey, the testing should have required an environmental impact report but was approved without one. Read More
BOEM Five Year Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil And Gas Leasing Program Under Attack
Thank You, Dick G
The Center for Sustainable Economy, a non-profit public interest consulting firm, filed a lawsuit today against the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) in an attempt to halt that agency’s first approved five-year Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Program since the BP oil spill. The Program, which establishes a schedule for 2012-2017 to be used as a basis for considering where and when oil and gas leasing might be appropriate in both the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska, received final approval from U.S. Department of the Interior on August 27, 2012. Read More
Fish aid dollars in limbo – Senate clears package, but House may let it expire
The U.S. Senate Friday easily beat back an effort to drop from the $60.4 billion Superstorm Sandy relief bill a package of $150 million in fisheries disaster aid, including funding for Massachusetts, the other four coastal New England
states and New York whose fishermen ply the Atlantic for groundfish and face a cataclysm of cuts in catch limits next year.
”This is a big win for our fishermen, but this has been a fight more than a year in the making and there’s still work to do,” said Kerry in an email. “I’ve made their case to the leadership of the Senate, the Appropriations Committee and to the Administration to get this far, and I’ll continue to work with my Massachusetts colleagues in the House to make sure that this funding is enacted into law.” Read More
Calling All Green Horns – Kodiak Arts Council auctioning week on crab boat – live aboard a Kodiak-based Tanner crab boat!!
hooboy.
KODIAK, Alaska – “Deadliest Catch” shows up on T-shirts, coffee mugs and even fireworks that try to cash in on the success of the Discovery Channel’s most popular Alaska-based TV series.
Now, the Kodiak Arts Council is hoping to turn that popularity to some good as it auctions a weeklong opportunity to live aboard a Kodiak-based Tanner crab boat.
The auction, listed on eBay, promises “the adventure of a lifetime on an Alaskan crab fishing expedition.” Read More. Hell! Put in a bid!
Wicked Rye fisherman adds flavor to bluefin tuna TV show
RYE — Local fisherman Tyler McLaughlin has taken his love for tuna fishing to the television screen.
McLaughlin, a 25-year-old captain from Rye, will be among a group of tuna fishermen featured in season two of the National Geographic Channel’s series “Wicked Tuna.”
In the new season, which is set to premiere at 9 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 13, television crews from the National Geographic Channel follow McLaughlin and his crew — first mates Adam Moser and Alex Whitney — onboard the Pin Wheel as they troll the north Atlantic Ocean looking for bluefin tuna. Read More
