Tag Archives: fisherman David Goethel

How warming ocean temperatures wiped out Maine’s shrimp industry

Since 2014 fishing for northern shrimp has been banned in the United States. The stock in our area has decreased to the point where they are not reproducing. This is not due to overfishing; it is directly due to the temperature of the water. They have simply moved north to colder Canadian waters. Back in 2007, when there was a robust northern shrimp fishery in the Gulf of Maine, scientists were looking for net modifications that would catch shrimp but not have any bycatch of finfish. Since shrimp fisheries throughout the world have some of the highest bycatch of any fishery, this was a priority worldwide. At that time the Northeast Consortium at the University of New Hampshire helped fund research by Dr. Pingguo. He and David Goethel developed a trawl net, named “The Topless Trawl,” that drastically reduced bycatch in the northern shrimp fishery. >click to read< 10:21

N.H. Fishermen say they haven’t been off water this long since Perfect Storm

New England fishermen can finally get back to work with the departure of the latest nor’easter to hit the region. Most fishermen said they have been off the water since March 1. They said the extended time away from their boats has affected their livelihoods and the availability of fresh, local fish. Giant waves pounded the coast for seven days during back-to-back nor’easters. “The waves were probably five stories high, roughly 35 to 40 feet,” fisherman David Goethel said. >click to read< 10:15

Fishermen-heavy crowd shows frustration with catch rules, monitoring costs at RI forum

AR-160419607A forum on the sustainability of the commercial fishing industry revealed significant frustration in a fisherman-heavy crowd and a few suggestions for future changes, but little tangible optimism, Thursday night at Rhode Island College. “Right now, there are more fish in the Atlantic Ocean than there was 20 or 30 years ago — we are just not allowed to catch them anymore,” said fisherman Mark Phillips, a New York native who has fished out of New Bedford for several decades. Phillips and New Hampshire fisherman David Goethel, who sued the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in December over catch monitoring costs, were the two fishermen on the forum’s six-person panel. Read the story here 05:53

Our view: Finding common ground on monitors

manatthewheelIt takes a lot to bring Democrats and Republicans together on any issue in these days of heightened, highly partisan politics. It seems, however, that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has done the trick. Sixth District U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton and 16 of his fellow New England congressmen — 12 Democrats, four Republicans and an independent — united last week to call on the agency to delay or call off its plans to force fishing vessel permit holders to pay to have someone looking over their shoulder as they work. Read the op-ed here 08:00