Daily Archives: March 5, 2013
A shocker in the Newfoundlands fishery today – The Fisheries Broadcast with John Furlong
Declining crab stocks, once the bright-light in the industry, has forced even more streamlining. 300 people out of work and three plants are closing. A conversation with some of them.
The herring spawn is on in the Gulf of Georgia
The beaches were lined with spectators and photographers as fishing boats took position offshore Sunday to harvest the annual spring bounty of herring. Read more
NMFS Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program Request for Proposals – Revisions to the Butterfish Mortality Cap in the Longfin Squid Fishery
NOAA Fisheries announces that it has issued a request for proposals for 2013 Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program (BREP) Grants. http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/by_
NOAA Fisheries announces changes to the butterfish mortality cap in the longfin squid fishery, from a catch (landings and discards) cap to a discard only cap, as a result of its approval of Framework Adjustment 7 to the Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Fishery Management Plan. Read the bulletin
Counting the tuna in the Pacific
Tuna are vital to the ecology and economy of the Pacific, and maintaining their stocks at a sustainable level exercises the minds of thousands of scientists, bureaucrats, fishers, consumers and conservationists. But just how do you go about counting such a wide-ranging fish? Read more
Will GE salmon opposition be the ‘kiss of death’ for Aquabounty?
Avaaz.org, self-described as an international citizens group, has collected nearly 1 million — 991,340, to be precise — signatures for its “Stop the Frankenfish attack” petition against Aquabounty’s application as of last Thursday, and that is just the most recent news to break. Read more
Meet the New Boss, Acting NOAA Administrator Dr. Kathryn D. Sullivan
Dr. Kathryn Sullivan assumed the role of Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Acting NOAA Administrator on February 28, 2013, where she had been serving as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Environmental Observation and Prediction and Deputy Administrator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as well as performing the duties of NOAA’s Chief Scientist, a vacant position. She is a distinguished scientist, renowned astronaut and intrepid explorer. Read the profile
Portsmouth’s Tom Nies to lead the New England Fishery Management Council
The 18 members of the New England Fishery Management Council recently selected Tom Nies of Portsmouth as the agency’s new executive director. He succeeds Capt. Paul Howard, who served in the role for 16 years. Howard’s last day was Friday, and Nies steps into the post on Monday. Read more
Meeting Notice – NEFMC, Groundfish Oversight Commitee and Advisory Panel
March 6, 2013 – Groundfish Oversight joint with Groundfish Advisors http://www.nefmc.org/nemulti/meeting_notice/130306MtgNoticeWakefield.pdf
Groundfish managers from afar hold workshop – The Who Fishes Matters Tour – On the Cape
BARNSTABLE — Cape fishermen will hear from a panel of fisheries experts from Canada and France, and get to brainstorm ideas for solutions to social, environmental, economic and other concerns at a workshop tomorrow today from 4 to 7 p.m. in the Lorusso Tech Solarium at Cape Cod Community College. Read more
Workers reeling from fish plant closures
More than 300 fish plant workers have been blindsided by the closure of the three P. Janes and Sons seafood processing plants in Newfoundland on Monday, but another fish plant owner says he hopes to hire most of the displaced workers. Read more
Permit system puts tougher regulation on fishermen, scientists who catch great white shark
On Feb. 6, the California Fish and Game Commission accepted a petition to consider endangered status for the northeastern Pacific population of white sharks, which range from Alaska to Mexico, and out to Hawaii. The petition cited recent studies suggesting the population is much smaller than expected: 339 sharks in the northeastern Pacific, excluding juveniles. Without a stable population of these top predators, coastal ecosystems would be thrown into turmoil, said Goeff Shester of Oceana, one of three environmental groups who wrote the petition. “It’d be like an African Serengeti without lions,” he said. Read more
“The big boats are taking over and they’re killing the little guys off,” Small fishermen’s plight discussed at forum in city
PORTSMOUTH — Participants in the Who Fishes Matters Tour fisheries forum Monday night discussed ways to improve the beleaguered catch share system of fisheries management. Read more
Gulf fish-counting method needs scrutiny, lawmakers say
Those stocks are used to determine catch limits and have long been a source of contention for the fishing industry and environmentalists. Environmental groups concerned about dwindling stocks of vulnerable species say overfishing could affect the Gulf region’s ecology and economy for decades. Fishermen say current catch limits are based on flawed science and have cost coastal communities jobs and other economic benefits. Read more
Prince Edward Island Activists Call for Ban on GM Salmon
Canadian-based group Islanders Say No to GM Salmon is calling on Premier Ghiz to ban the production of genetically modified (also known as genetically engineered or GE) Atlantic salmon eggs in PEI. As the United States edges closer to approving human consumption of GM salmon in the next months, increased attention is now focused on Canada, and in particular PEI, as the only source of GM salmon eggs on the planet. Read more
‘Phantom’ fishing discards seen skewing fish quotas – absurdities which helps explain the poor quality of NOAA fisheries science
Calculating discards, an essential component in the fishery management system, has evolved into a knot of absurdities which helps explain the poor quality of NOAA fisheries science, says David Goethel, a commercial fisherman and member of the New England Fishery Management Council. Read more
