Daily Archives: January 20, 2018

Don Cuddy: Local crab fisherman finds a niche market with slime eels

Slime eel, it’s what’s for dinner.  Well perhaps not on menus around here but in South Korea ‘ggomjangeo’ is extremely popular and, barbecued, is sold on the street like hot dogs. With scant recognition a fishery for these scavenging bottom dwellers has been prosecuted in New England for the past 40 years. Hagfish, as they are also known, are primitive deep-sea creatures and reputedly the only living creature with a skull but no vertebrae, although, given recent events, there may be some elected officials who could potentially rival that claim. Atlantic Red Crab company founder Jon Williams has been fishing these eels since 1999.,, >click here to read< 20:02 

Fish Board: Spotter planes out, Chinook actions on hold for now

The Alaska Board of Fisheries voted to ban spotter planes in Southeast salmon fisheries and provided some relief to struggling commercial troll fishermen on Friday, the first full day of deliberations for the board. Though the board made significant changes to Southeast finfish regulations, Juneau fishermen were left with a cliffhanger: salmon action plans aimed at protecting struggling Taku and Chilkat river Chinook — which could leave fishermen docked for a significant part of the season — won’t be voted on until at least Saturday morning. >click here to read< 17:19

Steinbeck boat being restored – A crew is bringing her back to life, plank by plank, spike by spike, nail by nail.

Somewhere in the Western Flyer there is a spirit, said Chris Chase, project director for the Western Flyer Foundation, the nonprofit group restoring the fishing boat that carried Ed Ricketts and John Steinbeck to The Sea of Cortez in 1940. “I don’t know who it is,” said the 51-year-old shipwright. “It could be Ed (Ricketts). It could be John Steinbeck. It could be Carol Steinbeck (John Steinbeck’s first wife).” Whoever it is, something has saved the 80-year-old, 77-foot purse seiner from destruction. >click here to read< 14:31

Missing fishermen feared dead ‘wouldn’t last more than five minutes’ in freezing Loch Fyne, says uncle

The search for Duncan MacDougall, 46, and Przemek Krawczykis in the Argyll waters is now a recovery operation despite a heroic attempt to save them. The pair became trapped when the 40ft Nancy Glen overturned – with pal John Miller, 34, being rescued by a passing vessel. Duncan’s uncle, Thomas Aitchison, 62, says his family are struggling to cope but have to assume the pair are dead due to the amount of time they would have been in the water. >click here to read<13:56

Russian fish escaping into Louisiana waters? Sturgeon farming plan raises alarm

Nutria, feral hogs and Asian carp are just a few of the foreign invaders harming Louisiana’s marshes and rivers. Now the state is entertaining the idea of allowing the import and farming of sterlet sturgeon, a Russian fish currently banned in Louisiana. Why? The basic answer: its eggs are the food equivalent of gold, fetching prices of nearly $100 per ounce as top-shelf caviar. A plan under consideration by the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries would permit the raising of the sterlet sturgeon, a major producer of caviar in the Caspian and Black Sea regions, in indoor pools. >click here to read< 12:14

Letter: Stop digging a graveyard for our fisheries

Our fishing industry in Newfoundland and Labrador is in shambles, and yet politicians and decision-makers are blind to the fish bones pilling up in the graveyard, and with it, our prime industry, economy and our communities. Either that, or they simply do not care or have a handle on this industry they are responsible for managing and growing. Are they aware or concerned about the rapid expansion of the Canadian factory freezer trawler operations off our coasts while our groundfishery recovery is stalled and shrimp and crab fisheries in decline? >click here to read< 11:05

Bidders hungry for part of Arctic surf clam fishery after decades-long monopoly

The competition for newly available Arctic surf clam quota off Cape Breton has three times more applicants than previously reported, which is a sign of the interest in a fishery that has been controlled by a single company for decades. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans says it is evaluating nine proposals vying for 8,924 tonnes of surf clams in 2018. Until this year, the surf clam fishery was held entirely by Clearwater Seafoods,,, >click here to read<10:37

Crustacean Elation! – N.S. brewery launching Lobster-flavoured beer

A Nova Scotia craft brewery has put together two East Coast favourites to brew up something new: lobster-infused beer. Saltbox Brewery in Mahone Bay is now fermenting its first batch of Crustacean Elation—a creation that involved the use of whole lobsters early in the brewing process. Spokesman Patrick Jardine said it was something they had been talking about for some time, and finally decided to give it a try. >click here to read, cheers!< 09:44

Corps of Engineers called in to do an emergency dredging of Ocean City inlet

Ocean City is getting emergency federal attention, but you wouldn’t know it unless you do business on the water. Rising sand bars have already caused one ship carrying 11,000 pounds of fish to run aground, and the fear is many others could suffer a similar fate. Congressman Andy Harris (R-MD) said, “The port in Ocean City is an important commercial port obviously and not only for fisherman, but for other industry so we have to keep that port open its the Army Corps job to do that, and I’m glad they agreed to do this emergency dredge.” >click here to read<08:28