Monthly Archives: March 2014
Fisherman’s argument measures up – Whelk harvester gets new trial after being convicted of licence breach
A new trial has been ordered for a fisherman from Garnish for breaching the conditions of his whelk licence, even though it was proven he committed the offence. Jamie Rideout, owner of the Grand Ride, was charged in Lawn on July 3, 2012, after fisheries officers searched his catch of whelk and discovered some of the mollusks were smaller than the required size of 63 millimetres — a condition of his licence. Read more here the telegram 13:04
Fisheries official tried to keep Robichaud file secret – didn’t make government ‘look good,’ Wilbert Sabine testifies
The head of enforcement at the Department of Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fisheries says he marked his emails on the Donat Robichaud case as “confidential” because he knew the affair would look bad to the public. Read more here 10:53
Storm damage was last straw for now-closed Egg Harbor Township marina
“This has been a long ordeal,” Gifford Marine President William Gifford said. “It’s just one thing after another, from fishing regulations to prices of gas. Gifford Marine once operated what was one of the largest commercial fishing and clamming operations on the East Coast, with a fleet of 26 vessels. Read more here pressofac 09:51
Book Review: “Beauty” – Finding life in a fishing town, Woman saves last processing plant in Gloucester-based novel
Frederick Dillen, an odd-job itinerant novelist, will have a homecoming when he returns to launch his latest book, set in a town that local readers will recognize as Gloucester. The heroine is a “corporate undertaker” who comes from New York to shut down the town’s last fish plant. Instead, she stays to run it — and finds love and a home, besides. Then it gets difficult. Read more here newburyportnews 09:41
In the Guest Writers Column, Jay Andersson – The Reasons For The New England Groundfish Collapse Are An Inconvenient Truth For Regulators
As federal disaster funds roll into New England and hopeful recipients line up to fight for what amounts to pennies on the dollar for the investments and livelihoods lost, the regulatory blunders that caused this crisis are being swept under the rug. The sad premise that individual ownership of the fish in the sea is a cure-all for fishery managment issues has been exposed for the lie that it always was, yet the issues caused by introducing this new system of effort controls for New England groundfishing remain unaddressed by bumbling regulators who seem to be unwilling to admit that sector allocations have been a dismal failure and cause more problems than they solve. Read more here 08:54
Maryland Natural Resources Police Charges Five Watermen with Oyster Poaching
“The message is out,” said Col. George F. Johnson IV, NRP superintendent. “Whether it’s patrolling the waters, checking seafood trucks on the highways and back roads, or conducting surveillance from the air with MLEIN, we will do whatever is necessary within the law to protect Maryland’s natural resources.” Read more here maryland.gov 08:36
Lydia The Flying Great White Shark Puts Cornwall On Summer Alert
THE DAILY Star has chilling news: Lydia is coming to the UK. Lock up your flippers and stick a plug in the sink. The tabloids works in cycles. The first signs of the impending summer are, in order: a) Great White Shark Spotted off Coast b) Madeleine McCann spotted on land c) Lucy from Brighton spotted on beach d) Killer heatwave spotted in space. News is that Lydia was tagged by scientists. And she’s been recorded swimming in the mid Atlantic. Or as the Indy has it, flying: Read more here 08:18
The Top 5 Challenges Facing the New NOAA Administrator
The Senate confirmed the appointment of Dr. Kathryn Sullivan to be the new administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. She replaces Dr. Jane Lubchenco, who stepped down in February 2013. Sullivan’s background, a Ph.D. in geology, a career as an astronaut that included,, Read more here 08:07
Sea lion nuisance persists on docks – Eradication methods fail
The battle continues to protect Moss Landing Harbor docks from hordes of weighty sea lions. And it appears the sea lions are winning. For years, the district took advantage of the work-alternative program, using people sentenced to community service for minor convictions such as drunken driving. Read more here montereyherald 04:25
People on the northern peninsula are concerned about potential cuts to the shrimp fishery
The 60,000t quota in 2012 and 2013 was split between the inshore fishery – which supports the shore based shrimp plants in Newfoundland that produce cooked and peeled shrimp, and the offshore fishery which produces frozen shell on shrimp (cooked and raw), sold into global markets. Listen to the broadcast fisheriesbroadcast Read more here 21:43
Obama’s Policies a Threat to Aleutian Islands – Ak. Lt. Governor Mead Treadwell
March 7, 2014, Anchorage, AK – Speaking today to the Southwest Alaska Municipal Conference (SWAMC), Lt. Governor Mead Treadwell said President Obama’s delay on approving the Keystone Pipeline could ultimately threaten Alaska’s Aleutian Islands with greater oil spill risk. Read more here 21:02
This bubble is not different. It will pop. Geoduck production to expand in Canada. (DFO) has released its draft geoduck management plan
Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) has released its draft geoduck management plan, the first step to opening up vast areas of tidelands for the harvest and cultivation of geoduck. The area of tidelands being made available for production from British Columbia,, Read more here 19:48
Jig pollock test fishery opens next week – This is Fish Radio. I’m Stephanie Mangini. A big Opportunity for a smaller fishing fleet.
Jig fishermen around Kodiak will be targeting two ground fish species this season, when the state water pacific cod fishery opens this week. Jiggers are now allowed to deliver pollock along with cod for the first time in the state season. Jigging for pollock has been open before in federal waters but with little to no effort. Read more here 19:32
Journalists get schooled about fishing industry
HARKERS ISLAND — Eddie and Allison Willis, a Harkers Island commercial fisherman and his wife, have seen several issues come up in the seafood industry in the last six months and most of them have been special interest groups trying to push for fishing regulations without the science the couple says is needed to back it up. This is what they told visiting reporters with the Institute of Journalism and Natural Resources on Thursday during a presentation event at the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum. Read more here carteretcounty 16:27
House Subcommittee Hearing (in part) to Exempt Commercial Fishing and For-Hire Fishing Vessels
From Garden State Seafood Association: The Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the U.S. House of Representatives held a hearing on March 4 on Maritime Transportation Regulations: Impacts on Safety, Security, Jobs and the Environment: Part II. U.S. Congressman Frank A. LoBiondo (NJ-02), a senior member of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Read more here 14:47
Witnesses Agree on the Importance of a Robust National Fish Hatchery System
House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs held an oversight hearing entitled “National Fish Hatchery System: Strategic Hatchery and Workforce Planning Report.” This hearing examined the importance of the National Fish Hatchery System and the negative effects that the recommendations, in the Strategic Hatchery and Workforce Planning Report, would have on American jobs and the economy. Read more here 14:10
New group defends Treadwell in setnet ban initiative case
The Alaska Fisheries Conservation Alliance, or AFCA, wants to ask voters to ban setnets in urban parts of the state. If the initiative made it on to the ballot and passed, it would eliminate setnetters in Cook Inlet. Read more here peninsulaclarion.com 13:20
48% of fishermen do not think their job is dangerous – statistically, 94 deaths in 10 years make it the most dangerous UK profession.
Research, launched today by Seafish, the industry authority on seafood, has shown that a quarter of fishermen have experienced a significant accident at sea where their life was at risk. Over half (52 per cent) of the fishermen surveyed agreed that their job was dangerous, yet only 25 per cent of fishermen said they regularly wear a Personal Flotation Device (PFD). Read more here through the gaps blog 12:09
Fishermen have Rights. Human Rights. The International Bill of Human Rights.
There’s always been quabbles with how fish resources are managed. Well now some folks are saying that process could raise human rights issues. We’ll find out what that’s all about. Jamie Baker interviews Wally Dove on this interesting and provocative issue on the Fisheries Broadcast. The discussion starts about three minute into the opener. Listen to the broadcast 11:00
Owner of F/V Forus that sunk near Finley in the Columbia River to be criminally charged
The owner of a boat that sank last year near Finley will be the third person charged criminally since the state attorney general’s office began going after owners of derelict vessels. Brandon D. Traner, 30, of Portland, faces misdemeanor charges of abandoning a derelict vessel and releasing pollutants into state waters, according to documents filed Tuesday by the attorney general’s office in Benton County District Court. Read more here tricityherald 09:45
Coast Guard searches for 35-year-old fisherman Benjamin Sorrells off Alabama coast
NEW ORLEANS – Coast Guard rescue crews are searching for a missing crewman from the fishing vessel AC III, 58 miles south of Mobile Bay, Ala., Thursday evening. Benjamin Sorrells, 35, reportedly was leaning over side of the vessel when he slipped overboard wearing blue jeans without a life jacket. The crew of the AC III attempted to rescue Sorrells. Read more here 09:25
Potential big cut in Newfoundland inshore shrimp quota may create huge controversy
While most of the North Atlantic stocks of Pandalus borealis (coldwater or northern shrimp) have been eaten away by resurgent cod, in the last decade the shrimp stocks off Newfoundland, Canada, have been at very high levels. In most areas of the North Atlantic, shrimp stocks are declining. In Greenland and the Davis strait, there should be a reduction of about 20,000 metric tons in 2014. Read more here undercurrentnews.com 08:10
Fisheries officer defied order to drop charges in Robichaud case – Gaetan Germain testifies supervisor told him not to prosecute deputy premier’s brother
A former fisheries enforcement officer testified Thursday that he was “surprised” when he was told by email to drop aquaculture charges against the brother of Deputy Premier Paul Robichaud. “I’d never seen anything like it,” Gaetan Germain said during the provincial Court trial of civil servant Peter Andrews. Read more here 07:55
A heart wrenching tale: R1KU flown to Oahu for surgery – How much did it really cost?!!
The seal named R1KU is only about a year or so old and weighs 95 pounds. She was diagnosed with an ugly eye infection that would likely get worse and lead to early death. NOAA didn’t have an exact number of what it’s all cost, but Schofield said it was minimal. The Coast Guard was doing a training missing anyway so airlifting it didn’t add expenses. Most of the veterinarians donated their time and supplies. It partnered with the Honolulu Zoo where the surgery was performed. And NOAA staffers are working normal hours. Read more here 07:42
Researcher suspended for “egregious violations.”after dolphin moved to resort community’s pool
FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) – Federal officials have suspended a central Florida dolphin researcher for allegedly putting a sick dolphin in a resort community’s swimming pool without permission. Read more here 07:21
Coakley hears fishermen’s plight – Attorney general vows to continue pressing fed suit
Coakley spent part of the day dispensing with her duties as the state’s chief law enforcement official, meeting in the late afternoon with about 20 local fishermen and fishing advocates at The Gloucester House to speak about the state’s lawsuit in U. S. District Court against the Department of Commerce — and by extension, NOAA — and other issues related to the ongoing fishing crisis. Read more here 03:31
Town of Shelburne takes action, destroys derelict boats – Video
The Town of Shelburne has taken action on derelict boats berthed at the Shelburne wharf. Two old fishing vessels were removed and demolished this week. On Thursday, March 6 it was the turn of the Kevin OA to meet its end. Read more here thecoastguard.ca 21:16
Atlantic Canadian lobster industry seeks stamp of sustainability
Nearly all of the Atlantic Canadian lobster industry will be assessed for an international stamp of environmental sustainability this year in an effort to expand exports to Europe and emerging markets. Read more here 21:00
Governor Sean Parnell today nominated Simon Kinneen for NPFMC
March 6, 2014, Juneau, Alaska – Governor Sean Parnell today nominated Simon Kinneen for consideration by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce for service on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC). The governor also named Ragnar Alstrom and John Moller as alternate nominees. Read more here Alaska Fish Radio 19:07
