Category Archives: South Atlantic
Coast Guard rescues three people from a 15-foot commercial fishing vessel in the vicinity of Egg Bank, St. Helena Sound, S.C.
Coast Guard watchstanders in Sector Charleston command center were notified of the incident by Beaufort County Dispatch that a 15-foot commercial fishing vessel had capsized. more@uscgnews 10:03
No-fishing zones can’t be justified, hurt coastal economy
Recreational and commercial fishermen and coastal business should be very concerned about an effort by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council to create more no-fishing zones off North and South Carolina, Georgia and east Florida in a misguided reaction to radical environmental groups that are pushing for extraordinary and unjustifiable protections for two deep-water grouper species. more@islandpacket 13:47
National Marine Fisheries Service proposal targets near-shore habitats
The proposal notes certain possible threats to the sea turtles — including offshore structures, lights on land and water, oil spills and response, alternative offshore energy development, fishing gear, and dredging — that could require “special management consideration.” The NMFS proposal follows the companion U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans tomore@ designate critical habitat along 740 miles of shoreline from North Carolina to Mississippi. more@jdnnews 07:28
Blue Crab catch dwindles in Indian River Lagoon
Add blue crabs and stone crabs to the list of wildlife plummeting in the Indian River Lagoon region. While crab harvests can vary widely year-to-year, the long-term trend has been a downward spiral. more@floridatoday 19:47
STUART/ST. LUCIE INLET PRESERVE: Divers uncover coral reef damage south of lake releases
Toxic Treasure Coast waterways have been plaguing the river and lagoon for months. The river of pollution is pouring out the St. Lucie Inlet onto a state protected coral reef. Divers go down under to survey the damage. Reef monitors say they are seeing some sentinel or warning signs of . The water is a filmy brown color, but so far the fish are still here. To the south of the inlet, the impact is much greater. [email protected] 09:14
Red Snapper season dubbed a success
Photos of grinning fishermen holding up sizable red snapper sprouted like bright flowers across social media this week as anglers showed off their catches during the three-day recreational snapper season last weekend. Meanwhile, a commercial fishing season for red snapper began Monday, but Jimmy Hull, who owns Hull’s Seafood in Ormond Beach, said the commercial trip limit – 75 pounds gutted weight — is so small that most commercial fishermen don’t make a special trip just to catch red snapper. “You can’t afford to fuel your boat up and go catch 75 pounds of red snapper and expect to come in and make any money,” Hull said. The commercial season will close once a total catch limit is met. more@newsjournal 10:38
Deadly dolphin virus spreading down East Coast
Dolphins in central and south Florida may have been exposed to a virus blamed for this summer’s massive dolphin die-off, the worst since the late 1980s. The 333 marine mammal deaths that have occurred so far this summer have all been in waters off New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina. But Adam Schaefer, a researcher with Florida Atlantic University’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, said he and his colleagues have seen evidence of exposure to the morbillivirus among Indian River Lagoon bottlenose dolphins. more@keysnet 07:13
Gov. Rick Scott announced Wednesday that the state will spend $90 million to further hydrate the Everglades
During a stop in Fort Myers, Scott discussed a plan to construct a 2.6-mile bridge on Tamiami Trail in Miami-Dade County. A similar 1-mile bridge opened in March on that stretch. The bridges replace the existing roadway, which has blocked the flow of water to the southern Everglades from Lake Okeechobee since its construction in 1928. When the project is completed, an annual average of 210,000 acre-feet of water will be redirected. [email protected] 16:10
Could marina project turn back the clock for New Smyrna?
NEW SMYRNA BEACH — Several decades ago, crowds would flock to the banks of to see fishermen offload their day’s bounty — boxes, sometimes hundreds of them, teeming with fish or shrimp. That atmosphere has long since disappeared as the commercial fishing industry has significantly waned in this city as well as all of Volusia County. more@newsjournal 10:50
NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service seeks comments on Atlantic bluefin tuna management proposals
NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service is seeking public comment on a proposed rule and its associated draft environmental impact statement, which aims to reduce discards of Atlantic bluefin tuna, and outlines measures to help ensure compliance with international quotas. Link Absolutely everything is here at this link, Atlantic Highly Migratory Species: 2006 Consolidated Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Fishery Management Plan; Amendment 7 and I defy anyone to find NOAA Fisheries anywhere on this pages! 13:55
Port Everglades expansion plans are environmentally damaging, says National Marine Fisheries Service
The $313 million project with the Army Corps of Engineers calls for blasting and dredging through limestone and coral to deepen the port’s entrance channel from 42 feet to 48 feet. But the National Marine Fisheries Service says a draft environmental impact statement prepared by the Corps “significantly understates the project’s impacts to seagrass, coral reef and mangrove habitat” and underestimates the amount of work that would be needed to mitigate the damage. more@orlandosentinal 13:23
Bluefin tuna in Gulf of Mexico face tighter safeguards under federal proposal
Bluefin tuna spawning grounds in the Gulf of Mexico would become more protected under a proposed new amendment expected to be published in the Federal Register on Wednesday. Members of the public can comment on the proposed new rule from now until Oct. 23. The sole public hearing in Louisiana is tentatively scheduled for 6 p.m. Sept. 24 at the Belle Chasse Auditorium, 8398 Louisiana 23. Comments also can be submitted electronically more@nola 22:39
Two shrimp trawlers still stuck in Jarvis Creek
Both boats are turned on their side, and the shrimping boom on the Lady Essie is blocking the waterway, making it difficult for other boats to get by. more@wtoc 11:32
Two Boynton Beach men issued fines totaling $27,500 for illegally selling a 700 giant bluefin tuna
A Notice of Violation and Assessment of Administrative Penalty was sent to David Fidel, of Boynton Beach, who was fined $12,500 for violating the federal Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. Mikylo Senkowicz, of Boynton Beach, who did not have a valid permit to sell the tuna and received a Notice of Violation. Fidel’s troubles began when photos of the fish and stories about the catch, and what became of it, were posted online, although they were later removed. more@sunsentinal 10:43
Noise from seismic air guns could be skirmish before war over East Coast offshore drilling – pile-driving for windmill construction will be louder than air guns
Oil and geophysical companies say this is an ill-disguised attempt to prevent all drilling in the huge area President Obama opened to exploration in 2010, and other members of Congress have demanded that exploration proceed.If the goal is to shut down oil and gas exploration in favor of constructing wind turbines, Gill said, pile-driving for windmill construction will be louder than air guns. more@washingtonpost21:17:11
He figured the novelty of it would wear off – Keys woman follows in dad’s wake as a commercial fishing captain – Video
She got a crash course in navigating the boat in bad weather and high seas, lobster-catching strategy and boat maintenance. And while her dad could have helped guide her, he usually was many miles away on his own boat. Kelly was on her own, including the day the electrical wiring caused two fires on her boat, spewing smoke in the wheelhouse when she was 40 miles offshore hunting for stone crabs. more@miamiheraldTrident Seafoods and Georgia Governor Nathan Deal on Wednesday announced the company will open seafood processing facility
The plant will create 175 jobs and is a USD 41 million (EUR 30.9 million) investment in the state of Georgia. morehere
Florida Lobster poachers busted for exceeding limit – FWC has a sustainable resource of thieves!
FWC officers have been busy apprehending lobster poachers in South Florida! Here are two cases from the first week of lobster season: [email protected]
National Marine Fisheries Service increase yearly yellowtail snapper catch
The National Marine Fisheries Service will increase the allowable catch for yellowtail snapper in the jurisdiction of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, which runs from North Carolina to Florida. The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, which oversees fisheries from Florida to Texas, will increase the annual catch limit for yellowtail in its jurisdiction from 725,000 pounds to 901,125 pounds. . more@keysnet
Chris McCaffity – SAFMC Regulatory Amendment 14 Public Comments
I am Chris McCaffity, a commercial fisherman who has been offering simple solutions that would almost eliminate the MILLION+ pounds of dead regulatory discards currently being deducted from our quotas every year. This waste has gone on for years as the council drags its collective feet on solving the problem while rushing unnecessary amendments. This waste helps EDF advance their catch share agenda as they lobby to stack the council deck with supporters of their scheme to privative our public resources. more here
Fishermen: Let charterboats sell excess dolphin
Charterboat crews should be allowed to resume selling part of their dolphin catches, South Atlantic Fishery Management Council members heard at a Thursday hearing in Key Largo. more@keysnet
ASMFC 2013 Summer Meeting Press Releases, Meeting Summaries and Motions
Newly discovered shark patrols SC waters – The “Carolina hammerhead”
COLUMBIA, SC — Scientists have discovered a new species of shark in the ocean off South Carolina and have named it for the region where it was found. The “Carolina hammerhead,” thought to reach 11 feet long and weigh about 400 pounds, has been identified cruising the waters at Bull’s Bay north of Charleston, St. Helena Sound near Beaufort and in the Charleston harbor. more@thestate
Deaths of Manatees, Dolphins and Pelicans Point to Estuary at Risk – The evidence of decline is compelling.
Along 50 miles of northern estuary waters off Brevard County and the Kennedy space complex, about 280 manatees have died in the last 12 months, 109 of them in the same sudden manner as the Banana River victims. As the manatee deaths peaked this spring, hundreds of pelicans began dying along the same stretch of water, followed this summer by scores of bottlenose dolphins. @gomesnews
National Marine Fisheries Service: New Regulations for Vermilion Snapper and Red Porgy Effective September 5, 2013
Population assessment updates for vermilion snapper and red porgy were recently completed. The vermilion snapper update indicates the population is no longer undergoing overfishing (when fish are taken from the population too quickly) and is not overfished (when there are not enough fish in the population). The stock assessment update for red porgy indicates the species is not undergoing overfishing but is still overfished. Based on the outcome of these population assessment updates, NOAA Fisheries is proposing to modify several management measures for vermilion snapper and red porgy. @noaa.gov
Keys lobster fishermen drop traps for opening of commercial season
Throughout the Florida Keys and at a few other locations in the state, the crews of hundreds of commercial boats dropped nearly a half million licensed traps into the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico in preparation for the start of the 2013-14 season, which begins Tuesday. @miamiherald
Public hearing tonight on designating coast line for endangered sea turtles in Charleston SC, 7 to 9 p.m.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is holding a public hearing on designating 750 miles of beaches from North Carolina to Mississippi as critical habitat for endangered loggerhead sea turtles. The hearing Tuesday in Charleston will be held at the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources Center Auditorium off Fort Johnson Road on James Island from 7 to 9 p.m. The hearing will be preceded by an informational workshop from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. @wcsc5
They REELY were THAT big back then: Fishermen of 1900s Florida pose up alongside their impressive monster fish
Some of the greatest catches of the 20th century are on display in this collection of images that documents Florida’s long and illustrious fishing history. @dailymail.com
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources has announced a public comment period for proposed amendments to Saltwater Fishing Regulations
DNR staff will hold public meetings to present the proposed changes and to receive comment in Richmond Hill on September 9 and Brunswick on September 10, 2013. The proposed changes affect recreational and commercial saltwater fishing and are as follows: [email protected] 12:46
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