Monthly Archives: February 2014
No Cause Identified for 2011 Northern Pinnipeds Unusual Mortality Event
(SitNews) Ketchikan, Alaska – NOAA Fisheries announced recently that no specific cause has yet been found for the elevated numbers of sick or dead seals with skin lesions discovered in the Arctic and Bering Strait regions of Alaska in mid-July of 2011. Read more@sitnews 13:41
“This is your strategy and we need you to be involved,” Fisheries and Aquaculture Minister Keith Colwell
Province embarks on commercial fisheries strategy – Nova Scotia will develop a commercial fisheries strategy to ensure the fishing industry is sustainable, creates jobs and helps grow the economy. Read [email protected] 12:47
Sea lampreys may be established in inland waterway
The findings are preliminary but show the importance of determining whether the same thing is happening in other inland lakes, said Marc Gaden, spokesman for the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, which spends about $21 million a year keeping lamprey numbers down Read more@grandhaventribune 11:51
NOAA NMFS tightens halibut bycatch limits for Gulf of Alaska groundfish fisheries
NOAA Fisheries is implementing a plan to tighten limits on the amount of halibut bycatch that could be caught in the commercial groundfish fisheries in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). Read [email protected] 11:41
and in Fisherynation Sports this morning, Team Canada Gets Sochi GOLD!
martin rose photo
The Canadian men’s hockey team took gold on the final day of the 2014 Olympics, defeating Sweden 3-0 in the gold medal game at the Bolshoy Ice Dome on Sunday. 11:05
Rhode Island Fishermen’s Alliance Weekly Update February 23, 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 RIFA Website 10:42
The second annual Louisiana Fisheries Summit wants to help fishermen
An upcoming summit in Houma will help area fishermen and seafood harvesters. The second annual Louisiana Fisheries Summit is scheduled for March 12 and 13 at the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center, 346 Civic Center Drive. Louisiana Fisheries 2014 is an educational and networking event for individuals involved in Louisiana’s commercial fishing and seafood industry. Registration is free. Read [email protected] 07:58
With ice melting, U.S. pushes for limits on fishing in Arctic Ocean
SEATTLE — U.S. officials are heading to Greenland for a three-day meeting to persuade other Arctic nations to place a moratorium on high-seas fishing in the Arctic Ocean, where climate change is melting the permanent ice cap and allowing trawlers in for the first time in human history. Read more@latimes 07:36
Murkowski questions if Chinese shellfish ban from Alaska and Pacific Northwest might be about more than safety. (It is, Senator)
“Yes, it’s a concern about safety,” the senator said while visiting Ketchikan on Thursday. “But it does cause you to wonder if there are other issues that are at play here with China, and how appropriate levels of intervention might be.” (Its more like economic sanctions for siding with Japan in their fishing turf war with China, Senator.) Read [email protected] 20:35
The head smelt biologist for the state said it’s not clear why the season has been so poor for smelt fishing this winter.
The reason for the poor season, however, isn’t known. Some of the operators have theories: dredging in the Bath area disturbing the fish swimming up the river, high tides making navigation difficult or colder-than-usual temperatures affecting the fish. However, Enterline said it’s not clear what’s causing the poor smelt season along the Kennebec River area. Read more@sentinelonline 19:09
‘Cold Water Cowboys’ – Fishing captains and crews the stars of the show Tuesday night on Discovery
Working a 50-foot fishing boat in swelling seas and roaring winds a couple of hundred kilometres off the coast of Newfoundland takes guts, hard work and good communication among the crew. So when Capt. Paul Tiller of Valleyfield, Bonavista Bay, told his crew last season he was taking a TV team on board to film their pursuit of crab, shrimp and turbot — to follow their every movement and record their interactions — they thought their captain had finally logged one too many weather-beaten voyages. “They told me I was cracked,” Tiller said, laughing. Read [email protected] 13:42
About Cold Water Cowboys – Trailers, and bios here. Interesting On Facebook
Stock Assessment Prioritization: Guiding decisions on which fish stocks to assess
What are stock assessments? Assessments for managed fish and shellfish stocks are an important core activity of NOAA NMFS. Why is prioritization needed? There are 478 managed stocks in 46 Fishery Management Plans (Annual Report on Status of U.S. Fisheries). Presently, NOAA NMFS has the capacity to update only about 100 assessments each year. How will prioritization work? What are the next steps? Read [email protected] 13:02
UPDATED: CF/V Cape Dorset crew rescued, vessel sank off Burin Peninsula – No injuries reported for all 19 crew members
The fishing crew aboard the Cape Dorset is safe after the vessel sank off the Burin Peninsula Saturday morning. A distress call was sent out from the ship around 9 a.m. after the boat started taking on water. The Ivy Rose, another fishing vessel, was the first to respond to the distress call. Read more@cbcnews 11:48 Updated Report @cbcnews 16:01
Crew rescued as vessel floods and sinks – Read [email protected]
Cape Dorset crew rescued, vessel sank off Burin Peninsula – camsn.com
Mazzetta Company LLC Processing plan gets wide support
City officials said Friday they’re excited to share the news that an Illinois-based seafood processing company is firming up plans to bring a plant with up to 225 jobs to Gloucester’s Blackburn Industrial Park. Read more@GDT 11:40
AMSEA Fishing vessel safety and drill course set for March 1 and 2 in Hawaii
The Alaska Marine Safety Education Association will offer a two-day fishing vessel safety and drill conductor course March 1 and 2 at the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, 726 S. Kihei Road. The course is free for commercial fishermen, and $175 for all others. All mariners are welcome. Read more here 11:33
Scientists back off claims that Maine officials knew about mercury-tainted lobster years ago
A day after saying state officials knew lobsters near the mouth of the Penobscot River contained unsafe levels of the toxin, researchers say the officials had older information that did not warrant issuing consumer alerts in 2010. But on Friday, after talking among themselves, the researchers said they had misremembered what information had been made available to the state and when it was made available. Read more@kennebecjournal 11:02
Fukushima Radiation: Govt Launches Web Site Noting Safety of Fishes Around Plant
The site will also try to explain the process of test fishing. The federation had earlier said it conducts advance radiation checks to determine the safety of fishing grounds. Earlier in January, state health officials from California debunked claims of dangerously high radiation levels in the sands of Pacifica State Beach, as claimed by an Internet video posted on YouTube. Read [email protected] 08:14
Fishing industry lacking in cooperation, says minister
DEBERT- The biggest challenge for the fishing industry today is lack of co-operation, says the minister of fisheries and oceans. “We need to market under one banner, we have to stop competing with each other and start to compete in the global marketplace so that really is an issue,” said Gail Shea, during the Nova Scotia Fisheries Minister’s annual conference held in Debert on Friday. Read [email protected] 07:03
Letter: Time for New England Fishery Management Council to open closed areas – Peter Hughes, Cape May, N.J.
The New England Fishery Management Council has before it several scientifically-backed proposals for updating area closures off the coast of Massachusetts. These closures have been off-limits to fishermen for almost 20 years, but updated science indicates they may not be best suited for balancing the needs of industry and conservation. Read more@GDT 01:04
International Pacific Halibut Commission sets crushingly low quota for halibut in area 4E
Because of an adjustment in the catch limits by the International Pacific Halibut Commission, the Coastal Villages Region Fund’s allowable catch will be reduced by almost 50 percent. “It looks pretty bleak,” said Mitchell. “The other thing is that there has not been a setline survey done in 4E, which is the most eastern area of the Bering Sea closest to Bristol Bay, in what is probably close to 25 years.” Read more@thebristolbaytimes 19:36
N.C. Department of Marine Fisheries increase commercial fishing licenses 100 percent
Commercial fishermen will be paying more to catch fewer fish in the future, after the N.C. Department of Marine Fisheries commission voted for a 100 percent increase in commercial fishing licenses and the elimination of a harvest season for river herring. However, a feared vote to add further limitations to spotted seatrout harvests and requirements for reduced bycatch devices of shrimp trawlers did not go through. Read [email protected] 19:19
Lobster fishery sustainability program a success – objective was to reduce fishing capacity
Fisheries and Oceans Canada Minister Gail Shea, Newfoundland and Labrador Fisheries and Aquaculture Minister Keith Hutchings, and Fish Food and Allied Workers (FFAW-Unifor) President Earle McCurdy today said that they are very pleased with the results of the program and the direct benefits for lobster harvesters who remain in the fishery. Read [email protected] 17:43
Final Rule Available for Amendment 14 to Squid, Mackerel, Butterfish Fishery Management Plan
Today at the recommendation of the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, NOAA Fisheries is approving a number of revisions to the Atlantic mackerel, squid, and butterfish fishery management plan to improve catch monitoring and reduce river herring and shad bycatch through Amendment 14. Click here to read the final rule. 17:34
Fisheries Minister Gail Shea overruled the recommendation of her most senior department staff, scientists, and herring managers in BC.
In a surprising revelation, a document provided by Canada in a legal action brought by five Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations shows that Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) supports the Haida, Heiltsuk, and Nuu-chah-nulth Nations’ view that there should be no commercial roe herring fisheries in their territories in 2014. Read [email protected] 16:32
DFO approves grey seal hunt in southern area of gulf
SYDNEY — The Department of Fisheries and Oceans has approved a grey seal hunt in the southernmost area of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, which includes the waters off western Cape Breton. Read more@capebretonpost 15:24
NMFS to cover all groundfish sector at-sea monitoring costs for fishing year 2014
Today, NOAA Fisheries announced that the agency will cover observer and at-sea monitoring costs for groundfish sectors in 2014 to meet the requirements developed and recommended by the New England Fishery Management Council under its groundfish plan. Read more here 15:13
Three from Molly Dischner at Alaska Journal of Commerce – Magnuson-Stevens Act revisions – UFA scallops back on the menu – protections under Gulf rationalization
Magnuson-Stevens Act revisions focus of fishers in 2014- Bycatch reporting, transparency and the role of the National Environmental Policy Act in fisheries management are among the proposed Magnuson-Stevens Act amendments the North Pacific Fishery Management Council scrutinized during its February meeting. Read here UFA wants legislature to put scallops back on the menu – The United Fishermen of Alaska are trying to revive the legislative discussion in Juneau about the vessel-based scallop limited entry program as managers and participants prepare for the new open access state-waters fishery that will open July 1. Read here Stakeholders ponder protections under Gulf rationalization -Fisheries stakeholders gathered Feb. 10 to talk about community protections in the pending Gulf of Alaska rationalization program. Read here 13:52
Oceana groundfish monitoring challenge fails
The government need not face claims that the amended New England fishery program leaves groundfish vulnerable to overfishing, a federal judge ruled. Fishery management plans establish catch thresholds and “outline procedures for monitoring commercial fishing,” under the oversight of the National Marine Fisheries Service, according to the Tuesday ruling. Read more@courthousenews 12:44
Bill would ban drift gillnets in California – “This is really a moral imperative,” Geoff Shester, Oceana
SACRAMENTO — Some Assembly Democrats on Thursday took steps toward ending California’s drift gillnet fishery, introducing a bill that would effectively ban the controversial gear for boats operating along the West Coast.This week, Oceana announced a $3 million grant from the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation to protect ocean habitat and key species, including sharks. Read more@montereyherald 12:24
National Marine Fisheries Service to tighten rope rules for lobster fishermen
In 2009, federal regulators set their sights on groundlines that linked lobster traps on the ocean bottom. In 2014, it’s the vertical lines lobstermen use to connect their traps to surface buoys that federal officials say need to be more tightly regulated in order to protect whales from entanglements. Read more@BDN 12:15
