StarKist has told the American Samoa longline fleet that while they understand the reasons local boats are not out fishing, they too are facing difficulties in trying to stay on top of global demand. Read moreMonthly Archives: February 2013
Liz Warren declines to accept Barney Frank’s proposal to press President Obama for relief for the fishing industry
“Senator Warren appreciated the opportunity to meet with fishermen, family members, local small business owners, and advocates earlier this week in Gloucester and New Bedford to talk about the future of the New England fishing industry,” said Bruno Freitas, a senior advisor to Warren who, for many years, served as Frank’s fisheries advisor. “It’s clear that the rules that are in place are not working for fishermen or their families. ”Senator Warren will use the tools she has available to provide them the help they need,” Freitas’ statement continued. “She has worked closely with Congressman Frank on this and other issues, and she will continue developing a strategy to most effectively assist Massachusetts fishermen.” Read more
Video of Richard Burgess, “the entire fishery between the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank, whether it’s big boats or small boats, will be entirely put out of business.” Burgess concluded the segment with a renewed call for fishery disater relief for the region. “We’d like to see President Obama step in and help this Northeast region with disaster relief immediately, because we’ve got mennow that have not had paychecks in months,” he said. Watch video
Environmental review of proposed Ambre Energy coal terminal should go deeper, The National Marine Fisheries Service says
The National Marine Fisheries Service , which plays a consulting role in granting permits for the proposed Boardman terminal, has asked the Army Corps of Engineers bypass a speedier environmental assessment process. Instead, it wants the corps to prepare a full environmental impact statement, a more thorough process that would take years of additional study. A spokeswoman for Ambre Energy said Friday the company disagreed with the National Marine Fisheries Service’ findings. “We’re not pleased with and we don’t agree with the letter, but we’re following the corps’ process,” said Ambre spokeswoman Liz Fuller. “We think we should be going through an environmental assessment. Other projects of similar scope and size have gone through a similar environmental assessment. But we’re following directions at this point.” Read more
Alaska – Most Southeast salmon still from wild stocks
How many salmon come out of the Tongass National Forest? Someone asked Tongass Fisheries Program Manager Ron Medel that question, and the result was a slide show presentation that he’s given throughout Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. It’s fairly simple to find out how many salmon are caught in Alaska each year, but the question that Medel set out to answer was a little more specific. He was looking for the percentage of wild, non-hatchery salmon that are caught in Tongass National Forest waters each year. Not British Columbia fish. Not South central fish. Tongass fish. Read more Audio
Gloucester Fishermen Albert Cottone, Joe Orlando – NOAA Northeast Regional Administrator John Bullard owes fishermen apology
We’re writing to you today in response to the story headlined “Fishermen look to White House” (the Times, Page 1, Thursday, Feb. 22). This is an extremely challenging time for the commercial groundfish industry, in particular the groundfish-dependent port of Gloucester. All segments of the fleet are faced with radical reductions in catch limits on critical stocks set to begin on May 1. These cuts will undoubtedly bring our industry to its knees. In turn, this hurt will trickle down and affect fishing communities, shore-side businesses that depend on our landings, and American seafood consumers. Read more
State of Maine shuts down more scallop fishing areas – go into effect on Monday, Feb. 25
In the latest round of closures in Maine’s scallop fishery this winter, state officials have decided to shut down three more areas to scallop harvesting. All three of the most recent closures go into effect on Monday, Feb. 25, according to DMR officials. Read more
Feds Back Off Drastic Rule Change For Sharks
OCEAN CITY — The local fishing community breathed a collective sigh of relief this week when federal fisheries officials decided to drop a rather drastic rule change for sharks that could have effectively 
shut down a significant component of Ocean City’s multi-million dollar fishing industry. “After reviewing all of the comments received, we are not planning to proceed at this time with the dusky shark measures as proposed,” the NMFS statement reads. “We will address the dusky shark overfishing and rebuilding plan in a proposed separate action.” Read more
“We are angry,” said Stephen Nickerson, the father of Stephen Cole Nickerson. “Very angry.”
The search continued into Tuesday but wicked weather continued to provide poor search conditions for the Joint Search and Rescue teams. By 6 p.m. Tuesday evening the rescue efforts were handed over to the RCMP as a missing persons case.
“They called off the search too soon,” said Nickerson. “Two days was not enough…and then they call it off on a fine day.” “We don’t understand how they could lose sight of the boat,” said Nickerson. “They let the boat slip away.” Read more
Gale warnings holding back flotilla- Two boats left Woods Harbour ,Lady Faith, Rachel Elizabeth, with Crustacean Frustration and Slave Driver not far behind.
A gale warning has hampered the brave efforts of a group of fishermen on a search to bring closure to the families and friends of the five missing fishermen. Two boats left Woods Harbour late Thursday afternoon; the Lady Faith and the Rachel Elizabeth. The fishing boat Crustacean Frustration left the Falls Point wharf a little more than an hour later which was followed by an East Pubnico boat, the Slave Driver and 3 generations. There are also several other boats involved, including one from eastern Nova Scotia. Read more
Alaska state senator proposes bounty on sea otters
Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, sees the furry-faced critters as a growing threat to shellfish beds, particularly in southeast Alaska, where he is from. On Wednesday, he introduced legislation that would have the state pay $100 for each sea otter lawfully killed under the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act. “We’re not talking eradication. We’re talking slowing the population growth,” he said. “In my opinion, we’re not going to get any help from the federal government.” Read more
What’s killing Cape Cod’s salt marshes?
A small purple crab is munching away at Cape Cod’s vulnerable marshes, thriving on unintended consequences from actions that go back nearly a century, according to a research paper released in January. The researchers found that die-off was most pronounced in areas where two factors were present: ditches dug before the 1930s to drain mosquito breeding habitat and intense shoreline development. “Development ultimately is what causes the die-off to happen,” Coverdale said. Read more
Russian Fishermen Rescue Stranded Dog – Video
A stranded dog on an ice flow in the port of Magadan, Russia ends up getting rescued by brave sailors from a nearby docked ship. Video
Editorial: Executive order is best route to halt fishing atrocity
NOAA Northeast Regional Administrator John Bullard may be right; the Obama White House may well have “other priorities” than to worry about the plight of fishermen — especially when 400,000 or so military personnel might be displaced due to spending cuts forced by a second round of our resurrected fiscal cliff. In fact, the White House, its Department of Commerce, and its rogue National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration under Jane Lubchenco have shown consistently that they don’t give a hoot about this historic industry of mostly small, independent businesses now on the verge of going the way of so many family farms over the last three decades. Read more
StarKist says it cant do anything about fish prices for the American Samoa longline fleet
StarKist has told the American Samoa longline fleet that while they understand the reasons local boats are not out fishing, they too are facing difficulties in trying to stay on top of global demand. Read moreA rescue’s success hinges upon your EPIRB
It was another early Friday morning for the crew of a Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules based out of Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C. Fifty-knot winds roared around the airframe while the crew scoured the dark cauldron of 20-foot seas below for a boat. Rain lashed the plane, reducing visibility to less than a mile. Radar was next to useless and no one had been able to contact the distressed vessel. Read more
News from the Deckboss
A hundred bucks a hide!, Lots of news, plus the Dutch Harbor report, today on The Brig, The new list of IPHC nominees is out
By all means, and as always, read the comments! Read more
RCMP – Debris all that remains of missing fishermen’s boat spotted about 10 nautical miles east of F/V Miss Ally’s last know position
A search of the area where five fishermen are believed to have perished after their boat overturned in stormy seas off Nova Scotia has turned up nothing but scattered debris. Three Department of National Defence aircraft patrolled the area of the Miss Ally’s last known position Thursday morning and afternoon, following a plea from the families of the missing men to continue the search. A Canadian Armed Forces CC130 Search and Rescue Hercules aircraft joined aircraft from Transport Canada, and Provincial Airlines to patrol an area measuring more than 1,700 square kilometres. There was no sighting of the capsized hull of the boat that had previously been spotted by the Canadian Coast Guard. Read more
New Bedford Fishing Vessel Megan-Marie with five fishermen aboard taking on water – Coast Guard drops the pumps, Get’s ’em home.
BOSTON — U.S. Coast Guard rescue crews assisted five people aboard a fishing vessel out of New Bedford when the vessel began sinking after taking on water approximately 100 miles southeast of Nantucket Thursday afternoon. According to the Coast Guard, watchstanders from the Sector Southeastern New England Command Center received a distress call from the 80-foot fishing vessel Megan-Marie at approximately 6:40 p.m., Wednesday. Read more
Wheels of justice often grind slowly – Fishermen Catch Department of Environmental Conservation Refunds, Finally
More than six months after the State Department of Environmental Conservation agreed to cut two checks to return to aggrieved fishermen the price of seized assets,the checks have arrived. On Friday, Sidney Smith, a dragger fisherman from Greenport, received a check in the amount of $8,333.05, and the Lester family of baymen from Amagansett, received $202.25. Read more
The University of Alaska surveys skills needed for fishing industry
KODIAK, Alaska (AP) — The University of Alaska wants to know what skills young people will need for jobs connected to commercial fishing. Read more
Frank backs White House fishery push
Recently retired Congressman Barney Frank said Thursday he would “absolutely” be willing to go to the White House as an advisor to and friend of Sen. Elizabeth Warren to seek President Obama’s support for executive orders and congressional appropriations to relieve the Northeast groundfishery disaster.
Frank, a staunch critic of Lubchenco’s policies almost from the start of her NOAA reign, described her in a telephone interview as an intellectually dishonest environmental zealot and enemy of the fishing industry. Read more
BREAKING – Missing fishermen recovery operation taking shape
“If my boy is in that boat, I want to bring him home,” said Stephen Nickerson, father of Steven Cole Nickerson. “I think he’s in that boat.”
The families of five fishermen believed to have perished after their boat overturned in stormy seas off Nova Scotia have been told the Department of National Defence has agreed to send an aircraft out to the boat’s location. RCMP Cpl. Scott MacRae confirmed he has spoken with DND officials who have told him an aircraft will be sent out to where the Miss Ally is.
George Hopkins, Joel Hopkins’s father, said a private fishing boat from Ecum Secum is travelling to the Miss Ally with four divers on board. He said other boats were also planning to assist in the search if the navy decided not to.Hopkins said he’s hoping that the DND aircraft will let the Ecum Secum dive team know where the Miss Ally is. “I feel elated,” he said. “At least we’re doing something.” Read it here.
F/V Miss Ally still afloat, Govt Agency’s lip service of excuses for non action of recovery are shocking to me. Video – Awaiting another update.
The families of the five fishermen believed to have perished after their boat overturned off the coast of Nova Scotia in a storm are waiting to hear whether officials will launch a salvage operat
ion on the Miss Ally. 12:49 PM ET
New research on migratory behavior of oceanic whitetip sharks can help shape conservation strategies
As the nations of the world prepare to vote on measures to restrict international trade in endangered sharks in early March, a team of researchers has found that one of these species – the oceanic whitetip shark
Funding for Kenai smolt study uncertain
Cook Inlet commercial fishing groups are concerned about a potential lack of funding for studying the smolt out-migration on the Kenai River, a basic tool used to help determine future run strength. Read more
A record 300,000 salmon returned to Klamath River in 2012, by Dan Baucher –
indybay.org The Klamath River saw a record fall Chinook salmon run of 302,108 adults, while the Sacramento River hosted a run of 283,871 adult salmon in the fall of 2012. The preliminary estimates of adult and jack (two-year-old) spawning escapements (returns) to the two systems were recently released by the posting of the “Review of 2012 Ocean Salmon Fisheries on the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) website. Read more
Lobster boat XTreme Measures found 150 miles from homeport being towed to Portsmouth
Homeward Bound
“I’m super happy,” said Jason Hooper, who owns the lobster boat XTreme Measures. Hooper had conducted an extensive search for the boat since it went missing from its mooring off Spruce Head on Feb. 10. Winds during the blizzard that lasted from Feb. 9-11 reached more than 60 miles per hour in gusts. He said the crew of the Amy Philbrook, an offshore lobster boat owned by Shaft Master of Newington, N.H., spotted the missing vessel while it was fishing on the Georges Bank. Hooper said the location is about 150 miles from Spruce Head. Read more
Mammoth tooth possibly found in NH local waters
RYE — A local fisherman landed a mammoth catch this week — literally. Mike Anderson was fishing for scallops on the F/V Rimrack out of Rye Harbor on Tuesday. When he winched up the scallop dredge that trawls behind the boat to catch the bottom-feeding mollusk, he noticed something strange mixed in with the scallop shells and rocks. “We knew right off it was a tooth because it has a nerve at the top,” he said. “I want to get a tusk. That would be something,” Read more
Texas wildlife officials outraged by Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council action
Red snapper fishing is a lure for offshore charter boats on South Padre Island. Yet, a federal regulatory council could soon reduce the recreational fishing season in federal waters to less than two weeks — in fact, the suggested season could dwindle to as few as 11 days. For the companies invested in expensive boats, who already face rising prices for gasoline and other costs, such a short window for trips is disheartening. Read more
Newly minted U.S.Senators Warren and “Mo” Cowan sit with fishing industry
What Elizabeth Warren and William “Mo” Cowan heard was a broad sampling of many of the deep concerns of those groundfishermen whose livelihoods are nearly gone thanks to catch restrictions. Animosity toward government-sponsored researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution was clear. Rodney Avila, a former regional fisheries council member, said “We need to drop an atom bomb on Woods Hole.” Several in the meeting cautioned the senators to expect a great deal of lobbying from environmental groups that support the sector management and catch shares that are blamed for the collapse of the industry. Read more
