Daily Archives: January 16, 2018

DFO minister: No compromise on independence of inshore fishery

Canada’s Minister of Fisheries and Oceans says there will be no backtracking on measures to preserve the independence of Atlantic Canada’s inshore fishery.”I’m not interested in weakening or diluting these policies,” Dominic LeBlanc told CBC News in a wide-ranging interview Tuesday. LeBlanc was responding for the first time to overtures from lobster buyers and plant owners in southwestern Nova Scotia who have floated schemes that would allow the companies ownership of a fisherman’s catch while somehow maintaining the independence of the fisherman.,,LeBlanc declined to discuss the impact on Atlantic Canada’s seafood exports to the United States in the event the Trump administration pulls out of the North American Free Trade Agreement. >click here to read<21:29 

300 jobs lost in first month of NOAA’s Sector XI groundfishing ban

Nearly two months have passed since NOAA imposed a groundfishing an on Carlos Rafael’s fleet.  Those within the Port of New Bedford estimate it’s put upward of 80 fishermen out of work. That number merely only scratches the surface according to a study done by SMAST professor Dan Georgianna. Within the first 30 days of the ban, Georgianna estimates that across the Northeast 300 jobs were lost, with an income loss of about $5.7 million.  When including the retail loss the number surges to $12 million. >click here to read<19:26

Local leaders encouraged by water wars arguments in U.S. Supreme Court hearing

Florida lawyers fared well in last week’s U.S. Supreme Court hearing on the “water wars” between the state and Georgia, officials who sat through the hearing said. Rep. Neal Dunn, who was among them, said he felt Florida has a real shot of winning the case.,, “Georgia came off some pretty harsh questioning – a lot of harsh interrogatories, and a lot of apparent disbelief on the part of the justices in what they were hearing from Georgia.”,,, Florida says a steady supply of water is the last chance for Apalachicola Bay’s struggling oyster industry and endangered species. >click here to read< 17:45

Dutch trawlers may face pulse fishing ban as EU parliament says no

The European parliament on Tuesday voted in favour of a ban on pulse fishing, a decision which it will use in negotiations with the European Commission and which will have a major impact on the Dutch fishing industry, if implemented. Opponents of the system say it is a cruel and unnecessary method of fishing. It involves sending a current of electricity through sections of the sea bed, partially stunning sole and plaice and forcing some into the net. >click here to read< 16:49

World’s largest sea turtle could come off ‘endangered’ list

An arm of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has received a petition from a fishing group asking that the Northwest Atlantic Ocean’s leatherback sea turtles be listed as “threatened,” but not endangered, under the Endangered Species Act.,,, NOAA officials have said the agency has reviewed the petition from New Jersey-based Blue Water Fishermen’s Association and found “substantial scientific and commercial information” that the move might be warranted. The agency now has about eight months to make a decision about the status of the turtles. >click here to read< 13:56

Nautic Alert to Safeguard Commercial Fisherman and Assets With Their New Upcoming VMS Type-Approved Insight X2

Nautic Alert just unveiled one of the most technologically-advanced marine monitoring, tracking, safety and security system designed specifically for yachts, and now has some really exciting news for commercial fisherman. Nautic Alert will be releasing a VMS type-approved Insight which will not only bring NOAA tracking to fisherman, but also unmatched security and safety protection with the industry’s first SMART bilge controller, microwave and radar-based intrusion detection, and man-overboard with global emergency monitoring. Nautic Alert is an EDGE-based system with onboard learning intelligence designed to provide early detection of critical systems. >click here to read< 13:16 

Western Gulf fishermen bristle at other P.E.I. fisheries group resolution

The Western Gulf Fishermen’s Association has answered back to the Prince County Fishermen’s Association. Last week the PCFA voted in favour of a sending a motion to the annual meeting of the Prince Edward Island Fishermen’s Association next month in Charlottetown, calling on all lobster advisory committees in the province to work towards a uniform lobster carapace size. >click here to read< 11:43

Super-Sjark seine netter for Lofoten

Rolf-Inge Johansen ordered the new vessel from Sletta Verft, having sold his previous 1977-built, 38 metre Hellodden in 2016 to a Spanish company to fish off western Africa. Its replacement is a compact 14.90 metre LOA by 6.50 metre beam seine netter of the same name. The new Hellodden follows the current trend in Norway for compact fishing vessels under 15 metres, with a large beam and plenty of height, providing a fishing platform that would previously have only been possible with a considerably larger vessel. >click here to read< 11:11

Board votes down change in Southeast Dungeness crab season

Crabber Max Worhatch proposed the change and successfully got the board to add the proposal to the meeting after missing the deadline for regulation changes.“I would like to seriously consider this,” Worhatch told the board. “I put a proposal in, just like this three years ago, didn’t get anywhere. The department felt like they had to have something to manage the fishery when it got to the low end. But in my experience and just from what I’ve seen in Oregon, California and Washington, size sex and season for Dungeness crab works and it works extremely well. It’s kindof an autopilot thing, doesn’t take a lot of work.” >click here to read< 10:22

Maine Lobstermen reject big changes in harvester reporting rules

Ask any lobsterman about the details of where and how he catches his bugs — what kind of bait he uses, how deep he sets his gear, how many traps on a trawl, how long those traps soak between hauls — and you’re likely to get a fisheye, if not a poke in the nose, in response. Still, that’s the kind of information the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission wants to collect from lobstermen and Jonah crab fishermen working in the Gulf of Maine and, no surprise, the idea is unpopular. >click here to read<08:59

Maine opposing push to require all lobstermen to report catch data – >click here to read<