Daily Archives: June 23, 2017

State and Federal Authorities’ visit to fish house remains a mystery

Business appeared to be carrying on as usual Friday at Lou-Joe’s Fresh Seafood, a day after agents from the Internal Revenue Service and two other government agencies visited the small fish processing plant. Workers were cutting fish on Friday inside the 3,800-square-foot plant at 24 Washburn St., New Bedford, near where Interstate 195 crosses the Acushnet River. Fish trucks were coming and going from the loading docks. An employee in the office said he was not the owner and declined to comment on the situation. On Thursday, about a dozen officials from the IRS, Massachusetts Environmental Police, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration visited the plant. click here to read the story 21:50

Think you’ve seen it all? Trudeau government proposes opening St. Lawrence marine protected area to oil exploration

The Liberal government is proposing to allow oil and gas exploration in a new marine protected area that it plans to establish where the Gulf of St. Lawrence meets the Atlantic Ocean. Ottawa released an impact statement Friday on its Laurentian Channel protected area, a 11,619-square-kilometre stretch of ocean in which commercial activity would be limited in order to protect vulnerable marine life. The establishment of the marine protected area (MPA) is part of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s promise to set aside 10 per cent of Canada’s coastal waters by 2020. But some environmental groups and ocean scientists argue Ottawa is undermining the effort by allowing future oil and gas exploration in the zone. click here to read the story 19:57

North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for June 23, 2017

Click here to read the Weekly Update, to read all the updates, Click here  We were saddened to hear of the passing of James Berrie Gaskill of Ocracoke. He died on Wednesday while tending his nets. NCFA Board, Members and Staff offer our most sincere condolences and prayers to his family. 17:54

Trump Gave A Speech That Has The Wind Industry Terrified

Wind industry officials scrambled to fend off President Donald Trump’s criticism of wind turbines during his speech Wednesday night. “I don’t want to just hope the wind blows to light up your homes and your factories,” Trump told supporters at a rally in Iowa. “As the birds fall to the ground.” Trump’s comments triggered a response from the CEO of the country’s largest wind energy lobbying group, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). CEO Tom Kiernan published a series of tweets to push back against Trump’s critiques of wind power. ( of course, we will never see the carnage at offshore wind farms, as sea birds will simply disappear into the ocean. What a scam!) click here to read the story 17:34

Canadians are contesting New Hampshire’s supposedly record-breaking lobster roll

Perhaps not since the Pork and Beans War has New England been engaged in such an inconsequential food-related dispute with its northern neighbors. But here we are. Last weekend, the Portsmouth, New Hampshire location of the local pub chain British Beer Company set out to break the record for the world’s longest lobster roll, previously set last September by the Prince Edward Island Fishermen’s Association. And according to the Portsmouth restaurant, they did it — beating the Canadians’ 120-foot-long roll with a heaping creation just shy of 160 feet. click here to read the story 16:57

‘We voted to leave..now we want our fishing grounds!’ British MEP blasts Eurocrats in rant

David Coburn, a Scottish MEP raged at Spanish fishermen for using UK waters to fish, demanding the grounds are returned to the. Speaking at the Committee on Fisheries, Mr Corbun targeted Spanish fishermen for wanting to use UK waters, before he took a swipe at the nation over Gibraltar. He said: “You say that Spanish fishermen may have acquired over periods of time, fishing rights in UK waters. “That’s very funny and dare I say very Spanish.  “The fish are not going to go away. All that Scotland and Great Britain as a whole want, are the rights to fish our own fish, and sell them to you and why not? video, read the story here 13:22

Prince William Sound harvest tops one million fish

Commercial harvests of red salmon reached 378,000 fish in the Copper River drift district through June 20, as the run and harvest continued to be below forecast, while Chinook catches were above expected. The commercial harvest of sockeyes is still trending consistently below forecast, noted Jeremy Botz, who manages the state’s gillnet salmon fishery from the Cordova office of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. The good news is that both reds and kings appear to be in great condition and larger than average, Botz said. Sockeyes are weighing 5.6 pounds to 5.7 pounds, and the kings on average have weighed in at about 21 pounds, compared to about 18 pounds in recent years. “They are larger than we have seen in quite a while, by close to three pounds, he said. click here to read the story 13:07

The PenAir terminal in King Salmon: where the world meets to fish

The Bristol Bay Borough swells from a year round population of about 1,000 to closer to 10,000 for the summer fishery. Almost all of the fishermen, seafood processors, and thousands of sport fishing and wildlife viewing visitors on the east side of Bristol Bay pass through one very busy small terminal in King Salmon. In the winter this airport only has two flights per day, but during the peak of the summer it serves up to 14 flights daily. The human traffic into Bristol Bay mirrors the sockeye run, but the people aim to be here a few weeks earlier than the fish. Richberg said the PenAir terminal in King Salmon will see 600 to 800 customers pass through in a day. click here to read the story 12:43

Coast Guard, good Samaritans assist vessel taking on water in Prince William Sound, Alaska

Coast Guard and good Samaritan crews assisted the crew of the fishing vessel Kodiak Sockeye after the vessel began taking on water near Knowles Bay, Prince William Sound, Alaska, Thursday. Coast Guard Sector Anchorage watchstanders received a report from the vessel’s crew that the engine compartment was flooding. Watchstanders issued an urgent marine information broadcast, requested the launch of the Jayhawk and RB-M crews and requested the diversion of the Sycamore crew. Two good Samaritan vessels, the Rocky B and the Remedy, responded to the UMIB. click here to read the story, more images, video 10:07

Massachusetts: Time to lift restrictions on state’s lobster processing industry

State lawmakers have a rare chance to give a sector of the state’s beleaguered fishing industry a boost and create a few jobs along the way. Tucked into the Senate version of the budget now being negotiated on Beacon Hill is an amendment that would allow state seafood wholesalers to expand their processing of raw and frozen lobsters, putting Bay State companies on par with their counterparts in other New England states and Canada’s Maritime provinces. Massachusetts firms operate under a confusing mishmash of lobster-processing regulations. A proposal by Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, would allow for the processing of all manner of lobster tails and other parts in Massachusetts. click here to read the story. 09:16

Nova Scotia lobster fishermen reject idea of surveillance cameras on boats

The global demand by consumers (enviro’s) that seafood be harvested sustainably made its way into a firehall in Lockeport Thursday. More than a hundred fishermen from southwest Nova Scotia showed up at an information session on the use of video cameras on fishing boats to monitor catch. The session was hosted by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and organized by the Ecology Action Centre. A fisherman from British Columbia and a program manager from the Gulf of Maine Research Institute both spoke about the use of camera monitoring in those regions. At issue is the bycatch of endangered or threatened species. In Nova Scotia’s lobster fishery, the Atlantic cod and cusk are among fish stocks to watch as they get trapped along with the crustaceans. Many of the fishermen who attended the workshop were upset about the perceived need for cameras, and suspicious about an invasion of privacy. click here to read the story 08:10