Daily Archives: July 7, 2020

The 2020 P.E.I. spring lobster season that almost didn’t happen because of coronavirus, comes to an end

The spring lobster season on P.E.I. ended July 4 after a late start on May 15, in a year when fishermen faced low prices and catch limits due to a shortage of labour in processing plants. After losing the crucial first two weeks of the season, fishermen saw a glut of lobsters, pulling in more than buyers would take. There are eight processing plants on Prince Edward Island that deal with lobster. “At the end of the day, we had a season. That meant job creation and it also meant wealth creation for the province during a time when a lot of the other sectors were suffering,” >click to read< 19:30

As Jaws reaches its 45th – 45 Things About Jaws You Might Not Know

As we celebrate the 45-year anniversary of the movie that changed the summer blockbuster, or in this case the movie that actually invented the summer blockbuster, Jaws. These 45 interesting facts about Jaws will be in no particular order. One of the great things about Jaws is that it was filmed on location and not in a studio. They hired hundreds of local extras and many local actors to fill the roles. The medical inspector who lists the Chrissie  Watkins death as a boating accident; the young Cassidy, who passes out before he can go skinny-dipping with Chrissie Watkins; the fishermen who lose their holiday roast while on the dock and so many others were all real local Martha’s Vineyard residents. The beer brand that Quint drinks aboard the Orca is called Narragansett. It was a popular beer in places like Rhode Island and New England and at one time was a sponsor of the Boston Red Sox.>click to read< 18:27

Study: Microplastic fiber pollution harms lobster larvae

A study published in the Marine Pollution Bulletin reports that the fibers affect the animals’ feeding and respiration, and they could even prevent some larvae from reaching adulthood. “Lobsters play a fundamental role in the Gulf of Maine ecosystem as well as the state’s economy, and it is important that we understand how pollutants impact their development.” Young lobsters grow to adulthood through four distinct developmental stages, and the researchers found that the physiology of each stage determined how the animals interacted with plastic fibers. The youngest lobsters didn’t consume them—but they were plagued by fibers accumulating under the shells that protect their gills. >click to read< 16:04

Bristol Bay Fisheries Report: July 6, 2020

The run is late this year, but it’s ramping way up across the bay. The total run passed 11 million fish yesterday, with some of the biggest harvests we’ve seen yet this season in 3 of the bay’s districts.  Total run in the bay jumped by over 3 million fish yesterday, to almost 11.5 million. Total catch bay-wide is 8.4 million, total escapement is 2.5 million, and there are an estimated 515,000 fish in-river in the bay’s combined rivers. Fish per delivery from the drift boats also jumped by an average of 500 fish per delivery bay-wide. All the districts that fished yesterday delivered more than 1,100 fish per delivery yesterday, and in Ugashik… that number was almost 2,000 fish per delivery. audio, report, >click to read< 14:39

U.S. Crustacean Market to hit $10.2 billion by 2026

The U.S. is among the biggest markets for seafood & seafood-based products and it is ever-growing due to its inherent health benefits. The growth of the seafood demand is attributed to high disposable incomes and an exponential growth of omnichannel partners. E-commerce platforms and digital distribution channels have significantly escalated the seafood market in both formats including business-to-business as well as business-to-customer operations. Many retail giants such as Walmart and Target etc. engaged in the industry has been increasing the presence on these channels to reach out to more customers and deliver high-quality & fresh products. This trend is redefining the supply chain distribution of consumer products in the region. As a result of these marketing efforts, more people are buying or preferring seafood, which will support the growth of crustaceans. >click to read< 14:09

Fisherman talks shrimping season coming to close

Louisiana fisherman Bobby Rivere says the brown shrimp season is coming to a close this evening, and the white shrimp season won’t start up until mid-August. “This gives the white shrimp time to grow. We don’t catch them too prematurely because right now they’ll be too small for consumption,” he said. The white shrimp may be smaller right now because of our mild winter. “We really don’t know why they are so small, they are late moving and with winter not being too cold they aren’t growing properly I guess,” Rivere said. >click to read< 11:01

Inspector of marine accidents and ex-commercial fisherman Sean Friday shares his views on the challenges facing commercial fishing and his journey to the MAIB.

To mark this year’s Maritime Safety Week and the launch of the Home and Dry Campaign by the Fishing Industry Safety Group, Sean Friday, an inspector of marine accidents for 8 years, talks candidly about his journey to the MAIB and what can be done to make commercial fishing safer. Tell us about your career to date and your journey to the MAIB? Although I had always wanted to go to sea, on my father’s insistence my career began with an engineering apprenticeship as a civilian in the British Army. With this providing a good grounding I went to sea as a deckhand in the fishing industry and progressed to the role of skipper of one the UK’s largest fishing vessels. >click to read< 09:39

Most of R.I.’s calamari catch is processed in China. A local group wants to change that.

Also known as loligo, squid is Rhode Island’s most valuable fishery, worth about $28 million a year. More than 22 million pounds of squid are landed each year, most of it at the port of Galilee. But while the official appetizer of the Ocean State may arrive at a fishing port just a few miles away, most squid is shipped to the other side of the world, and all the way back again, before anyone gets to eat it. “One of the reasons that food policy councils exist, and there are some 350 food policy councils around the country, is to promote the growth and strength of local food systems,” she said. >click to read< 08:48