Monthly Archives: March 2014
‘Ole “KC” is home Safe and Sound thanks to the United States Coast Guard and many a Sea Dog knows how he feels!
On Monday afternoon, the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Bristol Bay spotted the dog four miles from shore during ice-breaking operations on Lake St. Clair. The crew then brought him aboard the ship to provide him with food, water and first aid. “KC is happy to be back home and is eating everything we give him,” said a very happy Benchich. “We’re forever grateful to the Coast Guard and hope to be able to thank the crew in person sometime soon.” Read more here 18:29
USCG Dog Blog: how to avoid a ruff time on the ice Read more here
This is Fish Radio. I’m Laine Welch – Halibut opens and herring’s up next. More after this –
Alaska longliners are ready to steam out of town for the Saturday start of the Pacific halibut fishery. Alaska’s catch of roughly 19 million pounds is down about 11 percent. The sablefish, or black cod, fishery also opens,,, Read more here 17:43
Bill C-555 – Government of Canada Stands Behind Sealers
The Honourable Gail Shea, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of the Environment, Minister of the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency and Minister for the Arctic Council today expressed their support for Private Member’s Bill C-555 to amend the Marine Mammal Regulations, introduced by MP Greg Kerr. The proposed amendment would increase the distance that any unlicensed observer must maintain from a person who is fishing for seals, from one-half nautical mile to one nautical mile. Read more here 16:20
Barney Dudoward and Wally Piatocka, with a combined 100 years fishing don’t hold back their critisizm of DFO. Good on you guys!
Two septuagenarians will be packing tonnes of herring into the hold of their vessel this week, just like they’ve been doing every year for more than three decades. Wally Piatocka, 79, and Barney Dudoward, 70, will once again be part of the herring roe fishery on the waters off Parksville Qualicum Beach, which opened Wednesday for gillnetters. Read more here pqbnews.com mage credit: JOHN HARDING PHOTO 15:03
EDITORIAL: DFO needs to listen to oldtimers Read more here
To be Served Today: Commercial fisheries groups plan to sue over turtle regs
The N.C. Fisheries Association teamed with the Carteret County Fisherman’s Association for the action and will be represented by local attorneys at Wheatly, Wheatly, Weeks, Lupton and Massie, a Beaufort firm. Those served notice of the intent to file legal action are several high profile individuals, including John Skvarla, secretary to the N.C. Department of Environmental and Natural Resources; Dr. Louis Daniel, executive director of the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries; Gordon Meyers, head of the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission; Sally Jewel of the U.S. Department of the Interior; Daniel Ashe, Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; NOAA head Dr. Kathryn Sullivan; and Penny Pritzker, secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Read more here carolinacoastonline 13:56
Bering Sea Pollock Harvest Climbs, Cod Trawl Slower
Groundfish vessels in the Bering Sea working the pollock A season have landed upwards of 190,898 metric tons out of their total allocation of 1.267 million metric tons, which is up 20,000 metric tons over their 2013 total allowable catch. Read ore here fishermensnews 13:20
Blue Wave Seafoods failure puts Nova Scotia taxpayers on the hook – Fish plant filed for bankruptcy after $500K loan
Nova Scotia taxpayers will find out later today how many millions of dollars they’ll lose in the failure of Blue Wave Seafoods. Company creditors are meeting on Thursday to vote on a restructuring plan that could see taxpayers recover as little as three cents on the dollar. Read more here cbcnews 12:50
Shem Creek down to eight shrimpers, almost down to seven with F/V Mrs. Judy Too taking on water – Video
Captain Tommy Edwards says if he wasn’t able to get to his boat when it began sinking and if North Charleston’s Fire Department had not arrived with a pump, his livelihood would be dead. Read more here counton2.com 12:34
Starts Tomorrow! The Pacific Fishery Management Council Meeting in Sacramento – Listen Live!
The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) and its advisory bodies will meet March 7-13, 2014 in Sacramento, California to address issues related to salmon, Pacific halibut, groundfish, coastal pelagic species, highly migratory species, and habitat matters. Key agenda items for the March meeting include Council considerations can be read here. Council Meeting Internet Live Audio Stream information here 10:21
Oil exploration off Nova Scotia carries potential benefits, dangers for Maine
Nova Scotia’s government has granted Canadian subsidiaries of Shell Oil Co. and BP Plc. rights to explore thousands of square miles of ocean floor in search of commercially viable oil deposits. Each company has committed to about $1 billion Canadian in surveying costs over the next several years. Read more here Portland press 08:48
2013 Annual Report to Congress: Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
Read the 2013 Annual Report here. 08:20
Battle plans for green crab – Tarr, stakeholders see growing threat to shellfish
The invasive green crab — and how to stop its devastation of the state’s shellfish industry — is drawing new calls to arms among the industry’s stakeholders and others. Read more here 04:12
Sitka Sound roe herring harvest reduced
Sitka…..the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced today the final guideline harvest level (GHL) for the 2014 Sitka Sound herring sac roe fishery is 16,333 tons based on a 20% harvest rate of a forecast mature biomass of 81,663 tons. This is 1,259 tons less than the preliminary GHL announced in December, 2013. This adjustment is based on the winter test fishery sample results showing,, Read more here 20:55
The Fraser River could have the biggest salmon run in B.C. history this summer, with up to 72 million sockeye returning.
“I mean, it’s hard to fathom,” Rollie Rose, president of Sooke Salmon Charters Ltd., said in an interview of the magnitude of the projections from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. He told colleagues in a recent e-mail: “The news could not be any better … you will see fishing this year better than you have seen in your lifetime.” Read more here globeandmail 20:33
Department of Fisheries and Oceans Geoduck draft framework to be unveiled this week
According to a DFO spokesperson, the draft management framework will be posted on the DFO website this week and DFO will accept written comments about it for 45 days after it’s posted. BC Shellfish Growers’ Association executive director Roberta Stevenson says this announcement is big news for B.C.’s aquaculture industry,,, Read more here comoxvalleyrecord 19:32
Petitioning the state of North Carolina: Preserve the use of gillnets in North Carolina’s commercial fishing industry.
Petition by Supporters of Commercial Fishing in NC Fresh Local Seafood. The commercial fishing industry in North Carolina is a vital part of the coastal economy and is the only way some citizens of this state have access to the resource they own. Gillnets are the primary way a lot of species are harvested. Show your support and Sign the Petition change.org 18:39
Filed on behalf of Fishermen, Pacific Legal Foundation Sea Otter Lawsuit Dismissed
“Obviously, we think the judge’s decision is wrong,” said PLF attorney Jonathan Wood, whose sole option, as detailed by the judge, is to pursue an Administrative Procedure Act petition to rescind relevant parts of the 1987 rule. “Since the dismissal took place so recently, the fishermen are still considering their options to appeal.” Read more here independent.com 18:25
Michigan-based Coast Guard Cutter Bristol Bay crew rescues dog stranded on ice
Crew members assigned to Coast Guard Cutter Bristol Bay assist a dog they found stranded on the ice of Lake St. Clair March 4, 2014. The crew transported the dog to the ship and hoisted it aboard, where it was provided food and first aid before being transferred to an area animal shelter for further care See other photo here 17:57
Viewpoints: The state of Pacific sardine populations
Sardines have been a hot news topic in recent weeks. Environmental groups and others have trumpeted that the sardine population is collapsing like it did in the mid-1940s. The environmental group Oceana has been arguing this point loudly in order to shut down the sardine fishery. That’s why it filed suit in federal court, in a case now under appeal, challenging the current sardine management. Read more here Sacbee 16:55
Togiak Herring Allocation Will Be Up to 31,490 Tons
Management biologists for the Bristol Bay Herring Management Plan said March 4 that based on a forecasted run of 157,448 tons, up to 31,490 tons of herring would be available for harvest in 2014. Read more here fishermensnews 15:30
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Division of Law Enforcement busy with a series of commercial fishing violations.
Officer Allen was on water patrol on the Apalachicola River when he observed a vessel operating without navigational lights pull into some sawgrass in an attempt to conceal the boat. He followed the vessel into,, Read more here apalatchtimes.com 14:42
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Visit us at The Boston Seafood Show March 16-18, 2014 BOOTH #2407 13:14
‘Seals Hero’ anti-seal hunt app for iPhone and iPad users has the Canadian Sealers Association describing it as being based on lies..
The creators of ‘Seals Hero’ say the game is meant to be a fun way to educate people about what it calls a serious issue: “Each year, hunters bludgeon to death hundreds of thousands of baby harp seals.” Read more here cbcnews 11:58 Mind control of the non producers!
Boat of the week from TriNav Marine Brokerage: 44′ Dixon Lobster Fiberglass, GM 60 series, 625HP
Specifications and information here 09:31
Sweetening the (lobster) pot – With fewer harvesters at play, the industry is expected to be more viable
The Lobster Fishery Sustainability Program, which ends on March 31, will definitely have a positive effect on lobster harvesters’ bottom lines in the future, says the plan’s co-ordinator. Bill Broderick, who’s also the inshore director with the Fish, Food and Allied Workers union (FFAW), said the program achieved its goal to increase incomes by significantly reducing lobster fishing capacity in Fortune Bay, the southwest coast and on the west coast through voluntary trap reductions and lobster licence retirements. Read more here 08:45
With Sadness: The passing of fishing vessel Captain Lars Sovik of Fairhaven, Ma
Lars Sovik, 75, of Fairhaven died March 3, 2014 at home, surrounded by his family, after a courageous battle with cancer. He was the husband of Sonja (Jacobsen) Sovik. Born and raised in Norway, the son of the late Torleif Johannes Sovik and Sofie (Hansen) Sovik, he lived in Fairhaven since 1958. He was a commercial fisherman for many years and captain and owner of F/V Valkyrie and F/V Endurance. Read more here 08:22
Safeway and Kroger say “No” to GMO salmon
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has yet to say yes or no to genetically modified salmon, but the two largest grocery stores in the country have made up their minds. Kroger and Safeway announced today that they will not carry “AquAdvantage” salmon, should the FDA approve it. Read more here 06:50 treehugger
Lobster Council of Canada, and PEIFA: Debate rages over lobster marketing vs. investigating prices
The weekend saw Geoff Irvine, executive director of the Lobster Council of Canada, and PEIFA president Mike McGeoghegan go head-to-head during a portion of the convention. Irvine made a presentation that largely focused on marketing lobster, as well as a proposed penny per pound levy to Island fishermen to go towards building a marketing fund. Read more here 06:44
Fishermen haul up other deadliest catch
PROVINCETOWN — Fishing vessel crews from the All In and Miss Lilly pulled in at around 2 p.m. Tuesday to MacMillan Pier from a morning of “ghost” busting. Both boats were loaded with old fishing gear, known as “ghost gear,” that the fishermen had scraped up from the sea floor, in the third annual effort to return lobster traps to owners and rid the sea of junk. Read more here 04:07
Petersburg Hatchery Fire Destroys More Than a Million Coho Eggs
A fire has destroyed the main incubation building of a Petersburg fish hatchery, wiping out more than half of the hatchery’s coho salmon eggs and destroying more than a million dollars of potential catch. Sucks. Read more here ktuu 19:14
