Tag Archives: Commercial trawlers

Catch Shares: Commercial trawlers to transition to quota system for Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands cod harvests

Starting in January, the fleet will fish under a “rationalization” system where each catcher vessel will have a maximum catch limit, which will be assigned through quota. The new regulations will require vessels trawling for cod in the area to form cooperatives, and quota will be administered through each co-op. Previously, the entire fishery had a total allowable catch that had to be caught within a certain amount of time. NOAA said this is the first time a catch share program has been implemented in Alaska since 2012. >>click to read<< 09:31

Locally sourced seafood attracting crowds to the fishing boats in Half Moon Bay

Commercial trawlers pan for bottom-feeders at least three miles from shore. Purse-seiners use nets closer to the surface, while traditionalists fish the way the Egyptians did with hooks and lines. Nothing causes a bigger commotion than Dungeness crab in late fall, when eager customers line the docks like going to the DMV. The crustacean has joined turkeys as a Bay Area staple of the holiday dinner table. “All the crab pots are like little money banks that you just pull up and dump out the money,” Hassan said. Weekend dock sales have become integral to survival for anglers like Hassan. Smaller boats don’t catch enough to supply wholesalers, so they bypass the supply chain for direct sales. >click to read< 13:31

New study suggests catching the slowest swimmers, commercial fishermen are inadvertently helping fish species evolve to swim faster.

Dr. Killen and his colleagues investigated whether commercial fishing was prompting physiological changes, as faster fish had better chances of evading capture by . “Over time, the selective removal of poor-swimming fish could alter the fundamental physiological makeup of descendant populations that avoid fisheries capture,” explains Killen.  “Fish being trawled will try to swim at a steady pace ahead of the mouth of the net for as long as possible, but a proportion will eventually tire and fall back into the net,” said Killen Read the rest here 12:24

Georgia waters opening to shrimping June 10

BRUNSWICK, GA. | Georgia will open its waters for the commercial and recreational netting of food shrimp at 8 a.m. Tuesday, June 10, the state said. That means commercial trawlers can operate in Georgia’s territorial waters to the three-mile limit and individuals can use beach seines and cast nets to catch shrimp in waters where the shrimping gears are allowed. Read more here 13:55