Author Archives: borehead - Moderator
SEA-NL applauds former fisherman’s appointment as Opposition critic for Fisheries and Oceans
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) says Conservative MP Clifford Small’s appointment as Opposition critic for Fisheries and Oceans/the Canadian Coast Guard is good news for the province’s wild fisheries. “As the son of an inshore fisherman, and a former skipper himself, Clifford Small understands the wild commercial fisheries better than any politician of any political stripe,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director. >click to read< 11:02
U.S. inflation is sinking Canadian lobster and snow crab prices – U.S. consumers giving up pricey seafood
The price of Canada’s two most valuable seafoods is crashing this year as consumers recoil from the impact of rising inflation. The price of snow crab has plummeted in 2022 between 60 and 65 per cent while lobster prices have fallen about 35 per cent. Demand that had built up during the pandemic for all types of frozen and fresh seafood powered the Nova Scotia industry to a record-breaking year in 2021 with revenues reaching $2.5 billion, led by the two shellfish. But high prices for frozen snow crab and frozen lobster, along with a modest increase in the price of live lobster last year, are melting in 2022. “And the reason is that consumers backed away from the high prices at the same time that they began to be buffeted by these other problems of high gasoline prices, inflation and concern about lack of economic support,” John Sackton said. >click to read< 09:48
Fishermen fear going out of business after Alaska cancels snow and king crab harvest
For the first time ever, the Bering Sea snow crab harvest is closed, and for the second consecutive year, the Bristol Bay red king crab harvest is as well. The closure will result in fewer King and Snow crabs showing up on the menu, but the biggest impact is being felt by fishermen. “My husband is a 5th generation fisherman. His mom grew up in Ketchikan,” said Bri Dwyer who is a Commercial Fishing Industry photographer and storyteller. Her husband Captain Sean Dwyer is featured on the TV show Deadliest Catch. The family found out with everyone else this week that their crabbing season in the Bering Sea could be nonexistent. Video, >click to read< 08:48
Bering Sea king and snow crab seasons canceled amid population declines – Gabriel Prout co-owns the F/V Silver Spray with his dad and brothers. The Silver Spray is a 116-foot steel crabber that’s homeported in Kodiak. “The real shocking part is the total and complete collapse of the snow crab fishery which no one expected last year when it happened, and a complete closure this year was equally as shocking,” Prout said. >click to read<
Brigantine residents express concerns about offshore wind projects
Having clean energy as a renewable resource may sound nice, but residents still have questions and concerns about the offshore wind projects planned just off the island’s coast, which is why the mayor held an informational meeting last weekend. Ørsted’s offshore wind farms, which are expected to have 98 wind turbines roughly 15 miles off the coast, are scheduled to be completed by 2024. Meanwhile, 111 Atlantic Shores offshore wind turbines are expected to be operational 10 miles off Brigantine by 2027. Many residents said the cons outweigh the pros. “I’m just trying to figure out the positives in this,” said resident Mary Anne Ford. “The pro column is a big blank slate.” >click to read< 07:21
Lobstermen to state: ‘Step up’ and sue feds over gear, fishing restrictions
Stonington lobsterman Dwight Staples’ 37-foot lobster boat provides the essentials for 10 people. “This year has been different for me and maybe it has for you as well,” he told a large crowd in Portland Wednesday. “This year it seems so much I have to get up and fight to go to work. With all these restrictions, regulations coming down the pike, it seems as though we’ve had to get up and fight each and every day.” Staples addressed hundreds at a rally organized by the Maine Lobstering Union to oppose federal regulations on lobster gear and restrictions on fishing areas designed to protect endangered right whales. Union Director Virginia Olsen and others who are fighting the new federal regulations called on Attorney General Aaron Frey Wednesday to file suit against the federal government, rather than serve as an intervenor. >click to read< 17:25
Feds tight-lipped on seal summit in Newfoundland
Five months after Canada’s Fisheries and Oceans minister Joyce Murray responded to the Atlantic Seal Science Task Team (ASSTT) report by saying she would hold a summit on seals there are few details about the event, other than the dates. The summit is being held in St. John’s, N.L., Nov. 8 and 9. So far there’s no word on the location of the summit, the lineup of speakers or panelists, or an agenda for the two days. A Sept. 23 release from the 
minister’s office offers very little information. That worries Bob Hardy, who was a member of the ASSTT. His main concern is that DFO appears to have organized the summit with little if any input from industry or stakeholders. >click to read< 15:53
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 50′ Duffy Stern Trawler, 350HP Detroit 8V92
To review specifications, information, and 16 photos’, >click here<, To see all the boats in this series >click here< 11:53
Mills Directs DMR to Push for Expedited Appeal of Court Decision Hurting Maine’s Vital Lobster Industry
Governor Janet Mills directed the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) to file a motion to expedite the appeal of a recent decision by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in Maine Lobstermen’s Association v. National Marine Fisheries Service. The Mills Administration has partnered with the Maine Lobstermen’s Association in Maine Lobstermen’s Association v. National Marine Fisheries Service to assert that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Biological Opinion, released in May 2021, is unlawful. The State and MLA argue that NMFS acted arbitrarily by failing to rely on the best available scientific information and by failing to account for the positive impact of costly conservation measures already adopted by the Maine lobster fishery. In its September 8, 2022 opinion, the U.S. District Court sided with NMFS against Maine lobstermen. >click to read< 11:06
Scrabster in top three in Scotland as fishing activity outperforms national average
Fishing activity at Scrabster outperformed the national average last year and the port is now in the top three in Scotland, newly released figures have shown. However, while the Caithness harbour has recovered well from the “turbulence and volatility” created by Covid-19, continued growth is likely to be hampered by fuel costs and other challenges. Marine Scotland’s Scottish Fisheries Statistics 2021 give details of fish landings at every port in the country. The harbour is the third most important port/district in Scotland, after Peterhead and Shetland. >click to read< 09:55
Police chief rescues crew from grounded fishing vessel
Juneau Police Chief Ed Mercer on Friday was out on his boat when he saw something that didn’t look familiar within an area he had been to many times. Mercer happened upon a 60-foot fishing vessel with three people aboard that had run aground on Favorite Reef near Juneau. He said when he first approached the boat it appeared as though no one was still on board. Mercer confirmed there were three adults on board the boat, two men and one woman, all in good health under the circumstances,,, >click to read< 08:18
Conservation concerns cancel Alaska’s Bering snow, king crab seasons
Alaska officials have canceled the fall Bristol Bay red king crab harvest, and in a first-ever move, also scuttled the winter harvest of smaller snow crab. The move is a double whammy to a fleet from Alaska, Washington and Oregon pursuing Bering Sea crab in harvests that as recently as 2016 grossed $280 million. “I am struggling for words. This is so unbelievable that this is happening,” said Jamie Goen, executive director of the Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers. “We have third-generation fishermen who are going to go out of business.” >click to read< 14:47
Maine lobstermen hire Bush-era official in challenge to whale laws
Maine lobster fishermen have hired a former high-ranking U.S. Department of Justice official to represent them in their case against new laws intended to protect whales. The Maine Lobstermen’s Association is appealing its case against the new rules to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The group said Tuesday it has hired Paul Clement, who served as U.S. solicitor general from 2004 to 2008, to represent it in the case. The solicitor general supervises all Supreme Court litigation for the U.S., and Clement has argued dozens of cases in front of the high court. That’s where the lobstermen’s case could ultimately be headed, he said Tuesday. >click to read< 12:39
Press Release – Maine Lobstermen’s Association Hires Former U.S. Solicitor General: Files for Expediated Appeal to Preserve & Protect States Economy. >click to read<
Ocean Industrialization: Fishing regulators fear wind turbines could threaten spawning area for Atlantic cod
It is the largest offshore HAPC designation in the region. Yet a main concern is cod spawning grounds in a smaller region within the designation, just east of Block Island. That area, known as Cox Ledge, overlaps with some 250 square miles currently leased to developers Ørsted and Eversource for their joint wind energy project: South Fork Wind. It is one of only two offshore wind projects that have completed the federal permitting process. “We are really going about the wind farm development very quickly,” said Kevin Stokesbury, a fisheries science professor at UMass Dartmouth, who studies cod in the Gulf of Maine. “It’s going to be quite a dramatic change to the ecosystem out there.” “We’ve all made sacrifices so cod can recover,” said Capt. Tim Rider, who fishes for groundfish and scallops. “Now they’re going to put a wind farm there,” he said of the cod spawning grounds. “How about they put it somewhere that might not be as intrusive.” >click to read< 11:05
Signs China will discuss lifting trade ban, but Australian lobster fishers say diversification crucial
Trade Minister Don Farrell is yet to meet his Chinese counterpart but says ambassador Xiao Qian has indicated his government is “prepared to have these discussions”. “My job now is to convince China to change its view,” Mr Farrell said. Gordon Lewis owns two fishing boats in Port Macdonnell, South Australia, one of the country’s largest rock lobster fisheries. He said after fishing for the first few days of the season, he pulled his boats out for more than two weeks because volatile prices had made it unaffordable. “Everyone is struggling,” he said. With China no longer taking the majority of the catch, oversupply in the domestic market led to a price drop. >click to read< 09:47
Florida shrimpers race to get battered fleet back to sea
The seafood industry in southwest Florida is racing against time and the elements to save what’s left of a major shrimping fleet and a lifestyle that was battered by Hurricane Ian. One of two shrimpers that didn’t sink or get tossed onto land went out Sunday, but the victory was small compared with the task ahead. Shrimping is the largest piece of Florida’s seafood industry, with a value of almost $52 million in 2016, state statistics show. Gulf of Mexico shrimp from Fort Myers has been shipped all over the United States for generations. Now, it’s a matter of when the fishing can resume and whether there will still be experienced crews to operate the boats when that happens. 20 photos, >click to read< 08:49
Killing joke: how Defra dismissed the Tees Bay die-off
It seems that no matter how often Defra and its partner agencies are exposed as inept over their handling of this crisis, their response is simply to deny the truth and carry on. The grim response of the Environment Agency (EA) to the mass crustacean die-off in Tees Bay moved up a gear last week. Where once they only patronised the inshore fishermen about the probable cause, they have now shown themselves prepared to do it on national TV. Friday 30 September Channel 4 News featured the ongoing tragedy and, in the process, interviewed Hartlepool fisher, Stan Rennie. Video link, >click to read< For more about this, >click here< 07:52
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Maine lawmakers call for more hearings on whale rules
Members of Maine’s congressional delegation are asking the federal government to hold more hearings on whale protection rules to gauge the impact on the state’s commercial fishing industry. In a letter to the National Marine Fisheries Service, Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine and Angus King, I-Maine, said the federal agency’s decision to hold only one public hearing last week on the new regulations “unacceptable” and called for more engagement with the lobster industry. The lawmakers wrote that the 90% risk reduction target fisheries regulators are pursuing over the next two years to protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales would be a “death knell” for lobstermen. >click to read< 19:06
Everett’s Fisheries adds to fleet; Avis J comes aboard for 70th anniversary
For the past 70 years, the crews of the Everett’s Fisheries of Port Wing have plied the frigid waters of Lake Superior, wresting nets full of cisco chubs, lake trout, herring and whitefish from the big lake. A third generation of the Port Wing fishing clan established by Everett Johnson continues to fish and produce the smoked fish and Jeff Johnson intends to keep that tradition alive. To back up that determination, he recently purchased a new fishing boat, the Avis J, to add to Everett’s two-vessel fleet. Well, new to them at least. Photos, >click to read< 18:15
Local fishermen help those devastated by Hurricane Ian
The Organized Fisherman of Florida (OFF) Cortez chapter has already made one boat trip to Pine Island to deliver supplies to fellow fishermen who lost everything, and more trips are planned. OFF Executive Director Alexis Meschelle is spearheading the campaign with her husband, OFF President Nathan Meschelle. “When our guys saw that fish houses down there that had been in existence for three generations were gone, their boats were gone, their traps were gone, we knew we had to help,” she said. “We couldn’t imagine what that would be like to lose all that. And we knew that they would do the same for us.” >click to read< 16:55
North Carolina Fisheries Association: Weekly Update for October 10, 2022
Last Tuesday evening (October 4,2022) I attended a striped mullet scoping meeting where staff from the NC Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) were seeking stakeholder input for the future management of the mullet fishery. DMF staff certainly got an ear full of “input”, mostly in the form of questions and comments about the most recent Striped Mullet Stock assessment. The 2022 Striped Mullet assessment, which used data through 2019 indicated that overfishing is occurring, and that North Carolinas Striped Mullet stock is overfished, and apparently has been for two decades or more. This came as a shock for the fishermen in attendance for a couple of reasons. ->Click here to read the Weekly Update<, to read all the updates >click here<, for older updates listed as NCFA >click here< 12:32
Stepping up Crabber Fleet Renewal
The first crabber in a series of eight has been floated off at the Nakhodka Shipyard for Russian fishing giant Antey. The company hopes the new vessel will be an improvement than the one it took delivery of from Pella Shipyard. F/V Kapitan Khazan is designed for catching crab in the waters of the Bering, Barents and Okhotsk seas and has a carrying capacity of up to 120 tonnes of live crab in nine tanks with a total volume of 680m3. ‘We placed an order at the Nakhodka shipyard, one of the oldest plants in Primorye. It is important for us not only to renew the fleet and create comfortable conditions for seafarers but also to revive the traditionally strong shipbuilding industry in the Far East,’ Antey’s president Ivan Mikhnov said in a statement. Photos, >click to read< 11:10
Pro-fish or primarily pro-tribe? Critics say Peltola shows true goal as congresswoman for some, not all Alaskans
Is Mary Peltola really the pro-fish candidate? What does pro-fish mean, when the ultimate intent is to not put salmon in a wildlife refuge, but conserve a resource so you can kill the fish, slice them up, and eat them? According to some in the fishing crowd in Kodiak last week, Peltola misses the mark when it comes to fishing, as an economy and as a way of life for many Alaskans. Not all were impressed with her at the Kodiak candidate forum focused on fishing. Before she left Washington, D.C. at the end of September, Peltola, the Democrat congresswoman finishing Congressman Don Young’s term, voted in the House Natural Resources Committee to authorize a rewrite of the Magnuson Stevens Act with an important added provision: Bycatch would be banned, so severely curtailed that critics claim a judge could rule that commercial fishing itself could be shut down, depending on what environmentalist litigants want. >click to read< 09:18
Rescuers thanked after Peterhead fishing boat sank off Shetland
Rescuers have been praised after eight crew members were saved when a fishing boat sank following a collision with another vessel. The Peterhead-based Guiding Star went down following the incident with her sister vessel Guiding Light 45 miles (72km) off Shetland on Thursday. Three crew were rescued by the Shetland Coastguard helicopter, and five were taken on board the Guiding Light. The skipper and owners said they wanted to thank all involved. Video, >click to read< 07:50
Fisherman charged with use of illegal traps
A commercial fisherman is facing charges after officers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) discovered more than 500 closed season crab traps in Hernando County. According to FWC, on Sept. 21 the officers initially came upon 54 illegal traps while on patrol. Later acting on a warrant that provided the fisherman’s GPS coordinates, officers found another 450 traps belonging to the fisherman who allegedly illegally worked at night. >click to read< 18:16
Commercial Fisherman Justin Harvey of Wakefield Dies at 36 in Tragic Accident
Justin Harvey, 36, of Wakefield, RI, passed away unexpectedly in a tragic accident on October 1, 2022. Born into a multi-generational tradition of commercial fishing, Justin loved being at sea and had just returned home from a six-day trip. The only thing Justin loved more in the world than fishing was his 16-month-old son Sturgeon David. His son was all he had ever wanted and Justin was looking forward to spending time together and watching him grow. Justin was born in South Kingstown, RI to Janet Harvey and Bruce Harvey. >click to read< 15:31
New Hampshire fishermen worried about new guidelines to protect right whales
New Hampshire fishermen are raising concerns about additional restrictions they’ll be facing in order to protect the critically endangered right whale. The president of the New Hampshire Fish Council said guidelines are being worked out between the industry and National Marine Fisheries Service, but he said there has never been a recorded incident between a right whale and a New Hampshire fisherman. “It’s hard to swallow the fact that we never harmed a right whale, never entangled a right whale and yet we’ve got to meet all these guidelines,” said lobster fisherman Ward Byrne. video, >click to read/watch<
Post-Covid bounce for fish landings in the islands
The value of fish landings in the Western Isles increased by 21 per cent last year over 2020 according to the newly published Scottish Fisheries Statistics. They have been welcomed as an indication that the islands industry has recovered well from the impact of both Brexit and Covid. Shellfish accounted for almost 90 per cent of the overall catch. The statistics published by Marine Scotland show that the value of fish landings in Stornoway district – which covers the whole of the Outer Isles – rose to £12.2 million, and the tonnage increased by 13 per cent compared to the previous year, to 2,880 tonnes. >click to read< 10:39
Shrimpers in Florida losing millions after Hurricane Ian
Jesse Clapham, of Erickson and Jensen Seafood, said his company brings in $10 million a year from shrimping. Ian is a major setback to an industry already playing catch-up, he says. “You know we’ve been through multiple hurricanes in the past, fuel prices, imported shrimp, and we keep going,” Clapham said. When the storm first hit, many shrimpers took refuge on their boats. Bloomberg reports that because diesel prices rose so much this year, the boats couldn’t afford to go to Texas in April, as they usually do, where shrimp are more plentiful. When they stayed in Florida, it put some of them directly in Hurricane Ian’s path. “We need help from the government or the state of Florida,” Clapham said. Video, >click to read< 09:25
Post-Brexit Fishing: 1,054 Fishing Licenses Obtained, A Fleet Exit Plan for Dockside Fishermen
It is the epilogue of a diplomatic-commercial battle of more than a year between Paris and London, arbitrated by Brussels. France finally obtained 1,054 fishing licenses from the UK and the Channel Islands, allowing holders to continue fishing in their waters, as before Brexit. For the dozens of fishermen who have remained on the sidelines or whose activity has been drastically reduced, the government has planned a “individual support plan”or a fleet exit plan for ships that will be destroyed. >click to read< 07:56
