Daily Archives: March 7, 2015
Future of shrimp fishery debated at Fishermen’s Forum
Commercial shrimp fishermen who already have gone two years without a harvest shared sharply divided opinions about the future of their fishery Saturday at the 40th annual Maine Fishermen’s Forum. “I think there’s too much regulation going on,” Jim Hanscom of Bar Harbor said. “Pitting fishermen against fishermen is just no good. Limited entry, it’s just cutting people out … I think it’s foolish. Maybe just leave it alone, and let it be.” Read the rest here 20:52
Alexandra Morton: Canada is changing its laws for dirty salmon
On the January 10, 2015, hurricane-force winds hit the coast of Norway. Over 100,000 farm fish escaped during the storm, including 63,000 North American steelhead. Sport fishermen, furious that these foreign fish were teeming through the fjords near Bergen, set to work recapturing the oddly disfigured steelhead. They sent samples to a lab at the University of Bergen, where their fears were confirmed. The farm fish were positive for a suite of farm viruses. Read the rest here 20:37
They got Beamer.
Beamer was a blue shark that used to enjoy swimming in the chilly waters off Montauk, New York. Last year, Beamer began swimming south towards the Caribbean and made it to the eastern Antilles by Christmas. The shark then made a straight swim towards Puerto Limon in Costa Rica; alas, Beamer ended up hooked on the lines of a commercial fishing boat somewhere between Portete and Moin. Read the rest here 18:52
Sharpen the Harpoon, U.S. study could allow hunting of North Pacific gray whale
A federal agency has released a study that could open the door for hunting of the North Pacific gray whale by the Makah Indian tribe off the Washington coast. The draft report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries division that was released Friday proposes six options that range from prohibiting the annual hunt for North Pacific gray whales to allowing the harvest of up to 24 whales in a six-year period. Read the rest here 17:34
Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative plan will start with upscale restaurants
Collaborative leaders and their advertising agency outlined the new marketing plan Friday at the Maine Fishermen Forum
. The plan starts by focusing on upscale restaurants in the Northeast, and working with well-known chefs to get them to use and talk about live Maine lobster. The prime marketing focus will be to increase demand and price for soft-shell – what the ad agency calls “new shell” — lobsters. Video, Read the rest here 13:33
Grand Manan Fishermen’s Association calls for herring catch study
The Grand Manan Fishermen’s Association is calling for a study on declining herring catches in the Bay of Fundy. The request comes after Connors Bros., Limited announced Thursday it will cancel the second shift at its Blacks Harbour plant this season, citing a decline in the weir fishery and herring catch forecasts for 2015. Over the past three decades, annual herring weir catches averaged 20,000 tonnes in the Bay of Fundy, according to the fishermen’s association. In 2013, the latest figures available, the total catch dropped to about 6,000 tonnes. Read the rest here 11:55
Reverse shrimp quota cuts from last year: Paul Davis
Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Paul Davis says keeping the status quo for shrimp quotas is not enough. A new shrimp plan that is being proposed would eliminate quota reductions for one year. Those cuts saw inshore harvesters lose almost 30 per cent of their quota, compared to only five per cent for the big offshore fleets. Read the rest here 11:36
Is the tasty blue crab’s natural range creeping north?
Ephemeral populations of blue crabs have been documented previously in the Gulf of Maine. Johnson notes that in the 1950s blue crabs were observed in the gulf during a time of warmer waters. But once the waters returned to average temperatures, the crabs disappeared. “It’s too early to determine if the current blue crab population in the Gulf of Maine is permanent or ephemeral,” Johnson says. “However, models predict an increasing warming of the world’s oceans and recent observations of blue crabs may be a crystal ball into the future ecology of the Gulf of Maine.” Read the rest here 09:37
NOAA and the fishermen: Across the great divide?
The sampling remains microscopically thin, so only time will tell whether the compromise forged by the commercial fishing industry and NOAA Fisheries on the Gulf of Maine interim cod measures will stand as a template for the future. Even given that uncertainty of what lies beyond the horizon, the lack of rancor in modifying the emergency cod measures was a refreshing departure from the antagonistic tango federal regulators and the fishermen have danced in the past. Read the rest here 08:59
Study: Bellingham, Blaine commercial fishing fleet plays big part in local economy
While Whatcom County’s economy has diversified in the past two decades, commercial fishing remains a significant contributor of jobs and revenue. That’s the conclusion of a newly released economic impact study that looked at commercial fishing and seafood processing activity in the Blaine and Squalicum marinas in 2013. According to the study, the industry employed 1,781 people, creating 870 jobs through spending money at other businesses, and another indirect 165 jobs. Those 1,781 people earned $94.5 million in 2013, according to the report. Read the rest here 08:17
Almost $12 Million Cut for ADFG
According to Juneau Resources Weekly, the ADF&G budget reductions budget reductions cut across all divisions with sport fishing facing the most personnel losses at 12 seasonal jobs. The Division of Habitat could lose $400,000; commercial fishing programs are set to lose five positions and an additional $2 million in general fund support. Read the rest here 07:40
