Monthly Archives: March 2015
Bagged on face book – Two Pasadena Men Jailed for Stealing Crabs from Watermen
A Facebook post by a poacher helped authorities win a conviction against two Pasadena men caught stealing $6,400 worth of crabs from the crab pots of commercial watermen. The men were sentenced Friday to 30 days in jail by an Anne Arundel District Court judge. Maryland Natural Resources Police say in a release that John Allen Schuman, 37, of Pasadena, was found guilty of six charges stemming from his arrest Sept. 15, 2014, off Bodkin Point at the mouth of the Patapsco River. Leslie Eugene Jenne III, 31, of Pasadena, was found guilty of two charges Read the rest here 11:38
Shrimpers, Crabbers Learn New Regulations at Louisiana Fisheries Meeting
Shrimpers and crabbers learned about the newest regulations, techniques and equipment at a Louisiana Fisheries Forward meeting on March 24, organized by the LSU AgCenter and Louisiana Sea Grant. Thu Bui, LSU AgCenter and Louisiana Sea Grant fisheries agent, said the meetings are intended to help fishers learn about new developments before their peak seasons get underway soon. “It makes them more professional and gives them the information so they can become more profitable,” Read the rest here 09:55
North/South Carolina Views vary on drilling – Feds take comments until Monday
The Associated Press reports five congressmen representing coastal districts in the Carolinas reflect the opposing views in states where both governors are strong advocates of offshore drilling and almost 20 coastal communities oppose the idea. To date, seven coastal communities in South Carolina and 12 in North Carolina are on record against drilling. None are in Carteret County. Read the rest here 09:33
Chesapeake Bay’s blue crab population rebounding
Last year was a dismal episode for Chesapeake Bay blue crabs and the watermen who harvest them. It’s not that crabs were being overfished. Instead, experts suspect a combination of environmental factors. The good news now is that preliminary evidence from the annual blue crab winter dredge survey shows the numbers are climbing again. Read the rest here 08:26
Their careers and their futures depend on attacking fishermen and fishing. What more can we expect from them?
There are people who don’t like fishing. There are people who don’t like anyone who isn’t a vegan. There are people who don’t like progress. There are people who don’t like efficiency. There are people who don’t like to thoroughly research issues. There are people who don’t like technology. There are people who don’t like competition. There are people who don’t like people. There are people who don’t like the truth. There are people who don’t like whatever they’re paid not to like. Let’s say that you shared a number of these traits and you were in search of what would be to you a rewarding career. Could you do much better than becoming an anti-fishing activist? Read the rest here 18:29
Foreign bids on Icicle higher than US suitors expected, players up against American Fisheries Act
First round bids for the purchase of Icicle Seafoods — up for sale by private equity owner Paine & Partners — are far, far higher than expected, sources involved in the sale process told Undercurrent News. Major foreign players have — so far— made “insane” offers, well beyond what US-based companies are willing to pay. If foreign players ultimately do outbid their US competitors, they will have to fenagle their way around the American Fisheries Act, which limits foreign ownership of fishing vessels. Read the rest here 16:42
Ocean Acidification: Natural Cycles and Ubiquitous Uncertainties
From the article: Nonetheless in a study sponsored by NOAA’s Ocean Acidification Program Bednarsek 2014 argued those examples of shell dissolution were caused by anthropogenic carbon writing, “We estimate that the incidence of severe pteropod shell dissolution owing to anthropogenic OA has doubled in near shore habitats since pre-industrial conditions across this region and is on track to triple by 2050.” But such “conclusions” are unsupported speculation at best.,, Shame on those NOAA scientists for such biased interpretations. Read the rest here 15:29
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: PRICE REDUCED! 45′ Guimond Tuna/Lobster/Charter (2) Cummins 6CTA8.3L
Specifications, and information and 15 photos of the vessel, click here To see all the boats in this series, Click here 14:57
Are slaves catching the fish you buy?
The Burmese slaves sat on the floor and stared through the rusty bars of their locked cage, hidden on a tiny tropical island thousands of miles from home. Here, in the Indonesian island village of Benjina and the surrounding waters, hundreds of trapped men represent one of the most desperate links criss-crossing between companies and countries in the seafood industry. This intricate web of connections separates the fish we eat from the men who catch it, and obscures a brutal truth: Your seafood . Read the rest here 12:00
Maine Rep. Robert Alley, D-Beals looks to cap Maine scallop harvest
Maine’s rebounding scallop fishery is the target of a lawmaker’s plan to put a cap on daily harvesting. Maine Rep. Robert Alley, D-Beals, is proposing a law that would limit scallop harvesters to 90 pounds per day, per person. The proposal is the subject of a public hearing in Augusta on April 1. The state’s meaty scallops are prized in the culinary world and often fetch several dollars more per pound at market than others. Read the rest here 11:12
Gulf reef fish anglers – You wanted it! You got it! Welcome To The Machine.
Attention Gulf reef fish anglers (a little tribute tune!) 
: You’ve asked for better data and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has listened and taken action. Now the FWC needs your help. Signing up to participate in the Gulf Reef Fish Survey becomes mandatory April 1, so sign up today. The easy, no-cost process will help the FWC paint a clearer picture of how many people are targeting Gulf reef fish, like red snapper and gag grouper, and what anglers are seeing on the water. Read the rest here 10:19
Good News for Cortez? Sarasota Bay Fisheries go to Tallahassee
Manatee County Commissioners will take the booming and sustainable future of Florida’s west coast fisheries to Tallahassee. Among the legislative priority requests named at Tuesday’s meeting, which also includes the transit fleet facility, channel dredging and next generation radios, is protecting and replenishing Sarasota Bay fisheries. New methods of how to seed oysters and clams and harvest mullet roe are bringing promise to what at times has been a shaky future for the fishing village of Cortez. Read the rest here 08:52
Local operators unhappy with long-line fishing changes in American Samoa
Recent changes to fishing regulations have not gone down well with local operators in American Samoa after the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council reduced the long-line fishing boat limit from 50 miles offshore (80 kilometres) to just 12 miles (19 kilometres). Audio Report, Click here to listen 08:36
Oceana blame’s sardine overfishing, not just warmer waters, for sea lion deaths.
But marine conservation nonprofit Oceana, which has a California office in Monterey’s Heritage Harbor, connects another dot to the scarcity of sea lion food: sardine fishing. The Pacific Coast sardine population is at its lowest level in 15 years, Oceana reports. “Any fishing on Pacific sardine right now is overfishing,” said Geoff Shester, Oceana California campaign director. “While federal officials are quick to blame ocean conditions for the declines in [sea lion] prey, they have turned a blind eye to the effects of sardine fishing,,, Read the rest here 07:44
Mandatory Humane Harvesting Training for the Seal Fishery
DFO reminds all commercial Sealers that Humane Harvesting Training on the three-step process is mandatory for all commercial Seal licence holders prior to participating in the 2015 season and in any future Sealing seasons. In order to renew a Sealing licence for the 2015 Seal harvesting season, all Sealers must have renewed their 2014 licence and also must have successfully completed the mandatory Humane Harvesting Training on the three-step process. Read the rest here19:56
Gov. Walker makes another unorthodox pick for Fish Board, Meanwhile in Montana, former Fish Board appointee charged!
Gov. Bill Walker has made a second try at filling a vacant seat on the Alaska Board of Fisheries, this time picking Robert Ruffner, the director of a Kenai Peninsula conservation group for a position traditionally held by members sympathetic to sportfishing interests. Read the rest here Meanwhile, Montana law enforcement officials have charged Gov. Bill Walker’s one-time fish board appointee, Roland Maw, with seven misdemeanor counts of applying for and buying Montana resident licenses while he was not a resident of the state. Read the rest here 15:54
Heiltsuk heartbroken by herring fishery’s re-start, with RCMP protection
It’s come to this. The police protection of the controversial herring fishing, on B.C.’s central coast. Heiltsuk Nation had opposed the return of the large fishing boats for weeks, warning federal fishery officials, that the fishing could wipe out the fragile herring stocks in their traditional waters.,, harsh words for the fishermen. “One of them told his captain to tell us to ‘f-off’ — and I told him to ‘f-off’ and gave him the one finger salute,” said Humchitt. “After that we toned down, and we asked how much quota they were taking and they just turned their backs on us.” Read the rest here 15:17
Michigan officials weigh idea of Great Lakes fish farming
The state Department of Environmental Quality has heard from two operators interested in raising rainbow trout in netted enclosures, spokesman Brad Wurfel told The Associated Press. “We’re going to put the absolute best minds available around the table and give it due consideration,” he said. “But we haven’t forgotten that job one is protecting Michigan’s waters. We’ve been trying to be very clear that the bar here would be incredibly high.” Read the rest here 15:04
Winchester Bay, Thar be sardines here
“In our minds,” he said, “fish buyers, fishermen in the sardine industry … we get a quota and it keeps getting reduced. We don’t think NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) does a very good job doing their science. In fact, we use airplanes to see our fish. “We may not get a July 1 season this year,” he explained, “because they say there’s no fish in the ocean. So, we happened to be down here buying live crab from the local guys, here, and they’ve been telling me ‘we’re seeing sardines.’ I’m saying ‘no you aren’t. They’re not here.’ ‘No, we’re seeing sardines.’” Read the rest here 12:46
RCMP tell onlookers to stay away from Bonavista boat fire
Firefighters are battling a blaze aboard a boat at the Bonavista Marina that’s been burning since 6 a.m. According to the RCMP, the Trinity Bay North and Bonavista fire departments are trying to extinguish the “large” boat fire. Photos and video quickly began showing up on social media of the fire, including this video posted on YouTube by Barry Langdon. Read the rest here 11:40
Three Louisiana men cited for commercial shark-fishing violations
Agents with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries cited three Louisiana men this weekend for alleged commercial shark-fishing violations off the coast of Grand Isle. According to a press release, Daie Minh Le, 42, of Buras, Hung Van Le, 38, of New Orleans and Thanh Van Le, 52, of Buras, were ticketed for being over the limit of large coastal sharks. Agents on patrol found the men still actively fishing and already in possession of 74 large coastal sharks, the release states. Most of the sharks were black tip sharks, as well as one hammerhead. Read the rest here 10:52
New distribution model helps Skipper Otto’s expand beyond B.C. borders
Just over a year ago, Sonia and Shaun Strobel decided to expand their community supported fisheries business, Skipper Otto’s, beyond British Columbia’s borders. Unofficially, they were already there. The business had ballooned from 40 people buying fish from a locker on Granville Island to more than 1,000 members, buying thousands of pounds of seafood, across Western Canada. Read the rest here 08:47
Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission Chief Reacts To Being On Chopping Block
The Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission is defending itself against a recent state report pointing out inefficiencies and legislation that could dissolve the agency. Since its creation in 1973, Twomley says the commission has been going through a deluge of thousands of applications to limited entry fisheries and is now down to the last 28 cases. The report recommends those be complete by the end of June. A more reasonable time frame, says Twomley, is by the end of 2016. Audio, Read the rest here 08:35
DNV GL Launches Rules for US Fishing Fleet
The fishing vessel industry fatality rate is 30 times higher than the average of all U.S. industries. To address this, U.S. legislation requires that all new fishing vessels larger than 50 feet must be built to classification rules. DNV GL is the only classification society to develop rules specifically for the U.S. domestic fishing fleet, addressing how fishing vessels are designed, built and maintained for safety. Read the rest here 21:10
Worried about sustainability of herring stocks, First Nation protests commercial fishery
Tensions are escalating on B.C.’s central coast where the Heiltsuk First Nation is protesting commercial herring fisheries. Chief Marilyn Slett said Monday that after failing to stop the seine fleet from hauling in about 680 tonnes of herring over the weekend, plans are being made to escalate the protests when the gillnet fleet gets clearance to fish, possibly later this week. The seine boats were cleared for a short opening late Sunday after a test fishery showed the herring, Read the rest here 20:14
Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie and Lobster Rolls? Not at Hadlock Field, Home of the Portland Sea Dogs!
The City of Portland owned Hadlock Field, home of the Portland Sea Dogs, won’t be serving lobster from Maine Lobster Processor Linda Bean any longer, because the concessionaire, whomever these narrow minded, under the PETA influence, executives are, have decided to consider PETA’s extremist views about lobster processing! This certainly is the “dumbing down” of the hospitality sector. Shame on the City of Portland to allow a local sustainable Maine food product harvested from the waters of the State of Maine to be ejected because a small group of the extremist fringe are offended. Read the article here 19:40
Coast Guard rescues two fishermen near Block Island
Coast Guard crews rescued two fishermen from a sinking vessel 10 miles south of Newport, Rhode Island, Monday. At approximately noon, the two person crew of the 38-foot fishing boat More Misery notified watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England in Woods Hole, Massachusetts that they were taking on water and needed help. Read the rest here 16:31
Cod stocks off Newfoundland improving but recovery still years away: researchers
Scientists tracking northern cod stocks off Newfoundland say there are hopeful signs of recovery but that any lifting of an almost 23-year-old commercial fishing moratorium is likely a decade away. “In the past half a dozen years or so, we’ve seen a remarkable change,” said George Rose, director of the Centre for Fisheries Ecosystems Research at Memorial University’s Marine Institute in St. John’s. There are more fish, they’re larger and older, he said. Read the rest here 15:39
Fraser River Sockeye run estimated at nearly seven million
It won’t be a super sockeye run this year. But salmon fishermen of all stripes should be allowed to get their nets or lines in the water if advance projections are on target. Roughly 6.8 million sockeye should come back to the Fraser River this summer, plus or minus a few million, if the pre-season estimates from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans are close. Read the rest here 15:33
NOAA Law Enforcement Investigative Work
NOAA special agents and enforcement officers handle more than 3,000 seafood fraud, marine mammal protection and fisheries-related incidents per year in the United States. This video focuses on the investigative work of NOAA Office of Law Enforcement special agents.11:51
