Daily Archives: August 2, 2016
Fisherman take a battering as sea bass to be taken off menus to save fish from extinction
The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), the global advisory body on sustainable use of oceans, has advised the British Government there should be “zero catch” of sea bass in British waters around England, Wales and the Irish Sea in 2017. This includes both commercial and recreational fishing. A study by the council revealed sea bass stocks were at a high in 2010 but have been rapidly declining since then due to over-fishing and a subsequent reduction in reproduction. The EU has been making efforts to stop the decline of sea bass since the beginning of 2015 by banning deep sea trawling for the first three months of the year when the fish are in spawning season in the Channel, the Celtic Sea, Irish Sea and southern North Sea. Read the rest here 18:57
NOAA/NMFS Considers Moving Trawl Surveys to Fishing Vessels
NOAA Fisheries is initiating a planning process to support its intention to transition part or all of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s spring and fall bottom trawl surveys from the NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow to fishing industry vessels provided that survey data collection quality and time series integrity can be maintained. “The bottom trawl survey is perhaps the most valuable ecological data set that we maintain at the Center,” said Bill Karp, the center’s director. “Those data are critical for many of the fishery stock assessments in the region and are mined by a wide variety of researchers for other purposes. By sharing the responsibility for gathering these data with the fishing industry, I think there will also come greater shared confidence in the results obtained using them.” Read the rest here 17:12
“Delusions of a Mad Man”. The story of Harvey Haddock, a fisherman who finally had enough and decided to do something about it
READ THIS! “Delusions of a Mad Man”. Excerpted from a novel in progress by Jim Lovgren. Harvey Haddock cursed his father, why did he have to be a commercial fisherman? He could have been anything, a doctor, lawyer, porno star, anything but a damn commercial fisherman. He knew it was wrong to curse his father, but his rage needed an outlet and since his problems started with his career choice, his anger naturally returned to its birthplace. His father was a fisherman, and so was his grandfather, brother, and uncles, it seemed like everybody in his family at some time was a fisherman, probably going all the way back to Sweden where his ancestors had originated. The difference was that in other countries, and even in America until a few years ago, Commercial fisherman were respected as the hard working food providers that they were, but somehow something went wrong in America. Read the story here 16:05
Transportation Safety Board releases findings on Placentia Bay crab fishing deaths
The Transportation Safety Board says a modified boat, poor communications and the failure to wear life jackets all likely contributed to a boating accident in Placentia Bay last year where three men died while fishing crab. Their bodies were found in June 2015, after it was believed their boat capsized in strong winds. None of the men were wearing life jackets. As there were no witnesses or survivors, the TSB said it can’t say with certainty what happened, but pointed to key risk factors. Notably, the board said the boat owner hadn’t been using his regular crab-fishing vessel — he was using a smaller, 7.1-metre open boat he “hastily” modified for the job. The report said he was under pressure to fish, as he hadn’t caught any of his quota two weeks before the end of the fishing season. His main boat was being repaired and taking longer than expected; he couldn’t use the vessel licensed to his wife as it could only be used to fish her quota, the report said. Read the rest here 15:06
Animal Rights Crusaders Crash Brooklyn Lobster Party To Protest Crustacean ‘Torture’
An animal rights group barged into a lobster boil party in Brooklyn yesterday, shouting, holding signs, climbing on tables and dousing one another in “blood.” Collectively Free, the group behind yesterday’s demonstration, crashed The Great Brooklyn Lobster Boil at The Landing at Industry City—a $60 per ticket event featuring lobsters cooked on-site—calling out the event for “speciesism” and “lobster torture.” Chanting “Her whole life, your one meal, lobsters feel, lobsters feel” and “If you want to get some peace, let the lobster torture cease,” over two dozen protestors acted out the moments of the lobster’s death, screaming and, confusingly, pouring blood on each other. As security attempted to corral the group, one member climbed on a table where people were eating, eventually getting pulled down. It’s unclear whether the person who pulled the protestor down was affiliated with Industry City or one of the many surprised, bib-clad patrons attending the event. Watch the video, read the rest here 11:28
Blue Harvest Fisheries Acquires Hygrade Ocean Products
Blue Harvest Fisheries, LLC has today announced the acquisition of Hygrade Ocean Products Inc. Hygrade is a New Bedford, Massachusetts, based processor and distributor of scallops, cod, and other premium fish products. By virtue of the acquisition, Blue Harvest will begin marketing and distributing Company-landed scallops, bluefin tuna, and swordfish directly to customers. With operations in Newport News, Virginia, and Fairhaven, Massachusetts, Blue Harvest owns a fleet of 15 scallop vessels and is an active participant in the bluefin tuna and swordfish fisheries. “By vertically integrating, Blue Harvest can now provide its customers with greater product traceability, quality assurance, and variety,” said Mr. Jeff Davis, CEO of Blue Harvest. He continued by saying, “The acquisition of Hygrade is consistent with our strategy of building a vertically integrated premium seafood company.” Read the rest here 10:09
WWF-Canada report says Canadian forage fish are in trouble
A new WWF-Canada report says Canadian forage fish are in trouble and more needs to be done to protect the small marine species. The conservation group says the report looked at 27 fisheries and found that three fisheries in Atlantic Canada are in critical condition, including two herring stocks in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The report also said the status of stocks was unknown in 75 per cent of the fisheries, including all capelin fisheries and all the fisheries in British Columbia. It says in all cases, fisheries management does not sufficiently account for predator needs. The group says forage fish are a vitally important food source for predators such as whales and seabirds, and are also critical to the recovery of commercial fisheries such as northern cod. It says more needs to be done to protect forage fish, including gathering adequate data about stocks to inform fisheries management decisions. Link WWF-Canada warns that small fish are in big trouble Link 09:40
Supplier takes heat for Price Chopper’s illegally small lobsters
A New England seafood supplier said it deserves the blame for unlawful lobsters being sold by Price Chopper. The Department of Environmental Conservation on Tuesday seized 1,100 pounds of lobster from two Price Chopper supermarkets and a company distribution center after it found illegally small lobsters at stores in Binghamton. “It’s important for people to understand that Price Chopper didn’t knowingly accept short length lobsters from us,” said Dave Madden, an owner of Lobster Trap, a distributor from Cape Cod, Mass. “We delivered them in error.” New York enacted the size restrictions to prevent overfishing, but Lobster Trap said most other Northeastern states are not as strict. That led company workers to mistakenly mix smaller lobsters into the shipment bound for New York. Link 09:12
The abandoned Irish Piper did not go quietly. But go it did!
The 41-foot wooden boat, one of the more infamous vessels in Gloucester because of its previous owners’ penchant for abandoning it at various boat yards and dockages, had its own Irish wake Monday when the city cut up the boat at Rose Marine and disposed of it. The city had recovered the boat Saturday from about 37 feet of water in the southeast harbor where it sank Thursday. The Piper, however, did not give up all its secrets as it went to its final demise — most significantly, who legally owned the boat and abandoned it on the Gloucester Harbor mooring for nearly a month this summer.”That’s a little murky,” said Gloucester Harbormaster T.J. Ciarametaro on Monday afternoon.” All we know is some guy bought it at auction, but we haven’t been able to track down exactly who. We’ve got several possible names, but we’re not sure yet exactly who owned it, so I don’t want to start naming anybody without knowing for sure. Read the story here 08:21
