Daily Archives: March 24, 2016
Nova Scotia to enforce mandatory life-jacket rules for fishermen
Officials with Nova Scotia’s Labour Department will be hitting wharves and docks in 2016 to remind commercial fishermen that wearing a life-jacket at sea is the law in this province. “We are going to be seeing what the compliance level is and offering advice as to what they should wear, showing them the products that are out for personal floatation devices and let them know about our regulations,” said Tom LeBlanc, the department’s northern regional director. The campaign will start on the Northumberland Strait and western Cape Breton. Read the rest here 19:53
Crab fishing – handling and releasing wolffish
Crab fishermen! Wolffish are at risk. You can contribute to their recovery. If you catch some by accident, handle them carefully and release them as quickly as possible. 17:43
Victoria Co. snow crab fishermen could be hit hardest by quota cuts
Snow crab fishermen in the waters off Cape Breton are preparing for a leaner season this year, with quota cuts approved or proposed in both the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Atlantic Ocean. While most fishermen know the fishery is cyclical and they need to take fewer crab when the stock is low, those in Crab Fishing Areas 20 to 22 – which covers the Atlantic side of the island, along the Cabot Trail from Glace Bay to Bay St. Lawrence – are facing a steep cut that could be as high as 45 per cent. What’s more, the subsea cable for the Maritime Link,, Read the article here 17:14
That Sinking Feeling – The effort to keep Humboldt Bay’s derelict boats from going under
The sinking of the Dennis Gayle is a success story, perhaps not to boatmakers or historians, but to the people and creatures that call Humboldt Bay home. On the morning of Feb. 28, someone at the Humboldt Bay Forest Products Dock in Fields Landing noticed the Dennis Gayle, which had been moored there for years, was gone. The wood-hulled ship, a repurposed Naval vessel that was once the last boat to whale out of Humboldt Bay before the practice was banned in the 1970s, was lying at the bottom of the bay. No one yet knows exactly why it sank — a sprung plank in the hull is everyone’s best guess — but it didn’t surprise anyone. The Dennis Gayle had been ready to go underwater for years. Read the rest here 15:17
An assortment of today’s offshore energy article’s, titles, and links – Are you losing your grounds?
New York – A Commitment To Wind Energy – Click here Martha’s Vineyard – DONG Energy meets and greets Islanders – Click here New Jersey – Fishermen’s Energy Ocean Wind Project Tries Again for Governor’s Approval – Click here New York – Interior Department designates area 11 miles off Long Beach coast – Click here California – US Considers 800-MW Floating Wind Farm in California – Click here Bay of Fundy – Fundy tidal energy study to look at seabirds, lobster, acoustic environment – Click here Yarmouth, N.S. – Developers of proposed wind power project off Yarmouth will consult with fisheries, others, company says – Click here 14:51
New Quota Closes Norton Sound Commercial Crab Fishery
Norton Sound’s commercial crab fishery closed Thursday. In the first season shortened by a new quota, winter fishermen harvested the allowed 41,376 pounds of red king crab in just over a month. Jim Menard is the area manager for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. He said the Board of Fisheries imposed the new quota to better balance the winter and summer crab catches. The quota shrunk the winter season by several months and cut the harvest by more than half, compared to last year’s record-breaking haul. Still, Menard said commercial crabbers have had a lucrative winter. Read the rest here 13:57
Togiak fisherman ordered to pay $25,000 for 2015 violations
A Togiak man has pleaded guilty to fishing in a closed period and failing to register in the district. Kevin Harless, 53, a repeat offender, has been ordered to pay $25,000 for the violations. The F/V Good Deal still sits in the state trooper yard in Dillingham where it was impounded last summer. On July 2, Kevin Harless was caught salmon fishing nearly a nautical mile south of the Togiak River Section line, and he was not registered to fish in the Togiak District either. Law enforcement pounced, seized his vessel, and ended his season. Audio, Read the rest here 12:54
As fish farming grows, so does pollution from farming crops for fish feed, study suggests
In an effort to make fish farming more sustainable, the aquaculture industry has been cutting back on feed made of other fish and replacing it with plant-based alternatives. But a new study warns that may make the fish less healthy to eat and have negative impacts on the environment. Many fish species that are farmed, including Atlantic salmon, the most farmed fish in Canada, are carnivores that eat feed traditionally based on fish meal and fish oil. Environmental advocates such as Greenpeace have criticized the practice as unsustainable, as wild fish that could be used to feed people or maintain wild populations need to be caught in order to produce the fish food. Read the rest here 10:20
Green light stops sea turtle deaths in gillnets
Illuminating fishing nets is a cost-effective means of dramatically reducing the number of sea turtles getting caught and dying unnecessarily, conservation biologists at the University of Exeter have found. Dr Jeffrey Mangel, a Darwin Initiative research fellow based in Peru, and Professor Brendan Godley, from the Centre for Ecology and Conservation at the University’s Penryn Campus, were part of a team of researchers who found that attaching green battery-powered light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to gillnets used by a small-scale fishery reduced the number of green turtle deaths by 64 per cent, without reducing the intended catch of fish. It is the first time that lighting technology has been trialled in a working fishery. At a cost of £1.40 ($2) for each LED light, the research showed that the cost of saving one turtle was £24 ($34) – a sum which would be reduced if the method was rolled out at larger scale. Read the rest here 08:57
Vision for New Bedford’s waterfront focuses on fishing, revamped State Pier
Expanding the scope of New Bedford’s commercial fishing industry — and showcasing it with greater public access on a revitalized, multi-use State Pier — are key components of a detailed vision for the city’s entire waterfront outlined in a report that culminates an 18-month planning process and looks decades into the future. Boston consultants Sasaki Associates focus on three waterfront sections: northern, roughly from the Whale’s Tooth parking lot to I-195; central, roughly from Route 6 into the NStar site of a failed casino bid, now used by Sprague Oil and Eversource Energy; and southern, primarily involving the Marine Commerce Terminal and surrounding parcels. Read the rest here 08:22
Coast Guard suspends search for fishing boat skipper
Coast Guard officials say the search for a captain who disappeared when a boat with a load of fish overturned has been suspended. The search ended at 7 p.m. Wednesday after 11 hours. Coast Guard spokeswoman Rachel Steiner said the Patty AJ capsized Wednesday while making a turn in the channel of Coos Bay. Three of the four people aboard the vessel reached safety while a Coast Guard helicopter, two boats and a dive squad scrambled to find the captain. Read the rest here 07:38
