Daily Archives: September 25, 2019

Orsted To Partner With Commercial Fishing Dock In Montauk For On-Shore Operations Base

According to Orsted, the company will lease a portion of the Inlet Seafood property for its on-shore operations and maintenance facility and will dock the boats there that will be used to shuttle maintenance crews to and from the wind farm. Inlet Seafood is owned by a cooperative of six commercial fishermen. The group owns 6 acres of land on the eastern side of the mouth of the inlet into Montauk Harbor. Commercial fishermen have been the main opposition to the South Fork Wind Farm and to large-scale offshore wind development in general, but the agreement with some of the industry’s most prominent captains in Montauk would appear to have won at least some good will. >click to read< 22:28

‘There’s no margin’ – Monitors final nail in coffin Feds propose up to 100% fish-counting, unclear on who’s on hook for costs

Groundfishermen, speaking Wednesday afternoon during the public comment period, drew a straight line from the increased monitoring costs to the economic collapse of the fishery. “I made 124 trips last year and each day was 10-14 hours,” said Gloucester fisherman Joe Orlando. “At $700 a day for 100% monitoring, that comes to $84,000 for the year. I didn’t even come close to making that. It would completely bankrupt the sector. And there’s only a handful of us left.” >click to read<  19:45

Fisheries disaster declared in multiple fisheries, multiple states

Wednesday,, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced his determination that commercial fishery failures occurred for multiple fisheries between 2017 and 2019 in Alaska, California, Georgia, and South Carolina, while further finding that a catastrophic regional fishery disaster occurred for Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama due to extreme flooding events in the Gulf of Mexico. >click to read< 17:41

North Sea cod loses Marine Stewardship Council label as population halves in just two years

North Sea cod, a staple for the UK’s fishing industry, has lost its sustainable status, after stocks were found to have almost halved in the last two years. Cod caught around the UK received the “blue tick” sustainability label in 2017, when stocks of the fish were put at around 152,207 tonnes – its highest level since 1982. However, new advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) puts the stocks at only 81,224 tonnes – more than 100 tonnes less than predicted. >click to read< 16:51

Aquaculture conference overshadowed by fish die-off, bickering

An aquaculture conference in St. John’s is being overshadowed by a massive fish die-off on Newfoundland’s south coast, a war of words between industry leaders and the fisheries union,,, Dozens of delegates have gathered at the Delta Hotel this week for the annual Newfoundland Aquaculture Industry Association’s Cold Harvest 2019 conference. But a company’s attempts to clean up thousands of dead fish in the Coast of Bays-Fortune Bay area has reignited debate over the industry, which has been scrutinized for repeated infectious outbreaks, escapes, an outpouring of government money, and what some say is a threat to wild fish. >click to read< 15:50

Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 45′ x 17′ Novi Gillnetter, business, with Federal Permits

Specifications, information and 54 photos >click here< To see all the boats in this series, >click here< 13:42

Federal fisheries declaration approved for Mississippi

Congressional leaders announced a federal fisheries disaster declaration Wednesday morning to help South Mississippi fishermen affected by the opening of the Bonnet Carre Spillway. Mississippi leaders said in a statement that they are now working to expedite the funds set aside by the disaster declaration to provide fishermen with disaster relief more quickly. >click to read< 12:03

Wicker, Hyde-Smith, & Palazzo Commend Federal Fishery Disaster Declaration for Mississippi>click to read<

Bristol Bay Native Corp. nets two fishing companies in one deal

The Alaska Native corporation with a “fish first” principle is making its first foray back into the signature Alaska industry in roughly 40 years. Bristol Bay Native Corp. announced an agreement Sep. 17 for it to purchase Blue North Fisheries and Clipper Seafoods, two Seattle-based longline fishing companies that operate in the large Bering Sea Pacific cod fishery. BBNC CEO Jason Metrokin said in an interview that Blue North and Clipper will be merged into a new subsidiary, Bristol Bay Alaska Seafoods, when the deal closes Sept. 30. >click to read<  10:19

Quinn Fisheries buys six of Carlos Rafael’s scallop boats

Mayor Jon Mitchell announced the purchase at a hastily announced 3:30 press conference Wednesday afternoon. The mayor had sought to keep the bulk of Rafael’s boats in New Bedford,,, “With the Quinn family’s acquisition of Carlos Rafael’s scallopers and related permits, New Bedford can be assured that a major piece of Rafael’s fishing business will remain here,,,  BASE’s seafood auction owners Richie and Raymond Canastra attempted to block the agreement as part of an apparent attempt to acquire the same vessels,,, >click to read< 08:16