Daily Archives: June 22, 2017

Before You Eat That Red Snapper: The Fish Is Basically Plagued by Endless Fraud

Welcome to Before You Eat That, which broaches all the annoying food subjects that make you highly uncomfortable. This is for all you schadenfreude-obsessed killjoys out there. So far, we’ve covered the continuing saga of all things seafood: The is-it-too-smart-to-eat octopus, the oyster and its massive gonad, the sad plight of the disappearing freshwater eel, and now onward to the magnet for all things fraud, Red Snapper. Red snapper is one hell of a divisive fish. Among Texas anglers, big-time regulations make it a contentious subject between recreational and commercial factions. Among restaurants in America, the Congressional Research Service reported in 2015, 77 percent of red snapper being served in the country was not actually red snapper at all,,, Click here to read the article 21:11

Senator Ken LaValle And Assemblyman Fred Thiele Pass Legislation To Create New York Seafood Marketing Task Force

“I am proud of the work Senator LaValle and I have done to push this legislation forward,” said Assemblyman Thiele, prime sponsor of the bill. “The creation of a seafood marketing task force will ultimately help increase demand for the product, stimulating the economy and creating jobs for our coastal communities. Massachusetts and Rhode Island have already established such measures with great success.”,,, The New York Seafood Marketing Task Force would support and collaborate with the State’s vast fishing community to promote the marketing and sustainability of New York seafood. The task force would provide the Governor and Legislature with a report of its progress and findings. These reports would address the research, marketing, and funding opportunities. click here to read the story 20:16

NEFMC Postpones Coral Action for Continental Slope/Canyons, adopts GoM Coral Protection Zones

The New England Fishery Management Council today adopted coral pretection zones for the Gulf of Maine as part of its Omnibus Deep-Sea Coral Amendment. However, it postponed action for the Continental Slope south of Georges Bank in order to further develop an additional alternative. The councils Plan Development Team (PDT) will work with the Habitat Advisory Panel to further refine this new alternative. The councils Habitat Committee will then review the results and develop a recommendation to the full council to consider. The timing of the action is uncertain.  Click here to read the press release 17:43

The Launching of the Victory Rose

A storm delay wasn’t enough to steal Victory Rose’s thunder as the mammoth Parkol Marine-built boat took to the water for the first time. The 37th build has been constructed for Whitby company Lockers Trawlers and is hoped to be ready for action by the end of July. click here to see the images, and read the rest 15:41

Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council Recommend Reducing 2017 Catch Limits for Three Species

HONOLULU (21 June 2017) The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council today concluded the second of its three-day meeting  in Honolulu with a recommendation that the annual catch limits (ACLs) for three species in the US Pacific Islands be reduced in 2017. The reductions are recommended because the average commercial catches of these species have exceeded the ACLs over the past three years or more. click here to read the press release 15:10

FISH-NL says FFAW no longer entitled to represent inshore harvesters; urges Labour Board to order immediate vote 

The Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador (FISH-NL) says the province’s Labour Relations Board should proceed immediately to a vote of inshore harvesters to decide which union would best represent them. While FISH-NL’s application for certification remains before the Board, other factors necessitate a vote as soon as possible: the Supreme Court of NL, Court of Appeal, recently upheld an earlier court decision that the FFAW deceived its members; and the FFAW’s failure to reveal how much money oil companies pump into the union. “The FFAW is beyond salvation,” says Ryan Cleary, President of FISH-NL. “The FFAW no longer deserves the right to represent inshore harvesters, who have lost all faith and respect for their union. The only recourse is to allow them to vote on their future.” click here to read the press release 13:49

Wendell’s Boy joins Tremont fleet

Wayne Seavey of Tremont started his fishing career when he was just 5 years old aboard his father Wendell’s lobster boat. Now 48, the lobsterman has made a name for himself, but there’s just one moniker he can’t escape: “Wendell’s boy.” So when it was time for Seavey to upgrade from his 37-foot Repco to a David Schlaefer-built lobster boat, the name just had to be Wendell’s Boy. click here to read the story 12:11

New Bedford Mayor Mitchell sends NOAA letter requesting Rafael permits stay in New Bedford

Mayor Jon Mitchell penned a letter to NOAA regarding Carlos Rafael’s permits, (click here to read the letter) a day after Maine’s congressional delegation signed a letter regarding the permits. In an argument consisting of four pages, Mitchell provided legal precedent for the Department of Justice and NOAA to punish Rafael, while also keeping the 13 fishing permits in question in New Bedford. He likens Rafael’s case to those cases involving wrongdoing by the head of a large business. He states, “It is common for the government to tailor punishment so as to avoid harm to others who were not involved.” Rafael’s business employ 285 fishermen. Mitchell suggested Rafael sell his entire business to other New Bedford companies, forfeiting the proceeds to the government. It would entirely exclude Rafael from fishing despite possessing more permits than the 13 in question.  click here to read the story 11:33

Fishermen gear up for Southeast Dungeness crab season opening

19 year-old Jordan Lapeyri is busy pushing wheelbarrows piled high with little plastic bait jars up and down the South Harbor dock ramp. Lapeyri’s been fishing since the tender age of six. He’s done plenty of seining and gillnetting – but crabbing is something new. And he is in high spirits. “I’m feeling great! It’s gonna be fun. Good experience. I’ve never been crabbing before,” said Lapeyri. The captain of the Nolan Michael, a family friend, needed a deckhand. And Lapeyri needed a job. It was an easy match. “I wanted just to go seining but then he said he wanted to go try Dungy crabbing first before, for about 10 days, a couple weeks or so, and see how many crabs show up. If none show up, we’ll just leave. Get ready to go seining, put the seine net on,” Lapeyri said. click here to read the story 10:05

Chinese vessels fined $825,000 and deregistered for tuna offences off NZ coast

Chinese authorities have deregistered and fined a Chinese commercial fishing company about $825,000 for misreporting blue fin tuna catches and fishing without a licence adjacent to New Zealand waters. Offending by the vessels, the Da Yang 15 and Da Yang 16, was detected during Operation Zodiac, a joint Ministry for Primary Industries and New Zealand Defence Force high seas patrol in July last year.,,, Under international law, the state to which vessels are flagged is ultimately responsible for taking action against any of its vessels that violate laws. Chinese authorities have now concluded their investigation and found that the two vessels were not only unlicensed but that they misreported over 100 tonnes of high value southern blue fin tuna as another lower value species. click here to read the story 09:17

Limited salmon numbers, sea lion population making tough season for fishermen

Governor Brown, along with Governor Jerry Brown of California, recently submitted a request to U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross for a declaration of a “catastrophic regional fishery disaster,” and a commercial fishery failure. The request comes after the National Marine Fisheries Service closed the southern half of the Oregon coast to commercial salmon fishing to protect dwindling stocks of Chinook salmon on the Klamath River. “When you look at the Klamath situation, it affects fisheries all up and down the coast,” said Steve Fick, who owns Fishhawk Fisheries in Astoria. Executive Director of the Port of Astoria Jim Knight said the south coast closure will likely mean more fishing boats competing for limited numbers of salmon on the north coast. click here to read the story 08:09