Daily Archives: December 2, 2013
Electronic fish data monitoring considered – Presentation at SAFMC Meeting
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is weighing the pros and cons of transitioning to an electronic monitoring system for federally managed fisheries, according to a presentation given Monday at a meeting of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council at the Hilton Riverside in Wilmington. “There have been people looking at this for a while,” said George Lapointe, an independent consultant and former commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources. more@starnewsonline 22:13
The Fisheries Broadcast One Hour Phone in Special
One hour phone-in special Host Jamie Baker is joined by Jim Wellman, the managing editor for Navigator magazine and former host of The Fisheries Broadcast – as well as Jim Winter; former host, and the founding president of the Canadian Sealers Association. Who should do fishery science? Chefs, American chefs interloping in seal issues, The endangered cod? The hypocrisy of the EU stance on the seal hunt is astoundingly absurd. more@fisheriesbroadcast 20:49
Cape Wind project faces Dec. 31 deadline
BOSTON (AP) — As it seeks investors, a project off the Massachusetts coast that aims to be the nation’s first offshore wind farm must reach fast-approaching benchmarks or risk missing out on hundreds of millions in critical funding. To qualify for a tax credit that would cover a major portion of its capital costs, Cape Wind either must begin construction by Dec. 31 or prove it’s incurred tens of millions of dollars in costs by then. Also, a $200 million investment — the only one of a specific dollar amount Cape Wind has announced — is conditioned on whether developers can fully finance the rest of the project by year’s end. more@bostonglobe 20:35
The Daily Astorian – Editorial: Bring back the lowly chum
Creating a niche fishery makes sense and is good for the ecosystem Who would eat dog? Perhaps many more of us should, though not in the form of Rover but rather dog, chum or keta salmon, as the species has variously been known over the years. On the U.S. West Coast as a whole, commercial landings of chum were 149.9 million pounds in 2012, a 46 percent gain over 2011. But these catches certainly weren’t made in the Columbia River, where only two residual populations remain after decades of deliberate extermination efforts and habitat losses. more@thedailyastorian 18:10
Scalloping season kicks off along Maine coast in three zones from Kittery to Lubec
Maine scallop fishermen are kicking off a season that’ll last 70 days along most of the coast. But fishermen in the scallop-rich waters of Cobscook Bay along the Canadian border in far eastern Maine will be limited to a 50-day season. The season opened Monday in three zones from Kittery to Lubec. more@portlandpress
Boat of the Week from the Athearn Agency: 45′ Guimond Fiberglass Tuna/Lobster/Charter – Twin Cummins 6CTA8.3L’s
Specifications and information here 14:31
Meet the fisherman: Scott Nolan – fishing for sea clams
“It used to be a bigger fishery,” Scott says of sea clamming. “There used to be 100 to 150 boats fishing for them at one time and then after they went to this quota system in the early 90s, the boats started disappearing because of what they call consolidation, where these big companies ended up owning most of the quota and all of the small independent guys got out of the business. Now it’s down to around 50 boats fishing for sea clams in federal water.” Scott is able to fish for sea clams because he leases quota from the Cape Cod Fisheries Trust more@wickedlocal 12:52
Marlees Seafood – A promising marriage has soured into a dock fight
Three years ago, John Lees was looking to expand his seafood business in New Bedford. Prices for scallops were skyrocketing and Lees sensed the time was ripe to make a big move. So it appeared fortuitous when, seemingly out of nowhere, a Lithuanian business tycoon offered to buy a majority stake in Lee’s company, Marlees Seafood, which the veteran fisherman founded 27 years ago out of the back of his car. “They told me they wanted to buy up the entire industry,” Lees recalled of the offer from Julius Numavicius, whose family members are owners of a holding company with retail interests throughout Europe. “I was looking at becoming a big part of something. This was going to give me the scale that I believed I needed.” more@bostonglobe 13:01
INFORMATION UPDATE: New Webinar Information for SBA/USDA Presentation today at 3pm
Baker | Fisheries issues and stories rolling like caplin
Quite often when you sit down to hammer out a few words about the fishery, or any topic for that matter, it’s sometimes tough to find a suitable topic. For example, there’s the myriad of issues around the huge and concerning free trade deal with Europe. The World Trade Organization upholding the seal product ban in Europe. There’s a $400 million pool of fish money in place. The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) wants cod and redfish labelled endangered at a time when all the science says they’re on the comeback. more@cbcnews
The passing of Arthur “Artie” James Odlin – Fisherman, Father of Fishermen, Grand Dad to many
SOUTH PORTLAND – Arthur ‘Artie’ James Odlin died peacefully on Nov. 26, 2013, surrounded by his loving family. Artie was born in Sept. 1932 in Cape Elizabeth, the son of Marie Bowden and Charles Odlin. Artie married Dorothy Jordan on Sept. 5, 1953. Together they raised a family of eight children in a loving and noisy home in South Portland. At the age of 14 Artie began working on Portland’s waterfront. While Artie was primarily a draggerman, he worked in almost every fishery. He lobstered, long-lined for swordfish, shrimped, gill-netted, and purse-seined. Artie was the captain of at least 10 fishing trawlers. more@portlandpress
Save the research vessel John N. Cobb – A part of NW fishing science could be lost
On Feb. 26, 1962, Charles R. “Bob” Hitz volunteered for his first assignment as chief scientist aboard the John N. Cobb, a 93-foot wooden-hulled research vessel operated by the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries. He was 29 years old and had worked for the bureau two years. Departing Seattle, he and nearly a dozen other crew and scientists motored out of the Strait of Juan de Fuca to the mouth of the Columbia River to take samples of fish for the Atomic Energy Commission. The AEC wanted to know whether fish in the Pacific Ocean had picked up radioactive material from the Hanford nuclear plants hundreds of miles upriver. more@crosscut 07:35
