Monthly Archives: October 2012
Editorial: Affront to justice on fishing report demands criminal probe Gloucester Daily Times
Congressman John Tierney is certainly right to continue to step up the push urging Acting Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank to release the extended special investigator’s report citing 66 case studies of likely
enforcement abuses by NOAA officials on the fishing industry, as he did in a letter last week.
Yet he, Senators Scott Brown and John Kerry and other Massachusetts federal lawmakers should be well aware by now that neither Blank, NOAA chief administrator Jane Lubchenco, or — therefore, by extension — the Obama White House gives two hoots what any lawmaker says or does regarding the second report culled and filed seven months ago now by retired judge and former Massachusetts Ethics Commission chief Charles B. Swartwood III. And it’s clear that Blank and the ever-defiant Lubchenco have no intention of releasing a report without doctoring it,,,,,,,,,,Read More http://www.gloucestertimes.com/opinion/x1684127207/Editorial-Affront-to-justice-on-fishing-report-demands-criminal-probe
Fight the Big Box Boats; Save Family Fishermen and the Fish – Sign this petition Sponsored by Ron Borjeson
My name is Ron Borjeson. I’m a second generation fisherman and I’ve fished for 42 years. Over the past 15 years, together with my fellow fishermen, we have taken conservation measures to bring back the fish. Now, new policies are allowing the biggest boats to take it all away and, in the process, the stocks are decimated.
A policy called Catch Shares is squeezing out family fishermen like myself who have spent years taking conservation measures to restore overfished species, ensure a more healthy ocean, and provide access to a healthy source of food from the ocean. http://www.change.org/petitions/fight-the-big-box-boats-save-family-fishermen-and-the-fish?utm_campaign=autopublish&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=share_petition&utm_term=11927086
Fish council eyes lifting of closures- Conservation Law Foundation,Earthjustice, Nature Conservancy Will Sue
Fishery council member David Goethel, a Hampton, N.H., groundfisherman, said mortality closures have had enough time — 16 years — to prove themselves a wellspring for the stocks.
“We should be overflowing with groundfish; instead we have a disaster,” said Goethel, who said the closed areas should be opened.
http://www.gloucestertimes.com/topstories/x1684126854/Fish-council-eyes-lifting-of-closures
Red king crab quota holding steady, snow crab down for 2012-13 Cordova Times
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
Ripples from disruptions in the fishing industry will reach a long way By DON CUDDY
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
Cape Cod’s fishermen fret over seals, dogfish and the future
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
Letter: Trip limits would make fisheries worse Captain PAUL COHAN F.V. Sasquatch, Gloucester
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
The Pew Dog and Greenpeace’s anti-Sealord spoof.
My friend, jj the fisherman, is very creative, and a pretty smart SOB. He creates legitimate satire. You will find plenty more at his column. Click show more to find it all. Lots of photo and great articles. http://jjthefisherman.newsvine.com/
It appears that Greenpiece finds it a legitimate method of communicating their anti fishing view, of which ending fishing would probably find them destitute, as it is apparent they are on a path of unsustainability by over-exploiting fishermen!
The greedy ENGOs just don’t understand their greed to hunt the last fisherman to extinction will cause an unprecedented collapse of their bread and butter revenue raising target.
Rage erupts over Greenpeace’s anti-Sealord spoof
“Satire has long been used as a way of getting messages across. We’re not criticising the workers that feature in this ad. Those in the fishing industry here and in the Pacific deserve to have a future in the fishing industry, and they’re entitled to make a living from the sea, but Sealord itself is putting that at risk by its destructive catch methods,” he affirmed. Read More.
http://fis.com/fis/worldnews/worldnews.asp?l=e&ndb=1&id=55853
Satisfaction with recovery of bluefin tuna stock – Scientific Committee of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT)
The good news was released by the Scientific Committee of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) in the latest report published by this organization.
The paper estimates that the bluefin tuna spawning stock again approaches and even exceeds 300,000 tonnes that had been reached between the late ’50s and early ’70s,
and that was reduced to about 150,000 tonnes in the first decade of XXI century. Read More
http://fis.com/fis/worldnews/worldnews.asp?l=e&ndb=1&id=56066
News Release – Scientists Uncover Diversion of Gulf Stream Path in Late 2011-Warmer waters flowed to shelfbreak south of New England-(WHOI)
At a meeting with New England commercial fishermen last December, physical oceanographers Glen Gawarkiewicz and Al Plueddemann from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
(WHOI) were alerted by three fishermen about unusually high surface water temperatures and strong currents on the outer continental shelf south of New England.
“I promised them I would look into why that was happening,” Gawarkiewicz says. The result of his investigation was,,, Read More
Could the Harp be the Next Tourist Attraction? Christopher Mitchelmore
On September 17th, 2012 I had visited VIKIN Maritime Museum situated on the waterfront of the old harbour in Reykjavik, Iceland. It had impressive displays of boats, engines, gear and equipment. Exhibits outlines the process of drying cod-fish on flakes and lines, as well as the transition to on land processing of fresh and frozen product,,,,,,,,,,Read More!
What a great report frm this young fella from rural Newfoundland & Labrador. Great links and the Google Map showing the Continental Shelf is real cool!
http://liveruralnl.com/2012/10/13/could-the-harp-be-the-next-tourist-attraction/#comment-1552
Stone crab season to help commercial fishermen – MARATHON, Fla – WTSP.com
MARATHON, Fla. (AP) – Florida’s commercial fishermen are hoping winter visitors will flock to the Sunshine State for stone crab season. Gary Graves is vice president of Keys Fisheries, the largest processor of the crab’s tasty claws in the Florida Keys. He says a strong winter tourism season for the state normally translates into higher fiscal yields for the commercial fishing industry. Read More
http://www.wtsp.com/news/florida/article/278047/19/Stone-crab-season-to-help-commercial-fishermen
From Surf to Serfdom – By Kenneth Levin Frontpagemag.com
Unemployment in my home state of Massachusetts is less than the national average. In August, it stood at 6.3% compared to 8.1% nationally. 
The state benefits from very robust high-tech sectors. But, of course, low-tech industries also figure in its economy.
Particularly hard hit among the latter in the current downturn has been the state’s large fishing industry. Its problems, and the plight of workers dependent on fishing for their livelihood,
are illustrative both of the general difficulties of the economy across the country and of ways in which specific Obama administration policies have compounded the overall decline. ,,,Read More
http://frontpagemag.com/2012/kenneth-levin/from-surf-to-serfdom/
Fisherynation thanks Ray Lamont, Editor, Gloucester Daily Times
Ray, thank you for keeping this obscene issue in the mainstream in the persuit of justice.
October 13, 2012
Why Did My Newspaper Do That? Keeping up pressure — and coverage — of overdue report
Why Did My Newspaper Do That? Ray LamontGloucester Daily TimesThe Gloucester Daily TimesSat Oct 13, 2012, 12:00 AM EDT
Our front page today includes a story about the latest update regarding the so-called second Swartwood report — essentially the findings of an in-depth look by a special investigator into some 66 cases of alleged abuse and excessive enforcement by NOAA policing personnel against New England and other Northeast fishermen. By my count, and according to our archives, this is the 16th news story on the report, which was completed and submitted to the Department of Commerce in March. And there have been a handful of editorials about its status as well. Yet the basic core nugget of news is the same – that Commerce officials still have not released the report, and will not provide a time frame for when they will. So is it really news? If there is, on the most basic level, no hard news to update, is it even worth updating? Why, you might ask, would your community’s newspaper keep doing that?,,,,,,,,,,,,Read More
Tierney pushes for shielded NOAA report- Kerry said he “has been assured” the administration is working to bring out Swartwood II. Yeah, right.
Congressman John Tierney Friday pressed Acting Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank to release what is widely believed within industry and legal circles to be an explosive set of 66 case studies into possible law enforcement abuses of the fishing industry completed and delivered by a special judicial master nearly seven months ago……..A week ago, a spokeswoman for Sen. John Kerry said he “has been assured” the administration is working to bring out Swartwood II out at the earliest possible date” after making sure it is “comprehensive.”http://www.gloucestertimes.com/topstories/x1684126211/Tierney-pushes-for-shielded-NOAA-report
Northeast Seafood Coalition issues statement on Accumulation Caps, Fleet Diversity, and “Amendment 18” – savingseafood.org
NSC believes any and all groundfish management measures must be highly sensitive to the potential for unintended consequences to all segments of this fragile fishery.
WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) October 12, 2012 — On Wednesday, October 10, the Gloucester Daily Times reported that “NOAA’s regional administrator, joined by the Environmental Defense Fund,
the Pew Environment Group, the North Atlantic Marine Alliance and Food & Water Watch, is supporting a belated effort by the federal government to limit the accumulation of catch shares and thus provide
safeguards to smaller independent boats in the Northeast groundfishery…”
Email from Stephen Taupen – Groundswell Fisheries Movement – Catch Shares
NPFMC approves statement of purpose and need for groundfish rationalization by James Brooks/ [email protected] Kodiak Daily Mirror
Oct 10, 2012 (Wednesday) The North Pacific Fishery Management council has approved a groundfish rationalization motion that includes many of the items sought by the Kodiak Island Borough and city of Kodiak.
On Tuesday, the final day of the weeklong fisheries meeting in Anchorage, the council approved a statement of purpose and need for groundfish rationalization. The statement isn’t a plan or even a blueprint — but it sets the council’s goals as it embarks on a multi-year process that will wholly alter the shape of pollock and cod fishing in the Gulf of Alaska……..The brunt of this,and Stephens response will be in the comment section to save space on the front page, Read More.
Kodiak Daily Mirror — Friday, October 12, 2012 (as published)
Henny Pennys self-declare a crisis in the gulf fisheries
To the Editor:
Wednesday’s article about the North Pacific Fishery Management Council missed the trickery of disaster economics used by central Gulf of Alaska groundfish trawlers. Alaska Groundfish Data Bank and Whitefish Trawler Association representatives boldly declared “there is a crisis in the Gulf groundfisheries.”………Read more
NPFMC directs NMFS to modify new observer program Molly Dischner, Alaska Journal of Commerce
The North Pacific Fishery Management Council took up a new deployment plan for marine observers at its October meeting, asking the National Marine Fisheries Service, or NMFS, to conduct further outreach, clarify a few components and plan to review certain items after one year.
Read more: http://www.alaskajournal.com/Alaska-Journal-of-Commerce/October-Issue-2-2012/Council-directs-NMFS-to-modify-new-observer-program/#ixzz296AM6K1f
Editorial: Inshore cod assault cries out for catch share reforms GDT
The grim ineffectiveness of NOAA chief Jane Lubchenco’s catch share fishery management system as presently carried out in New England may never have been more apparent than this week, when even NOAA’s new regional administrator and the Environmental Defense Fund, which pushed this system from the start, came out in favor of making key reforms to it. http://www.gloucestertimes.com/opinion/x1684125865/Editorial-Inshore-cod-assault-cries-out-for-catch-share-reforms
The New York Times is Finally Catching Up! They should pay attention.
Will Seismic Blasts Upend Atlantic Marine Life? By EMMA BRYCE As a federal decision draws near, environmental and commercial fishing groups are marshaling their forces to protest a plan by the Obama administration to allow
So Hey! Have you heard about the Slaughter that lies ahead or those Marine Mammals we’ve been saving? Thu May 3, 2012 9:01 PM EDT
It’s true. And so begins the destruction of the Eastern Seaboard that all the Wind mill, “Drill Baby Drill” people have been waiting for. It’s all about energy independence, right?
Reducing global warming, green energy, not letting the Chinese beat us in the “Green Race” Well. It’s gonna cost us, and it’s gonna cost a lot more than money.
It’s gonna cost a lot of marine life, and this is only the beginning as this administration opens up the North West Atlantic to energy production..Read More
71st Annual Meeting – Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission – Radisson Plaza-Warwick Hotel – Philadelphia, PA
FINAL AGENDAPlease Note: The following changes have been made to the Preliminary Agenda: (1) the Atlantic Menhaden Board, originally scheduled for October 23 from 12:30 – 1:30 PM, has been canceled (the Board will meet next in December to consider approval of Amendment 2); (2) The Weakfish Board, originally scheduled for October 25 from 10:45 – 11:45 AM, has been moved to October 23 from 12:30 – 1:30 PM; (3) for October 25, the Spiny Dogfish and Coastal Sharks Board will meet at 10:45 AM – 12:45 PM, the Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Board will meet at 1:15 – 3:15 PM, with the ISFMP Policy Board and Business to meet at 3:15 PM and 3:45 PM, respectively. http://www.asmfc.org/71stAnnualMeeting.htm
PEW ENVIRONMENT: Historic Moment for Menhaden – Spreading the Fertilizer
The following was published by Lee Crockett, the Director of US Fisheries Campaigns for the Pew Environment Group. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lee-crockett/the-bottom-line-historic-_b_1932301.html
Analysis: Warning of a “depleted” menhaden stock and a population that has “plunged nearly 90 percent over the past 25 years,” Lee Crockett, Pew Environment Group’s Director of US Fisheries Campaigns, paints a bleak picture of the current Atlantic menhaden population. But, by leaving out several important pieces of information, Crockett’s portrait is exaggerated and one-sided. Along with a similarly misleading petition from Northeast Fisheries Program Director Peter Baker, Pew’s most recent op-ed is part of a continuing pattern of selectively omitting relevant facts about menhaden. Examining these omitted facts reveals a situation that is much less dire than Pew suggests.
Time to talk fish – Mary Lochner – Anchorage Press News
Some of the issues at question: Are there unknown reasons for the crash related to the ocean environment, or is salmon bycatch from pollock fisheries to blame? If harvests have to be restricted, who should get first priority for catching the available fish? Which is the best management strategy for maintaining a healthy fishery, and who should get to decide what that is?……Read More.
The newsvine writings of Fisherman DickyG
The inventory of articles from DickyG.
WHAT’S THE MATTER WITH NOAA? Or: Trouble in the Un-Regulated Community – A RESPONSE TO THE OUT-TO-CATCH-THE-LAST-FISH TALKING POINT – The Financialization of the Fisheries – THE OCEAN BUBBLE -FROM KODIAK ALASKA ON CATCH SHARES – EDF, The China Fishery, and The Theft Of A Vital Resource – CLEAN SWEEP – Catch Shares or ITQ “Success Stories”, International – Stock Assessments and Other Funding Atrocities -SAFELY-OUT-TO-SEA: Windmills, the Invisible Fishing Industry, and U.S. Energy – New Zealand and ITQ’s. SOLIDARITY: A Response To A Divisive Missive – A STACKED DECK – Catch Shares Are Illegal: CATCH SHARES aka ITQ’S aka RESOURCE THEFT – The Great Fish Crisis Fraud – Outing Corporate Money, Eco-Corporate Good Ol’ Boys – THE RIGHT TO KNOW – Winners, Whiners, and Corporate Shill LIARS.
Read them here……http://dicky-g.newsvine.com/
The Obama Administration’s Commerce Department Is Obstructing Justice. Swartwood II
The findings, by Special Master Charles B. Swartwood III regarding NOAA’s fishing enforcement tactics, were completed in early May. They are said to be detailed, numerous and explosive. But that report remains hidden from the public. Both John Bryson, who resigned after his now-infamous June hit-and-run escapades in southern California, and acting Secretary Rebecca Blank have ignored multiple calls to make the latest report public. And so NOAA administrator Jane Lubchenco, whose shown nothing but contempt for Congress and any other oversight since 2009, when she took the reins of an agency that is even more dysfunctional now than it ever was then.
http://bore-head007.newsvine.com/_news/2012/10/16/14481690-the-obama-administrations-commerce-department-is-obstructing-justice-swartwood-ii
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