Monthly Archives: August 2014
In the LA Times: Cape Cod’s namesake fish population rapidly disappearing
Today’s catch: pounds of skate, a fish that looks like a sting ray until fishermen catch it, when they cut off its wings and throw the body back into the water. The skate wings, white triangular pieces of flesh trailed by streams of blood, slide down ramps onto the loading dock. “Eeeewww,” says 5-year-old Felix Haight. “It looks like raspberry jelly,” he adds, as his mother wrinkles her nose. The next boat brings in dogfish, which looks like a mix between a shark and a lizard, Read the rest here 19:34
Virginia watermen fight mounting regulations
Virginia waterman are passionate. One wrote into [email protected] that the watermen have been cut short on income through the early closing of their oyster season. Another told us on Thursday that in less than 25 years, there have been more than 20 new regulations, and none of them have done what they’re supposed to do. Read the rest here, Video 12:45
Here’s The Hard Work That Goes Into Catching Your Lobster – Lots of great photos in this article
Lobster boat captain Craig Stewart and sternman Tim Lovett start work before sunrise and haul traps for hours on end. To experience the life of a Maine lobsterman last summer we headed to Portland, Maine and spent a day aboard Stewart’s 36-foot working lobster boat. Read the rest here, lots of photos 11:22
Rhode Island Fishermen’s Alliance Weekly Update, August 31, 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 the update here 11:00
Twenty-thousand Turkish vessels will set sail on Monday as the country’s fishing season starts in earnest.
Almost 20,000 registered fish boats will cast off on Monday. The Turkish phrase for this event is “Vira Bismillah” – literally ‘raising the anchor in the name of God’. Another veteran, Mehmet Reis – “Captain Mehmet” – an experienced sailor with a deeply-lined face who has spent more than a third of his life fishing, claims Turkish people do not have enough appreciation for fish. “This is medicine, do not call this ‘fish’,” Read the rest here 10:28
The CG36500 Historic Coast Guard lifeboat rescues kayaker
More than 62 years after the CG36500 lifeboat rescued 32 men off the coast of Chatham in what became known as the greatest small-boat rescue in Coast Guard history, it is still saving lives. Read the rest here 09:37
Lobster season’s assessment: ‘normal’ with good eating ahead
A recent Associated Press story citing a slower-than-usual lobster harvest in Maine. Executive Editor Rod Doherty asked if I was interested in doing a comparison piece about our New Hampshire lobster catch. I giggled and thought, “Rod you’ve come to the right place.” Read the rest here 08:30
Parasitic lampreys feed on bumper Fraser River sockeye run
The parasitic Pacific lamprey is taking a bite out of the estimated more than 21 million sockeye returning to the Fraser River this year — a bumper harvest but short of the unexpectedly high returns of 2010. But sockeye are showing up this year with chunks taken out of their bodies, raising concerns about the lamprey’s impact on the spawning migration. Read the rest here 01:50
Some Dangerous People will Assemble on September 10, 2014, and you should be aware of this.
Casting the Net: A More Efficient Approach to U.S. Fisheries Management – The Brookings Institution – Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin will open the forum. discussion paper by economist Christopher Costello of the University of California, Santa Barbara, joined by Lee Crockett, Director of U.S. Oceans at the Pew Charitable Trusts; Amanda Leland, Vice President of Oceans at the Environmental Defense Fund; John Pappalardo, Executive Director of the Cape Cod Commercial Fisherman’s Alliance; and Captain Steve Tomeny of Steve Tomeny Charters. Read this. Read the rest here 20:22
Does Long Island Want a Pipeline off our Beaches?
Liberty Natural Gas had applied to construct a deepwater LNG (liquefied natural gas) terminal. Here’s some of the concerns: The proposed deepwater port and offshore pipeline lie east of thriving coastal communities that are home to many residents of the State as well as precious plant, fish, animal and avian species. This coastal area also supports recreational and commercial fishing, shellfisheries and tourism industries. . . .Read the rest here 10:32
Letter: Blame Congress, not NOAA, for fisheries plight – Sam Novello, Gloucester
Fishing has been in my family for generations, and I have been a commercial fisherman my entire life. In 1990, I was advised to get out of commercial fishing by a reliable source who indicated that our government planned to further limit U.S. fishing efforts in order to trade American technology for foreign fish. Read the rest here (2 page views, 5 free per month) GDT 09:10
Marrero Man Sentenced for Illegal Fish Sales in Plaquemines Parish – Takes Undercover Agents on Illegal Charter!!!
Joseph Morris III, 30, pleaded guilty to selling fish without a fresh products license, failing to maintain records, taking commercial fish without a vessel license, selling game fish illegally, selling spotted sea trout without a permit, selling spotted sea trout without a rod and reel license, taking/selling undersized spotted sea trout, possessing commercial red drum illegally and failing to comply with charter boat regulations. Read the rest here 08:57
Commercial fishermen say water rules would be costly
WASHINGTON – When commercial fishing vessels unload their hauls on deck, crews usually gut their catch and put it on ice for the trip back to shore. Then they do something that could land them in trouble under a six-year-old law: They hose down the decks, sending the bloody mix of guts and scales into the water. Read the rest here 08:42
Before there was Global Warming, Sixty years ago, two hurricanes a week apart did double damage on Cape Cod
Hurricane Carol on Aug. 31, 1954, and Edna less than two weeks later on Sept. 11, struck during what local researchers call the “golden age” of hurricanes from 1935 to 1960, years that saw other Category 3 storms such as the infamous Hurricane of ’38, the 1944 Hurricane and Hurricane Donna in 1960. Read the rest here 08:00
Coast Guard rescue crews assisted a Canadian-flagged fishing vessel early Friday morning
Coast Guard rescue crews assisted a Canadian-flagged fishing vessel early Friday morning after it began taking on water near Chandler Bay, Maine. Watchstanders at the Sector Northern New England Command Center in Portland, Maine, received a mayday call at 4:28 a.m. from the three-person crew aboard the Jill Marie, indicating their 50-foot vessel struck a rock and was taking on water. Read more here 19:36
Record Numbers Of Salmon And Orcas Flood Pacific Coast
Record numbers of salmon, sockeye salmon, in never before seen abundance are swimming into the Strait of Georgia in British Columbia according to the numbers published by the Pacific Salmon Commission. The rate at which the prized sockeye are arriving is 170% of that of the previous record year of 2010 arrived more than 34 million strong. (Note: The 34 million number is the “official count,” the total number of fish returning is normally said to be 20% higher than the “official count.” Thus in 2012 upwards of 40+ million sockeye likely made it home.) Read more here 18:39
Alaska’s Chinook salmon – Army of researchers tracks chinook decline
More than 100 researchers and three dozen projects are underway to find clues as to why Alaska’s Chinook salmon production has declined since 2007. The ambitious effort marks the start of a state-backed five year, $30 million Chinook Salmon Research Initiative that includes 12 major river systems from Southeast Alaska to the Yukon. Read more here 17:01
Final Amendment 7 to the 2006 Consolidated Highly Migratory Species Fishery Management Plan
The Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for Amendment 7 to the 2006 Consolidated Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Fishery Management Plan (FMP) is now available. Amendment 7 is intended to meet several objectives, which are driven by statutory mandates under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act, including to: Read more here 16:41
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update – August 29, 2014
Weekly Update for August 29, 2014 www.ncfish.org 16:09
Maine proposes rules to manage growing black sea bass fishery. Black Sea Bass, ya say!!!!
Maine fishery officials are proposing regulations to manage black sea bass, a species that is increasing in abundance in the state’s waters. Scientists say black sea bass are increasing in Maine’s waters because of temperature increase over the past 10 years. You don’t say! Read more here 15:14
Eddie Emery: A man in a building in a city somewhere
A man in a building in a city somewhere says there’s no seabass to catch…every trap every day all summer…but I must be wrong 14:54
The Patriot Ledger – OUR OPINION: Save the whales, but don’t kill lobster fishing
At the core of the dispute is the claim by NOAA, the National Marine Fisheries Service and others that the whales traversing the seas not far from our coasts are increasingly at risk of becoming snared by the trap lines and other gear of lobster fishing as they surface and dive while foraging for food. But NOAA hasn’t outlined the specific data showing the need for such action,,, Read more here 13:38
75-year-old Little Torch Key man pleaded guilty this week to federal charges of illegally selling bonnethead sharks
faces five years in federal prison and $250,000 in fines. However, Horan doubted the judge will send the older man, who lost one of his arms in a fishing accident decades ago, to prison. “We wouldn’t have taken the plea if he was going to prison,” Horan said. Read more here 09:33
New Bedford: Is family tradition of fishing ending?
The trials and tribulations of contemporary commercial fishermen are well known in seaports throughout New England, but while their futures appear bleak in the eyes of some, there are others who dispute that notion.,, Many fear the rich tradition of “inter-generational fishing” — the once-common trend of fishermen spawning fishermen from their offspring — is nearing the point of extinction. Read more here 08:47
Canadian Coast Guard Inaugurates CCGS Leim
The Canadian Coast Guard inaugurated its newest near-shore fisheries research vessel CCGS LeimCCGS Leim on 26 August. The vessel was named in honour of the late Dr. Alexander Henry Leim, a DFO scientist who dedicated his life to fisheries research. 07:39
New Brunswick: Research links clam behaviour to climate change
New research is linking clam behaviour to climate change. That shift in behaviour could be contributing to increasingly low soft-shell clam populations on the Bay of Fundy. Researcher Jeff Clements at the University of New Brunswick in Saint John says clams tend to refuse to burrow into ocean sediment that has high acidity Read more here 07:18
Feds agree to return $71,500 stolen from fishermen’s cooperative in South Thomaston
One of the largest fishermen’s cooperative in the state will get back $71,500 seized by police during an investigation into the theft of more than $1 million in lobsters. The money was seized in October 2012 as part of a criminal investigation into Thompson, J.P. Shellfish of Eliot, and its owner John Price, 58, of Kittery. Read more here 17:50
The Kodiak Chamber of Commerce invites you to a Gubernatorial Fisheries Debate Tonight! 7 PM, (11PM eastern)
Governor Sean Parnell, Byron Mallott and Bill Walker square off over fish, and mining! Watch the debate here, kmxt ustream tv 16:40
Sockeye salmon are flooding into Campbell River and Fishermen Missing Out on Once in a Lifetime Salmon Run – Video
Sockeye salmon are flooding into Campbell River now in numbers never seen by lifelong fisherman, but there is growing frustration that quota limits mean the commercial fishing community is missing out on an ocean of opportunity. Watch the Video here 16:18
