Daily Archives: March 9, 2013
Drakes Bay Oyster Company’s farm flap reverberates far beyond Drake’s Bay
Drakes Bay Oyster Company’s legal bid to continue operating in federally protected waters has broader implications than simply the fate of the Marin County family-owed business that sells $1.5 million worth of shellfish a year. Read more
Bill would add $1M to Maine’s lobster marketing efforts – Nelson King of Cutler said, “It amounts to extortion,”
Nelson King of Cutler said he didn’t like the fact that LD 486 would make lobstermen come up with 75 percent of the funds for the marketing program. He accused dealers of conspiring to pay lobstermen low prices and said that it would not be fair to have fishermen support a program that mainly helps dealers, processors and restaurants. Read more
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. Read more
2 commercial fishermen accused of robbing stone-crab traps
State wildlife officers nabbed two suspected stone-crab trap robbers Friday afternoon near Ballast Key with the help of some eyes in the sky. Both men are commercial fishermen, according to jail records. Read more
‘Significant’ fish kill not result of disease: fish vet
An infectious fish disease is not to blame for a “significant” fish kill last month at a salmon farm on Nova Scotia’s Eastern Shore, according to the province’s chief fish veterinarian. Read more
Cooke’s first salmon harvest – to be displayed at the Boston Seafood Show
Hundreds of thousands of Atlantic salmon are being sucked from their pens in the first ever harvest of fish from a Cooke Aquaculture site in St. Marys Bay. He then opened a box to reveal a silver-sided salmon on ice, the first fish harvested and now ready to be displayed this weekend at the Boston Seafood Show. Read more
Environmentalists say fishery change threatens leatherbacks
The change could open up a swordfish fishery south of Point Sur for all or part of a prohibited fishing season, when giant leatherbacks arrive from across the Pacific Ocean to dine on jellyfish off the West Coast. Fishery managers say they are confident the change wouldn’t likely jeopardize the endangered leatherback population, but environmentalists say their numbers are so low than any accidental killing is unacceptable. Read more
Largest study of salmon health ever undertaken set to begin in B.C.
For years Kristi Miller has been probing the complex and controversial world of fish diseases on the West Coast, where scientists are trying to unravel the mystery of why millions of apparently healthy salmon die annually. Read more
EXCLUSIVE: Man busted for trying to sell shark fins
It’s been almost two years since Hawaii’s shark fin ban went into effect. Friday afternoon, enforcement officers busted a man for trying to sell shark fins to a Chinese restaurant. The man was cited, and now faces a possible fine, and possible jail time. This is something you don’t see in Hawaii anymore. “In the duffle bag, there are 14 shark fins, and they appear to be fresh, not cured or dried,” said Guy Chang, DOCARE Oahu Branch Chief. Read more
Editorial: Division of Marine Fisheries chief Paul Diodati’s stand shows catch shares killing fishery
Noting that he shares the concerns of the relatively few state-permitted, small-boat fishermen, he made it clear that the shortage of fish within those fishermen’s usual grounds is due in large part to the fact that more and more big boats —
“unencumbered by trip limits …particularly on Gulf of Maine Cod when they are aggregated for migration, feeding (and) spawning, has significantly contributed to declines in local abundance.” Read more
