Monthly Archives: March 2015
Record prices help buoy Maine scallop fishery
In the mid-2000s, when Maine’s scallop fishery hit historic lows for volume and value, its future did not look promising. A lot has changed since then. Annual catch totals still may lag behind what they were in past decades but, according to Maine Department of Marine Resources, 2014 is one of the most lucrative years the state fishery has ever had. Scallop fishermen harvested 584,000 pounds of scallop meat in Maine’s coastal waters last year and,,, Read the rest here 10:42
Is Austral Fisheries Legitimizing Sea Shepherd? In Pursuit of the Thunder
For the past 100 days Sea Shepherd’s flagship the Bob Barker has been chasing an illegal fishing vessel caught taking valuable Patagonian toothfish from Australian territorial waters off Heard Island in the Southern Ocean. The two ships were off the west coast of central Africa. Carter said although neither Sea Shepherd nor Austral could do much apart from pressure the illegal vessel FV Thunder, he had been “impressed” by the group’s commitment and wanted to help. Read the rest here 10:01
Key West charter Captain files change of plea in illegal sale of finfish and lobster case
The last of five Lower Keys fishermen snared last year in a state wildlife case and accused of illegally selling fish to undercover officers will likely plead guilty in Plantation Key on April 9. Key West charter Capt. William Osgood Wickers Jr., 42, of Big Coppitt Key, has a change of plea scheduled before county Judge William Ptomey, according to court records. An earlier report, click here Read the rest here 08:59
Conservationists push to bypass or remove dams, restore alewife run in Maine
Alewives, which grow to 11-12 inches in length, play a critical role in the marine ecosystem. They are eaten by virtually every other marine fish, mammal and bird, and are commonly used as lobster bait. The more alewives that are introduced, the healthier the overall ecosystem will be, Gray said. China Lake has the potential to create a gigantic population bump. Read the rest here 08:40
Fish-farm madness – A US/Canadian Collaborative, The “Joint Forward Plan”
The Joint Forward Plan states that “Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency worked on aligning product reviews and risk assessment methodologies” in order to “reduce administrative burden on industry and provide simultaneous product access” to users. Regarding fish farms, Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) is collaborating with the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Read the rest here 16:02
Coast Guard closes Oregon Inlet, Charter Fishermen are FURIOUS with four days left of the Blue Fin Tuna Season.
Oregon Inlet is closed to vessels drawing more than 2 feet, essentially shutting down the charter fishing fleet with four days left in the bluefin tuna season and as Easter week approaches. Petty Officer Kathryn Bruner with the Coast Guard in Wilmington said Saturday that the closing was prompted by the latest U.S. Army Corps of Engineers survey, which showed that search-and-rescue vessels can no longer get out of the inlet. Read the rest here 14:53
2 commercial fishermen convicted of trap robbing
Two commercial fishermen were convicted this week of robbing another fisherman’s stone crab traps last year. Both will face a maximum of five years in prison at sentencing, according to the State Attorney’s Office. A FWC pilot alerted FWC officers on the ground after tracking Salado’s boat, according to reports.The officers spotted the duo in the vessel March 8, 2013, on the oceanside of Ballast Key, pulling four traps with colors that did not match their vessel number. Some 25 undersized stone crab claws were found on the boat when it was boarded by FWC, reports state. Read the rest here 14:15
NEFSC Conducting Protected Species Program Review April 13-16 in Woods Hole, MA
Science programs at NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center that support protected species conservation and management in the Northeast will be peer reviewed at the Center’s facility in Woods Hole, MA April 13-16, 2015. The species involved include whales, small cetaceans, seals, and sea turtles, as well as fish populations that fall under provisions of the federal Endangered Species Act. Click here for more information on the meeting, including logistics and meeting materials. Read the notice here 13:46Massachusetts: Local lobstermen busy selves during NMFS lobster/pot ban
The federally mandated lobster/pot closure aims to protect endangered whales during the three-month stretch when the mammals are known to frequent the restricted waters, according to the NMFS National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries division. Local lobstermen, backed by the Scituate-based , maintain they can co-exist with the whales. “We can land a man on the moon. There has to be a way for us to co-exist,” Herb said. Read the rest here 10:39
Ocean Salmon Season Will Open April 4 by Dan Bacher
The recreational salmon fishing season is slated to begin in the Fort Bragg, San Francisco and Monterey South regions of the California coast on Saturday, April 4, 2015. In spite of the record drought, the outlook for this year’s season is promising, due to an abundance of both Sacramento and Klamath River Chinook salmon. On March 12, the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) adopted three public review options for the 2015 recreational and commercial salmon seasons off the West Coast. Read the rest here 10:01
Letter: Fishermen grateful for Congressman Seth Moulton’s efforts
We would like to publicly thank Congressman Seth Moulton for his support for fishing business in Gloucester. During the campaign, Congressman Moulton promised to advocate for sound policies for the fishing industry. In office for less than one month, he has delivered on that promise. Congressman Moulton’s strong and timely support of a sector-based solution offered by the Gloucester Fishing Community Preservation Fund was critical and well received. Ultimately, NOAA agreed to amend the Gulf of Maine cod for the remainder of this fishing year. Read the rest here 09:31
With fish spotting, aviation’s relationship with fishing turned contentious
Of all the ways in which Alaska’s aviation and fishing industries have been associated over the years, the use of aircraft to spot fish for commercial fishing operators has by far been the most controversial. Fish spotting is not unique to Alaska or even the West Coast; according to Aerial Age Weekly, it was used as early as 1920 off the coast of Virginia when “….each morning at 5 o’clock a flying boat carrying a pilot, radio operator and fish spotter leaves the station to aid fishing craft.” Read the rest here 08:23
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for March 27, 2015
Click here> Weekly Update for March 27, 2015 22:51
Halibut bycatch tough to manage
A lot has changed in Alaska since commercial vessels began fishing for halibut off the coastline in 1888, but in almost 130 years, halibut has remained a staple of the state’s fishing economy and culture. Along with salmon and crab, no species of fish captures the Alaskan imagination and fills Alaskan pocketbooks more than halibut. So it comes as little surprise that the Bering Sea fishery’s estimated 4.5 million pounds of halibut bycatch in 2014 has lot of people concerned. Read the rest here 18:18
Fur Seals Caught Preying on Sharks Off South Africa – The seals only consume the viscera
The seal’s picky consumption of only the viscera, the most energy-dense part of the shark, is also noteworthy. Although fishers have noted for years that seals sometimes eat the viscera of large fish trapped in their nets, this type of predation has rarely been documented properly in free-swimming prey that fall victim to marine mammals. The fact that the seal discarded the rest of its catch shows that it had the option to be picky and is probably not at a loss for food. Read the rest here 17:13
Crabbers Want In on Federal Plan to Trace Illegal Seafood
Alaska’s crab fleet catches many of the same species as their counterparts in Russia — from red, blue and brown king crab, to snow and tanner crab. But illegal fishing in Russia is thought to account for a large part of the crab that finds its way to American consumers. Studies suggest that’s cost Alaska $600 million since 2000. “There’s no fishing boats docking in the United States with illegal crab on board,” Jacobsen says. “It all comes after being laundered through Korea and China.” Read the rest here 15:16
Bi Partisan Amendment to Support Monitoring of New England Fisheries
United States Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Angus King (I-Maine), and Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) introduced a bipartisan budget amendment to support at-sea and dockside monitoring for fisheries that have received economic disaster assistance on Thursday, March 26. A fishery disaster declaration was declared in 2012 for the Northeast. Read the amendment here Read the rest here 15:06
Heiltsuk will risk arrest to blockade herring boats, warns chief councillor
The herring battle on the central B.C. coast heated up Thursday with warnings from Heiltsuk tribal leaders that further commercial herring boats will be physically blockaded if the Department of Fisheries and Oceans re-opens the catch further. “We have a small fleet of boats getting ready to go out on to the water if the [herring] fishery is opened by DFO,” said Chief Councillor Marilyn Slett with the Heiltsuk Tribal Council. “We are putting DFO on notice,,, Read the rest here 13:21
Bill to ax Alaska fish commission passes out of committee
The House Fisheries Committee on Thursday passed a bill that would eliminate the Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission and move its duties to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game
. The unanimous vote came despite fishermen’s objections that the bill upends the separation of power between the commission that oversees Alaska’s limited-entry fisheries like salmon and the agency that regulates commercial fishing. Read the rest here 13:02
COMFISH 2015 Is coming to Kodiak! April 2nd thru the 4th
Comfish 2015, coming to Kodiak April 2-4, will feature presentations on safety and research, plus updates on state and federal fisheries issues, environmental films, and a lively fish filleting competition with challengers from shoreside processors. The annual fisheries forum and trade show kicks off at the Best Western Kodiak Inn on April 2 with forums on man overboard safety at sea, new vessel safety compliance programs and lessons from fishing vessel energy audits. Read the rest here http://comfishalaska.com/ 10:46
NMFS Accepts Two Petitions to List Porbeagle Sharks under the Endangered Species Act
Today, we announce that we have made a positive 90-day finding on two petitions (Wild Earth Guardians, and Humane Society US) submitted to us to consider listing porbeagle sharks (Lamna nasus) under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). This action is being taken in response to a recent court order concerning the negative 90-day finding we published in 2010, and in response to new information we have on porbeagle sharks. Read the rest here 10:06
Canadian Cod: The more things change, the more they stay the same.
I write this in response to some recent comments by a fisheries research scientist, Dr. George Rose, about the status of Northern Cod. Specifically, he said that we are a decade or so away from anything that would be a recovery. Let’s turn the clock back to the mid-1980s. Inshore fish harvesters were telling fisheries scientists and managers and politicians that all was not well with the Northern Cod stock. Large cod were disappearing, historical migrations patterns,,, Read the rest here 09:23
$244M economic impact shows importance of Lake Erie commercial fishery
Lake Erie’s commercial fishing and processing industry has an economic impact of more than $244 million and includes the world’s largest freshwater commercial fishing industry in Wheatley. Yet few realize that, industry leaders say. “Most people in Windsor don’t even know there’s a fishing industry here in Lake Erie,” Tony Giacalone, president of fish processor La Nassa Foods in Kingsville, said Wednesday. “There is a lot of politicians who don’t even know we exist.” Read the rest here 07:54
You’ll wish you’d met this Alaskan fishing captain after reading his obit
Today, I have come across the greatest obituary ever written. And Lord knows I wished I had met this guy. You’ll probably feel the same way. It begins: “Captain Donald Alexander Malcolm Jr., 60, died Feb. 28, 2015, nestled in the bosom of his family, while smoking, drinking whiskey and telling lies. He died from complications resulting from being stubborn, refusing to go to the doctor, and raising hell for six decades. Stomach cancer also played a minor role in his demise.” Then it gets better,,, Read the rest here 20:24
Sea lions inundate Oregon Coast in historic numbers wreaking havoc on fisheries, causing damage to docks and infuriating fishermen
During a Feb. 11 aerial survey, WDFW also counted more than 1,200 California sea lions at the East End Mooring Basin, along with nearly 600 Steller and California sea lions on the South Jetty. On Friday, spokeswoman Jessica Sall of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said, her agency counted 2,340 California sea lions at the East End Mooring Basin. Increasing numbers of pinnipeds, driven by starvation in California to the healthy smelt and salmon runs in the Columbia River, have put a strain,,, Read the rest here 19:59
Magnuson Stevens Act changes focused on flexibility, science, accountability, and transparency
Young’s proposed version of the MSA is titled the “Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act.” His philosophy is to let the councils, who have more intimate understandings of their stocks and more responsiveness than the Department of Commerce, have more control of their respective operations, and to update the act to account for better scientific governance and more attention to economic effects. The revised act has several amendments regarding stock rebuilding protocols, council transparency,,, Read the rest here 14:55
Agencies weighing next steps in gillnet-replacement fisheries on the Columbia River
Purse and beach seine gear could be a part of the regular Columbia River commercial salmon fishery this year, drawing from the same pool as the rest of the fleet — even when it comes to the number of fish they can keep or handle before everyone has to stop fishing. Whether or not the new seine fishery will exist has come down to a question of numbers. Specifically, which numbers.After testing seine gear on the river following a mandate from Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber to phase out the use of commercial gillnets on the mainstem of the Columbia,,, Read the rest here 14:27
Bad weather keeping halibut boats tied to dock, and various other fish news reports
Ten days into the 2015 halibut season, prices are beginning to fall slightly, but production is nearly nonexistent, at least in the central Gulf of Alaska, Area 3A. Stormy weather and big tides have conspired to make a slow start to the season in Area 3A, with the weather continuing to keep boats in port this week. Boats in the area delivered only 146,000 pounds from 26 deliveries during the first 10 days, although deliveries in Southeast Alaska, Area 2C, topped out at 420,000 pounds from 62 deliveries. Read the rest here 13:58
Dear America, our seals are not endangered
March 25, 2015 Bruce A. Heyman Embassy of the United States to Canada 100 Wellington St, Ottawa, ON K1AOA6 Mr. Heyman, I am writing with deep concern over misinformation being spread by United States Customs and Border Protection agents that seal populations found off of Canada’s East Coast are an endangered species. A Newfoundland and Labrador woman’s seal-skin purse was confiscated recently at the seal-skin purse was confiscated in Bridgewater, Maine after agents informed her that seals are an “endangered species.” Read the rest here 13:27
Scallop Vessel Burns Up in Southwest Harbor – Video
The 50-foot boat called We’re Here, owned by local fisherman Nahum Kelley, had been moored in the harbor when Coast Guard personnel monitoring a security camera saw it was on fire, according to Chisholm. The boat had burned off its mooring before the Coast Guard notified the fire department and then sent out one of its own boats to try to douse the flames. Chisholm said he and the Coast Guard believe a kerosene heater,,, Read the rest here 12:01
