Monthly Archives: April 2013
Louisiana State senator weighs in on red snapper issue
BATON ROUGE — Federal officials should travel to the Capitol building here and explain why the state’s recreational red snapper season has shrunk to just nine days, according to an unopposed vote of the Louisiana Senate. In the resolution adopted Monday by senators, 30 of whom signed on as co-authors, seven areas of interest were listed for possible discussion, ranging from fish lengths and quotas to stock assessments and management decisions. continued
Maine lobster bill a threat to Gloucester
The Maine legislature is considering a bill backed by Gov. Paul LePage that would eliminate the legal bar to allowing lobsters caught by accident in the nets of trawlers to be landed in Portland — a change that could induce the owner of the state’s largest fleet of groundfishing boats to abandon Gloucester’s port for the primary one in his home state. continued
ALASKA DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND GAME DIVISION of COMMERCIAL FISHERIES. NEWS RELEASE
2013 Southern Southeast Inside Subdistrict Sablefish Fishery News Rele
ase here
European fisheries flip with long-term ocean cycle – Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation
A sudden switch from herring to sardines in the English Channel in the 1930s was due to a long-term ocean cycle called the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO), an international study shows. This is the first evidence linking the AMO to trends in important European fisheries. The study, funded by the governments of the UK, Canada, Norway, the USA and Germany, compared data on sea-surface temperatures with measurements of plankton concentrations continued
Free Safety and Survival Training for Fishermen – April 26, from 7:30 AM to 3:00 PM at the University of Massachusetts SMAST building , 706 Rodney French Blvd. in New Bedford
Free Safety and Survival Training for Fishermen
New Bedford – April 26, 2013
Burlington, MA – (For Immediate Release) — On Friday, April 26, Fishing Partnership Support Services (FPSS) will provide free safety and survival training for commercial fishermen at the University of Massachusetts SMAST building , 706 Rodney French Blvd. in New Bedford from 7:30 AM to 3:00 PM. The daylong training is conducted by US Coast Guard certified fishing vessel safety instructors. continued
Newfoundland and Labrador crab fishermen discuss protests, prices with union – video
About two dozen crab fishermen from all over Newfoundland and Labrador had an emotional meeting with their union leader Tuesday morning in St. John’s. The harvesters want the Fish Food and Allied Workers’ union to help free them from provincial rules that state they can only sell their catch to buyers in this province. continued
The Lee Brothers show you how to hold an oyster roast
RALEIGH, N.C. — You can’t roast oysters without one piece of essential equipment: a pint of beer. That’s the first lesson I learned from award-winning cookbook authors Matt and Ted Lee, who let me persuade them to show me how to throw an oyster roast. Oyster roasts are a culinary tradition in South Carolina’s Lowcountry, where the Lee brothers grew up. The Lees were in town on a recent swing through North Carolina promoting their latest cookbook, “The Lee Bros. Charleston Kitchen.” continued
The Boys are Back! ‘Deadliest Catch’ season preview
From the Moderator – Tying thing’s together.
Some things are bugging me about the ENGO claims of habitat destruction by fishermen. The claim that opening closed area’s to fishing will nuke habitat. But who is making those claims? The same ones that are championing habitat Armageddon via Cape Wind. A few issues are tied together with the help from my friends. It can be read here.
National Ocean Policy Implementation Plan
To translate President Obama’s National Policy for the Stewardship of the Ocean, Our Coasts, and the Great Lakes into on-the-ground actions to benefit the American people, the National Ocean Council released the N
ational Ocean Policy Implementation Plan. The Implementation Plan describes specific actions Federal agencies will take to address key ocean challenges, give states and communities greater input in Federal decisions, streamline Federal operations, save taxpayer
dollars, and promote economic growth. continued.
What people are saying here
Monkfish Possession Limits Suspended in Northern Management Area — EFFECTIVE MAY 1, 2013
At the request of the New England Fishery Management Council, effective May 1, NOAA Fisheries will be implementing an emergency action suspending, for at least 180 days, existing monkfish possession limits for vessels issued a limited access multispecies permit and a limited access monkfish Category C or D permit that are fishing under a monkfish day-at-sea in the Northern Fishery Management Area. Monkfish are often landed while fishing for groundfish, particularly in this area. Read the Bulletin here
Un believable! NOAA plans to shut down agency for 4 days – Extended Summer Vaca – I mean, lets be logical!
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration plans to shut down most agency operations for four mandatory furlough days in July and August in response to sequester-related budget cuts, according to the agency’s acting chief. continued!
Webinar Invitation: “NEFMC Groundfish Committee Meeting – Closed Area Technical Team Discussion”
The New England Fishery Management Council will be live streaming the discussions scheduled to occur on the second day of its Groundfish Committee meeting to be held tomorrow, Wednesday, April 17, 2013, beginning at 8:30 a.m. Please click on the following link for a copy of the agenda and meeting materials here and registration information is here.
Expert Testifies to U.S. Senate on Commercial Fishing
USAgNet.com. – Hasbrouck urged that in considering the upcoming reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, Congress provide management flexibility. “Not all species can fully respond within an arbitrary rebuilding 10-year time frame,” he said, noting that three years was added to the summer flounder rebuilding period. continued
New Jersey has chance to use other states’ unused flounder quotas
More Red Snapper – Local organization urges comment on snapper management
The News Herald – While the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission pursues a longer 44-day season in state waters, officials with the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council answered back with a shorter 21-day snapper season for Florida’s federal waters, which begin nine miles offshore. continued
The Miami Herald | EDITORIAL – OUR OPINION: No time for Florida to increase fishing days
On Wednesday, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will consider having a 44-day fishing season for red snapper within state waters — up to nine miles from shore. That’s the wrong call. continued
Letters to the editor: Boost in promotion boon to Maine lobstermen
Since 2008, lobstermen have been struggling to receive a decent price for our product. We’ve had many discussions on how to improve our current situation. This industry is poised to take a first step based on the will of the industry. continued
More Oceana! Lower fishing limits rejected by SF judge
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – A federal judge has rebuffed an environmental group’s request to require the government to lower its catch limits on sardines, mackerel and other fish off the California coast. continued
Oceana: Marine Life and Coastal Economies Threatened by Seismic Airgun Use in Atlantic Ocean – Where ya been!
These people amuse me sometimes. Jim Lovgren, a fisherman from NJ asked me to post this information. May 3, 2012 – borehead, don’t know whether you saw these or not, but these are my written comments to BOEM, feel free to use the comments, they need to be spread around as much as possible. I wrote Have you heard about the slaughter that lies ahead for those marine mammals we’ve been saving? continued
WASHINGTON – April 16, 2013 – Oceana released a new report today showing that marine life and coastal economies along the Atlantic Ocean are threatened by seismic airguns used in testing for offshore oil and gas. continued
By the by, Oceana, This is the trade off for those windmills you like so much! “Smart from the Start”, all of the above strategy of the Obama administration.
Following Fish By PAULA DOBBYN
(SitNews) Hoonah, Alaska – She grew up in Wisconsin farm country. Today, Dodie Lunda of Hoonah is an Eagle, an adopted member of the Kaagwaantaan clan, Wolf House, of Tlingit Indians. Her Tlingit name is Wha a’ hee. continued
BARBARA DURKIN – Your View: Cape Wind offers only empty promises so far. Spanks the communications manager of National Wildlife Federation
Her response to this drivel. Your View: Polluter blockade of New Bedford wind jobs finally falling continued
NWF makes jobs claims on behalf of Cape Wind that are unfounded. For 22 months, from April 1, 2011, to Dec. 31, 2012, the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center Wind Technology Testing Center has created zero jobs, according to the federal government’s Recovery Tracker. The MACEC ratepayer surcharge program is the source of the $13.2 million used to develop the testing center. The center also received a $2 million DOE grant, and funding by U.S. taxpayers through ARRA stimulus of $24.7 million. We have no jobs to show for our $40 million spent. continued
Supporting article by Menakhem Ben-Yami https://fisherynation.com/battlefrontoffshore-wind-industrialization
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SEABURY BLAIR JR. | Elwha too clogged for fish to live
KitsapSun – Two days after I hiked the sandy, rocky desolation that used to be Lake Mills, as many as 200,000 chinook salmon were killed in what has to be one of the biggest blunders in the history of the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife. The year-old salmon were released from the new $16 million Elwha Hatchery run by the state and Lower Elwha Klallam tribe on April 5. Most — if not all — were killed when they tried to swim downstream through the thick gray goop that is the lower Elwha River, created by the removal of two dams built illegally in 1910. continued
About 200 fishermen held a protest at the Golden Shell Fisheries Ltd. crab processing plant in Hickman’s Harbour on Monday. Company’s crab dumped
Protesting fishermen dumped about 30,000 pounds of unprocessed crab into the ocean near a plant in Hickman’s Harbour on Random Island Monday. About 200 of the fishermen showed up outside the Golden Shell Fisheries plant in the Trinity Bay community at about 7 a.m. and blocked workers from going inside. RCMP said the protesters then entered the plant, and stated no crab would be processed on Monday. continued
Federal fisheries managers take another look at bycatch
Federal fisheries managers meeting in Anchorage in early April took final action on replacement of American Fisheries Act vessels and greater quota flexibility for the flatfish fleet, and asked for yet another report on king salmon bycatch. The measure approved by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council was made by Department of Fish and Game Commissioner Cora Campbell. continued
ISSF tuna report now tracks reference points and rules
The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) has unveiled the latest update to its Status of the World Fisheries for Tuna report and it is unprecedentedly tracking the adoption of reference points and harvest control rules (HCRs) for the world’s 23 commercially fished tuna stocks (six albacore, four bigeye, four bluefin, five skipjack and four yellowfin stocks). Lottsa Walmart money behind the scenes! continued
Fish agencies still have concerns about Bay Delta Conservation Plan tunnels
Federal wildlife agencies still have serious concerns about how two giant water diversion tunnels proposed in the Delta may harm imperiled species such as salmon and Delta smelt. In comment letters made public Thursday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service praised Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration for making progress on many concerns they raised in so-called “red flag letters” released last year. But the agencies also said the Bay Delta Conservation Plan still presents a number of major concerns, some of which they labeled “critical.” continued
Group gathers support for Fisheries Investment and Regulatory Relief Act
“How stupid was I?” Still, it was too rough to fish on Monday so he met with a representative of the Pew Environment Group, which supports the bill, for the first of a series of meetings to gather information and support in South Carolina. The Pew Environment Group opposes amending Magnuson-Stevens, he noted. continued
IGFA join Pew Charitable Trusts in Call to Remove Longlines from Gulf of Mexico
The International Game Fish Association has long supported closing the Gulf of Mexico to surface longlines. But in an uncommon collaboration, this position is gaining new momentum as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) prepares a new proposed regulation for the region as early as this month. IGFA has partnered with the American Bluefin Tuna Association and The Pew Charitable Trusts on this effort. continued
Nearly 15,000 seals fill Cape Cod’s beaches as the sea mammal’s population explodes
Nearly 15,000 seals have been drawn to the beaches of Cape Cod, sunning themselves on the New England shores. Aerial pictures of the coast show the sea mammals covering the area in brown. continued
