Daily Archives: October 30, 2013

Feds accused of ignoring Cohen’s steps to save sockeye

863a4ac9dc_64635696_o2“What was hailed by many as a blueprint to sustain sockeye into the future is starting to look a lot more like a government retreat.” Cohen focused in large part on the potential risk to wild salmon from net pen fish farms and urged transparent sharing of disease data by the farms. more@surryleader 23:15

Leon Circuit Judge Jackie Fulford reaffirmed: Enforcement of ‘net ban’ back off for now

Fulford granted a request by attorneys for the Wakulla Commercial Fisherman’s Association, Panacea bait-and-tackle shop owner Ronald Fred Crum and mullet fishermen Jonas Porter and Keith Ward that she lift an automatic stay of her order triggered when FWC appealed it hours after being issued to the First District Court of Appeals. [email protected] 22:15

Progress of Electronic Monitoring Program Scrutinized

“Cost-effective electronic systems that meet both regulatory and scientific demands are nowhere near deployment,” says Jeff Ruch, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. (Public Employees Union? What’s in it for them?!!) more@fishermensnews 20:31

‘Conman’ Shahin, buyer’s remorse at center of Mar-Lees legal battle, claims Lees

The legal dispute between the shareholders of US scallop supplier  is a case of “buyer’s remorse”, states a legal document from John Lees, who co-founded the company in 1986 and sold 80% to interests controlled by a Lithuanian businessman in September 2010. more@undercurrent 20:07

Wow, man! Crazy, or just plain foolish! – Coast Guard crew terminates unsafe fishing vessel voyage in Navy live fire zone!

uscg-logoA Coast Guard Cutter Petrel boarding team terminated the voyage after they arrived on scene to assist the 28-foot lobster boat High Life that had been disabled for two days due to an electrical problem and discovered the vessel lacked required life-saving and safety equipment. The High Life was inside a safety zone where the U.S. Navy performs live fire exercises, did not have a life raft or a throwable floatation device aboard and was missing a fire extinguisher. The boat also had no working means of communication. more@uscgnews  19:31

NC Division of Marine Fisheries looks to public for funding ideas

One of three Division of Marine Fisheries meetings was held at the New Hanover County Northeast Regional Library to ask the public for ideas for funding its sea turtle monitoring program. The meetings were a requirement mandated by Senate Bill 402, passed earlier in 2013, which provided the division $1.1 million to fund its At-Sea Observer Program. more@luminanews 19:16

Dutch leads in Poundage, New Bedford leads in Dollars – NOAA: 2012 U.S. seafood landings remain near high 2011 levels

U.S. commercial fishermen landed 9.6 billion pounds of fish and shellfish in 2012, valued at $5.1 billion, according to Fisheries of the United States 2012, an annual report released by NOAA today. The value and pounds of fish and shellfish caught remain higher than the average for the previous ten years of 9.2 billion pounds and $4.1 billion, although this represents a small decrease from the high level of landings and value in 2011. [email protected] 18:54

Scary sea stories for Halloween – This is Fish Radio. I’m Stephanie Mangini

FISH-With-Mic-Logo-GRAPHIC-303-x-400-e1360148757522Once again it’s Halloween. Kodiak fishermen shared some of their real life scary stories with Fish Radio. more@fishradio 15:31

It’s 2:17 – 1430 and I’m waiting for the public stakeholders “webinar” hosted by the NEFMC to begin promptly at 1:00 – 1300!

nefmc logoThe NEFMC has contracted an economic analysis of the Northeast multispecies (groundfish) fishery with the economic consulting firm Compass Lexecon. The purpose is to provide the NEFMC with an analysis that would help determine whether there are excessive shares of fishery access privileges in the multispecies fishery, and if so, what form those excessive shares take. Now, this might not interest everyone, but I’m interested n listening to the webinar that has kept me waiting! I can’t wait to hear why this well publicized webinar about this important issue is not being broadcast! BH Link 14:25

New Global Policy Effort to Tackle Crisis of Plastic Litter in Oceans Urged

Plastic litter is one of the most significant problems facing the world’s marine environments. Yet in the absence of a coordinated global strategy, an estimated 20 million tons of plastic litter enter the ocean each year. [email protected] 13:47

UPDATED: Maine’s elver-fishing industry could be affected by new regulations – harvest to be cut by 25% in 2014

The American Eel Management Board of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is meeting Wednesday in Georgia to discuss and possibly vote on new regulations. Options range from maintaining the status quo to imposing quotas to closing the fishery. more@kennebecjournal 12:12  new info here

Boat of the Week from TriNav Marine Brokerage Inc. – 50′ Kustom Fiberglass Industries Crab/Shrimp Vessel

5290_05

Specifications here  11:49

Fisherman medevaced from F/V Jeanette near Kiribati

uscg-logoHONOLULU — The Coast Guard medically evacuated a crewmember from a fishing vessel located approximately 280 miles southwest of Kanton Island, Kiribati, Tuesday. more@uscgnews 07:03

Sea Squirt Invasion in Bay of Fundy being investigated

Biologists Benedikte Vercaemer and Dawn Sephton, with Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s Aquatic Invasive Species program, are looking for creatures that can clog a harbour or shut down a business. The scientists have been gathering the invasive species in plastic collector plates that have been hanging under wharves at 18 sites around southwest New Brunswick since the spring. more@cbcnews 06:47

Owners of Mar-Lees Seafood suing founder and former owner, John Lees Jr – alleging racketeering and kickback scheme

The owning company, Delaware-based Seafood Development, published detailed accounts of its allegations in a civil suit in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts on 25 October. In it, the suit named Lees, Mar-Lees Rhode-Island based attorney, Michael Sweeney, Massachusetts-based seafood company NorAtlantic 21 and New Jersey-based Blue Sea Products as co-conspirators. more@seafoodsource  06:36

Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey take different tacks on fishing aid

gdt iconWarren sees the road to Saltonstall-Kennedy reform going through the ongoing reauthorization process for the over-arching Magnuson-Stevens Act that governs and regulates the nation’s fisheries and fishing industry. Markey’s preference is to pursue Saltonstall-Kennedy reform through the appropriations process for the Department of Commerce, rather than through filing a bill. more@GDT 00:26