Daily Archives: June 25, 2014
NAFO cites foreign ships with illegal catches – Spanish vessel issued serious citation for hiding excess catch
Canada’s Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) released a list of two vessels cited with not recording catches and off the coast of Newfoundland. Spanish vessel Puente Sabaris and Russian ship Melkart-3 were issued citations in May 2014. Read more here 20:22
Environmental Group Says Lobster is “Poor Choice” for Pregnant Women – “Them’s fightin’ words!”
Later this summer, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) plans to raise concerns about mercury levels in lobster within the context of a draft update to federal consumer guidelines for seafood consumption. As a Maine resident (and someone who has been covering mercury in seafood more than a little recently), I immediately sat up and took note at the mention of . Read more here 20:01
Seeking More Volume
A fishing vessel owner has two options for increasing the volume of his vessel’s hull and its money-making fishhold — one can add more length or add more beam. The latter is likely to gain the most volume and, when regulations limit length, adding beam may well be the only option. Read more here 19:02
Changes in forage fish abundance alter Atlantic cod distribution, affect fishery success – What do you think?
Writing in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, researchers from NOAA Fisheries’ Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) show how the fishermens’ observations and the assessment results could both be accurate. Read more here 17:41
Fisher or fisherman? What do Kodiak harvesters prefer?
This is Fish Radio. I’m Stephanie Mangini. Is the word fisherman gender biased? Since the beginning of time the word fisherman has been used to describe a person who captures fish and other animals from a body of water. Fish Radio asked fishing men and women of Kodiak what they thought of the more gender neutral name change. Listen, and read more here 16:21
Legislature eyeing another layer of fishing enforcement – would allow NOAA OLE in North Carolina waters.
The state House and Gov. Pat McCrory want to enter a “joint enforcement agreement” with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and task the North Carolina Marine Patrol with enforcing both state and federal regulations in coastal waters. But the North Carolina Senate went in the other direction by specifically saying they are opposed to the proposal. Also cited in the resolution was a recent report by the U.S. Inspector General about possible corruption in the enforcement branches of NOAA and the National Marine Fisheries Service. Read more here 13:02
VMRC approves 10 percent reduction in blue crab harvest – New regulations would shut down blue crab dredging, limit number of bushels
NEWPORT NEWS — A weak female blue crab population, continued predator infiltration and a need to conserve juvenile blue crab growth have prompted members of the Virginia Marine Resources Commission to move forward with staff recommendations to reduce the female blue crab harvest by 10 percent. (anyone mention the reduction to the predators?) Read more here 12:33
Gulf Council reaffirms red snapper reallocation to recreational anglers while holding sector accountable
The committee reaffirmed its support of reallocating a greater share of the combined quota to the recreational sector above a set benchmark
as part of the process toward final passage of the management plan changes to Amendment 28 – Red Snapper Allocation. Read more here 12:22
Scallop fishermen argue against shortening season on Cobscook Bay
DENNYSVILLE, Maine — Patrick Keliher, Commissioner of the state Department of Marine Resources, came to listen to scallop fisherman on Tuesday afternoon. . Some of them gave him an earful. Leo Murray of Lubec called it “crazy.” Tracey Sawtelle of Lubec called it “baloney.” Read more here 12:12
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: Edward T. Gamage 68′ Steel Stern Trawler 540HP, CAT 3412 Diesel
Specifications, and information, including 40 photo’s click here 09:59:32
Commercial crabber fined for failure to report horseshoe crab harvest
DNREC Natural Resources Police, Division of Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Agents cited commercial fisherman Travis J. Mick, 31, of Milford, for failure to report horseshoe crab landings Enforcement’s investigation found that Mick had harvested approximately 3,000 horseshoe crabs over a two-day period without reporting his take. Read more here 09:24
Spiny dogfish shark boom bane for N.S. fishermen
According to the report, in 2013 there were nearly six times more tonnes of spiny dogfish caught in the 2013 survey off Nova Scotia, compared to the 2012 survey. A total 259,461 tonnes of spiny dogfish were recorded off the coast in 2013, compared to 44,310 in 2012 and just 3,353 in 2011. Read more here 07:26
Tierney sets talks on fisheries here with House panel chief
The federal disaster aid to fishermen and industry stakeholders is in the pipeline, and now much of the industry’s attention — here and across the rest of the coastal United States — has turned to the…Read more here if you can get by the pay-wall 06:47
Problems turning Bluenose II rudder means it’s unlikely to sail this summer
LUNENBURG, N.S. – Nova Scotia’s historic sailing schooner the Bluenose II needs a modern hydraulic system to turn its 3,200-kilogram rudder and make it seaworthy, says the senior government official overseeing the vessel’s restoration. Read more here 06:40
High Court Clears Way for Bristol Bay Initiative
The Alaska Supreme Court has cleared the way for an initiative that would require legislative approval for major mining operations in the Bristol Bay watershed, like the proposed Pebble Mine. Read more here 06:33
