Daily Archives: September 12, 2018

New Bedford revives push to seize Northeast Fisheries Center

Appealing to the new management team at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, elected officials from New Bedford are newly appealing to relocate the Northeast Fisheries Science Center from Woods Hole to New Bedford, arguing the change will help the federal government to more effectively engage with members of an active fishing community. In a letter Tuesday to Acting Administrator Rear Admiral Tim Gallaudet, officials cited media reports suggesting that NOAA had ruled out every possible location for the center except Woods Hole in Falmouth. In asking for reconsideration, they also demanded the federal government release its “business case analysis” of potential locations in the Northeast. >click to read<20:46

Fishermen did a good job freeing Owl

I’ve read the articles concerning “Owl” the whale and conclude that another opinion needs to be expressed that was not present in the article, which conveyed a negative perspective to the fishing industry. I’ll admit from the start that I was not witness to the event but from what was described and my experience in the fishing industry there are reasonable conclusions that weren’t considered in the description of the event. While it was stated that “65 years of whale watching experience” was present I’d dare bet that there was little to no experience with fishing knowledge to understand what the crew of the fishing vessel did to prevent the event from escalating to a worse condition.>click to read<by Erik Anderson 19:56

Coast Guard establishes temporary maritime emergency contact numbers for North Carolina

Sept. 12, 2018 U.S. Coast Guard Hurricane Florence Response Contact: Hurricane Response Media Operations Centers Hampton Roads/Elizabeth City: (757) 295-8435 North Carolina: (252) 515-0895 – Members of the public should follow all local advisories for evacuation and for seeking safe harbor throughout North Carolina as Hurricane Florence progresses. The primary number for help should be 911, as this number allows first responders to coordinate rescues across agencies. Coast Guard Sector North Carolina has established temporary maritime search and rescue phone numbers. >click to read new contact information< 19:05

LeBlanc in conflict of interest over surf clam licence, Clearwater to keep monopoly until 2020

Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc was found in breach of conflict of interest rules Wednesday for approving an Arctic surf clam licence to a company that employed a family member — a violation that comes with no penalties. Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion said in a report issued Wednesday that LeBlanc knew his wife’s first cousin was involved in the Five Nations Clam Co. and knew the cousin would have benefited financially when awarding the company a multi-million dollar license in February. >click to read<

Clearwater to keep Arctic surf clam monopoly until 2020 – Fisheries Minister Jonathan Wilkinson has confirmed Clearwater Seafoods has been given the go ahead to catch the outstanding 25 per cent of the 2018 and 2019 total allowable catch (TAC) for Arctic surf clams. A statement issued by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) on Sept. 11 reiterates the plan remains to identify a new Indigenous participant for the 2020 fishery, however. >click to read<18:49

NWS National Hurricane Center – Hurricane Florence Advisory Update 500 PM EDT

500 PM EDT Wed Sep 12 2018 NWS National Hurricane Center Miami FL …FLORENCE MOVING STEADILY TOWARD THE CAROLINA COASTAL AREAS… LIFE-THREATENING STORM SURGE AND RAINFALL EXPECTED… LOCATION…30.9N 72.5W ABOUT 385 MI…615 KM SE OF WILMINGTON NORTH CAROLINA ABOUT 420 MI…675 KM ESE OF MYRTLE BEACH SOUTH CAROLINA MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS…120 MPH…195 KM/H PRESENT MOVEMENT…NW OR 315 DEGREES AT 16 MPH…26 KM/H MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE…949 MB…28.03 INCHES >click to read<17:48

Observe Hurricane Florence live from Coast Guard Frying Pan Shoals Light Tower

Want an up-close look at Hurricane Florence? Watch the video below to see live footage from an old Coast Guard light tower, 32 miles off the coast of southeastern North Carolina. If current storm projections are correct, that won’t be far from where Florence makes landfall. One camera, mounted on the tower’s helipad about 100 feet above the water, should capture long views, along with the hurricane-force winds whipping the American flag. Richard Neal, a software sales engineer from south Charlotte, is now the principal owner of the Frying Pan Shoals Light Tower. Neal bought the tower at government auction for $85,000 in 2010. Frying Pan Ocean Cam powered by EXPLORE.org Live >click to watch<17:22

Pacific Balance Pinniped Society says halving seal numbers would mean more salmon for endangered orcas

There are more than 100,000 seals in B.C. waters, along with tens of thousands of sea lions. Pearce said the quickest way to reverse declining salmon numbers is to kill tens of thousands of them, reducing their numbers by 50 per cent. But that’s where the debate gets as murky as the waters of the Fraser. He cites a study that concludes pinnipeds are eating more than 600 metric tons of chinook salmon every year in Washington state waters alone. That adds up to millions of fish that could be harvested by humans, set aside for killer whales, or allowed to spawn. Earlier this year, lawmakers in the U.S. approved an expansion of an ongoing cull of sea lions that prey on salmon and steelhead in West Coast rivers. >click to read<16:42

Biologists, fishermen puzzle over late Kenai sockeye run

First they were underweight, with underwhelming numbers. Then they weren’t there at all. Then they were coming in late, showing up as Upper Cook Inlet fishermen were packing up their gear for the season. The unpredictable and significantly smaller Kenai River sockeye run frustrated a lot of fishermen this year. As of the last day of sonar counts on Aug. 28, about 1.03 million sockeye had entered the river. More than half of them arrived after Aug. 1, leading to a stop-and-start fishery that included significant time and area cuts for commercial fishermen in Cook Inlet and a complete sockeye salmon sport angling closure on the Kenai River from Aug. 4–23. >click to read<16:12

‘LeBlanc must go.’ FISH-NL demands Prime Minister fire Dominic LeBlanc from cabinet for violating conflict of interest rules

The Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador (FISH-NL) is demanding Prime Minister Justin Trudeau fire MP Dominic LeBlanc from the federal cabinet for breaking conflict of interest rules when he was minister of Fisheries and Oceans. Further, Premier Dwight Ball and the province’s seven Members of Parliament should be unanimous in demanding LeBlanc’s immediate dismissal. “LeBlanc broke conflict of interest rules by awarding a lucrative licence to fish arctic surf clams to a company that was set to be run by his wife’s cousin — a decision that would have seen resource and jobs leave our province,” says Ryan Cleary, President of FISH-NL. “LeBlanc’s conflict of interest as Fisheries and Oceans minister amounts to the highest act of treason against our province and people. Not only should the Prime Minister fire him, but the Premier and all seven MPs need to be loud, clear, and unanimous in saying, ‘LeBlanc must go.’ Anything less would be traitorous to our province.” >click to read<14:05

Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 65′ Fiberglass Stern Trawler, 350HP 12-V-71, State/ Federal Permits

Specifications, information and 26 photos >click here< To see all the boats in this series, >click here<13:20

Many topics on the agenda for South West Lobster Forum taking place in Yarmouth on Sept. 19

Five industry organizations representing lobster fishermen in Lobster Fishing Areas (LFA) 33, 34 and 35 are coming together to host the third annual South West Lobster Forum on Sept. 19 at the Grand Hotel in Yarmouth. The forum “is designed for the fishermen to come and get a handle of what’s going on in the industry,” says Bernie Barry, president of the Coldwater Lobster Association, one of the groups organizing this year’s event. The Scotia Fundy Inshore Fishermen’s Association, the Bay of Fundy Inshore Fishermen’s Association, the Maritime Fishermen’s Union (MFU) Local 9 and the Brazil Rock 33/34 association are the other groups involved with the organization of the event. Barry says there are “numerous hot topic items” on the day’s agenda,, >click to read<11:17

Answering The Question: What’s Fishing For Leave’s Position On Fishing Entitlement?

Fishing For Leave (FFL) are adamant that all repatriated quota is held as a national resource and is divided out to all fishermen in a community. Under the principle of one ton to one boat. If someone doesn’t use their slice it goes back in the pot to be divided again. That is what we’ve represented to the highest levels of government repeatedly and has had some acknowledgement in the white paper. This is in spite of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation (SFF) insisting all repatriated resources are distributed through the current Fixed Quota Allocation (FQA) system which has facilitated and driven consolidation as the EU CFP quota system failed. >click to read<10:38

New York’s offshore wind plan faces commercial fishing opposition – $1 billion boat-to-plate industry at stake

The plan to turn ocean wind into energy calls for anchoring 15 wind turbines, each one a little taller than the Washington Monument, into the sea floor more than 30 miles off the coast of Montauk, Long Island.,,, And that’s right smack in the middle of where Chris Scola makes his living. Several days a week, Scola motors his rusting trawler – the Rock-n-Roll III — into the waters off Montauk’s coast, drops a dredging net onto the ocean floor and scoops up hundreds of pounds of scallops. Once those cables go in, Scola fears his nets will get entangled, making dredging so difficult he’ll need to find a place to fish further offshore with a larger boat, sending himself deeper into debt. >click to read<08:34