Daily Archives: December 20, 2018
Bloody effluent still spewing from B.C. fish processing plant, photographer finds
A photographer on Vancouver Island is again raising concerns about the practice of dumping effluent containing fish blood from fish processing plants. Tavish Campbell says little has changed since he collected samples from bloody waste discharged into the ocean last year. The samples, from processing plants that handle farmed salmon on Vancouver Island, were tested by the Atlantic Veterinary College and found to contain piscine reovirus (PRV), a virus that some researchers believe is harming wild salmon. The findings prompted an investigation by B.C.’s Ministry of Environment and a province-wide audit of fish processing facilities. >click to read<21:55
MPA’s: Trawlers allowed to fish in E.U. marine (un)protected areas – “We were surprised to find this,” said Boris Worm
Marine Protected Areas appear to not be particularly protected. At least not around Europe. A study released Thursday in the journal Science found that trawling efforts were about 36 per cent higher inside European Union Marine Protected Areas than it was outside of them. It also found that abundance of species often caught as bycatch in trawls, like sharks, skates and rays, was lower inside the heavily fished marine protected areas than outside. “We were surprised to find this,” said Boris Worm, a Dalhousie University marine ecologist who was also a senior author of the study. >click to read<19:45
NOAA Calls for Protection of Female North Atlantic Right Whales
NOAA Fisheries researchers and colleagues are taking a closer look as to why the endangered western North Atlantic right whale population is growing at far more slower rate than that of southern right whales, a sister species also recovering from near extinction by commercial whaling. Researchers and colleagues looked at the question and have concluded that preserving the lives of adult females in the population is the most effective way to promote population growth and recovery. Most of these deaths are attributed to entanglement in fishing gear and collisions with ships. The findings are reported in Royal Society Open Science. >click to read<17:37
Japan to pull out of IWC to resume commercial whaling
Japan has decided to pull out of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), officials told AFP on Thursday, as Tokyo reportedly gears up to resume commercial whaling activity next year. Such a move would spark international criticism against Japan over whale conservation and deepen the divide between anti- and pro-whaling countries. “We are considering all options” including the possibility of withdrawal from the 89-member IWC, Fisheries Agency official Yuki Morita told AFP. Another official at the foreign ministry confirmed “all options are on the table but nothing formal has been decided yet”. >click to read<17:10
Northwest Dams to Spill More Water to Help Salmon & Orca
Dam operators will send more water spilling over the eight dams along the Snake and Columbia rivers in an effort to help young salmon survive the notoriously deadly trip to the Pacific Ocean. The spill management plan for 2019 and 2020 is a win for salmon advocates in a 17-year legal battle where federal judges have repeatedly told the government it’s not doing enough to prevent the extinction of salmon in the rivers of the Northwest. It also brings that litigation into alignment with the work of a Washington state task force determined to prevent the extinction of Southern resident killer whales whose survival depends on endangered Chinook salmon. >click to read<12:03
Heart of Louisiana: Cajun Christmas
A Christmas display in downtown Morgan City got a major upgrade this year with help from Hollywood. An Emmy Award-winning special effects artist has turned the town’s landmark shrimp boat into Christmas on the bayou. “It looks amazing,” said Kendra Dupre. “We’re art teachers. We’re from Houma, but we’re originally from this area. It’s just amazing to see such technique. Everything is so detailed.” The new, larger-than-life Cajun Christmas figures have taken over the town’s iconic shrimp boat, parked here in a highway median for decades. The display is a Christmas gift from Morgan City native Lee Romaire, who owns a Hollywood special effects studio. Video,>click to read<11:08
This fish is delicious and sustainable, but nobody’s buying
If someone mentions butterfish you may smack your lips, absolutely want to avoid it, or just scratch your head.,,, The confusion is relevant because the real butterfish could appear at a restaurant near you. In 2017 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found that Atlantic butterfish “are not overfished and not subject to overfishing.” They’re tasty too. “I love them, they’re absolutely delicious,” said Gregory DiDomenico, executive director of the Garden State Seafood Association. Commercial fishermen have taken note. DiDomenico told NOAA that “people are very much looking forward to getting into this fishery. That means jobs on the boat, jobs at the plant, and fishermen buying more gear.” >click to read<10:33
$63.5K to help reshape Gloucester’s fish industry
When the Gloucester Fishing Community Preservation Fund was established in 2007, the Gloucester fleet already had transitioned away from its sizeable offshore groundfish fleet to a largely inshore fleet dependent on cod and other groundfish species in the Gulf of Maine. More than a decade later, the demise of the Gloucester inshore fleet continues, fueled by regulation, environmental restrictions and the simple demographics of an aging and declining workforce. “The aging-out of the fleet and attrition have really taken a toll,” said Vito Giacalone, GFCPF executive director. “We’ve now experienced two generations of fishermen who saw no value in continuing to fish.” >click to read<09:55
Canada protects two new areas off British Columbia’s coast for Resident Killer Whales
The Government of Canada is protecting and recovering the iconic and culturally important Southern and Northern Resident Killer Whales. These whales hold a special significance to Canadians, and Indigenous Peoples and play an important role as apex predators in our oceans ecosystem. Today, the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, is announcing he has created two new areas of critical habitat for iconic Resident Killer Whales. >click to read<08:22
