Monthly Archives: February 2015
Seafood and the UK fishing industry – Cormac Burke – Editor, Fishing News International
“The UK public are being misinformed – by certain core national media organisations, under the influence of green politics, and by some seafood retailers who want consumers to think that fishermen control the price of fish. From its once free-for-all existence of simply going out to catch fish to meet the demands of consumers, the UK fishing industry has become one of the most complex and most regulated sectors of modern day commercial life. Given its complex history and present state, it is difficult to summarise it in one short article – however, I will do my best: Read the rest here 19:33
UPDATE: USCC Polar Star navigates around icebergs, through heavy snow to reach fishing vessel Antarctic Chieftain
“We are navigating through heavy pack ice, dodging massive ice bergs that range in size from a Home Depot to some that are miles across, often in low visibility conditions,” said Capt. Matthew Walker, commanding officer of the Polar Star. “The mission…we are now engaged (in) demonstrates the Coast Guard’s core mission to save lives at sea – in any continents’ waters. Polar Star is proud to be able to assist New Zealand in the rescue of the Australian fishing vessel Antarctic Chieftain.” Read the rest here 18:34
No vote to protect deep-sea corals off Va and Mid-Atlantic
Council members meeting in Raleigh, N.C., decided instead to postpone a final decision until its June meeting in Virginia Beach, giving them time to hold another workshop to gather more input from coastal fisheries. The council is considering several options to restrict fishing in “broad zones” of the Atlantic based on ocean depth and in “discrete zones” already known to contain valuable coral habitats. Several members said they believe they’re close to an agreement with commercial fisheries on discrete zone boundaries but that another workshop could seal the deal. Read the rest here 17:02
The Facts: Discovery/Animal Planet’s “Battle on the Bay” – Reality, or Made for TV Drama.
In January, Discovery/Animal Planet debuted a new “reality TV” show that follows five of the 1,747 Bristol Bay salmon permit holders that fished during the 2014 season. The Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association (BBRSDA), which represents all the Bay’s salmon driftnet fishermen, would like to set the record straight on a few things. Read the rest here 11:58
NEWPORT FISHERMEN’S WIVES REBUT COAST GUARD MISINFORMATION
In a communication to parties to a lawsuit seeking to keep Newport’s
open, the Coast Guard is now saying that the closure announcement was not an order – it was only “a proposal,” and that “the proposal” has since been abandoned. And for that the Coast Guard is now saying the lawsuit filed against them by Fishermen’s Wives should be dropped. Fishermen’s Wives spokeswoman Ginny Goblirsch has written a response to this latest Coast Guard position: Read the rest here 11:08
Annual Cortez Commercial Fishing Festival set for this weekend
Most people think of the Cortez Commerical Fishing Festival as full day of great live music, activities for kids and adults and, of course, tons of fresh-from-the-boat seafood. For John Stevely, though, what’s really exciting about the festival is the good it does for community and the environment. Stevely is one the organizers of the seafood celebration, which is set for this weekend in Cortez Fishing Village. “This is the 33rd year,” he said, “and I was here for the first one.” Details, and Read the rest here 10:31
A love of lobstering
Seventy-seven-year-old George “Elly” Sewall, a York native, has spent six decades on the water. Sewall is one of the few working fishermen around to still to have a private dock behind his home near Sewall’s Bridge in York (which happens to be named after his ancestors.) It is here on his property that Sewall houses his boat, gear, workshop and everything he needs to fish, all comfortably surrounded within sight of the house he has lived in with his wife for the past 50 years. Read the rest here 08:52
Irish Navy arrests two large British-registered factory trawlers
Two large British-registered “factory” trawlers were arrested approximately 30 miles off the Blasket Islands last night. The first vessel was arrested at approximately 5pm and the second at around 8pm in a joint operation between the Naval Service and the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority. They have been detained for suspected “high grading” or selective harvesting of fish in Irish waters. Read the rest here 08:17
Big Rescue Operation in the Antarctic – Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star In Route To Australian-flagged F/V Antarctic Chieftain
A U.S. Coast Guard cutter is responding to a 207-foot fishing vessel with 27 people aboard beset in ice approximately 900 miles northeast of McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, Tuesday at 9:15 p.m. The Australian-flagged fishing vessel, Antarctic Chieftain, contacted Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand after becoming beset in ice. The vessel suffered damage to three of its four propellers when it became stuck in the ice and has lost its ability to maneuver. Read the rest here 20:34
NPFMC to review 50 percent cut on halibut bycatch
Halibut harvests have been on the decline in the Bering Sea for several years. But the amount that trawlers and catcher-processors are allowed to take incidentally has stayed the same. Now, fishery regulators have agreed to consider stiffer limits on halibut bycatch. Read the rest here 16:08
“Wicked Tuna: North Vs. South” Show up in the air, The Question Is, Will increased bluefin tuna quota benefit local fishermen — or not?
A new management rule that went into effect Jan. 1 effectively gives twice the general quota for bluefin over previous years for North Carolina through March 31. Although the quota change might lessen some of the longstanding regional conflict over bluefin that fanned last year’s “Wicked Tuna: North Vs. South” reality TV show, it still does nothing to change the overall share of the pie. Read the rest here 15:48
Always Top Quality! Your Seafreeze Ltd. Preferred Price List for February 12, 2015
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Coast Guard tows 2 boats in tandem 98 miles northwest of Tampa Bay, Fla.
At approximately 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, watchstanders from Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg received a radio call, via VHF-FM channel 16, from the captain of the commercial fishing vessel, Christie Sea, stating the boat was disabled, taking on water and also towing an unmanned boat, the Shamrock. Read the rest here 14:10
Young Introduces Legislation to Combat Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing
Alaskan Congressman Don Young has joined Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo (D-GU) in introducing H.R. 774, the Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing Enforcement Act of 2015, which would enhance the enforcement authority of the U.S. Coast Guard and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to regulate and combat IUU fishing. Read the rest here 14:00
Swedish MSC fishery accused of illegal fishing – Still carry’s the ENGO Tax Stamp!
Trawlers in an Marine Stewardship Council-certified ‘sustainable’ lobster fishery have been caught using illegally modified nets to target valuable cod, reports the Ecologist, citing Dutch environmental group The Black Fish. The MSC was notified, but considered the evidence insufficient to act, so the lobsters still carry the, it said. Read the rest here 13:10
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 75′ Steel Scalloper,1979, 650HP, 12 Cylinder CAT 3412
Specifications, and information and 13 photos click here To see all the boats in this series, Click here 12:24
Fishermen suspensions trigger Maine elver quota changes
Because some elver fishermen are expected to have their licenses suspended this year due to outstanding fines, fishermen with active licenses will not have 5 percent of their quotas set aside as a buffer to prevent overfishing. All licensed elver fishermen, whether or not they are members of Maine’s federally recognized Indian tribes, are facing a reduction in individual quotas for the 2015 elver season because of a decision made last fall by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. Read the rest here 11:39
Gloucester featured in fishing documentary in the works – “Fish & Men”
The filmmakers estimate they have interviewed more than 45 people, including many familiar Gloucester players like NOAA Regional Administrator John K. Bullard, Angela Sanfilippo of the Fishermen’s Wives Association, Jackie Odell of the Northeast Seafood Coalition, former Mayor Carolyn Kirk and fishermen Richard Sherman, Richard Burgess, Ron Gilson and others. “We feel like we’ve covered the gamut,” Duffin said. Read the rest here 10:56
NoRigs 3 calls on Harper government to extend Georges Bank drilling moratorium
For the third time in three decades a coalition of fisheries groups and environmentalists is campaigning to prevent oil and gas drilling on Nova Scotia’s lucrative Georges Bank fishing grounds. The group, known as NoRigs 3, is calling on the Harper Government to extend a federal moratorium that expires at the end of 2015. Nova Scotia legislature unanimously passed a law in 2010 extending a provincial moratorium until 2022. Read the rest here 10:37
Fighting Over Herring – the Little Fish That Feeds Multitudes
But for the second straight year, the Canadian government has ignited a skirmish in British Columbia by moving to let fishing nets scoop up spawning herring, despite objections from scientists, Native people, and even commercial fishing groups. “Last year it almost got to a war—locals were geared up to block fishing boats in port,” said Tony Pitcher, a fisheries scientist with the University of British Columbia. “There were more police on the dock than there were local people.” Read the rest here 08:47
Key West: Lobster traps limits not well received
The idea of reducing the number of spiny lobster traps as a way to ease fishing pressure on the Florida Keys’ most lucrative commercial fishery did not go over well at a meeting of state federal fishery managers Monday in Key West. The group discussed three possible actions: closing the season early; embarking on a more aggressive trap reduction program; and exempting the spiny lobster fishery from annual quotas. The proposal that received the most vocal opposition was more aggressively reducing the number of traps. Read the rest here 08:09
VANCOUVER – WATCH: Sea lion feeding frenzy on commercial herring catch
Commercial herring fishermen are concerned about the explosion of the sea lion population and the effect it could have on herring stocks. The above sea lion feeding frenzy was filmed in December at a herring fishery near Qualicum Beach. Fishermen say the sea lions have now figured out how to get into the herring nets, get the fish and in many cases, chase the fish out of the nets to eat them. Read the rest here, Watch Video 22:39
Gulf of Maine Shrimp counting to help track egg hatch
While data from this limited sampling project won’t help estimate current stock abundance as do the more comprehensive surveys conducted annually by the National Marine Fisheries Service, 
, it will help managers track the timing of egg hatch, size and gender and developmental stage of the shrimp. Four trawlers from Maine and Massachusetts and five Maine-based trappers have been selected to collect samples in four regions in the Gulf of Maine. Read the rest here 17:18:
Shrimp Fisheries Improving in Gulf of Mexico, Thanks In Part to Seafood Suppliers
Fishery improvement projects (FIPs) are based on the premise that the seafood industry itself is the strongest force for driving improvements in fisheries, and a group of shrimp suppliers from the Gulf of Mexico has shown us how it’s done. Cox’s Wholesale Seafood, Katie’s Seafood Market, National Fish and Seafood, and Philly Seafood worked with Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) on shrimp FIPs in Texas and Florida to evaluate the status of bycatch species in the Gulf of Mexico. Read the rest here 16:19
NOAA releases $8.3M to Massachusetts for groundfish disaster
Ed Barrett, a commercial fisherman from Marshfield, thinks the money will help a lot of fishermen missed in the first round of disaster aid released last year.But, he said, it should have come sooner.“It’s been very frustrating. Our legislation worked hard to get money, but the process hasn’t gone easily,” Barrett said. “Come Christmastime, people were hoping to get it by then… People were waiting to pay their mortgage, their gear bills, their fuel bills, and it didn’t happen.” Read the rest here 14:40
Sue and Settle Enviro Groups Go To Court to Protect Blueback Herring from Extinction
Washington, D.C. — Earthjustice, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and a coalition of fishing and watershed protection groups, Anglers Conservation Network, Great Egg Harbor River Council and Watershed Association, Delaware River Shad Fishermen’s Association, filed a complaint today in federal court seeking to reverse a decision by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) not to list the blueback herring as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. Read the rest here 13:41
WHOA! HANDS UP!! – Fish and Wildlife Enforcement division splintered by internal conflict
The Department of Fish and Wildlife’s enforcement division is a serious mess and someone needs to be held accountable, says a parade of critics both inside and outside the division. Controversy surrounding the department’s administration – including internal investigations, allegations of cronyism and a federal civil rights lawsuit – has been circulating among Washington’s game wardens and marine officers for years. But what was once an internal affair has now boiled over into the legislature, and the level of dysfunction is becoming undeniable. Read the rest here. 13:07
Malloy sponsors ‘Blue Plan’ legislation to protect the future use of Long Island Sound
“With a Blue Plan, Connecticut can assure new uses of the Sound are compatible with traditional values and resources,” said Nathan Frohling, director of marine and coastal initiatives for the conservancy’s Connecticut office. “We will be able to better balance new uses, while protecting such things as commercial and recreational boating and fishing, the maritime beauty and environmental values that make the Sound such a desirable place.” Read the rest here 12:48
PALLONE: Block offshore drilling plan for Atlantic
Today our coast faces a number of environmental threats, but the good news is that there is still time to stop proposals for man-made environmental disasters. We have done it before, and we can do it again. Five years ago, the Obama administration released a plan that proposed drilling off the Atlantic coast from Delaware to Florida. Read the rest here 11:30
Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council looks at deep-sea restrictions
On Wednesday, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council likely will vote on a proposal to limit the use of bottom-fishing gear that is dragged along the ocean floor, often scouring the area of sea life. Any new limits would have to be approved by federal officials. Limits on fishing are often contentious, these even more so. They have drawn tens of thousands of comments – albeit most of them form letters prompted by environmental advocacy groups – from proponents who want the corals protected, Read the rest here 07:19
