Monthly Archives: March 2015
Letter to the Editor: Cashes Ledge must be protected from fishing – Betsy Fecto, Portland
Cashes Ledge is currently afforded the protection and conservation measures of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Public hearings have been held throughout New England to help decide whether Cashes Ledge should continue to be closed to the harvesting of groundfish or opened with some restrictions. Scientists, researchers, fishermen and others have shared their future visions of Cashes Ledge. Read the rest here 09:55
Heiltsuk First Nation threatens to blockade commercial herring fishery
“We don’t trust the DFO [Department of Fisheries and Oceans] science.” said Carrie Humchitt, the first nation’s legal adviser. “It’s very industry driven.” Humchitt says if a commercial fishing is allowed, the Heiltsuk will act. “Our people are ready to mobilize and go out an protect our territory if we have to,” he said. We’re prepared to go out and protect our stocks.” “We think it’s in very bad faith that the DFO is forcing us and other nations up and down the coast to go out and protect our fisheries.” Read the rest here 09:31
Alaska Fish Factor: Seventh Time Lucky for Personal Fisheries Priority? Fishy bills to watch, ComFish is coming!
The priority shift has been introduced during each of the last seven legislative sessions by (now) Senator Bill Stoltze (R-Chugiak), but has never made it past a first hearing – until now. Lawmakers said PU fisheries “need more protections from commercial fishermen.” The United Fishermen of Alaska’s position on the PU issue has remained the same for seven years: the legislature should leave prioritization of fishery allocations to the Board of Fish and management to the Department of Fish and Game.Read the rest here 07:29
NEFMC giving $450K to fish research projects
The New England Fishery Management Council is funding the work. One project will seek to develop ways for cod and haddock fishermen to avoid accidentally catching flatfish in Georges Bank. Another will assess the performance of fishing gear designed to avoid accidental catch of windowpane flounder. A third project seeks to improve capture and handling methods for haddock discarded in recreational Gulf of Maine fisheries. A final project will assess recreational haddock discard mortality on Jeffreys Ledge. Read the rest here 06:54
Cold-Water Safety Workshop for Commercial Fishermen in Santa Cruz – March 26-27
The Alaska Marine Safety Education Association is offering an 18-hour cold water safety and drill conductor workshop this week. The workshop will be held Thursday and Friday, March 26-27, at the Harbord Department Public Meeting Room, 365A Lake Ave., Santa Cruz. There will be an in-the-water practice session where workshop participants will practice skills with PFDs, immersion suits, and a life raft. This workshop meets the training requirements for documented commercial fishing vessels operating beyond the federal boundary line. It meets U.S. Coast Guard requirements for documented fishing vessels. Cost is $75 for commercial fishermen, $195 for all others. Register: 907-747-3287, www.amsea.org. 18:38
Fire destroys crab processing plant in Cottlesville
A fire has destroyed a crab processing plant in New World Island, on Newfoundland’s northeast coast. Rod Wheeler, the mayor of Cottlesville, said the fire broke out at the Breakwater Fisheries plant around 2:30 a.m. on Sunday. Wheeler said he was shocked to hear the news. “It was devastating. Actually devastating,” he said. “That fish plant is a major employer to not only this town, but the whole area.” Read the rest here 13:55
Fishermen can catch more butterfish; Rhode Island lands half of the catch + video
Federal fishing regulators say fishermen can catch more butterfish in 2015 because the condition of the fish stock is improving. National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration officials say they are increasing the butterfish quota from 3,200 metric tons in 2014 to 22,530 metric tons in 2015. Fishermen caught 1,333 metric tons of butterfish up and down the East Coast in 2013, the most recent year for which federal statistics are available. Rhode Island had the largest fishery in the country, with more than 700 metric tons. Video, read the rest here 13:03
Geoduck season in Southeast nearly over
The geoduck fishery is a smaller fishery with just 60 permit holders participating. However, it can be a lucrative venture as prices in the past have reached $20 a pound. The average price is around $10 a pound but this season it’s been below the average at about $6. The geoduck fishery is one of the three commercial dive fisheries in Southeast Alaska. Divers also go after sea cucumbers and sea urchins. Breese says both the sea urchin and geoduck fisheries are feeling the effects of sea otter predation. Audio, Read the rest here 11:33
Rhode Island Fishermen’s Alliance Weekly Update, MAR 22, 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 11:14
Really, Rosemary
Lifelong Alaskan Rosemary McGuire, 38, who grew up in a home here without electricity or running water, has commercially fished out of Cordova, paddled miles of wild Alaskan rivers (many of them with her dad, Tom), and now — to no one’s surprise — published a book of Alaska short stories. “Creatures at the Absolute Bottom of the Sea” comes out this month from the University of Alaska Press. “Everything I’ve ever written has been about Alaska in some way or another. It’s the place I know,” McGuire says. Read the rest here
Editorial: Get federal fisheries aid to those who need it
The talk of scuttling or at least pushing back any buyback program surfaced through a meeting held a week ago today among NOAA representatives, New England state fishery directors, and a number of stakeholders within the fishing industry, whose input rightfully seems to be playing a role once again in a key decision. Those include the Gloucester-based Northeast Seafood Coalition, which is on board with the potential change. Read the rest here 09:35
USCG Suspends Search for Overdue Boat near Majuro
The Coast Guard suspended the search Saturday for an overdue 83-foot commercial fishing vessel near the Republic of Marshall Islands. Fishing vessel Clear Water 02 reportedly went missing with nine people aboard while en route Majuro for offload, March 12. Sunday, good Samaritan vessels recovered 34 fishing floats labeled “CW02” 224 miles east of Majuro. Two life rings marked “Clearwater 02” were located by one of the fishing vessels searching 114 miles south east of Kwajalein on Tuesday and Friday. Read the rest here 09:14
Unalaska fights to save Stimson
Despite departing City Manager Chris Hladick’s discouraging comments, the Unalaska City Council, mayor, and natural resources analyst are all calling for a big push to keep the state fisheries patrol vessel, Stimson, in Unalaska. They also want local residents to join the fight by contacting legislators and oppose sending the boat to Kodiak. Read the rest here 08:58
Regulators consider changes to herring catch limits. Because.
The New England Fisheries Management Council is working on an amendment to the existing rules that is designed to make sure future catch limits are based on “scientific uncertainty” and the status of the herring stock, according to federal documents. The document is up for public comment now and could be approved sometime in the latter half of this year, said Lori Steele, a fishery analyst for the council. Atlantic Herring are not overfished and overfishing is not occurring, according to ASMFC Read the rest here 20:01 ASMFC Herring page
Commissioners take small step toward buying Stock Island fish house
Lower Keys commercial fishermen asked Monroe County commissioners to throw them a lifeline by purchasing a Stock Island fish house and marina as working waterfront. Commissioners responded Wednesday that they want to keep the former Gulf Seafood property dedicated to commercial fishing but remain cautious on how to do it. “I want to preserve [the site] in perpetuity for commercial fishing, but not run a fish house,” Kolhage said. Read the rest here photo credit 18:26
Treasured gift gone: Woman loses MMPA prohibited seal skin purse at border
Nora Fitzgerald always liked the attention her seal skin purse garnered, but not the kind it drew at a United States border crossing. Fitzgerald had no idea seal skin products were prohibited from being taken into the United States. Their crossing was going rather routine until a female agent asked about her purse. She said she was told seal is an endangered species, and fur products were not to be taken across the border. Read the rest here 17:43
Coast Guard seizes red snapper from commercial shrimp vessel in South Texas
At approximately 2:30 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, the Heron was on a routine patrol when they conducted a law enforcement boarding on the fishing boat Capt. Wallace B and discovered the illegal catch. Currently, the red snapper fishery in federal waters is only by commercial fishing vessels with reef fish permits with an individual fishing quota for red snapper. The recreational fishing season for red snapper in federal waters is closed. Read the rest here 14:50
Elver season opens Sunday in Maine, expected to start slow
Darrel Young, president of the Maine Elver Fishermen’s Association, said Friday that because of low temperatures in the early part of last spring, he did not catch his first elver until the end of April. “I don’t think I’m going to catch one until then this year, either,” Young said. “ Last year was really quiet.” Read the rest here 14:09
Fishing boat skipper claims his crew could have drowned after mystery submarine was snared in net off the coast of Outer Hebrides
A FISHING boat skipper has told of his terrifying brush with a submarine off the Outer Hebrides. Angus Macleod said his net was continually dragged in front of his 62ft trawler. He has sent reports to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and the Marine Accident Investigation Branch. Angus, 46, said: “The only explanation I can think of is it’s a submarine. “It missed the nets, which is just as well. I think something got hold of the dog rope – which attaches to the top and bottom of the net – and the trawl wire. Whew! Read the rest here 10:20
Don’t give up on groundfishing just yet
“Why should we help those who destroyed their own fishery?” This is the question that is usually trotted out when there is a debate about allowing lobster bycatch on groundfish boats here in Maine. (Bycatch is the term that refers to species incidentally caught in fishing gear in addition to the primary targeted species.) There are other instances when this question is raised, usually when the phrase “struggling groundfish fleet” is incorporated into the conversation about the various problems associated with . Read the rest here 09:41
The disastrous feedback of what happens when fisheries funding dries up
Last week I had the good fortune of attending the NC Oyster Summit, hosted by the NC Coastal Federation in the Museum of Natural Sciences. Yet, the fact that stuck with me most is that despite all of these wonderful celebrations of the oyster for the health and well-being of NC’s coastal communities,,,The “Administrative Closure” of the most northern stretches of the state’s prized Albemarle-Pamlico estuary system is a worrying precedent in many ways that highlight how leadership withdrawal of support for science can trickle down to real economic, environmental, and cultural harm. Read the rest here 09:10
I smell a rat. Several of them, in fact. Paul Cohan, Gloucester
The fisheries collapse isn’t going to rectify itself at any time in the near future, that is, if the situation is as dire as NOAA and it’s ENGO puppet masters insist. Therefore, a buyout program, as originally incorporated into the industry disaster relief plan, is clearly not only a commitment, but a necessity. There is a substantial number of permit holders who have been forced to sell their boats in order to just catch up with their bills simply because they don’t have enough fish, and access to what few they do have, to remain solvent. Read the rest here 08:44
Crab shell socks: Coming soon to a retailer near you
Alaska’s fishing industry dominates the state’s economy right behind oil, but the approximately 50 percent of scrap left from each fish after processing has largely gone to waste. Until now. Local fisherman Craig Kasberg has long considered using the waste after his salmon is filleted and in May, the first products from his start-up business, Tidal Vision, will become available online. Read the rest here 07:56
Study examines decline in young, rural fishermen
In 1980, the city of Dillingham boasted more than 150 fishing permit holders in the community. Today, that number has dropped to less than 80, and while the number of fishermen in rural southwest Alaska has declined, the age of those who continue to fish has risen by almost a decade. A collaborative research project hopes to understand this trend, which has been dubbed The project, called “Alaska’s Next Generation of Fishermen,” hopes to find practical solutions that can rejuvenate an aging fishing industry. Read the rest here 18:36
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for March 20, 2015
Click here -> Weekly Update for March 20, 2015 18:16
$8 million lawsuit over Oregon crabbing crew member who drowned settles
An $8 million lawsuit filed in the death of a crabbing-boat crew member who drowned in 2012 along the Oregon coast has settled for an undisclosed amount. The settlement last week came just a few days after an attorney for the estate of David A. Terris had filed suit. The lawsuit faulted the Oregon owner of the commercial fishing vessel for allegedly failing to properly train the crew and the Swedish maker of a life-raft release mechanism that allegedly failed to detach the raft from the vessel. Read the rest here 13:58
‘Superhero’ Maine lobstermen will star in worldwide lobster marketing
In December, the Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative (MLMC) hired the global public relations firm Weber Shandwick, based in Boston, to help expand existing markets and find new ones. The company will lead public relations, advertising, social media and digital content on lobsterfrommaine.com. “We have a superhero in lobstermen, and a lot of brands don’t,” said Patty Stone, executive vice president at Weber Shandwick. “We have this halo effect from Maine. You don’t often walk into clients who have such built-in benefits.” Read the rest here 13:27
China fishing plan in Antarctica alarms scientists
Scientists studying the Antarctic’s marine life received some unexpected news this month: China plans to vastly increase fishing for Antarctic krill – small crustaceans that are a critical food for the continent’s penguins and other creatures. China currently harvests about 32,000 metric tons of krill annually from Antarctica’s waters, topped by only Norway and South Korea. Under China’s plans, the world’s most populous country would increase those catches 30 to 60 times, harvesting up to 2 million metric tons yearly. Read the rest here 12:18
Celebrating Zeke Grader – Fishing Community Hero/Champion, Zeke’s Catch of the Day
The Pacific Coast Federation of Fisherman’s Associations & The Institute for Fisheries Resources Cordially invite you to attend a special event in honor of William F. Zeke Grader. A celebration for the Pacific Coast’s leading champion for the commercial fishing industry. Friday, April 10, 2015, from 6 to 9 PM, Bay Model Visitor Center, 2100 Bridgeway Blvd, Sausalito, CA 94965 Tickets: $50 per person, Appetizers, beer and wine will be served. Donations are tax deductible. R.S.V.P. required by April 3rd.For more information contact Harriet Lew at: Phone: (415) 561-3474 x221, E-mail: [email protected] 11:55
Canadian Coast Guard goes high-tech – Communications system worth $50m has been installed in Halifax, N.L.
The Canadian Coast Guard’s new $50-million communications system has been installed in Halifax after five years of development. It is a massive project that the coast guard is saying will be revolutionary. It has also been tied to controversy because the system was cited as a justification for cutting almost half of the regional communications centres across Canada. In recent weeks, the new system was installed in Halifax and Placentia, N.L. Read the rest here 10:52
