Daily Archives: August 12, 2013

Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak medevacs fisherman from F/V Ruth M near Cordova, Alaska

uscg-logoThe helicopter crew, forward-deployed to Cordova for the summer season, was conducting a routine patrol when Coast Guard Sector Anchorage command center watchstanders received the medevac request from the crew of the Ruth M, and diverted the aircrew to the ship’s location. more@uscgnews

For the first time in almost twenty years,Schooner Adventure Sails Again!

Yesterday, August 10th, was a historic day for Gloucester and the Schooner Adventure. For the first time in almost twenty years, the historic 1926 Essex–built knockabout schooner sailed Gloucester Harbor and the Atlantic Ocean. This was a trial sail, or soft opening as restaurants call it.

Maine Lobstermen Union holds inaugural meeting – Video

“The problem is why we’re not getting our money is no one wants to give it to us from the top board down they’re keeping all the money for themselves and we need to take it back from them we’re the ones who catch the lobster we should be able to control the price,” said Maine Lobstermen Union President Rocky Alley.  (Ya got bigger problems than that Rock!) more@wlbz

U.S. shrimp industry seeks relief from cheaper foreign imports

WASHINGTON — Domestic shrimp producers will find out Tuesday whether they’ll be one step closer to getting relief from the subsidized imports that have taken over about 75 percent of the U.S. market for the shellfish and, the shrimpers say, cost them billions of dollars in lost revenue. more@bdn

Most of the Economic Benefits of the Bristol Bay Sockeye Fishery go to Alaska and Washington

radio-microphoneA report that was released back in May shows that the economic impact of the Bristol Bay sockeye salmon fishery extends across the country with most of the money flowing into Alaska and Washington state. KDLG’s Mike Mason recently spoke with one of the report’s co-authors for this story. listen@kdlg

Ray Hilborn – Environmental cost of conservation victories – Marine Protected Areas (MPA)

To establish any net environmental benefit from large ocean MPAs, we must determine what is actually “saved” and at what cost when the saving causes reduced food production. The environmental costs of alternative food production are increasingly available (5, 6), and the costs of closing large marine areas in Australia, the United States, and Europe can be calculated. Read more here

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker today declared a commercial fishery failure – We know what that mean’s. Nothing!

“We understand the economic significance this historic oyster fishery has for fishermen and related businesses in the panhandle of Florida,” said Secretary Pritzker. more@wctv

Europeans Bank Accounts Finally Give A Big Fail On Green Energy Scam – The Guest Commentary of Ec Newellman

It’s a “green energy train wreck” playing out in socialist governments across Europe who bought into global warming scam….with the main problem being that green energy is neither green, nor cheap for the consumer or provides economic benefits to “those countries which mistakenly dove head first into the shallow end of the solar and wind energy pool.” read more here

First elver case against Passamaquoddy fisherman dismissed on technicality

BDNA member the Passamaquoddy Tribe who was facing a civil charge of fishing for elvers without a license had his case dismissed because of the way he was charged. more@bdn

Announcement of the notice of availability for Amendment 14 to the Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Fishery Management Plan

John K. Bullard, Regional Administrator, NMFS, Northeast Regional Office  Click here to see the Notice – Comments must be received by October 11, 2013 – You may submit comments on this document, identified by NOAA-NMFS-2013-0128, by any of the following methods: Info here

NMFS Announces Sea Turtle Release Gear Workshops for Snapper-Grouper Permitted Vessels in the South Atlantic

Read the Bulletin

Sockeye food, recreational fisheries banned for Skeena River First Nations

863a4ac9dc_64635696_o2TERRACE, B.C. – Sockeye salmon returns have plunged to historic lows in the Skeena River system of northwestern British Columbia, forcing drastic, never-before imposed, fishing closures. Commercial and non-native recreational fisheries were shut down on the river last month but, for the first time ever, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans has closed First Nations food and recreational fisheries on the waterway. [email protected]

James “Whitey” Bulger, guilty of killing Gloucester fisherman John McIntyre, other counts

g000258000000000000e04459e06d2cefb411df38a8020a4ffb464f2ea0Among the 11 the jury found him guilty of was that John McIntyre, a mechanic and fisherman who had been on the Gloucester-based swordfishing vessel Valhalla, when it was used Bulger’s cronies to ship 7 1/2 tons of weapons and ammunition to the Irish Republican Army to another ship off the Irish coast. more@GDT

Officials Puzzled Over Drop in Kemp’s Ridley Turtle Nests along the Texas coast

Federal officials have counted 153 of the turtle nests in Texas, which is the largest U.S. nesting ground for the animals outside Mexico. A similar drop also has been detected in Mexico. Last year, 209 nests were tallied in Texas. “I’m very concerned about it because it is something we weren’t expecting,” Tom Shearer, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department Kemp’s ridley coordinator, told the Houston Chronicle. Scientists had expected the number of nests for the smallest sea turtle species to grow annually by 12 to 17 percent. more@kris

Hatchery King Crab Prepared for Ocean Release

The Kodiak Fisheries Research Center is preparing to say goodbye to thousands of red king crab hatchlings. more@ktuu

Lobsterman, Beverly at odds over mooring – To be blunt, Beverly Solicitor Roy Gelineau sounds like……

BEVERLY — A local lobsterman is fighting his eviction from a Beverly Harbor mooring slip, claiming that city officials are using his history of late fee payments as an excuse to begin clearing working boats like his from the waterfront — a claim the city’s attorney called “utter nonsense.” City Solicitor Roy Gelineau was blunt: Zdanowicz’s late payments are “chronic.” Although Zdanowciz paid his late slip fees in June, the city last month moved ahead with the process of booting him from the harbor, citing his long history of late payments and the legal costs of recouping those fees. And if he doesn’t move the boat, the city solicitor warned in a July 18 letter, the city will have the U.S. Marshals seize it — and send Zdanowicz the bill for that, as well. more@salemnews

Fallout follows after New England plan for protecting herring is shelved after much ado

sct logo(AP) — A plan to protect the important Atlantic herring from what many believe is its biggest threat has been shelved indefinitely after years of work devising it – and even after winning support from the very vessels being targeted. Last month, federal regulators at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration rejected a measure that would have required independent catch observers aboard every trip taken by mid-water trawlers, which can scoop herring out of sea hundreds of thousands of pounds at a time. read more here

Twitter to highlight life at sea – veteran British fisherman David Warwick will highlight an entire day aboard his trawler on Wednesday.

The initiative, organised by the NFFO in a bid to challenge some of the negative perceptions which dog the UK fishing industry is taking place during National Fishing Month to raise awareness of the often dangerous daily tasks fishermen perform to put food on the nation’s plate. more@fishnewseu  Follow https://twitter.com/NFFO_UK

U.S. Senate hearing offers ‘unprecedented opportunity’ – Apalachicola River water woes take center stage

Florida Congressional leaders will be in Apalachicola on Tuesday for a U.S. Senate committee field hearing on the impact of historic-low freshwater flows that have left the Apalachicola River parched and its famed oyster-producing bay devastated. [email protected]

NY Legislator Schneiderman Introduces Bill to Restrict Pesticide Methoprene in Estuaries

The lobster population in the Long Island Sound has decreased dramatically over the last decade, corresponding with the introduction of new pesticides such as Methoprene, into waters along the Long Island Sound.,,”emerging science is showing Methoprene poses a significant risk to commercial fisheries such as lobsters and crabs,” Connecticut previously passed legislation in March, 2013 banning Methoprene. Maine is the only East Coast fishery where Methoprene has been banned for an extended period. press release here

Cape Cod Cares for the Troops – More captains are still needed for the Mark Vecchione Rock Harbor Fishing Trip

More captains are still needed for the Mark Vecchione Rock Harbor Fishing Trip, sponsored by Cape Cod Cares for the Troops. The event honors Army Sgt. Mark Vecchione, of Eastham, who was killed in action in 2006 in Iraq at the age of 25. The charter trip has grown in popularity each year. This year, the third time it is being held, the waiting list has about doubled. Around 46 veterans and family members are on a waiting list, said Michelle DeSilva, who co-founded Cape Cod Cares for the Troops in 2005 with her son, Dylan, who was then only 12 years old. more@capecodtimes

Shrimpers across south Louisiana say they are ready for today’s start of the white shrimp season.

About 60 percent of the shrimp harvested in the U.S. comes from the Gulf of Mexico. The total domestic shrimp harvest brought in $518 million in 2011. Today’s opening date was based on recommendations presented by state Wildlife and Fisheries biologists and comments from the public. more@houmatoday

Oyster hatchery ‘dream building’ soon to open on Grand Isle

GRAND ISLE — After years of planning and years of catastrophes, a building to house oyster hatchery operations on Grand Isle is under construction and expected to provide a big boost to Louisiana’s oyster industry. more@theadvocate

Laine Welch: Pink salmon catch likely to shatter forecast

With pink salmon coming in stronger than expected, Alaska’s salmon catch this summer is poised to blow past the pre-season forecast of 179 million fish. “We are going to be short on sockeyes by 5 million or so, and we’re probably not going to make the chum salmon numbers either. So we’ll have to go over with pinks, but at the rate things are going, that is entirely possible,” said Geron Bruce, deputy director of Fish and Game’s Commercial Fisheries division more@adn

Conn. man snags striped bass records over and over

‘‘I’ve gotten it down to a science,’’ Myerson said. He studied fish, learning that striped bass feed on lobster and are drawn to them by the sound they make along the ocean floor. Myerson began trying to replicate that sound with a rattle he put in sinkers, at one point using discarded crack cocaine vials he cleaned up at work and filled with bearings and BBs. continued@bostonglobe

Baltimore researchers turn carnivorous fish into vegetarians

Recently, three Baltimore researchers — Aaron Watson, Frederic Barrows and Allen Place — set out to tame this wild and hungry fish sometimes called black salmon. They didn’t want to simply domesticate it; hundreds of fish farmers have already done that. They sought to turn one of the ocean’s greediest carnivores into a vegetarian. more@washingtonpost