Daily Archives: August 13, 2013

Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak medevaced an injured fisherman from F/V Beverly Ann 50 miles southeast of Seward Tuesday

Coast Guard 17th District watchstanders received the report via satellite telephone from a crewmember aboard the Beverly Ann stating the 22-year-old fisherman was struck in the head by deck equipment and needed medical assistance. The watchstanders directed the launch of the helicopter crew. more@uscgnews

Crews Attempt to Lift Sunken Tender F/V Lone Star from the Igushik River

radio-microphoneAll of the fuel has been removed from the sunken tender Lone Star.  The focus now shifts to lifting the vessel from the bottom of the Igushik river and ensuring it floats.  Before that, salvage crews must overcome an enormous amount of suction from the muddy river bottom.  listen –  KDLG’s Ben Matheson

Ralph E. Fowler, Jr., 41, of Franklin,Me. and Gregory A. Trundy, 49, of Hancock, Me. found guilty of criminal elver fishing, fined $4,250

BDNThe two men said they’d been fishing for smelts with their finely-meshed dip nets one night this April in the Goose River in Belfast, but Sparaco didn’t buy it. “The story just does not stand up in my mind,” she said before finding the men guilty of all charges. “It really defies credibility that they would travel so far to go to a river not known for smelting.” more@bdn

Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council eyes sea coral protection in mid-Atlantic

The council’s ecosystems and ocean planning committee, which is considering alternatives for the council to present for public hearings, wrestled with how to balance the goal of coral protection with the interests of commercial fishermen. After lengthy debate, committee members voted to add an exemption for squid fishing to a list of proposed alternatives for management measures for discrete coral zones. more@wric

Florida Gov. Scott Announces Intention to Sue Georgia Over Water Rights

“This lawsuit will be targeted toward one thing – fighting for the future of Apalachicola. This is a bold, historic legal action for our state. But this is our only way forward after 20 years of failed negotiations with Georgia. We must fight for the people of this region. The economic future of Apalachicola Bay and Northwest Florida is at stake.” [email protected]

StarKist Samoa GM credits God for cannery’s success

The regular Sunday morning church service at the Pago Pago Congregationl Christian Church of American Samoa was more packed than usual. The general manager of StarKist Samoa and division managers along with leaders of the American Samoa Government and various business owners joined the congregation for worship yesterday morning to open the 50th anniversary celebrations of the cannery. [email protected]

National Marine Fisheries Service increase yearly yellowtail snapper catch

The National Marine Fisheries Service will increase the allowable catch for yellowtail snapper in the jurisdiction of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, which runs from North Carolina to Florida.  The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, which oversees fisheries from Florida to Texas, will increase the annual catch limit for yellowtail in its jurisdiction from 725,000 pounds to 901,125 pounds. . more@keysnet

Petit-de-Grat murder suspect released on $60K bail – Dwayne Matthew Samson charged with 2nd-degree murder in Phillip Boudreau death

CBC_News_logoDwayne Matthew Samson, 43, appeared in Port Hawkesbury court on Tuesday. He was released on $60,000 bail — $10,000 cash and a $50,000 surety. more@cbcnews

Maritime researchers are on the lookout for a bacterial infection that eats away at lobster shells

The infection is moving north and currently affects about one in every three or four lobsters caught off of southern Massachusetts, officials say. “Everybody’s on the watch for it, to see if there’s any kind of spread into their area,” said Robert Macmillan, a provincial lobster biologist in Prince Edward Island.  more@cbcnews

Sable Island’s cod killer? The new plan to slaughter seals blames seals for the cod fishery collapse

Seals and the cod collapse That’s a point that strikes a chord with Jeff Hutchings, a Dalhousie University biology professor who specializes in Atlantic cod. In 1997, he co-wrote a paper with the late Ransom Myers, a well-known fisheries conservation biologist, about the cause of the cod collapse in Atlantic Canada. more foolishness@thecoast

Blue Crabs In The James River Found To Have High Levels Of Potentially Liver-Damaging Toxin

blue crab 2Virginia Commonwealth University researchers have found high levels of a potentially liver-damaging toxin in blue crabs in the James River. The high toxin levels turned up in August 2012 during the first year of a three-year, $3 million study of harmful algae in the tidal James, said Paul Bukaveckas, a VCU river ecologist involved in the study. more@huffpo

Public Forum On Threats Facing Great Lakes In Kincardine, Ontario

A public forum on threats facing Lake Huron and the other Great Lakes is set for August 24th in Kincardine. One of the topics will be the ecological and economic impact of invasive species. more@blackburnnews

Fishermen Defend Increased Trinity River Flows to Protect Salmon

The  Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA) represented by Earthjustice, filed intervention papers late Friday defending the planned release of Trinity River water to keep salmon alive in drought conditions. The groups will file a full brief with the court on August 13th. more@enews

NIOSH Fishing safety program survives cuts – As long as the program lives, lifejackets are a major focus of that effort to try to save fishermen’s lives

Falls overboard are the second largest cause of death in fishermen, Lincoln said. Only one of the 191 fishermen who died between 2000 and 2012 was wearing a lifejacket, Lincoln said. “A PFD doesn’t guarantee survival, but it certainly increases the chances of surviving a fall overboard,” Lincoln said. A recent NIOSH study looked into the preferred lifejackets for various commercial gear types by surveying fishermen and asking 200 to evaluate lifejackets for 30 days on deck. more@peninsulaclarion

Independent fisheries scientist Alexandra Morton is raising concerns about a disease she says is spreading through Pacific herring causing fish to hemorrhage.

863a4ac9dc_64635696_o2“I’ve been seeing herring with bleeding fins,” Ms. Morton said Monday. “Two days ago I did a beach seine on Malcolm Island [near Port McNeill on northern Vancouver Island] and I got approximately 100 of these little herring and they were not only bleeding from their fins, but their bellies, their chins, their eyeballs. These are very, very strong disease symptoms.” more@globeandmail

Lake Babine sockeye fishery at risk of unprecedented closure

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Aboriginal people in British Columbia who rely on Skeena River sockeye are facing some extremely difficult decisions as sockeye salmon returns plunge to historic lows. Lake Babine Chief Wilf Adam was on his way to Smithers, B.C., on Monday for a discussion about whether to entirely shut down the food fishery on Lake Babine, something he said would be drastic and unprecedented – but may ultimately be necessary. more@globeandmail

Poor outlook for B.C. sockeye salmon returns helping drive up prices – read more here

NOAA scientists – Georges Bank cod and yellowtail flounder in the transboundary region with Canada are still struggling to recover

sct logoSteve Cadrin of the UMass School for Marine Science and Technology presented an overview of stock assessments around the world and concluded that this region’s assessments cannot be reliably used as a guide to making decisions. Government scientists need a whole new model that explains what is happening and makes accurate predictions, Cadrin said. Meanwhile, only actual bycatch should be used in calculations, he said. more@southcoasttoday