Monthly Archives: March 2014
Four issues facing Louisiana shrimpers this season
After perhaps the most turbulent decade in recent memory for Louisiana’s seafood industry, Lance Nacio has not lost the eternal optimism that pervades shrimpers row each spring. Read more here houmatoday 20:57
Netters to fish Tuesday for spring chinook in lower Columbia
Spring chinook numbers appear to be building in the lower Columbia River with a day of commercial fishing adopted for Tuesday and a hearing on Thursday to consider extending the sport season. Read more here columbian.com 20:49
“How do you like this sealfie?” – “Sealfies” in support of the seal hunt!!
Many of you have embraced the “sealfie” movement started in Nunavut last week. It’s a way to show support for the seal hunt, and is directed towards television host Ellen DeGeneres who is opposed to the hunt. Melissa Petten asks, “How do you like this sealfie?” I LOVE IT! See more here cbc 19:25
Too Many Salmon in the Sea, Pacific Study Hints – Burgeoning numbers of pink salmon may threaten the food supply of young seabirds.
Photograph by Paul Souders, Corbis
Tied to rising ocean temperatures in the Bering Sea and North Pacific that spurred the growth of the prey of salmon and seabirds alike, the “much larger than previously known” impact of pink salmon is reported in a new Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences report. Read more here 17:32
This is Fish Radio. I’m Stephanie Mangini. Sitka Herring prices could hurt the haul. Sitka’s Seiners Deliver Big, But at What Price?
As of Friday Sitka’s sac roe herring fishery had just under 3 thousand tons left to deliver. Seiners have had no problem catching the nice 16,000 ton haul this year. The quick season has been a good one with good quality fish and excellent roe counts. The big problem fishermen are facing is the roe market itself. Listen, and read more here 16:06
Danny Danny Danny. What the Hell ya doin’ boy? Maine elver fisherman guilty of reporting less than half of $700,000 income
Danny Deraps from Ellsworth has been sentenced to 90 days in jail for underreporting his 2012 landings, which earned him more than $700,000 that season. The attorney general says he only reported half that amount. Read more here portlandpress 14:46
Interesting stuff here! James Lovelock: Environmentalism Has Become A Religion
Lots of interesting info – When the IPCC’s fifth assessment comes out in 2013 or 2014, there will be a major revival of interest in action that has to be taken. People are going to say, ‘My God, we are going to have to take action much faster than we had planned.’ —IPCC Chairman Rajendra Pachauri, New York 23 September 2009 British officials were last night accused of ‘political interference’ in a crucial report on international climate change. Read more here 12:34
The good and bad of seismic testing. (the good?)
The controversy over seismic testing has come to the Cape Fear region, with Kure Beach’s mayor writing a letter in support and the Carolina Beach Town Council voting recently to oppose it. Read more here 12:18
Japan must end its annual Antarctic whale hunt, UN orders in landmark ruling
United Nations judges have ordered Japan to end whale hunts in the Antarctic after dismissing Japanese arguments that the hunting was carried out for scientific research purposes. Read more here 10:53
Dogfish ‘everywhere’ (not just) in Gulf of Maine, but sales go nowhere
Regulators may raise catch limits on the voracious little shark, which competes with more valuable ocean species for food. And here’s the problem: Scientists say there are huge and growing numbers of dogfish in the Gulf of Maine competing for the same food as more commercially valuable species, such as cod and haddock. Read more here 08:10
Two Combined Gulf of St. Lawrence Shrimp Fisheries Achieve MSC Re-certification
Two Canadian MSC certified fisheries, the Gulf of St. Lawrence (GOSL) northern shrimp and the Gulf of St. Lawrence northern shrimp trawl Esquiman Channel fisheries, have joined in a cooperative effort into one combined shrimp fishery ,,, Read more here 07:38
Fish science on table in Pelagics series
They’ll be talking fish and fisheries at Maritime Gloucester on Thursday nights throughout the month of April during the speaker series presented by the Large Pelagics Research Center of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Read more here 07:20
UN top court to rule on Japan whale hunt in Antarctic
The UN’s top International Court of Justice will rule Monday whether Japan has the right to hunt whales in the Antarctic, in an emotive case activists say is make-or-break for the giant mammal’s future. Read more here 05:59
New Bedford puts $100K toward fishing museum
More than 100 people packed into the Whaling Museum for Sunday’s Taste of the Port event, which focused on creating a New Bedford Fishing Heritage Museum. Read more here 05:48
Fishermen tired of getting ‘pushed around’ – Want to be allowed to sell cod to buyers outside the province
“Every year on Feb. 28, the cod season ends. Right now it’s extended for a month to drag cod, so they (large companies) are out there fishing it during the spawning season and we don’t hear any uproar from the union, from scientists or the provincial government,” Leonard said. Collett added that the way things are going, history is repeating itself as the same mistakes are occurring as in pre-moratorium days. Read more here 21:42
After more than a century, NOAA’s Beaufort lab, a jewel of ocean research targeted for closure
Tucked in President Barack Obama’s 218-page proposed budget for 2015 was a one-sentence mention of a plan to close one lab to save money. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration subsequently identified it as North Carolina’s historic research station. Rep. Walter Jones, a Republican who represents the coastal district that includes Beaufort, was building a coalition to oppose the closure, said his spokeswoman, Sarah Howard. “I am seriously troubled by the fact . President Barack Obama has proposed closing a research lab in eastern North Carolina while continuing to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on infrastructure projects in Afghanistan,” Jones said in a statement. Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., said she’d fight,, Read more here @journalgazette 16:06
March 30,1914 The Sealing Disaster: 100 years later
Sunday marks the 100 year anniversary of the 1914 sealing disaster, when 251 Newfoundland sealers perished in two separate but simultaneous disasters. On March 30, 1914, 132 men left the SS Newfoundland to hunt seals and became caught in a sudden blizzard while out on the ice. Only 55 survived. During the same storm, the SS Southern Cross sank while returning to Newfoundland from the Gulf of St. Lawrence. All 173 men died. Read more here 13:07
Rhode Island Fishermen’s Alliance Weekly Update, March 30, 3014
“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 here 11:27
The “Silver Wave” – Herring run tied to the salmon cycle
The milky blue water comes alive as a massive ball of silvery herring mass together to prevent predators from feeding on them. The protective sphere, or bio mass ”herring ball,” is smashed apart constantly as sea lions, seals, salmon and killer whales drive their way through with their mouths open to catch the fish. Read more here sookennewsmirror 01:06
The End of the U.S. Shrimping Industry – Execution by Electrocution? Public comments end 3/31/14
In 2010, WildEarth Guardians petitioned the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to list the lesser electric ray (also commonly called the Caribbean electric ray) under the ESA, but that petition was denied in a 90-day finding in March 2011. If the lesser electric ray is listed under the ESA, it could mean the end of shrimp fishing as we know it throughout the ray’s range, which includes all the Gulf states, as well as states along the east coast from Florida to North Carolina. Read more here thegoodcatchblog 23:17
With the seal population increased to about 8 million, protestors of the hunt should spend time considering the impact on the ecosystem.
If indeed the sceptics have lessened their stance on the cruelty of the seal hunt, then it is on to the sustainability argument, says the provincial fisheries minister. Keith Hutchings was reacting to recent comments made by Sheryl Fink, the International Fund for Animal Welfare’s wildlife campaign director, as she made a visit to Corner Brook this week. Read more here @westernstar 21:48
Boost in B.C. Mining has Alaska Fishermen Nervous
British Columbia now has more than 20 major mines and expansions moving through the permitting process. The largest, known as the KSM mine, would be about 45 miles from Hyder, Alaska. Brian Lynch of the Petersburg Vessels Owners Association says his group isn’t anti-mine, but they’re wary of the KSM mine and at least four other proposed projects in B.C. that are upstream from Alaskan waters. Listen. Read more here 18:01
Film takes new approach to sealing disaster – “54 Hours,” Video
One of the most iconic, tragic, complicated and studied events in this province’s history, Crummey realized the challenges creating a narrative from the disaster would include. Express the gravity and significance of the tragedy in film — a short film — done in animation? Every voice in Crummey’s head screamed for him to say no. “Tell me more,” he heard himself utter. Read more here thetelegram 13:29
Sea Hawk Boats works to recover after fire
SEBRING – When fire damaged items inside the building where boats are built at Sea Hawk Boats this week, it wasn’t the first setback for the 15-year-old commercial boat manufacturer, owner Mike Wyatt said Friday. Read more here 13:06
Virginian-Pilot Editorial: Real risks to Virginia coast
The April 2010 blowout at BP’s Macondo well gushed for 87 days, a total of 4.9 million barrels of oil, coating beaches from Louisiana to Florida. About 40 percent of the Gulf was closed to fishing. Petroleum industry advocates desperately hope people will forget such things. Virginia leaders, including Gov. Terry McAuliffe and his predecessors – including Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine – have been pushing hard to open territory off Virginia Beach to drilling for oil and gas. Read more here 12:55
“Bullshit!” – Golden king crab fleet loses bid for quota increase
The Aleutian Islands golden king crab fleet came away empty-handed last week, after the Alaska Board of Fisheries decided against a quota increase, rejecting both the initial request of 15 percent, and the compromise proposal of 5 percent. The vote was loudly greeted with a barnyard epithet from a veteran fisheries lobbyist seated near the front of the audience. “Bullshit!” exclaimed Clem Tillion. “You just screwed the fleet for no reason whatsoever.” He said the decision means a “surplus” of crab will go unharvested. Read more here bristolbaytimes 12:24
How Asia’s abalone fever may drive gourmet mollusc extinct
HOUT BAY, South Africa – In broad daylight, groups of poachers hidden among the rocks of a South African marine conservation area wade slowly into the icy, shark-infested waters of the Atlantic Ocean in search of ‘white gold’. Read more here 10:48
The Poacher and the Dirty Dealer Caper – Cape Cod Oyster theft case unveiled
A West Yarmouth man has been indicted in the theft of more than $40,000 worth of oysters and equipment from beds off Dennis and Barnstable last summer. And a well-known Sandwich fish market owner pleaded guilty Friday to a charge of receiving stolen property in connection with the case. Read more here capecodonline.com 08:27
“If it comes in the bay, we’ve had it,” Port O’Connor Tx. Fishing community worries about oil spill (w/video)
It was late in the day, and nearly everyone had left Clark’s Shrimp House except Craig Lambright and the rest of the three-man shrimper crew. The sleepy fishing town, home to about 1,200 mostly retirement-age residents, anxiously watched as crews poured in from Corpus Christi and Lake Charles, La., setting the stage to clean up as much as 170,000 gallons of oil spilled after a ship collision in the Houston Ship Channel on Saturday. Read more here victoriaadvocate.com 07:52
RCMP to square off against aboriginals in a fight over an imminent commercial roe-herring fishery.
The federal government has chosen a remote stretch of B.C. coastline to square off against aboriginals in a fight over an imminent commercial roe-herring fishery. The Heiltsuk have issued a statement saying, “We will exercise our authority to stop any commercial herring activity in our territories. We will protect our aboriginal rights to the fullest extent possible should commercial fishers not abide by the ban.” It’s real,” he said of the prospect for confrontation. Read more here vancouversun 06:59
