Monthly Archives: September 2012
Scallops keep Cape May the No. 2 East Coast port
CAPE MAY, N.J. (AP) – Cape May remained the East Coast’s second-most valuable fishing port last year, aided by rising scallop prices that offset a declining catch, according to a report.
The report from the National Marine Fisheries Service shows the port, which includes docks in Lower Township and Wildwood but none actually in Cape May, took in $103 million last year. That’s up from $81 million in 2010.
Read more: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2012/sep/25/scallops-keep-cape-may-the-no-2-east-coast-port/#ixzz27ZXSHf3W – vcstar.com
Can the U.S. win the battle against overfishing?
We’ve written before about “the end of fish.” This is the rather apocalyptic warning, promoted by ecologists like Daniel Pauly, that humans are severely over-exploiting the ocean for fish,
and, if we’re not car
e
ful, stocks of key species like tuna will soon collapse. Then it’s lumpy jellyfish sandwiches for everyone.
ISSUE BRIEF on HADDOCK: Mitigation Options and Underfishing our U.S. Quota – savingseafood.org
United States Georges Bank haddock, especially when compared to Canadian haddock from the same stock, is underfished. By “underfished,” we refer to the fact that US fishermen routinely fish significantly less than the scientifica
lly determined total allowable catch.
Several regulatory barriers are preventing the successful exploitation of haddock, ultimately resulting in fishermen leaving hundred of millions of dollars in the ocean and the continuation of pressure on unhealthy stocks. There are a variety of precipitant factors influencing underfishing in the US:
Second NOAA abuse report remains tabled
US Commerce. The Armpit of the Obama Administration
Approximately six months have passed since Special Master Charles B. Swartwood III’s second volume of case studies into alleged violations of fishermen’s rights by NOAA law enforcement was completed and submitted to the Department of Commerce for redacting non-public information, deciding on reparations and making the document public…..But there would never have been a Swartwood I if administrator Jane Lubchenco and her chief counsel Lois Schiffer of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had had their way in 2010…..Schiffer, who joined Lubchenco’s senior staff, had written a memo to her describing an approach, which Lubchenco quietly adopted, to ignore fixable miscarriages of justice and build a reformed enforcement system without looking back. An environmental activist, Schiffer’s reputation for executive privilege dates from her time with the Justice Department in the Clinton administration.
http://www.gloucestertimes.com/local/x240468846/Second-NOAA-abuse-report-remains-tabled
Fishermen make last-ditch plea to feds over harbor porpoises closure date
Senator Kerry Calls on Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA to Meet with Northeast Fishermen, Local Scientists
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Sept. 24, 2012 — Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.), in a letter sent today to Samuel D. Rauch, Acting Assistant Administrator for Fisheries at the National Marine Fisheries Service, called on him to organize a meeting with scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Northeast experts and fisherman to discuss groundfish stock assessments.http://www.savingseafood.org/fishing-industry-alerts/senator-kerry-calls-on-marine-fisheries-service-noaa-to-meet-with-northeast-fishermen-local-scien-2.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+SavingSeafoodRss+%28Saving+Seafood%29
AUDIO: NEFMC Groundfish Committee’s Sept. 19 Meeting looks at closed areas
NEW BEDFORD, Mass. – September 19, 2012 – The New England Fishery Management Council’s Groundfish Committee met on Wednesday to further develop Framework Adjustment 48 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan. The audio from that meeting is posted below in several segments. http://www.savingseafood.org/council-actions/audio-nefmc-groundfish-committee-s-sept.-19-meeting-develops-management-actions-for-fishery-s-f-2.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+SavingSeafoodRss+%28Saving+Seafood%29
Lots of audio!
Public Listening Session at the New England Fishery Management Council Meeting: Tuesday, September 25, 2012 – 4:15 to 5:15 p.m. Radisson Hotel Plymouth Harbor, Plymouth, MA
September 24, 2012 — The Council will hold an informal question and answer period at its September 25-27 meeting in Plymouth, MA. Tuesday’s hour-long session, is an opportunity to meet the new NMFS Regional Administrator, John Bullard, listen to what he has been hearing during his visits to coastal communities in the Northeast and ask questions. In addition to stakeholders and interested parties to the public is invited to participate in this session.
This time on the Council agenda is not intended to be used for nor will it replace the public’s opportunity to make comments during consideration of any action item that is scheduled for a Council vote at the September meeting.
Register now at https://www4.gotomeeting.com/register/423548903. Once registered you will receive an email confirming your registration with the information you will need to join the webinar.
The Shocking News About Cod NYTimes.com
The ideal fish for human consumption would mature quickly and reproduce in staggering numbers. This does not describe the Atlantic cod. Cod mature late — at 4 to 6 years old — and they can live as long as 25 years. Female cod do, in fact, produce astonishing numbers of eggs. But older cod lay two or three times as many eggs as younger cod. This means that a healthy cod population must include relatively large numbers of older fish.
Shad Resurgence Marks a Cleaner Delaware River
American shad were once so common that East Coast rivers were described as being “black” and “boiling” as tens of millions of fish migrated upstream each spring to spawn. Today, approximately 98 percent of the fish that formed a staple of the Colonial diet have been depleted. In rivers once teeming with shad, a daily catch is sometimes counted in the single digits………Shad — the name comes from the Latin, Alosa sapidissima, meaning “most delicious, or savory, herring” — are just one part of this larger effort, but a critical part. The fish is considered a marker for the overall health of the rivers and tribu……..Protecting the Fisheries…….Historical Comparisons…..Midwater Trawling…….Hydraulic Fracturing……..Removing Dams…….Rescuing the Raritan River…….A Holistic Approach……..Climbing the Ladder….. http://www.wnyc.org/articles/new-jersey-news/2012/sep/24/shad-resurgence-marks-cleaner-delaware-river/
editorial – Fishing ports should use disaster funds for new jobs. The Wind Shills are taking advantage, the NSC is planning, and some fishermen are ready to roll!
Battered by new federal limits on the amount of fish they can catch, Northeastern cod fishermen need help both to maintain their boats and equipment in tough times, and to transition into other marine-related jobs. Luckily, they can count on strong political support from Massachusetts senators Scott Brown and John Kerry and from governors and members of Congress throughout much of New England. Those backers have now persuaded the Obama administration to declare the collapsing groundfish industry an economic disaster in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New York. The move won’t necessarily alter the catch limits — nor should it — but it opens the door to financial disaster relief.
Hard-hit fishing communities should spend the money wisely. That means, among other things, helping to establish new marine industries. New England senators and representatives are seeking $100 million in disaster aid. If Congress goes along, it will be a one-time injection of economic-development funds that fishing communities must not squander.
Fishing communities should not expect the industry to return to normal any time soon. The number of fishermen in Gloucester, for instance, has dwindled from well over 3,000 in the mid-1800s to the low-hundreds today. The challenge will be to keep an appropriate number of boats and fishermen economically afloat, without merely subsidizing a dying industry. Determining the proper size of the fishing fleet will require better assessments of the fishing stock by federal regulators and more cooperation between fishermen and researchers. As a gesture of goodwill, the federal government should continue a program that pairs fishermen with regulators and pays them an average of $630 per day at sea.
But the harder task will be shifting fishing families into marine jobs that don’t involve fishing. In Gloucester, Mayor Carolyn Kirk is already working with colleges and entrepreneurs to create more marine research and industrial jobs. Meanwhile, Representative Ed Markey has suggested that some of the marine skills involved in fishing might be useful for offshore jobs implanting wind turbines for energy. The Northeast Seafood Coalition, a lobbying group, should advise local officials on how best to spend the federal aid.
“With this funding, we can move forward,” said Nicolas Brancaleone, communications manager for the coalition. The best way to move forward is to realize that this disaster declaration is a unique opportunity for economic transition. If it is handled properly, the iconic culture of fishing can be maintained, while a new marine culture takes root on the New England coast.
Climate change will shift marine predators’ habitat, study says – By Juliet Eilperin, Washington Post
More doom and gloom from a member of the Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ)
The top ocean predators in the North Pacific could lose as much as 35 percent of their habitat by the end of the century as a result of climate change, according to a study published Sunday in the journal Nature Climate Change.
The analysis, conducted by a team of 11 American and Canadian researchers, took data compiled from tracking 4,300 open-ocean animals over a decade and looked at how predicted temperature changes would alter the areas they depend on for food and shelter. Some habitats could shift by as much as 600 miles while others will remain largely unchanged, the scientists found, and these changes could affect species in different ways.
Editorial: Ex-AG’s ‘probe’ of fishing fund hardly independent – Gloucester Daily Times
The Gloucester Fishing Community Preservation Fund’s naming of former state Attorney General Scott Harshbarger to carry out an investigation into its own “governance, policies and operations” might seem like a good move 
— one that could clear up the clouds raised last winter by fishermen who voiced conflict-of-interest and concerns to Gloucester’s two state lawmakers.
Harshbarger, after all, has extensive experience both as attorney general and private attorney dealing with regulatory and fiscal issues involving nonprofit organizations. And that fits the fishing preservation fund, which largely serves as a commercial fishing permit bank handling the $12 million in mitigation money granted to fishermen as compensation for having a liquified natural gas terminal plunked down in the middle of some of the regional’s most lucrative fishings grounds five years ago.
But it doesn’t take much looking beneath the surface to find all sorts of red flags and questions marks regarding a purported “investigation” that is not at all as it seems.
Fisheries activist says giant processors exploit locals in the Aleutians
UNALASKA — David Osterback says the Aleutian region could use a good regional cookbook, combining the recipes from local cookbooks already published in area villages, especially seafood dishes. Osterback spoke at a fisheries workshop at the Regional Wellness and Self-Governance Conference in Unalaska last week, sponsored by the Aleutian Pribilof Island Association.
“Who’s catching the fish? Everybody in the world except the people who live here,” said Osterback.
Processors earning big bucks
Deep sea of distrust – Catch-share controversy, and an uncertain future
Editor’s note: This is part one of a two-part look at the tensions between local fishermen and regulators, and the beginning of a series on the fishing industry in general. Part 2 in next weekend’s Seacoast Sunday will feature the input of a NOAA scientist, new regional administrator John Bullard and David Goethel, a Hampton fisherman and member of the New England Fishery Management Council.
PORTSMOUTH — The new regional administrator for the National Marine Fisheries Service says his goal is to rebuild trust with fishermen, but fishermen are able to rattle off a litany of complaints against the federal agency and its scientists that indicate the relationship may be beyond repair.
http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20120923-NEWS-209230338
Rhode Island Fishermen’s Alliance Weekly Update
The Rhode Island Fishermen’s Alliance is dedicated to its mission of continuing to help create sustainable fisheries without putting licensed fishermen out of business.”
Weekly Update. http://hosted.vresp.com/1181479/e9c3d4e5b0/545569281/ad93d20bca/
F/V Afognak Strait – Longliner- Alaskan limit boat for Kevin O’Leary and his vessel partner, Walter Sargent.
This sure is a lot of boat for a 58 footer! She’s laid out like a yacht! Beautiful pictures and video. FRED WAHL MARINE CONSTRUCTION, INC. sure know how to build ’em!
Designer: Fred Wahl Marine Construction, Inc. Builder: Fred Wahl Marine Construction, Inc NC Lofting: Elliot Bay & Fred Wahl Marine Construction, Inc. Construction Material: Steel
Length: 58′-0″ Breadth: 26′-0″ Depth: 12′-8″ Draft: 13′-0″ Aft Deck Area: 32’x26’Fish Hold #1: 2,210 cu.ft. Fish Hold #2: 1,120 cu.ft. Bait Holds #1 &2: 330 cu.ft. each. Fuel: 9,450 gal. Fresh Water:1,735 gal. Hydraulic Oil: 338 gal.
Main Engine: Cummins Qsk19 660HP Reduction Gear: ZF 2450 Gear 5.5:1 Propeller: 4-Blade bronze Auxiliaries: (2ea) JD Load Master 175kw (1ea) JD Load Master 55kw Accomodations: Staterooms: 1-4 berth, 1-2 berth Head with saltwater flush Galley w/mess area Wheelhouse stateroom w/sink.
http://fredwahlmarine.com/Afognak%20Strait.html http://fredwahlmarine.com/index.html
Despite possible $100 million in aid, tough regs mean …Fishermen trying to stay afloat
Gloucester fisherman Paul Vitale’s job is on the line.
New England legislators are lobbying for $100 million to save next year’s groundfish fishery season in the wake of a disaster declaration, but that isn’t easing Vitale’s uncertainty about his industry’s future.
“There’s three households earning money off of my shoulders,” said Vitale, 40, captain of the 50-foot “Angela + Rose” and a father of three. “We never know day to day what’s happening.”
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1061162384
The Ringer – A True Story of the National Marine Fisheries Service Observer Program
Origional post Sun Aug 21, 2011 by jj
The Ringer A True Story of the National Marine Fisheries Service Observer Program
The National Marine Fishery Service observer program sends many recent graduates of marine biology programs out on fishing vessels to collect data for fisheries science and to observe fishing activity and how it affects the environment and wildlife. In stories about fishing you often hear of the efforts of sea captains and their brave crews and never a word about the observer who accepts and takes many of the same risks as anyone who signs on as a crew member in the world’s most dangerous job.
Call her M. as anonymity is a requirement of this story. She came aboard like every other observer with a stack of baskets and fish measuring stuff for her work during the voyage. She was in her early twenties. In a baggy sweatshirt pulled over a slender frame with hair pulled back in a pony tail she looked like just another fresh faced college kid ready to do her part for the cause of fish science. At first she kept to herself but since we weren’t going to take any fish on board the Osprey at that time of year it isn’t a very demanding job for an observer. I think this whole story happened because she got bored.
My crewmate C.D. is a cribbage player with a long history of wins over fellow crew members and captains. We had been having a series of very competitive games and while there was no clear victor I would give him a slight advantage over me in both number of wins and quality of play. He is very proud of his game and ability to play and brags on himself a little at times,,,,,,,,,,,Read More
They Told Us – Joel Hovanesian F/V Excalibur RI. Fishermen’s Alliance
They told us we were using twine that was too small and not allowing juvenile fish to escape. We accepted and went to the largest mesh size in the world for the species we seek. They told us we needed to protect spawning areas where fish reproduce. We closed thousands of square miles of the most productive areas in which we fished. Then they told us this was not enough so they made tracts of ocean closed during certain months. They told us we were fishing too many days so they told us we were going to only be allowed to fish 88 days a year. We didn’t like it but we were told it would pay off for us when the fish returned. They told us 88 days were too many so they decided to give us what they deemed,,,,,Read more
This article generated 98 comments. Good comments.
http://fvexcalibur.newsvine.com/_news/2011/01/01/5749409-they-told-us
F/V Endurance scallop trip to Closed Area 1 (Great South Channel) Fri Aug 19, 2011
Some excellent photo journalism that should not be buried on newsvine.com
Interested in sharing your photos? Send an email [email protected]
This is my first photo post. Let’s see how it comes out. ISH2DANT
Who in the Hell is Richard Gaines?!!
I posted this to newvine.com on Wed May 25, 2011. It’s worth another look, for those that may have missed it. Who the Hell is Richard Gaines? My hero.
I can guarantee, that the members of the New England Fishery Management Council know him. Everyone at NMFS surely know of him. I know Dr. Jane Lubchenco of EDF/NOAA fame knows who Richard Gaines is! Hell! even US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke knows who he is. I’d bet even President Obama knows of him. These are some that wished they hadn’t. I would dare say that for the last two years, or so, thanks to Richard we should all be very grateful to know of him, for if not for Richards determination to bring this information to the public, there is a real chance that things would be the same as they were. Disgustingly dysfunctional. This journalist has single-handedly brought these fishery issues to the attention of the citizens of the United States, and the world! There has been a noticeable lack of media coverage of the major networks, and print media, but thankfully for the sake of justice for all, the determined Richard Gaines, with his editors support, Ray Lamond, the misdeeds and injustices of two very powerful government agency’s, NOAA/NMFS, and US COMMERCE have been exposed.
The Yankee Fisherman’s Cooperative – Check it out before NOAA WIPES IT OUT!
The Yankee Fisherman’s Cooperative was founded in 1990 to meet the needs of the local NH fishing community. The Co-op’s sixty plus members consist of ground-fishermen (catching cod, Pollock, haddock, flounder, etc.), lobstermen, lobstermen, and shrimpers.
YFC will be offering shares for the upcoming Northern Shrimp season. As a participant in the community supported fishery, you will support ecologically minded New Hampshire commercial fishermen and sustainably wild caught shrimp. Your shrimp will also carry the NH Fresh and Local brand which ensures that it was landed in NH and is the freshest available.
Rumor about ending commercial fishing addressed; hundreds show up – More than 100 fisherman showed up
WILMINGTON, NC (WECT) – More than 100 fisherman showed up Wednesday at the Division of Marine Fisheries over a misleading message…..
They all thought the board was going to vote to end commercial fishing,
but that was not the case….Shrimpers also felt the issue of ending commercial fishing was something that would soon be brought up and when it does, they are all going to fight it.
http://www.wect.com/story/19589863/rumor-about-ending-commercial-fishing-hundreds-show-up
Fishtown slides as a top port – Catch landed in Gloucester declines 63 percent in 2 years – Richard Gaines GDT
Once the world’s preeminent fishing port, even today Gloucester is arguably its best known, heralded in literature, cinema and lore……But Gloucester’s fishing industry is in steep decline, the epicenter of a regional disaster
declared days ago by the federal government. In a nation that imports 91 percent of its seafood, Gloucester has dropped nearly out of the top 20 ports in the U.S. based on landings volume, its fleet now barely 75 boats, according to a spokesman for the Gloucester Fishing Community Preservation Fund, the charitable nonprofit permit bank that leases quota from acquired rights…..In only two years, according to the government’s annual report of domestic and global fisheries, released Wednesday, landings have declined by 63 percent, from 122.3 million pounds landed in 2009 to 77 million landed in 2011….The precipitous decline was at odds with national trends, whose indicators, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, are mostly pointing upward, and shoved Gloucester from 10th place in landings volume to 19th place. http://www.gloucestertimes.com/local/x964639688/Fishtown-slides-as-a-top-port
Oyster prices rising as oysters dying in Gulf of Mexico off Florida
CEDAR KEY, FLA. — Officials say an oyster collapse in the Gulf of Mexico along Florida’s Big Bend and Panhandle will just have to run its course.
Historical photo: Hefty halibut – JUNEAU EMPIRE
William R. Norton,Alaska State Library Historical Collections,ASL-PCA-226
Two men pose with a a 300-pound halibut on the Juneau docks on Dec. 20, 1910. During this time, fishermen fished for halibut from open dories, often in the Gulf of Alaska.
More news at the JUNEAU EMPIRE http://juneauempire.com/
The Rhode Island Fishermen’s Alliance Website – Check it out!
Long-term fisheries sustainability discussed at NAFO annual meeting
RUSSIAN FEDERATION Friday, September 21, 2012, 01:10 (GMT + 9)
The 34th Annual Meeting of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organisation (NAFO) being held this week in St. Petersburg is taking place to make decisions on the long-term sustainability of Northwest Atlantic fish stocks and to look into ways to step up the protection of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems, based on the scientific advice and the recommendations of a dedicated Working Group within NAFO.
