Monthly Archives: November 2012
Commercial squid fishery closes, limit reached Sacramento, Calif.
California’s commercial squid fishery has reached its 118,000 short ton limit and is closing until March. The state Department of Fish and Game (DFG) says the squid fishery shuts down at noon Wednesday. The department tracks catches daily to ensure squid are not overharvested. http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_22041118/commercial-squid-fishery-closes-limit-reached
Editorial: Federal quota caps needed to protect small-boat fishermen Gloucester Daily Times
Over a longe
r haul, that should mean the abolition and abandonment of the catch share system as we know it. But in the short term, that must mean clamping accumulation limits on the amount of quota any company can control, or taking other steps to ensure that smaller, independent fishermen are not driven out of business by their own government.
Fish quota limits spark debate GloucesterTimes.com
In May 20
10, just at the moment NOAA put into operation a free trading commodity market for groundfishermen who were given an allocation and joined into a fishing cooperative, a perfect storm of constrictions began strangling the industry. The New England Fishery Management Council last week came to a consensus that the “disaster” made of the groundfishery required belated intervention — an attempt to preserve fleet diversity between big and little boats and regulate the free market to bar more of the $80 million industry from falling into a small number of big hands and external investors.
Tuna Tuna Tuna brought to you by savingseafood.org
NSC Statement Clarifying Position On Amendment 18
The Northeast Seafood Coalition is pleased to provide the following comments on the Amendment 18 scoping document. This cites 2 objectives identified by the Council for Amendment 18:
http://www.savingseafood.org/images/nsc%20comments%20a18%20scoping.pdf
The EDF Fish Tale of Bubba and Miguel
An article written by some former WWF stooge that never caught a fish for a living about a guy named Bubba that didn’t like being a fisherman. http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2012/11/20/catch-shares-save-fishermen-and-fish/
ABOLISH CATCH SHARES NOW!
N.J. fishing industry works to recover from Sandy-POINT PLEASANT BEACH, N.J.
Commercial fisherman Jim Lovgren has navigated some rough seas lately. 
First, his 70-foot trawler, Viking II, swamped in high waves and sank 80 miles off Cape May in late September.
Then, on Oct. 22, Sandy took a dramatic swipe at the Fisherman’s Dock Cooperative, where Lovgren is a director and about a dozen third- and fourth-generation fishermen bring their catch to be sold at markets throughout the country. http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20121120_N_J__fishing_industry_works_to_recover_from_Sandy.html
Gillnet Fishermen Committed to Reduce Harbor Porpoise Interaction
Preliminary data shows a low number of takes in OctoberThe following was released by the Northeast Seafood Coalition. GLOUCESTER, Mass. — November 20, 2012 — Gillnet fishermen in the Northeast region of the U.S. are making strident efforts to reduce harbor porpoise interactions and preliminary data shows a low number of takes in the month of October. http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=b5nrgsdab&v=001a8Hy8I3nCiSqK_sIjgm-aYyGxnMZkGoQtuVzL2bHeuoHqE1rqPTxOVVdO66EOmP4U6rQJmzHjYNvL6ylOJu81k1O9QvfX84-P5W-gq2i0GSWRNslIUmlYg%3D%3D
Agency agrees to new long-line fishing rules
HONOLULU (AP) – The National Marine Fisheries Service has agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by environmentalists and says it will issue new rules aimed at preventing Hawaii fishermen when they’re fishing for tuna and swordfish. http://www.mauinews.com/page/content.detail/id/567130/Agency-agrees-to-new-long-line-fishing-rules.html
Offshore oil drilling for Virginia: undead and ugly
The folks in our commercial and fishing industries, and all the people who live and work in beach towns, should hear you talk about how confident you are in their ability to get by for a season on government handouts; if there’s longer-lasting damage, how maybe they can move to Northern Virginia and work in retail. I’m sure you can make it sound appealing. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/11/19/1163290/-Offshore-oil-drilling-for-Virginia-undead-and-ugly
Just in time for the Holidays! Walton Family Greenwashing by Dan Bacher
Privatizing the OceansMuch recent media attention has focused on Walmart’s announcement that it is canceling Thanksgiving plans for many of its employees. These workers will now have to work on the holiday as the retail giant kicks off its holiday sale at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, rather than waiting until midnight on “Black Friday.” Reporter’s lapse shows complicity of corporate media The bribery scandal was exposed on the same day that the Gloucester Times of Massachusetts exposed a reporting lapse,,,,,,,,,,“I didn’t think to check the EDF board for Walton family members, or Walton Family Foundation donations,”
Kiss my ass Jane. Unhappy Holidays to You.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/11/19/walton-family-greenwashing/
Captain Jean Frottier – Friends say fisherman was hardworking, devoted family man
Tall and lanky, with a big smile, big heart and an easygoing nature, Frottier was a talker who could walk into a room of strangers and become the center of attention, his friends recalled. He once co-owned the Gifford House in Provincetown and a club, Cafe Exile, in Key West, Schmidt said.
Fishermen recalled his nicknames, like “Jeanius,” for his innate curiosity and problem-solving skills, or Jean-Jean the Fishing Machine, a reference to his mastery of any fishery, whether it was winter diving on bay scallops or rod-and-reel bluefin tuna. http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20121120/NEWS/211200334
Learning lessons from BP oil spill-On the surface the damage seems limited, but the seabed is covered with a thick layer of gunk.
The idea was that dispersants would dissolve the oil and that what was left would be strongly diluted in the sea water. This would cause very little environmental damage. But it appears that a lot of dirt has sunk in flakes to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, forming a thick layer gunk on the seafloor.
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2012-11-lessons-bp-oil.html#jCp
Editorial: What does it take for criminal probe of NOAA actions? It has reached the point at which it must be considered a criminal obstruction of justice.
For Buckso
n and NOAA in general to spend even a dime on this kind of bogus PR when they and the Commerce Department continue to refuse release of the so-called Swartwood II report – a 550-page follow-up report delving deeper into 66 additional cases of excessive NOAA enforcement — is beyond hypocritical. It has reached the point at which it must be considered a criminal obstruction of justice. http://www.gloucestertimes.com/opinion/x2120604507/Editorial-What-does-it-take-for-criminal-probe-of-NOAA-actions
D.B. Pleschner: Oceana claims controversy but knowledgeable; scientists disagree
But as usual, Oceana is attempting to obfuscate the truth to achieve its agenda of shutting down fishing.
Secretary of Defense/former CIA Director backed MLPA Initiative-Leon Panetta: from marine ‘protector’ to whale killer-Dan Bacher
Leon Panetta: from marine ‘protector’ to whale killer
California’s privately-funded Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative, a process criticized by fishermen, grassroots conservationists, environmental justice advocates and supporters of democracy and transparency in government, has “friends in high places.” http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/11/18/1162930/-Secretary-of-Defense-former-CIA-Director-backed-MLPA-Initiative
Oregon Man Sentenced For Commercial Fishing Crimes – SitNews
According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Cooper, the evidence established that Freddie Joe Hankins, 47, of Cove, Oregon, had caught the halibut in an area where it was illegal for him to fish under the Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) system, and that he falsely stated in his landing reports that he caught the fish in another more distant but legal area http://www.sitnews.us/1112News/111612/111612_fishing_crimes.html
Dead fish symptom of ailing bayous Low oxygen in Dickinson Bayou
SAN LEON – Powering his small boat across Dickinson Bay, Steve Hoyland Sr. worries about fish kills near the mouth of Dickinson Bayou every summer for the last six years. “I’ve lived here my whole life, but in the last two years you can’t catch (anything),” said Hoyland, 61, part owner of the monthly San Leon Seabreeze News. http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Dead-fish-symptom-of-ailing-bayous-4048735.php
NOAA cop video draws fire in D.C.
NOAA has released a video and an essay on the Office of Law Enforcement website touting its value to the nation and the fishing industry by ensuring “a level playing field” — even as the agency continued to suppress a 
$500,000 addendum to a special judicial master’s report on abuses of the badge carried out against commercial fishermen in Gloucester and across the Northeast.
WHERE”S THAT F-ING REPORT!!!
This is the feel good video. http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/stories/2012/11/11_16_2012enforcement_video.html
http://www.gloucestertimes.com/topstories/x2120604171/NOAA-cop-video-draws-fire-in-D-C
An up to date website! What are these people getting paid? http://www.noaa.gov/lawenforcementupdates/
Important From Alaska-NMFS Observer Program
Hi All: Attached you should find an urgent letter from 14 organizations asking for relief from the soon to be released NMFS observer program. Our sense of urgency arises from the fact that NMFS is scheduled to publish a FINAL rule in early December and implement the observer program early in January 2013. The plan as currently written is totally unacceptable and will do tremendous harm to small business, with no net benefit to the resource. We ask for your help to remedy this situation STAT! ATA represents hook and line salmon fishermen, many of whom also rely heavily on longline fisheries subject to this observer program. This historic pattern of diversification has played an essential role in the viability of small boat trollers and longliners in Southeast Alaska. Read More in Comment Section https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=gmail&attid=0.1&thid=13b17393f9b7be51&mt=application/pdf&url=https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui%3D2%26ik%3D6627f04c18%26view%3Datt%26th%3D13b17393f9b7be51%26attid%3D0.1%26disp%3Dsafe%26zw&sig=AHIEtbT8Hx6vGIZxWSEoGmq9yEh2TdD_qw
One presumed dead after scalloper sinks off P’town, Jean Frottier, 69, of Wellfleet missing
PROVINCETOWN – U.S. Coast Guard vessels and state police divers worked into the night Sunday searching for the body of a fisherman about 2 miles off Race Point after the vessel he was on began capsizing around 11:30 a.m.
Coast Guard Station Woods Hole received a call from the lobster boat Glutton about another boat, Twin Lights, capsizing after becoming tangled in fishing gear, Chief John Harker of the Coast Guard station in Provincetown said.
http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20121118/NEWS11/121119773&cid=sitesearch
Bluefin tuna don’t forget a good thing when they find one. The Dented Bucket
Stare at this picture. It’s a bit like the children’s book, “Where’s Waldo?” or for an older generation where’s Richard Scarry’s “Goldbug.” But instead of one Waldo in the photograph, there are many. I can count about 12 giant tuna in this photo. You have to look carefully, squinting your eyes through the glare, but the fish are there and they are large. I love this shot. Wayne Davis took it. The name of the boat is the Fearless and she’s out of New Bedford, a big old steel rig, battered and worn. http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=698e03792e01700f74359f279&id=3ce1272235&e=7af44a6811
SPINY DOGFISH RESEARCH SESSION December 17, 2012 South Kingstown, RI
To Register Please Contact: Jane Dickinson, Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation [email protected] (401)515-4892
http://www.savingseafood.org/images/december%2017%202012%20dogfish%20research%20session.pdf
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.”
http://hosted.vresp.com/1181479/663d65f4de/545568053/ad93d20bca/
Managing Our Nation’s Fisheries 3: Advancing Sustainability
The purpose of this conference is to elevate the discussion of current, developing concepts on the sustainability of United States marine fishery management, towards possible future use in improving contemporary practices. The conference will examine three theme areas, each of which focuses on policy, science, and process issues associated with three germane topic areas of high current interest. Findings that emerge from this national conference regarding advancing sustainable fishery management practices could be considered for changes to current policy or regulatory approaches developed at Regional Fishery Management Councils or implemented by the National Marine Fisheries Service, or legislative changes via reauthorization of the Magnuson –Stevens Act, as appropriate. http://www.managingfisheries.org/index7.htm
Rep. Antonio F.D. Cabral-Fishing industry needs research money as well as disaster relief
The elections may be over, but the current Congress still has work to do…..We need reliable, independent science. And Massachusetts is best equipped to provide it….That’s because there has not been adequate, sustained funding for independent research centers…..environment using scientific evidence that is, by its own scientists’ admission, often unspecific, unproven and unreliable. NOAA has been put in the position of acting not only as judge and jury, but as prosecution, defense and expert witness…..In particular, the School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST) at UMass Dartmouth is uniquely suited to provide this research. SMAST has an ideal location as well as a history of fostering positive collaboration between all fishing stakeholders. SMAST can also boast a proven record of success in fishery research. In the 1990s the scallop industry was on the verge of collapse when SMAST pioneered new research on a very tight budget that proved the scallop population wasn’t devastated, http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20121118/OPINION/211180303
Scallop season ruined after Sandy
A few months ago, baymen across the East End were looking forward to a big scallop season, a harvest so thick and rich it would bring back memories of record crops from decades ago. Checks of scallop beds during the spring and early summer showed the tiny, tasty shellfish were growing well, and there were more than had been seen in years. But something yet to be identified began killing off many of the scallops, and superstorm Sandy finished the job. The storm introduced so much pollution into the bays that the state Department of Environmental Conservation issued a closure order that put off the opening of scallop season, an order renewed Tuesday for most of the bigger bays on Long Island. http://www.newsday.com/long-island/towns/scallop-season-ruined-after-sandy-1.4219838
Cape Cod scallop fleet cries foul
Much of the best fishing terrain lies in and around the Great South Channel that separates Georges Bank from the mainland, and north in the Gulf of Maine, according to the council’s habitat study, and is listed as a likely site for closure or restrictions. Requiring these new habitat protection zones could be considered as an ecological trade-off for allowing fishermen access to areas currently closed to most fishing, according to the council. http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20121115/NEWS/211150334
