Daily Archives: November 17, 2017

Baffin Fisheries ex-CEO denies fraud accusations; countersues for $20M

The former CEO of the Baffin Fisheries Coalition (BFC) says he never defrauded the company, and is now countersuing the BFC for breach of contract and defamation. Last month, BFC launched a $1.4 million lawsuit against , alleging he was building on his private land in Winterton, N.L., and invoicing the work to BFC, and its subsidiary Niqitaq Fisheries, claiming it was for a project in Pond Inlet, Nunavut. click here to read the story 21:32

Quebec company touts lean nutrition and ‘unique’ taste of seal meat

Jonas Gilbart likes his seal steaks rare on the inside with a hard sear on the outside. “I love the taste and I love the nutritional benefits,” he said of a meat choice that’s still outside the food comfort zone for most Canadians. Gilbart’s helping lead a new campaign for Quebec-based supplier SeaDNA touting seal as “the Canadian superfood” with a “unique and inviting taste” similar to beef. “It comes from our backyard, it’s sustainably harvested from our waters and monitored by our government,” Gilbart said from Montreal. click here to read the story 17:16

The first Dungeness crabs are in, and they’re meaty!

“The crabs are meaty, and my haul was good,” Capt. Barry Day said upon his return to Pillar Point Harbor on the San Mateo County coast, where he sold the crustaceans straight off his boat for $6 a pound. Dan Chavez, the meat and seafood department manager at Draeger’s in Blackhawk, echoed that sentiment after receiving his store’s first shipment of live crabs Thursday. “They’re beautiful! They’re 2 pounds and over,” he said. “I called everyone and said, ‘Crab at my house tonight!’” click here to read the story 16:41

North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for November 17, 2017

Click here to read the Weekly Update, to read all the updates Click here, for older updates listed as NCFA click here16:07

Hawke’s Bay deckhand would probably have survived if he had been sober

A deckhand who drowned after falling overboard from a commercial fishing boat would probably have survived if he was sober, a coroner has found. Fisherman Kevin James Thomson died on December 7, 2013 after falling from Hawke’s Bay Seafoods vessel Jeanette near Napier Port. In a finding released on Friday coroner Carla na Nagara said Thomson had been under the influence of alcohol and drugs when he died and “it is most unlikely that Kevin would have fallen if he was sober and in the event he had fallen overboard sober he would have been in a position to take steps to save himself by staying afloat and calling for help”. click here to read the story 10:12

Chairman James Gilmore hopes to modernize Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission

The announcement in mid-October that James Gilmore had been elected Chairman of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) came as no surprise to anglers familiar with the fishery management process at the federal level. Voted in by the ASMFC State Commissioners from Maine to Florida, the lifelong Amityville resident had spent the past two years as vice chairman. He is also Division of Marine Resources Director for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), a position he has held for the last decade and will continue to hold. In his new role as ASMFC chairman, Gilmore oversees both administration and policy issues for the regulatory agency’s individual species management boards. click here to read the story 09:35

Charged with illegal fishing, Mi’kmaw man seeks to redefine Supreme Court’s Marshall decision

Exactly 18 years after the Supreme Court of Canada issued a clarification of its ruling on Indigenous peoples’ right to fish, a Mi’kmaw fisherman from New Brunswick’s lawsuit against the Crown will be in court  — hoping to clear it up again. Legal counsel for Joseph Hubert Francis of Elispogtog First Nation in New Brunswick will appear in Halifax Federal Court Friday for the first part of the lawsuit filed in March of this year. click here to read the story 09:16

NOAA/NMFS seeks input on proposed sea lion removal at Willamette Falls

NOAA Fisheries is seeking public input on an application from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) to remove, by lethal means if necessary, California sea lions preying on endangered and threatened salmon and steelhead at Willamette Falls on the Willamette River near Oregon City. The approach would be similar to the ongoing removal of sea lions preying on vulnerable populations of protected fish at Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River.  Under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), each application NOAA Fisheries receives for removing problematic sea lions must undergo independent consideration. info, click here to read the story 08:36

Herrera Beutler seeks aid, additional funding for declared fishery disasters

Members of Congress from the state of Washington are asking the Office of Management and Budget to provide additional funding for declared fishery disasters statewide. Led by Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Battle Ground, and Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Artondale, 10 members of the state’s congressional delegation sent a letter to OMB Director Mick Mulvaney on Wednesday asking him to approve their request for supplemental appropriations, specifically for Washington’s commercial, recreational and tribal fisheries. click here to read the story 07:46