Daily Archives: December 23, 2014
Tagging in Newfoundland showing cod, halibut activity
Atlantic halibut catches provided a landed value of $5.6 million to the Newfoundland and Labrador fishery in 2013, with over 40 per cent caught off the Island’s west coast. The stock estimates for that area, as with other parts of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, face regular dispute, with some fishermen saying there are more fish to catch. Harvesters argue current bottom-trawl surveys do not provide a true assessment at the end of the day. Read the rest here 21:22
•Locating cod spawning grounds is critical to rebuilding stocks, and ‘torpedoes’ are helping scientists to find them.
Sitting half-submerged in the ocean east of Scituate, the canary-yellow glider with swept-back wings looked like little more than someone’s errant model plane. Appearances can be deceiving, especially in this electronic age where more and more sophisticated technology is being loaded into ever smaller and sleeker packages. Read the rest here 19:23
Acidification-gate?: NOAA accused of ‘pHraud’ by hiding data showing oceans have not “acidified” over past century
“Ocean acidification” (OA) is receiving growing attention. While someone who doesn’t follow climate change science might think OA is a stomach condition resulting from eating bad seafood, OA is claimed to be a phenomenon that will destroy ocean life—all due to mankind’s use of fossil fuels. It is a foundational theory upon which the global warming/climate change narrative is built. Within the Quest text is a link to a chart by Dr. Richard A. Feely, who is a senior scientist with the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL)—which is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Feely’s climate-crisis views are widely used to support the narrative. Read the rest here 16:40
Fish win another water fight round in South San Joaquin Irrigation District
“Today’s federal court of appeals ruling upholds protections for salmon, steelhead trout, killer whales and other wildlife that rely on natural river flows in California’s Central Valley and a functioning delta to survive,” said John McManus, executive director for the fishing industry’s Golden Gate Salmon Association. Federal biologists in 2009 said water withdrawals from the delta were driving endangered killer whales off California closer to extinction by reducing salmon and other fish the killer whales depend on for food. Read the rest here 12:32
As the Fur Fly’s! Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife: An agency split in two — twice
The man who has directed the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife for the past six years is stepping down at the end of 2014, and he couldn’t have picked a better time. Or a worse one. ,, One of the department’s most highly decorated investigators started a petition after he retired to remove Anderson and two of the three highest-ranking enforcement officials — one of whom, Cenci, is a defendant in a federal civil-rights lawsuit over allegations from a commercial fishing family that he has harassed them for years. Read the rest here 11:36
Our View: Quinn would serve New Bedford, Fishery Council well
We would urge the secretary to appoint New Bedford scalloper Charlie Quinn to the post, filling the seat vacated by Tom Dempsey. Quinn has been scalloping for decades, dragging with his own boat since the age of 18, and has seen the scallop fishery under bad management, good management and great management. The secretary has two other candidates to consider, but Quinn’s experience and intellect make him the right fit for the council, which is responsible for conservation and management of fishery resources off the coasts of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. Read the rest here 10:51
For shrimper severely burned in boat explosion, ‘angels’ provide a chance for life
Ryan Barcot has a guardian angel or two, maybe more. Badly burned in a shrimp boat explosion near Grand Isle, he clung to a life raft with his mangled hands until a nearby offshore supply boat plucked him and three other crew members from the Gulf of Mexico. “He’s had so many guardian angels looking out for him, it’s unbelievable,” said Joyce Barcot, who has not left her son’s side at Baton Rouge General Hospital since she arrived from Houston three weeks ago. Read the rest here 07:30
Sign of the times? No. Government Ineptitude. New Hampshire Fishing fleet up for sale
What fishermen are reporting is that “there are cod all over,” But what fishermen see is not given credence by federal regulators, Goethel said, so yesterday he participated in a research catch in the Gulf of Maine conducted by Dr. Lisa Kerr of the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. “We did a research project that allotted seven days to catch 50 codfish, because the regulators said there’s no cod out there,” Goethel said. “I caught 2,500 pounds of cod in an hour. It’s very frustrating for fishermen, given what we see in the ocean and what we’re told isn’t there by our government officials.” Read the rest here 03:36
