Daily Archives: March 28, 2013

Push for aid for fishery intensifies as budget process begins

WASHINGTON — Less than three months after an effort to provide a pool of aid to distressed fisheries across the nation died at the end of the last Congress, efforts to secure disaster relief funding for New England fishermen are heating up on Capitol Hill. continue reading

Feds: Sperm whales near Miss. River are different!

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — About 1,300 sperm whales in the northern Gulf of Mexico may  be different enough from others in their endangered species to be considered for  specific protections, the federal government said Thursday. continue reading

Fishing quotas cut for yellow perch, pickerel

Commercial fishermen on Lake Erie have had their quota for this year reduced. The Lake Erie Committee announced the total allowable catch for 2013 on Thursday. continue reading

CLF and CLF Ventures: or we get rich by litigating the hostile takeover and trading away of public resources for corporate exploitation while claiming to save the planet. Dick Grachek

The Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) and their “strategy-consulting arm” CLF Ventures apparently have become fisheries Policy Makers, Litigators, Fishing Quota Fund Administrators, and the authors of a “suite” of fishery conservation goals and the “metrics of success” of this suite of goals.

CLF and CLF Ventures engineered this catch share privatization scam right from the beginning—with the help of some Cape Cod “fishermen”.  The Cape Cod Trust program was set up as a “success story”, a prototype for the implementation of the Amendment 16 catch shares program, the market-based atrocity that we have today.  CLF Ventures (most deservedly) collects fees along the line “…as the strategy-consulting arm of the Conservation Law Foundation.”

It’s the “doing good while doing well” credo of “Free-Market Environmentalism, the Enviro- Capitalists” or translated: We get rich by stealing and trading public resources while claiming to save the planet. continue reading!

New lobster processor in Gouldsboro to hire 160, start this summer

GOULDSBORO, Maine — Once again, there are signs that the former Stinson Seafood sardine cannery in the village of Prospect Harbor is coming back to life. Two years ago, it was Live Lobster that was trying to reincarnate the sprawling 100,000-square-foot cannery as a lobster processing plant. This year, it is Maine Fair Trade Lobster, a joint venture between Garbo Lobster and East Coast Seafood. continue reading

Money for aquaculture, but not wild salmon, critics note – MPs say federal budget fails to respond to Cohen report on B.C. salmon decline

Money in this year’s federal budget for aquaculture has critics wondering when Ottawa plans to speak up for wild salmon on the west coast. continue reading

Opportunit​y to Comment on Proposed Management Measures for Groundfish Fishery for 2013: DEADLINE FOR COMMENTS IS APRIL 15, 2013

Today, NOAA Fisheries is officially announcing several new management measures for groundfish.
These measures include, among other things, recommendations by the New England Fishery Management Council and a joint US/Canada management body, for catch limits for fishing years 2013-2015 for Northeast groundfish stocks.
 As previously conveyed, substantial reductions are proposed for both Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank cod and six other stocks. Catch limit increases are being proposed for several other stocks including healthy redfish and pollock.  We are also proposing to allow some fishing on Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic winter flounder in 2013, but at levels that will continue to prevent overfishing.  According to Council analysis, access to winter flounder should generate an estimated $5.4 million in additional ex-vessel revenue for the fishery.
 To learn more about proposed measures and how to provide public comments on these proposed measures click here. The deadline for submitting public comments is April 15, 2013.

Controversial ocean fertilization project defended by B.C. village

Dumping of iron-rich soil off Haida Gwaii still being investigated by Environment Canada – The head of a small First Nations community in British Columbia plans to go ahead with a second controversial iron fertilization project in the North Pacific, despite an international outcry and ongoing investigation by Environment Canada. continue reading

Maine Legislature’s Marine Resources Committee tables bill to reorganize lobster council

Lawmakers want more information about who in the industry will bear the brunt of funding for the Maine Lobster Promotion Council. The cost is to be divvied up among various interest groups — from lobstermen who harvest the catch to those who sell, transport or process it. continue reading

What effect did the ABC campaign have on fishery matters? More on Seals. The Fisheries Broadcast with John Furlong

Remember the ABC campaign that Danny Williams launched when he was premier. What role did that play in scuttling a chance for Newfoundland to have a say in its own fisheries matters. The discussion includes the role of the environmental “movement” audio here

Fishermen glad anti-seal hunt group staying off ice

Too many seals?

In 1991, researchers counted six seal pups on Muskeget Island just northwest of Nantucket. In 2007 they counted 2,096. That, in a nutshell, describes the trigger for this past Saturday’s Outer Cape Seal Symposium. More than 200 scientists, fishermen, and other people involved in coastal activities gathered at the Chatham High School auditorium to learn, share, and work on a process for dealing with what can, at times, seems like a fish-eating flippered invasion. continue reading

Bay Weld celebrates 100th boat

Homer Tribune – Bay Welding Services, Inc. passed a landmark this month in the completion of its 100th steel-fabricated boat. This boat is the biggest yet, and the fifth one for the Alaska State Troopers. “One of the things we’ve done is take commercial fishing concepts – what they look for – and integrate that into recreational and patrol boats,” said Eric Engebretsen, general manager of Bay Weld. continue reading

VIDEO: Crews raise, move sunken fishing boat – F/V Dawn Till Dusk see’s daylight!

The fishing boat Dawn Till Dusk, that sank February 4 at its mooring at the Annapolis Royal Causeway, was sucessfully raised off the bottom and towed to the wharf Wednesday morning and afternoon. Photo gallery, and video. continue reading

Port Sulphur man accused of trying to kill fisheries agent

PORT SULPHUR, La. – A 50-year-old Port Sulphur man has been booked with attempted murder after allegedly attacking a fisheries agent who tried to make him stop harvesting oysters in a polluted area, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries said Wednesday. continue reading