Daily Archives: March 26, 2016
The Cover Up Of The Texas American Eel – Part Two by Jason Fregia
Early this year I started a petition to have the Texas American Eel put on the Commercial Fishing list here in Texas after Texas and Parks and Wildlife would not allow me to Petition the for a rule change.allow me to Petition the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission for a rule change. They actually denied me before even filing the Petition with the commission when I was asking how, so I could file. The Petition Clause protects the Right to Petition all branches and agencies of Government for action. They consider my asking how as my actual petition which was clearly a violation of my civil rights, The First Amendment to the United States Constitution states. Read the rest here 21:46
Bristol Bay fishermen prepare for quality mandates
The coming mandate for higher quality fish deliveries in Bristol Bay could be particularly difficult for watershed residents, but some have said it could also be good news in the long term. At least one Bristol Bay processor, Icicle Seafoods, has told fishermen that they’ll stop buying dry fish in a few years after phasing in quality requirements, and more are expected to follow. Right now, the decision to ice or not is left to individual fishermen. Incentives help encourage chilling fish, but an individual can try to catch more fish to make up the price difference, and different fishermen make different choices. A quality mandate by even one processor will shift that, although fishermen may still have a range of options, from icing with slush bags or insulated holds, Read the rest here 12:33
Report suggests snow crab in decline
Jamie Rose hopes the numbers are as wrong as he thinks they are. That was the St. Anthony fisherman’s reaction to a snow crab report that was recently released by the Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat. The annual report examined fishing areas 2HJ3KLNOP4R and it paints a bleak future for the upcoming season. The index-based report suggests exploitable biomass – large male crab – has declined to its lowest observed level in the last two decades of study, dropping from a highpoint of nearly 70 in the mid-‘90s to a all time low of around 10. Recruitment appears to have bottomed out. The index level is sitting around three points, which dropped from around 15 over the last five years. Read the rest here 11:26
Price, and not crab, on the table: Buyers, commercial fishermen discussing rates
Crab pots were set off the coast of Pillar Point Harbor near Half Moon Bay Friday and will be offered to buyers seeking to determine how much meat the crustaceans will yield, said Jim Anderson, a crabber and member of the state’s Dungeness Crab Task Force. With forecasts predicting poor ocean conditions for this weekend’s kickoff to an abnormally short season, Anderson said the annual process of determining how meaty the crab are isn’t expected to set fishermen back too far. “On Monday they’ll have an understanding of what the crab looks like and then set the price. Then sometime shortly thereafter we’ll go fishing,” Anderson said. “We always do this to give them some kind of idea of what the value of the crab is. We waited this long, we surely don’t want to go harvest bad crab for the consumer.” Read the article here 08:45
Prosecutors get extension of deadline to indict New Bedford fishing magnate Carlos Rafael
Prosecutors have received an extension of the deadline to indict local fishing magnate Carlos Rafael, a U.S. District Court spokesperson confirmed Friday. The length of the deadline’s extension was not disclosed. Rafael, 63, was arrested Feb. 26 on charges of conspiracy and submitting falsified records to the government, after federal authorities raided the building on New Bedford’s waterfront. He was released March 2 on a $1 million bond, with conditions including a monitoring bracelet and nightly curfew at his Dartmouth home. Read the story here 07:29
