Daily Archives: July 7, 2018

Chance encounter leads 90-year-old angler to reconnect with her legendary status

Over the past 90 years, Lillian Scott has told a lot of big fish stories – but unlike most weekend anglers, she’s got the evidence to back hers up. Most of he pictures in Scott’s home show her standing next to fish the size of small cars with her late husband John, who was also their boat’s skipper. She also has a blue binder filled with newspaper and magazine clippings, photos and other mementos of a lifelong passion for fishing on the sea. But despite nearly a century of collecting her own fish stories – an arm trapped in the belly of a giant bass, reeling in the half-eaten dinner from inside another colossal fish – perhaps one of her most extraordinary tales happened in February during a chance encounter at Bass Pro Shops. >click to read<21:37

Naknek-Kvichak District closes to boost Kvichak River Escapement, Special Harvest Area will be open

A big announcement today from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game today. The Naknek-Kvichak District is closed. The Naknek River Special Harvest Area will be open to drift gillnet gear tonight at 8 p.m. That triggers the Egegik District to close and move into the Egegik River Special Harest Area. Drift gillnetters there will also see an 8 p.m. opening. Across Bristol Bay’s five districts, no dual permit boat may have more than 150 fathoms of gear on board, starting this at 8 p.m. as well. These restrictions are an effort to boost escapement on the Kvichak River, which is far behind where it needs to be to meet the bottom end of its goal, 2 million sockeye. >click to read<20:09

Opinion: Revitalizing waterfront is still up to sectors and Carlos Rafael

Carlos Rafael misreported his groundfish catch, and in its piece, “Time for NOAA to let Sector IX fish again,” the times is misreporting facts. First, NOAA didn’t calculate, as the piece states, that Rafael misreported just 72,000 poiundes of grey sole. He openly admitted to stealing over 10 times that amount, of several different fish stocks. Rather NOAA has apparently calculated that all but some remaining grey sole has been repaid, with quota seized earlier to cover the debt. Second, neither Sector IX has submitted a plan to return to fishing. Hank Soule >click to read<19:20

From trash to treat: Rock shrimp’s rise to fame in Florida

After trawling the Atlantic Ocean for days, Rodney Thompson returned to his Florida home and dropped buckets of rock shrimp in the middle of the kitchen. He ordered his four school-age children to stop playing and figure out a way to cook them. Rock shrimp were considered trash. Their hard, spiny shells would split thumbs open and take forever to peel. Thompson’s challenge to his children lasted for months, until his oldest daughter, a teenage Laurilee, had the idea to split them open, cut out the sand veins and broil them like lobsters. They were delicious. That was 50 years ago. >click to read<17:53

Canada’s marine protected area laws need a ‘floor of basic protections’

The oceans that surround Canada on three coasts are under considerable pressure from a range of human-driven stressors. But measures in place to protect and de-stress them are a weak patchwork. The consensus is that by prohibiting some of the main culprits, such as commercial fishing and oil drilling, within their boundaries, designated marine protected areas (MPAs) go a long way to relieving the stress seas are under. “But right now our MPA laws are like baby Aspirin,” says Linda Nowlan, who heads the marine program at West Coast Environmental Law. “What we need is a heavy duty Advil.” That was her message to the National Advisory Panel on Marine Protected Area Standards Friday during the first of three days of consultations in Ottawa. >click to read<14:27

Four fishermen rescued off the coast New South Wales

Four men are lucky to be alive after they were rescued from a sinking trawler off the south coast of New South Wales on Saturday morning. A rescue chopper was sent out to the scene at Bengunnu Point at Mimoso Rocks National Park, south of Canberra after an alert was sent out by the men at 6.20am on Saturday. The men’s ship allegedly hit rocks in the peninsula causing it to start sinking. A large amount of floating debris of the trawler was found in the waters and on a nearby beach. >click to read<12:56

Newfoundland scallop fishermen left high and dry

I’m sitting here thinking about how our elected government is forcing our 3PS scallop fleet to destroy the only bit of fishing ground (north bed) that they gave our fleet to fish in 2006 by building invisible fences around the rest of the grounds which are known as the southern and middle beds. We always had the right to fish there, but inside those fences now only the offshore fleet from Nova Scotia is allowed to fish. How criminal this is for is Newfoundland fishermen to be banned from fishing our own waters where we can fish for any other species. Paul Snook, Fortune >click to read<10:46

Fishermen gearing up for next leg of the commercial salmon season

After the season for commercial salmon fishing kicked off in May with two stints totaling less than three weeks, fishermen are looking forward to the end of the month when they’ll be able to cast their lines almost uninterrupted through September. June 30 marked the end of the second stint between Pigeon Point and the Mexican border, after the first open week spanned May 1-7. Starting July 26 through August, commercial boats will get the green light between Pigeon Point and Horse Mountain, including the San Francisco Bay. And while fishermen are less than thrilled with this year’s scaled-back season for salmon, catches have been on the rise for many of them, at least when they’re allowed to fish. >click to read<10:18

Fisherman questions how province can ‘be both the regulator and the sponsor’ for mill’s treatment plan

There was no trust for the province’s Department of Environment on Pictou’s wharves or in its harbour on Friday. “Trust gap? There’s no trust, it’s more than a gap,” said Allan MacCarthy. The Caribou fisherman had brought his vessel, The Red Trapper, to join hundreds of other fishing boats from around Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick for a protest in Pictou Harbour. They were met by a large crowd that also came from around Atlantic Canada to march down to meet them at the Pictou Marina. “The provincial government is heavily compromised in this,” said MacCarthy. “They are paying for it — everybody knows that. So how are they going to be both the regulator and the sponsor?” >click to read<09:11

North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for July 6, 2018

>Click here to read the Weekly Update<, to read all the updates >Click here<, for older updates listed as NCFA >click here<07:48