Daily Archives: February 26, 2015
Water rights for wild salmon or coal mine? DNR to decide. Comments extended to April 9
The state is getting ready to choose between giving water rights to sustain wild salmon or to 
proposed at Upper Cook Inlet. If it opts for the mine, the decision will set a troubling legal precedent – it means the same could soon be coming to a river near you. It would be the first time in Alaska’s state history that we would allow an Outside corporation to mine completely through a salmon stream. And the purpose is to ship coal to China. Read the rest here 23:06
Captain Joseph John Testaverde, Lifelong Gloucester Fisherman – March 24, 1951 – February 25, 2015
It was the sea that ran through his veins, starting at the age of 7 as his fathers deckhand and eventually becoming owner and Captain of his own boats. Joe immersed himself into the life and was always at the front lines of political change advocating for fisherman’s rights with the Gloucester Fisheries Commission , Waters Way Commission and many other fisheries causes. In 1994, he was the recipient of the National Fisherman Highliner of the year award. He leaves behind five children, grandchildren, his two brothers, and his beloved dog, Boston Blackie . Read the rest here A fund has been established to help with expenses. 21:05
Another year of historic landings and improved value for Maine lobster announced
For the third year in a row and only the third time ever, Maine lobster fishermen landed more than 120 million pounds with a record overall value of $456,935,346, according to preliminary landings data reported today, Feb. 26, by the state Department of Marine Resources. At $3.69 per pound, the 123,676,100 pounds landed represented an improvement of 79 cents per pound over 2013, the largest one-year increase in per pound value since DMR and National Marine Fisheries Service began keeping records. Read the rest here 18:51
Northeast fisheries chief’s credo: ‘Take the heat. … Move on’
John Bullard recalls sitting on a sailboat in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean when “the light bulb went off.” Just out of college, he had set off to sail around the world by hitching free rides wherever he could get them. But a message in community organizer Saul Alinsky’s 1971 book “Rules for Radicals” stopped him short: If you want to change the world, go home. So he did. Armed with a master’s in city planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Bullard went back to his hometown of New Bedford, Mass. Read the rest here 18:02
Wild Alaskan Owner Responds to Federal Indictment
Darren and Kimberly Byler were charged with violating the Refuse Act for allegedly pumping their toilet water into the channel and for making false statements about it to the Coast Guard. “When I think I’ve seen it all, it just keeps getting better, with the government scrutiny since we opened up. The Coast Guard has laid down the hammer so to speak, with all the funds, the power, the money. And we’re guilty of nothing. They indicted us on charges they can’t prove. Before people rush to judgment, we’ll have our day in court.” Read the rest here 17:19
The Great Cod Compromise of 2015: NOAA, fishing industry find rare common ground on cod actions
The industry stakeholders and NOAA/NMFS
arrived at a compromise: NOAA would eliminate the trip bycatch limit and leave the broad stock areas open, but it only would be able to accept up to 30 metric tons of the surrendered cod allocation and the rolling closures scheduled for March would stay in effect.”We felt like what we came up with addresses two of the major complaints by the fishing industry,” Bullard said. “We think there is a conservation benefit to that and it’s a good proposal.” Read the rest here 15:57
Eco Zealot Oceana to feds: sea lions starving due to overfishing
Marine con group Oceana says thousands of sea lion pups that have died on the West Coast this year are succumbing to starvation from a lack of forage fish. Sardines – a preferred fish of sea lions – are more scarce than they have been in 15 years. Oceana is calling upon the Pacific Fishery Management Council to put a moratorium on new forage fisheries at its meeting next month. Read the rest here 14:00
George’s Bank at Risk: Shell’s N.S. project assessment in last stage
Shell Canada Inc. was another step closer Wednesday to exploratory drilling off the coast of Nova Scotia after an environmental assessment moved into its final phase. “We remain on track for a mid-2015 commencement of exploratory drilling,” Larry Lalonde, a Shell Canada spokesman, said in an interview. “There is a significant possibility of oil reaching George’s Bank and the southwest coast of the province in the event of a blowout,” Joanne Cook, marine toxics co-ordinator with the centre, said in an interview. Read the rest here 10:41
Cape Breton fish processor seeks new products from waste
A fish processor is spending $3 million and teaming up with researchers at Cape Breton University to turn its waste into new products. Kennedy Group of Companies, which owns Louisbourg Seafoods Ltd. and several other plants, wants to know if its fish wastewater can be transformed into something marketable. “Like the pieces of shell from the shrimp, the shrimp meat, the by-products of the proteins, all these oils, salts, that are flushed out into the harbour.” Read the rest here 10:04
Sea scallop surveys under scrutiny during upcoming NOAA conference
Three intensive days of meetings to evaluate ways of 
have been scheduled for mid-March in New Bedford, NOAA Fisheries NMFS announced. Among those participating will be Dr. Kevin Stokesbury, who developed the drop-camera method of directly counting scallops on the sea floor. The method upended assumptions about scallop populations and transformed the industry into the success it has been for many years. Read the rest here Review of Sea Scallop Survey Methodologies and Their Integration for Stock Assessment and Fishery Management Read the notice here 09:27
