Daily Archives: January 3, 2017

California court case could disrupt WDFW Wild Future Initiative

A decision made in a California court case may change the trajectory of a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife initiative that would raise fees for resident commercial fishers and lower the fees for non-residents. Last December the U.S. 9th District Court of Appeals determined that California’s nonresident fee differential for numerous commercial fishing permits, licenses and vessel registration was constitutional. A group of out of state fishers challenged California differentiating between resident and non-resident fishers under the Privileges and Immunities Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution. So what does the decision mean in Washington State? Well, the California lawsuit was the premise for the WDFW Wild Future initiative, which would essentially not differentiate fees for resident and non-resident commercial fishers, something the WDFW has called “equalizing the fees.” Read the article here 20:47

North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for January 2, 2017

Click here to read the Weekly Update, to read all the updates, Click here 18:42

Department of Energy Pulls the Funding Plug from Fishermen’s Energy Wind Project

The U.S. Department of Energy says Fishermen’s Energy failed to meet a Dec. 31 deadline to have a power purchase agreement in place. The department is revoking most of the $47 million in funding it pledged to the project in 2014; about $10.6 million has been spent already on preliminary work. In a written statement to The Associated Press on Tuesday, the energy department said the Atlantic City project missed a key deadline. “Under the Energy Department’s award, Fishermen’s Energy must have secured a power offtake agreement by December 31 to be eligible for another round of funding,” the department said. “The criteria were not met by that date, so we have initiated the close-out process for the project.” Company CEO Chris Wissemann said Fishermen’s Energy hopes a last-ditch effort to secure a power deal will succeed. Read the story here 17:59

Most southwest Nova Scotia beaches now clear of dead herring, latest round of tests find no viruses

Fisheries officials say the flood of dead herring washing up on southwest Nova Scotia beaches has slowed. Fisheries and Oceans Canada says it is monitoring for “evidence of new incidents” in areas where thousands of dead herring have been found since November, and more recently scores of starfish, clams and lobster. Read the story here Meanwhile, The latest round of tests from fish kills in southwest Nova Scotia have not found any viruses. “The viral tests, the long-term ones we were waiting for, all of them came back negative,” said David Jennings, a spokesman for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in Halifax. Jennings said recent patrols confirm most beaches from Tusket in Yarmouth County around to inner St. Marys Bay are clear of dead herring. The majority of those that remain on shore are located from the mouth of the Sissiboo River to the Plympton area, he said. “We have a few new wash-ups of herring being identified, but not to the extent reported [on] earlier.” Read the story here 17:28

Video: Crew catches 16-foot “monster” great white shark off Hilton Head Island

Chip Michalove has been obsessed with sharks since he was 5 years old. So, it’s no surprise he grew up to become a charter fisherman. For the past 17 years, Michalove, the owner and captain of Outcast Sport Fishing on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, has helped tag hundreds of sharks — mainly tiger sharks. But he hoped to one day fulfill his lifelong dream: to catch a great white in the Atlantic Ocean. On New Year’s Eve, Michalove’s dream came true in a big way. The fisherman hooked a 16-foot female great white shark. Video, read the story here 16:02

“What is the price people paid to become a crab fishermen?” – Film maker seeks to preserve Kodiak King Crab History

Matt Stevens is a man on a mission. Born and raised on Kodiak Island in the late 70’s, he has grown up hearing the stories of Kodiak back in the day. A time when men and women journeyed from afar to get a piece of the legendary boomtown. What Stevens wants to know is, “What is the price people paid to become a crab fishermen,” and their stories that came with it. “I have heard so many stories of all these unique people during that time, and it was such a unique era that it would be great to know more about it.  I’m working on collectively gathering the history of commercial fishermen and women in the Kodiak era between the 60’s all the way through the 80’s. Essentially the king crab boom of its day and the stories and history related to that time.” Stevens feels that it is an epic time built on personal experience and memories. A dying history that needs to be preserved before it is too late. Read the story here, and by all means, contribute! 12:49

Bait warehouse planned for Route 1 in Thomaston Maine

A Canadian man has plans to build a bait storage facility on Route 1 near the town line with Warren. The facility would be run by Jamie Steeves of J&J Lobster in Rockland, who said he was a longtime business partner of François Benoit of New Brunswick. Benoit owns the lot where the bait warehouse would be built, but Steeves said the warehouse was his project alone. Neither Steeves nor Benoit could be reached for additional comment, but, according to Thomaston Code Enforcement Officer William Wasson, the facility would hold frozen lobster bait that Steeves would sell. The Thomaston Planning Board approved the conditional use of the property Dec. 20 for fish and shellfish loading, processing, depuration and storage and conducted a site walk of the lot Dec. 23. According to the minutes from the site walk Dec. 23, the plan includes a single 40-by-100-square-foot building that will be maintained at subzero temperatures. Read the story here 11:37

Air Freight plan would see lobsters expressed to China

Shelburne-based First Catch Fisheries​’ parent company is chartering a​ cargo plane to fly lobsters directly to China from Halifax to break through a logistical bottleneck. Fishing Forever, the China-based parent of the Nova Scotia lobster company, is slated to load up a Boeing 747 with the crusty crustaceans on Jan. 7​ to get them to that Asian market faster, Tony Shi, the company’s vice-president, said in an interview. “It will take off from Halifax, stop in Anchorage, Alaska for fuel . . . (and land in) Zhengzhou in central China,” Shi said in an interview. There are then to be two more flights, on Jan. 14 and Jan. 21, ahead of the Chinese New Year during ​which the Chinese typically celebrate with elaborate feasts, and then three other flights in the month to follow. Read the story here 11:11

Nova Scotia: High winds and rough seas hampers fishing in first weeks of lobster season

High winds and rough seas hampered fishing efforts during the opening three weeks of the commercial lobster along the south shore, negatively impacting landings and driving up the shore price to $7 leading up to Christmas Day. “Catches are way down,” said Clark’s Harbour buyer Gary Blades, C&R Blades Ltd. as he watched lobster fishing boats returning to port on Dec. 20, after almost a week of sitting idle due to the weather. “There’s no comparison to last year,” said Blades, when fine weather prevailed throughout December, enabling fishing boats to get out and check their gear almost every day. All is not gloom however, says Lockeport buyer Mike Cotter, Cotter’s Ocean Products. “Things are moving. Lobsters are selling,” he said. “The price is at $7 so fishermen are pretty happy with that. There’s been no tragedies. No one is going to be stuck with any great volume on land, which is good. Read the story here 08:53

Thought to be the oldest Maine-built fishing vessel that’s still sailing, Schooner Mary E is coming home for good

A little more than 110 years after the schooner Mary E was launched here on the Kennebec River, the oldest Bath-built wooden vessel known to be still afloat will soon return home for good. The Maine Maritime Museum is set to acquire the Mary E, a two-masted clipper built by shipwright Thomas E. Hagan in 1906, later this month from its current owner, Matt Culen of Pelham, New York. The pending purchase of the Mary E – also thought to be the oldest Maine-built fishing vessel that’s still sailing – will fulfill the museum’s long-standing goal to acquire a large, locally built sailing ship to top its collection of more than 100 smaller vessels. It also will be the second time that the Mary E comes home for repairs – the first was after the boat sank during a Thanksgiving Day hurricane in 1963 in Lynn Harbor, Massachusetts. Read the story here 08:12