Daily Archives: June 11, 2018

Fisheries minister urges Ottawa to help fishermen make up for revenue lost to Gulf closures

New Brunswick’s fisheries minister is calling on Ottawa to find ways to make up for lost revenue in the fishing industry in light of a growing number of closures in the Gulf of St. Lawrence designed to protect North Atlantic right whales. Rick Doucet issued a statement on Monday night after Fisheries and Oceans Canada announced 10 new grids will be temporarily closed, effective June 15 at 4 p.m. AT, due to the presence of whales. The affected areas include: GV32, GV33, GV34, GV35, GX32, GX33, GX34, GW32, GW33 and GW34. Fishermen and fish processors alike are concerned about lost revenue, said Doucet. >click to read<23:39

Rolls-Royce Inks it’s Largest Ever Fishing Vessel Contract

Rolls-Royce Marine said it has signed a contract with Thoma-Sea Marine Constructors, L.L.C. in Louisiana for the development of a 100-meter-long trawler to be built for the Seattle based company Arctic Storm Management Group, LLC. In addition to being the largest fishing vessel contract to date for Rolls-Royce with a value of about £15 million, it also marks the first Rolls-Royce fishing vessel concept to be built at a U.S. shipyard. Rolls-Royce has been working closely with the owner, Arctic Storm, in developing this latest design, and the vessel will be equipped with a processing plant for fillet, surimi, fishmeal and fish oil. It will also be able to accommodate a crew of more than 150 people. >click to read<22:19

Several agencies still determining details of Beach Point lobster boat collision – A Fundraiser for the Justin MacKay Family

Islanders are coming together to support the family of one of the men killed in a lobster boat collision off Beach Point on Saturday. Justin MacKay, 20-year-old Montague resident, has been identified as one of the victims, while RCMP confirmed on Monday the other victim was a 59-year-old man. RCMP could not say where the 59-year-old was a resident of. A GoFundMe campaign named “Tammy Crossman and family” had raised more than $3,400 by Monday evening to help with funeral costs for MacKay, who graduated from Montague Regional High School (MRHS) last year. >click to read<20:18

AIS Inc. Wins Northeast Fisheries Five-year, $50 Million Dollar Observer Contract

AIS Inc., a scientific services company headquartered in Marion, Mass., has been awarded a five-year, $50 million contract to provide fisheries observers for federal monitoring programs in the Northeast. NOAA Fisheries has been contracting for fisheries observers in the Northeast since 1989. The work is fundamental to understanding and sustaining fisheries. AIS, Inc. is an experienced fisheries observer service company, employing people to monitor federal fisheries along the U.S. East Coast and in Alaska. Under this contract, the fisheries covered occur from Maine to North Carolina. >click to read<16:48

N.C. Fisheries bills may not get heard before legislature adjourns

State legislators are getting a crash course in commercial fisheries due to the variety of fishing issues addressed in a pair of bills filed in the short session. But time is running out for those proposals to be heard in the N.C. General Assembly, as lawmakers plan to wrap up their work as soon as the end of this week. House Bill 1049, sponsored by Rep. Michael Speciale, R-Craven, seeks to replace two at-large seats on the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission.,,, House Bill 1063, sponsored by Rep. Larry Yarborough, R-Granville, Rep. Jimmy Dixon, R-Duplin and Rep. Ted Davis, R-New Hanover, seeks to restructure the commercial fishing license program and in doing so would take a huge step toward limited entry. >click to read<15:30

Lobster boat racing season revs up this Saturday

That’s right, lobster boat racing fans and racers. The 33rd season begins right here in Boothbay Harbor at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 16 with the Charles Begin Memorial races. Categories include gas classes based on length and cubic inches, diesel classes based on horsepower and length, a wooden boat race, gas and diesel free-for-alls, and four races just for Boothbay region boats. The race course runs in front of Tumbler Island toward the finish line at the Maine State Aquarium. >click to read<13:11

Giant great white ate its cousin during Sandbridge research expedition

When a Virginia Institute of Marine Science longline fishing survey caught a black tip shark on Friday, a much larger white shark couldn’t turn down an easy meal. Researchers just three and a half miles off Sandbridge were reeling in their 1.2-mile longline, equipped with 100 baited hooks, last week when a 12- to 13-foot great white showed up to see what all the fuss was about.,,VIMS began studying sharks in the mid-Atlantic in 1973 with its Shark Survey. It’s one of the longest running studies of shark populations in the world. The survey has shown a serious decline in shark numbers because of overfishing. That discovery led to the first shark management plan by NOAA Fisheries in 1993. >click to read<12:28

Welsh Personal Flotation Devices discount offer extended

Welsh vessel owners have been given an extra month to apply for discounted Personal Flotation Devices (PFDs) offered by the Welsh Fishing Safety Committee (WFSC), supported by Seafish, ahead of The International Labour Organisation: Work in Fishing Convention (ILO 188) enforcement. 30 June is the new deadline to apply for the PFD with in-built PLB and vessel owners are being urged to take advantage of the offer because the ILO convention will likely require all commercial fishermen to wear PFDs on deck while at sea by the end of this year. >click to read<11:23

New Zealand approves innovative trawl technology

Fisheries New Zealand on Monday approved the use of an innovative trawl technology for commercial operations in some deep–water fisheries, called the Precision Seafood Harvesting Modular Harvest System (MHS). The MHS is the first innovative trawl technology to be approved under amendments to the commercial fishing regulations introduced last year, Stuart Anderson, director of fisheries management at Fisheries New Zealand, said in a statement. The regulations were amended to support innovations in trawl gear that provide opportunities to achieve better quality of catch, add value across the sector, and ensure the sustainable use of fisheries resources, Anderson said. >click to read<09:44

North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for June 8, 2018

>Click here to read the Weekly Update<, to read all the updates >Click here<, for older updates listed as NCFA <click here>09:14