Daily Archives: October 20, 2017

Foss Hired to Remove Grounded Fishing Vessel Off Waikiki – New Concerns about Foreign Fishermen

Foss Maritime has been hired to remove the grounded fishing vessel Pacific Paradise from a reef off Waikiki after repeated attempts to refloat the vessel by commercial salvage companies have failed. The 79-foot Pacific Paradise ran aground on 10 October about 1,000 feet off Waikiki’s Kaimana Beach, and the vessel has remained stuck there ever since. Several attempts have been made by commercial salvage companies to tow the vessel, but each time the operation has been unsuccessful. click here to read the story 18:34

Hawaii boat crash spurs new concerns about foreign fishermen – while transporting foreign fishermen to work in Hawaii’s commercial fishing industry has raised new questions about the safety and working conditions for foreign laborers in this unique U.S. fleet. click here to read the story 

U.S. lobster fishing vessel caught trapping lobster in Canadian waters

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans intercepted a vessel fishing illegally in Canadian waters and reported it to U.S. authorities, an official confirmed Friday. The incident occurred Thursday near the coastal border of New Brunswick and Maine. “Our fishery officers intercepted a U.S. lobster fishing vessel that was fishing illegally within our Canadian fisheries waters about midday Oct. 19,” said Todd Somerville, area chief for conservation and protection in southwest New Brunswick. “We intercepted the vessel. At that point fishery officers board the vessel and then they initiate their investigation. Because it was a U.S. vessel, we do reach out to U.S. law enforcement. … They also responded.” click here to read the story 15:34

NOAA Fisheries Recommends Actions to Help Right Whales

Coming at the end of a devastating summer for right whales, the North Atlantic Right Whale Five-Year Review and its list of recommended actions to promote right whale recovery is particularly timely.,, In July 2016, we initiated this Review, as we do every five years, to make sure that species are accurately listed as “endangered” or “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act. Our Five-Year Review is now complete and provides updates on the right whale population in U.S. waters. The Five-Year Review recommends, not surprisingly, that North Atlantic right whales continue to be listed as endangered, and confirms that they experiencing: click here to read the recommendations 13:06

North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for October 20, 2017

Click here to read the Weekly Update, to read all the updates Click here, for older updates listed as NCFA click here 12:50

Reassessed: More than half a million gallons of oil spilled in Gulf near Lousisiana

The U.S. Coast Guard has reassessed an oil spill that happened Oct. 13 (click here) near Venice Louisiana. While initial reports were thought to be at about 400,000 gallons of oil spilled in the Gulf of Mexico, LLOG, the company which owns the pipleine, estimates that 16,000 barrels were spilled — approximately 672,000 gallons of spilled oil. The oil discharge from a damaged pipeline approximately 40 miles south east of Venice, Louisiana. click here to read the story 11:51

FISH-NL and FFAW still at odds over harvester numbers

There is still no official list, no final count of Newfoundland and Labrador inshore fish harvesters for the purposes of determining if there will be a vote on a breakaway union. Leaders with the Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters Newfoundland and Labrador (FISH-NL) and the Fish, Food and Allied Workers (FFAW-Unifor) union have disputed who has a better total count on harvesters — one truly representative of inshore industry participation. The numbers being floated are very different, by thousands of individuals. click here to read the story 10:37

Eco-Warriors Once Used Old Tires In A Failed Attempt To Create An Artificial Reef

Divers are removing hundreds of old tires and debris environmentalists dumped off the coast of Southern California 30 years ago to help create an artificial barrier reef. Diving crews began cleaning up the mess earlier this month, according to the California Coastal Commission. Activist Rodolphe Streichenberger dumped the refuse in the bay in 1988 to establish an experimental, artificial reef – he fought for years to prevent its cleanup. click here to read the story ‘It just looks like a pile of trash’: Boat crew hauls tire reef out of the sea off Newport click here to read the story 09:37

Board of Fisheries declines request to cap Kodiak sockeye harvest

The Board of Fisheries won’t take up an out-of-cycle request to cap Kodiak sockeye salmon harvests during certain periods of the season, though it won’t be the last time the issue comes up. The board declined to accept an agenda change request that proposed a new management plan for the commercial purse seine fishery in the Kodiak Management Area setting weekly and seasonal limits on sockeye salmon harvest. The request, submitted by the United Cook Inlet Drift Association, raises concerns brought to light in a recent Alaska Department of Fish and Game genetic study showing that Kodiak seiners catch hundreds of thousands of Cook Inlet-bound sockeye salmon during the summer. click here to read the story 08:57

Sunken fishing trawler Dianne found by searchers off Queensland coast

Police say they have found the commercial fishing trawler Dianne in which six men are believed to have drowned when it sank in heavy seas on Monday night. The sea cucumber fishing boat was detected by sonar about two to three nautical miles off Round Hill Headland, near Seventeen Seventy. Police confirmed the discovery in a statement released just after 6:00pm today. Water Police will remain at the scene overnight and a full recovery operation will commence tomorrow morning. Twelve boats were involved in today’s operation, along with a helicopter and several vehicles that patrolled the shoreline. At least one of the boats was fitted with side scan sonar, using soundwaves to detect any possible man-made items under the water.  click here to read the story 08:36

Northern Shrimp – If shrimp fishery reopens, Maine to get lion’s share

The Gulf of Maine, closed since 2014 to shrimp fishermen, will operate under strict state allocations when and if it ever reopens to shrimping. The Atlantic States Marine Fishery Commission, which regulates the fishing for northern shrimp in the region, approved the new amendment that allocates 80 percent of the total allowable catch to Maine, with Massachusetts and New Hampshire each receiving 10 percent. “This the final action and it’s now in place for when the resource recovers,” Tina Berger, ASMFC spokeswoman, said Thursday.The action, known as Amendment 3,  click here to read the story 08:19