Monthly Archives: January 2014
Alaska Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell talks fish in Kodiak – hopes to unseat US Senator Mark Begich in November’s election.
This is Fish Radio. I’m Laine Welch – Lieutenant Governor Mead Treadwell talks fish in Kodiak. Listen @fishradio 19:50
West Coast: Sardines vanish from coastal waters; squid and anchovy fill the void for fishermen
Larry Derr was as prepared as any longtime Southern California bait fisherman for the disappearance of the Pacific sardines he has pulled up by the ton since the 1980s. He can fish anchovies instead and, if those become scarce, there’s been a local surge in market squid to keep him in business. Read more@dailybreeze 18:20
Chinook Conservation, Trawling and Permit-Stacking Addressed by Alaska Board of Fisheries
The Alaska Board of Fisheries wrapped up its Kodiak area meetings on Friday afternoon at the Harbor Convention Center. KMXT’s Jay Barrett spoke with board Chairman Karl Johnstone about some of the decisions that came out of the meeting, and how the meeting schedule may change in the future. Johnstone cited the closure of trawling in the Shelikof Strait as one of the biggest decisions the board made, as well as turning down a proposal to reinstate permit stacking for setnetters in the district. Listen @kmxt 17:49
When sardines crash, anchovies invade—and charismatic megafauna come out to play. Why West Coast Sea Life Is So Wacky Right Now
California has witnessed a veritable explosion of sea life over the past six months, and whales aren’t the only ones making waves. Environmental scientists said in December that they were seeing “unprecedented” numbers of brown pelicans in the San Francisco Bay Area. It’s been “a months-long carnival of lunging humpback whales, bird clouds, dolphin wizardry, frenzied sea lions, playful killer whales and even visits from marine royalty — blue whales,” wrote the Santa Cruz Sentinel. To borrow a line from Melville: Surely all this is not without meaning. Read more@theatlantic 14:41
Drought imperils California salmon, steelhead
SANTA CRUZ — The sensitive populations of fish that spawn in Northern California’s creeks and rivers are starting to suffer from the brutal drought threatening the state’s water supplies. In Sonoma and Santa Cruz counties, the National Marine Fisheries Service has heard reports of anglers catching endangered coho salmon trapped by low water flows. In the American River, water levels have dropped to a 20-year nadir, endangering the redds, or nests of eggs, laid by chinook salmon, a consumer staple that supports hundreds of Bay Area fishermen. Read more@contracostatimes 14:21
Anyone following the DFO library closure “War on Science”? The environs have been having a field day.
Harper rapped for wrong reasons –VICTORIA – Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s latest visit to B.C. was portrayed as these things are today: besieged by protesters, hiding from an ever-vigilant media, cynically campaigning for the 2015 federal election. TV couldn’t get enough of the two “environmental activists” who dressed as waiters to slip onstage at a business breakfast in Vancouver. They’re not environmentalists, just all-purpose protesters using the flavour of the month. They are associated with a group calling itself “No One Is Illegal,” a collection of anarchist kooks that wants to do away with national borders, and of course capitalism. Read more@kootnayadvertiser 14:10
No Go On Permit Stacking for Kodiak Salmon
This is Fish Radio. I’m Stephanie Mangini. Stacking permit proposals dropped. The thoughts on permit stacking between Kodiak set-netters was mixed at the Board Of Fisheries meetings last week. Around 30 set-net families wanted to re instate duel permit holding. This allows one participant to fish two permits at a time. For most it was personal, others principle, but all together controversial. Listen @fishradio 13:43
Maine tribes clash with state over elver license bill – tribal fishermen would be forced to get state licenses or face possible prosecution.
State regulators are pushing for a limit on tribal claims to Maine’s lucrative elver fishery to avoid a repeat of the 2013 season, when law enforcement clashed with Passamaquoddy fishermen on the banks of the Pennamaquan River. Read more@portlandpress 13:18
Harbour Breton salmon plant won’t reopen
A salmon processing plant in Harbour Breton will not be re-opening anytime soon, although the building itself may yet have a future in the fishery. Cooke Aquaculture said it has been told by its landlord, the Barry Group, that its lease will not be renewed. The handover date will be Jan. 31. Read more@cbcnews 12:45
Lobsterman accused of stealing traps, Some confiscated equipment belongs to late Tony Rahn
PORTSMOUTH — A lobsterman charged with one felony, two misdemeanors and more than 130 violations — including allegations that he stole a deceased lobsterman’s traps — has hired the law firm of Shaheen and Gordon to defend against what is likely a record number of citations filed against any one person in the history of the Portsmouth court. Read more@seacoastonline 12:33
House pegs fisheries for $75M disaster aid; NOAA staying here
In the first instance of tangible federal financial assistance following the declaration of a fisheries disaster in 2012, congressional appropriators have included $75 million in disaster aid to fishermen and fishing communities in the $1 trillion Congressional spending bill. Read more@gdt 12:15
Fisherman from F/V Bull Dog Coast Guard medevaced 60 miles east of Chatham, Mass. (video available)
At approximately 3:15 a.m. Monday, watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England received a report from the crew of the fishing vessel Bulldog, homeported in New Bedford, Mass., that a 51-year-old crewmember had partially severed a finger while conducting a repair of the vessel and was requesting assistance. The crewmember was reportedly repairing a steering mechanism when he was injured, and the Bulldog was adrift. His condition is unknown, and he Bulldog crew was able to complete steering repairs and is currently enroute to New Bedford. Read more@uscgnews 19:58
In dip net drama, there’s more than one side to the story
Too many Kenai River dip-netters are slobs, pigs, miscreants, call them what you want. There is no debating this. The evidence is obvious to anyone who visits the mouth of the river during the dip netting season in July. And many in the community of Kenai are once more upset. When the Kenai City Council held a hearing to discuss the dip net fishery at the start of themonth, “a parade of concerned citizens spoke on what issues need to be addressed,” The usual complaints were heard: Dip-netters litter, leave human waste on the beach, drive their boats like lunatics upriver from the mouth where dip netting is legal from boats, and seemingly worst of all, catch more fish than the limit allows Read more@alaskadispatch 17:29
Ninetieth Annual Meeting of the International Pacific Halibut Commission – Monday, January 13 through Friday, January 17, 2014
This year’s meeting is scheduled to open on Monday with presentations on the fishery, the 2013 stock assessment, and the harvest decision table, and conclude on Friday with Commission approval of catch limits and regulations. The changes which were made to the Annual Meeting schedule and format in 2013 to make its proceedings more open and transparent are being continued this year. All public sessions and administrative sessions will be open to the public. These open sessions will also be webcast (Register). More here 17:03
Halibut catches set this week by IPHC
This is Fish Radio. I’m Laine Welch … This year’s halibut catches, season start and end dates and much more will be decided this week at the Ninetieth Annual Meeting of the International Pacific Halibut Commission in Seattle. Read more@alaskafishradio 16:18
New England fishing industry blames government limits for downfall – They’re right, but citizens don’t “get it” in Knoxville!
As fishermen are sidelined, taking their boats out of service for lack of work, New England’s marine industry that repairs, stores and cleans boats is next in line to feel the hit. Wilcox, owner of Wilcox Marine Supply, blames the federal government and the fishing limits it’s imposed. In Stonington, he said, the number of draggers — fishermen who drag nets behind their boats —has dropped since the mid-1990s from 50 to two. His business, which employed 13 people in the early 1990s, has dwindled to just himself. Read more@knoxnews 15:27 Read the comments at the bottom.
Masifundise supports a fisheries allocation process that benefits those most in need
We ran this on Jan. 7th, Many small-scale fishermen are threatening to turn to organised crime in order to sustain their families. This is a follow up article from Masifundise – Masifundise supports a fisheries allocation process that benefits those most in need. The furore around the line fish allocations is still raging, even after government granted interim relief to previous rights holders. As an organisation that works with thousands of small-scale fishers around the country, we need to offer a few critical comments on this matter. Read [email protected] Special Thank’s to Carsten Pederson 12:54
California’s Pot Farms Could Leave Salmon Runs Truly Smoked
The problem? According to critics, marijuana plantations guzzle enormous amounts of water while also spilling pesticides, fertilizers and stream-clogging sediments into waterways, including the Eel and the Klamath rivers, that have historically produced large numbers of Chinook salmon and related species. Read more@npr 12:30
Seals and deals
It’s no secret that the annual seal harvest is a controversial topic. In our province, it’s blasphemy to speak against the hunt; anyone who does so would be committing political hari-kari with a hakapik. To even suggest re-evaluating the validity of our over-500 year practice will get you media attention that you don’t want. Just ask Ryan Cleary. Read [email protected] 12:19
Fishing vessel catches fire in Harbour Grace drydock
Crews were still at the scene of a fire Monday at a shipyard in Harbour Grace, dealing with a blaze that broke out Sunday night on a fishing vessel. A security guard noticed smoke coming from the Atlantic Navigator at 9:15. The 19-metre vessel had been in the yard for normal repairs and a paint job. Read more@cbcnews 10:53
N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission advisers don’t back reduction goal
To reduce bycatch in shrimp trawls, advisers to the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission recommend allowing more types of bycatch reduction devices and turtle excluder devices, but don’t support setting a specific reduction goal. Read [email protected] 10:36
On Bluefin, Let’s Take The Best We Can Get – Charter Captain John McMurray
So I’m reading another press release about how anglers are getting screwed on bluefin with HMS Amendment 7 (which seeks to address bluefin bycatch in the pelagic longline fishery), and feel compelled to respond, or at least set the record straight. Sure, there are a few things I’d like to see happen with this amendment that likely won’t, but if you are at all concerned about bluefin stocks, or rather bluefin abundance, Read [email protected] 10:22
Cod’s mysterious defence strategies
Low prices for wild-caught cod have kept cod farming profits minimal up to now. The additional challenges of expensive feeds, destructive diseases and high mortality have also proven difficult to solve. On the disease front, Norwegian researchers showed in 2011 that the cod immune system is very unlike that of other production fish such as salmon. Read [email protected] 10:06
‘Small Dredge Scallop Fleet’ Gained Permits Legally; Key Part to Fishery
In a story appearing on the front page of the December issue of the Southern New England Fishery News, review was made as to how and when the Maine small dredge fishery became a part of the main stream sea scallop fishery while still being restricted to its originally approved gear—the small 10 foot Maine scallop dredge. Read [email protected] 07:05
Chesapeake Bay Makes Progress, But Still Hindered By Illegal Discharge
EIP Attorney Tarah Heinzen said: “2012 progress reducing industrial and municipal pollution in key Chesapeake Bay states is encouraging, but we need to do more if we want to stay on track and meet 2017 goals. Nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment pollution continues to degrade the water quality and fisheries of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries each year. All of the Bay states must focus on reducing these discharges and get serious about stopping illegal discharges.” Read more@pollutiononline 06:37
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Maine Fair Trade Lobster to expand operations in Gouldsboro
GOULDSBORO, Maine — Maine Fair Trade Lobster, the lobster processor that last year took over operations at the former Stinson Seafood and Live Lobster plant in the local village of Prospect Harbor, is shutting down the facility temporarily in order to add more capacity at the site, according to company officials. Read more@bdn 18:37
Wrecking the Sea Bed with Offshore Wind (Part 4)
Potentially, for the 213 turbines plus three substations a met mast and other assorted sea bed scrapings, the amount of displaced spoil comes in at well over one and half million tonnes. Even if they end up with a significant number of turbines that use foundation techniques that generate less spoil it is highly unlikely that the amount of seabed spoil will ever be less than about 1.2 million tonnes. Read [email protected] 18:08
Rhode Island Fishermen’s Alliance Weekly Update JANUARY 12, 2014
“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 14:01
“We have to keep up with Maine”? Lobster fishermen hear pitch for marketing levy
O’LEARY — The new president of the Lobster Council of Canada had words of praise Friday for the Maine lobster fishery. “They’re putting a tremendous amount of money into their efforts, They’ve done an excellent job over the last three years..” Jeff Malloy said of Maine’s lobster marketing initiatives. But Malloy was not trying to fluff up an industry south of the border; he was driving home the point that the Prince Edward Island and Canadian lobster industry must do the same. Read more@theguardian 13:50
