Category Archives: South Atlantic
Know your Shem Creek Fishermen! Town of Mt. Pleasant approves new Saturday morning fish market
Shem Creek fisherman had a small victory this week. The Town of Mt. Pleasant has approved a new Saturday morning fish market. On Tuesday Town Council voted to establish a fish market at the current Farmers Market location at Moultrie Middle School on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. Shem Creek shrimper Tommy Edwards says he welcomes the new market. Tommy sells all his catch directly from his boat, but he says a Saturday fish market would give him or his wife the opportunity to not only sell shrimp to more customers but to encourage people to shop direct from his boat during the week “With me, I don’t have a fish retail spot. What I catch, I have to hustle myself every day,” adds Tommy. “If I have a real good day, I have to get rid of my shrimp.” Bringing his shrimp from the boat to the market should help Tommy, Katherine Hendricks, the town’s assistant administrator, believes. Read the rest here 18:05
The secretive and slippery world of glass eel fishing
The night before my scheduled interview with a fisherman, I get a text that reads: “sorry decided not to do article can’t help our suffering fishery please don’t use my info.” When I ask if his buyer will at least speak to me, I’m told he’s out too. Another man relays the message that even if I were his brother and writing this article, he wouldn’t be a part of it. No one else is willing to talk. There isn’t anything illegal going on here, but I may as well be talking about Watergate. My (now completely anonymous) source is an uncooperative version of Deep Throat. Or maybe he’s Deep Sea Throat, because the taboo subject that’s got these insiders so buttoned up is eels. Specifically, elver eels. Read the article here 11:09
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 to officials, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation officers observed a suspicious lobster shell inside a crab trap, even though the boat owner claimed no lobsters were on the boat. As officials investigated the boat, an officer found a total of 87 wrung lobster tails, 66 of which were undersized. The lobsters were illegally collected outside of regular lobster season, which is Aug. 6 through March 31. Read the rest here 08:50
Feds halt South Atlantic offshore drilling leases , but not seismic testing
There were public expressions of surprise, relief and victory from environmental groups and local officials after the U.S. Department of Interior’s March 15 announcement that there would be no offshore drilling leases in the Atlantic Ocean for the 2017-2022 period. But for drilling opponents and environmental advocates, that celebration has been tempered somewhat by news that, even without drilling, the process of awarding permits for seismic testing in the Atlantic will go ahead — and could lead to such testing later this year. Read the rest here 13:07
NOAA proposing new regulations for turtle excluder devices from Texas to North Carolina
The federal government is considering new requirements and regulations for turtle excluder devices to reduce sea turtle bycatch in shrimp fisheries. The new requirements, which could potentially apply to all vessels from Texas to North Carolina in both state and federal waters, are meant to counteract an increasing number of small, juvenile sea turtles being encountered by inshore and nearshore fisheries. According to a document on the proposed changes, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will be floating four potential alternatives at public hearings in April aimed at reducing sea turtle mortality. Read the rest here 19:25
Obama reverses course, won’t allow Atlantic coast oil drilling
The Obama administration is reversing course on opening Atlantic waters to a new generation of oil and gas drilling, after a revolt by environmentalists and coastal communities that said the activity threatened marine life, fishing and tourism along the East Coast. The proposed offshore leasing program to be released Tuesday eliminates the administration’s initial plan to auction off drilling rights in as many as 104 million acres of the mid- and south-Atlantic in 2021, according to an Interior Department official who requested anonymity because the plan wasn’t yet public. Read the rest here 14:10
The Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plant is leaking radiation contamination into Biscayne Bay
Wednesday’s news of radiation contamination emanating from the Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plant leaking into Biscayne Bay alarmed Florida Keys citizens on every level. First, the Keys drinking water comes from the same neighborhood as the plant. Second, the affect to the fishery — so close to home waters — could also have an enormous impact. Florida Keys Commercial Fishing Association’s Bill Kelly said he called on Nick Wiley, the director of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, to study the problem on Wednesday. “We need to test the lobster, shellfish and finfish in Biscayne Bay,” Kelly said. “We need to know if there’s any concern about public consumption of any of those products collected in that area.” Read the rest here 09:20
South Atlantic Fishery Management Council meeting , March 7-11, 2016, Jekyll Island, GA
The public is invited to attend the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council to be held in Jekyll Island, GA, at the Westin Jekyll Island. Read the Meeting Agenda Click here, Briefing Book – September 2015 Council Meeting Click here Webinar Registration: Listen Live, Click here 19:44
Florida Fish And Wildlife: 44 Illegal Spiny Lobster Tails Taken By Suspect, Charged With Poaching
One could call them the “J Team” of Officers James Johnson, Jeremy Foell, Jamie Richards and Jose Lopez. Foell and Richards inspected a commercial fishing vessel they saw pulling traps while they were on patrol in the FWC Interceptor with Johnson. During the resource inspection, officers discovered 44 wrung spiny lobster tails hidden behind hydraulic equipment on the fishing boat; 24 of the illegally wrung tails were undersized. When they got to shore, Lopez interviewed a suspect who was then booked into a local jail for the numerous poaching violations. (Link) 08:53
Vero Beach couple escalates war on Lionfish with the Frapper Trap
Relationship experts say the secret to lasting love is to have something in common. For some couples, it’s a shared interest in travel, wine or maybe binge-watching the same drama series. But for one Vero Beach couple, the tie that truly bonds them is a devotion to lionfish. To be specific, Bob and Maria Hickerson share a passionate love for the removal of lionfish from Florida’s waters. “Lionfish are one fish that we actually want to fish to extinction,” Maria Hickerson said. Read the article here 08:59
Water managers race to drain rising Lake Okeechobee risking wide spread damage to estuaries
The Corps could begin sending as much as 4.9 billion gallons of water — about 7,400 Olympic swimming pools — daily into the St. Lucie river on the east coast. Even more would be released into the larger Caloosahatchee on the west coast. Such massive dumps in the past have caused widespread damage to the estuaries at the mouths of the rivers, where seagrass beds and oysters can’t tolerate such high amounts of freshwater. Already, a brown plume has spread off the coast of Sanibel. The last time so much water was released, in 2013 and following a 1998 El Niño, fish kills and dead sea life lasted for months, infuriating local communities. Read the rest here 11:19
Two classes of fishermen: Kings and Serfs
When you hear of fishermen being divided by the government into two classes — “kings” and “serfs” — you would think it would be from medieval times or some scheme hatched under a third-world dictatorship. But no, this is happening in the Gulf of Mexico (and other fishery’s, nationwide) right now with the commercial red snapper catch share program as documented by an investigative report by AL.com published this week. The report states that the catch share program “has turned dozens of Gulf of Mexico fishermen into the lords of the sea — able to earn millions annually without even going fishing — Read the post here 09:41
NOAA Expands Critical Habitat for Endangered North Atlantic Right Whales
Using new information not previously available, NMFS (read the Fed Reg
) is expanding critical habitat for endangered North Atlantic right whales to cover its northeast feeding areas in the Gulf of Maine/Georges Bank region and southeast calving grounds from North Carolina to Florida. This final rule, which was initially proposed in February 2015 and received 261 general comments over a 60-day comment period, does not include any new restrictions or management measures for commercial fishing operations. Read the post here 15:41
A sign from the sea – Big Pine Key trap washes ashore in Ireland
Rosemary Hill never knows what the sea will bring to her that day. She has a passion for beachcombing on the sandy strands next to her hometown of Waterville, a small fishing village in County Kerry, Ireland. In recent weeks, among other things, she’s found a multitude of tropical sea beans, a half-destroyed Christmas decoration and Hewlett-Packard printer ink cartridges. On Jan. 8, she discovered something intriguing: the top of a stone crab trap. “We don’t have these in Ireland,” she thought. And when she looked closely, she saw a name scratched into the surface: “J. Gates, Big Pine Key.” photo; Rosemary Hill, “Beachcombing in Kerry,”link Read the article here 08:29
Lobster, crabs, shrimp and more are served up in this weekend’s Key West Seafood Festival
Florida Keys commercial fishermen and fans of fresh fish and seafood gather Jan. 16 and 17 to celebrate the island chain’s bountiful ocean harvest during the 11th annual Florida Keys Seafood Festival.Presented by the Florida Keys Commercial Fishermen’s Association, the family-friendly feast is set for 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. the first day and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. the second at Key West’s Bayview Park at Truman Avenue and Jose Marti Drive. The menu features fresh grilled Florida spiny lobster, pick-and-peel Key West pink shrimp, stone crab claws, fried local fish,,, Read the rest here 10:55
Fishermen fight for lucrative, volatile portion of New River
Sneads Ferry – A small ad in The Daily News was the first official notice of proposed restrictions to a popular New River fishery the Marine Corps considers unsafe due to the possible presence of old, but volatile, munitions. Local fishermen have harvested shrimp, crabs, clams and oysters from the area safely for generations. They said the new restrictions would disrupt a seafood market already strained by limited ocean access amid shoaling at New River Inlet. Fishermen also question the possibility that they could lose access because of a mess that isn’t theirs. Read the article here 08:40
Federal and state fishery managers busy with half a dozen hearings, meetings in the Keys in February
A frenetic February features several fishery forums in the . The status of mutton snapper, barracuda, hogfish, mackerel and sea anemones will be reviewed for public comment at a slate of six Keys sessions hosted by state and federal fish-management agencies. A recommended reduction in mutton snapper harvests will be a prime topic at two sessions, held jointly by the federal South Atlantic Fishery Management Council and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Rule changes may affect both state and federal waters. Read the article here 13:06
20 years after gill net ban, poaching persists along west coast
It was just after midnight Monday when two commercial fisherman saw the blue lights of law enforcement and made a break for it near the mouth of the Manatee River. The water chase was brief, wildlife officers say, because in the end the fisherman got tangled up in their own illegal net. It’s been 20 years since Florida voters, 72 percent of the vote, approved a constitutional amendment banning the use of gill nets within nine miles of Florida’s Gulf Coast and three miles of the Atlantic Coast. The ban was hotly contested and ultimately put out of business about 1,500 commercial fishermen whose livelihood depended on the practice. Read the article here 20:34
The NOAA Oversight Project – Fisherman’s FOIA’s Squeeze NOAA
From Dutch Harbor to the Old Harbor Float in Petersburg, from Gloucester and all the way round to Corpus Christi, wherever Americans untied their boats to fish in the decades since the Magnuson Act passed, fishermen had to take on science, politics, and NOAA. Some of you spent your shore time up to your knees in fish politics dividing the stock or arguing with managers about areas or days at sea. Because you engaged in politics, new generations of kids setting and hauling gear can still catch fish. Sort of– Sit down, put a mug up, and read this expose. You will be shocked. Read the article here 16:28
Op-Ed: The risks oil lobbyists don’t want you to know
As the Obama Administration nears a final decision about opening the Virginia coast to offshore drilling, outsider oil and gas industry representatives have ramped up their campaign to drill. But these oil lobbyists do not represent the many Virginians that stand firmly opposed to the proposal to open our coasts to offshore drilling — business owners, community members, fishermen, and families along the coast. After all, we’re the ones whose jobs would be put at risk if offshore drilling begins off our coast. Read the op-ed here 16:14
Bipartisan group opposes oil exploration off Georgia
Led by U.S. Reps Mark Sanford, R-S.C., and Bobby Scott, D-Va., a bipartisan group of 33 house members last week sent a letter to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management opposing seismic testing for offshore oil. U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, the Republican freshman whose district spans the Georgia Coast, did not sign on. The letter requested a halt to the permitting and review process for potential seismic testing in the Atlantic Ocean from Virginia through Georgia. Read the article here 16:45
New rules for dolphin proposed
A federal fishery council has approved a rule that could keep the 
open so that by the time the migrating fish makes its way to the Florida Keys, the commercial fishery will not be closed. The National Marine Fisheries Service closed down the commercial dolphin fishery in July, the height of dolphin fishing in the Keys. For the past two years, fishermen off North and South Carolina, who generally fish for tuna, have targeted dolphin heavily and the annual commercial allocation has been near run out by the time Keys fishermen start fishing for dolphin. Read the article here 15:15
NOAA Office of Law Enforcement releases its first-ever Annual Report.
From tackling seafood fraud nationally to helping crack down on illegal fishing internationally, we’re here to make sure that those who obey the rules reap the benefits of fair competition and an even playing field in the market. We protect marine resources and their habitat and help safeguard the health of seafood consumers and the livelihoods of coastal communities. OLE releases its first-ever Annual Report. Read the Report here 16:34
Officials calling for more accurate fish counts
The federal agency in charge of the nation’s fisheries should do a better job counting fish so it can develop proper catch limits for recreational anglers, a report by Congress’ investigative arm concludes. The analysis by the Government Accountability Office was requested nearly three years ago by several Republican senators from the Gulf Coast who believe the Obama administration may have been overly restrictive in imposing catch limits on several popular fish, including red snapper. Read the article here 09:10
Oregon and South Carolina lawmakers protect U.S. Coast Guard air stations in Newport and in Charleston
A provision included in the U.S. Coast Guard Reauthorization Act of 2015 will keep the air station in Newport open for at least two more years. U.S. Coast Guard air stations in Newport and in Charleston, South Carolina, would be protected for another two years under a bill moving through Congress. Oregon and South Carolina lawmakers had won a one-year reprieve for the air stations after the Coast Guard targeted the posts last year for closure because of budget constraints. Read the article here 15:44Bi Partisan push to stop East Coast Oil/Gas Exploration
U.S. Rep Mark Sanford and nearly three dozen fellow House members increased pressure Thursday to curtail the search for oil and gas off the Atlantic coast because of environmental and economic concerns. In a letter Thursday to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s director, the House members said using seismic testing “is an enormously disruptive activity in the ocean’’ that could hurt both and endangered whales. Read the article here 15:26
NOAA Clarifies Commercial Shark Fishing Regulations to another special interest group
An online petition signed by thousands of outraged divers aimed at preventing the upcoming shark fishing season in the Atlantic region has drawn the attention of the federally run National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. On Tuesday morning, officials from NOAA’s Fisheries Department hosted a conference call for DivePhotoGuide and other various news outlets in hopes of reducing the ire in the underwater community sparked by the petition, “STOP Commercial Shark Fishing Set for January 1, 2016!” The petition blew up on social media and has amassed more than 12,000 signatures in its first week. Read the article here 12:09
South Atlantic Fishery Management Council Meeting December 7-11, 2015 in Atlantic Beach, NC .
The public is invited to attend the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council to be held in Atlantic Beach, NC . Read the Meeting Agenda Click here, Briefing Book – September 2015 Council Meeting Click here Webinar Registration: Listen Live, Click here 12:35
Congressman Jones demanding answers about closure of the South Atlantic red snapper fishery
Greenville, NC – Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3) is standing up for fishermen in Eastern North Carolina and throughout the Southeast and demanding answers on the National Marine Fisheries Service’s (NMFS) closure of the South Atlantic red snapper fishery to commercial and recreational harvest in 2015. The decision was announced in June of this year by the South Atlantic Regional Office of NMFS. Read the rest here 21:18
Fundraiser! Restoration of the F/V Easy Lady
The F/V Easy Lady has been a part of Shem Creek for decades. She is a wooden crab boat with lots of history. She is the only remaining wooden crab boat in the Creek. Follow the story of the Easy Lady. Be a part of the craftsmens hands as she is returned to her beautiful scantlings by friends with genuine concern. Join the craftsmen, crew, and Captain in sending the Easy Lady back to Shem Creek as a powerful, working symbol of why the Creek should be preserved. The Easy Lady has a long way to go. With work already in progress, and by working together, she will become the lady we all want her to be. Click here to donate F/V Easy Lady on face book 16:34
