Daily Archives: April 9, 2014
Regional Fishery Council News
April 10 Last day Pacific Fishery Management Council meeting in Vancouver, Washington. Last day Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council meeting in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Last day of Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council meeting in Montauk, New York. April 10-14 North Pacific Fishery Management Council meeting in Anchorage, Alaska. 22:37
Search is on for missing F/V Yvonne Michelle fisherman Renee Lopez, 45 miles off Manasquan, NJ
MANASQUAN, N.J. — The Coast Guard is searching for a 30-year-old man approximately 45 miles east of Manasquan Inlet Wednesday after he was reported missing from a fishing boat. Missing is Renee Lopez of Newport News, Va. Read more here 21:51
Maine scallop season strongest in 12 years – fishermen caught 424,547 pounds of scallop meat
Maine’s four-month scallop season that ended in March apparently will be the state’s strongest in years, despite a harsh winter and new regulations unpopular with some fishermen, preliminary data show. Read more here 21:03
Outdated Cape Wind financial boondoggle – Putting fishermen’s livelihoods at risk
Not only is the project outdated, but its location in the heart of Nantucket Sound has now been determined to pose significant risks to a variety of endangered and threatened species. The controversial project would also jeopardize public safety, put fishermen’s livelihoods at risk, and desecrate sacred tribal lands. Read more here 20:26
Judge’s Groundfishing Rulings Bring Mixed Reaction in Maine –
There was mixed reaction today from environmental advocates following a couple of recent decisions by a federal judge regarding New England’s groundfishing industry. Listen, and Read more here 18:17
Then, there’s this obligatory piece from CLF Shyster Peter Shelley, Court Issues Decisions on NOAA’s Fishing Rules here
This is Fish Radio. I’m Laine Welch — A much smaller salmon catch is expected this year – projection for 2014 down 47%
Alaska’s total salmon catch for this year is projected to be down by almost half of the 2013 haul. State fishery managers are calling for an all species harvest of just under 133 million salmon, down about 47% from last year’s record haul of 283 million fish. Read more here 17:40
Angry fishermen protest outside DFO offices in N.L.
Angry fishermen held demonstrations in several locations in Newfoundland and Labrador on Wednesday, to protest cuts to shrimp quotas. The department says the reductions are needed to conserve shrimp stocks. The FFAW has said the cut will affect about 1,500 fishermen, nearly all of whom live in rural Newfoundland and Labrador. Read more here 16:24
Effects from BP spill linger
That clamor is gone, but scientists continue to do research, and they say untold damage is still being wrought on Gulf of Mexico wildlife. This week, the National Wildlife Federation is releasing a report that updates how dolphins, sea turtles, bluefin tuna, pelicans and other marine life in the northern Gulf have fared in the past four years, and their prognosis is grim. Read more here 08:08
Fishing, energy interests spar over possible LI wind farm lease – BOEM Sweet Talks Before Ramming It In!
Tensions between ocean fishing interests and offshore-wind-energy planners were evident at a meeting in Montauk Tuesday as federal regulators set the stage for leasing hundreds of miles of the Atlantic for wind farms. Read more here newsday 07:48
Cold winter puts damper on Louisiana seafood – Bad year expected
It’s going to be a tough year for Louisiana seafood. Crawfish are already off to a slow start in terms of size and availability, and some of the same conditions responsible for that crawling pace could play havoc on crabs, shrimp and oysters later this year. Experts are blaming the one harvesting variable humans can’t control — a long, cold winter. Read more here 06:38
Shiprider agreement – U.S. Coast Guard ,RCMP the power to board ships make arrests in Canadian or American waters.
Canada and the U.S. signed an agreement Tuesday that removes the international maritime boundary as a barrier to law enforcement. The Eastern Region International Cross-Border Maritime Law Enforcement Operations, also known as Shiprider, gives the U.S. Coast Guard and the RCMP the power to board ships and make arrests, whether in Canadian or American waters. Read more here cbcnews 06:02
6,000 commercial fishing vessels – few occupational health and safety inspections
According to the Transportation Safety Board, there are roughly 6,000 commercial fishing vessels operating in Newfoundland and Labrador. But just 38 safety inspections were carried out in the past three years, according to provincial figures obtained using access to information. That’s about a dozen a year, or one a month. Read more here 05:46
Closing Ports to Stolen Fish
The oceans are vast and humans are small — as the monthlong hunt for a vanished Malaysian jetliner demonstrates. Think of the challenge, then, for law enforcement and fisheries managers in going after fleets of shady boats that engage in illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. Read more here 05:20
Pallone against seismic surveys in the Atlantic used to open up the Atlantic Ocean to oil and gas exploration
He requested that the agency grant a 60-day extension of public comment and hold a public hearing to sufficiently review the application submitted to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to conduct marine seismic surveys off the coast of New Jersey. NMFS has proposed granting permission for the tests that would potentially be conducted this summer. Read more here 05:12
