Daily Archives: September 4, 2014
‘Fishing the hell’ out of B.C. sockeye may be best way to preserve stocks, UBC professor says
Few know the issues better than Carl Walters, a fish biologist and professor emeritus at the University of British Columbia, who has studied Fraser sockeye and other salmon species for five decades. To some, he’s a legend; to others, he’s become a pariah. Prof. Walters was once a hard-line protectionist on Fraser sockeye. He endorsed “precautionary management” Read the rest here 23:27
Russia’s seafood import ban, bogus labelling hurt Alaska fishing industry
Most of you have heard about the Russian prohibition on the importation of seafood products from the United States, the EU, Canada and others. This is a big deal, with a lot of unknown consequences, and will have a significant impact on the US seafood industry. A year ago, the Marine Stewardship Council, a self-charged ENGO with championing sustainable commercial fisheries, gave its stamp of approval to the Russian pollock fishery as sustainable. Read the rest here 21:05
Maine Man Gets Jail in Scallop Scheme
The owner of a Maine seafood company who admitted conspiring to conceal the harvesting of nearly 80,000 pounds of scallops off the coasts of New Jersey and Massachusetts has been sentenced to jail. Read the rest here 18:27
Well-known Newfoundland fisherman, Lorne Fudge, dies
A well-known fisherman who was fighting the provincial government for a right to receive money as part of a resettlement program has died. For fellow fisherman Leo Seymour, though, his friend was someone who constantly put the needs of others above his own, and was always a listening ear when he needed one. “You couldn’t ask for no better, to be honest with you,” Read the rest here – Skipper of crew stranded on ice pan hails rescuers Read the rest here 16:02
Cape Cleare Fishery to raise sail with 80-foot fiberglass-hulled schooner
Port Townsend’s Cape Cleare salmon company is known for delivering its premium wild-caught Alaskan salmon by bicycle, and its carbon footprint continues to shrink. In March 2013, Rick Oltman, owner of Cape Cleare Fishery, bought the 80-foot, fiberglass-hulled schooner Mystere, a sailboat built in Port Townsend in the 1980s. He renamed it Cape Cleare. Read the rest here 15:13
Alaska commercial salmon harvest tops 146 million
Alaska’s commercial salmon catch continues to climb, reaching 146 million fish through Sept. 2. Statewide, the total catch includes according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s bluesheet estimate. Fishermen are now primarily targeting pinks, Read the rest here 15:05
Newfoundland CF/V Bradley Venture crew ‘lucky’ to be alive after boat sinks off Cape Breton
A Newfoundland skipper says he and his two crew members are very lucky to be alive after their boat started to sink off the coast of Cape Breton. The fishermen were on their way to a fish plant in North Sydney Wednesday afternoon when they started to take on water. Read the rest here 14:28
Judge rules BP’s reckless conduct caused Gulf oil spill
A federal judge on Thursday ruled that BP’s reckless conduct resulted in the worst oil spill in U.S. history, according to The Associated Press. “U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier’s ruling Thursday could nearly quadruple the amount of civil penalties for polluting the Gulf of Mexico with oil from BP’s Macondo well in 2010,” Read the rest here 11:56
Scientists, fishermen at odds on cod stock in Gulf of Maine
“Look at it all. It’s beautiful,” said Jongerden, general manager of the Portland Fish Exchange. But all that cod should not be there, according to a report last month by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that found the number of cod of reproductive age in the Gulf of Maine has hit an all-time low – only 3 percent to 4 percent of what’s needed for a sustainable fishery. Read the rest here 08:59
One of the Last Pound Fishermen Tells the Story
“I remember a woman from Brooklyn asked me if it was called a pound fishery because we sold the fish by the pound. Well, we sold it by the pound, the box and the barrel, but that’s not why. I heard it was because like a dog pound, the pockets collect the fish and trap them so it’s a fish pound. But I really don’t know. We just always called it the pound.” Carl Tarnow, Designed Exhibit for Tuckerton Seaport. Read the rest here 08:18
Columbia River Compact approves trial seine fisheries
The Columbia River Compact on Aug. 12 gave the green light to the first commercial seine fishing for salmon on the lower Columbia River mainstem since the nets were prohibited under state law by Washington in 1935 and by Oregon in 1950. Read the rest here 08:00
Dave Atcheson – “Dead Reckoning: Navigating a Life on the Last Frontier Courting Tragedy on its High Seas.”
Dave Atcheson, author of Hidden Alaska and the guidebook Fishing Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula, has a new book out, “Dead Reckoning: Navigating a Life on the Last Frontier Courting Tragedy on its High Seas.” The novel is a true-life story that intertwines three of Atcheson’s experiences in a 20-year period of commercial fishing in Alaska. Read the rest here 07:41
Dancing with the Cape Wind Devil – Two Island fishermen’s groups steer different courses
In a joint conference call on June 26, 2012, representatives of the Martha’s Vineyard/Dukes County Fishermen’s Association and Cape Wind Associates announced that the Island-based fishermen’s association had ended its federal lawsuit against the proposed wind farm on Horseshoe Shoal and entered into a settlement agreement with Cape Wind valued at approximately $1.25 million. Read the rest here 07:32
SOS for shrimpers, processors alike – Fishermen may strike over price
The relationships between buyer and seller can be quite tense, a phenomenon rooted not just in dollars but in emotions. There are sons of processers who will tell you how as kids they were jumped in the schoolyards by sons of fishermen, and sons of fishermen who will tell you of sins against their fathers by the processors. Read the rest here 07:11
Campbell River fisherman feeds fish to those less fortunate
Joshua Duncan can’t stand seeing people go hungry when there are so many extra fish. On Saturday, Aug. 23, the Campbell River fisherman donated 500 sockeye salmon to the residents of a homeless encampment along with some Friendship centres and women’s centres in the Downtown Eastside area of Vancouver, known as one of the poorest neighbourhoods in Canada. Read the rest here 06:33
Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission to cut catch of endangered bluefin tuna
The multi-nation fisheries body that monitors most of the Pacific Ocean has recommended a substantial cut to the catch of juvenile bluefin tuna, a move conservationists say is only an initial step toward saving the dwindling species. Read the rest here 06:24
Gloucesterman John S. Testaverde has passed away
One of Gloucester’s finest and fishermen’s wharf icon’s passed away Tuesday, September 2nd in the evening. John S. Testaverde was 73. Following in the legacy of his father and grandfather, John started working with his Dad on the Johnny Babe when he was 7 years old. The memories of those early days were captured in his father’s book, Memoirs of a Gloucester Fisherman. Calling hours are 08:00 – 09:00 Friday and Service at 09:30 Read the rest here 00:19
