Daily Archives: January 6, 2013

Out to Catch the Last Fish – Dick Grachek

January 6, 2013   National, New England

Anne KathrynIt’s really getting old hearing this overfishing nonsense all the time.  To be a fisherman these days is to be able to understand the GEICO Caveman’s dilemma, that is, being bombarded, at every turn, with insults from NOAA’s incompetent stock assessments, mindless regulations and their irresponsible administering, but especially the anti-fishing Swift-Boating type media campaigns of lies proffered by the “Environmental” Non- Government Organizations.  Misinformation gems such as, “fishermen are out to catch the very last fish in the ocean”, and “…sophisticated electronic fish finding gear enables stock decimating catches”, or one of my favorites, “…dragging nets the size of a Boeing 747 that clear cut the ocean bottom”; these ridiculous perspectives then saturate the media, hoodwink the public, turn up in “scientific” papers, and too often, make it into fishery regulations. Everyday people (not working for the government or taking a check from the Environmental Non-Government Organizations) who believe this garbage are either not thinking, or must believe that we, like members of the energy industry and the financial industry, are interested in devouring our own future for short term profit bliss. >click to read<

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67 Years: Brooks Trap Mill – What began as a sawmill is now a major trap producer for New England and Canada

January 6, 2013   New England

 

The current owners, Karl’s children,
are (from left) Stephen Brooks, Julie Brooks Russo, and Mark Brooks.

The current owners, Karl’s children, are (from left) Stephen Brooks, Julie Brooks Russo, and Mark Brooks.Michael Ojala, a Finnish immigrant, settled in the Thomaston area before World War II with an eye on becoming a lawyer. Back then, no schooling was required; you only needed to apprentice under a lawyer and pass the bar exam. But the lawyer Ojala was apprenticing under, a Mr. Miles, advised that he change his name; it was difficult to pronounce (OY-ah-la) and Finns weren’t too favorably looked upon (this was before the Winter War between the Soviet Union and Finland in 1939, after which Finns’ reputation in the U.S. did a complete one-eighty). Since “Ojala” meant “beck,” a swiftly running brook, Michael chose the last name “Brooks.” Read more

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Fishermen’s Energy on Extension of Investment Tax Credit

January 6, 2013   Mid Atlantic, Offshore Wind/Industrialization

wogangsterumdieeckeknallen-hauptfotoRead

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Conservationists team up with ranchers, loggers, turncoat fishermen

January 6, 2013   ENGO, National

The Nature Conservancy is also partnering with the timber industry in California and Alaska to restore salmon by felling trees to create stream habitat.  The group also has partnered with the fishing industry. It bought out fishing permits in California and in  Maine to protect millions of acres of ocean habitat, then leased the permits back to fishermen who agreed to fish sustainably. Read More. Get mad!

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Provincetown fishermen sustain time-honored existence – with photo gallery

January 6, 2013   National
pt

There’s a chill in the air, the boat rocks and the rain comes and goes, but the  men would rather be wet than working on land. Carreiro has been fishing since he  was nine years old. Back then, his mother, Cindy Doherty, says, he would “borrow” skiffs for fishing excursions without permission. His father, David “Bootsie” Carreiro, became a fisherman after seeing a friend’s paycheck back  when Carreiro was a child. He worked the seas for 30 years before his death in  2008. Joel, too, became “Bootsie” long ago because he’s the “spittin’ image” of  his father. Read More

Photo Ann Wood

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Fishing Law Privatizes Sea off Chilean Coast

January 6, 2013   Uncategorized
 A new Chilean fishing law gives four large-scale private fisheries control of 92 percent of Chile’s marine resources—much to the consternation of small-scale, artisanal fisherman along the country’s expansive coastline. Read More
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Fishermen hoping for help with Sandy storm losses – “We went three weeks before we were able to pack a fish,”

January 6, 2013   Mid Atlantic

MIDDLETOWN, N.J. (AP) – While Superstorm Sandy did highly visible damage to homes, boardwalks and roads, it also walloped the Northeastern fishing industry, whose workers are hoping for a small piece of any future disaster assistance
that Congress might approve. Read More

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Slow New England fishing raises questions on cuts

January 6, 2013   New England

But Tom Dempsey of the Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen’s Association, a council member, questioned whether the cuts would truly be catastrophic, since fishermen aren’t catching anywhere near their full limits, anyway. The real problem, he said, is that the fish being cut from the catch exist only on paper. “There’s a disaster in New England groundfish, but it’s because we can’t catch the quotas we have,” Dempsey said. “And in most cases, that’s because those fish just aren’t there.” Read More

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Kulluk recovery outlined – From the Deckboss

January 6, 2013   North Pacific

The Aiviq — can she do it? USCG photo
Deckboss just listened in on a unified command press conference on the Kulluk situation.

Here are the key points: Read More

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Rhode Island Fishermen’s Alliance Weekly Update JANUARY 6, 2013

January 6, 2013   New England

“Logo-RIFA 4  The Rhode Island Fishermen’s Alliance is dedicated to its mission of continuing to help create sustainable fisheries without putting licensed fishermen out of business.” Weekly Update

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Guest View: Patrick should make Frank a senator

January 6, 2013   New England

He opposed onerous regulations such as the 10-year overfishing rebuilding schedule in the Magnuson-Stevens Act. He introduced the International Fisheries Agreement Clarification Act with Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine. The bill, which passed with strong support from Sen. Kerry, created a level playing field, allowing American negotiators on internationally managed stocks to be exempt from U.S. domestic fishing regulations as long as there is still progress toward stock rebuilding. Working closely with Republican Rep. Walter Jones of North Carolina, he organized a bipartisan coalition of coastal congressmen who work together regularly on issues of concern to fishermen. And when it became clear, as a result of an inspector general’s report, that our East Coast fishermen were having their rights trampled by NOAA, he arranged a face-to-face meeting between aggrieved fishermen and the secretary of commerce that resulted in a Cabinet-level apology and a return of fine money. Read more

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