Daily Archives: October 20, 2013
Poachers thought no one would be monitoring the Federal Vessel Monitoring System during shutdown!
A pair of Florida men face two misdemeanor fishing charges for reportedly fishing within Dry Tortugas National Park on Tuesday — a day the federal government was still shut down. Jailed were James Mooneyham, 48, of Madiera Beach, and James Redden, 43, of Cape Coral. The FWC says one of the reasons for the poaching venture is that the pair thought no one would be monitoring the Federal Vessel Monitoring System due to the government shutdown. more@keysnet 23:27
A Pinch o’ this, and a Dash o’ that – To Fix Climate Change, Scientists Turn To Hacking The Earth – DON”T FORGET THE CALCIUM!
An Experiment With Unclear Results One of the wild things about geoengineering is that even the scientists proposing it don’t really want to do it. The need for it, says Matthew Watson, is just a sign of how bad things are. “That’s why I push the research agenda so hard,” he says. “I’m pretty appalled by the thought of full-scale deployment, but I’m also pretty worried about burying our heads in the sand and not thinking about what that would mean.” more@alaskapublic 21:52
F/V Aleutian Beauty rescued five F/V Western Venture fishermen from a life raft in the Bering Sea Sunday.
The good Samaritans, responding to a Coast Guard issued urgent marine information broadcast, were first on scene about 69 miles west of Adak and rescued the crewmen from the life raft. All five mariners are reportedly in good condition and will transit to Adak aboard the Seattle-based longliner Aleutian Beauty. more@uscgnews 21:16
Coast Guard, good Samaritans respond to radio beacon alert from the 59-foot fishing vessel Western Venture in the Bering Sea Sunday
Coast Guard 17th District command center watchstanders in Juneau received a personal locator beacon alert registered to a crewmember aboard the Kodiak-based Western Venture at about 9:05 a.m. The PLB notification was quickly followed by a second alert from the vessel’s registered EPIRB. The notifications identifed the vessel and indicated the longliner’s position was 69 miles west of Adak. Communication 
with the vessel’s owner revealed the captain of the Western Venture reported a fire aboard the vessel Sunday morning via email. No further communication with the crew by the owner or the Coast Guard was possible. Watchstanders directed the launch of Coast Guard assets. more@uscgnews
Imported seafood? Will North Carolina’s commercial fishermen benefit?
Gov. Pat McCrory and N.C. Department of Commerce Secretary Sharon Decker are tone deaf. They took great pleasure in announcing in a press release Friday that RC Creations LLC, a seafood processing company, would establish a facility in Pender County to import fresh and frozen seafood from around the world (read foreign seafood from Southeast Asia) to create ready-to-eat packaged seafood products that it will ship domestically and internationally. more@carolinacoast 16:00
Price pressures and national pride rankles lobstermen
“Something is seriously wrong, somebody’s getting a whole ton of money,” said Charles McGeoghegan, a Prince Edward Island lobsterman, referring to the wholesale price going down while the retail price at the grocery store has held near $15 per pound. “We know that the fishermen aren’t getting it,” McGeoghegan said. more@upi 15:29
The AquAdvantage “super salmon” “Frankenfish” expected to be approved for sale in the US within the next few weeks
The salmon would be the first GM animal ever approved for human consumption, and has been under development in Massachusetts for 18 years. It is expected to be cleared for sale soon by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and now American supermarkets are coming under increasing pressure to refuse to stock the fish. more@theprovince 14:25
What is really happening in the Gulf? Declining seafood catches and deformities, and a legacy of psychological and social problems
“It’s disturbing what we’re seeing,” Louisiana Oyster Task Force member Brad Robin told Al Jazeera. “We don’t have any more baby crabs, which is a bad sign. We’re seeing things we’ve never seen before.” Robin, a commercial oyster fisherman who is also a member of the Louisiana Government Advisory Board, said that of the sea ground where he has harvested oysters in the past, only 30 percent of it is productive now. “We’re seeing crabs with holes in their shells, other seafood deformities. The state of Louisiana oyster season opened on October 15, and we can’t find any production out there yet. There is no life out there.” more@aljezeera
BP’s silent disaster – 2010 oil spill has left a legacy of psychological and social problems among residents in the impact zone. John Gooding, a fisherman and resident of the coastal city of Pass Christian, Mississippi, began having health problems shortly after the disaster began. He became sicker with each passing month, and moved inland in an effort to escape continuing exposure to the chemicals after being diagnosed with toxic encephalitis. More here 13:27
Fishermen: Canadian gold mine endangers salmon
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A British Columbian gold mine would pollute a major tributary of a Ketchikan fjord, threatening fishing stock and tourism, locals say. They allege the mine’s s massive amounts of water requiring treatment, sludge, tailings, rock and processing would be a “looming train wreck.” more@sfgate 12:08
Lady Washington out of the water is still shipshape – ON THE WATERFRONT WITH DAVID G. SELLARS
The Lady Washington ran aground late Thursday afternoon at the entrance to Westport Marina in Grays Harbor. I understand that it is not an uncommon occurrence for the sailing ship’s 11-foot keel to occasionally disturb a little bottom mud. The mishap occurred close to where the Coast Guard was holding drills and stood by until she freed herself. The Coast Guard then ordered the Lady Washington to Port Angeles for the emergency inspection. more@peninsuladailynews 11:54
Man eats 25 crab claws in 17 min. in Keys contest
Alfredo Munoz of Moses Lake cracked and consumed 25 claws in 17 minutes and 35 seconds during Saturday’s contest that attracted more than 50 competitors at Keys Fisheries restaurant. more@wtsp 11:10
Necropsy finds 5 fish hooks in dolphin in Hawaii
HONOLULU (AP) — A rare dolphin found dead on a remote Hawaii beach earlier this month swallowed five fish hooks, but they apparently didn’t cause its death. A necropsy of the dolphin — called a false killer whale — showed the hooks were floating in its stomach along with the partially digested remains of a large marlin, some tuna and several types of squid. more@gosanangelo 11:05
Missoula and Corvallis high school students help rescue fish during dam repairs
It was a race against the clock. Armed with nets and buckets, nearly 60 Missoula and Corvallis high school students, biologists and other volunteers scrambled to mount an emergency “fish rescue” as engineers upstream worked quickly to choke off the flow of the West Fork of the Bitterroot River in order to make urgent repairs to the 75-year-old Painted Rocks Dam southwest of Darby. more@gilettenewsrecord 10:50
Government shutdown & unissued licenses stalled start of crab season – Diving for dollars – Jobs jump start
Meanwhile, the situation was even worse for small boat crabbers at Kodiak and the Westward region who learned there would not even be a Tanner fishery come January. “It is not unexpected,” said Mark Stichert, a shellfish biologist at ADF&G in Kodiak. “We’ve been seeing a decline in abundance of legal sized or mature male Tanner crab for the last couple of years.” more@sitnews
Rhode Island Fishermen’s Alliance Weekly Update October 20, 2013
“The Rhode Island Fishermen’s Alliance is dedicated to its mission of continuing to help create sustainable fisheries without putting licensed fishermen out of business.” Read the Update 10:36
