Daily Archives: April 19, 2016
CCA is telling fish tales about Omega Protein
On April 2, the Sun Herald published an op-ed from the spokesman of the Coastal Conservation Association — Mississippi, F.J. Eicke (“A most important fish raises need for public scrutiny”), that was filled with more holes than a fisherman’s net. Sadly, time and time again, Mr. Eicke has demonstrated dismissiveness toward sustainable fisheries and the hardworking men and women of Mississippi’s commercial fishing industry. A major contention offered by Mr. Eicke is that Mississippi’s resident menhaden stock is troubled. This statement is 100 percent incorrect and is little more than a scare tactic. There is no such thing as “Mississippi menhaden.” Due to their very nature — their biology and habitat — menhaden are a Coastwide migratory species, which is why menhaden stock assessments are conducted on a Coastwide basis. Read the rest here 21:47
Fishermen Need to Know – 10 Day comment period April 16-26 – Nature Conservancy EM project
NOAA and it’s environmental partners are bound and determined to force paid monitoring and eventually EMS on the fishermen. The last EMS study that was delayed and delayed so that NOAA’s partners could put out misinformation about about costs. And still when the report did come out it substantially underestimates costs by assuming the average groundfish trip is 1.5 days when in reality my sector’s average trip is 6-10 days. 4 to 7 times greater in duration. It underestimates number of hauls by claiming average trip has 5 haul backs, when in reality we are looking at 40-60 hauls per trip, an underestimation by a factor of 10. Even at these severe underestimations the report puts EM start up costs at $59,575 plus an average annual cost of $50,619 plus an estimated first year learning fee of $42,684 for a total of an estimated first year cost of $152,878. 15 to 25 percent of a groundfish boat’s GROSS income! That doesn’t even take into account the underestimation by a factor of 4-10 of groundfish trip effort. (GMRI A Preliminary Cost Comparison of At Sea Monitoring and Electronic Monitoring for a Hypothetical Groundfish Sector) Captain Mark Phillips – Read the Nature Conservancy EM project application click here Federal Register Notice; Request For Comments. click here 20:02Mississippi Commission on Marine Resources denies request for 1-mile menhaden fishing limit
The Mississippi Commission on Marine Resources denied Jackson County’s request to limit menhaden fishing to at least a mile off the county’s mainland. The vote was unanimous and came after the commission listened to arguments from both sides of the issue. On March 7, the Jackson County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 to ask the state to limit menhaden boats to 1 mile offshore. The move would have closed 22 square miles of the Sound to commercial fishing by the company Omega Protein of Moss Point. Both the Coastal Conservation Association and Omega Protein went before the CMR. In the final vote, it came down to science and concern for industry. Read the article here 19:23
Michael Gove mercilessly mocked over embarrassing fishy cock-up
Michael Gove was left red-faced after he said fishing was “very close to my heart” – but then blundered over the names of two major ports. The Brexit backing Justice Secretary was having a pop at the EU’s common fisheries policy. He blames the rules for the collapse of his father’s business as a fish merchant in Aberdeen. But he stumbled over the names of two Scottish ports – referring to Peterborough and Fraserhead rather than Fraserburgh and Peterhead. Of course, the internet was merciless in its mockery. Read the rest here 18:29
Snow Crab season opens Friday for Area 12, Fishermen expect a strong price.
ALBERTON — Carter Hutt anticipates there will be a drive on Wednesday morning to get crab boats ready for a season which is scheduled to get underway on Friday. Hutt is president of the 27-member P.E.I. Snow crab Association. He learned soon after a Tuesday afternoon conference call with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans that fishermen on the call agreed unanimously to have the snow crab season for Area 12, which includes P.E.I. boats, commence at 4 a.m. Friday. The opening, however, remains dependent upon favourable ice and wind conditions. Even before the conference call, Hutt was optimistic the season would start Friday. Read the rest here 17:52
Division of Coastal Management director now Division of Marine Fisheries director as well
State environmental department Secretary Dr. Donald van der Vaart today named , director of the state Division of Coastal Management, to lead the state’s Division of Marine Fisheries effective immediately. For the immediate future, the divisions will remain separate entities housed under the state’s environmental agency, and Mr. Davis will lead both divisions as director. The department intends to examine ways in which the two divisions can achieve efficiencies in operations. Braxton’s knowledge of state and national coastal issues, and his experience as director of our coastal management division, made him the perfect choice to lead both groups,” said Dr. van der Vaart. Read the rest here 14:03
Live 3D data streaming – new Simrad visualisation SW unveiled in Vigo
Kongsberg Maritime has unveiled an advanced new technology platform at the ICES Working Group on Fisheries Acoustics, Science and Technology (WGFAST) in Vigo today (19th April), which enables live streaming of 3D data generated by scientific multibeam systems. The unique, new Simrad TD50 data visualisation software is currently operational with the Simrad ME70 scientific multibeam echo sounder, with plans to enable 3D data streaming from a wider range of Simrad acoustic systems in the future. Accurate 3D visualisation gives users a better understanding of the marine ecosystem by i.e. enabling precise measurement of schools of fish rather than estimating size and shapes based on models.Video, read the rest here 12:33
Scallop fishermen poised for fight over shellfish, fishermen and regulators to meet Wednesday
Scallop fishing has increased dramatically off some parts of New England recently, and 
will soon meet to discuss how to avoid overexploiting the valuable shellfish. The concern over scallop fishing centers on the northern Gulf of Maine, a management area that stretches roughly from the waters off of Boston to the Canadian border. Scallop grounds off of northern Massachusetts have been especially fertile, prompting increased fishing in that area. The New England Fishery Management Council, a regulatory arm of the federal government, will hold a public meeting about the issue Wednesday (links here)and decide how to proceed. Alex Todd, a Maine-based fisherman who fishes off of Gloucester, Massachusetts, said he and others feel the rules are not equal. Read the rest here 11:46
Its all about the Quality! Maine lobstermen learn quality improvement
Lobstermen gathered at Kennebunk Elementary School Monday morning for a workshop on improving quality and profitability of the lobsters they harvest. The “Lobster Quality Tour” is a series of workshops put on by the Maine Lobstermen’s Association. Lobster health expert Dr. Jean Lavallee spoke on a variety of topics including lobster biology and the stressors that lobsters encounter during the harvest and points thereafter. “We’re just trying to make them more aware from a lobster’s perspective,” said Dr. Lavallee. Dr. Lavallee said a lobster takes a unique recovery from a stressor. Immediately, the lobster enters the alarm phase, then the reaction phase, followed by the resistance phase, then the exhaustion phase, and then death. Video, Read the rest here 11:27
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for April 18, 2016
Click here to read the Weekly Update, to read all the updates, Click here 10:33
Op-ed: Bring more electronic monitoring to fishery
In the sustainable fisheries conference held at Rhode Island College last week, audience members were asked various demographic and opinion questions about the ocean, fisheries, and management that were tabulated and presented on the spot. Unscientific, yes, but very interesting.,, We would like to see electronic monitoring pursued more aggressively, as we consider it superior to human monitors in terms of cost, efficiency and interaction with crew. We believe it will play a part in the ultimate goal of providing a consistent source of reliable data to better achieve the conservation and economic goals of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Read the op-ed here 08:16
Deepwater Wind Farm project and delays are negatively affecting fishermen
National Grid to ask for extension – Won’t impact overall project schedule! Click here That’s the problem. It won’t hurt the project, but it is affecting the fishermen. One of them contacted us, and is wild that the project has a barge and tug planted in the area he was planning on working. The project has had major impacts on fishermen, such as, the run through RI’s historic Black Point fish trap click here which essentially forced the guy to settle, and now they are running behind on land and with cable laying. After repeated promises that there would be no exclusion zone around the towers after last summer (which also needed to be extended a month and a half for which fishermen went uncompensated), the Coast Guard has now enacted another exclusion zone for which DWW says it will not compensate fishermen. Also, they have refused to compensate fishermen for the pre cable laying grapnel runs and cable installations, which, if they follow their patterns of delay and incompetence, will also hurt the industry. 07:16
Import Alert! Barriers go up against shrimp and prawns from Malaysia
American consumers are scooping up more shrimp than ever at lower prices, but it is not all good news because some aquaculture-grown shrimp and prawns from Malaysia contain residues from unapproved animal drugs and unsafe food additives. The combination of the huge consumer demand in the U.S and the growing potential for unsafe product getting into the country caused the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to issue an import alert yesterday on Malaysian shrimp and prawns. An import alert means border agents will detain a food product without physical inspection. Read the rest here 05:44
