Daily Archives: December 17, 2015
Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council’s Pacific Islands Fishery News!
Welcome to the Winter 2016 edition of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council’s Pacific Islands Fishery News! Click here to download the complete PDF and be sure to allow a few extra seconds for the file to upload. Our last newsletter of 2015 is dedicated to the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council’s activities in Hawai’i, one of our areas of jurisdiction. We hope that the sections on management, research and community projects will offer you a glimpse of the breadth of what we do-from conserving fishery ecosystems to promoting the livelihood of fishermen and a culture of fishing and from serving as the bridge between fishermen and the government to fulfilling our requirements.. Read it here
Press Release: The Center for Sustainable Fisheries fully supports Fishermen in lawsuit
Costs for at-sea monitors will force many fishermen out of business. The Center for Sustainable Fisheries fully supports the lawsuit filed in New Hampshire last week by Cause of Action. The Washington-based watchdog group, which focuses its attention on government overreach, is suing the federal government on behalf of our commercial fishermen in New England. The case is crystal clear. It stems from the high cost for at-sea monitors and the insistence, by NOAA’s intransigent National Marine Fisheries Service, that fishermen must now foot the bill for monitors because the agency has run out of money. Read the press release here 17:43
NOAA Office of Law Enforcement releases its first-ever Annual Report.
From tackling seafood fraud nationally to helping crack down on illegal fishing internationally, we’re here to make sure that those who obey the rules reap the benefits of fair competition and an even playing field in the market. We protect marine resources and their habitat and help safeguard the health of seafood consumers and the livelihoods of coastal communities. OLE releases its first-ever Annual Report. Read the Report here 16:34
MULTIMEDIA RELEASE: COAST GUARD RESCUES 3 FISHERMEN OFF LA PUSH, WASH.
Coast Guard personnel rescued three fishermen from a life raft after their fishing vessel sank 38-miles west of La Push, Monday. Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound received a mayday call from the crew of a 38-foot vessel Norn stating that they were taking on water at 3:11 a.m. Shortly following the call for help, watchstanders received a signal from an emergency position-indicating radio beacon registered to the vessel. The fishermen were donning their survival gear and attempting to get in their life raft at the time of the communication loss. Read the article here 15:39
It’s expensive for fishermen to participate in BOF meets
After 18-plus years of holding Alaska Board of Fisheries
meetings involving mostly Kenai and Kasilof River salmon fishing issues anywhere but near the Kenai and Kasilof Rivers, the BOF has once again voted to hold the next round of meetings, which will be held in early 2017, in Anchorage. Gov. Walker campaigned with Upper Cook Inlet commercial salmon fishermen before the election with assurances that he would do all he could to ensure the next meeting would be held on the Kenai Peninsula. Read the article here 15:09
Dover man arrested on 93 count’s in illegal crab fishing case by Fish & Wildlife police
Division of Fish & Wildlife Natural Resources Police arrested a Dover waterman Dec. 12 on 93 charges related to commercial crabbing activities in the Delaware Bay near Port Mahon. Richard Hand Jr., 38, of Dover, was charged with 20 counts each for: crabbing without a commercial crab pot license, crabbing during pot closure season, crabbing from a vessel not associated with the operator’s commercial license number and crabbing from a vessel not displaying the required color panel matching the commercial operator’s markers. Read the article here 12:45
Maine Fair Trade Lobster employees buy Christmas gifts for local kids
Using money collected from bottle and can deposits, Maine Fair Trade Lobster employees opted to buy Christmas gifts for local children rather than for each other. And then when corporate headquarters in Topsfield, Mass., heard about the initiative, it decided to match the $400 the employees had contributed. Jessica Whitaker, an administrative support person at the lobster processing plant, obtained the Santa requests from the “Angel Tree” at the Pickled Wrinkle pub in the village of Birch Harbor. Read the article here 11:10
Another ‘Shark Tank’ success story is headed to Nashville
Love seafood and reality TV? Nashville is about to get a food truck that’s right up your alley. Cousins Maine Lobster, a lobster-focused food truck company that landed a deal with Barbara Corcoran on ABC’s “Shark Tank in 2012, will soon be rolling in Nashville. Craig Betts and Quinn Raines, the local franchisees, plan to launch the first Middle Tennessee truck this April, Betts said. “It’s going to be a unique product to this market, it’s hard to find any good quality seafood here,” said Betts, a West Coast native. Read the article here 10:42
J. Goodison Co. expanding marine services business at Quonset
J. Goodison Co. will expand its marine services business onto a newly improved, waterfront site at the Quonset Business Park, and with a new mobile ship hoist, begin servicing vessels as large as barges and passenger ferries. The company has purchased for $4 million a Marine Travelift 820 C, which is . It can accommodate a range of vessels, from 60-foot boats up to 263-foot mega-yachts, as well as fishing boats and tugboats. By spring, the hoist will be incorporated into an expanded, 6-acre site for the company with direct access to Narragansett Bay. Read the article here 10:24
New Bedford: Dock-U-Mentaries Film Series continues Friday, Dec. 18, at 7 p.m., with “Iced Up & Snowed In”
The Dock-U-Mentaries Film Series continues Friday, Dec. 18, at 7 p.m., with “Iced Up & Snowed In: Winter Stories from the Working Waterfront.” Members of the local fishing community will share stories about winter-fishing, Christmas trips, blizzards and holiday parties. Industry photographers Alan Cass and Phillip Mello will present a slideshow of winter scenes. Dock-U-Mentaries is a co-production of New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park, the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center and the Working Waterfront Festival. Free Admission! Read the article here 10:06
There appears to be a problem with the Caledonian Tragedy Family Relief Fund
When tragedy struck off the coast of Vancouver Island, many people came forward to support the victims, the family’s of the fishermen, in their time of need. After receiving a call from one of them last evening, I am relaying my concerns. One of these lady’s has not received her husbands last settlement. Her lights are about to be shut off. It seems that two of these lady’s have not received any of the funds from this fundraiser, which appears to have expired when clicking on the link. Link to the post is here, and it has the link attached to You Caring site. Inquiry’s will be made. 09:29
YEAR IN REVIEW: Federal agenda dominated by halibut bycatch concerns
Halibut 
dominated the federal fisheries process in 2015, with each sector fighting over reduced allocations. Directed halibut fishermen in the North Pacific have watched their quotas drop while the trawl industry prosecuting Bering Sea groundfish has had a relatively static bycatch limit for 20 years. The North Pacific Fishery Management Council governs bycatch while the International Pacific Halibut Commission governs directed removals, and the two have not coordinated on the decline in harvestable halibut biomass. Read the article here 08:38
Willapa Bay gillnetters lock horns with state over Salmon Fishing Policy
Drought hit Willapa Bay salmon runs hard this year while questions remain about how a new commercial salmon fishing policy affects local fishermen. At a recent meeting at Naselle High School, representatives from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife expected to field questions regarding the die-off of approximately 10,000 salmon below the Naselle Hatchery due to low stream flow and other drought-related factors this fall. Instead, they spent most of the time hearing concerns from commercial gillnet fishermen living on both sides of the Columbia River regarding the salmon fishing policy that went into effect earlier this year. Read the article here 08:09
