Daily Archives: January 16, 2014

The Honeymoon is over – corporate enviros breaking with the administration over its energy policy

kevinhearnThe rift — reflected in a letter sent to President Obama by 18 groups including the Sierra Club, the Environmental Defense Fund and Earthjustice — signals that the administration is under pressure to confront the fossil fuel industry or risk losing support from a critical part of its political base during an already difficult election year. Read more@wapo 19:58

Mullet Man busted for commercial fishing in Alligator Creek

PUNTA GORDA, Fla.- Charlotte County Sheriff’s Marine Patrol officers arrested Jeffrey Dean May last week on charges of conducting commercial fishing operations in Alligator Creek. Read [email protected] 19:51

Police in Md. Seize Truck Filled With Undersized Oysters

EASTON, Md.- Maryland Natural Resources Police say officers seized a tractor-tractor filled with oysters, many of them undersized, as it traveled through Easton on Wednesday night. Read [email protected]  18:22

A New PCR-Based Method Shows That Blue Crabs Consume Winter Flounder

Abstract Winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus) once supported robust commercial and recreational fisheries in the New York (USA) region, but since the 1990s populations have been in decline. Available data show that settlement of young-of-the-year winter flounder,,, Read more here  17:43

Funding: This project was funded by the Saltonstall Kennedy Program of the National Marine Fisheries Service of NOAA

Belhaven Fisherman helps Navy pilot who crashed off Va. Beach

The constant “buzzing” of a fighter jet overhead Wednesday afternoon likely alerted Bryan Daniels that something wasn’t right. Navy fighter jets are a common sight for commercial fishermen who ply the waters of the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Virginia Beach. The jets fly back and forth on training runs and have no contact with the watermen below, who also don’t pay them much mind. Read [email protected]  13:45

Washington Bill seeks resolution for ‘Fish Wars’ convictions

OLYMPIA — Nearly half a century after hundreds of American Indians were arrested during the “Fish Wars,” a bill would give those who were convicted a chance to clear their records. The bill would allow those convicted while exercising treaty rights before 1975 to vacate criminal records. A sentencing court would have discretion to decide whether they were using their treaty rights in expunging the misdemeanor, gross misdemeanor or felony convictions.Photo By Ted S. Warren  Read more@omackchronicle  13:25

Ottawa opens door to fish farm expansion, and applications flood in

OTTAWA — The Harper government has quietly opened the door to a major expansion of B.C.’s controversial fish farm sector despite warnings by the 2012 Cohen Commission about the effects of net-based farms on wild salmon. Read more@vancouversun  12:55

Scientists Say Stop Worrying About Fukushima Radioactivity In Fish

SEATTLE — Japan’s nuclear disaster released hundreds of millions of gallons of radioactive water in 2011, sparking rampant speculation that a contaminated plume would reach the waters of North America’s West Coast. Three years later, such speculation is alive and well on the Internet. Consider this video shot at a beach in Northern California and posted last month to YouTube: Read [email protected] 12:43

Diversions, barrier islands discussed at coastal restoration meeting

State officials heard concerns over fresh water diversions and future local development as the state presented its annual plan for coastal restoration for the 2014-15 fiscal year that starts July 1. But the diversions were a point of contention Wednesday. “You change the water, the shrimp might not be home here anymore, and I promise people are going to be looking for work,” said Terry Parfait, a shrimper from Dulac. Read more@houmatoday  11:02

Striped bass died by the hundreds in Blackhall River – Old Lyme fish kill blamed on cold snap

Old Lyme – On the banks of the Blackhall River near low tide, dozens of lifeless striped bass lie helter-skelter amid the mud and marsh grass, their metallic patterned sides still luminous. Read more@theday  10:52

Homage to the late Richard Gaines – Letter: Don’t forget Gaines’ push for fishing justice – Paul Cohan

130610_GT_OUT_RICHARDWhile everyone’s talking about disbursement, and congratulating elected and non-elected representatives upon the news of the federal fishing aid package, it has occurred to me that there is no individual who deserves more credit for this and many other minor victories than the late Richard Gaines.  Without his dogged, investigative, reporting and well-seasoned and honed intuition, the few positive accomplishments, this one certainly included, which we have experienced over the past few years, would not have been possible. Read more@gdt  07:53

Fishing aid gets landslide approval

gdt icon“Now that the funding for the fishing industry is on the fast track in Washington, it’s critical that we lay the groundwork for its effective use in Massachusetts,” Tarr said. “I’m pleased that DMF is responding promptly. We need to make sure that money is being spent to meet the needs of fishing families and ports and not any particular bureaucracy or collateral interest.” Read more@gdt  06:57

Fishermen in Moss Landing being slapped with too many regulations – 27 percent decline of black cod fish since 2006, regulators say

Because of all the federal regulations over the last several years on the fish, many of the vessels at the Moss Landing Harbor aren’t even untied. “The price went down to where it’s not worth it,” said fisherman John Amaral. “We get less for the big fish now than we used to get for the small, so it cuts the overall price in half.” Read more@kion  06:35