Monthly Archives: February 2013

Alaska Bearing Sea snow Crab Season Shaping Up As Less Icy

After a 2012 Bering Sea snow crab season that saw unusually severe sea ice inhibit fishermen’s efforts to catch almost 89 million pounds of the shellfish, 2013 is shaping up to be much friendlier. According to Kathleen Cole, a forecaster with the National Weather Service ice desk, this winter was unlikely to match 2012, even before it began. Despite some recent rumors of encroaching ice into the Bering Sea fishery, the situation is better than last year, she said. “We’re just not going to have a year like last year. It’s going to be, by no means, that bad,” she said. “Last year was something that we’d never seen before, and hopefully something that we’ll never see again.” Read more

 

The Gulf Stream Stalled, Sea Level Rose & the East Coast Flooded in November 2012

The Gulf Stream has been weakening continuously since 2004, accelerating sea level rise on the U.S. east coast, with the highest impact on sea level rise centered around Cape Hatteras according to a report, accepted for publication in the Journal of Geophysical Research.  The International team of oceanographers led by Princeton & Old Dominion University professor Tal Ezer has 99.99% statistical confidence that the correlation between the Gulf Stream weakening and sea level rise is real. Read more

Louisiana Volunteers round up derelict crab traps at rodeos

Fishing gear lost at sea will be wrangled to shore with help from the University during upcoming derelict crab trap rodeos. Julie Anderson, renewable natural resources professor and fisheries specialist, said the rodeos are daylong cleanup events during which volunteers remove derelict crab traps from coastal waters. The lost traps pose safety and environmental threats, as well as economic losses for fishermen, she said. Read more

Bill in Legislature seeks early action for derelict vessels

OLYMPIA —State officials would be encouraged to  deal with derelict boats sooner — preferably before they sink — under a proposed  law moving through the Legislature. “A lot of this is breaking new ground,” Hansen said. “We are trying innovative  ways to deal with this problem. ”Whidbey Island is where the Deep Sea, a 140-foot derelict crab-fishing vessel,  caught fire and sank in May, costing the state nearly $3 million. About $1.6  million went to clean up an oil spill, raise the vessel and tow it away. Another  $1.3 million was spent on dismantling and disposing of the ship. Read more

 

Victim’s father seeks Foxy Lady II answers

Two months after the Gloucester-based scalloping boat Foxy Lady II and its crew of two were lost at sea, the captain’s father says he still has questions about what may have happened, and how the vessel could have gone down without any signal from its own electronic emergency beacon. Read more

Letter: Fishermen must band together – Sam Frontiero, Gloucester – do what you have to do

I’ve been writing letters as a fishermen’s advocate for years now because I was a fisherman for almost 40 years, it’s been the history of my family for generations, and still is. It really bothers me what this government is doing to this tradition so that it ends in a recognized “economic disaster” because of rules and regs which are discriminatory to this industry only. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. Fisherman are a very passive breed. They’ll work as hard as anyone but when it comes to really get together, they let that part go. NOAA isn’t going to quit, so do what you have to do. Read the letter

Cod quota rollover is tightened, too – “we intend to allow just under 2 percent” John Bullard

NOAA Regional Administrator John Bullard has agreed to extend a 10 percent carryover of uncaught fishing quota to the new fishing year — for all stocks except the Gulf of Maine cod, for which a carryover and potential bycatch would account for fishermen’s total catch under dire new catch limits due to take effect May 1. ”For all allocated groundfish stocks, except Gulf of Maine cod, where the stock remains in poor condition and there is a high risk of exceeding overfishing limits, we intend to continue to allow fishermen to carryover up to their full 10 percent unused quota in 2013,” he said. “For Gulf of Maine cod we intend to allow just under 2 percent carryover in 2013 to avoid a risk of exceeding the overfishing limit. Read more

Longline permits and alia fishing questions raised at Sanctuary meeting

Local businessman Omar Shalhout raised the issue regarding longline permits and alia fishing during a public meeting hosted by the National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa (NMSAS) and the Department of Commerce this past Monday, to discuss issues involving the expansion of the NMSAS. Read more here

From the Deckboss

Trawler hit with $325,442 enforcement action, Arrest made in Coast Guard double homicide, Dear Mr. President, Crewman aboard Starbound needs medevac, Read more here

They tried to sneak it in as fresh, but I knew Ranson Myers was dead!

I dig hard to find the news you can use, looking in a lotta places everyday. I try to find the latest in my quest. I found this, and please note the post date. The tip off was the report was co authored  by Ransom Myers,  a world-renowned marine biologist and conservationist. But he died in 2007!

Friday, February 15, 2013 – A Global Assessment of Salmon Aquaculture Impacts on Wild Salmonids.Ford/ Myers. Read the report here

A king-sized divide – Upper Cook Inlet Task Force meetings end with suggestions, but very little consensus

After more than nine hours of discussion, the Upper Cook Inlet Task Force generated a proposal at their last meeting on Thursday that will be presented to the Board of Fisheries in March. Despite efforts to come to an agreement, only one item on the list gained a consensus vote among the members, while nearly every other issue addressed ended in a split vote. Read more here

TWRA recommendation would aid in Asian carp removal

The TWRA Fisheries Division is now officially recommending that 4½-inch mesh gill nets be legal for commercial .fishing to allow the anglers to remove more Asian carp from state waters. Read more here

Record filed in observer lawsuit, new association may intervene

The administrative record was filed today in the lawsuit over the observer  program implemented by National Marine Fisheries Service in January. Read more here

Wicked Good! Maine Shrimp Rounds – The Yankee Chef

untitledAlthough I enjoy larger shrimp as often as possible, there truly is no shrimp like Maine shrimp. Some chefs compare it to Gulf of Mexico shrimp, but as a Yankee, a Yankee Chef no less, the beautiful pink(and sometimes red) color is just simply more inviting than the drab grayish color of our friends down in the other Gulf. It is the cold Atlantic Ocean that our shrimp is caught wild and the sweet delicate taste shines through. Read more, and recipe here

American Samoa – Center for Biological Diversity criticized

In addition to voicing objections against the NOAA Fisheries for the proposal to list American Samoa corals under the Endangered Species Act, residents also complained about the organization that initiated the listing. Read more here

Tele Aadsen – Readings, Women in Fisheries, & Frankenfish, Oh My!

Last week was a good time, sweeties. I spent five days up in Sitka, which – for me – guar­an­tees a good time. I wouldn’t usu­ally get to be there in Feb­ru­ary, and owe the Sitka Mar­itime Her­itage Soci­ety a big thank you for pro­vid­ing the excuse, by way of an invi­ta­tion to join their panel dis­cus­sion, “Women in the Fish­eries.” I waf­fled for about a day – just long enough to check that I had enough Alaska Air­lines miles for a ticket – before con­firm­ing. Who was I kid­ding? Time in Sitka when we weren’t fish­ing? Of course I’d go!  Read more here

Rhode Island Fishermen’s Alliance Weekly Update FEBRUARY 17, 2013

“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.” Read the update hererifa

“Towards professionalizing the Louisiana commercial fishing industry.” summit to aid commercial fishing, seafood industry

Louisiana Fisheries 2013, a summit for the Louisiana commercial fishing and seafood industry, is scheduled for Feb. 27 and 28 at the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center, 346 Civic Center Blvd. Commercial fishermen, seafood dealers and others can learn about the latest updates, technologies and programs concerning the Louisiana commercial fishing and seafood industry. Read more here

Rival measures would restore alewives into the St. Croix

The future of spawning alewife runs in the St. Croix River will likely be decided by state lawmakers next month as they evaluate rival bills aimed at allowing the fish back into the watershed. Alewives, or “river herring,” are a small schooling fish that spend most of their life in the oceans but travel up freshwater rivers in spring to spawn. Read more here

Coast Guard seizes two lanchas illegally fishing in U.S. waters

uscg logoSOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas — Law enforcement crews from Coast Guard Station South Padre Island intercepted two Mexican lanchas fishing illegally in U.S. waters, Friday. Read more here

My Turn: Growing sea otter population in Southeast Alaska focus of upcoming symposium

Sea otters, which were hunted to extinction in Southeast Alaska during the 18th and 19th century fur trade, were reintroduced in the 1960s. In this region, 403 animals were transplanted to six sites, predominantly on the outer coast. The population is now estimated at about 25,000 and ranges continuously along the outer coast of Southeast Alaska and interior areas including Glacier Bay. Read more here

Delta Pumping Restrictions: It’s About Salmon – by Dan Bacher

The Golden Gate Salmon Association (GGSA), responding to a Brown administration announcement that water supplies from South Delta pumping facilities have been cut significantly to protect Delta smelt, reminded the public and government officials that pumping restrictions are just as much about salmon as they are about Delta smelt.  As salmon go, so goes the water, the health of the Delta and salmon jobs up and down the state, according to GGSA. “While the immediate reason water diversions are reduced in the delta is due to delta smelt being killed at the diversion pumps, the juvenile salmon are also out migrating through the delta now and are being killed by the pumps,” said GGSA president Victor Gonella.  Read more here

Two commercial fishermen face 1,300 fishing violations

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commissionwere charged with a total of more than 1,300 conservation violations Tuesday after being found inside a no-take zone in the Dry Tortugas, marine law-enforcement officers report. Both men were cited for harvesting 664 yellowtail snapper — one misdemeanor count for each fish — seized from the commercial boat Candelaria, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Read more here

One year later: few violations reported in new marine protected areas, poaching a concern

COAST CITIES — Poaching. Lobster traps where they shouldn’t be. Spearfishing protected species. These are the kinds of violations Cyndy Pourroy, a warden with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, was on the lookout for as she gazed out over Swami’s marine protected area from a staircase near Tide Park beach. Read more here

Bluefin tuna a remarkable fish indeed

thumbnailCAI0LXDYSo, to set the record straight: the Atlantic bluefin tuna is a very large (often better than a thousand pounds) predatory species that roams the ocean from relatively inshore waters to the true pelagic regions of the open sea. They are essentially like other tunas in that they are school fish, boast multiple adaptations for high speed swimming efficiency and, pound-for-pound, are immense power houses. To further bear this out, just note how many of the recognised marine game fishes are tunas or are related to the tuna clan. Read more here

Feds see early signs of Pacific fishery recovery

HALF MOON BAY, Calif. (AP) – After one of the West Coast’s most valuable commercial fisheries was declared an economic disaster in 2000, California and other Pacific states saw more boats being sold and more fishermen looking for work. Read more here

Sea Ice Moves Toward Snow Crab Grounds – Unalaska Community Broadcasting

Another icy weekend is in store for the Bering Sea snow crab fleet. National Weather Service ice forecaster Kathleen Cole says winds will continue to blow ice into the crab grounds around the Pribilof Islands through the weekend. Read more here

American Samoa – Local fising boat owners plead for help

Port charges, clearance requirements, and the drop in the price of albacore are being cited by local boat owners as the reason most of American Samoa longliner fleet are not out fishing. Most of the boats are tied up at the harbor; some haven’t gone out fishing in months. The situation has led to 9 boat owners writing to the governor for help for the survival of the American Samoa longliner fleet. Read more here

Live Broadcast, Saturday, 2/16/13. Join Chris McCaffity and his guests on the freefish7 radio show

Please tune in at noon est on Saturday, 2/16/13 for a live Q&A episode of the freefish7 radio show. I will also have some good news to share about how public comments are helping to preserve our freedom to fish and eat American seafood. You can find a link to the live show and archives of others at the link provided. Call in if you have a question or comment about fishery issues. Please share this with your friends. Thank you! http://www.freefish7.com/freefish7-radio-blog.html

WATCH: Joaquin Pheonix PETA Ad Seems Too Fishy For ABC

In the ad, The Master star can be seen submerged in water when he slowly begins to lose air. As he flails, an ominous voice-over by the actor intones: “In water, humans drown just as fish suffocate on land. It’s slow and painful and frightening. And we do it to more than one trillion fish every year.” Watch it here