Daily Archives: June 6, 2015
Our Heritage on Display – Vintage fishing boat Roann catches visitors’ fancy at Cape fest
Inge Laine used her nose to see if the vintage fishing vessel ROANN was the real deal. As she descended the steep stairway into the engine room on Saturday she took a whiff and her childhood memories of her father’s Wildwood fishing boat came back. It smelled just like Ehlko Friesenborg’s boat, one of 237 such vessels at Otten’s Harbor back in the heyday before condos took over the waterway. There are only a couple left today and they are nothing like the wooden 1947 trawler that was the highlight of the first Cape May Port Commercial Fishing Festival. Read the rest here 20:19
Can the Sea Shepherds Cult Survive the Lawsuits?
Ady Gil has become dead-set on rooting out the dishonesty he sees in Watson’s radical conservation organization. He and his own conservation group, Ady Gil World Conservation, are bringing lawsuits against Sea Shepherd and its founder for damages, defamation and fraud – the first of which, concerning the loss of the ship, will likely be decided this summer. The first suit alone could cost SSCS as much as $50m. “These are people who will do anything possible to draw sympathy,” says Gil, who describes Sea Shepherd in an interview as “infested with corruption”. Read the rest here 18:43
Massachusetts lobstermen are pissed off over NOAA’s Fisheries Observer Program, and I don’t blame ’em.
The specter of increased observer coverage on the decks of their boats is not sitting well with Massachusetts lobstermen, whose resistance to the NOAA Fisheries plan was in full flower at a public meeting Thursday night in Gloucester. Regulator’s plan to expand its Northeast Fisheries Observer Program (NEFOP) in the New England lobstering industry and as far down the East Coast as Maryland. The lobstermen also were not happy with answers they received on why they are being targeted for expanded observer coverage. Read the rest here 13:59
Payoff for Alaska commercial fishermen all depends on the species
For Alaska commercial fishermen, everything depends on the species targeted. For instance, Southeast trollers targeting king salmon can clear much more than $100 on a single big chinook, while Togiak fishermen earn just $50 for netting 1 ton of tiny herring. But by and large, fishermen pursuing king salmon, halibut and sablefish are fetching fabulous early-season prices. The 300 Southeast trollers who target kings are enjoying a 40 percent price increase for the big salmon, averaging $7.54 a pound, up $1.88 from last year. Read the rest here 13:18
South Atlantic Fishery Management Council – No red snapper take in 2015
The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council announced Friday, there will not be commercial or recreational season in 2015 because the total number of red snapper removed from the population in 2014 exceeded the allowable level. In other news, the SAFMC also announced that no more recreational harvest of blueline tilefish in South Atlantic waters will be allowed after 12:01 a.m. (local time) Wednesday. The commercial sector for blueline tilefish was closed to harvest on April 7. Read the rest here 13:02
Halibut Dumping Stirs Fight Among Fishing Fleets In Alaska
The Rebecca Irene can’t keep that halibut: Trawlers aren’t supposed to catch it, and the law requires any halibut that are caught be thrown overboard. If the trend doesn’t change, fishermen in St. Paul face the potential of a complete shutdown. With his community’s future on the line, Swetsov choked up as he testified this week before the NPFMC, which regulates bycatch in federal waters off of Alaska. “I’m extremely angry that we’re here today,” he says. Read the rest here 11:57
Letter: It’s time to resolve the conflicts over national red snapper fishing rules – Mark Mathews
Red snapper is the most mismanaged fish in this country. I consider many charter captains dear friends. They are important friends and clients, and I try very hard to promote their businesses as much as I can. My criticism is not of them but of the environmentalists (EDF) who have shamelessly and unnecessarily come to our region to create conflicts and turn fishing friends against each other and the federal fisheries managers who have encouraged those conflicts. Read the rest here 11:08
Work to salvage F/V Denise begins
The commercial fishing boat “Denise” ran aground on Friday evening (May 29) and has since passed the rock barrier, due to the ocean’s tides and current, to lodge itself firmly in the sand below the bluffs adjacent to the 18th hole on Half Moon Bay Golf Links’ Ocean Course. Sidney Woods, Denise’s owner and captain, was on hand as work began. He had removed personal items and fishing hooks the day before, but lamented that he was precluded from dismantling and saving parts of the boat that could be salvaged. “But it’s a 1946 boat, and I’d like to at least have the wheel.” Read the rest here 10:53
NOAA proposes new status for humpback whales – Change would remove majority from endangered species list
If the proposal is approved, 10 of 14 populations worldwide would be delisted, including the West Indies population, which swims through Cape waters. The West Indies population has grown to about 12,000, according to NOAA officials. Peter Mason, a commercial lobsterman, was one of about 20 people who listened to the presentation. He supported the proposal. “Now they’ve come back, they should be taken off,” he said. Read the rest here 09:56
Fresh halibut hits Dillingham harbor fetching $7 dollars a pound
F/V Eagle II skipper William Johnson arrived in Dillingham on May 25 with 25 halibut weighing between 12 and 75 pounds. Among the happy customers was Sander Johnson, who says halibut is always his first fresh fish of the season. With a 50-pound halibut in his truck bed, Sander Johnson was looking forward to a favorite dinner that evening. Eagle II crewman Mike Johnson said that first load of halibut sold out in less than two hours. Read the rest here 07:09
Effective immediately South coast of Washington closed to crab fishing
WDFW announced the closure after routine testing showed domoic acid levels in crab exceeded standards established by the Washington State Department of Health. Domoic acid, a natural toxin produced by certain types of marine algae, can be harmful or even fatal if consumed in sufficient quantities. Cooking or freezing does not destroy domoic acid in shellfish. All crab gear must be removed from the closed areas by 12:01 a.m. June 10 or it will be subject to confiscation by Fish and Wildlife enforcement officers. Read the rest here 06:28
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for June 5, 2015
Click to read the Weekly Update for June 5, 2015 as a pdf To read all the updates, click here 06:12
