Daily Archives: October 15, 2012

Red king crab quota holding steady, snow crab down for 2012-13 Cordova Times

October 15, 2012   North Pacific

Commercial fishermen heading out Oct. 15 and beyond for the 2012-13 Bristol Bay red king crab harvest will have a quota of 7.85 million pounds, up slightly over the 2011-2012 quota of 7.834 million pounds. The Bering Sea snow crab quota, however, is down from 88.894 million pounds a year ago, to 66.35 million pounds for the upcoming season. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced the current season’s quota for red king crab on Oct. 3, with 7,067,700 pounds of individual fishing quota and 785,300 pounds for community development quota. http://www.thecordovatimes.com/article/1241red-king-crab-quota-holding-steady-snow-crab

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Fraud, fish, and the blind IRS

October 15, 2012   National

Remember the LA Times story, “the fisherman and the tax man” (5/30/10) about fishermen seeking, and being denied, disaster relief after the BP oil spill? “I worked for an uncle last year who paid me in cash. The BP guy wanted my tax statements, but how can I pay taxes if everything I earned was in cash?” How did the IRS answer that question? Did it examine boat owner records, find any reporting violations, any evidence of worker  misclassification, the focus of the White House Task Force on the Middle Class that same year? No. The story isn’t that some bayou deck hands don’t pay taxes, the real story is that the IRS doesn’t enforce the tax laws in the fishing industry……….Read More

http://flamingofishing.newsvine.com/_news/2012/08/26/13488207-fraud-fish-and-the-blind-irs?threadId=3589966&commentId=71070340#c71070340

 

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Ripples from disruptions in the fishing industry will reach a long way By DON CUDDY

October 15, 2012   New England

They say bad news comes in threes, and that seems to be the case in the New Bedford fishing industry these days. On top of a recent declaration from the secretary of commerce that the groundifsh industry in New England is a national disaster, the scallop fleet is looking at catch reductions of 30 percent for the next two years. And groudfishermen are resigned to more drastic cuts to their quota for the next fishing year, which begins on May 1.

Frustration over the cuts is mounting on the waterfront because fishermen have their doubts about the accuracy of NOAA’s stock assessments.

“There’s more yellowtail now than there were in the ’60s,” said Reidar Bendiksen of Reidar’s Manufacturing in Fairhaven, a family business that makes trawl gear. “But the fishermen can’t go where they are, and they are not allowed to catch them.”

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20121014/NEWS/210140346

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Cape Cod’s fishermen fret over seals, dogfish and the future

October 15, 2012   New England

Two areas, 35-miles south and 150-miles east of Chatham have been closed for cod  and other groundfish but the National Marine Fisheries Service is contemplating  re-opening to help fishermen because all fishermen are facing drastic cuts of 70  percent in cod and 73 percent in haddock on Georges Bank. But not all fishermen  are enthused.

Then there’s this insight by someone who can’t be very smart.

Wholesaler Andy Baler of the Nantucket Fish Company noted that huge mid-water  trawlers are catching tons of herring off shore while the National Marine  Fisheries Service looks idly on. “Cod and haddock feed on local herring but they’re starving. That’s why you  see fish so skinny,” he said. “The mid-water trawlers are going to suck every  bit of bait out there. You have one management system for some fish and another  management system that goes and kills all the fish they eat.” Bullard conceded the two plans are un-connected. NOAA takes a fish by fish  approach. “This port is crushed. We’re living on a few dogfish,” Baler declared. “We  need some help. Keep the herring here so we can fish the channel.”

Read more: Cape Cod’s fishermen fret over seals, dogfish and the future – – Harwich Oracle http://www.wickedlocal.com/brewster/newsnow/x1826353094/Cape-Cods-fishermen-fret-over-seals-dogfish-and-the-future#ixzz29O2eBrZ9

The relationship is this. The larvae of the bottom fish need to go to the surface of the ocean in order to obtain food – plankton – and light. While they go up, they become a feast for the pelagics. When those larvae that survive become codlThe relationship is this. The larvae of the bottom fish need to go to the surface of the ocean in order to obtain food – plankton – and light. While they go up, they become a feast for the pelagics. When those larvae that survive become codlings, they want to go back to their friends and relatives. While they descend to their native habitat, they become a second feast for the pelagics.

http://carmine3.newsvine.com/_news/2010/11/04/5408211-fish-and-future

http://jjthefisherman.newsvine.com/_news/2011/09/07/7650662-fish-in-the-northwest-atlantic-are-going-hungry-new-science-from-maines-department-of-marine-resources-helps-to-explain-why

 

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Oyster Collapse Gulf of Mexico along Florida’s Big Bend and Panhandle.

October 15, 2012   Gulf of Mexico

State officials have determined there has been an oyster collapse in the Gulf of Mexico along Florida’s Big Bend and Panhandle. They also say that nothing can be done and that it will just have to run its course.

http://fishery.about.com/b/2012/09/30/florida-aquaculture-gets-global-warming.htm?nl=1

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Letter: Trip limits would make fisheries worse Captain PAUL COHAN F.V. Sasquatch, Gloucester

October 15, 2012   New England

To the editor: Wasn’t one of the big selling points for catch shares — or as I call it, catch scams —  the elimination of trip limits and their inherent discards?

So now NOAA and the enviros are talking about re-instating “inshore” trip limits to solve a problem of their own making,

when they can’t even differentiate between George’s Bank cod and Gulf of Maine cod when it comes down to where they were landed or caught.

This represents a giant step backwards. It is the worst of both worlds. and once again the smaller day boats will pay the bill.

http://www.gloucestertimes.com/opinion/x674146257/Letter-Trip-limits-would-make-fisheries-worse

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