For the first time since 2008, a politician from Newfoundland and Labrador will head up the country’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans and Canadian Coast Guard. Joanne Thompson was sworn in as federal minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard on Friday, March 14, 2025, in Ottawa in the cabinet of new Prime Minister Mark Carney. Thompson, the MP for St. John’s East, was first elected in September 2021. She was most recently Minister for Seniors under the former prime minister, Justin Trudeau. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 15:31Fisherman rescued after 95 days adrift eating turtles
A Peruvian fisherman who survived 95 days lost at sea in the Pacific Ocean by eating turtles, birds and cockroaches has been rescued and reunited with his family. Maximo Napa Castro, 61, set off for what should have been a two-week fishing trip from the coastal town of Marcona, on the southern Peruvian coast, on 7 December. Ten days in, a storm blew his boat off course, leaving him adrift with dwindling supplies. It was not until Wednesday that the Ecuadorian patrol vessel Don F found him 1,094km (680 miles) from the coast, dehydrated and in a critical condition. Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 11:50
NCFA WEEKLY UPDATE for March 17, 2025
Last week the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission (MFC) met in Kitty Hawk for their quarterly meeting. There was a good turnout from the public as well as a lot of good public comments. Even though the meeting ran into the evening comment session, I think it was good for everyone there to experience the process firsthand. I hope we can continue having a lot of public turnout! This was a very contentious meeting with almost every decision resulting in a 4-5 vote. I am certain we will be discussing these votes in more detail but for this week I just wanted to provide links to the full meeting and update everyone on the votes passed. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:11
Federal environmental permit gets yanked from N.J. offshore wind farm
In what may be the most striking blow to an offshore wind farm since President Donald Trump took office, a project for New Jersey’s coast had a critical federal environmental permit yanked away Friday. Judge Mary Kay Lynch, in an Environmental Appeals Court, issued the ruling to remand Atlantic Shores’ Clean Air Act permit, which the developer had been issued this past fall. The latest setback for the company comes after a challenge from a group of residents — as part of the local group Save Long Beach Island or “Save LBI” — and is being sent back to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for further review. “This is a significant event because to my knowledge it is the first time that a federal approval for any offshore wind project has been overturned,” Bob Stern, who leads Save LBI, said in a statement Saturday, “and it highlights the lack of full disclosure and questionable science and mathematics that has characterized other applications and approvals.” more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:24
Tariff fears and high stakes for Atlantic Canada at the Boston Seafood Expo
Seafood industry reps from more than 50 countries are in Boston for what is usually an exciting three days of meetings, showcases, and networking at the annual Seafood Expo North America. This year, though, the stakes have never been higher for Atlantic Canadians. Fears of potential industry-rocking tariffs from the United States and China are overshadowing everything happening on the show floor. The expo is playing out during a moment of potential crisis for the Canadian seafood landscape, as economic tariffs that would apply to seafood loom large, along with uncertainty about what will happen if the new charges do happen.Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:12
Shane Jones: Cameras on fishing boats is ‘state surveillance’
Shane Jones cites the dangers that come with “the court of TikTok” as the reason he wants to keep footage collected on fishing boats out of the public’s hands. The Fisheries Minister is proposing a range of changes to the Fisheries Act to “remove unnecessary regulations that impede productivity and the potential of the sector”. One of the proposals aims to prevent the release of what’s filmed on commercial fishing vessels through the Official Information Act. Jones told Q+A he didn’t agree with having on-board cameras in the first place, but that he had lost that argument. “I do not accept state surveillance of industry,” he said. Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 18:56
Fight of his life: Well-known NL advocate must travel to Toronto to await lung transplant
Merv Wiseman is literally fighting a battle for his life, but he still wants it to be about finding a way to help others. The retired Canadian Coast Guard employee has spent his life leading the advocacy charge on several fronts, including issues affecting wild commercial fisheries, the fur industry, search and rescue services and agriculture. Now, the 71-year-old is dealing with worsening symptoms of pulmonary fibrosis, a condition he was diagnosed with several years ago, which has rapidly progressed within the past year. Wiseman, whose mobility these days is hampered by having to constantly be connected to an oxygen tank, is still at his home in North Harbour, Placentia Bay, but is hoping to be in Toronto by the end of March. He has no idea when he will get the double lung transplant, he requires, but needs to be close to Toronto General Hospital for when a matching donor does become available. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 14:04
William Leslie Hebard, fondly known by friends and family as Burgie Bill, has passed away
William Leslie Hebard, fondly known by friends and family as Burgie Bill, passed away suddenly at his home in Southern Humboldt County on January 29, 2025. Bill was born in Roseburg, Oregon on July 10, 1950 to William Leslie Hebard Sr. and Pat-Calista Hebard At an early age, his family moved to Eureka, where he became a fisherman and a bass player. In the early 1970s, Bill became a member of the Shelter Cove “Mosquito Fleet,” commercial fishing for salmon, tuna and crab on his boat the Burgie, from which he got his name, Burgie Bill. He fished the Cove for over 45 years until he retired in 2022. Bill’s life was one of profound love, adventure, laughter and freewheeling. He was kind, caring, articulate and funny. He was always willing to help out a friend or neighbor in need and wouldn’t hesitate to give a hitchhiker a ride or pull over to help someone with car trouble. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:34
Canadian crab, lobster industry officials look for answers in Boston
Canadian crab and lobster industry representatives, including some from New Brunswick, will be looking for answers and opportunities at a seafood exhibition in Boston. The goal is to develop relations with other industry players as Canada faces tariff troubles with both the U.S. and China. The expo attracts many countries. Major seafood exporters set up booths at the show. “It’s going to be very difficult to settle on prices given that we have to build in that the tariffs are happening,” said Geoff Irvine, executive director of the Lobster Council of Canada. The expo attracts many countries. Major seafood exporters set up booths at the show. “I’ll be looking to see what they do, how they do it, how they pay for it, and try to bring that home, and once again attempt to come up with a marketing strategy for all Canadian seafood,” said Irvine. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:05
Nova Scotia (Canada) Identifies Five Areas for Offshore Wind Development
The Nova Scotian government has identified five areas it considers suitable for installing wind turbines in offshore wind farms. The government issued a statement Friday indicating that the next step is to solicit input from Nova Scotians before granting official designations, a process that will conclude on April 14. “Canada, with the world’s longest coastline, a stable regulatory environment, and decades of experience in offshore wind development, is well positioned to enter the trillion-dollar global offshore wind market,” the provincial government stated in a discussion paper released Friday. The province’s goal is to license up to five gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:50
Fishing industry sues over offshore wind farm, says the DOI didn’t properly permit Vineyard Wind
When one turbine on the Vineyard Wind project near Marthas Vineyard began supplying electricity to the grid in January 2024, the project stood as the first step in the Biden administration’s plan to develop 30 gigawatts of offshore wind along America’s coastline by 2030. Since then, the project experienced a blade failure that dumped a football-field sized blade into the ocean and littered the beaches of Nantucket with sharp and toxic debris. Nantucket-based activists ACK 4 Whales sued over the permitting of the project, arguing that the Department of Interior (DOI) wasn’t factoring cumulative impacts into its environmental assessment of the project. Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:36
As Alaska’s crab industry struggles, herring fishermen are losing their market
Captain Dan Veerhusen and Jan, his wife, run the F/V Taurus, one of the few remaining boats that still fish herring in the Bering Sea. Last summer, in Sand Point, the couple were preparing the 58-foot seiner for what would be Veerhusen’s 30th-or-so season. He’s been fishing herring since 1988, when Unalaska’s Port of Dutch Harbor was at the center of a multimillion-dollar crab boom. “I love herring fishing. It’s real fishing.” he said. “It was a regular, competitive fishery back then. But these days, there’s ourselves, another boat, maybe three boats out there.” The herring fishery in the Bering Sea boomed in the early 20th century but struggled after World War II as Americans lost their appetite for the fish. Demand increased again in the 1970s when the Bering Sea crab industry took off, creating a demand for herring as baitfish. links, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 16:50
Fishermen could face stricter catch limits as Trump slashes NOAA
On a recent Wednesday, many crews on New Bedford’s fishing piers were doing gear work for their next trip, as Eric Hansen repaired the cabinets in the galley of The Intrepid, one of his two scallop boats. People on the docks have known for weeks about the mass firing at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, but Hansen said most people don’t realize how it will affect them yet. “Some are welcoming the cuts, saying that the government has been their downfall and there’s too many regulations,” Hansen said. “And I don’t share that opinion.” Hansen, a former captain from a fishing family where five consecutive generations entered the industry, said that’s because he remembers when the scallop fishery hit rock bottom. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 11:54
A woman in a (lobster)man’s world
At 81, Susan Michaud is a lifelong lobsterman, born into a family deeply rooted in the trade. “My father had three girls, and I happened to be the middle child, so I became the son,” she said. When Michaud started high school at 14, her father found a unique way to support her financially — by putting her to work. He made it clear he wouldn’t be giving her any spending money, but he did provide her a 16-foot wooden Amesbury skiff, 50 traps, bait and a crate. He told her he would sell the lobsters she caught and give her the money. Michaud had already joined the Atlantic Lobstermen’s Co-Operative, which allowed her to sell them directly. “For four years, I went lobstering with my 50 traps. It was fantastic,” she said. “I saw a girlfriend the other day, and she said, ‘You know, you were the only one in high school who had money. You were the only one who had their own car.” photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:46
At N.C. Marine Fisheries meeting, commercial fisherman voice frustration with regulation
Facing skeptical and sometimes fiery comments from commercial and recreational fishing interests from Beaufort to the Outer Banks, the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission met at the Hilton Garden Inn in Kitty Hawk on March 12 and 13 for the first quarterly meeting of 2025. It was the first time since November of 2018 that the commission has met on the Outer Banks. More than 30 speakers addressed the commission, consistently calling out what they criticized as questionable science and data and the effect it has had on the commercial fishing industry. “Over-regulation has been the default course, and commercial fishermen have borne the front of it,” Joe Romano, a commercial fisherman from Wilmington told the commission. “We called it a death by a thousand cuts, one rule after another, reducing access, increasing cost, driving more water men out of business. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:58
How the Alabama Seafood Labeling Law is affecting Gulf Coast industry
Almost a year after being signed into law, residents should be beginning to see impacts the Alabama Seafood Labeling Law is having on the local industry. The Seafood Labeling Law was signed into law in May 2024, requiring in-state food establishments, such as grocery stores, restaurants, food trucks and in-store delis, to disclose and label whether any seafood being served was imported or domestically produced, as well as whether the seafood was farm-raised or wild-caught. Sellers are encouraged, but not required, to disclose the country of origin of imported foreign fish or shellfish. It also requires seafood suppliers who sell to these establishments within the state to disclose the country of origin so the retailers can accurately inform customers. It does not apply to ingredients in processed food. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:47
Hitting pause: Talks to set price for 2025 snow crab season in NL on hold
There’s still no deal, but both sides trying to hammer out a new pricing formula for Newfoundland and Labrador’s snow crab fishery have agreed to pause talks until March 19. That will be one day after Seafood Expo North America, the major annual seafood show in Boston, where this year’s provincial delegation will be looking to convince American buyers that tariffs placed on Canadian exports, including seafood, are not a good thing for the sector. The negotiators from both FFAW-Unifor, the union that represents fish harvesters and plant workers, and the Association of Seafood Producers (ASP), which represents fish processing companies, have met several times since the middle of January to try to hammer out a snow crab price for the 2025 season. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:38
NL MP Joanne Thompson named Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, Coast Guard
For the first time since 2008, a politician from Newfoundland and Labrador will head up the country’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans and Canadian Coast Guard. Joanne Thompson was sworn in as federal minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard on Friday, March 14, 2025, in Ottawa in the cabinet of new Prime Minister Mark Carney. Thompson, the MP for St. John’s East, was first elected in September 2021. She was most recently Minister for Seniors under the former prime minister, Justin Trudeau. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 15:31Rep. Paul Presents Bills to Protect Sears Island from Offshore Wind Development
Protecting Sears Island from exploitative development has been a mission of its Waldo County defenders for decades, and the latest leader in this effort wants to make sure that it is not turned into a port for controversial wind turbines. On Wednesday, the Maine’s Legislative Committee on Environment and Natural Resources held public hearings on Wednesday for two bills from Rep. Reagan Paul (R-Winterport) that would codify protections for Sears Island into law and prevent it from being developed for that offshore turbines that have raised the ire of fishermen up and down the coast. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 14:14
Fire levels Cape John Crabs and Seafood plant
Two fishermen wondered about the future the day after fire devastated the Cape John Crabs and Seafood plant. Wayne and Roy, who didn’t provide last names, said they both did business with the plant over the years and enjoyed a good relationship. “I guess we’ll have to find somewhere else now,” Wayne said March 13, adding he and his wife were coming from Tatamagouche and could easily see the flames rising in the air. “It didn’t take long,” added the veteran fisherman. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:23
Lifelong lobsterman Elmer R. Witham of Owls Head, Maine, has passed away
Elmer R. Witham passed away on March 3, 2025, at his home in Owls Head, surrounded by family. Elmer was born on Feb. 16, 1940, to the late Clayton R. Witham and Constance M. Gardner. He grew up in Rockland, attended local schools, and enjoyed a full social life until his later years. He began working as a lobsterman at a young age, and remained a lobsterman all of his working life, fishing the grounds around Large Green Island until health issues forced him into retirement. He never lost his drive and passion for lobstering. Even when his health no longer permitted him to work, he always followed the local lobster trade, catching up with the news of fellow lobstermen, and keeping an eye on the weather. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:015
Amid ‘shrimp fraud’ reports, Tampa Bay area shrimpers need support
When restaurants charge a premium for Gulf-caught shrimp and pocket the extra profit by serving farm-raised imported shrimp, they’re denying local shrimpers a fair income. A recent study by SeaD Consulting revealed that 42 out of 44 Tampa Bay area restaurants surveyed were falsely passing off imported shrimp as locally caught. Local shrimpers say the effects of this kind of shrimp fraud go beyond betrayed diners. Shrimper Merritt Joseph Latino has been in the business for over 17 years. On one arm, underneath an anchor tattoo, the words “shrimpin’ ain’t easy” are permanently emblazoned in ink. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:38
Snow crab now crab as FFAW and ASP show willingness to work together
A week of long days and almost around the clock negotiations has left the Fish, Food and Allied Workers union and the Association of Seafood Producers optimistic that a snow crab harvest will happen this year. “The FFAW and ASP have done an incredible job together to have constructive conversations at this point,” ASP executive director Jeff Loder said Wednesday. “Of course, until you get a deal, you have no deal. But I am cautiously optimistic that we are close.” The two sides are keen to negotiate a deal as soon as possible. A meeting with a price setting panel is scheduled for March 20 should the two sides not make an agreement by then. Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:08
A Fundraiser for Merv Wiseman – Advocate Merv Wiseman has lent a hand all his life, now he needs one
A Go-Fund-Me campaign has been launched to raise money for Merv Wiseman, a retired Canadian Coast Guard employee best known as a tireless advocate for a variety causes from wild commercial fisheries and the fur industry to search and rescue services and agriculture. “Merv has lent his hand to good causes his entire life, and it’s only right we lend him a hand now in his hour of need,” says Peter Leonard, spokesman for the fundraiser. Merv suffers from pulmonary fibrosis, a chronic lung disease, but has been approved for the waiting list for a life-saving, double-lung transplant at the Toronto General Hospital. He and his wife, Eileen, must relocate from their home in North Harbour, Placentia Bay, to a residence within 10-minutes of the hospital to be ready for an operation at any time.more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 19:06
Thousands of fired federal workers must be offered reinstatement, a judge rules
Thousands of federal employees fired by the Trump administration must be offered job reinstatement within the next week, a U.S. district judge in San Francisco has ruled, because he said they were terminated unlawfully. “It is a sad day when our government would fire some good employee and say it was based on performance when they know good and well that is a lie,” Judge William Alsup, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton, said before issuing his ruling from the bench. The Thursday decision marks a significant stand against President Trump’s sweeping efforts to remake the federal government. The White House pledged to appeal. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 15:52
Western Flyer from Steinbeck’s Sea of Cortez returns to Gulf of California after 85 years
A fishing vessel that was built during the Monterey Bay’s sardine boom and made famous by a Nobel Prize-winning author will return to the site of its former glory after 85 years. The Western Flyer, a state-of-the-art purse seiner when it was built in 1937, was chartered by John Steinbeck and his marine biologist friend, Ed “Doc” Ricketts, for a six-week expedition that would be immortalized in the “Sea of Cortez: A Leisurely Journal of Travel and Research.” Fully renovated to its original specifications and updated with cutting-edge technology, including a hybrid diesel-electric engine and science lab, the Western Flyer will return to the Gulf of California and retrace Steinbeck’s and Ricketts’ groundbreaking journey of discovery. 18 photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 11:45
Humane, sustainable Canadian seal harvests an environmental necessity, says USIANL
The United Seal Industry Association of Newfoundland & Labrador (USIANL) has created a fact-based campaign explaining the environmental necessity for Canada to carry out sustainable seal harvests. The campaign is being piloted in N.L., Halifax, Toronto, Ottawa, Edmonton, Winnipeg, and Vancouver. USIANL was created to help Canadians understand that humane, sustainable seal harvests are an environmental necessity. The harp seal population off N.L. is the largest in the world – numbering in the millions. Not only are harp seals depleting important fish species and everything those species feed on, but fierce competition for food is putting their own well-being at risk. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:39
Fuming fishermen hit out at John Swinney’s ‘disrespect’ as calls grow for urgent Holyrood debate
The SNP Government has been urged to hold its first fishing debate in almost three years before Easter amid fears over offshore wind developments. It comes after John Swinney was advised by officials not to use the term ‘spatial squeeze’ during talks with fishing industry leaders in Shetland last year. The term was first put forward by the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation (SFF) to describe the loss of fishing ground to other uses such as offshore wind farms and marine protected areas. Elspeth Macdonald, chief executive of the SFF, said: “It’s disgraceful, when it plans systematically and permanently to exclude fishermen from traditional fishing grounds to build colossal offshore wind farms, that a Scottish Government official briefed the First Minister not to recognise their deeply held concerns for their future livelihoods. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:49
Fishing industry asks Supreme Court to hear case against Vineyard Wind
A national fishing industry group and conservation think tank have petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to take up their lawsuits challenging the approval of the Vineyard Wind project, which has been under construction since 2023. The lobbying group, Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA), sued the lead government regulator of offshore wind in early 2022, alleging the agency violated several acts, including those to protect existing ocean users and endangered species. At the crux of RODA’s appeal to the Supreme Court is the language of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, and particularly, how the federal government interpreted it. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:52
F/V Elite Navigator carried more safety equipment than required, writes TSB in investigation report
It’s impossible to know what caused the fire on the Elite Navigator in July 2024, as the fishing vessel was never recovered. But nearly seven months later, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada’s (TSB) investigation reveals what happened in the vessel’s final moments. According to the TSB report released on Wednesday, light smoke was visible in the engine room soon after a smoke alarm sounded at 7:30 p.m. NT. “A crew member in the deckhouse yelled that there was a fire in the exhaust trunking.” The report says the crew of the Elite Navigator were highly skilled in distress communications, even carrying devices not required by regulation like satellite communication devices and cell phones. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 16:22
N.S. premier promoting seafood, minerals on New York, Boston trade junket
Nova Scotia’s premier is promoting the province’s seafood and critical mineral deposits on a tour that will take him to Boston and New York this week and next. “Now, more than ever, we have to diversify our economy,” Houston said in a government release. “We have to go where the buyers are. Nova Scotia has a lot to offer, from high-quality products like seafood and resources like critical minerals.” The province exported more than a billion dollars’ worth of lobster in 2024, making lobster its second largest export. The two countries that collectively import about 80 per cent of live Nova Scotia lobsters are China and the United States, both of which have said lobster will face tariffs in the coming weeks. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 15:28
