Daily Archives: March 8, 2022
Partial Bogue Sound shrimp trawling ban will have impacts on watermen, economy
Mike Norman, who owns a 35-foot boat and sells shrimp at Norman’s Shrimp in Salter Path, mostly in the summer, said the partial Bogue Sound shrimp trawling ban will have a significant impact, and he believes it’s just the beginning. “They (sports fishermen) got Bogue Sound this year and I guarantee you that in the next couple of years, they’ll get Core Sound and Straits and Adams Creek,” he said. “I’ve been doing this since I was 16 and I’m 61 now. My brother told me the other day I’m going to have to get a job. But that’s hard for a commercial fisherman.” >click to read< 17:58
Peterhead fisherman who died after trawler Njord capsizes has been identified
Ronald McKinnon, originally from Peterhead, was one of three crew members airlifted to Haukeland University Hospital in Bergen after inhaling fumes. Five more of the crew were then rescued by an offshore vessel. The Norwegian Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre scrambled a helicopter after the alarm was raised at 1:39pm on Sunday. The trawler was about 100 nautical miles west of Stavanger when it got into difficulty. Now tributes have been paid to Ronald on social media, with the fisherman being hailed as a “true friend”. >click to read<, >and click here<15:18
Ottawa leaving West Coast fishing sector to flounder after salmon closures
The West Coast fishing sector is being hung out to dry and deserves a just transition like other climate-affected industries after the federal government put in widespread closures to the salmon fishery last year, the fish harvesters union says. Boat captains, crews, and shore workers are suffering dire economic hardship with zero emergency or transitional supports after the ministry of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) closed 79 salmon fisheries last June, said James Lawson, president of the United Fishermen and Allied Workers’ Union. >click to read< 14:15
‘Alarm bells’ ring in N.S. lobster fishery decision after DFO’s move involving baby eels
A group representing more than 500 lobster fishermen in southwest Nova Scotia is raising concerns about Ottawa’s commitment to voluntary licence buyouts to increase Indigenous access to the fishery. Late last month, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans cancelled bargaining with commercial licence holders in the elver, or baby eel, fishery, claiming they wanted too much money to exit the business. DFO is now looking at an across the board commercial quota cut for elvers without compensation to make room for Mi’kmaw harvesters. >click to read< 13:23
Italy Fishing Boats Strike Over Fuel Costs
Italian fishing boats will stay in ports this week due to a national strike over high fuel costs that is threatening supplies across the country. “There is grave concern for the dramatic consequences that won’t just affect consumers,” said Rome’s Centro Agroalimentare, Italy’s biggest fish market, which sells 80’000 tons of fish products a year. “We ask the government to act quickly” to support companies in the industry. Energy and fuel costs are surging in Europe following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. >click to read< 11:48
Depredation: Whales and the Violent Fight for Fish on the Line
In the Gulf of Alaska, as well as in longline fisheries throughout the world from the Bering Sea to the Antarctic and tropical waters between, toothed whales, that is, any whale that feeds with teeth instead of baleen, such as sperm, pilot, and killer whales are learning to see fishers and their gear as a source of an easy meal. Scientists researching this behavior, known as depredation, say whales are increasingly eating lucrative catches right off the hook instead of foraging naturally. There’s no easy way to stop it, and the behavior is spreading through whale culture. Whales’ penchant for hooked fish might be the biggest fisheries story that hardly anyone knows about. >click to read< 10:01
Investigation launched into capsize of Peterhead-based trawler
An investigation is under way into the capsize of a Peterhead-based trawler, where one crew member died and three others were taken to hospital. The 78ft Njord had a total of eight crew members on board when it got into difficulty in the North Sea, about 100 nautical miles west of Stavanger in Norway. The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has now confirmed an investigation has been officially launched to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident. >click to read< 08:45
Gulf Coast fishing industry suffering due to high gas/fuel prices
Bayou La Batre Mayor Henry Barnes Sr. says some commercial fishing businesses have been forced to tie up their boats for t least a month due to extremely expensive gas bills. “Their fuel bill for one trip can run anywhere from $30-$50,000 for one trip because it’s high,” Barnes said. “It’s a domino effect you know you’ve got the shrimpers who catch it and you got the processors that process it. They’ll hire anywhere from 40 to 50 people per business. That’s 40 to 50 families that’s going to be without a job because of fuel prices,” Video, >click to read< 07:27
