Daily Archives: December 18, 2018

Nova Scotia fisherman says blockaders are being used as ‘scapegoat’ in fight with Northern Pulp

A Pictou fisherman of 30 years says Northern Pulp Mill’s successful injunction against those who’ve blocked mill survey boats is a blame tactic to hide the company’s lack of proper waste plan. Nearly 100 people from various environmental groups, Pictou Landing First Nation, Pictou area residents and other supporters rallied outside the Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Halifax amid blowing snow on Tuesday afternoon. The rally members said they were there to both support the fishermen named in the temporary injunction sought by Northern Pulp,,,, “If we allow it, our fisheries die,” >click to read<21:06

Five U.S. nationals arrested, fined for fishing in Passamaquoddy Bay

A U.S. Passamaquoddy fisherman says he doesn’t go out of his way to fish lobster in Canadian waters. But the border is just a mile away from his reserve in Maine and he can’t earn a living if he doesn’t cross it now and then. “We’re literally going from our back doors to where our people have fished and survived for thousands of years,” said Adam Newell, who lives on the Sipayik reservation in Pleasant Point. On Dec. 6, five U.S. fishermen, including four from the Passamaquoddy tribe, were arrested on the Canadian side of the border. >click to read<20:26

Coast Guard assists sinking fishing boat 50 miles east of Cape May, NJ

The Coast Guard assisted three mariners after their ship began taking on water more than 50 miles off Cape May, New Jersey, Monday. Fifth District command center watchstanders in Portsmouth, Virginia, received an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon alert from the 77-foot fishing trawler Capt Garland, but were unable to make contact with the crew after hailing them on VHF radio channel 16, Monday. >click to read<

Conservation groups threaten lawsuit against Trump administration over salmon fishing

Two conservation groups say the federal government is violating the Endangered Species Act by failing to consider how salmon fishing off the West Coast is affecting endangered killer whales. The Arizona-based Center for Biological Diversity and the Washington state-based Wild Fish Conservancy on Tuesday notified President Donald Trump’s administration that they intend to file a lawsuit within 60 days unless officials reevaluate whether the fishing further jeopardizes orcas that frequent the inland waters of the Pacific Northwest. Video, >click to read<15:39

Portland City Council freezes development along waterfront

A task force appointed by City Manager Jon Jennings could begin looking at how to protect the marine industry and manage contrasting uses of Commercial Street next week. “It is all just a plan right now,” Jennings said Monday as city councilors approved a 180-day moratorium on “the development of new non-marine structures and expansion of non-marine uses” in the Waterfront Commercial Zone on the sea side of Commercial Street. The moratorium drew unanimous council support and near-unanimous public support in the preceding 45-minute public hearing. It was passed as an emergency measure, making it effective immediately. It will remain in effect until June 15, 2019. >click to read<15:02

N.S. pulp mill due in court to ask for injunction against fishermen’s blockade

Lawyers for the Northern Pulp mill are due in Nova Scotia Supreme Court today to seek an injunction that would prevent fishermen from blocking survey boats hired to examine a route for an effluent pipeline. Kathy Cloutier, a spokeswoman for Northern Pulp’s parent company, Paper Excellence Canada, confirmed the mill is seeking an interim injunction to prevent blockades of the survey work in the Northumberland Strait. A group of fishermen has stated they would block any survey boats from entering the Strait. >click to read<11:30

Watermen: Open Anne Arundel oyster sanctuaries to harvesting

Herring Bay near Deale has eight historic oyster bars, all of them protected from harvesting because the area is an oyster sanctuary. But some commercial watermen say working small sanctuaries like Herring Bay could be better for the oysters, water, and people in the long run. Bill Scerbo, president of the Anne Arundel Watermen’s Association, wants to see sanctuaries like those in county waters reopened to commercial fishing. They say right now oysters in some low-salinity sanctuaries, like Herring Bay, aren’t reproducing naturally. “A lot of oysters have died of old age up here and haven’t been replaced,” the Shady Side resident said. >click to read<10:50

Fishing overhaul draws praise from various sides, What are your thoughts?

An overhaul of federal fishing regulations approved Monday by the U.S. Senate is drawing praise from groups on competing sides of the long-running issue. The bill, which now heads to the House, was the subject of months of debate and compromise among lawmakers, commercial and recreational fishing interests and environmentalists. “Passage of the Modern Fish Act will boost our conservation efforts and benefit the local economies that depend on recreational fishing,” Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., the bill’s sponsor, said in a news release. “I appreciate the hard work of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to get this bill passed, but there is still more work to be done. I look forward to continuing our efforts to modernize federal fishing policies on the Gulf Coast and to support our fishermen.”>click to read<09:57