Monthly Archives: October 2014
Around and around we go, Where the Rogue NMFS Asset Forfeiture Fund Money goes, nobody knows! It’ll cost ya to find out!
On, or about, Sept. 15th, 2014 I inquired from the same FOIA office the following information: ‘Please forward information on all monetary disbursements from the (NMFS) …(who were the recipients and what was the dollar amounts and for what purpose) from 2010 to the present (August 31, 2014). Also, what is the current balance in the account. The charge for that request would be $2965.44 …letter attached. Business must be booming! Read the rest here 19:09
Understanding the Canadian Commercial Fishing Industry on Lake Erie
The natural resources that Lake Erie provides are valuable to millions of people. That is why conversations get heated with the topic of Lake Erie fisheries management. Distrust and blame are often beseeched upon neighboring management agencies. Canadian commercial fishermen are looked upon with disdain by many Americans for their use of gill nets and harvest rates. Read the rest here 16:57
Harbor commissioner mulling plea offer in poaching, perjury case
The poaching and perjury case against Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District Commissioner Aaron Newman may end in a plea deal after attorneys said during a Tuesday trial confirmation hearing that an offer was in the works. He has been charged with six misdemeanor violations related to poaching allegations, as well as. Read the rest here 16:45
Pacific nations agree to historic tuna fishery pact to protect local industries
Officials from the Pacific Forum Fishery Agency (FFA) countries, meeting in Solomon Islands, have agreed on the text for a framework for managing the fishery, known as the Tokelau Arrangement for the Management of the South Pacific Longline Fishery. The meeting’s chair and Samoa’s ministry of agriculture and fisheries assistant chief executive, Joyce Samuelu Ah Leong, said catch limits will be set. Read the rest here 16:21
Herring, tuna fishing interests collide at sea
The collision of fishing interests came Saturday night into Sunday morning, out along Jeffreys Ledge, ground zero for the extraordinarily hard bluefin tuna bite that unfolded in the waters off Cape Ann throughout the middle of October. By all accounts, including those of NOAA Fisheries, the state’s and even Moody, the herring boats had every right to be fishing in the area as long as they didn’t violate the spawning closure by fishing before 12:01 a.m. Sunday and landing any of their catch before Monday at 12:01 a.m. Read the rest here 14:31
Corn Belt Pollution: Louisiana Shrimp And Oysters Pay The Price as EPA raises the ethanol mandate
Nitrogen run-off from the nation’s booming Corn Belt is the single largest source of nutrient pollution in the Mississippi River basin, which drains a stunning 41 percent of the waterways in the contiguous United States. Massive amounts of water, sediment and nutrients wash off cornfields from as far away as Minnesota, enter the Mississippi River system, and eventually reach the Gulf. Read the rest here 12:07
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 44’x18′ 2003, Gillnetter,Lobster Fiberglass, Cummins, 530HP
Specifications, information and 23 photo’s click here To see all the boats in this series, Click here 11:40
Crew stranded in Argentia receives help from fisheries union
Life aboard a cargo vessel that is stranded in the port of Argentia became a little more bearable for 11 crew members this week following the arrival of a shipment of food. Video, Read the rest here 11:20
New charges in Lower Keys spiny lobster case – All are accused of violating the Lacey Act
Fishermen Charles and Tyson Veach and their company, Super Grouper Inc. of Stock Island and their company, Super Grouper Inc. of Stock Island, have been additionally charged by the U.S. Attorney’s Office with selling illegally caught lobster on three dates in August, according to court documents. A third brother, was charged previously in an indictment handed down in August. Read the rest here 09:22
Why Canada, U.S. must resolve their Arctic border disputes
As most Canadians are aware, Canada and United States have two sovereignty disputes in the Arctic. Our differences regarding the Northwest Passage are better known, but we have also had an ongoing dispute with the Americans as to how to divide the Beaufort Sea. Read the rest here 09:11
Yes on Question 7: Maine needs to prepare for a changing fisheries future
Do you favor a $7,000,000 bond issue to facilitate the growth of marine businesses and commercial enterprises that create jobs and improve the sustainability of the State’s marine economy and related industries through capital investments, to be matched by at least $7,000,000 in private and other funds? Maine’s fisheries are a defining part of the state’s economy, but they face an uncertain future. Read the rest here 22:57
Why a Swordfish’s Sword Doesn’t Break
A swordfish’s “sword” is its most prominent feature, but scientists have only now discovered the unusual properties that keep the sword strong and ready to slash. A study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reveals that the fish have an unusual way to repair their bone, keeping it strong and stiff. Read the rest here 19:22
Red snapper amendments are on the table and all alternatives are bad: reader opinion
On the table for discussion are a couple of contentious issues. The most immediate is Amendment 40, which would separate the recreational community into two sectors – the “for hire” or charter sector and the private recreational sector. The other issue, Amendment 28, would address reallocation of the red snapper quota between the recreational and commercial sectors. Read the rest here 18:57
BOEM to prepare Environmental Impact Statement for Potential Cook Inlet Lease Sale
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) today announced that it will prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in support of a potential oil and gas lease sale in Cook Inlet, off Alaska’s south central coast. The Notice of Intent to Prepare an EIS, which will be published in the Federal Register on Oct. 23, 2014, will open a public comment period extending through Monday, Dec. 8, 2014. Read the rest here 16:58
More than 450 Cook Inlet fishermen receive aid money
In Cook Inlet, 454 checks were mailed — 481 eligible fishermen received applications for the payments. Another 330 checks were sent to Kuskokwim fishermen, out of 471 initially expected to be eligible, and 564 out of 599 eligible Yukon fishermen received payments. Read the rest here 16:26
Kodiak needs a crab restoration effort – LudgerDochtermann
Toby Sullivan wrote a great piece on the early Kodiak crab fishery. A kick in the mouth with a reminder that the community of Kodiak was built on crab. This city, the state and federal government have spent up to one billion dollars in often unbelievable financial indebtedness and flat-out government largesse, all taxpayer drains. Read the rest here 16:00
Researchers, shrimpers look for black gill shrimp in Georgia
This wasn’t your typical cruise. For starters, the day-long journey around Chatham County waterways on the 92-foot R/V Savannah on Thursday was focused on a tiny parasite on shrimp that turns their gills an unsightly and unmarketable black. And instead of scientists researching the problem by themselves and reporting their results in a scientific journal years from now, they invited along shrimpers,,, Video, Read the rest here
BOFFFFs (big, old, fat, fertile, female fish) sustain fisheries
Recreational fishermen prize large trophy fish. Commercial fishing gear targets big fish. After all, larger fish feed the egos of humans as well as their bellies. A new compilation of research from around the world now shows that big, old, fat, fertile, female fish – known as BOFFFFs to scientists – are essential for ensuring that fishery stocks remain sustainable. Read the rest here 10:37
Something’s fishy about Seattle’s Fisherman’s Terminal – and that’s a good thing
Living in Seattle, we have a tendency to take great seafood for granted; we know that come spring, our halibut will have a soft landing in herbed butter. It’s a given that we can drive to Fishermen’s Terminal and buy freshly-caught salmon just feet from where the boat docks. We can be confident our crab,,, Read the rest here 10:20
Companies to Provide Modernization and Implementation of entellitrak® to Power NOAA’s Law Enforcement Personnel Activities
MicroPact, Inc., the global leader in Data-First™ Case Management and Business Process Management (BPM) software, has secured a contract with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to deploy entellitrak® as the Trident Case Management System for the federal agency’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Office of Law Enforcement (OLE). Read the rest here 10:12
Jacobs (fourth-generation waterman) unopposed in District 36 in the Maryland House of Delegates
“For 20 years, I feel like Annapolis has really regulated the industry, really in a way that has been very detrimental to the industry,” Jacobs said. “The first year or two I was there, it was very frustrating for me to see legislation introduced and passed by legislators who had no idea what a waterman looked like.” Jacobs said there is a lot of influence on legislators from environmental interest groups and the information they have received for the last 20 years has been “really one-sided.” Read the rest here 09:14
Federal Conservatives under fire after ‘blind luck’ keeps drifting ship afloat
OTTAWA – Opposition critics say B.C.’s northern coast dodged a bullet this week when a disabled cargo ship drifted dangerously close to the shores of Haida Gwaii. The Russian-flagged Simushir has been safely towed to Prince Rupert by a commercial U.S. tug but New Democrats and Liberals in Ottawa say the incident doesn’t bode well for a dramatic increase in supertankers plying the same waters. Read the rest here 21:02
Zhangzidao Group takes over Eastern Passage fish plant – “We will be sponsoring hockey teams,”
Feeding China’s booming middle-class population has led to a major investment in Nova Scotia by a large Chinese seafood company. The Zhangzidao Group says it expects to export between 2.3 to 4.5 million kilograms of Nova Scotia lobster to China in the next year and spend millions of dollars on new holding and processing facilities in the province. Read the rest here 18:07
Drive to Mine the Deep Sea Raises Concerns Over Impacts
Armed with new high-tech equipment, mining companies are targeting vast areas of the deep ocean for mineral extraction. But with few regulations in place, critics fear such development could threaten seabed ecosystems that scientists say are only now being fully understood. Read the rest here 17:50
Coast Guard medevacs injured fisherman after crab pot falls on him
A Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew, forward deployed to Cold Bay, medevaced an injured fisherman from a fishing vessel 150 miles southeast of Sand Point, Alaska, Sunday evening.,, injured after a crab pot fell on him during loading operations Read the rest here 16:35
UAF Researchers Montior Gulf of Alaska and Find Waters Warmer
Scientists at the University of Alaska Fairbanks have been studying the waters in the Gulf of Alaska and found that the warmer than normal temperatures are averaging one to five degrees warmer than the September average of 55-57 degrees Fahrenheit. Read the rest here 15:07
North Devon fishing industry is facing ruin and set to collapse following a ban on ray fishing.
The North Devon fishing industry is facing ruin and set to collapse following a ban on ray fishing. Local fishermen are facing selling their boats and Appledore Fish Dock has closed down after the unexpected ban left the industry contemplating the loss of almost three quarters of its revenue. The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) has levied the ban, which includes the Bristol Channel, after the country as a whole went over its quota for the year. Read the rest here 14:19
No profits found in this tangled catch – Fishermen taking a beating!
Local fishermen this year have had a tough time with a species of red seaweed, an algae, that looks like matted hair. The algae began to bloom and spread in May. Nets would get fouled – often beyond recognition – and the fishermen would spend hours cleaning them, only to have their nets get “weeded up” on the very next tide. And to add insult to injury, when the weed was thickest, covering acres of the seabed, the nets would often be empty of fish. Read the rest here 13:23
From pencil to computer: Lobstermen adapting to digital data collection
Just 10% of Maine’s lobster fishermen, selected randomly each year, are required to report landings and other data to the Department of Marine Resources. They use good old pen and paper, the forms provided by the DMR. In this digital age, that seems inefficient says Susan Corbett, CEO of Axiom Technologies in Machias. In recent years, she and Axiom, a broadband provider, have worked to develop an online data collection system for lobster harvesters. Read the rest here 10:10
Green Crab found near Pool’s Cove – Could be a serious issue in Fortune Bay
According to Cynthia McKenzie, a research scientist with Fisheries and Oceans, the green crab has established a foothold in the Pool’s Cove area of Fortune Bay. She said DFO issued experimental licenses to the Conne River Band and a group in Pool’s Cove this past summer to catch green crab. Read the rest here 09:59
