Daily Archives: March 2, 2015
Fisherman’s Diary: Bluefin Tuna in the Northeast
When I say to folks,”I am a Bluefin Tuna Fisherman” the response is usually something along the same lines: “Oh my, you must be rich! Don’t those sell for thousands of dollars a pound?” My nose curls and my hands clench – the fact is that this kind of stuff is just not true. I don’t make a lot of money catching one fish at a time. Thanks to the highly successful reality show “Wicked Tuna,” the viewing public has a wildly inflated impression on just how much New England fishermen are getting paid. Read the rest here 20:17
Maine: Winter weather is tough on clammers
The winter weather that is driving Mainers to distraction is making life even tougher than usual for Maine’s clam diggers. From the shores of Cobscook Bay way Downeast to Waldoboro on the Midcoast, diggers are struggling to get access to the softshell clams they harvest for a living. One Pembroke shellfish dealer reports that landings in his area have dropped by 90 percent since stormy weather has brought unremitting ice and snow to the area over the past month. Read the rest here 17:21
Coast Guard conducts medevac near Dutch Harbor, Alaska
A Coast Guard Air Station MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew medevaced an ailing mariner from a fishing vessel in Beaver Inlet, approximately 13 miles southeast of Dutch Harbor, Sunday. The helicopter crew, deployed with the Munro on a Bering Sea patrol, departed Dutch Harbor, safely hoisted the 37-year-old man from Northern Victor, and transported him to Iliuliuk Family and Health Services in Dutch Harbor. Read the rest here 16:17
South Atlantic Fishery Management Council Meeting March 2-6, 2015
Meeting Agenda (posted 2/10) Briefing Book Materials (posted 2/13) Webinar Registration: Watch the meeting LIVE as it happens – Sign up for daily Webinars at the links here. 15:31
Fishing for business: Cortez one of Florida’s few remaining fishing villages
Karen Bell can’t think of anything she’d rather be doing than running a commercial fishing operation along Florida’s Gulf Coast. A.P. Bell, on the northern edge of Sarasota Bay, is one of the few remaining working waterfronts left in Florida. The company owns eight boats that dock at the pier. Another five independent fishers bring their catches to the fish house.The boats that catch bait for the offshore long-line fishermen and the stone crabbers go out for only a day at a time, but the fishermen who bring in the pop- ular grouper are often out in deep water for 10 or 12 days. Read the rest here 14:44
FisherPoets Gathering – Fishing for dreams on Cold Steam
Each year, Astoria’s Dave Densmore opens Cold Stream, his wooden, 50-year-old piece of commercial fishing history, to visitors at Pier 39 during the FisherPoets Gathering. “This boat is an extension of the people,” said Densmore, a fisherman for more than 60 years, raised in Kodiak, Alaska, and the Aleutian Islands chain. “It’s my identity, I guess.” His working boat these days is the Dreamer, homeported in Larsen Bay, Alaska. Cold Stream, which he bought in 1996, is the project Densmore uses to give visitors a glimpse of what it’s like for the people catching the seafood. Read the rest here 13:14
Fishing industry hails court decision to open West Coast of Vancouver Island herring fishery
“The right decision for the right reasons,” says BC Seafood Alliance Executive Director Christina Burridge of Mr. Justice Manson’s decision on 27 February 2015 to dismiss the application by five First Nations for an interlocutory injunction to close the West Coast of Vancouver Island roe herring fishery. Read the rest here 10:25
Drones don’t fly at Alaska’s Board of Fish – Audio
The Alaska Board of Fisheries closed some waters near Angoon to purse seining in order to improve subsistence harvests, in action over the weekend (3-1-15). They also shot down the use of unmanned aircraft to aid in salmon fishing. The Board rejected the proposed ban on spotter planes. Drones, however, were not so lucky. Proposal 205 would ban the use of unmanned aircraft in salmon fisheries. Read the rest here 09:59
MEDIA ADVISORY: UNITED FOR COASTAL COMMUNITIES – Standing up for adjacency
FFAW-Unifor is hosting a rally at Hotel Gander on Wednesday, March 4 at 10:30 am to bring awareness to the significant impacts unfair cuts to the inshore shrimp quota are having on coastal Newfoundland and Labrador. These cuts are not just affecting shrimp harvesters and plant workers, they are also having serious consequences on the economic sustainability of entire communities. Read the rest here 08:35
New Investments in PEI Fishing Harbors Dredging
Recent major projects funded in the province include: Wharf reconstruction, and construction of a wharf extension and shore protection at Tignish Harbor; – Reconstruction of a marginal wharf at North Lake Harbor; and – Reconstruction of the east breakwater and construction of a service area at West Point Harbor. will oversee a total of approximately $551 million in investments across the country, particularly in rural and coastal communities. Read the rest here 08:19
