Daily Archives: December 5, 2022
Decline of Bering Sea snow crab fishery demands swift action
Billions of crabs have vanished off the coast of Alaska, and with them, the fishing season for the Bering Sea crab fleet. This is grim news for a fleet that has fished crabs under science-based catch limits for years, providing healthy wild-caught seafood to the world and bringing jobs and income throughout Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. It’s also bad news for the communities of the Bering Sea, like St. Paul Island, where the economy is almost entirely dependent on the snow crab fishery. >click to read< 20:44
All for one and one for all – With Jerry Leeman
Well, if NOAA goes through with these cuts this coming year to groundfish stocks I’m afraid there won’t be a fishing season next year. They have created choke species thru faulty assessments. I don’t know why I say assessments because they really haven’t done enough to make any logical cuts to any stock. To my family and friends who are lobstermen. You will watch the bait prices double overnight once the last groundfish boat is done. No more bait will be landed thru the groundfish efforts. That’s right no redfish racks, no hard bait and no skates. This will happen. I’ll do my best to argue everyone’s circumstances and the errors of their data and sampling methods using on the job experience offshore for 14 years at sea in the last 21 years. The entire groundfish fleet Captains are united in this argument that the data is corrupt and wrong in many ways. All offshore fishermen spend more time trying to avoid fish due to the made-up choke species brought to us by bad science and lack of know how. >click to continue reading<, 15:03
IN PHOTOS: Dec. 5 opening to LFA 34 lobster season after weeklong weather delay
Following a weeklong delay, the LFA 34 commercial lobster fishery in southwestern Nova Scotia got underway on Dec. 5. Instead of opening on the last Monday of November, the season opened on the first Monday of December as forecasted winds last week pushed the opening back. Fishing crews were greeted on dumping day with light winds and calm seas The neighbouring LFA 33 district opened its season on Nov. 29. >click to read< and view 23 photos! 12:54
Virginia Regulators to Consider Changes to Menhaden Fishing Regulations
Virginia regulators will consider changes to commercial menhaden fishing in the Chesapeake Bay following requests from recreational anglers to put an end to the fishery. The proposals follow repeated requests from the Virginia Saltwater Sportfishing Association to stop menhaden fishing in the Bay, including a petition of 11,000 signatures that was presented to the office of Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin earlier this year. Reedville-based Omega Protein, the lone player in the Bay’s menhaden reduction fishery, which processes catches into fishmeal or fish oil, says the new regulations take away available fishing grounds that include uninhabited areas. Taking operations completely out of the Bay into less safe conditions in the ocean would ultimately force the company to stop operating. >click to read< 11:51
Feds: Whales Must Be Protected from Turbines
Soon after a group of opponents to proposed East Coast offshore wind projects hired a law firm with environmental regulation expertise, the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced a new plan to protect North Atlantic Right Whales and put it out for public comment. The opponents, with Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy as part of the coalition, had been pointing to the impact of the project on the whales for months and this protection and mitigation plan admits the problem is significant. One apparent result of that will be a major delay in publication of the draft environmental impact statement (EIS) on Dominion Energy Virginia’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project off Virginia Beach. >click to read< 09:48
Trawlers Unplug after 380% Increase in ESB Bills
Killybegs trawler owners have plugged out of an innovative harbour-side electricity source after they were told their bills would almost quadruple. The €1.7M ‘shore power’ system to allow fishing boats to connect to electricity when in Killybegs Harbour, thereby cutting out harmful emissions from diesel generators, was only launched in November 2021. However, a notice was posted on the harbour last week informing owners that a government agreement with ESB would end on November 30. “As of December 1, every one of us is back using the diesel generators, and we are not even getting a fuel subsidy. >click to read< 08:15
Finally! Lobster season kicks off in southwestern Nova Scotia
One the country’s most profitable lobster fishing areas opened for the season Monday after being held back by weather-related delays. The Coldwater Lobster Association says opening day, referred to as dumping day, for Nova Scotia’s lobster fishing area 34 officially began at 6 a.m. The area was slated to open for the season this past Monday, but it was postponed due to storm and wind conditions. >click to read< 07:33
