Daily Archives: August 29, 2013

Fisheries and Oceans says Fraser River sockeye numbers up from 2009

“Fraser sockeye have had some highly variable return rates over the years, so this isn’t one of the better ones, but it is an improvement.” Jantz said sockeye in 2010 returned in near-record numbers — 30 million by some estimates — and the department is seeing an improving annual trend in marine survival, and its scientists hope those numbers will continue into the future. Still, the news isn’t all good for the 2013 run, and the fishery has been closed since the second week of August because of high water temperatures and poor river conditions. In fact, Jantz said the mortality rate of returning sockeye is expected to hit 70 per cent. more@theprovince 22:59

A New Report Documents the Economic Value of the Alaska Seafood Industry By Mike Mason

radio-microphoneThe value of the seafood from Alaska in 2011 was well over $6-billion dollars according to a new report from the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute. The report is titled the “Economic Value of the Alaska Seafood Industry” and it was prepared for ASMI by the McDowell Group. more@kdlg  20:28

Copper River Seafoods Does the Right Thing by Thumbing Their Noses at the MSC

MSC-LogoCopper River Seafoods plans to withdraw support for the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification of the Alaska salmon fishery in 2014, leaving Silver Bay Seafoods as the only remaining large processor still in support. This is the latest blow to the efforts of the Seattle-based Purse Seine Vessel Owners Association (PSVOA) to get the fishery re-certified to the MSC standard, which the top eight salmon processing companies — Trident Seafoods, Icicle Seafoods, Ocean Beauty Seafoods, Peter Pan Seafoods, Alaska General Seafoods, E & E Foods, Kwikpak Fisheries, and North Pacific Seafoods — all oppose. read more here  20:00

The competitive Hebert Brothers are making waves on “Wicked Tuna.”

“Wicked Tuna” is a reality television show on the National Geographic Channel that documents the competitive New England-based commercial bluefin tuna industry. It’s also a story of the hard-core East Coast fishermen who make their living off the giant tuna — fishermen who live for the sport more@bdn  17:45

 

So. Let me get this Straight! Failure of weather buoy could endanger fishermen, but NOAA don’t have the dough to FIX IT??

A buoy failure off the coast of Half Moon Bay threatens the safety of commercial and recreational fishermen as well as other vessels during the more dangerous winter season, fishermen say. more@hmbreview

They can provide funding for costume parties for their lawyers in Philly, and call it “training”, performance bonuses from the AFF, have “contests” to award prizes to grant applicants from the S-K Fund, announce today that they awarded close to half a million dollars in funds to support nine educational projects in New England to provide hands-on learning experiences for K-12 students to foster greater understanding of and connection to local watersheds, I could continue, but they can’t find the money to fix Buoy Station 46012? HEY! Chuck Grassley! When the HELL are them NOAA heads gonna ROLL?!!!

REJECTED REJECTED REJECTED – North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission DUMPS bid for trawler ban in sounds

The Marine Fisheries Commission meeting in Raleigh on Thursday unanimously dumped a petition seeking rules declaring most internal coastal waters as seafood nursery areas off limits to trawlers. more@wway  14:26

Parat Halvorsen to Install Steamboiler on F/V American Triumph

The vertical steam boiler of Parat Pin Tube MPW type, will have a capacity of 6,000kgs/h and is chosen due to high capacity and small size. This boiler will also be equipped with a new rotary cup burner and auxiliary system, that is designed to both start and burn on 100% fish oil without heating, which will be a big advantage for the vessel. more@marinelink 14:18

Biologists from Fisheries and Oceans Canada confirm that a single live Grass Carp has been caught near Dunnville, Ontario in the Grand River

This specimen follows an earlier catch of a grass carp on April 27, 2013 in the same area. Testing has confirmed that this specimen was sterile; and, therefore, not able to reproduce. more@marinelink 13:49

The Nova Scotia Jobs Fund lends Blue Wave Seafood $500,000 to help them restructure.

863a4ac9dc_64635696_o2Blue Wave Seafoods Inc., a fish processor and exporter, employs nearly 70 full and part-time staff at its facility in Port Mouton. The province is lending Blue Wave Seafoods $500,000 in working capital as the company restructures to achieve long-term sustainability. The loan is fully repayable over 10 years. more@thevanguard 13:40

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources has announced a public comment period for proposed amendments to Saltwater Fishing Regulations

DNR staff will hold public meetings to present the proposed changes and to  receive comment in Richmond Hill on September 9 and Brunswick on September 10,  2013.  The proposed changes affect recreational and commercial saltwater fishing  and are as follows: [email protected] 12:46

Bass and Bivalves – another Vineyard waterfront success story.

The best treat available in the local fish market, and in the restaurants, is something you haven’t eaten in a while — black sea bass, another Vineyard waterfront success story.  Striped Bass Hiccup – The state Division of Marine Fisheries will reopen the commercial striped bass fishing season on Sunday for one day.   Shellfish Season – There is a bounty of juvenile oysters in Tisbury Great Pond. more@mvgazette  12:36

2 cited for commercial fishing without a license in Charlotte County, Florida

Two Englewood men were caught fishing with an expired commercial license Tuesday off Boca Grande.Both men told deputies they were fishing with the intent to sell their catch, which at the time was about 700 pounds of fish, including mullet, trout, sheepshead and jack.   More@newspress 12:24

The hungry critter’s first dish was mussels. Then scallops. Now it’s soft-shell clams. Voracious Invasive Crab Threatening Maine’s Shellfish Industry

And some fear lobsters will be next. European green crabs  are devouring a shellfish buffet along Maine’s seashore, plundering populations in their wake. To get a snapshot of just how severe the problem is, clammers, scientists, and marine officials took a survey today along Maine’s coast.  Patty Wight joined them in Freeport. listen@mpbn    Green Crab and Sculpin Sam  Fisheries Broadcast  12:00

New EPA chief steps into Alaska mine controversy

“No amount of money or jobs can replace our way of life,” Nondalton Tribal Council President William Evanoff told the EPA leader. “The threats are real.” In the Bristol Bay fishing town of Dillingham, everyone who spoke to McCarthy was against the Pebble mine. The town of about 2,300 lives and breathes salmon, with vivid murals on the weathered buildings celebrating salmon and urging their preservation. more@mcclatchy 11:49

F/V Mary K and F/V Yankee Pride Complete Anticipated NMFS Flatfish Pilot Survey

Intense interest in the Georges Bank yellowtail flounder stock is one driver behind a just-completed pilot research survey.  Two commercial trawlers, F/V Mary K and F/V Yankee Pride, worked about 175 stations over 12 days. The survey was coordinated and funded by NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service Northeast Fisheries Science Center, and designed by a panel that included researchers, fishermen, and gear manufacturers. Click here to read more about this project. 11:17

N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission will decide Aug. 29 whether to approve a petition that has received opposition from commercial fishermen, others

If approved, the proposed rule would halt shrimp and crab trawling in North Carolina  inshore waters. The petition was filed by Timothy Hergenrader of New Bern, who cites Division of Marine Fisheries documents and says the reclassification would protect juvenile fish of species such as weakfish, croaker and spot, which are being caught as bycatch in trawl nets. more@jdnews   photo kinston.com 11:03

Greater Everglades ecosystem – Guest Column: Stop the harm – fund it now!

What’s going on with our water ? A wet spring and very wet early summer have delivered more rain than the greater Everglades ecosystem – that stretches from Orlando to Florida Bay, Fort Myers to Stuart – can hold. Drainage and flood control projects created in the 1940s were designed to drain water off the land to accommodate growth and development in South Florida.  During this very wet rainy season,,,, [email protected] 10:51

Northeast Seafood Coalition and its members express gratitude to U.S. Senators for their support

966382_576848379002335_599159690_oTwo hundred thirty commercial groundfish fishing industry members of the Northeast Seafood Coalition wrote to Senator Barbara A. Mikulski, Chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations and Senator Richard C. Shelby, Raking Member of the Senate Committee on Appropriations to express sincere thanks for their efforts to secure $150 million in fishery disaster assistance in the FY2014 Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies appropriations bill.   continued here 08:51

Press release: News Release: NSC and NSC members express gratitude to U.S. Senators for supporting the NE groundfish fishery

Letter from Executive Director Jackie Odell

Northeast Fishermen thank Senators Mikulski, Shelby for including $150 million in fishery disaster assistance in a recent appropriations bill.

seacoastonlinelogoThe House must still approve the allocation, would be split between the Northeast, Alaska and Gulf Coast fisheries. Last year, the House stripped an identical funding amount out of a different bill. more@seacoastonline 08:06

Fukushima radiation devastates fishing industry – Radiation contamination makes catch inedible

The plant suffered triple meltdowns after the massive earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. TEPCO, the Tokyo Electric Power Co., is putting tonnes of water into its reactors to cool them and is struggling to contain the resulting waste water.A sliver of hope emerged after recent sampling results showed a decline in radioactivity in some fish species. But a new crisis spawned by fresh leaks of radioactive water from the plant last week may have dashed those prospects. more@cbcnews 07:21

Gloucester Doryman Paul Francis Frontiero Sr left fishing to pursue painting

130822_GT_OUT_FRONTIERO_4The son of a Gloucester fisherman, the late Paul Francis Frontiero Sr., began fishing with his father at the age of 12. He did not know then that this would become his way of life for many years. He never finished Gloucester High School because his father was injured while fishing and he had to leave his studies. As a result, he spent many years laboring in jobs at sea. more@GDT 01:11

Northeast Multispeci​es Fishery Trip Limit Adjustment​s for the Common Pool Fishery

nmfs_logoToday, the no such entity, NOAA Fisheries, announced that is decreasing the possession limit for Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic winter flounder and Gulf of Maine haddock for Northeast multispecies common pool vessels for the remainder of the 2013 fishing year. We are taking this action because the common pool has caught 73 percent of its Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic winter flounder quota, and 96 percent of its Gulf of Maine haddock quota.  This action is intended to prevent the overharvest of the common pool’s allocation of Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic winter flounder and Gulf of Maine haddock for the 2013 fishing year. 00:16