Daily Archives: May 8, 2019

Sweeping reforms to West Coast fisheries recommended

Canada’s West Coast fishery could be in for a sea change, if Parliament accepts and implements 20 recommendations being made by the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans.,,, recommending sweeping changes to the way commercial fishing licences and quota are owned in B.C.,,, including quota ownership by foreign investors who may never have set foot on a fishing boat or in Canada – that has turned commercial fishing in B.C. into “a modern day feudal system.” “The direction that the industry is going is driving the independent harvester – the small boat fisherman, the Ma and Pa operations – out of business on the coast.” The ownership of licences and quota in B.C. is different from Atlantic Canada and Alaska, where the people who do the fishing – commercial boat owners – tend to own the licences and quota. >click to read<23:14

Coast Guard saves man aboard sinking vessel near Kake, Alaska

The Coast Guard rescued a man from his fishing vessel that was taking on water northeast of Kake and towed the vessel to safety, Tuesday. Watchstanders in the Sector Juneau command center received a call from the friend of a fisherman in Petersburg, reporting that his friend had contacted him via an inReach device and indicated that his 40-foot fishing vessel Neto was taking on water near Eliza Harbor. The friend stated that the fisherman did not have electronics on board, and was experiencing difficulties with his dewatering pump. The friend also thought the fishermen’s boat might be adrift without power. Video>click to read<21:10

Study pinpoints trend toward fisheries specialization

Commercial fishermen in Alaska have gotten older in the past three decades. As it turns out, they’ve become more specialized, too. Fewer permits overall are in the water; between the early 1990s and 2014, commercial fishing permits in Alaska decreased by 25 percent From 1988-2014, the number of individuals holding multiple permits declined from 30 percent to 20 percent, according to a study published in the journal Fish and Fisheries..,,The bottom line: fishermen are increasingly putting all their economic eggs into one basket, and that makes them more vulnerable to the ups and downs of fishing. >click to read<20:38

Fishy Business? Commercial Fisherman Accuses Duane Morris and Former Partner of Malpractice, Fraud

A commercial fisherman has sued Duane Morris and former partner Zhaoyang “Paul” Li claiming that Li inserted himself as a partner in a seafood export business and cut the fisherman out of the deal. Gerard “Jerry” Wetle, a commercial fisherman, boat owner and wholesaler now based in Oregon, claims in a complaint filed Monday in federal court in the Northern District of California that Li convinced him he didn’t need his own lawyer when setting up a business with a partner to catch squid and export them for sale in China. Wetle, who previously was based in Salinas, California, claims he fired his own lawyer upon Li’s advise. He further alleges that he signed on to a $2.6 million purchase agreement for a boat named “Pamela Rose” to benefit the export business, spent nearly six months in Mexico refitting it, and traveled to China to negotiate with vendors, only to be cut out of the export business. >click to read<17:33

FISH-NL – Harp seals and outside buyers not on list of fishery issues NDP prepared to ‘champion’

While the province’s New Democratic Party supports the principle of adjacency, moving away from “environmentally destructive” sea-cage aquaculture, and is “deeply concerned” about the impact of offshore seismic activity, Leader Alison Coffin doesn’t address other inshore fishery issues including harp seals and outside buyers. “The NDP is the first to respond to FISH-NL’s survey of provincial parties on the subject of the inshore fishery,” says Ryan Cleary, President of FISH-NL. “But not all questions were responded to, which probably says as much as a direct answer.” On May 3rd, FISH-NL sent eight questions to the leaders of each of the four political parties running in the May 16th provincial election: >click to read<16:39

Proposed Eastern Shore Islands MPA – N.S. lobster fishermen tie up boats to protest DFO minister

More than a hundred lobster fishermen from Nova Scotia’s Eastern Shore tied up their boats Wednesday to protest an appearance by federal Fisheries Minister Jonathan Wilkinson at a local legion. The protest was over Eastern Shore Islands, a 2,000-square-kilometre proposed marine protected area (MPA). Wilkinson told an East Ship Harbour legion hall packed with fishermen that the local lobster fishery — which accounts for 97 per cent of the landings inside the proposed MPA — would not be affected if the area is designated. >click to read<15:09

Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 45′ Stanley Lobster Boat, 325HP Detroit 892N

Specifications, information and 28 photos >click here< To see all the boats in this series, >Click here<14:46

Genevieve McDonald — a lobster boat captain and legislator — to graduate with highest distinction

Some people call Genevieve McDonald, Captain. Five months a year, she fishes for lobsters in Western Penobscot Bay. Others know her as Rep. McDonald. The Democratic legislator represents 8,000-plus people living on island communities around Stonington, Maine. In 2018, 67 percent of House District 134 voters elected to send her to Augusta. Students at Deer Isle-Stonington Elementary School, where she’s worked as a long-term substitute, call her Mrs. McDonald. To Evalina and Elise, the 1-year-old twins she parents with husband Cory, she’s Mom. And May 11 at Commencement at the University of Maine, she’ll be a college graduate, summa cum laude. >click to read<11:42

U.S. Coast Guard, partner agencies continue to assess Tanker Coimbra Southeast of Shinnecock Inlet

The U.S. Coast Guard and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, along with contracted Resolve Marine Group, continue to assess the tanker Coimbra located approximately 30 miles southeast of Shinnecock, N.Y. >click for 9 images< Boaters Advised To Stay Away As Coast Guard Investigates World War II Tanker Southeast Of Shinnecock Inlet the Coimbra, which sank 30 miles off the coast of Shinnecock Inlet more than 70 years ago. >click to read<11:09

Deepwater pulls back, wind farm on hold

The wind turbine project planned off the coast of Montauk is dead in the water, at least for now. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management confirmed this week that Deepwater Wind has asked the federal agency to halt its review of the project for the foreseeable future. Dubbed the South Fork Wind Farm, the 15-turbine project would be located in the Atlantic Ocean 35 miles east of Montauk. BOEM has confirmed in a missive that the “environmental review of the Deepwater Wind’s construction and operations plan (COP) is currently paused by request of Deepwater Wind.” The document on BOEM letterhead is signed by a BOEM official whose name has been redacted. However Stephen Boutwell, a spokesman for BOEM, confirmed the document’s accuracy Monday. >click to read<10:29

Maine Passes Law to Help Sick Lobstermen Keep Licenses

A new law in Maine is designed to help lobster fishermen who develop major illnesses keep their licenses active. The bill allows lobstermen who get a temporary medical waiver to fish on days they feel well enough to do so, and they can designate a qualified relative to fish using their license when they do not. Democratic Gov. Janet Mills signed the bill into law last week. >click to read<09:34

“Northern Edge” – Alaskans at war with U.S. military over readiness exercises

The air in Cordova, Alaska, is an unlikely mix of fresh glacial air and diesel fuel fumes. On one side of the isolated town rise the Chugach Mountains; on the other, a worn-looking fleet of fishing boats float in Prince William Sound, a northern branch of the Gulf of Alaska. There are no roads in or out of Cordova, and more than half of its 2,000-plus residents depend on the salmon industry. But for two weeks this May, their way of life could be under fire — literally. >click to read<08:20