Monthly Archives: March 2015
NH Public Hearing on Northern Shrimp – Public Hearings this week to discuss limited entry fishery
Starts March 3, 2015 7:00 pm Ends March 3, 2015 9:00 pm Location Urban Forestry Center, 45 Elwyn Road, Portsmouth, New Hampshire Information:Email: [email protected] Northern Shrimp Draft Amendment 3 Public Information Document (public comment accepted until 5 PM EST April 15, 2015; send public comments to [email protected] – Subject line: Shrimp PID) Also, March 4, in Mass, March 7 in Maine 10:43
Auditor says Louisiana is charging too little for oysters
The state could generate $1.29 million in additional revenue by increasing the oyster lease rate from $2 an acre to the $5.20 per acre average of five other states that harvest Eastern oysters. In 1980, the Wildlife and Fisheries Commission, which manages the state’s water bottoms, put the lease rate at $2 per acre. Auditors also found that 36 people — using different corporations and partnerships — were able to circumvent state limitations of 2,500 acres leased to control more than half of the available water bottoms. Read the rest here 10:16:
Seafood Wholesaler and Company Fined and Owner Sentenced to 26 Months in Prison for Illegally Trafficking in Oysters
Mark Bryan, 59, of New Market, Maryland, and his Delaware-based seafood wholesale business, Harbor House Seafood, were sentenced on Friday in federal court in Camden, New Jersey, for trafficking in illegally possessed oysters, creating false health and safety records, and conspiracy charges. “Today’s sentence underscores the value that state partnerships add to ability to complete its mission,” said Assistant Director Logan Gregory for NOAA Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement Read the rest here 09:34
Drilling group unlikely to tap Gulf of Maine for oil and gas
A coalition of U.S. governors pushing for more offshore oil and gas drilling turned heads in Maine last month when it announced that Gov. Paul LePage had become a member. But LePage’s participation doesn’t foreshadow oil rigs off the Maine coast – the latest federal research suggests that the Gulf of Maine lacks the right geology to hold commercial deposits of oil or natural gas. Read the rest here 08:42
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
NOAA rejects Eubalaena Oculina National Marine Sanctuary request in Atlantic
A North Florida non-profit proposing a National Marine Sanctuary for Northern right whales and Oculina coral that would cover more than 7,000-square miles of ocean from Jacksonville to Fort Pierce is headed back to the drawing board after having its initial application rejected by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “The Southeastern Fisheries Association — and I believe every other commercial fishing organization — is opposed to this nomination,” Read the rest here 17:57
New Bedford: Frozen Fishing From a New England Port
Mark Abraham, who has fished the New England coast for decades, kept a sharp eye on his catch as the slimy haddock spilled onto a dockside conveyor belt. He had just returned from 10 frigid days at sea, among the most brutal he has spent. “It’s probably been the worst winter in 10 years,” he said as workers sorted the fish by weight and slid them into bins. “It’s not even the ice that’s stopping you, it’s the wind. It’s too rough to fish. If it’s rough like that, you don’t catch anything.” Read the rest here 16:58
Chesapeake Bay ice challenges commerce, navigation and fishing
Sheets of ice up to a foot thick in the Chesapeake Bay have beached small boats and fishermen, hampered operations at the port of Baltimore and kept one Coast Guard cutter busy tending to stranded islanders for more than a week amid the worst freeze in decades. For watermen who don’t risk the icy waters of the bay, the winter months can still take a toll. Some have lost nearly a month’s work, Brown said. “Some parts of the bay have been frozen for the whole month of February,” Read the rest here 16:46
Company aims to restore Tasmania’s squid fishing industry to its glory days
A Tasmanian woman has partnered with the Commonwealth Government to resurrect the once booming Tasmanian squid industry. Fishermen call them the weeds of the sea because they are the most abundant species in the ocean. But 30 years ago the squid trade was thriving in Tasmania, with annual hauls of up to 8,000 tonnes and strong Japanese interest in the sector. Debbie Wisby runs one of the only remaining Tasmanian squid fishing companies, Aqua Marine, with her husband Glen. Read the rest here 16:02
Asian demand for Canadian lobster on the rise – price not reflecting the increase
Canadian lobster 
are growing but one lobster fisherman says that hasn’t had much impact on Maritime shore prices. Bernie Berry of the Coldwater Lobster Association said prices are not yet reflecting the increased Asian demand. “We’re not trying to look a gift horse in the mouth, it’s just we were expecting maybe a little bit more,” said Berry, whose organization represents fisherman in southwestern Nova Scotia. Read the rest here 15:35
Always Top Quality! Your Seafreeze Ltd. Preferred Price List for MARCH 1, 2015 – Includes Fishermen Wanted Contact Info
Contact our sales team today @ 401 295 2585 or 800 732 273 Click here for the complete price list from Seafreeze Ltd. We are Direct to the Source-We are Fishermen-We are Seafreeze Ltd! Visit our website! 11:15
Rhode Island Fishermen’s Alliance Weekly Update MAR 1, 2015
The Rhode Island Fishermen’s Alliance is dedicated to its mission of continuing to help create sustainable fisheries without putting licensed fishermen out of business.” Read the update here To read all the updates, click here 10:49
Illegal oyster harvest, drugs lead to 2 arrests in St. Bernard
Louisiana wildlife and fisheries agents arrested 33-year-old Oliver Rudesill Jr. and 23-year-old Tracy Gallardo Jr. for several oyster, boating safety and drug violations after a boating safety inspection earlier this week. During the inspection, agents found 28 sacks of oysters and learned that Rudesill is on probation for prior oyster harvesting violations. Agents also found Gallardo in possession of oxycodone, suboxone and drug paraphernalia. Read the rest here 08:42
Commercial Snapper limit announced in the South Atlantic
Fisheries officials have announced a reduction in the daily trip limit for the commercial harvest of vermillion snapper in the South Atlantic. Effective March 2, the harvest is reduced from 1,000 pounds gutted weight to 500 pounds gutted weight, according to information from NMFS NOAA Fisheries. NOAA Fisheries NMFS has determined 75 percent of the January-June quota will be landed by March 2. Read the rest here 08:27
Study finds 7,500 marine mammals in lower Columbia River
An aerial survey of marine mammals in the lower Columbia River found spring Chinook salmon will have to make it past more than 6,000 hungry harbor seals, 1,500 California sea lions and 100 Steller sea lions. The marine mammals are drawn into the river this time of year to take advantage of a large smelt run. But the animals will switch to spring Chinook by spring. A study last year indicated as much as 40 percent of the spring and summer chinook run that enters the Columbia River disappears. Read the rest here 08:06
