Monthly Archives: June 2014
Elver Conservation Proposals Meet Maine Industry’s Resistance
An analysis by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission finds that American eel stocks are being depleted. The group was in the state today, taking testimony on ways to preserve the species over the long term. But Elver fishermen and dealers say strict measures like additional quotas aren’t needed to protect eels along the eastern seaboard. Listen and read more here 19:32
Lingcod fisheries open July 1 in Southcentral Alaska
Commercial lingcod fisheries in Southcentral will open July 1, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced today. The Cook Inlet and Prince William Sound lingcod fisheries will both open July 1, as will the Cook Inlet rockfish fishery. Read more here 17:22
Obama’s Marine Monument Expansion “Betrays US Fishermen,” Says Western Pacific Fishery Council
I hate fishing so much, I’m gonna shut it down, and Valerie’s gonna help me do it!
The voting members of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (WPRFMC) from the State of Hawaii, Territories of American Samoa, and Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, have analyzed the Obama Administration’s newly announced plan to expand the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument. Read more here Read the WPRFMC’s response to President Obama here WPRFMC Press Conference (6-25-14) video 16:30
Exclusive: Canned tuna company Bumble Bee eyes $1.5 billion sale – sources
(Reuters) – Bumble Bee Foods is preparing a sale process that could value North America’s largest producer and marketer of canned tuna and sardines at as much as $1.5 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. The sources asked not to be identified because the deliberations are private. The company’s owner, private equity firm Lion Capital LLP, Read more here 14:40
Fisherman dies after being hit by anchor, pulled overboard
Nova Scotia RCMP are investigating after a 40-year-old fisherman from Shelburne County died Sunday night in a fishing accident near Georges Bank. Richard MacMillan Hiltz, 40, was a crewman on the fishing boat Nip n’ Tuck. He was from Port Clyde. Read more here 13:56
Always Top Quality! Your Seafreeze Ltd. Prefered Price List for June 30, 2014 has arrived!
Contact our sales team today @ 401 295 2585 or 800 732 273 Click here
for the complete price list from Seafreeze Ltd. where The Only Thing They Treat YOUR Fish is With Respect ! Visit our website 13:12
Now We’re Talking! – Liberal push to strip environmental groups of charitable tax status
The government is being pressed to alter the charitable status of environmental groups after a Liberal MP successfully argued to his party that the groups are not “real charities” like the Red Cross or the Salvation Army. A motion introduced by MP Andrew Nikolic to the Liberal federal council called for environmental groups to be stripped of charitable rights, such as the ability to receive tax-deductible donations. Read more here 12:21
NZ no to seabed mining a cautionary tale for the Pacific
Trans Tasman Resources had proposed mining for iron ore 22 kilometres off the coast. But the EPA said no, citing concerns about the potential environmental effects and the effects of existing fishing and Kiwi interests. The decision raises questions about whether proposed sea d mining projects across the Pacific could go ahead without causing environmental damage. Read more here 11:50
3-Minute Market Insight – Pacific & Atlantic Cod Pricing Peculiarity, Poor Sockeye Salmon Season
Jun 30, 2014 Prices for Pacific Cod ex Warehouse Vladisvostok Russia are up over 30% Higher than prices this time last year whereas prices for Pacific Cod on the East Coast USA have stayed relatively even. Unusual fish sizes have affected the Sockeye Salmon Fishery in British Columbia Canada – Gillnet fishing in Barkley Sound has been poor for Sockeye and this is causing much confusion for fishermen. Watch the video report here 11:25
Morro Bay group makes move to help mend fisheries
The Nature Conservancy has transferred its Central Coast commercial fishing quotas to a Morro Bay nonprofit group. The Morro Bay Community Quota Fund will now manage the city’s fishing quota and five fishing permits and lease them to local fishermen. The transfer marks the latest development in an effort to rebuild Morro Bay’s fishing industry after the West Coast’s fisheries collapsed a decade ago. Read more here 09:57
What This Canadian Village Lacks in Size, it Makes Up With Heart and Lobster
“Whether the boats come in at one in the morning or one in the afternoon, you have to make a schedule to have everything lined up so the fishermen aren’t waiting — they’re your babies and you have to keep them happy,” says MacDonald. Read more here 09:41
In Maine, a key day for elvers regulation
The panel deciding whether to set catch limits or even close the fishery will take comments from fishermen and state officials, and there could be tension. The hearings in Hallowell and Brewer will be held by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, which has the authority to set catch limits and establish other rules governing East Coast fisheries from Maine to Florida. Read more here 07:55
Provincetown Portuguese Festival and fleet blessing draw raves
Sunday’s clear blue skies made a striking backdrop for the many flapping red, green and gold flags lining the town streets during the Portuguese Festival and 67th annual Blessing of the Fleet. Read more here 07:29
What’s killing off starfish along the entire West Coast? – Video
Called Sea Star Wasting Syndrome, the outbreak hitting the coast from Alaska to Mexico was first reported from Olympic National Park in Washington last summer, and has continued to take out sea stars, also known as starfish, with merciless efficiency. Read more here 19:36
killi
Kasilof red salmon at record-breaking levels
An emergency-order opening commercial set and drift gillnet fisheries in the Cook Inlet on Saturday was issued by Alaska Department of Fish and Game managers attempting to slow escapement of Kasilof River sockeye salmon. Read more here 14:50
Yolo County Jury Convicts Sturgeon Poachers
A Yolo County jury convicted a repeat sturgeon poacher and his accomplice of multiple felonies and poaching charges stemming from a 2010 poaching investigation. They were convicted June 19, with sentencing scheduled for Aug. 1. Read more here 14:40
Blue crab threatened by high-dollar harvest?
The crabs used to be caught commercially a dozen or more per trap. Now crabbers are lucky to pull up three or four at a time. Yet there are more crabbers and crab traps out there than long-timers have seen before, they say. The reason is simple: $100 per bushel. That’s the price for the best of the crabs because the fishery is declining all along the East Coast – partly from overfishing. Read more here 14:24
Who knew? Rhode Island is King of squid; More pounds are brought to shore than any other seafood
Squid is to Rhode Island what lobster is to Maine; cod is to Massachusetts. “Fifteen years ago, you didn’t see calamari on the menu,” says Glenn Goodwin, co-owner of Seafreeze in North Kingstown, a seafood freezing facility. “Now you see it everywhere. It was a low-cost item that was plentiful. It took some time for people to try it.” Read more here 14:02
More Maine fishermen finding success, supplementing incomes by offering tourist cruises
Robertson’s boat already was at the pier, and he was getting his vessel ready to go out into Narraguagus Bay and beyond. Unlike Perry’s work boat, the Captain Cole, Robertson’s gleaming, spotless Kandi Leigh would not be hauling any lobster traps. Robertson was getting his boat ready to take out a small group of tourists on an excursion. Read more here 13:22
Rhode Island Fishermen’s Alliance Weekly Update June 29, 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 more here 13:09
Further protection for Louisiana shrimpers and crawfishermen
A USD 3 million fund will be granted to collect anti-dumping duties from countries that illegally dump shrimp, crawfish and other seafood into US markets. This was announced by the Chair of the Senate Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee, Senator Mary L. Landrieu. Read more here 09:08
Sockeye run at halfway point double 10-year average, over 20,000 a day crossing Bonneville Dam
With summer Chinook adult spawner counts on track to achieve preseason return estimates, and sockeye salmon numbers looking even better than advertised, Oregon and Washington fisheries officials this week gave their go-ahead for two more weeks of commercial fishing for treaty tribes on the Columbia River mainstem reservoirs above Bonneville Dam. Read more here 08:32
Lobstermen in Maine are not happy about this’: Feds finalize whale-safe rules for lobster buoy lines
ELLSWORTH, Maine — Federal fisheries officials have issued the final version of a new rule aimed at protecting whales from getting entangled in fishing lines that connect surface buoys to traps on the ocean bottom. Read more here 06:06
Massive sockeye run expected, with reservations
VANCOUVER – Predictions for this year’s salmon fishery on British Columbia’s Fraser River are so massive there’s no historical data to use to forecast the many millions of sockeye expected to return. Read more here 05:59
Smart Trawling prototype to protect the seabed
Prototype technology unveiled by Sealord is being developed to provide skippers with a real-time view of the ocean floor and equipment while fishing, resulting in smart trawling and a reduction in the impacts of fishing on the seabed. Read more here 05:51
North shore town grieving following fisherman’s death – a father, a step-father and a grandfather.
The loss of a fisherman, and by reports an outstanding community person, has left the people of Gillams grieving. Mayor Joy Burt said the town was still in a state of shock the day after one of its own died after a boat capsized while four fishermen were earning their living crab fishing. Read more here 11:50
Over 2-Million Sockeye Harvested Thursday in Bristol Bay – WHOO! Thats a lot of Dinners!
The sockeye harvest in Bristol Bay topped 2-million on Thursday to push the season total to 4.1-million. Over 860-thousand sockeye were taken in the Egegik District on Thursday,, Read more here 11:38:
National Marine Fisheries Service plans new environmental compliance policy
Share this post