Daily Archives: August 22, 2013
Report: Record tuna catch in 2012
MAJURO, Marshall Islands — Tuna catches in the western Pacific hit record levels in 2012 and coincided with record global market prices that bumped the value of the fishery to an all-time high of over $4 billion, according to a report presented to the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission’s scientific committee that met in Pohnpei last week. And an increase in U.S.-flagged purse seiners fishing has resulted in a “sharp increase” in catch. more@islandbusiness 22:34
NMFS/ Pacific Fishery Management Council Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), 2015-2016 Groundfish Specifications
On August 22, 2013, NMFS and the Pacific Fishery Management Council announced their intent to prepare an EIS in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 to analyze the long-term impacts on the human (biological, physical, social, and economic) environment of setting harvest specifications (including [email protected] NMFS will be accepting written, faxed or emailed comments 21:05
In Canada, Maine Lobstermen Get Both A Rival And A Tutor
There’s nothing quite like the sweet, succulent taste of Maine lobster. And fishermen off the state’s rocky coastline have been catching more and more of the tasty crustacean over the past five years. But that surging supply has overwhelmed Maine’s limited marketing and processing capabilities and driven down the prices paid to lobstermen. more@npr 20:38
Fisheries Survival Fund takes aim at yellowtail flounder stock assessments that are “deeply flawed” and unsuitable for use as a regulatory tool.
The Fisheries Survival Fund wrote to NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) Director Dr. Bill Karp. It said the uncertainty factor in the assessments is so great that they are effectively useless. more@southcoasttoday 20:27
Crossing the Bar – The legend of Canadian Fishing Company skipper Benny Lagos runs in the tide now.
The legend of skipper Benny Lagos runs in the tide now. For more than seven decades Lagos was one of the top performing skippers for the Canadian Fishing Company in a career that began in a rowboat and ended on a fully-powered seiner. On Monday, following a brief illness, Lagos died in Campbell River. He was 99. His father was a fisherman and so was his grandfather Rosalio who took the boy gillnetting up to Johnstone Strait when he was just eight or nine years old. more@campbellrivermirror 19:35
Crossing the Bar – Alfred Lord Tennyson
Sunset and evening star, And one clear call for me! And may there be no moaning of the bar, When I put out to sea,
But such a tide as moving seems asleep, Too full for sound and foam, When that which drew from out the boundless deep Turns again home.
Twilight and evening bell, And after that the dark! And may there be no sadness of farewell, When I embark;
For tho’ from out our bourne of Time and Place The flood may bear me far, I hope to see my Pilot face to face When I have crossed the bar.
What boats fish where in Alaska – and where they call home – Alaska Fish Radio
Many people are surprised to learn that 80 percent of Alaska’s seafood landings come from federal waters, meaning from three to 200 miles offshore. Management oversight falls to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council and they’ve compiled a user friendly booklet profiling the fishing fleets through 2010, with an addendum for 2011 that includes names of every boat. more@alaskafishradio 16:16
Farthest north yet: Dead ‘leaping’ carp found north of Winona, Minnesota
A worker with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service discovered the 30-inch-long carcass on Aug. 9 atop a concrete abutment just below Lock and Dam 5, about 20 miles farther upstream than the previous northernmost instance of a silver carp on the river, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) said. The dam is about 110 miles south of St. Paul.more@startribune 16:06
Food Source for Whales, Seals and Penguins at Risk: Warming Antarctic Seas Likely to Impact On Krill Habitats
Krill are known to be sensitive to sea temperature, especially in the areas where they grow as adults. This has prompted scientists to try to understand how they might respond to the effects of further climate change. more@sciencedaily 14:02
U.S. Department of Justice seeks to join Maine tribal lawsuit over the enforcement of fishing regulations by the State of Maine
The tribe seeks to stop Maine game wardens from policing the river and preventing tribal members from engaging in sustenance fishing. “The nation’s jurisdiction over sustenance fishing by its members in the Penobscot River is an exercise of its inherent sovereign authority, as a matter of federal law, and it remained intact; it has never been surrendered by treaty or by an act of Congress,” the lawsuit claimed. more@bdn 13:51
Fishery business spans five generations of Dixon family
Jim Dixon was 14 years old when he started working in the holding ponds at Dixon Fisheries in East Peoria. Today he is president of a business that launched in 1896 and now is heading into its fifth generation of family members on the job. more@journalstar 13:38
A 160-kilogram mola mola fish has washed up on a beach in St. Andrews New Brunswick – Numerous sightings of the tropical sunfish reported in the Bay of Fundy
A 160-kilogram mola mola fish has washed up on a beach in St. Andrews, leading researchers to believe changing water temperatures in the Bay of Fundy may be more inviting to the creatures. The ocean sunfish is normally found in much warmer tropical waters around the world. more@cbcnews 11:43
The Mouth of The Kenai – The Redoubt Reporter: This is a two part story about the history of clamming on the Kenai Peninsula.
This is part one – Almanac: Clamoring for clams — Cook Inlet clam popularity spans history. Fish Wars: The EU condemns Faroe Islands and Iceland to poverty
Deplorable decision It is deplorable that Commissioner Damanaki, a left-wing socialist politician, accepted to condemn two helpless tiny democracies from their basic source of income. Possibly, there is much truth in EU allegations for overfishing of herring and mackerel in the North Atlantic. But it’s not only Faroe and Iceland fishermen the only culpable parties. more@europeansting 10:42
Hoopa tribe protests Westlands water cuts in Fresno – “This is how people make a living, off of commercial fishing and also they eat it,”
A Native American tribe from Northern California came to Fresno Wednesday. They want a federal judge to allow an increase in the flow of the Trinity River to protect one of the largest salmon runs in history. The protestors outside the Federal Courthouse in Fresno on Wednesday were members of the Hoopa tribe. They came nearly 500 miles from their reservation near Eureka to make their voices heard. more@kfsn 10:21
How 1933 hurricane carved a lifeline for Ocean City, Md. – Storm ravaged area but created an inlet, 80 years ago today
Eighty years ago today the Great Hurricane of 1933 was ravaging Worcester County. It had rained for days, and the coastal bays were swollen and full. Just when it seemed things couldn’t get worse, a monumental event occurred. more@delawreonline 10:00
Fluke Time
If you love eating fresh-caught fluke you should rush to the fish market and buy it today. Today is the last day commercial fishermen are permitted to land and sell fluke. After today the only options are to catch it yourself or befriend a recreational angler. Fluke, also called summer flounder, is a Vineyard success story. more@vineyardgazette 09:49
CSULB Shark Lab study: young great whites surviving fishing nets
Marine biologists at Cal State Long Beach have released a study showing that young great white sharks accidentally caught in commercial fishing gillnets have a high rate of survival. more@presstelegram 09:41
New England: Call for boats – Please forward and/or reply
Open Ocean Trading Looking for boats: Umass / Wellesly Contract – All Sector Managers/Vessels, We are now looking to fill some larger orders over the next 4 months, with a possible extension of another 4 months. We need approximately 20,000lbs of round fish from a select group of boats monthly. The exact pricing details are found on our platform and all fish will be delivered to an auction or your current unloader. Depending on the unloading/trucking there is .16cent to .40cent incentive for the fish to be delivered direct to Portland, ME. Read more here 09:31
New EPA chief to visit Alaska over controversial mine proposal
New Environmental Protection Agency chief Gina McCarthy plans to visit the site of Alaska’s proposed Pebble Mine next week as she decides whether to block the massive project to protect one of the world’s last big runs of wild salmon. more@startelegram 09:03
