FISHERYNATION.COM

WILMINGTON, N.C. — The Captain of the Port for North Carolina set Port Condition Yankee for the Port of Morehead City at 2 p.m., Sunday, and anticipates setting Port Condition Zulu at 10 p.m.

Port Condition Yankee closes the identified port to inbound traffic without permission from the Captain of the Port. All affected vessels are encouraged to seek an alternative destination.

Owners of pleasure craft are advised to seek safe harbor. Drawbridges may not be operating if sustained winds reach 34 mph or when an evacuation is in progress.

Mariners can view the latest port updates on the Coast Guard’s Homeport Site. The Coast Guard is warning the public of these important safety messages:

Stay off the water. The Coast Guard’s search and rescue capabilities degrade as storm conditions strengthen. This means help could be delayed.

Boaters should heed weather watches, warnings, and small craft advisories.

Be prepared. Owners of large boats are urged to move their vessels to inland marinas where they will be less vulnerable to breaking free of their moorings or to sustaining damage. Trailerable boats should be pulled from the water and stored in a place that is not prone to flooding. Those who are leaving their boats in the water are reminded to remove EPIRBs and to secure life rings, life jackets, and small boats. These items, if not properly secured, can break free and require valuable search and rescue resources be diverted to ensure people are not in distress.

Stay informed. The public should monitor the progress and strength of the storm through local television, radio, and the Internet. Boaters can monitor its progress on VHF radio channel 16. Information can also be obtained on small craft advisories and warnings on VHF radio channel 16.

“Sector North Carolina is mission ready 24 hours a day, seven days a week due to our incredible workforce and outstanding interagency, port, and industry partnerships across the state,” said Cmdr. Matthew Baer, Captain of the Port. “We are keenly watching Tropical Storm Arthur and are ready to respond to distress calls and keep vital commerce flowing through our nation’s marine transportation system.”

-USCG-

U.S. Coast Guard 5th District Mid-Atlantic
Contact: 5th District Public Affairs
Office: (757) 398-6272
After Hours: (757) 295-8435

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Effective 8 p.m. Saturday, the Coast Guard Captain of the Port for Jacksonville (COTP) set port condition Whiskey for the Port of Jacksonville and Fernandina due to the earliest Tropical Strom Fore Winds arriving within 72 hours.

These ports and facilities are currently open to all commercial traffic and all transfer operations may continue while Whiskey remains in effect.

Mariners are reminded there are no safe havens in these facilities, and ports are safest when the inventory of vessels is at a minimum. All ocean-going commercial vessels and ocean-going barges greater than 500 gross tons should make plans for departing the port.

Vessels desiring to remain in port must immediately contact the COTP to receive permission and are required to submit a safe mooring plan in writing. Vessels bound for the Port of Jacksonville and Fernandina are unable to depart 24 hours prior to threatening winds making landfall are advised to seek an alternate destination.

Pleasure crafts are advised to seek safe harbor. Drawbridges may not be operating if sustained winds reach 25 mph or when an evacuation is in progress. Port facilities are advised to review their heavy weather plans and take all necessary precautions to adequately prepare for the expected conditions. Mariners can view the latest port updates on the Coast Guard’s Homeport site.

If and when port condition Yankee is set, meaning sustained Tropical Storm Force winds are expected within 24 hours, vessel movement shall be restricted, and all movement must be approved by the caption of the port.

The Coast Guard is warning the public of these important safety messages:

• Stay off the water. The Coast Guard’s search and rescue capabilities degrade as storm conditions strengthen. This means help could be delayed. Boaters should heed weather watches, warnings and small craft advisories.
• Evacuate as necessary. If mandatory evacuations are set for an area, the public should evacuate without delay. Coast Guard personnel and other emergency responders may not be able to evacuate or rescue those in danger during the storm.
• Secure belongings. Owners of large boats are urged to move their vessels to inland marinas where they will be less vulnerable to breaking free of their moorings or to sustaining damage. Trailer-able boats should be pulled from the water and stored in a place that is not prone to flooding. Those who are leaving their boats in the water are reminded to remove EPIRBs and to secure life rings, lifejackets and small boats. These items, if not properly secured, can break free and require valuable search and rescue resources to be diverted to ensure people are not in distress.
• Stay clear of beaches. Wave heights and currents typically increase before a storm makes landfall. Even the best swimmers can fall victim to the strong waves and rip currents caused by hurricanes. Swimmers should stay clear of beaches until local lifeguards and law enforcement officials say the water is safe.
• Be prepared. Area residents should be prepared by developing a family plan, creating a disaster supply kit, having a place to go, securing their home and having a plan for pets. Information can be found at the National Hurricane Center’s webpage.
• Stay informed. The public should monitor the progress and strength of the storm through local television, radio and internet. Boaters can monitor its progress on VHF-FM channel 16. Information can also be obtained on small craft advisories and warnings on VHF-FM channel 16.

Information on how to prepare your boat or trailer for a hurricane can be found at the Coast Guard’s Strom Center webpage.

For information on Tropical Storm Ian progress and hurricane preparedness, please visit the National Hurricane Center’s webpage.

For more breaking news follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

-USCG-

U.S. Coast Guard 7th District PA Detachment Jacksonville
Contact: Coast Guard PA Detachment Jacksonville
Office: 904-714-7606/7607
After Hours: 786-393-4138
PA Detachment Jacksonville online newsroom

Effective 12 p.m. Friday, the Coast Guard Captain of the Port (COTP) set port condition Whiskey for the ports of Tampa, St. Petersburg, Manatee, and Ft. Myers due to the expectation of sustained gale force winds of 25 mph and gusts up to 40 mph generated from Hurricane Elsa that may arrive within 72 hours.

These ports and facilities are currently open to all commercial traffic and all transfer operations may continue while Whiskey remains in effect.

Sustained winds between 39 and 73 mph are possible within 72 hours. Mariners are reminded there aren’t safe havens in these facilities, and ports are safest when the inventory of vessels is at a minimum. All ocean-going commercial vessels and ocean-going barges 500 gross tons and above should make plans for departing the port.

Vessels desiring to remain in port must immediately contact the COTP to receive permission and are required to submit a safe mooring plan in writing. Vessels bound for South Florida unable to depart 24 hours prior to threatening winds making landfall are advised to seek an alternate destination.

Pleasure crafts are advised to seek safe harbor. Drawbridges may not be operating if sustained winds reach 25 mph or when an evacuation is in progress. Port facilities are advised to review their heavy weather plans and take all necessary precautions to adequately prepare for the expected conditions. Mariners can view the latest port updates on the Coast Guard’s Homeport site.

If and when port condition X-Ray is set, meaning sustained gale force winds are expected within 48 hours, all regulated facilities are required to submit a Facility Readiness Survey to the captain of the port before port condition Yankee is set.

The Coast Guard is warning the public of these important safety messages:

• Stay off the water. The Coast Guard’s search and rescue capabilities degrade as storm conditions strengthen.  This means help could be delayed. Boaters should heed weather watches, warnings and small craft advisories.
• Evacuate as necessary. If mandatory evacuations are set for an area, the public should evacuate without delay. Coast Guard personnel and other emergency responders may not be able to evacuate or rescue those in danger during the storm. 
• Secure belongings. Owners of large boats are urged to move their vessels to inland marinas where they will be less vulnerable to breaking free of their moorings or to sustaining damage. Trailer-able boats should be pulled from the water and stored in a place that is not prone to flooding. Those who are leaving their boats in the water are reminded to remove EPIRBs and to secure life rings, life jackets and small boats. These items, if not properly secured, can break free and require valuable search and rescue resources be diverted to ensure people are not in distress.
• Stay clear of beaches. Wave heights and currents typically increase before a storm makes landfall. Even the best swimmers can fall victim to the strong waves and rip currents caused by hurricanes. Swimmers should stay clear of beaches until local lifeguards and law enforcement officials say the water is safe.
• Be prepared. Area residents should be prepared by developing a family plan, creating a disaster supply kit, having a place to go, securing their home and having a plan for pets. Information can be found at the National Hurricane Center’s webpage.
• Stay informed. The public should monitor the progress and strength of the storm through local television, radio and Internet. Boaters can monitor its progress on VHF radio channel 16. Information can also be obtained on small craft advisories and warnings on VHF radio channel 16. 

For information on Hurricane Elsa progress and hurricane preparedness, please visit the National Hurricane Center’s webpage.

-USCG-

U.S. Coast Guard 7th District PA Detachment Tampa Bay
Contact: Coast Guard PA Detachment Tampa Bay
305-965-4672

U.S. Coast Guard 7th District PA Detachment Tampa Bay
Contact: Coast Guard PA Detachment Tampa Bay
305-965-4672

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Coast Guard Captain of the Port (COTP) set port condition X-Ray for the ports of Tampa to Fort Myers at 12:00 p.m. Saturday, due to the expectation of Tropical Storm Laura generating sustained gale force winds within 48 hours.

Current forecasts do not indicate a need to set Port Condition Yankee; however, facility and vessel operators should be prepared to terminate all cargo operations and depart port if conditions change.  Termination of cargo operations under Port Condition Yankee would not preclude truck operations or container movement within the facility.

Drawbridges in the area may cease operations as early as eight hours prior to the anticipated arrival of sustained gale force winds or when an evacuation is in progress.  During lock-down, the bridge is closed, power is turned off, traffic arms may be removed, the control house is secured and the bridge operator is sent to safety.

During Port Condition X-Ray, the ports of Tampa, St. Petersburg, Manatee, Ft. Myers and their associated facilities remain open to all commercial traffic and all transfer operations may continue, while regulated facilities are required to submit a Facility Readiness Survey prior to the setting of Port Condition Yankee. 

Mariners are reminded there are no safe havens in these facilities, and ports are safest when the inventory of vessels is at a minimum. In preparation for the approaching tropical storm, all oceangoing commercial vessels greater than 500 gross tons should make plans for departing the port.

Vessels bound for any of these ports, which would be unable to depart if weather conditions worsen are advised to seek an alternate destination as these ports may be closed to inbound traffic. Drawbridges may be locked down as early as eight hours prior to the anticipated arrival of sustained gale force winds or when an evacuation is in progress. During lock-down, the bridge is closed, power is turned off, traffic arms may be removed, the control house is secured and the bridge operator is sent to safety.

Mariners can view the latest port updates on the Coast Guard’s Homeport site.

The Coast Guard advises the public of these important safety messages:

Secure belongings.  Owners of large boats are urged to move their vessels to inland marinas where they will be less vulnerable to breaking free of their moorings or to sustaining damage. Trailer-able boats should be taken out of the water, and stored in a place not prone to flooding.  Those leaving their boats in the water should remove their EPIRBs and secure life rings, lifejackets and small boats. These items, if not properly secured, can break free and require valuable search and rescue resources be diverted to ensure people are not in distress.

Stay clear of beaches. Wave heights and currents typically increase before a storm makes landfall. Even the best swimmers can fall victim to the strong waves and rip currents caused by storms.  Swimmers should stay clear of beaches until local lifeguards and law enforcement officials say the water is safe.

Be prepared. Area residents should be prepared with a family plan, a disaster supply kit, by having a place to go, securing their home and having a plan for pets. Information can be found at the National Hurricane Center’s webpage:

Stay informed. The public should monitor the progress and strength of the storm through local television, radio and Internet. Boaters can monitor its progress on VHF radio channel 16. Information can also be obtained on small craft advisories and warnings on VHF radio channel 16. 

-USCG-

U.S. Coast Guard 7th District PA Detachment Tampa Bay
Contact: Coast Guard PA Detachment Tampa Bay
305-965-4672

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Coast Guard medevaced a man with severe abdominal pain from a fishing vessel 10 miles west of Hernando Beach, Florida Thursday.

A Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew responded to the call and safely transported the 49-year-old man to Tampa General Hospital in stable condition.

Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg watchstanders received a VHF marine radio call on channel 16 at approximately 10:44 p.m. Wednesday from the fishing vessel Morning Star. The man aboard was no longer able to safely operate the vessel and was in need of medical care. A sister fishing vessel Can Leo provided assistance with a tow to get Morning Star back to homeport. Coast Guard Station Yankeetown also responded to assist.

-USCG-

U.S. Coast Guard 7th District PA Detachment Tampa Bay
Contact: Coast Guard PA Detachment Tampa Bay
305-965-4672

Lookin’ Back: Capt Dave and F/V Hard Merchandise to make television debut!

(originally published @newsvine.com

Tue Feb 7, 2012 5:33 AM

I had heard the rumors. There was to be a new series about fishing, along the lines of Deadliest Catch, and Lobster Wars, and others like it. It appears that the tv viewing public really enjoy these types of shows.

There have been some interesting fishery issues concerning the New England ground fishery, and I decided to contact Gloucester Fisherman Captain Dave Marciano, and discuss our shared concerns.

During the conversation, I asked him what he had been up to.

He mentioned that he had been busy filming with National Geographic Channel’s upcoming TV show, “Wicked Tuna”.

One newsviner was in the Discovery series Lobster Wars. F/V Excalibur, and Capt. Dave is now the second!

Wicked Tuna, meanwhile, hails from Piligian’s Pilgrim Studios (Dirty Jobs)and will explore the business of bluefin tuna fishing in Gloucester, Mass., as crews set sail for the elusive fish that can fetch between $3,000 and $15,000 in peak season.

“Commercial tuna fishing is brutally competitive. With its limited season, the intelligence and prowess of the fish, and the sheer fact that they’re worth so much, the livelihood of each vessel’s crew can be made or broken in a month,” Piligian said. “Pairing that kind of pressure with the harsh environment of Gloucester makes this one of the most intense and compelling series Pilgrim has ever produced.”

The series is attracting plenty of attention and there already have been articles written about the show and featured in numerous sport-fishing blogs and in a couple of Huffington Post articles.

Carl Safina, not your ordinary fellow but is a MacArthur fellow, Pew fellow, and Guggenheim fellow, had a very predictable reaction, being anti-fish, and staying loyal to the Pew philosophy. I don’t know much about Mr. Safina, but Pew Fellow says plenty to me.

National Geographic Channel, In Race for Bottom, Adds Killing Endangered Species to New Season Entertainment Lineup

Well, people, what an incredibly long drop it’s been since the electrifying National Geographic TV specials of my youth, whose mere opening theme notes would raise the hair on my neck.

Oh oh.

It seems almost like the scenario of a post-apocalyptic surrealist satire, unimaginable just a few years back: National Geographic Channel has been bought out by Fox, is “joint-venturing” with the disgraceful and disgraced Rupert Murdoch, and creating programming to push Bill O’Reilly’s books.

And, well — National Geographic Channel will be killing endangered species for entertainment.

Anyone that’s read my Fox articles know that this fellow and I do have some common ground, and I think O’reilly is a nut, but much to the chagrin of Safina, Blue fin are not an endangered specie.

They’ve just announced the new unscripted show: Wicked Tuna.

Oh. My Gawd!

Awesome, eh? Already, we have: a smiling face and a dead, rather small, bluefin tuna.

Here, in 2012, I find the premise revolting. Despicable.

Get a grip, Carl.

And therefore, it’s bound to be a crowd pleaser as National Geographic Channel aims to lead in Cable’s race to the bottom.

Every ones a critic!

The thrilling tagging of giant fish as scientists track their migrations across oceans might have provided the show’s rationale, but that’s clearly too intellectual (though all the other elements of cable success are there: adventure, personal drama (the tagging involves grad students), seasickness, profanity). Read the rest here!

I wish it was video instead of print. Visions of bulging eyes an pulsating veins!

He does semi-snap out of it in his next article at Huffpost, leaving plenty of controversial remarks that I personally found quite offensive, and un truthful, but that is to be expected from a Pew crusader. I digress.

Will National Geographic TV’s Wicked Tuna Be Better Than Advertised?

Following National Geographic Channel’s announcement of its upcoming TV show, “Wicked Tuna,” and my consequent slam, I received a phone call inviting me to Nat Geo headquarters. Our discussion seemed a big improvement over their press release. Yes, really. As announced, this show will feature commercial fishing for bluefin tuna. With or without the cameras, those boats kill fish,,global bluefin tuna enterprise, in the world,, problem arises, global union of conservation scientists, perfectly legal,,enormous nets, Atlantic,, Mediterranean, people use rods-and-reels, killing relatively few fish,, but let’s move on.

Whew!

What I heard was: National Geographic is committed to the big picture. Conservation concerns will be part of the project. That’s their promise so let’s take them at their word. But can they weave it all it into a compelling show that will make viewers take their fingers off their remotes? That’s a taller order. The website they’re building for the series may turn out to be the better vehicle for the deeper story, and a wide range of opinion — which there will be.

So we’ll see. But after getting such a bad sense from their initial announcement, it was good to have my expectations raised.

Carl Safina has maintained my expectations of a Pew soldier fellow. Fanaticism.

Another critic, Virginia Willis, author of Bon Appetit, Y’all!, a third generation Southern cook ala Paula Dean style is absolutely outraged! Wicked Tuna: A Deal with the Devil. She feels “betrayed, heartbroken, and sick.”

From her blog, we get a sense a beginning and end of a wonderful relationship and her generational heritage with National Geographic which, until now, was a part of that.

There were two magazines we weren’t allowed to play with when I was growing up: Southern Living and National Geographic. They were the “important” magazines. They were special. Now, an adult and a chef, I know Southern Living undoubtedly helped fuel my love of food and cooking.

But, the magazine that has always been closest to my heart is National Geographic.

Southern Living and cooking also led Paula Dean into cooking some pretty tastey, but very unhealthy chow! And Diabetes.

She describes her youthful recollections and cherished memory’s of the publication, and shares some childhood history.

My grandparents loved to travel in their motor home. Often, my sister and I or a cousin would travel with them. We’d go away for weeks and months at a time every summer. My older cousin Sam went with them to Alaska, a trip I still yearn to take. The next year, they took me to Newfoundland.

While on the ferry off the Nova Scotia coast I witnessed a pod of whales rolling in the deep blue water. Later, my sister and I traveled from Georgia clear across the Southwest then north up into the Canadian territory of Saskatchewan before we headed back across the entire United States to Georgia. A stack of National Geographic magazines with the familiar yellow spine and the appropriate maps for our travels, accompanied every trip. In high school, I remember having the National Geographic map of Europe tacked up on my wall; it seemed a million miles away from my red dirt road in South Georgia, but I knew I wanted to go there, and eventually, I did.

NatGeo gets dumped into the outhouse from there.

It’s an absolute disgrace. It’s wicked in the true sense of the word, evil and morally wrong.

National Geographic is capitalizing on and exploiting the very species they have declared to be on the verge of extinction.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch states consumers should “Avoid” all bluefin tuna, referencing the near collapse of bluefin populations worldwide.

Last year, the Center for Biological Diversity submitted a petition to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration seeking an endangered status for the fish, claiming the species faces possible extinction because of overfishing and habitat degradation.

Ocean Conservancy states the species is overfished.

The Pew Charitable Trust states, “Some species of tuna, such as the valuable Atlantic bluefin tuna, are dangerously over-exploited.”
Pew’s Global Tuna Conservation Campaign is urging countries fishing for tuna to “enact strong measures that will lead to the recovery of severely depleted Atlantic bluefin tuna population, including suspension of the fishery and prohibit take of Atlantic bluefin tuna on its only known spawning grounds.” The list of organizations against bluefin fishing goes on and on and on.

As a chef and food writer, I care about the food I prepare, the food I eat. I work to educate my students and readers about responsible and sustainable food. As the National Geographic Society mission states, I work to inspire people to care about the planet.

John Fahey, Chairman & CEO of the National Geographic Society should hang his head in shame.

Well, Hush my puppies! Ah do declare! Virginia (i love that name) could be a writer for the Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ)
UPDATE: 1/24/12 MANY OF THE COMMENTS BELOW ARE FROM HARD-WORKING FISHERMEN WITH FAMILIES TO SUPPORT. VERY CLEARLY, WE DISAGREE ON CERTAIN POINTS. THE DIALOGUE HAS BECOME QUITE HEATED. WHILE I DO NOT APPRECIATE NAME-CALLING AND PERSONAL SLURS, I DO APPRECIATE THE PASSION AND EXPERIENCE THAT THEY BRING TO THE CONVERSATION.THANK YOU FOR READING.

I give her a lot of credit, ton’s, for her dialogue with fishermen at her blog, and there is a lot of information in her comment section that should enlighten readers about the fishery. The U S fishery, that always gets buried under “world” fishery issues. U S Fishermen are always over shadowed. Purposefully.

Between Carl, and Virginia, the oil money created Pew Charities agenda is clearly stated with many Pew recipients mentioned.

I enjoyed Virginia Willis’s recollections of traveling cross country in Gramp and Grans motor home, something Daves kids don’t have the luxury of, and viewers will get the chance to meet his kids. They are a working class family, trying to get through.

Captain Dave was active in the comment sections of these articles, and there is a difference between emotional anti fish comments and informed pro fish comments. Should you read them, you can decide for yourself how you feel about them, and the issues.

Talking to Dave, I get a sense we will all learn from this series, which will make it worth watching.

Carl Safina will learn that US Fishermen are more concerned about the tuna than he gives them credit for.

After all, if the fish were gone, the fishermen also would be gone. They want to fish forever.

Don’t worry about Carl. As long as Pew has oil money to toss at Pew Fellows, his existence is assured.

Link >on this page<, almost to the bottom, with links to supporting articles, including some comment sections with Dave interacting. Of youre interested, below that, there is another Dave story.

                Harvey Haddock cursed his father, why did he have to be a commercial fisherman? He could have been anything, a doctor, lawyer, porno star, anything but a damn commercial fisherman. He knew it was wrong to curse his father, but his rage needed an outlet and since his problems started with his career choice, his anger naturally returned to its birthplace. His father was a fisherman, and so was his grandfather, brother, and uncles, it seemed like everybody in his family at some time was a fisherman, probably going all the way back to Sweden where his ancestors had originated. The difference was that in other countries, and even in America until a few years ago, Commercial fisherman were respected as the hard working food providers that they were, but somehow something went wrong in America. A well-oiled propaganda machine financed by huge multinational corporations and foundations had decided to villainize America’s fishermen so that they could move in and industrialize the Gulf of Mexico  and the Atlantic ocean.

                 Suddenly fishermen were evil greedy environmental rapists out to catch the last fish in the ocean, much like our frontier pioneers had hunted the buffalo to the edge of extinction. Some powerful forces were at work here and Harvey and his fishermen brothers were helpless to fight it. His boat, the Dragonlady, no longer was a source of pride and income but an anchor around his neck dragging him under and drowning him in a financial sea of red ink. After 30 years of ownership the bank was foreclosing on the Dragonlady, he could no longer afford to upkeep his gear or maintain the vessel in fishing shape, this was the end of the line. He had lost everything he owned, everything he had busted his ass off for over 40 years of hard labor to earn, everything he loved, including his wife. He now knew how those poor homeless people he read about in the newspapers, and saw on TV felt. He was just an empty husk of the young idealistic man he had once been. Even his soul, the one thing he thought no one could take from him, had become so corrupted and became so bitter that the anger and hatred overflowed like maggots writhing in the busted belly of a rotten Bluefish.

                 This would be the Dragonlady’s last trip. Harvey Haddock had had enough. He was steaming up the Jersey coast from Point Pleasant, destination; Liberty Island. There, live on the internet, with the Statue of Liberty in the background, he was going to blow the Dragonlady to smithereens along with himself. In the fishhold he had rigged up a homemade weapon of mass destruction, 10 hundred pound bottles of propane, and 20 five gallon containers of gasoline. He had no idea what kind of explosion that would make, but was sure that Bank of America was not going to get anything more than a few pieces of scrap metal from the Dragonlady. The gasoline was there simply to burn up whatever didn’t blow up, and also to provide him with a flaming entrance to hell. He knew he was going there, might as well make it as spectacular as possible.

                All his life he tried to do good but somehow nothing ever worked out right, someone or something always threw a monkey wrench into the plan. He was a broken down failure, with a bad back, bad eyes, and ears, and now diabetes. After 40 years of kneeling on the deck of a fishing boat picking fish, he would kneel no more. On your feet or on your knees, Harvey would submit to no one. Especially that giant prick, Uncle Sam and his evil minions of unaccountable bureaucrats. It seemed to him that every level of government had become so corrupted by the money of special interest groups that America land of the free and home of the brave, had become land of the rich and home of the slaves. The American Sheeple were clueless, give em a six pack and a TV and they were happy. Of course welfare checks were nice, a whole segment of the population had grown up expecting to be taken care of without giving anything in return. They were owed it, and as long as the democrats kept them feed, they would vote to keep them in office. Conversely the multinational corporations that really ran the country somehow lied, bribed, and pulled the wool over enough people’s eyes that they gave the Republican party enough power to create a cynical balance between socialism and outright unbridled capitalism. Harvey still loved his Country, he just hated his government and what it had become because of the outright greed of some of the wealthy. He knew those bastards would be joining him in hell one day soon.

Harvey’s journey up the coast to the Statue of Liberty would be his statement on the true condition of America, Blow it up and start again. The Dragonlady was now passing Asbury Park, a city that still hadn’t recovered from the racial riots of the 60’s. Try as they would the city would sell development rights to some developer with grand plans to revitalize the oceanfront only to watch as they would invariably go bankrupt, yet refuse to give up the development rights leaving the city in limbo. It had come a long way from the early 90’s when it looked like downtown Beirut, but still redevelopment was slow in coming.  Even still, Harvey remembered as he looked through his binoculars at Convention Hall seeing the Blue Oyster Cult with a new band from Boston opening for them called Aerosmith. Or the Ramones fresh from cutting their first album playing a small club called Juilio’s South in 1976. His first date with his future wife Candy, was a Ramones concert at the Paramount theatre in 1980. Asbury was a dive, but it had a great music scene, some guy named Springsteen even played there a few times.

Off the starboard side of the boat, movement caught Harvey’s eye, a spout of water 15 feet high and the huge dark shape of a whale just breaking the surface, the small dorsal fin on its back identified it as a Fin whale. About 50 feet long they were a fairly common sight to Harvey as they migrated along the coast every summer. They could reach up to 80 feet long and are listed as endangered. “Oh look at that” says Harvey to himself as a smaller spout appears alongside the whale and a 15 foot calf breaks the surface. You guys better get out of here fast if you know what’s good for you thought Harvey, you’ll be in the New York shipping lanes soon. Seeing the whales swimming north with a nonchalant indifference to their natural majesty brought back the rage to Harvey. It reminded him of the utter hypocrisy of the National Marine Fishery Service [NMFS] and the enviro front groups that seemingly ran it.  This summer, Rutgers University teamed up with a few other research groups on an absolutely bogus study to track sea level rise off the Jersey coast. They used a large research vessel equipped with a seismic air gun array that is primarily used for oil exploration. For a month, every 6 to 10 seconds the air gun would go off as it was towed behind the vessel emitting an explosion up to 240 decibels loud. Within ten days of the start of the project 3 dead whales were reported. One 18 foot Minke whale washed up on the beach at Fire Island and was probably an accidental victim of a ship strike. But three days later a dead 40 foot long Fin whale was spotted and photographed by Denis Lovgren of the fishing vessel Kailey Ann on the southern edge of the Mud Hole, and two more boats from the Fishermans Dock Co-op also confirmed the sighting. The body’s location was 20 miles north of the blasting area and due to the southerly wind and currents in that area, exactly where a body would drift to.  Two days later a scallop boat from Barnegat Light, the Miss Manya, spotted a 70 foot floater about 30 miles east of the first carcass. The Miss Manya had a government observer on board and pictures were taken. This body was 25 miles to the north of the blasting area and also where a carcass would drift from the south. Two dead endangered whales, shortly after seismic testing starts and it’s not related? This infuriated Harvey. If a fisherman looked cross-eyed at a marine mammal NMFS would shut down their fishery, yet seismic testing, which any sane person would have to admit has to cause harm to any living animal in its operating vicinity was allowed to continue up and down the coast because it is the primary tool used to explore for oil reserves deep beneath the ocean floor. The government and the oil industry, claim that there is no proof that seismic testing causes any harm to marine life, and claims all the dead marine mammals and stranding’s are just a coincidence.
The oil companies and their government enablers fervently make sure that there is never any money to do any form of research into the effects of seismic testing on marine animals, because they know what they would find. Therefore if there’s no science to prove harm, then it must be okay. Clean Ocean Action, a Jersey based environmental coalition, rallied fishermen and residents to fight the testing and even convinced the N.J. State Department of Environmental Protection to file a lawsuit to stop it. The testing went on anyway. Two dead endangered Fin Whales and the worst Loligo Squid season for the local fishing fleet in memory. Nothing.  You couldn’t find a squid within 50 miles of New Jersey this summer. Coincidentally squid are one of the few species that there is documented evidence that they are harmed by Seismic testing. Research was done in Europe after giant squid washed up on the beaches of Spain during a time when seismic testing was occurring offshore, and their deaths were attributed to seismic testing damaging the soft tissue of their internal organs.  Yet NMFS ignores this, and their partners in crime the greenwashed groups Oceana and the Environmental Defense Frauds simply look the other way. They offered absolutely no help in this fight, just stood by the sideline. Can’t bite the hand that feeds you. Oceana was created  by the PEW Charitable Trusts in the late 1990’s to save the oceans.  But only from the effects of fishing. Oil drilling is fine, and hurts nothing. They push for huge marine protected areas up and down the coasts, where no one can fish and the environment can be saved from the bad fishermen, yet oil and gas drilling would still be allowed.  Has everybody already forgotten the Exxon Valdez, and BP Horizon spills?

Interestingly, Pew Charitable Trusts which is valued around 5 billion dollars, was created by the heirs of Joseph Pew, the founder of Sunoco Oil Company. It’s  board of directors are dominated by Pew family Members, and while the trust itself may not be heavily invested in the oil industry, that doesn’t mean that its  board members aren’t. And they are the ones who steer money into whatever endeavor they think they can profit from. Want to drill for oil on the US east coast? Create a phony overfishing crisis, buy some pseudo-science from the nearest advocacy science whore and campaign finance compromised politicians, and then use the Commerce department to do the rest of the dirty work. Replace anyone in NMFS, the regional fishery science centers, and the regional fishery councils, with willing flunky’s. There are always willing flunky’s. They don’t care how many people they hurt as long as they get paid. I’ll see them in hell thought Harvey. Its gonna be mighty crowded.

Harvey scanned the horizon around him, Gateway National Park on Sandy Hook was on his port side, while a number of large container ships were offshore of him, heading both into and out of the harbor. Directly in front of him a tug and barge was just exiting the Sandy Hook Channel and heading south. Harvey adjusted the auto pilot offshore to pass port to port. Soon he would be entering the Ambrose channel. Looming ever larger, and larger, the massive skyline of the New York Metropolitan area gleamed like the city of Oz in the classic movie. Harvey had timed this trip so that he could catch the incoming tide, and that tide had taken the Dragonlady and was sucking her into the giant mouth of the city. The Dragonlady’s  12/71 Detroit diesel engine was pushing her close to 10 knots, more than 2 knots more than normal, so Harvey backed off the throttle and slowed her down. He had something to do before he reached his destination. He pulled out his computer keyboard, he had managed to set up his boats Vessel Monitoring system to receive the internet and he now navigated his way to UTube. Drawing up his site he typed in this message;  Attention! Live Death at 4 PM EST today. Don’t miss it. Explosions, Fire, and one less mouth to feed. Pull up a seat and grab some popcorn and a beer. Sit back and revile in my misery as I blow myself to bits along with my boat. Contents of an adult nature so don’t let your kids watch.

Harvey smirked despite his despair and misery he still had a semblance of a sense of humor, twisted as it was. Keeping a sharp eye out Harvey looked around, he was putting along at 4 knots now and the south shore of Staten Island was to his left as a few miles ahead the massive structure of the Verrazano bridge grew closer. Coney Island was on his right with Brooklyn beyond.  Harvey never understood how David Cone got an island named after himself, sure he was a great pitcher for the Mets, maybe name a street, but a whole island? Could it be because he pitched for both the Yankees and the Mets? Why then wasn’t there a Dr. K land or Strawberry field island? How come the Bronx wasn’t named Babe Ruth Borough?  Come on Harvey, stay focused you’re drifting off, he thought. Leaving the wheelhouse Harvey went out onto the back deck, “gotta do this now while I have the chance”, he thought. Opening the aluminum hatch to the fish hold he climbed down the ladder. The hold was about 9 feet deep and could carry more than 50,000 pounds of fish, but because of stringent regulations Harvey hardly ever used it anymore. There sitting along the forward water tight bulkhead stood 10 one hundred pound tanks of propane chained together. Along the floor, inside the individual fish pens 20  five gallon gas tanks were scattered around, off to the port side a 12 volt battery was wired to create a spark when he released the button on his pressure release switch. He picked up the switch, attached was 50 feet of wire, plenty enough to allow him to wander around the back deck of the Dragonlady. He held down the button and forcefully taped it in the down position with contractor grade electrical tape. None of that Cheap Walmart crap, my life depends on this tape. Geez, I’m about to blow myself up and I’m thinking about the quality of electrical tape. Harvey approached the propane tanks, he opened the valve of one of them. Out hissed a whitish stream of gas smelling like sulfur and rotten eggs, Harvey turned and climbed the ladder back to the deck carefully holding the pressure switch while feeding out the wire. He laid it down on the deck and closed the hatch. The propane tank would empty and its contents would sink to the bottom of the bilge and collect along the fish hold floor. There it would be trapped by the water tight bulkheads and when Harvey released the button on the pressure switch, Kablooey, everything would blow.

Looking ahead he noticed the Dragonlady slightly heading toward Coney Island. He scrambled forward and changed course back to the deep of the channel, from here on he would have to keep a close watch at the wheel. I’ve never been up the Narrows on a boat before, he thought, been up the Kill Van Kull all the way to the Outerbridge crossing to haul at Garpo Marine, but the outerbridge is like a tinker toy compared to the Verrazano. Approaching the massive support pillars Harvey marveled at the sheer magnitude and engineering genius required to build such a structure. How can men build something so beautiful, yet be so ugly? Clearing the bridge the entrance to the Hudson River beckoned, the magnificent skyline of Manhattan came clearly into view with the new Freedom tower reaching seemingly into the clouds. Around it other massive buildings seemed like dwarfs. On the western shore the Jersey side had suddenly sprouted its own mini Manhattan as business’s crossed the Hudson to avoid the congestion and high New York taxes, while revitalizing Hoboken and Jersey City.

Harvey couldn’t help but remember the twin towers of the world trade center, those massive buildings that stood like a modern day pillars of Hercules welcoming visitors to America. On a clear day the reflection of the sun off their sides could be seen from his fishing grounds in the Mud Hole over 20 miles away. He remembered the smoldering cloud that hung over the city for weeks after 9/11. If I was President, people wouldn’t even remember 9/11 he thought, but they’d never forget 9/12 when I nuked every fucking military base and capitol in the middle east, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Those A-rabs would never fuck with us again.

There’s the Statue of Liberty, it seems small compared to the skyline, but as the Dragonlady drew within a half mile its size became evident. Harvey took the boat out of gear. He could see a small NY Harbor police patrol boat half mile north slowly patrolling. They’re gonna  want to see what I’m doing at some point , he thought. His mind started drifting again, looking at the statue of liberty and what it’s supposed to stand for , he pictured Lady Liberty in chains and shackles with neon billboards emblazoned along its base and crown advertising brand-name corporations and proclaiming; send me your poor uneducated masses, we need more slaves.

Maybe they should replace her if we can’t have freedom and liberty. They should build a 500 foot tall statue of a fireman and the next time someone blows up the city the statue can put out the fire with his giant hose using water from the Hudson River. Back to reality, the Dragonlady was drifting with the tide to the north, Gotta throw the bow anchor, he thought as he picked it up and heaved it over. The rope fed out quickly, 120 feet should be enough, he put a hitch in the cleat, and the boat started to swing around as the anchor caught the bottom. The bow now facing south.  Harvey went out to the back deck to check the viewpoint, he wanted the statue of liberty to be in the background of his video. He had prewired his camera to the computer before he left the dock, all that needed to be done was position the tripod so that it had the best view. Harvey moved the boat forward and then backed down trying to swing the boat out slightly east. Then he threw a second anchor off the stern and tied it off, taking the boat out of gear. The Dragonlady swung back slightly then held steady. Perfect. Repositioning the camera so the statue of liberty would be in the background, Harvey checked his watch. 3:55. Damn, I’m good. He turned on the camera, then went into the wheelhouse, checked the video monitor, on the screen was the North Jersey Skyline with the Statue of Liberty clearly visible. Perfect. He shut down the engine. He noted where he would have to stand, and walked out on the back deck. Turning on the microphone on the camera he picked the pressure release switch off the deck, and walked over to the starboard side and looked at the Statue of Liberty.

From the north the New York Harbor Patrol boat was a quarter mile away and closing in fast. He took out his pocket knife and carefully cut the tape away from the pressure release switch button while keeping the button depressed with his thumb. I’m live now. As he turned to face the camera he heard a beep from his cell phone. “Shit. Who’s that?”  He pulled out his cell and glanced at the screen.  God Damn Henry, I’m busy he thought as he reflexively answered the call.
*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *
Downstairs in his basement room Jimmy sat alone, staring at his computer screen drinking a beer, on the table next to him was a bag of popcorn.
“Is that?” he asks out loud. “Shit, that’s Uncle Harvey, he’s gonna blow himself up! Jimmy runs up the stairs yelling; “Mom, Dad, get down here fast, Uncle Harvey’s going to kill himself!

Cindy and Henry come running down the stairs.
“What are you talking about?” Asks Henry.
“Look that’s the Dragonlady, right?” On the computer screen is the picture of the rear deck of a fishing boat. “That’s the gallast and his doors, I’m sure of it”, states Jimmy.
Henry looks closely at the picture on the screen. “What the? Yea, that’s the Dragonlady, and that’s the statue of Liberty in the background, what’s going on? Is this live?”
“Yea”, says Jimmy, “A friend of mine texted me and told me to check this site out, some guys going to blow himself up at 4 o’clock, so I found it on UTube and made myself comfortable. It just went live”.
Henry looks around the room, “Where’s the phone?” he asks.  Jimmy retrieves it and hands it to him. On the computer screen Harvey has now appeared walking towards the starboard gunnel and staring at the statue of Liberty, he seems to be doing something with his hands, but they cannot see what it is. Henry franticly punches in Harvey’s cell phone number, and waits for the phone to ring. On screen Harvey turns to face the camera, then reaches in his pants pocket with his right hand, a faint voice is heard from the computer; “Shit, who’s that?” He looks at the phone, and answers it. “Henry, I don’t have time to talk right now, I’m in the middle of something really important. Love ya”.

“Harvey, I’m watching you on the computer. Don’t do what I think you’re planning on doing”. Harvey turns towards the Statue of Liberty, and sees the Harbor Patrol boat now only 50 feet away from him, he turns back to the camera and speaks.
“Hi, I’m Harvey Haddock and …” His  speech is interrupted by the sound of a loudspeaker from the patrol boat. “Dragonlady, this is a non-anchorage area. Immediately lift your anchors and vacate the area”.
“Shit” says Harvey to the camera, “Can’t a person blow himself up without constantly being bothered? Excuse me.” He turns back to the patrol boat and beckons them closer with his right hand, which is still holding his cell phone, realizing that Henry is still on the line, he speaks into it. “Henry, I’m sorry but it’s too late. I’ve been dead for years. I love you, and your family, you’ve been great to me, gotta go, the cops are here”. He drops the phone over the side.
“Stop! That’s close enough, I have a bomb.” He’s yells to the patrolman on the boat’s deck. The patrol boat is about 25 feet long with a small cabin that’s opened in the back, where a second patrolman is manning the controls.  Harvey holds up his left hand with the pressure control switch, both patrolmen draw their pistols, and Harvey raises his right hand up in the air.
“Don’t shoot or you’ll both die, and I don’t want to hurt anyone. I just want to blow up this boat so the bank can’t have it. I’m holding a pressure release switch which is rigged up to one thousand pounds of propane, and one hundred gallons of gas. When I release the button it all blows. If you shoot me, you will die, so I am asking that you back off at least two hundred yards. Tell the Coast Guard and the rest of your forces what I have here. All I want is fifteen minutes. Then you can clean up the mess. Nobody will get hurt. I’m just going to blow up the boat, don’t try to be a hero or your wives, if you have any, will be widows”.
The two patrolmen are talking to each other, still with their guns drawn, the Captain reaches for the radio microphone and talks into it. The other patrolman yells to Harvey; “Sir you don’t have to do this. It can’t be that bad. Nothing can be that bad”.

Harvey holds the switch higher. “Yes it can. Now son, please, you and your buddy back up, turn around and keep at least a two hundred yard security zone around the boat. I don’t know how big an explosion this will be but there’s sure to be some flying debris”. The patrolmen talk to each other, and the Captain puts the boat in gear and slowly backs up, and then turns around  heading east away from the boat. Harvey says out loud, “That’s right, back off”.
On the Dragonlady’s portside two Coast Guard vessels are closing in, about a quarter mile away they stop, then slowly, one turns north, while the other heads south. Back at Henry’s they have been watching the events unfold on the computer screen’
“Damn it. I gave Harvey two of those propane bottles. I thought he was scrapping them”, says Henry.
Cindy asks; “Do you think he’s going to do it?”

“Yea”, answers Henry. “He’s been so depressed since Candy died, there’s no talking him down. The foreclosure’s the last straw. He’s a dead man walking”.
Jimmy puts down the beer. He’s near tears.  “I can’t watch this. Poor Uncle Harvey. I can’t believe it’s him, and here I had a beer and popcorn to watch some poor smuck blow himself up”.
“Come on upstairs Jimmy. I don’t want to watch this either” says Cindy as she grabs his hand. “ Are you coming Harvey?”
“No, I’m staying here. If I can’t be with him physically, I’m going to be as close as I can. Maybe a miracle will happen”.

Harvey addresses the camera again; “Hi, I’m Harvey Haddock and in a few minutes I’m going to blow up my 75 foot fishing boat and myself with it. If you didn’t hear the conversation that I just had with the NYPD, I informed them that my boat the Dragonlady is rigged with one thousand pounds of propane and one hundred gallons of gasoline. I am holding a pressure release switch and it all blows when I take my finger off the button. I have asked for a minimum two hundred yard security zone around the boat, so that nobody gets hurt. I don’t want to hurt anybody”.

“I just want to make a point. I have been fishing since I was a teenager, forty years now, and it’s a damn hard job, both physically and mentally. At the end of everyday though, I knew that I had done an honest day’s work. I didn’t steal or take advantage of people with legal mumbo-jumbo to enrich myself. I produced food to feed people, and I created money by harvesting a renewable natural resource for the benefit of mankind, unlike the Wall Street crooks who play three card Monty with unsuspecting shareholders. I’ve owned the Dragonlady for 30 years now and thanks to the federal government’s intentional destruction of the small family fisherman, I am about to lose it to the bank, they have foreclosed my mortgage.  In a few minutes they can pick up the pieces. I’ve worked my ass off all my life, and a bunch of corporate crooks and government cronies, have taken everything I’ve owned, leaving me broke and destitute. I’ve lost my wife, my house, and now my boat. I’m too old to start over, and refuse to accept any handout from those crooks in Washington. Don’t get me wrong, I love my Country, I just hate my government and what it has become. So before I die, I want to poke a stick in the eye of those bastards one more time”.

“In the last twenty five years the National marine Fisheries Service has had an unwritten policy of destroying both commercial and recreational fishermen, simply because we are in the way. We are in the way of the big oil, gas and wind energy corporations that want to take over the ocean bottom where we have fished since before there was a U.S. of A.  NMFS was not originally created to destroy fisherman, they were supposed to protect and promote them. But because a few years after its creation they were placed under the control of the Commerce department, which is the biggest den of thieves in the country, NMFS policy changed from protect and promote, to destroy and remove, to make way for their oil company masters. This strategy did two things, it removed eyes from the water, and reduces liability when the inevitable oil spill occurs, causing massive environmental and economic damage”.

Harvey continues; “NMFS management policies have now bankrupted two thirds of the traditional New England groundfish fleet while leaving two thirds of their annual fishery allocations untouched due to onerous regulations. It’s not fish that are endangered, its fishermen. Environmental front groups have been created and funded by multinational corporations, and foundations, with the express intent of destroying the fishing industry with phony non peer reviewed advocacy science and by pressuring congress to change the very act that created NMFS. Their strategy has worked, and now just like the family farmer, fishermen are rapidly disappearing and being replaced by large corporate entities who control the fishery allocations.”

At his house Henry is in tears listening to his brother. “You tell them Harvey. Tell the fucking truth so everybody knows what’s happening, they won’t hear it in the Newspaper’s or TV”.
On the screen Harvey’s on a roll. “The America I grew up with no longer exists. It has been replaced, taken over completely by a bunch of greedy soulless conmen masquerading as C.E.O.’s and politicians. The U.S. government no longer works as intended with three distinct branches to provide checks and balances to protect the rights granted us by the original Constitution and Bill of Rights. Now thanks to uncontrolled corporate campaign contributions it works solely for the benefit of multinational corporate profits. Both political parties refuse to compromise on their opposing viewpoints and policies, leaving the country in a nonfunctioning stalemate. Illegal immigrates from overpopulated third world countries flood our borders and destroy our historical population demographics, ending up on the public dole, and bankrupting Social Security. Both parties claim to want to find solutions, but the republicans refuse to act, because their corporate masters want that cheap slave labor work force to keep the price of labor down. While the Democrats figure let’s let them all in and give them money, they’ll be sure to vote for us.  Clearly America is broken. I said it before, I love my Country. I just hate my government. And I have an idea about how to change it”.

“The Soviet Union collapsed by a peaceful people power revolution. We can do the same by a ballot box revolution. We can vote the whores out of office. But how?  The Democratic and Republican parties so monopolize the election process that third party candidates have no chance of winning any major office.  Also any new idea candidate is systematically and purposely destroyed by the corporate and government controlled news media that profits from the status quo. Now when you vote, you’re not voting for a candidate, but against someone you perceive as worse. There is a reason that None of the above is not on our ballots. It would win every election. But where can you find a candidate that would be beyond scandal, universally admired, and stands for everything good about America? How can you tell the present government they are no longer wanted? That you the American public want the USA to return to its true roots of Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of

Happiness for all, as our founding fathers so elegantly stated in our constitution”.  Harvey pauses and carefully switches the pressure release switch from his left to right hand. “My hands cramping, Oops almost blew myself up”, he says as he laughs nervously.

“The answer is simple, use the write in feature on the ballot and write in the name of the one person that every man, woman, and child in our country loves and respects, George Washington. The Father of our country. This would be a ballot box revolution that would cause a Constitutional crisis if he won the election. After all he’s been dead for over two hundred years, but it would send a message to Washington that we have had enough of the self-serving hypocritical whores who have been running our country. Write in George Washington for President, Senator, Congressman, and Governor, let’s see what happens then. Just remember, freedom doesn’t come easily, so be ready for a fight, these power hungry bastards will not let go easily. That’s all. Take my message to heart. Sorry if I bored you with my rant. You won’t be hearing from me anymore. Time to die”.

Harvey holds up his hand to the camera and removes his thumb from the button. He feels a vibration under his feet, suddenly the hatch to the fish hold rockets upwards, followed by a huge ball of flame. The deck rips open, tearing Harvey’s body to pieces and throwing flaming debris in every direction. What remains of the shattered hull sinks within a minute, leaving a large patch of flaming debris on the water’s surface as the only evidence a boat had once been there.

A Tale of two pictures

3/4/2015

I had intended to give this as an oral presentation at the January Council meeting but I was prevented from attending by an illness.  The subject cannot wait until April because action is needed immediately.  This was a visual presentation which loses some of its power in writing, my apologies.

This is a picture of approximately 2000 lbs. of cod.  It represents the first time I have targeted cod in two years.  While one picture does not determine the status of the stock it is a powerful illustrator of our current assessment shortcomings.  This presentation is on Gulf of Maine Cod but the problems it illustrates cut across numerous species.  By way of background, this was a one hour research tow in an open area.  I travelled 20 miles to make this tow and it represents the first area that had not been taken over by lobster traps.  This alone is cause for concern because most of the Gulf of Maine is now defacto closed to commercial fishing and the trawl survey, by the proliferation of fixed gear.  The fact is, none of us now know how many cod exist because no one, including the NOAA trawl survey can fish here.

Now, consider the following facts that can be measured from this picture.

1. Based on a letter of January 20, 2015 to Groundfish permit holders, from NOAA fisheries, I will be granted sufficient cod to fish 1.3 hours with my three permits. (2742lbs/2000lbs per hour = 1.37 hours)
2. One 40 foot boat, such as mine, could catch the entire Gulf of Maine Cod quota in 9.5 days. (456,356 lbs./2000 lbs. per hour = 228.178 hours divided by 24 =9.5 days)

If, as an individual, you think this makes sense, in light of this picture, then read no further.

Read on to learn what clues this picture holds….

Why have you not seen this in commercial tows?

1. This tow would be considered a complete failure under sector management.
2. The fish pictured here represent about $3000 in December prices
3. The cost of leasing these fish (remember you lease the guts and assumed discards also) would be $4000-$4500.

Thus this tow represents a loss of around $1500 to the fisherman. The extortionate price of leased fish is hopelessly skewing fishery dependent data.  Until the council deals with the high cost of leased fish across a number of species, fishery dependent data will not be representative of the status of the fishery.

• Why does fishery dependent data matter?
• Fishery dependent data provides much of the information such as length frequency and CPUE that tune most models. Many regions and other entities including ICES, other than New England, use CPUE indices to derive and or tune assessments. Scientists from these entities and regions have been begging for data similar to our study fleet, but here it is not used. Why?
• When did fishery dependent data become altered?
• The advent of closed areas, trip limits, and then sectors began in 1996. A wide array of assessments subsequently suffered large and growing retrospective patterns. I do not believe the two are coincidental!

• NOAA Fisheries state repeatedly that serious age truncation has appeared in the fishery. What does the picture show?
• This picture represents at least four and possibly up to seven different year classes.I willwait for the aging study to be completed because length alone does not determine age in cod. What is remarkable about this picture is that it comes from an area not usually associated with older year classes. Fishermen report seeing, older cod, sometimes over ten years old,further offshore  and in deeper waterthen years past. This is just one of the effects of the warming of the waters in the Gulf of Maine which is not being accounted for.
  • Why does length frequency change with tow length? Generally, in research tows researchers tow 30 minutes to get a representative sample of the ages present. This is because domed selectivity occurs in which older fish outswim the trawl during haulback. The tow length in the trawl survey was changed from 30 minutes with the Albatross to 20 minutes with the Bigelow, yet NOAA Fisheries refuses to admit domed selectivity exists.
  • Council member Peter Kendall has examined the Yankee Fishermen’s Coop landings by market category, large cod, market cod and scrod. During a twenty year period ending in 2014, there is remarkable consistency in the percentage of each group. If there is age truncation, why is it not reflected in the landings?

  NOAA Fisheries and the NGO’s, through their press releases, have repeatedly stated fishermen are catching the last huddled masses of cod and go on to compare the Gulf of Maine to Newfoundland. Comparing these two regions is like comparing apples and watermelons. Newfoundland invented icebreaker trawling which targeted spawning aggregations previously protected under the ice. No such technological advance occurred here. The same week I caught these fish, boats doing research in Massachusetts Bay for Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries and the Nature Conservancy caught 200-1000 pounds of cod for tows of five minutes to twenty minute in length. These areas included the Olympia tow, top of Stellwagon Bank, edge of the bank, and deep water west of the bank as well as all along the Massachusetts shore. They were unable to make tows of sufficient length to get representative age samples because the entire bay was covered with lobster gear. The only other boat fishing from my harbor had a tow with between 2500 and 4000 pounds of cod for an hour while trying to catch yellowtail ten miles southeast of my location. He pulled the tripper and let the fish swim away because of the 200 pound trip limit imposed by the interim action. Finally an offshore gillnetter fishing on Parker’s, which for those of you who do not know, is closer to the Hague line then the coast of New England, reported an ”idiotic” cod discard rate shoaler then 80 fathoms and only a “disgusting” cod discard rate for the remainder of their five day trip below 80 fathoms. The recreational fishery caught its quota for the year in a month and Gulf of Maine cod continue to be caught in large numbers recreationally off Block Island. So where precisely are these last huddled masses of cod or more precisely, where do you fish not to catch cod?

• This picture was taken the same month in a different year 100 yards from picture one. This is a commercial tow and represents what I caught in December 2014. Why the difference? Picture two has only a few cod and other fish I have to lease. It represents about $800 worth of lobster, finfish and dogfish. The picture illustrates why fishery dependent data has become so skewed by leasing. As a fisherman, I would fish for picture one, but as a businessman I am forced to fish for picture two.

Why else is this picture important? The difference between pictures one and two shows why you cannot rely on a trawl survey for your only source of information. Which picture represents the true status of the stocks? The answer is neither as they are both representative of the same strata. With this kind of variation over 100 yards you cannot expect to accurately measure the biomass, with one tow every roughly 7500 square kilometers.

Very shortly, after May 1, both commercial and recreational fishing will be halted because of the latest flawed assessment. Cod is the poster child, but many other assessments are in a similar state of dysfunction. I request a blue ribbon panel made up of scientists(both NOAA and non-government scientists) and fishermen be put together to set ad hoc interim quotas to be implemented on an emergency basis by NOAA Fisheries while the same group tries to come up with a comprehensive method of proceeding with assessments in the future.

Fishermen have said repeatedly that the science is broken. This is a poor choice of words as fishermen often use science, scientists, and models interchangeably to describe a broken process. The problem, as I have tried to illustrate in this narrative, is that numerous data streams have become incrementally flawed over time. The science and management communities have not been able to holistically examine this problem because they spend all their waking moments trying to meet the mandates of a fatally flawed Magnuson Act. In the early 2000’s Dr. John Boreman, in a meeting over flaws in the trawl survey, stood up and said the system was broken and could not be fixed. This personal courage ushered in a period of cooperation in which we all worked together. Who, in this decade, has the personal courage and integrity to make the same statement so we can all fix a broken process?

Respectfully submitted, David Goethel, F/V Ellen Diane, Hampton, NH

Cover photo courtesy National Fisherman

Cod Photo Credit, Gulf of Maine Research Institute here

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A Pathetic Joke Reaffirm’s that some Politicians are Clueless

So. I’m sitting here listening to the Webinar/phone meeting that has just ended, approximately 1 hour and 25 minutes early!

Can’t even imagine holding a webinar session with no sound, but, heh, that’s our government for ya!

If I wanted to listen, (I did) I needed to tie up my telephone! I did!

There were probably twenty five listeners, and three or four asked question’s.

Earlier in the week, Senator Warren wrote an op – ed piece about the $10 Million in S-K dough NOAA was gonna “grant” back to the industry.

Guest View: Tide begins turning fishermen’s way

For the past two years, I have made many visits to Massachusetts fishing communities in New Bedford, Gloucester and the South Shore to hear about the challenges facing the industry. I’ve listened to boat owners and fishermen who face devastating catch allocation cuts, and I’ve spoken with net makers and icemen whose businesses depend on a strong fishing fleet to make ends meet. The message I’ve heard has been clear:

The truth is, she didn’t get it, and there are a few poli bum kisser’s (they know who they are) that trumpet her message as progress, instead of leaning in hard and making her get it.

Ray Lamont at the Gloucester Daily Times is not one of them.

Editorial: Fishing aid package far short of even basic needs

She did replace someone that did get it, and I’d bet Scott Brown would never patronize the fishermen he stood up for.

That’s all that op-ed was. Patronization of the desperate.

Grant is the key word here, and no clue when it comes to Liz Warren!

Today’s display of the S-K funding Folly was revealing to say the least.

Let the Competition Begin!

The guest list had nary a fisherman that needs relief attending the session, but plenty of professional grant hounds, with a few amateurs thrown in.

Today’s exercise was another example of fishermen getting the shit end of the stick.

 

 

Comment here

 

The Pew Charitable Trusts says Atlantic cod stocks are at “perilously low  levels,” and suggested that even the best fishing boat captains in the fleet  couldn’t find enough cod during the last fishing season to meet match their  quotas.

Pew also said the same law being used to replenish the ground fish stocks was  successful in rebuilding the scallop fishery, keeping New England fishing  revenue strong.

“The cod population is clearly in free fall, and if we over fish then we may  push them into extinction,” said Jeff Young, a spokesman for The Pew Charitable  Trusts.

“Even if we could find that flexibility, we really have to rebuild these  fisheries,” Bullard said. “That takes very painful measures to cut back these  stocks and that’s what we’re going to do.”

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Just chop the vegetables and shut up, will ya?

Chef Holly Smith of Café Juanita in Kirkland is one of dozens of local chefs that have joined “Chefs for Seals,” part of the Humane

Society of the United States’ Protect Seals Campaign. 

What is it about these chefs that makes them think the seals are going to support them as they serve up tilapia and Asian farm raised shrimp?

The seals will not tolerate eating that crap, no matter how hard the cook try’s to mask that swill.

Even seals have standards!

I realize that parody may offend the chefs but, shrugs, who care’s?

The Humane Society of the United States’ Protect Seals Campaign., and the chefs, who appear to be snobby towards people, and prefer to raise an issue strictly based on vanity, and decorative icon’s.

If the chefs are doing this to take a stand, why won’t they take a stand against world hunger?!

As the new trend in fishery management is eco based management, the seals cannot be removed from the equation. They are now a primary predator in the eco system because of a number of reasons, one in the United States being the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and another being the un palatable appeal of environs, pro and amateur, and the anti fur movement.

I know that the idea of eco based management will appeal to them in the spirit of being “in tune” with the eco system.

It will be interesting to watch them try to separate a top predator in the eco based management system in the name of vanity, because this is apparently what they have taken a stand against, to the point of a boycott of Canadian fish products.

They will now be forced to accept the fact that seals will be on the menu, as there is an over abundance of this resource having a detrimental affect on other species in the eco system.

To focus on fur products and ignore the protein that seals would provide, utilized by the hungry people of planet that don’t get enough of it will expose the chefs as just trendy interlopers looking for attention or humanitarians toward their fellow human beings.

Comment here

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The contentious issue of seals, marine mammal population’s and public comment ignorance.

Posting link’s to story’s for fisherynation.com viewer’s today, and over the past few day’s, some issues stand out and I thought I’d address them. These are my opinion’s, and mine only.

If you agree, or disagree, you have an opportunity to present your opinion. Submit them through the contact, located on the blue menu bar, and they will be featured. Keep it civil, and on point, please, with no insults or vulgar language.

During the week, I posted three articles about “Study shows depleted fish stocks can come back from the brink”, with the claim cod will never recover in Canada because there are no management measures in Canada to foster a recovery, and besides, it’s to late for them.

Two articles contained the doom and gloom analysis of fisheries scientist Jeffrey Hutchings at Dalhousie University.

In two articles, it appears the authors who interviewed Mr. Hutchings were content to accept his opinion without questioning of any other factors related to the cod issue. These were “blame the fishermen”, ignore the problem’s forums.

The third article posted about the study, appeared at Pys.org.

It was like I had never read the first two!

I am used o the articles that are pointed. with the fisheries being the only factor when it comes to fish stock’s, even though I suspect it’s more complicated, but almost simple enough for me to understand.

Why is it that the scientist’s, and the environmentalists choose to ignore the thing’s we can control to increase cod stock’s in the North Atlantic, east and west? They can’t be in denial forever, and they will be forced to deal with reality if they want to eat fish, or if the fishing industry is going to survive.

We are on this sustainability thing, right?

Marine Mammals are increasing in numbers that are now detrimental to the fish stock’s we prefer to see the populations of, increase.

There are seal issues along the Western Atlantic, and on the East Atlantic, also.

Alaska with the exploding populations of Sea Otter’s is having problem’s, getting the Wanted – “Dead or Alive” posters ready.

They too are having a negative effect on species we desire to harvest and consume.

The population has doubled in the last decade which would mean it would double again in five years.

These stock’s and various species provide livelihoods that are even further in jeopardy if these issues continue unabated.

We will discuss the other predatory species of cod herring, dogfish skates and lobster another time.

An interesting event occurred in American Samoa regarding a predatory specie, and three US Government agencies, decided that eradication was worth implementing as the Crown-of-Thorn starfish became a threat to coral, and it was decide euthanasia was the only option. This is a precedent setting event.

A predatory species is predatory species, whether it’s a starfish or a marine mammal.

The comments at the article “EU ban on trade in seal fur set to be overturned” – European court expected to back attempt by pelt traders and sporran makers to reverse 2010 ruling, are a good indication of the general publics’ opinion.

What they tell me is, these people, all of them food consumers, have no sense of the gritty reality of food production, or, life in general.

These are the people that would say eat more chicken, or just vegetable’s, but if they invested 25 minutes into Ray Hilborn, and they were honest, they’d realize fish consumption in a burgeoning human population cannot be replaced. It’s irreplaceable!

The basis for the opposition to harvesting marine mammals is shallow.

To them, it’s about human vanity. Why else would the headline focus on fur and sporrans?

All I see is references to outrage over vanity,

No outrage for the people in Nambia that eat these seals to survive, as the Seals of Nam’s group threatens Adventure Travel and Trade Association (for the upcoming travel summit in Namibia in October); the Namibian embassy in the United States; the Henties Bay municipality; Namibian Ombudsman John Walters; the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources; and numerous other businesses, travel agencies,” to further their shallow campaign.

I really doubt the African nation of Nambia, or it’s hungry people care about the fur, or even sporrans for that matter, but leave it up to people that have warped senses of purpose to threaten a country of poor people by holding back “tourist” dollars!

Based on,,,,,ideology?

Let’s talk about cruelty!

EU ban on trade in seal fur set to be overturned

Namibia: Seal Campaigners Continue With Harvest Protest

Stopping spread of crown of thorns is to kill it

Draft SE otter population assessment out

 “Canada’s cod, and many other depleted fish, unlikely to recover”

“Study offers bleak outlook for fish recovery” 

Study shows depleted fish stocks can come back from the brink

Comment here

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NOAA Fisheries Service? No such agency!

First off, I’m a cranky old person.

I wasn’t always like this, but time and events have taken their toll.

I’m not ready for the dirt sandwich, although, ya never know!

For quite a while now, something has really been bugging me, and it has nothing to do with my crotchetiness.

NOAA, and the National Marine Fishery Service have pulled a MMS.

Recall before Deep Water Horizon, the agency overseeing the offshore drilling operations were under the MMS moniker

Following revelations of cozy industry / agency interactions of lewd behavior, the administration abandoned MMS and changed it to BOEM, trying to erase it’s shameful past.

I guess strippers, drinking bashes and cocaine abuse between regulators and industry had something to do with that if I recall correctly.

In NOAA’s case, the shameful OLE debacle of NMFS must have had the same affect.

It appears NOAA is ashamed of the National Marine Fishery Service name, and avoid using it when ever possible.

They can’t though, and every time I get information about anything, it is communicated through an un official agency called NOAA Fisheries Service, an agency that does not exist!

Looking at the attractive logo, and the ease of pronouncing NOAA Fisheries, it reminds me of slick tobacco packaging.

You know, pretty colors with attractive font’s and graphics, hiding the negative impacts, or in some cases , death from it’s use.

I wanted to know when the official transition had taken place, because they have websites all over the place with the “un official” logo and non name, and as close as I’ve become to them, I didn’t recall any notices about it.

I made an inquiry.

On Wed, Apr 10, 2013 at 1:45 PM,  <[email protected]> wrote:

I would be interested in seeing the official documentation regarding the shift to the title “NOAA Fisheries Service”Thank you.

I received this.

from: Allison McHale – NOAA Federal <[email protected]>

to: [email protected]

cc: Paul Jones – NOAA Federal <[email protected] _mce_keep=”true”>

date: Thu, Apr 11, 2013 at 5:24 PM

subject: Re: inquiry

 Important mainly because of the words in the message.

Our official name is still the National Marine Fisheries Service.  NOAA Fisheries Service or NOAA Fisheries has for many many years been our common use name since we are the fisheries part of NOAA.

Thank you, Allison, for the response. I appreciate that. BH

I knew that the official name is still National Marine Fisheries service because every time I get a notice with the fancy logo, directly below, it usually announces, “The National Marine Fisheries Service” today,,,” You get it.

With sequestration causing the agency to shut down, yes shut down – The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration plans to shut down most agency operations for four mandatory furlough days in July and August in response to sequester-related budget cuts, according to the agency’s acting chief. continued!, I can’t help but to wonder how much money has been spent on converting all the websites, all the stationary, all the everything’s it has been un officially attached to.

That’s one thing cranky old people do. Bitch about the cost.

Comments can be made here

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As grim fishing year approaches, industry tries to deal with new catch limits

BOSTON –  Deep cuts in catch limits will  hit New England’s fishing fleet in less than three weeks, and there’s little  hint any real relief is coming. But regulators and fishermen are still seeking  ways to lessen a blow fishermen warn will finish them off.

As time grows short, Gloucester’s Al Cottone said he and his fellow fishermen  seem to be facing the future in a sort of “state of shock.”

“Everyone’s in denial. They still think, you know, someone’s going to come in on  their white horse and save us,” he said.

“What are people doing to help the industry?”

I’ve tried to mount up and be a rider. I have not been successful.

What I see is herds of black horses being ridden by hypocritical green cowboys riding rough shod over a bunch of un organized fishermen, manipulating natural phenomena, and cherry picking snippets of information to further the cause of the anti fishing conservation groups.

I’ve watched an endless parade of politicians exclaim they would do everything possible to preserve a 400 year old industry that’s reputation has been skewed by a well organized highly financed special interest sector that operates as an army of non profit, tax deductible lawyer assholes who believe they have all the answers. To everything.

Which leads to this.

Plan to open no-fishing zones faces opposition

Allowing commercial fishing in closed areas would bring stocks even closer to ruin, said John Crawford, science and policy manager for the Northeast Fisheries Program of the Pew Charitable Trusts, which is spearheading an effort to slow down NOAA’s approval process long enough to ensure that in-depth environmental impact studies will be done. More than 70,000 residents up and down the Atlantic Coast and 100 scientists have expressed opposition to the plan in comments to NOAA.

“The habitat has to be protected,” Crawford said. “This is the opposite response of what a rational person would have.”

That’s seventy thousand progressives that had nothing better to do than respond to a mega campaign staged by Pew, and  CLF non profit, tax deductible, NOAA insider Peter Shelley, and his for Cods Sake appeal where he ignores facts about the Cod Stocks, as in like, they move?

The big mystery has been solved by an old fisherman in Newfoundland, and he has the answer about where the cod went. His back yard!

Hasn’t seen fishing like this in almost fifty years!

Of course, Shelley’s in denial, and would rather utilize the short comings of the fishery “science”.

“The habitat has to be protected,”

Unless Crawford opposes offshore wind farms along the New England coast, he should keep his Pew mouth shut.

Your View: Polluter blockade of New Bedford wind jobs finally falling

The senior communications manager for the National Wildlife Federation decided he should communicate his feelings about his support of habitat destruction.

Ocean Industrialization is exactly that. Habitat destruction.

I realize Miles Grant, another green energy, crony envirocapitalist, thinks he knows what’s best for the planet, but that’s only because as a communicator, he’s not a listener, or a researcher, because if he were, he would clam up and oppose the destruction caused by pile driving, cable trenching, and chemical spills associated with the construction he endorses.

His masterpiece of hypocrisy is literary pollution in it’s purest form.

Same with Peter Shelley. I’m quite sure he’s a Cape Wind rah rah kinda guy.

I know his boss is!

Which lead’s to this.

Meet John Kassel CLF President / Cape Wind Shill / Advocate of Ocean Destruction, and a crappy blogger, too.

Also included in his article,

Just as there is no doubt that our oceans are treasures, so too is there no doubt that they are being damaged. Bottom trawlers damage huge swaths of the ocean floor with their heavy chains, doors and dredges, likened by some scientists to a bulldozer scraping the delicate floor of a pristine forest. New England’s oceans are rising much faster than predicted. They are also becoming more acidic from harmful greenhouse gas emissions. Recent record increases in precipitation may even be fundamentally altering plankton production, jeopardizing the very productivity of our marine web of life.

As it stands, the commentary of ocean acidification is a legitimate argument.

As far as fundamentally altering plankton production, Kassel mentions nothing of pollution, like estrogen, and chemicals flushed through our bodies being injected into the ecosystem via sewerage treatment, which also have negative affects.

He does hammer away at the fishing industry’s methods of modern day harvesting methods that he finds unpalatable.

I will argue, the notion is unfounded, while he bulldozes his Cape Wind preference as a harmless project that with just the right amount of pixie dust sprinkled on it, will deliver energy to New England with no environmental consequence!

11 years. That’s how long we’ve been waiting for the promise of Cape Wind: clean, renewable energy; new, green jobs; reduced air emissions and carbon pollution; energy at a predictable price over the long-term; and energy security. At a time when the evidence of global warming is overwhelming, and the need for jobs critical, unleashing the potential of this home-grown offshore wind project can only be a good thing.

Now this is rhetorical hyperbole at its finest!

I wrote that on Oct 4, 2012

I posted this on April 14,2013

Which lead’s to this.

Noise Pollution from an Ocean Idustrialization Shill

Your View: Polluter blockade of New Bedford wind jobs finally falling, Miles Grant lives in New Bedford and is senior communications manager for the National Wildlife Federation. Offshore wind energy can and must be developed in a wildlife-friendly manner. Plenty of baloney in this guys display case! Read it here.

Miles Grant’s article has an uncanny familiarity to it. Like it reads like Kassel’s!

Barbara Durkin tie’s this up this loose end nicely.

Which lead’s to this.

BARBARA DURKIN – Your View: Cape Wind offers only empty promises so far. Spanks the communications manager of National Wildlife Federation

April 16, 2013              ENGO, Letter to the Editor, New England, Offshore Wind/Industrialization

Her response to this drivel.  Your View: Polluter blockade of New Bedford wind jobs finally falling continued

NWF makes jobs claims on behalf of Cape Wind that are unfounded. For 22 months, from April 1, 2011, to Dec. 31, 2012, the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center Wind Technology Testing Center has created zero jobs, according to the federal government’s Recovery Tracker. The MACEC ratepayer surcharge program is the source of the $13.2 million used to develop the testing center. The center also received a $2 million DOE grant, and funding by U.S. taxpayers through ARRA stimulus of $24.7 million. We have no jobs to show for our $40 million spent. continued

Supporting article by Menakhem Ben-Yami  https://fisherynation.com/battlefrontoffshore-wind-industrialization

Nothing will destroy habitat like ocean industrialization. What’s it going to be Mr. Crawford?  Mr. Shelley? Mr. Kassel? More hypocrisy?

(calling Dr. Moe, Dr. Larry, Dr. Curley)

The politicians, if they were honest instead of opportunistic vulture pretenders would realize there is no possible way to support two industries that are non conducive, but because of pie in the sky green wet dreams of “free “energy which is not cost effective, driven with tax incentives, they say the right words hoping they can fool everyone into thinking they can be all things to all people.

Ya know what? They can’t be.

They need to be put on the hot seat, and grilled.

They need to decide.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/04/14/as-grim-fishing-year-approaches-industry-tries-to-deal-with-new-catch-limits/print#ixzz2QRsrXkJd

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130414/OPINION/304140310

http://www.pressherald.com/news/fishermen-questioning-plan-to-open-new-areas-_2013-04-15.html?pagenum=full

http://bore-head007.newsvine.com/_news/2012/10/04/14224982-meet-john-kassel-clf-president-cape-wind-shill-advocate-of-ocean-destruction-and-a-crappy-blogger-too

Noise Pollution from an Ocean Idustrialization Shill  https://fisherynation.com/archives/7260

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Industry Transformations

I used to jump like an electricians apprentice getting his first jolt every time I’d get an email alert from certain places.

I’d drop everything and post it on newsvine, and in the beginning, fisherynation.

I’m not so jumpy anymore.

I got one today about The Gulf of Maine Research Institutes Trawl to Table rsvp for permit holders and Captains to rub elbows with chefs, restaurant owners, and food service professionals for the day.

The permit owners and captains that do any kind of reading must realize that fishermen and chefs in recent times have meant chefs ripping and gutting fishermen as unsustainable louts, at least in Europe and in Canada, anyway, not to mention the Save the Swordfish days.

The mission is to build awareness of the sustainability of the groundfish ground fish resource and improving the  profitability and resilience of fishing businesses.

There will also be interactive gear displays, the latest in gear research and quality handling technology, and important information on accessing restaurant and food service markets, with an emphasis on the value of promoting underutilized species!

The chef’s will show off the latest in potato peelers, the latest latex glove for safe handling, and pass on important information!

The permit holders will be wondering how to squeeze a couple of extra nickel’s from of a pound of a shrinking commodity, and will be eager to find that margin advantage. Where will it come from, and who will pay for it? That is the question.

One thing you’ll notice about the fishing industry is richness of statistics. For everything, but, here’s one I did not know.

Restaurants sell 70% of the seafood consumed in the United States.

This from the email alert:

Chefs and restaurant owners influence what consumers want. Successful  chefs are most concerned with quality of product, traceability, and  sustainability. Yet, they often lack access to the latest and most  accurate information on Gulf of Maine seafood and the industry that  harvests it. This is your opportunity to have a conversation with chefs  from your area about the importance of sourcing locally and supporting  Gloucester’s fishing fleet.

So. Back to the question. Who is going to get filleted for that margin advantage?

From my seat, it looks like the auctions are the ones that are about to see a drastic transformation.

There is already a drive for fishermen to increase their profit margins by selling direct to savvy consumers.

There are innovate company’s that are offering alternatives to fishermen that remove some of the risks of being a hero, or a zero, depending on whether they “hit the market” or not.

We have been watching this industry transform rapidly.

Which industry entity will experience the next transformation?

I think it will be the fresh fish auction.

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