Monthly Archives: March 2013
John Steinbeck boat rusts in Anacortes
Time has been less kind to the Western Flyer. The battered old tub, which has been called one of the most famous boats in American nonfiction, has sunk twice in the past six months and was still underwater off a dock in Anacortes as of two weeks ago. Read more
Firm sues over crab quota sale dispute – traps too.
A dispute over a crab quota sale has landed in Nova Scotia Supreme Court. Fish-N-Tales Fisheries Inc. of Richmond County alleged in a notice filed Tuesday that Three Ports Fisheries Ltd. of Alder Point, Cape Breton County, owes it $122,195. Read more
Dad, son fined $11,000 for illegal hauls – Pair sold three catches of halibut that they didn’t report
BRIDGEWATER — A father and son have been fined more than $11,000 for illegally landing fish valued at more than $6,000 and selling it to a Blandford fishing company. The Boutiliers were two of seven fishermen charged following a search of Deep Cove Aqua Farms Ltd. in 2009. Read more
Editorial: Cape Pond Ice’s plight shows impact of fishery losses – Gloucester Daily Times
The Cape Pond Ice case shows once and for all that this economic disaster is not “just” about fishing. It’s about the entire city’s economy – and a rogue agency of our own federal
government should not be allowed to bring it down. Read more
Maine Department of Marine Resources proposes 100 elver licenses for four Maine Indian tribes
At issue is the state’s newly lucrative elver fishery, which over the past two years has become one of the most valuable commercial fisheries in Maine, second only to the state’s $339 million lobster industry. But last spring, more than six weeks into the 10-week elver season, the Passamaquoddy Tribe caught state officials and others off guard when it issued 236 licenses to its members. Read more
Industry-wide reductions begin as menhaden cap becomes law
REEDVILLE—Menhaden, alewife, mossbunker, fatbacks, bunker or pogy—no matter what it’s called—the fish is making news up and down the East Coast as the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) mandated harvest reductions have fishermen scrambling to determine the impact. Read more
Alaska Board of Fisheries votes 4-3 to limit Area M fishing at the far end of the Alaska Peninsula
Also, Unalaska trawl compromise, Permit stacking voted down, Read more
Mixed Response To State Fisheries Bill
Legislation before the New York State Legislature intended to ease some of the burdens of tightening fishing restrictions and high gas prices on the state’s commercial fishermen has drawn support but also criticism and doubts from East End fishermen. Read more https://fisherynation.com/archives/4939
Coast Guard rescues 1, searches for 2 from 67-foot F/V Seafarer off Eastern Shore
PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The Coast Guard is responding to a distressed fishing vessel approximately 15 miles east of Assateague Island, Md., Wednesday. Read more
UPDATE: Coast Guard temporarily suspends search for 2 missing men off Eastern Shore
N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries to hold meeting on gill net restrictions
CAPE CARTERET — New gill net restrictions will take effect this month to help resolve an ongoing conflict between Cape Carteret residents and fishermen over nighttime net fishing activities. Read more
Alaska fisherman from Coupeville isn’t sure where reality TV journey will take him but he’s enjoying ride
“It happened rather quickly,” Keohane said. Keohane answered a casting call last summer and landed a part on the reality fishing series, Alaska Fish Wars, which recently aired on National Geographic’s Wild channel. Read more
Guest Editorial – Where have all the fish, plants gone? By BOB DAW
At present, the creek is healthy, which allows it to function as a nursery area for many types of fish, plants and other critters that they feed on. Ruin the water and we ruin its ability to let little fish grow into big fish.
The Petersburg Borough Assembly silent on otter bounty
A proposed bounty on sea otters drew some criticism from the public followed by no discussion at all from the Petersburg Borough Assembly during its regular meeting Monday afternoon. The agenda included a resolution in support of Senate Bill 60 which is sponsored by Sitka Senator Bert Stedman. Read more
From Chris McCaffity – Please sign the Petition – Support for Alternatives to Vessel Monitoring Systems
Target: South Atlantic Fishery Management Council Sponsored by: Chris McCaffity Stopping this Vessel Monitoring System law from passing will help to keep similar invasions of our privacy from spreading to other areas of our lives. Please think about how you would like to be required by law to install an expensive and intrusive Vehicle Monitoring System in your car to make sure you did not park in No Parking Zones. What if you were one of only 5% of drivers required to do this? Would you think a video camera monitoring only the no parking zone to insure 100% of drivers complied with the law would be fairer? Sign the Petition
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Rescue teams race to sinking fishboat in Georgia Strait, off Vancouver
VANCOUVER – A fishing boat has gone down in Georgia Strait, off Point Grey, west of Vancouver, but its two crewmembers are safe. Read more
Changes in fish population, algae cause study of Baffin Bay water quality
Texas – Commercial and recreational fisherman say they’ve long suspected deteriorating bay conditions in what is considered one of Texas’ premier fishing destinations. A 2010 fish kill and a persistent brown tide bloom have elevated their concerns. Read more
Optimistic outlook for next salmon season
Last week’s data presentation was the first step in the annual process of determining the length and terms of the commercial and sports salmon seasons at sea and in the rivers. Members of the Pacific Fishery Management Council, the multi-state body that sets the rules for the season, will meet again in Tacoma, Wash., later this week, and at various coastal locations through early April. Read more
Washington state Senate votes to close loophole on shark fins
Two years ago, Washington state lawmakers banned the sale of shark fins but grandfathered in fins bought before July 2011. Read more
Wake up: Non-indigenous species are a danger to Alaska’s waters
One example of an aquatic invasion: In June 2010, researchers discovered Didemnum vexillum — also known as “rock vomit” — in Whiting Harbor near Sitka. This species, which can cover large areas of the seafloor, is an aggressive invader and a potential threat to shellfish farms, groundfish fisheries, fish spawning and other resources. Read more
Village stops as service honours lost crewman, Steven Cole Nickerson
WOODS HARBOUR — Woods Harbour continues to be a community in mourning. The village grocery store stood empty Tuesday afternoon and all commerce appeared to grind to a halt during a memorial service for a lost crewman from the fishing boat Miss Ally. Read more
MSC Introduces New Bilingual Ecolabel for Canadian Market
CANADA – The Marine Stewardship Council has launched a new, bilingual French-English ecolabel in response to requests from MSC partners in Canada who want to further increase consumer awareness about their commitment to sustainable seafood and the MSC programme. Read more
‘Colbert Report’ tackles MDI missing scallop guts caper – Get’s to the Bottom of it
SOUTHWEST HARBOR, Maine — Scallop gonads do not have a reputation as being intrinsically funny, the way banana peels or rubber chickens might. Last Nov. 26, police on Mount Desert Island and in Ellsworth alerted the public that the buckets went missing after the fisherman, Andy Mays, mistakenly put them in the back of the wrong car and the person then drove off, not knowing the bivalve bits were coming along for the ride. Watch the video, read more
Maine lobstermen seek to claw into new markets
With last year’s glut of lobsters and plummeting prices still a vivid memory, Maine lobstermen are hatching strategies to cultivate new markets and more customers for the state’s leading fishery. Lobstermen expect another big harvest this year, but it’s unclear whether it will begin early again, said Marianne La-Croix, acting director of the Maine Lobster Promotion Council, an industry-funded organization in Portland. Read more
My View: Science, sense needed in fishing’s ‘human crisis’ – Scott W. Lang
The human crisis in the groundfishing industry is a real crisis. It is not contrived, it is not looming, it is not a threat, it is here.
Jesus Christ! Not Cape Pond Ice. Cape Pond Ice on the block
Scott Memhard cited the decision by NOAA against allowing the industry a second year of relief via interim catch levels as forcing his hand. The first year of interim limits held the reduction in Gulf of Maine cod to only 22 percent but without the same for the 2013 fishing year beginning May 1, landings will be compressed by 77 percent. And with $1 million in debt coming due, Memhard said he has little choice. Read more
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
