Daily Archives: July 18, 2022

DFO Accused of Coverup. DFO suppressing research on steelhead

Thompson River and Chilcotin steelhead populations are teetering on the brink of extinction, according to the BC Wildlife Federation (BCWF), while the Department of Fisheries and Oceans continues to supress research that the BCWF believes would confirm that seals and bycatch are a big part of the problem. The BCWF has been hounding DFO since 2019 to release peer reviewed research upon which a special assessment by the Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat (CSAS) in 2018 was based. That assessment, Recovery potential assessment for Chilcotin and Thompson River Steelhead trout, is publicly available. The peer-reviewed research upon which it based is not, according to the BCWF. >click to read< 18:41

Decline in Chesapeake crab population sparks hunt for answers

Commercial crabbers in Maryland and Virginia aren’t catching their limits, and the harvest in the first few months of the season was so meager that some gave up trying. “Crabs are so scarce that me and my son are still catfishing,” Billy Rice, a Charles County, MD, waterman, said in June. “We’re making more money catfishing than we would be crabbing.” Based on what they see on the water, crabbers have no shortage of theories about why the Bay’s most prized catch is hard to find: Changes in water quality, climate change and an influx of crab-eating fish top the list. Whatever the case, said J. C. Hudgins, president of the Virginia Waterman’s Association. “Mother Nature has throwed a wrench in the barrel.” >click to read< 14:23

Bristol Bay Fisheries Report: July 17, 2022

Harvests slowed down Saturday. The bay-wide haul was 851,000. This year’s all-time biggest harvest now totals 55.6 million fish. But escapement is still below the record. 17 million fish have made it to spawning grounds across the bay – short of last year’s bay-wide escapement of 25.6 million. Still, the runs up a few rivers have exceeded their maximum escapement goals, and many others have met escapement. >click to read< 12:10

North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for July 18, 2022

Does CPR Work on Fish? The Coastal Conservation Association Seems to Think SO! – After reading this title you’re probably envisioning a forty-pound Red Drum lying on the deck of a boat, straddled by an angler, receiving mouth to mouth followed by a round of rapid chest compressions, but that’s not the CPR I’m referring to. The CPR I’m talking about is the Coastal Conservation Association’s (CCA) Catch, Photo, and Release (CPR) Initiative. In Coastal States across the Country, including North Carolina, the CCA is holding CPR fishing tournaments where anglers can win big prizes for catching, photographing, and releasing numerous species of coastal finfish. The rules are simple, pay your entry fee, receive your wristband, catch a qualifying species of fish, photograph the fish lying on a ruler with your wristband visible, release the fish, and the longest fish or combination of fish wins. And of course, you have to be a CCA member to win! >click to read, to read all the updates >click here<, for older updates listed as NCFA >click here< 11:15

A thank-you letter from the owners of ‘Band Wagon’

To the Camden and Penobscot Bay Waterfront Community: As the owners of Band Wagon, we wanted to extend our sincere thanks to all those involved in our rescue on Wednesday, July 13. While we are heartbroken about our boat, we are incredibly lucky that no one was hurt thanks to all those involved. Someone was certainly looking out for us that morning as we could have been cruising at a much faster rate, further out at sea, or in inclement weather or fog. Special thanks to: Good Samaritans Brad Scott and his crew Charlie Garrigan, aboard the lobster boat Web, who heard our distress call and were first on the scene. >click to read< 09:50

Andy Robertson surprises Child of Courage Keiran Reid with his Pride of Scotland award

Keiran Reid got the shock of his life when his footballing hero Andy Robertson surprised him with the news he had won a Pride of Scotland Award. Keiran’s jaw hit the floor when Andy approached him and handed him an envelope containing a ticket which declared he was the winner of the Child of Courage Award. The 12-year-old schoolboy from Avoch, on the Black Isle has raised thousands for his local RNLI in memory of his fisherman father who was tragically taken by the sea. The schoolboy was just six when fisherman Craig, 25, was washed overboard from the trawler Apollo in a gale-force storm off Orkney. Photos, >click to read< 08:46