Daily Archives: February 6, 2014

Scituate, Marshfield fishermen question amount and timing of federal relief

The $75 million in fisheries disaster relief approved by the federal government has been good news for the fishing industry as a whole, but South Shore fishermen are uncertain as to how much relief they will receive. Read more@bostonglobe  18:38

The Alaska Fisheries Report

Coming up this week: The Fish Board reverses itself on Kenai River Kings, Kodiak may have found its new fisheries consultant, and the plague of injuries in the fishing fleet gets some scrutiny. All that, and who would’ve thought you could make money fishing for jellyfish. We had help from KDLL’s Shaylon Cochran in Kenai, KMXT’s  it Brianna Gibbs in Kodiak, and KUCB’s Lauren Rosenthal in Unalaska.  Listen @kmxt  17:30

N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries Pulls the Plug on Speckled Trout

N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries Director Louis Daniel has issued a proclamation closing all coastal and inland waters to commercial and recreational spotted seatrout (speckled trout) until June 15. Read [email protected] 15:56

Red Snapper Quotas could affect Commercial Fisherman and Restaurants

This week, the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council is discussing possible changes to the amount of red snapper caught. Currently commercial fisherman can take 51% of the quota, and recreational fisherman get 49%. Read more@wjhg  15:31

Alaskans will want to comment before Congress reauthorizes the Magnuson-Stevens act.

Congressman Don Young, an original author of the act and supporter of the 200-mile fishing limit off Alaska’s coast, says the act does what it was intended. But “there are still some issues that need to be addressed, including more flexibility for fisheries managers. Read more@ketchicandailynews  14:59

Maine DMR rockweed plan is ready for legislature

ELLSWORTH — Just in time to meet a deadline set last spring, the Department of Marine Resources (DMR) last Friday sent a proposed comprehensive statewide fishery management plan for rockweed to the Legislature’s Joint Standing Committee on Marine Resources. Read more@fenceviewer  11:55

Alaska Board of Fisheries calls for shallower setnets in hopes of saving Kenai Kings

Commercial setnet fishermen on the Kenai Peninsula will be given the opportunity this summer to shift their operations to shallower nets in an attempt to save king salmon in Alaska’s renowned Kenai River if the run is as weak as predicted. The Wednesday action by the Alaska Board of Fisheries comes about a decade after shallower nets were ordered for the state’s Bristol Bay salmon fishery. Bristol Bay is the site of the world’s largest harvest of sockeye salmon. Read more@alaskadispatch 11:42

How to solve Maine’s green crab problem? Sell them, eat them, CEO says – BDN Video

“We are going to take that invasive species and turn it into gold,” said Ron Howse, president and CEO of the Tidalwater Seafood Co., based in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Read more@portlandpress  10:12

Canadian businessman wants to put Maine green crabs on global menu – Bangor Daily News  20:29

Wind farms vs wildlife – The shocking environmental cost of renewable energy

Wind farms are devastating populations of rare birds and bats across the world, driving some to the point of extinction. Most environmentalists just don’t want to know. Because they’re so desperate to believe in renewable energy, they’re in a state of denial. But the evidence suggests that, this century at least, renewables pose a far greater threat to wildlife than climate change. Read [email protected]  08:31

Low-interest loan expands to all lobster fishermen, ‘Takes pressure off’ P.E.I. fishermen, says association president

863a4ac9dc_64635696_o2In an ideal world, the loan program wouldn’t be needed because fishermen would be making enough money, said Mike McGeoghegan, president of the P.E.I. Fishermen’s Association. However, the announcement comes as welcome news, he said. Read more@cbcnews  07:54

The real reason for China’s ban on West Coast shellfish – US warns China over South China Sea claims

The US is pressuring China into adjusting its territorial claims in the South China Sea amid growing concerns that China’s maritime claims are an effort to gain control of oceans in the Asia-Pacific region. Earlier in January, Beijing rejected US criticism on its new fishing restrictions in the South China Sea waters, saying the rules are in accordance with international law. Read more@presstv     China will keep ban on West Coast shellfish – test results showed geoducks were safe  07:42

Disingenuous Bastards: Environmental lawyers transmogrify ESA’s original mission into a conversion vehicle of monetary gain

Despite the hundreds of billions of tax dollars spent over the years implementing the ESA, a new congressional report made public Tuesday provides abundant evidence that the law has been hijacked by environmental lawyers working on the taxpayer’s dime. Center for Biological Diversity and similar-minded Big Green outfits like Wild Earth Guardians “taking advantage of strict and unworkable statutory deadlines in the ESA, have filed literally hundreds of ESA lawsuits and thousands of petitions, and in essence, have overtaken the ESA priorities of the FWS and NMFS.”Read more here 07:12

The Devil in the Fishery Disaster Aid Details.- Mass. seen having leg up on fish aid

Elizabeth WarrenMassachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s office confirmed yesterday that the process for developing the distribution formula remains a work in progress, but with the underlying principle that the funds — specifically designated as assistance to the groundfish disaster proclaimed by the Department of Commerce in 2012 — should go to areas where the most groundfish fishermen have suffered the greatest level of economic distress from the disaster.But Warren’s office also confirmed that federal disaster funds, no matter the type of disaster, usually come with a hefty price tag for the states that accept them — a state must provide an additional 25 percent of the total amount of disaster aid it accepts. Read more@gdt  02:28