Monthly Archives: September 2013
Got lobster? Maine industry to boost marketing (see related “Lobster band pushes Atlantic Canada brand”) posted earlier
California has its raisins, Florida its oranges and Vermont has maple syrup. Now, Maine’s lobster industry is trying to market its brand more broadly and increase sales of the state’s best-known seafood. The annual marketing budget for lobsters will increase more than six-fold to $2.2 million under a law taking effect in October, launching what some call a new era for the industry. more@portlandpress 22:13
Coast Guard assists F/V Terry Lee in distress off Jones Inlet, N.Y.
Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound watchstanders received a “mayday” call on VHF-FM Channel 16 from the Terry Lee, a 46-foot commercial fishing vessel, at 9:35 p.m. The vessel’s operator reported they were disabled and rapidly taking on water approximately 1 mile east of Jones Inlet, N.Y. through a ruptured pipe below decks and needed assistance. more@uscgnews 20:13
NOAA receives thousands of comments on catch sharing plan
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration–Fisheries officials estimated thousands of comments were received on the proposed halibut Catch Sharing Plan. The comment period closed Aug. 26. Officials are reviewing comments and haven’t determined a final number. more@peninsulaclarion18:35
Thai fishing industry criticised for forced labour and violence – Why is our government allowing Thailand seafood to compete with ours?
Seventeen per cent of the mainly undocumented Myanmar and Cambodian fishermen surveyed were forced to work under threat of financial penalty, violence or denunciation to the authorities according to the UN agency. Max Tunon the ILO senior program officer says the study find serious abuses within the sector, “the vast majority of workers were in irregular status and thus more vulnerable to exploitation”. Thailand is the world’s third largest fish exporter by value, with sales worth around $7 billion a year. more@abcnetau 17:08
Not Your Average Drifters – Plankton, Part I – by Casey Diederich
“Plankton” is a term that comes from the Greek meaning “wanderer” and was coined to describe any organism that doesn’t have the ability to swim against the water current. So, technically, even some very large animals like jellies are members of the plankton, but most planktonic organisms are very small, and as the title suggests, the best things come in small packages. more@neoo 16:26
Lobster Shell Disease Expanding North; One of Several Diseases of Marine Organisms Causing Worry
“And it’s not just lobsters that are battling diseases,” she noted. “We’ve got clam disease, oyster disease, an eelgrass disease, striped bass disease, scallop disease, and a starfish disease, too. Recently we received a report of increased parasites in bluefin tuna. With changing temperature regimes, the ocean is so confused and it’s providing so much conflicting information.” more@newswise 16:09
Alaska Commercial Catch a Record-Breaker
The statewide commercial fisheries catch this year was a record-breaking 260 million, with most of that caught in southeast Alaska. The previous record was 221 million in 2005. more@thestate 16:03
Your letters: Antibacterial soap can kill fish: Triclosan kills algae, phytoplankton and beneficial bacteria in lakes and rivers and it paralyzes fish.
I at one time was a fisheries biologist for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and retired as a fisheries biologist for the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, Area 7 Southcentral Region. more from BOB ROSCINSKI 15:55
Salmon habitat project begins on American River today near River Bend Park in Sacramento
The project involves spreading gravel in the riverbed so migrating wild Chinook salmon have more room to create “redds”, or nests for their eggs. The goal is to replenish gravel that would have naturally washed downstream, but has been blocked for decades by Folsom and Nimbus dams. more@sacbee 15:47
Lobster band pushes Atlantic Canada brand – Atlantic Canadian lobster have higher protein, are heartier and travel better,”
Patrick Swim wants the world to know that the best lobsters come from Atlantic Canada. “Atlantic Canadian lobster have higher protein, are heartier and travel better,” said the founder of Canadian Atlantic Lobster Inc. of Bedford in an interview Friday. Really?!!! “The purpose (of the band) is to create an awareness of the Canadian lobster, to identify that it is different.” more@chronicleherald 15:15
Northeast region: Change to Days-at-Sea Program Point of Contact and Information Hotline
If you fish under one of the days-at-sea (DAS) programs in the Northeast region (multispecies, monkfish, or sea scallop), NOAA Fisheries wants you to know that, effective immediately, the phone number to call for all DAS services (usage, corrections, etc.) is now 978-281-9234. NMFS Bulletin 14:46
2 Men Found Guilty of Commercial Fishing Violations
A couple of commercial fishermen were found guilty of violations last week in Naknek. 46-year old Sergie Chukwak of Naknek was cited by the State Troopers for fishing during a closed period near Naknek and he was found guilty of that charge during a bench trial on August 26th in the Naknek District Court. more@kdlg 14:41
Breakfast welcomes Maine’s new lobstermen’s union
The state’s newest labor union was celebrated Monday during the Southern Maine Labor Council’s annual Labor Day breakfast at the Irish Heritage Center. Rock Alley of Jonesport, president of the new Maine Lobstermen’s Union, said he was overwhelmed by the support lobster fishermen across the state have received as they pushed forward their grassroots effort to organize.more@portlandpress 10:26
The International Joint Commission seeks tough rules to reduce Lake Erie algae
The U.S. and Canada should crack down on sources of phosphorus runoff blamed for a rash of harmful algae blooms on Lake Erie, an advisory agency said Thursday. The algae produce harmful toxins and contribute to oxygen-deprived “dead zones” where fish cannot survive. more@marshfieldnewsherald 09:53
Harper Government is committed to improving small craft harbours in New Brunswick
The Honourable Rob Moore, Minister of State (Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency), Regional Minister for New Brunswick and Member of Parliament for Fundy Royal, on behalf of the Honourable Gail Shea, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, today recognized an important Government of Canada investment in a wharf reconstruction project at Black River Harbour, more@financialcontent 09:40
Scads of squid-North Shore experiencing second year of boom
It’s the second summer of a squid population explosion, from the Cape to Southern Maine, said Michael Armstrong, assistant director of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries’ Gloucester field station. “We’ve always had them (long fin squid), but in less numbers,” Armstrong said. “Their abundance is through the roof … It’s even more pronounced this year.” more@salemnews 09:24
A fishy situation at the top of the world – With climate change opening up the Arctic, a pact regulating commercial fishing in the region is urgently needed
The Arctic Ocean is now threatened by the “tragedy of the commons”, a phenomenon in which self-interested behaviour by multiple actors results in the exhaustion of shared resources. more@aljazeera 07:23
R.I. fishermen turn to digital tools to help survey of lobster catches
Thick fog obscures all but the lower towers of the Claiborne Pell Bridge as Al Eagles throttles down the Catherine Ann and drifts up to one of his pink buoys on this August morning. He’s about to do what he’s been doing since he was 10 years old: pull on a line until a lobster trap sitting on the bottom is up on the gunwale with the day’s catch. Over the years, Eagles, 63, has gone from a 14-foot skiff and hand-hauled single wooden traps he fished as a boy to a 43-foot boat with a motorized winch to bring aboard sets of 20 plastic pots strung along trawl lines. more@providencejournal 03:28
Alaska Fish Radio – Connecting Alaskas Communities to Their Working Waterfronts
I’m Stephanie Mangini. Connecting Alaskas working waterfronts, Farmers began a trend when they started Community Supported Agriculture programs on the East coast. Fishermen quickly caught onto the concept developing their own Community Supported Fisheries . The Alaska Marine Conservation Councils Executive Director Kelly Harrell explains . .listen@fishradio 21:32
29th Gloucester’s Schooner Festival 2013 – photos by Donna Ardizzoni
It rained briefly on the Parade of Sail. But nothing could dampen the enthusiasm of the skippers and sailors who turned out over the weekend for the 29th annual Gloucester Schooner Festival — or for the spectators who lined Stacy Boulevard and other parts of Gloucester’s waterfront to see these historic, graceful marine vessels sail through and out of Gloucester Harbor Sunday. more@GDT
With all the activities we have in this wonderful community, I think the Schooner Festival is my favorite. Just beautiful. Donna Ardizonni photos@gmg 20:41
This is Fish Radio. I’m Laine Welch – Halibut boats needed for surveys next year – 390 new survey spots added
Halibut scientists plan to expand the yearly stock assessments by 30% next summer, adding 390 survey stations to the existing 1,300. The stations are located coast wide from Oregon to the Bering Sea. Since 1998 the halibut surveys have been done in a depth range of 20 to 275 fathoms where most of the fishing was taking place. But that’s been changing. listen@fishradio 15:17
Baker | Aquaculture is a risky racket … but isn’t everything?
I’ll never forget the first time I laid eyes on a fish farm. It was an experimental cod grow out operation in Trinity Bay, and it was a polarizing thing to be sure. The moratorium was still fresh on everyone’s minds, and there was a real fear at the time that we might never see a codfish again, never mind eat one. And yet here was this small cod grow out right in the harbour, easily viewed with the naked eye from shore. more@cbcews 11:14
New Ocean Forecast Could Help Predict Fish Habitat Six Months in Advance
Being able to predict future phytoplankton blooms, ocean temperatures and low-oxygen events could help fisheries managers,” said Samantha Siedlecki, a research scientist at the UW-based Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean. more@sciencedaily 10:37
Maine tidal power company awarded $5 million in federal grant money (comments reflect skepticism)
One of the U.S. Department of Energy grants was worth $1.9 million and will help the company develop new ways to monitor tidal current, according to Pingree’s office. The other grant, about $3 million, will be used to help fund development of more efficient generator equipment. more@bdn 10:27
Japan considering dumping Fukushima’s radioactive water into the Pacific
There are over 1,000 tanks on-site containing the water, and one has already leaked 300 tons. Water near one tank has radiation levels 18 times higher than previously reported. more@euronews 09:31
Shell pleased with early seismic data – Company doing 3D mapping of Shelburne Basin
That data, gathered over 88 days of exploration, is very preliminary, said Lalonde. It covers about 10,000 square kilometres of the basin and will take the better part of a year to process. “We probably will not have a clearer picture until about May,” he said. But at that point, Shell will be much closer to its goal of identifying prime locations to drill wells sometime in the second quarter of 2015, said Lalonde. more@chronicleherald 08:45
DAVID G. SELLARS ON THE WATERFRONT: Port Angeles-made vessel destined to be floating classroom
Armstrong Marine, the aluminum boat fabricator on U.S. Highway 101 midway between Port Angeles and Sequim, launched Coastal Explorer last week. For the past three weeks, the displacement catamaran was stowed in the large building at the Port Angeles Boatyard, where personnel attended to a countless number of details prior to her going into the water. Jason Minnoch, who works in Armstrong’s sales department, said the vessel, which is 54 feet long with an 18-foot beam, is a floating classroom built for Coastal Carolina University in Myrtle Beach, S.C. more@pdn 08:32
Global shrimp prices jump
A new plague swimming through the shrimp farms of China and South-East Asia is making ripples in the United States and Europe, where prawn prices have jumped to record highs in recent months. more@bangkokpost 08:08
