Monthly Archives: December 2013
Cape Wind seals turbine deal – Trying to pass it off as “construction” Using your money to destroy Nantucket Sound.
Just days before an important deadline to qualify for crucial federal tax credits, Cape Wind has signed a deal with Siemens to build the project’s turbines and an electric service platform to convert its power for transmission. The contract formalizes an announcement three years ago that Siemens would build the 3.6-megawatt turbines for the proposed Nantucket Sound wind farm but does little to mollify critics of the project, who argue it’s a desperate attempt to qualify for the tax incentives. Read more@capecodonline 08:57
Northern Shrimp: first casualty of New England warming water? – Tragically, the answer is maybe
The Gulf of Maine is the southernmost extent of the range for this cold water species and the water in the Gulf has been getting warmer since the 1960s (see graph). Shrimp require specific water temperature and chemistry during spawning and for larval shrimp survival. In the past, shrimp success has been lower during warm water events in the Gulf of Maine. It is possible that the warming trend in the Gulf of Maine is causing spawning events to not occur or to have very low survival rates for larval shrimp. Read more@workingwaterfront 08:36
The fate of the $150 million in federal disaster aid still in limbo at year’s end
The Christmas season will come and go before fishermen and fishing communities discover the fate of the $150 million in federal disaster aid they seek in the final fiscal 2014 federal budget. Read more @GDT 08:25
Council for Sustainable Fishing applauds proposed Magnuson-Stevens Act reforms offered by House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Hastings
The legislation would, among other things, increase the time period for regional fishery management councils to end overfishing from 2 to 3 years, give the councils the flexibility to institute fishery rebuilding plans that extend beyond the existing 10 year mandate, and allow consideration of ecosystem changes and the economic needs of fishing communities in establishing annual catch limits. Read More @sustainablefishing.org 22:21
David Matthew Geissen, 21,Danbury,Tx. indicted for sending false distress signal
HOUSTON — David Matthew Geissen, 21, has been arrested following the return of an indictment alleging he communicated a false distress message to the Coast Guard, announced United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson. If convicted, Geissen faces up to six years in federal prison as well as a possible $250,000 maximum fine. Read more @uscgnews 21:04
American Samoa Government Asked To Subsidize Longline Fleet, a significant contributor to the local economy
PAGO PAGO, American Samoa (The Samoa News, Dec. 22, 2013) – On behalf of the ASG Shipyard Service Authority board, chairman David Robinson recently proposed to the Governor’s Office a fuel subsidy or further reduction in fuel costs to help the American Samoa longline fleet, which is facing low prices received for their catches. READ [email protected] 17:59
EMS is easy; AK fishermen will shape the program
This is Fish Radio. I’m Laine Welch – It’s the fishermen who will shape Alaska’s electronic monitoring. More after this – Listen, and READ more@fishradio 17:24
NOAA Fisheries (psuedonym) working to improve fisheries data quality
The Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI), Portland, Maine, in partnership with the School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST), Dartmouth, Massachusetts, will help NOAA Fisheries NMFS by conducting a survey of external data users and others interested in contributing to improving our data systems. READ [email protected] 12:35
Audit finds lax controls in spending BP money by La. seafood board
BATON ROUGE — A scathing state audit, released Monday morning, points to possible improper spending by the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board. The report said that the board’s former executive director Ewell Smith approved payments for sponsorship events “in excess of the limits previously authorized by the board.” In one case, the audit claims Smith more than doubled a $200,000 sponsorship of the recent Super Bowl held in the Louisiana Superdome without board approval. READ [email protected] 11:54
Fishermen in life raft rescued off Sable Island
Four Canso fishermen were rescued early Sunday after spending about five hours in a life raft off Sable Island. Another fishing vessel came to the rescue of the Gentle Lady, a small fishing vessel owned by Larrys River-based W.T. Grover Fisheries Ltd. The Gentle Lady couldn’t be saved, company director Thomas Grover said Sunday. “We’re just very happy that everybody’s coming home safely,” he said. At 1:30 p.m., he had spoken only briefly to the four fishermen, who are all in their 40s or 50s, he said. They are longtime employees of the company. READ more@chronicleherald 10:02
UMass Dartmouth plays integral part in booming scallop business
Our beloved scallop, the biggest and best in the world, is right off our coast, waiting to make our lives better. The scallop — or placopecten magellanicus — keeps New Bedford the most profitable fishing port in the United States. Those riches wash all over southeastern Massachusetts. Scallops grow on the sandy bottom of Georges Bank, a rise in the sea floor that runs from Maine to New Jersey. The bank starts 20 miles offshore and runs 200 miles out in the ocean. There was a moratorium on fishing for several species, including scallops, after stocks plummeted on Georges Bank in the late 1990s. By 2000, fishermen believed scallops had made a comeback, so they enlisted UMass Dartmouth for help. READ [email protected] 02:13
Filling Christmas Eve Tables A Labor Of Love For Shellfish Harvesters
Many Connecticut families will enjoy the Feast of the Seven Fishes on Christmas Eve, thanks to the 40 or so shellfish harvesters licensed in the state. Among them are the workers at G&B Shellfish Farm Inc., a multigenerational business in Stratford founded by Gary and Barbara Salce more than 20 years ago. Read [email protected] 21:27
More massive tar mats from BP oil spill discovered on Louisiana beaches
“I’ve been told by the ocean experts this stuff could hang out there on the bottom of the Gulf for more than 100 years. And as long as it’s out there, it can come ashore,” said Robert Barham, Secretary of the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, in 2010. “We might not see big black waves, but we may be seeing a smaller, but serious problem, for years and years to come.” The accuracy of that prediction is visible once again on the Lafourche Parish beach between Elmer’s Island and Port Fourchon, where a line of mud haulers waits to collect BP oil being unearthed by giant excavators digging just yards from the Gulf waves. READ [email protected] 19:27
Recieved from Johnny Mann, Hooper Bay western Alaska
Message Body: Hello my name is Johnny Mann from Hooper Bay western Alaska, we fish for halibut from 50 feet of shore to where every the waters permit us to go. We are under csp which I know reading from iphc.int that does not have enough concrete evidence of the biomass/ density on the floor of our region without the set line surveys and fisherman data as our southern regions. As 44 thousand in 03,04 were tagged we have not caught one halibut of that survey. Then in 09 200 were tagged again same result not even one caught in our region 4e. Our northern community scammony bay 40 miles north east of us catches there halibut three weeks later northwest of us about 20 plus miles of us. Migratory route?? We need set line surveys and fisherman data for the concrete evidence on biomass/density of our halibut. Thank you, Johnny. 13:11
4 C/FV Gentle Lady fishermen rescued from life raft off Sable Island – C/FV Ocean Concord picked up crew who are all safe
The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre with assistance from a fishing vessel has rescued four people from a life raft about 70 nautical miles east of Sable Island. Capt. Peter Ryan, with JRCC, said the call for help came in around 4 a.m. Sunday. Read more@cbcnews 12:41
Washington State officials shutting down geoduck tract to harvesting
OLYMPIA — State officials Friday shut down commercial geoduck clam harvesting on 135 acres of state-owned aquatic land while they investigate toxicity concerns that prompted China to ban West Coast shellfish. Read more@PDN 12:11
Coast Guard urges harvesters to fish safely
It is no secret that commercial fishing is a dangerous way to make a living, or that cold weather ups the level of risk. Between March 2009 and January 2010, three draggers, the All American, the Bottom Basher and the Miss Priss, were lost in Cobscook Bay while dragging either for urchins or scallops. Five fishermen lost their lives in the first two sinkings. Fortunately, another dragger fishing in the area of the Miss Priss rescued her crew of three. Last week, the Coast Guard issued a safety warning to remind fishermen of the risks of towing scallop and urchin drags from a point high above the deck. Read more@fenceviewer 11:46
Rhode Island Fishermen’s Alliance Weekly Update DECEMBER 22, 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 11:33
Mother grieves for Westbrook sailor who fell off fishing vessel
Barbara A. Foster always dreaded the possibility the ocean could one day claim her son, and Friday she got the call she feared — 47-year-old Martin Gorham had been lost in the rough winter seas off Cape Ann. Read more@bdn 11:27
Coast Guard instructors ensure federal fisheries enforcement consistency in Alaska
In the middle of the Bering Sea, from the perspective of a 25-foot Coast Guard small boat, only two things can been seen in the vast ocean besides waves and birds: the Coast Guard cutter you launched from, and the fishing vessel you are headed to. The step aboard the fishing vessel is a dangerous one. Body armor, dry suits and a utility belt full of gear encumber law enforcement officers as they conduct a boarding. They must time the swell correctly so they are not injured moving between the two ships. Read [email protected] 09:47
Our View: Complex fisheries need the best minds
The New England groundfishery is a disaster. Conservationists know it, the federal government knows it, processors, shipyards and supply houses know it. And nobody knows it like fishermen do. The source of the disaster can be summed up in a word: Complexity. Around every corner in the quest to manage the groundfishery lurks another tangled issue. Fishery managers declare catch limits that are little better than arbitrary because our definitions of overfishing are at odds, a condition created by murky, imprecise language in the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery and Conservation Management Act, further complicated by the inability to agree on the size of the fishery, its relative vitality, the impact of warming and acidifying oceans, the number of fish versus the size of the fish, the role of economics and management mechanisms “¦ you get the idea. Dr. Brian Rothschild points out in the policy paper,,Read more@southcoasttoday 09:31
Crew of the 73-foot F/V Carolina Girl 3 rescued after running aground in the St. Johns river entrance, Jacksonville, Fla.
Watchstanders in the Coast Guard Sector Jacksonville command center were notified of the incident via a “Mayday” call coming from the crew of the 73-foot fishing vessel Carolina Girl 3. The mariners stated the vessel had run aground on the north side of the jetties of the St. Johns River entrance and was taking on water. Read more@uscgnews 07:03
American Samoa longline fleet to post all fishing vessels for sale as the future of this fishery or support for the fishery does not seem imminent.
Owners of longliners in the territory say they have made their concerns known to Governor Lolo Moliga since February of this year. In a press release issued yesterday the boat owners said a consensus to tie up all of the American Samoa longline fleet was reached at a meeting between vessel owners last Thursday. Read [email protected] 23:56
Divers brave chilly Down East waters for scallops
EASTPORT, Maine — The sun is rising above Campobello Island as the Shelby Lee and Drusilla L. and a skiff motor their way to the other side of the breakwater from their mooring. Read more@bdn 23:25
NOAA: Coastal ocean aquaculture can be environmentally sustainable
“We did this study because of concerns that putting marine finfish farms in the coastal ocean could have adverse effects on the environment,” said Dr. James Morris, NCCOS ecologist. “We found that, in cases where farms are appropriately sited and responsibly managed, impacts to the environment are minimal to non-existent.” Read [email protected] 20:04
California fishers say quota system is all wet – criticizing the “catch shares” system
Jiri Nozicka says a federal quota system enacted to protect both fish and the commercial fishing industry has problems that he can’t navigate. From the start, the government acknowledged catch shares would thin the fleet, but hoped there would be no “lost ports” or areas such as Monterey that have just a few trawlers left. Thin the fleet?!!! Read [email protected] 17:32
From the Moderator: The loss of Fisherman Martin “Buckwheat” Gorham.
Updated: The photo has been removed because according to people, it’s not Marty Gorham. My apologies to all. If anyone has a photo that they would like to see in is place, send it. BH Photo/Art by Richard Schutlz Martin Gorham, a dragger fisherman, is just off his boat at Portland Fish Pier. “I love this picture,” says Schultz. “I love his looks, his attitude. He’s a total hardscrabble fisherman.
When tragedy strikes, it affects us in different ways. The events of the past thirty six hours or so, certainly effected me personally. My heart wasn’t in posting the news. I couldn’t seem to stop thinking about horror of a fisherman falling overboard off the coast of New England, and learning it was from the F/V Lydia and Maya. Read more here 15:29
San Joaquin Valley salmon make small gains against tough odds
LA GRANGE — With a flash of silver and pink, a male salmon signaled its arrival in a stretch of the Tuolumne River near La Grange. It sought to fertilize eggs laid in the shallow stream bed gravel by a female that also had returned from a few years in the Pacific Ocean. Chinook salmon spawning has been going on since September on San Joaquin Valley rivers. Read [email protected] 13:23
State surveys whales, turtles to spur offshore wind – So. Mr. Tom Turtle, Do you anticipate any issues with the wind farm we’re,,,,,,,
Having once hunted whales to the ends of the earth for their oil, Massachusetts is now going out of its way to protect the marine mammals as it once again looks offshore for energy. ( If they really meant that, they’d stop shilling Cape Wind!) Read more@southcoasttoday 12:08
Coast Guard ends search for Westbrook fisherman Martin Gorham
The U.S. Coast Guard ended its search Friday for a Westbrook native who fell overboard Thursday from a Boston fishing boat about 32 miles southeast of Cape Ann, Mass. The fisherman was Martin Gorham of Westbrook, according to his mother, Barbara Foster of South Portland. Read more @portlandpress 09:22
