Daily Archives: December 19, 2022

Alaska crab fishery collapse seen as warning about Bering Sea transformation

Less than five years ago, prospects appeared bright for Bering Sea crab fishers. Stocks were abundant and healthy, federal biologists said, and prices were near all-time highs. Now two dominant crab harvests have been canceled for lack of fish. For the first time, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in October canceled the 2022-2023 harvest of Bering Sea snow crab, and it also announced the second consecutive year of closure for another important harvest, that of Bristol Bay red king crab. What has happened between then and now? A sustained marine heat wave that prevented ice formation in the Bering Sea for two winters, thus vastly altering ocean conditions and fish health. “We lost billions of snow crab in a matter of months,”,,, >click to read< 18:54

L’Ecume II: Unmanned craft carries out ‘extensive search’ below deck at wreck site

An unmanned craft has started work to access and search the last remaining areas of the trawler which sank after colliding with a Condor freight ship. The underwater robot has been surveying the wreck site following the collision between L’Ecume II and Commodore Goodwill which claimed the lives of three fishermen. Ports of Jersey says that areas of the trawler’s deck and accommodation structure have been removed and that the final stage of the search is now under way. >click to read< 16:06

Shetland suffers dip in fish landings but expectations high for next year

The last fish market of the year was earlier today. Shetland Seafood Auctions confirmed a total of 338,627 boxes had gone through the fish markets in Scalloway and Lerwick during 2022. Auction manager Martin Leyland said the amount of white fish landed over the course of the year was slightly below expectations. He cited the energy crisis, which forced many boats to tie up for a spell earlier this year, as well as poor cod quota as the main reasons behind the lower-than-expected figures. >click to read the rest< 13:53

Rhode Island fishermen join lawsuit over federal at sea monitors

Rhode Island commercial fishermen have signed on to a federal lawsuit challenging a rule requiring boat captains to pay for federal monitors to observe catches. The fishermen, represented by the New Civil Liberties Alliance, have filed an amicus brief siding with fishermen from other Northeast states in a case pending before the U.S. Supreme Court challenging the new monitoring requirements. The lawsuit was filed last month in the U.S. District Court in New Jersey, by a group of commercial fishermen who want to stop the federal government from making them pay for workers who gather data aboard fishing boats. >click to read< 12:56

Conflict over new Indigenous lobster fishery continues to smolder amid some progress

Federal conservation officers have seized more than 7,000 lobster traps in the two years since violence flared in Nova Scotia when a First Nation tried to assert a treaty right by fishing out of season. Earlier this month, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans confirmed it had confiscated almost 2,000 traps this year alone, a figure that shows the dispute between Ottawa and some Indigenous fishers has not gone away, despite DFO’s best efforts to keep a lid on tensions. Tim Kerr, DFO’s director of conservation and protection in the Maritimes, said the department has stepped up patrols in the region to ensure safety and compliance with the rules. >click to read< 12:00

Ocean County, NJ Mayors express strong concern and opposition to Offshore Wind Farms

Point Pleasant Beach Mayor Paul Kanitra believes many people may not want to come to the beaches if these wind turbines are just offshore. “Tourism is the major economic driver in Ocean County,” Toms River Mayor Maurice “Mo” Hill said. “We do have a substantial commercial fishing industry (in Ocean County) off of Point Pleasant, Barnegat, you’ve got commercial fisheries, what impact that’ll have if they’re out using nets and they’ve got to be mindful that these are jetting up out of the water, it could impact the fishing,” >click to read< 10:53

Jason Sullivan to run for FFAW Presidency

Bay Bulls fisherman and President of SEA-NL Jason Sullivan has announced plans to run for the top job at the FFAW-Unifor, despite long odds against a candidate unanimously endorsed by the union executive. “It’s easy to criticize, but you have to be willing to put your neck out there and offer the membership an alternative,” says Sullivan. “It’s time to change the course of the FFAW and regain the trust of the membership through communication and listening and acting on concerns.” >click to read< 10:05

F/V Arcturus: Fuming Scots fishing boat skipper who rescued migrants says UK authorities acting as ‘taxi service’

The Scottish skipper of the fishing boat which helped rescue dozens of migrants from the English Channel last week, has angrily hit out at UK immigration policy for making the tragedy “inevitable”. Raymond Strachan told GB News that British authorities have been acting as a “migrant taxi service” encouraging ever increasing numbers of people to make the journey. In his first full interview since his six-man crew pulled 31 migrants from the freezing waters, the skipper said they often see migrant boats making the dangerous crossing. “It doesn’t matter your political views about the migrant crisis, when you see people in the water, screaming, shouting, begging for their life. If you’ve any compassion at all, then human nature kicks in and the thing to do is rescue people, and that’s what we did.” >click to read< 08:53

Maine political leaders push provision in federal spending bill decried by environmental groups as threat to right whales

Members of the delegation, including US Senator Susan Collins, said they plan to push a provision in the spending bill that would revive for 10 years federal fisheries rule that environmental groups successfully challenged in court earlier this year. Congressional leaders announced a framework for the spending legislation last Tuesday, and plan to use the days before Christmas to finalize details. In a letter Friday to Democratic congressional leaders, 15 environmental groups urged lawmakers to leave the language out of the spending bill. “This is a profound and disturbing end run around the legal system,” said Erica Fuller, senior attorney for the Conservation Law Foundation in Boston, on Saturday in a phone interview. >click to read< 07:44