Daily Archives: December 4, 2018

Vital surf clam harvesting grounds closed by New England Fisheries Management Council

Clamming captains, business-owners and attorneys huddled in the lobby of the Viking Hotel on Tuesday sharing disbelief and despair over a decision by the New England Fisheries Management Council that will close vital harvesting grounds. “A lot of these guys are going to go out of business,” owner and president of Nantucket Sound Seafood LLC Al Rencurrel said. “Obviously the economic impact, they didn’t view that, did they?” Heading into the meeting, the surf clam industry hoped for the approval of “Alternative 2,” which would continue an exemption in its fishing areas but would modify boundaries including seasonal areas. ,,“It’s sad to say but they’re putting a lot of people out of business right now,” Rencurrel said. “The Conservation Law Foundation drives the bus with these people, obviously. It’s plain as day. It’s too bad they couldn’t help the fishery out.” >click to read<20:34

Fleet of 5 Maine scallop and fishing trawlers sold to New York-based equity firm

A New York-based private equity firm will purchase a Portland scallop and groundfish supply company that manages five of the largest fishing vessels operating in Maine. Blue Harvest Fisheries, a U.S. scallop and whitefish supplier owned by equity firm Bregal Partners, will purchase Atlantic Trawlers Fishing, Undercurrent News reported. Bregal Partners is a private investment firm with $600 million of committed capital funded by a six-generation German-Dutch family. Its board of directors includes the CEO of Bumble Bee Foods, and the chief investment and strategy officer of the Central Bering Sea Fisherman’s Association, who is also on the board of American Seafoods. Atlantic Trawlers Fishing, owned by James Odlin, operates from the Portland Fish Pier and includes the fishing vessels Nobska, Morue, Harmony, Teresa Marie III and Teresa Marie IV. >click to read>16:57

NEFMC votes against limiting access to whiting fishery

New England Fishery Management Council members have shown little collective enthusiasm for limiting access to the Northeast small-mesh whiting fishery and the great majority followed through on that sentiment Tuesday. Convening in Newport, Rhode Island, in the first of its three days of meetings, the council took final action on the measure known as Amendment 22 by voting 13-1 with one abstention to sustain the small-mesh fishery’s status quo as an open fishery. The vote defeated a proposal to establish requirements for limiting the access to the small-mesh multispecies fishery that has grown in popularity among local groundfishermen as other stocks have become less abundant or been subject to stricter management policies. >click to read<16:10

Cooke Aquaculture looks to expand operations – Opponents denounce expansion of fish farm in Liverpool Bay

As Cooke Aquaculture looks to expand its fish farming in Liverpool Bay, residents who oppose the project say the company is ignoring their concerns. In September, the Nova Scotia government granted Kelly Cove Salmon, a subsidiary of Cooke Aquaculture, permission to look at new sites in the bay. The company has operated one site in the area since 2011, which employs 10 people. Those opposed to the expansion have a number of concerns, including fish-waste pollution, the possibility of cage failures, the use of pesticides to control sea lice and potential negative impacts on sea creatures, like lobster. “It’s all bad. It’s an environmental and fisheries disaster, wherever they go,” >click to read<14:13

On the waterfront: Portland zoning fight takes shape

Is it a restoration of guidelines to preserve the city’s marine traditions and industry? Or is it a Commercial Street catastrophe waiting to be unleashed? That’s how opposing sides are painting a proposed referendum question that would essentially restore the original language and restrictions of waterfront zoning passed by voters in May 1987. If approved, the amendments would be retroactive to Oct. 30, 2018. “They have been chipping away protections, it is a loose, fluid, insecure situation,” fisherman Keith Lane said Nov. 30 about the need to stop waterfront development. >clip to read<13:36

Precautionary approach a step towards stronger fisheries management: DFO – Fishermen concerned

After attending a Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) consultation with harvesters in Gander Nov. 21 about the proposed application of a precautionary approach for the species, Neil Stuckless feels his quota could be at risk. According to DFO, a precautionary approach principle would establish the overall health for snow crab in Newfoundland and Labrador. The proposal has three levels of classification – critical, cautious, and, healthy. Based on an area’s health classification, a percentage based total allowable catch (TAC) would be applied. While DFO says it has been working on this approach for some time, it’s the first area harvesters have heard of it.>click tp read<10:49

New England Fishery Management Council meeting in Newport, RI., December 4 thru 6 2018

The New England Fishery Management Council will be meeting at Hotel Viking, Newport, RI, December 4, 2018 –
December 6, 2018. To read the final agenda, >click here< Register for webinar >click here< to listen live. 08:16

Notorious Menhaden Slayer Reb Raymer Released from Prison

Following two years of incarceration for perpetrating a series of fish kills on the East End, prolific mehaden killer Reb Raymer is back on the streets this week. The Hampton Bays resident, who holds a longstanding grudge against the baitfish, also known as bunker, is responsible for the death of hundreds of thousands of menhaden between June 2015 and November 2016 when he was finally arrested for his crimes. Raymer was convicted of ecoterrorism and cruelty to animals in Hamptons Superior Court early last year,,, >click to read<07:28

Fishermen backing surf clammers in fight over harvest area

Groundfish stakeholders are supporting the surf clam industry’s efforts to retain fishing rights in pockets of the Great South Channel of the Nantucket Shoals as long as the approved management policy does not prompt “mitigations or further habitat restrictions on the groundfish fishery.”,,, On Tuesday, the New England Fishery Management Council, meeting in Newport, Rhode Island, is expected to decide whether one of the more lucrative fishing grounds for the surf clam fishery — 10 to 20 miles east and southeast of Nantucket — will remain open to surf clamming or restricted or closed as part of a protectionist effort to designate the full area as an essential fish habitat that would be off limits to surf clamming dredging gear. >click to read<06:55