Daily Archives: January 18, 2022

Another nail in the coffin of Newfoundland and Labrador’s fishing villages

I realize for many years now, I am sounding like a broken record regarding my almost daily ritual of trying to persuade government officials, both provincially and federally, how the rules regarding fishing enterprise transfers are killing coastal communities. Our outport communities exist as fishing villages and we are in the eleventh hour of the existence of many simply because the fishers in those villages, strung around the coast, are in their sixties and seventies and their days on the water are numbered. >click to read< opinion by David Boyd 20:24

Work stoppage by Sea Fisheries Protection Authority officers to cause disruption

Barring last-minute efforts to resolve issues, the stoppage is expected to cause disruption in designated fishing harbours around the coast. Lack of consultation with staff over the implementation of a new strategy and organisational changes are among the key reasons cited for the industrial action. The union served notice last week of 24-hour work stoppage by all Fórsa members from midnight Wednesday, January 19 to midnight Thursday, January 20. This may be followed by a 48-hour work stoppage by all Fórsa members from midnight Tuesday,,, >click to read< 17:38

Hurricane Ida turns Houma oysterman’s life upside down

For more than six hours, fifth-generation Houma oysterman Jacob David Hulse; his girlfriend, Lindsey Willis; and his dog, Change; huddled inside a friend’s oyster shop as Hurricane Ida slammed ashore Aug. 29. As the more than 140-mph winds started to subside, Hulse, 33, thought he had gone through the worst of it. But as many Louisiana fishermen are finding out, his troubles were only beginning. “Many in our Louisiana seafood families like the Hulses are still homeless from the hurricanes and not sure from where their next meal is coming,” said Ewell Smith a board member with the Gulf Seafood Foundation and a member of the Louisiana Fishing Community Recovery Coalition.  >click to read< 11:30

Maine Woman Proving Women Can Fish Even Facing a 35-Foot Rogue Wave

Brittany Finch had no idea what she was getting into. Brittany moved to Maine from Pennsylvania about a year ago. She lives in the Ellsworth area and decided to challenge herself with fishing. She’s 33-years-old and has always challenged herself. She started lobstering/groundfishing after working at a Co-Op. She’s only been on a lobster boat for a couple of months. It’s been a struggle as a woman, but also an incredible adventure. For nine days she went ground fishing and of those days, most of the time the weather was deplorable. photos, video, >click to read< 09:59

Trudeau Comments On Moderate Livelihood Fisheries

The Prime Minister says the federal government continues to work on implementing moderate livelihood fisheries with Indigenous communities. Justin Trudeau says reconciliation is important, but the fishery needs to be done right. “We’ve been engaged in very very close dialogue, both with commercial fishers and Indigenous communities to establish the right path forward,” >click to read<  09:23

B.C. fishers celebrate DFO announcement allowing spot prawn ‘tubbing’ to continue

The announcement Monday by Fisheries Minister Joyce Murray is an about face from an announcement less than a year ago when DFO served notice it was making tubbing illegal. “This is huge,” said Mike Atkins, executive director of the Pacific Prawn Fishermen’s Association. For decades, the celebrated B.C. fishery has relied on small boat fishers freezing just-caught spot prawns in tubs to preserve them for transport to local markets. Instead of outlawing the practice, the new 2023 regulations will limit the packaged volume of tubbed prawns to 710 millilitres or less. It will also require that all packaging material be transparent.  >click to read< 08:26

Fishing activity before, during, and after reopening of Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument

Evaluation of the economic impacts of marine protected areas is hampered by the fact that it is impossible to observe what would have happened if the protected area had never been closed to fishing. Catch reports and vessel tracks are used to perform an analysis of the potential negative economic impacts of establishing the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument on three commercially important fisheries that were identified as having potential to be harmed.  The Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument is a highly protected MPA off the east coast of the United States of America that was created by US President Barack Obama on September 15, 2016. >click to read< By John Lyman 07:43

West Cork Fishermen celebrate 50th anniversary by buying respite house for local charity despite ‘tough times’

A group of fishermen in West Cork have bought and donated a house worth 250k to a local charity that works with over 750 adults and children with intellectual disabilities, even though they say the fishing industry is experiencing “extremely difficult times.” “We wanted to do something to mark our 50th anniversary that our founding members and every Castletownbere who has lost their lives at sea would be proud of, we’ve never been about glitz and glamour and we’d no interest in a big party, we’ve always been about community,” John Nolan, the General Manager of the co-op said. >click to read< 06:50