Daily Archives: January 23, 2014

Scallop conservation measures announced for Cobscook Bay region

BDNMaine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher announced short-term scallop management measures Thursday for the Cobscook Bay area that will allow fishermen to continue harvesting three days a week. However, the season may still be shortened. Read more@bdn 22:46

Tagged Bluefin Tuna Recaptured After Sixteen Years at Large – From 14 to over 1,200 pounds!

Al Anderson, a charter boat captain out of Point Judith, Rhode Island, participates in the NOAA Fisheries Cooperative Tagging Program, which provides free tags to fishermen so they can contribute to our scientific understanding of fish. One of the fish he tagged, a bluefin tuna, was recently recaptured after 16 years. In the history of the program, only two recaptured fish had been at liberty so long. Read [email protected] 22:28

It never end’s. Analysis targets commercial fishing’s role in manatee deaths and injuries

How many manatees can commercial fishermen in Florida injure or kill every year without affecting the future of a species that has been on the endangered list since 1967? The answer, according to an analysis the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service unveiled Thursday, is 14. The only problem: The agency says the annual average number of deaths and injuries due to commercial fishing is 99. And that calculation doesn’t include the record 829 manatees overall that died in 2013. Bob Jones, who has been executive director of the Southeastern Fisheries Association for four decades, said he had not seen the report yet but “I don’t believe it.” In his view, commercial fisherman play a negligible role in the future of manatees.  Read [email protected] 21:0

25 dead pilot whales found south of Marco Island

The death count has reached at least 28, between two strandings that happened over two days. The other – near Lovers Key State Park in south Lee County – claimed eight pilot whales, four of which died on their own and another four that had to be euthanized because they were so sickly. Read more@marconews  18:13

Fish Canada Workboat Canada Dropping Anchor in Moncton, New Brunswick January 24 – 25, 2014!

resizedimage200328-FCWC-show-guideRegions Largest Commercial Fisheries and Workboat Event Returns to the Moncton Coliseum in 2014 –  This show will be jam-packed with the same wide range of international and local exhibitors visitors have come to expect and appreciate, featuring the newest, most innovative products on the market. The show floor will have all of the suppliers and equipment, engines, electronics, boat builders, marine and commercial fisheries equipment, showcasing the latest and most innovative products available, including exhibitors from all over the globe! 16:30

If You are counting on Federal Disaster Relief funding,,,,“The New England and West Coast delegations are very good at grabbing that money,”

“We’ll be competing with every state to get a share of that money,” Thomas P. Fote, legislative chairman of the Jersey Shore Anglers Association, said. The original fisheries disaster funding of 2013 would have sent money to the Sandy-struck mid-Atlantic states; New England fishermen beleaguered with quota cutbacks; and Gulf of Mexico and Northwest fishermen who saw big drops in crab and salmon numbers. Now it’s likely to be a free-for-all asking for money, Fote said. (?) Read more@dailyjournal  15:51

How does Nova Scotia compare with their haddock and cod fishery? – Struggles in the sea urchin fishery

The Fisheries Broadcast with Jamie Baker –  How does Nova Scotia compare with their haddock and cod fishery?  Click to listenStruggles in the sea urchin fishery   Click to listen  15:34

Setnet ban backers heading to court over denied ballot initiative

The Alaska Fisheries Conservation Alliance has gone to court in an effort to allow voters to decide whether commercial salmon setnets should be banned in Cook Inlet and other urban areas of Alaska. At a sometimes contentious press conference with reporters and some setnetters on Wednesday in Anchorage, the group expressed the belief that 49th state voters have a fundamental right to decide the types of gear used to catch fish in Alaska. Read more@alaskadispatch  13:38

CLF chimes in on Disaster Relief Funding

kevinhearnFisheries Disaster Money Shows, but Where Should it Flow? – Here are some possible opportunities to get the best use out of New England’s disaster assistance: Read more here 12:02

Report on FY2012 performanc​e of the NE groundfish fleet released

nmfs_logoNOAA Fisheries NMFS today released the third annual report on the economic performance of the vessels active in the Northeast groundfish fishery in fishing year 2012. Although landing and revenue figures for these vessels have been public since September, this report provides additional analysis. For a copy of report click  1.usa.gov/LL5Cep<http://1.usa.gov/LL5Cep>. 11:38

Working the on the fishing boat in the chilly Gulf waters will test a man! – Video (yer kidding, right?)

 MADEIRA BEACH, Fla. – Working as a fisherman at sea is made even more challenging by the lingering cold air that has clamped down on the Tampa Bay area. “When it’s cold out there, your hands turn like purple and they get numb.  Sometimes it’s just brutal, brutally cold,” Lauser added. Read more@sbcactionnews  11:17

New Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound Cape Wind lawsuit: Mass. exceeded its authority

sct logoThe suit alleges that state regulators exceeded their authority in setting wholesale rates for the contract in violation of both the Federal Power Act and the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which reserves that power for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Read more@southcoasttoday  10:12:29

Boston Herald Editorial: Tilting at … you know  – It’s a poorly kept secret that the Patrick administration engaged in a form of state-sanctioned extortion. Now the lawsuit will seek to prove that NStar was forced to agree to buy that expensive power from Cape Wind or risk having state regulators oppose the firm’s merger with Northeast Utilities.

Magnuson-Stevens reauthorization: Fisheries debate likely to heat up soon

seattle workshop CSF #2NEW BEDFORD — The fledgling Center for Sustainable Fisheries takes its message to Seattle, Wash. in February to stoke discussion of changes in the way commercial fisheries are regulated. The delegation will be led by Dr. Brian Rothschild, dean emeritus of the UMass School for Marine Science and Technology. He will be joined by CSF chief operating officer Kate Kramer, who told The Standard-Times on Wednesday, “People on the West Coast have different ideas about the Magnuson-Stevens reauthorization.” Read more@southcoasttoday  10:01

No green light for Cape Wind – Cape offshore wind energy foes suffer setback

The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday denied a petition by wind-farm opponents appealing the Federal Aviation Administration’s approval of the proposed Nantucket Sound project. “The Alliance to Protect Nantucket, the town of Barnstable and their financial backer — coal billionaire Bill Koch — have failed yet again in their continuing campaign to use the courts to delay the financing of Cape Wind,” company spokeswoman Mark Rodgers wrote in a statement about the decision.   Read more@capecodonline  08:56

American Samoa: Longliner Owners positive of meeting with governor

After meeting with members of the Tautai Fishing Association yesterday Governor Lolo Moliga has asked for two weeks to review all of the issues raised by the longliner owners.  The meeting was in response to requests from the association to the govenror for assistance in helping them survive. Read [email protected]  08:45

Starkist CEO hits back at Bumble Bee ‘buy American’ comments

Frank Pogue, vice president of marketing and corporate affairs for Starkist, hit back at comments from Bumble Bee Foods CEO, Chris Lischewski, over rules on who can supply US government food contracts. Starkist — which defended its “Made in America” claim to Undercurrent News last year — and Tri Marine International are clashing with Bumble Bee Foods and Chicken of the Sea over the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) strict “buy American” standards for where tuna is cleaned, canned and shipped, reported the The Hill, on Jan. 8. Read more@undercurrent  07:59