Daily Archives: September 9, 2015

ILLEGAL COD FISHING GETS UNALASKA COURT SYMPATHY – NO RIGHTS REMOVED – Ludger Dochtermann, Kodiak

Saturday, September 5, 2015, Deckboss blogspot news [http://deckboss.blogspot.com/Lu Dochtormann] from the Alaska State Troopers stated, “State secures convictions against three trawlers, wins forfeiture of Pacific cod worth $106,326” — in a set of cases involving commercial fishing in closed waters as reported on February 24, 2015.  The violations apparently occurred in the closed waters of Kagalaska Strait, east of Adak Island in the western Aleutians. The combined total of fines levied was, disgracefully, a mere $12,000. Read the rest here 22:33

Biscayne National Park’s management plan is problematic – Capt. Bill Kelly

The special interests Lloyd Brown refers to in his Aug. 26 letter, Park plan will save fish and jobs, about Biscayne National Park’s General Management Plan just happens to be some of the finest commercial fishermen, fish houses, restaurants and fishing guides in the world.  All have been harvesting sustainably in the park for decades, supplying millions of consumers with fresh seafood worldwide or treating tens of thousands of visitors to the catch and release of Florida’s most sought after gamefish. Read the rest here 21:32

Coroners service identifies fishermen who died near Tofino

through the stoemThe B.C. Coroners Service has named the three fishermen who died when a commercial fishboat capsized near Tofino on Saturday. The three men, crew members of the commercial fish dragger Caledonian, are skipper Wesley Hegglund, 55, of Duncan; engineer Keith Edward Standing, 48, of Port Alberni; and , 41, also of Port Alberni. The boat was about 55 kilometres west of Estevan Point, north of Tofino, when it capsized and eventually sank, the coroners service said. The three men’s bodies were recovered by the Canadian Coast Guard over the next 18 hours. All were pronounced dead at the scene. Read the rest here 19:22

With sadness – Conservationist Zeke Grader, advocate for fish, dies

Zeke Grader, a lifelong conservationist who loved wild fish, wild rivers and the good fight necessary to protect them, has died. He was 68. “You would probably not be eating a wild California salmon today if it were not for Zeke,” said his friend Tim Sloane, the executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations. “He was not afraid of speaking truth to power. He wasn’t afraid of anyone.” Mr. Grader, 68, died Monday night of pancreatic cancer at a San Francisco hospice. Read the rest here 18:19

At the State Department’s Glacier conference, nations urge caution in opening the Arctic to fishing

There are five nations whose borders surround the Arctic Ocean — and each has their respective fishing jurisdictions offshore. But none yet extend into the central Arctic Ocean, or what’s called “the high Arctic.” David Balton is the State Department’s deputy secretary for oceans and fisheries: “No commercial fishing has ever taken place in this area and that is because, of course, at least until recently, it has been ice-covered year round. But that, as most of you know, is changing.” Read the rest here 17:15

Cooling water in the Fraser River system take heat off returning salmon

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans is relieved to see water temperatures in the Fraser River system slowly dropping from summertime highs that could have proved lethal to returning salmon. Area director Stu Cartwright says temperatures are now around 15 or 16 degrees, an acceptable range crucial to the health of 1.5-million sockeye due to reach spawning grounds in B.C. over the coming weeks. But despite the good news about cooler river temperatures, Cartwright says there is still concern about the total number of returning fish. Read the rest here 16:28

Battle brewing over fish farming in Great Lakes

Supporters of the idea say Michigan is perfectly positioned to be a world leader in freshwater aquaculture and home to all the science, engineering and manufacturing that would accompany this growing part of the world’s food economy. But critics counter the Great Lakes are no place for so-called net-pen fish farming because of the higher risk of disease and water pollution that accompanies this method. Read the rest here 13:40

Norfolk Commercial fisherman sentenced for illegal fishing

Commercial fisherman Bi Chao Chen on Tuesday was sentenced on seven of eight charges filed in February revolving around an illegal fishing operation in a section of the Elizabeth River known as The Cove. Chen, of Norfolk, pled guilty in July to eight misdemeanors – gill nets exceeding the legal length, improperly marked gill nets, operating a boat with no navigational lights, a vessel with no lights at night, red drum over the limit, oversized red drum, possession of oversized red drum and over the commercial limit for speckled trout. Read the rest here 13:25

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Bull shark caught in the Potomac

A bull shark was caught last week in the Potomac River in a commercial fisherman’s net. Robert T. Brown, president of the Maryland Watermen’s Association, and his family members pulled the 8-foot shark out of a pound net Thursday evening in the river off Medley’s Neck, south of Leonardtown, near the mouth of Breton Bay. He said he knew the shark was in the net on Wednesday evening, but the tide was running too strong to try to pull it out that day. Bull sharks have “always been here for years and years,” Brown said. “I caught a big one 12 or 14 years,,, Read the rest here 12:14

USDA invites offers to sell canned sockeye

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is now soliciting offers to sell canned sockeye salmon in its plan to purchase $30-million dollars worth. The USDA announced this plan last month after Senator Lisa Murkowski wrote a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack asking him to approve the purchase, which she said would alleviate a surplus inventory and put a nutritious product in food programs around the country. The canned salmon will be distributed to school lunch programs and food banks around the country. Link 11:50

Limited entry for Maine lobster fishery debated

lobsterDM0811_468x521There’s another battle brewing in Maine’s lobster industry, but this is one that likely will be fought in the Legislature rather than on the water. Out to about 12 miles offshore, Maine waters are divided from east to west into seven Lobster Management Zones. Lobstermen are required to declare which of the zones they will fish in based, generally, on where they live. Six of those zones have waiting lists established under the state’s “limited entry” law. People on the list have completed a state-mandated and want a license to fish,,, Read the rest here 11:30

North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for September 7, 2015

North Carolina Fisheries Association weekly updateClick here to read the Weekly Update, to read all the updates, Click here 11:12

Army Corps withdraws Penobscot Bay dredging application – plan to dispose of contaminated spoils drew local ire

SearsportDredging091The Army Corps of Engineers withdrew on Tuesday its state permitting application for a Penobscot Bay dredging project opposed by lobstermen, tourism business owners and environmentalists. The project aims to improve and upgrade Searsport, Maine’s second-busiest port, by expanding its turning basin and deepening the approach channel from 35 to 40 feet. But the Corps’ plan for disposing of the nearly 1 million cubic yards of dredged material raised alarm bells up and down Penobscot Bay over concerns it would trigger widespread mercury contamination. Read the rest here 10:38

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Do Not Blame the Fish – Alicia Rae

The commercial fishing fleet is to “fault” for the failure of the sports fishermen, in the public mindset. They blame the commercial fleet of stealing “their” target specie, Chinook salmon. Although, they do not factor in their effect on the salmon’s population, with urbanization of the salmon’s native stream, destroying the prime environment for the maximum survival rate and harvesting of the optimal genetic material. Do not blame the fish for getting smaller and the likelihood of being able to catch one simile. The is to blame, not the commercial fleet and definitely not the fish. Read the rest here 08:06