“Looking Back; “Fishery management; best available science, or politics?” 2009. By Jim Lovgren

February 8, 2023 Gulf of Mexico, Mid Atlantic, National, New England, North Pacific, Pacific, South Atlantic

I wrote this piece at the beginning of the Obama administration, concerning the politization of fishery science, over fourteen years ago. The rash of east coast marine mammal strandings and the governments response to them, eerily reminded me of this article and the reasons I wrote it. If you
change a few words, Bush to Biden, and big oil to big wind, you get pretty much the same thing, the politization of science to benefit wealthy corporations. >click to read< 17:05

Leave a ReplyCancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Ocean Resource Privatization

Articles Posted by Date
December 2024

M T W T F S S

1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

9 10 11 12 13 14 15

16 17 18 19 20 21 22

23 24 25 26 27 28 29

30 31

« Nov

December 2024
M	T	W	T	F	S	S
	1
2	3	4	5	6	7	8
9	10	11	12	13	14	15
16	17	18	19	20	21	22
23	24	25	26	27	28	29
30	31

The New England groundfish debacle (Part III): who or what is at fault? Nils E. Stolpe/FishNet

It took me a while to decide how to most accurately describe the situation that has been visited upon the New England fishing communities that are and since colonial times have been dependent on the groundfish fisheries.

NILS STOLPE: The New England groundfish debacle (Part IV): Is cutting back harvest really the answer?

While it’s a fact that’s hardly ever acknowledged, the assumption in fisheries management is that if the population of a stock of fish isn’t at some arbitrary level, it’s because of too much fishing. Hence the term “overfished.” Hence the mandated knee jerk reaction of the fisheries managers to not enough fish; cut back on fishing. What of other factors? They don’t count. It’s all about fishing, because fishing is all that the managers can control; it’s their Maslow’s Hammer. When it comes to the oceans it seems as if it’s about all that the industry connected mega-foundations that support the anti-fishing ENGOs with hundreds of millions of dollars a year in “donations” are interested in controlling. Read the article here

Recent Posts
- On Friday, the commercial fishery won the day – Gillnetters get continued access to main Columbia channel
  
  By a tight 4-3 vote, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Commission veered away from an outright ban on gillnetting in the main channel of Read More »
- The Bottom Line: Coming Together for Bluefin Tuna
  
  It’s not every day that fishermen and environmentalists agree. But in a significant move, the American Bluefin Tuna Association and the International Game Fish Association are Read More »
- N.S. Fishermen call on government officials to crack down on lobster poaching
  
  Bernie Berry glances across the wharf in Digby, N.S., as several fishing boats stop alongside for crews to offload their catch. As the season for this Read More »
- Mississippi Shrimp producers hopeful for 2013 crop
  
  “The brown shrimp don’t grow as fast under the conditions we had this spring, but once it gets hot, they can go up a whole count Read More »
- Nils Stolpe: Marine Monuments – Don’t let your piece of the ocean be next!
  
  In an effort coordinated by the National Coalition for Fishing Communities (NCFC), thirty four domestic fishing industry trade groups have signed on to a letter to Read More »
- Mid Atlantic: Coast Guard urges mariners, beachgoers to prepare for severe weather
  
  The 5th Coast Guard District is advising mariners and swimmers throughout the mid-Atlantic region Monday to use caution this week. Tropical Depressions Eight and Nine are forecasted to Read More »
- Eight Projects Selected for S-K Funding – Here we go again! Fisherman get the shaft, thanks to NOAA
  
  To those fisherman who put in an application for Saltonstall-Kennedy Program Funding money, I feel badly for you who were not selected. Again, NOAA gave the Read More »
- Sipekne’katik Chief Threatening To Disrupt Commercial Lobster Fishery This Year
  
  “If they can interfere with our fisheries, we’re going to start rallying up and blocking all of their wharves,”,, Sack says that on October 30, he Read More »
- Editorial: State orders will harm salmon fisheries
  
  During recent droughts, low river flows and warm water have proved to be a lethal combination for salmon and other fish in the Sacramento River and Read More »
- Why are we so fixated on offshore wind?
  
  As we await the finalization of Gov. Maura Healey’s new offshore wind contracts, the Massachusetts Interagency Offshore Wind Council has requested public comments on these plans Read More »
- Coronavirus threatens California lobster industry
  
  Roughly 95% of commercially caught lobster in California is shipped to China, where customers are willing to pay premium prices. “Traditionally, Chinese New Year is when Read More »
- Seals ‘brought TB to the Americas before Europeans’
  
  BLAME the marine mammals. Seals and sea lions may have brought a form of tuberculosis to the Americas, centuries before the Spanish did so. Read more Read More »
- Warming waters have fish on the move. Regulators need to act now! Captain Sam Novello, Gulf of Maine Fisherman
  
  T0 NOAA & NEFMC – Because of our warming ocean temperatures fish & squid stocks are moving into north for cooler waters to survive. In the near future Read More »
- NEFMC: Final Action on Deep-Sea Coral Amendment; Comments on Offshore Oil and Gas Drilling in North Atlantic
  
  The New England Fishery Management Council has taken final action on its Omnibus Deep-Sea Coral Amendment and voted to submit the document to the National Marine Read More »
- This injured N.L. fisherman paid a heavy price protesting for free enterprise
  
  It takes some effort and plenty of discomfort and anxiousness for Richard Martin to lift himself off his couch, settle in behind his walker, and make Read More »
- A Fundraiser in Support of F/V Wind Walker Capt. Travis Kapp’s family after tragedy
  
  On December 1st, 2024, my dear sister, Stephanie Two-Two, unexpectedly and tragically lost her life partner, Captain Travis Kapp. Travis owned and operated a commercial fishing Read More »
- Atlantic Herring: Council Approves Framework 6, 2019-2021 Specs included, Revised Overfishing Definition
  
  The New England Fishery Management Council has approved Framework Adjustment 6 to the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan (FMP), which contains 2019-2021 specifications for the fishery Read More »
- British Columbia: Pollution expert aims to create ‘water champions’
  
  Peter Ross, an internationally recognized expert in water pollution, looks out over the sparkling waters of Burrard Inlet and sees something others do not. Invisible chemicals Read More »
- Bruce Tarr pushing bill to expand lobster processing industry in Bay State
  
  State Senate Majority Leader Bruce Tarr didn’t waste any time in the new legislative calendar to again push the state to liberalize its lobster processing laws Read More »
- Two South Florida men sentenced for illegally poaching spiny lobsters
  
  On Tuesday, 54-year-old Donny Caridad Gonzalez and 77-year-old Nemesio Garcia Gonzalez appeared in court to be sentenced for the crime that occurred on May 9, 2015. According Read More »
- Copper River Sockeye Season Strengthens and Continues
  
  — The Copper River sockeye season is in full swing. Revered for its deep red color and rich fat-striated bellies, Copper River sockeye is sold fresh Read More »
- Daughter continues work of father lost at sea on Maine fishing boat
  
  In January 2020, the 42-foot fishing boat Hayley Ann sank 50 miles southeast of Portland. The Coast Guard never determined what happened. No distress call was Read More »
- America’s lobster industry sending less lobster to Canada as processing grows
  
  U.S. lobstermen, clustered in the coastal New England states, have long sent a large amount of their catch to Canada’s Maritime Provinces, where some two dozen Read More »
- Two Dead After Taiwan’s Largest and Most Advanced Research Vessel Sinks
  
  Two people are reported dead and 43 have been rescued after the Taiwanese-flagged ocean research and survey vessel ‘Ocean Researcher V’ sank Friday night off the southwest Read More »
- Crabbing halted off Oregon coast
  
  State agriculture officials in Oregon have shut down commercial and recreational crabbing along the entire coast because of high levels of domoic acid found in the Read More »