Daily Archives: June 6, 2017

The first ever major UN Oceans Conference is underway though it is about oceans in name only.

Everything at the conference about the oceans comes within the context of the overlords of lands. Lofty statements call for more rules and with those rules more soldiers to rule over the oceans. It is as if the delegates watched nothing but swash buckling pirate movies their whole lives. Someone must speak for the oceans that need our help to restore them to historic health and abundance. If you gaze upon the two images of this planet above you will see one image shows the common view where land is prominent. The other image is more accurate as this blue planet is 72% oceans. Even of the 28% that is land barely half of that is free of ice and capable of harbouring life. June 5-9 is the UN Ocean Conference, the high-level United Nations Conference to support the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development. Read the article here 22:12

Trump Can Save Atlantic Fishing Industry by Reversing Obama Order

First and foremost, I love my country. I voted for President Trump and I believe he is doing an excellent job for this great nation. I salute him for getting out of the mess known as the Paris Environmental Accord, but when it comes to saltwater issues greatly effecting the American public, President Trump gets an “F” for his missed opportunities. Obama used a 1916 loophole called the Antiquities Act. He roped off an area the size of Connecticut to abolish commercial fishing.,,, This 5,000 square mile area is rich in lobster, crab, squid, swordfish, tuna, and other high-demand seafood. The Hudson Canyon, right off New York City, is still in nomination for further sanctuary inventory and is in initiation of the nomination process. If Trump does not move to suppress, cancel, or obliterate the current national park, commercial and recreational fishermen will see a devastation of their businesses and their sport. click here to read the op-ed 13:57

Meet the skippers of Fishermen’s Terminal

The boats in the commercial fishing fleet at Fishermen’s Terminal range from 30 to 250 feet long, depending on the type of gear used. Think trawlers, gillnetters, purse seiners, longliners and pots. Although most skippers set sail in the spring (and return late summer or fall), preparation for the season starts several weeks or months ahead of time. Michael Offerman, 40, from Edmonds, starts thinking about the fall and winter projects he needs to tackle on his 69–foot boat, Kristiana, while out at sea during the summer. Typical post-season touch-ups include painting, remodeling and electrical and mechanical tweaks, followed by a thorough inspection. click here to read the story 13:02

FISH-NL to Government of Canada – Stop stringing along harvesters impacted by severe ice conditions

The Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador (FISH-NL) is calling on the Government of Canada to stop stringing along the province’s inshore harvesters and start making decisions regarding help for those impacted this year by severe ice conditions. “This delay by the Government of Canada is a form of mental torture,” says Ryan Cleary, President of FISH-NL. “Harvesters are continually told a decision will come soon, a decision will come tomorrow, but tomorrow never comes. Meantime, harvesters, their families, and rural communities are suffering.” click here to read the press release 11:07

American Lobster Settlement Index | Update 2016

Just as US and Canadian lobster landings seem to be breaking all the records, settlement has been dipping to all-time lows. The disconnect is causing a lot of people to scratch their heads. Harvests on both sides of the border have sustained an almost uninterrupted surge in abundance for more than a decade. By 2015, US harvests had nearly doubled since 2003, and since 2000 for Canada, making for a combined volume of 157 thousand metric tons (346 million lbs) with a value of $US1.48 billion. Fishery independent state and federal surveys leave no doubt  that there have been real and dramatic increases in abundance.  While the 2016 landings are still being tallied, if Maine’s impressive performance is any indication (Maine harvests about 80% of the US share), 2016 is likely to go down as another banner year both in volume and value. By all indications, the reproductive output of the American lobster population should be greater than ever, but for some reason it does not seem to be translating into record breaking settlement.  click here to read the report 10:45

Meet Brendan Taylor, one of Foodstuffs’ ‘best’ commercial fishermen

He’s a top commercial fisherman who lives in south Auckland and works from a boat he built with his own hands. Brendan Taylor runs a business based in Manurewa that sees him catch and supply fresh fish to supermarket company Foodstuffs. He spent his childhood fishing for flounder with a small net on the Manukau Harbour.,,, Foodstuffs head of seafood David Jose says many people have the perception commercial fishing companies are “huge industrial operations” with large boats that trawl oceans. That’s not the case in New Zealand though, as he describes Taylor as one of the company’s best commercial fishermen. Video, click here to read the story 10:17

Mystery of world’s worst toxic algal blooms solved: Cold water upswells from the deeper ocean

The most deadly algal blooms have extremely high levels of the neurotoxin domoic acid, which causes paralytic food poisoning and in rare cases amnesia or death if people eat contaminated shellfish. Scientists now think they have discovered why such blooms happen. It was previously thought that a pocket of warm water, known as a ‘warm blob’, was to blame. A study in Geophysical Research Letters has now identified that in fact upwelling of cold water from the deep oceans was responsible. click here to read the story 09:31

Too many pink salmon in Kachemak Bay?

Tucked into a narrow fjord on the south side of Kachemak Bay is a small lagoon, 700 feet wide, and only a couple thousand feet long. At low tide, a salty trickle connects it to the ocean. At high tide, at the height of the summer, treble hooks fly between a flurry of skiffs as salmon snaggers circle the net pens in the center of the lagoon. Seines scoop up tens of thousands of fish in an attempt to pay for the hatchery, as hatchery operators collect eggs from the fish that swarm the creek. A few weeks later, carcasses rot, eggs incubate and Tutka Lagoon fades back into relative obscurity. Until this year, that is, when a wave of controversy spilled out through that narrow channel like the 100 million pink salmon they hope to release, flooding across Kachemak Bay State Park to Homer, up Cook Inlet, and down to Juneau, prompting the governor to send a fleet of commissioners to brace against the wave. click here to read the story 09:03

21st Century salmon

As Alaska struggles to maintain commercial productivity in its most-valuable, wild-salmon fisheries,  competition in the fish market is looming on every horizon. Land-based salmon farms are popping up in odd places across the U.S., and the Norwegians and the Chinese are teaming to take salmon farming to new heights or, more accurately, new depths offshore.  China.org today reported the first delivery of a deepwater, “intelligent offshore farm” to the Norwegian company SalMar ASA. “Ocean Farm 1” is designed to be positioned in water 300 to 600 feet deep where currents can sweep it clean in four dimensions while computers monitor its performance. “It is the world’s first offshore salmon farming equipment built on the same principle as semisubmersible installations used in the offshore oil and gas drilling sector,” the Chinese national website said.,, Open-ocean fish farms have been touted as one path to greening a business sometimes blamed for polluting protected bays and coves with fish waste. click here to read the story  08:38