Daily Archives: December 3, 2015
Congressman Jones demanding answers about closure of the South Atlantic red snapper fishery
Greenville, NC – Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3) is standing up for fishermen in Eastern North Carolina and throughout the Southeast and demanding answers on the National Marine Fisheries Service’s (NMFS) closure of the South Atlantic red snapper fishery to commercial and recreational harvest in 2015. The decision was announced in June of this year by the South Atlantic Regional Office of NMFS. Read the rest here 21:18
Nils Stolpe: While it’s called fishery management, it’s not even close – Managing fishing, not fish
“At the global scale, probably the one thing currently having the most impact (on the oceans) is overfishing and destructive fishing gear.” (former National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration head Jane Lubchenco in an interview on the website Takepart.com on April 7, 2010.) The Deepwater Horizon oil spill catastrophe began on April 20, less than two weeks later. Each year in the U.S. hundreds of millions of tax dollars are spent on what is called fishery management. It’s called fisheries management in the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. Read the article here 19:14
Learning the family business and beyond
Abel Stevens went out on his first lobstering trip with his father when he was just seven years old. He’s been in love with the sea ever since. At 17 years old, Stevens is now looking at his time spent on the ocean as a gateway to a future career. The Liverpool Regional High School (LRHS) student is participating in a paid work co-op through the Options and Opportunities program (O2). “Any work that has to do with (my father’s) job counts towards my co-op,” he says. Read the article here 16:01
Fish cops issue striped bass warning
Federal fishing officials are warning anglers and commercial fishermen it is illegal to catch striped bass in waters outside three miles. The ban on catching stripers is in an area called the “Exclusive Economic Zone,” or EEZ, which runs from 3 to 200 miles offshore and is under federal jurisdiction. The ban, which dates back to 1990, is not in place in state waters that are inside three miles. In recent years the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Law Enforcement has teamed up with the U.S. Coast Guard and state agencies to,,, Read the article here 15:12
For Spanish fishermen, sea’s bounty includes plastic
At sunrise in the fishing port of Villajoyosa in eastern Spain, a fleet of traditional fishing boats sets out on the Mediterranean to hunt for cuttlefish, prawns —and plastic bottles. Since July, Spanish fishing boats have been picking up plastic waste in the Mediterranean that will be recycled into polyester fibres that will be used to make a high-end clothing line. “We want to present the first fashion collection made with yarn and fabric that come from garbage found at the bottom of the sea in June in Florence,” said Javier Goyeneche,,, Read the article here 11:19
Landry appeals sentence in ‘murder-for-lobster’ case
Joseph James Landry, one of three men involved in Philip Boudreau’s 2013 “murder-for-lobster” killing in waters off Petit de Grat, will argue that his 14-year sentence for manslaughter was too harsh when a Nova Scotia Court of Appeal panel hears his appeal Jan. 22.“He wants his sentence reduced on the basis that the trial judge erred with respect to fact-finding when he imposed the sentence of 14 years,” Roger Burrill, Landry’s Halifax lawyer, said in an interview Wednesday. Read the article here 10:40
Petition: Revoke Jim Pattison’s Canfisco’s parasitic monopoly of fishing licenses
The largest salmon cannery in Canada, owned by one of Canada’s richest men, Jim Pattison — is closing its processing plant in Prince Rupert, leaving 500 people out of work. Now, workers in Prince Rupert are demanding that the federal government revoke the fishing license for Canfisco and instead give these licenses to local fishermen to create local jobs. The fish caught off the coast of BC should create jobs in local BC communities. If Canfisco won’t create these jobs, then they have lost the social license needed to keep their fishing license. Read and sign the Petion here 10:23
Vessel Day Scheme – US gives official notice to reduce fishing days
The United States is seeking to renege on an agreement it signed with the 17 member Pacific Island Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) member states, admitting it cannot afford to pay the full $89.2m deal it signed in Brisbane with Pacific Island nations. The agreement is important for American Samoa as it controls access to neighboring fishing grounds for US purse seiners that deliver to the local canneries. A statement from PNA says the US now says it cannot afford to fish in PNA waters under the Vessel Day Scheme. Read the article here 09:51
Why do some countries still hunt whale’s?
The “hacktivist” group Anonymous recently took down many Icelandic government websites, in protest at the country’s practice of . “Whales do not have a voice. We will be a voice for them. It’s time to speak out about this impending extinction of a species,,, Iceland is not the only country that still practices whaling: Norway and Japan also do so, as do a few smaller populations. This often baffles and horrifies people from elsewhere. If so many people are opposed to it, why are countries still whaling? (because they’re sustainable?) Read the article here 08:39
Dive fishermen and sea otters face complex competition – “They’re totally eating us out of house and home.”
What many Americans consider to be a cute, back-floating mammal is a pest, even a thief, to some Southeast Alaskan fishermen. Humans and sea otters enjoy consuming the same bottom-dwelling seafood: Dungeness crabs, clams, sea cucumbers and urchins. Competition between dive fishermen and sea otters for those resources has intensified as the otter population grows. Wadley has been a for 27 years. She dove for abalone until the dive fishery closed in 1996. “We had an abalone fishery here until the otters ate us out of it,” Read the article here 08:05
