Monthly Archives: March 2015
Northern Saskatchewan communities hope to expand fishing industry
Commercial fishing in northern Saskatchewan has been a way of life for many people for generations. Now, some communities are banding together in the hopes of expanding the industry and making it more profitable. Watch the video here 08:28
Study: Green crabs pose parasite threat as lobster bait
Using the crabs as bait in the lobster fishery — which generated nearly $457 million in statewide revenue for fishermen in 2014 — has been considered as a possibility. Baiting lobster with green crabs might not be such a good idea, however, according to a study by a pair of Canadian scientists that was presented last month at a fisheries science conference in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Read the rest here 07:49
Pacific Ocean warms up along Oregon Coast, drawing unusual visitors
“As far as climate scientists know, it could be a weird aberration or it could very well be something that could stick around for a while,” he said. Or as Northwest Fisheries Science Center Director John Stien put it, “We’re seeing some major environmental shifts taking place that could affect the ecosystem for years to come.” Nate Mantua, another NOAA scientist, said the conditions are so unusual that he believes they won’t be long-lasting. Read the rest here 07:37
This post is about seals and contains a video of dead fish, from the deck of Girl Pamela, Newyn
“So here we go again. . . As a fisherman I’m sure I speak for all of us, we just do what we do to try to make a living. We are a breed of sea-going men and we love/respect all sea-life, we are not murderous horrible monsters.So before you ‘Tree hugging eco warriors’ go slating us for having a grievance over the seal population issue please let me put you all straight on something, I know your argument will be “awww, it’s the seals territory and they’ve got to eat. Ok, yes they have and we do share the ocean with them and honestly we are more than happy to let them take a fish, or two fish or half a dozen fish from our nets to feed themselves Watch the video here 22:16
Ice sinks early start for Lake Erie commercial fishery
Easter is coming early. The ice stayed late. That’s a bad combination for Lake Erie commercial fishermen who wanted to be out catching fish for Lent earlier this month. Fishing boats are stuck in ice in the shallow Kingsville harbour but in Wheatley two fishing boats spent three hours Wednesday breaking up ice in the harbour to reach the lake. Read the rest here 19:30
North Carolina fisheries news updates
The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries announced that as of Thursday, new tie-down and distance-from-shore restrictions will apply for gill nets in the western Pamlico Sound and rivers., In other fisheries news, the DMF announced that as of Wednesday, the striped bass season closed in the Central/Southern Management Area for the commercial striped bass fishery. Read the rest here 18:48
Investigating how trawling affects the prey and diet composition of two flatfish species in the northeastern Irish Sea
This article appears at mongabay.con, an environmental blog, written by Joanna Parkman. Read between the lines.- Investigating how trawling affects the prey and diet composition of two flatfish species, plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) and dab (Limanda limanda), Andrew Frederick Johnson, found that bottom trawling leaves plaice with reduced biomass. In other words, the fishing technique could be responsible for skinnier plaice. Read the rest here 17:22
Transferring red-snapper control to states is adored and despised – the current mess created by federal mismanagement.
“There is now no question in our minds that our state directors do not represent the best interests of commercial fishermen. They fight us at every turn, trying to destabilize our business plans and promote half-baked ideas that hurt conservation and undermine sustainability. This scam will hurt hardworking commercial fishermen and the American public that wants to eat fresh, sustainably harvested red snapper.” — Buddy Guindon, executive director of the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance, Read the rest here photo 16:33
A New Life for the Boat Immortalized by John Steinbeck
Sitting in dry-dock, covered in barnacles, is the Western Flyer, a piece of literary history that has been threatened by time, the sea, and a restauranteur. No more. “Some have said they have felt a boat shudder before she struck a rock, or cry when she beached and the surf poured into her. This is not mysticism, but identification; man, building this greatest and most personal of all tools, has in turn received a boat-shaped mind, and the boat, a man-shaped soul. His spirit and the tendrils of his feeling are so deep in a boat that the identification is complete.” John Steinbeck, The Log From the Sea of Cortez Read the rest here 15:44
From the PETA Playbook? – CEO works toward a ‘humane harvest’
Kenny Down grew up in Ballard, and went to sea while still a teenager. Working for years aboard Bering Sea longliners, he never thought much about the stress that fish might go through as they were unhooked and then — while still conscious — cut open and bled. Now, the 52-year-old Down thinks about it a lot as chief executive of Blue North Fisheries, a Seattle-based company that on Monday will be launching a “humane harvest initiative” at the industry’s annual Seafood Expo in Boston. Read the rest here 14:56
Cooke deal for Wanchese, Rafael scallop vessels, off table for now
Multiple sources close to Wanchese said the deal is off the table, and Rafael confirmed to Undercurrent News a sale of his vessels is not going ahead. On Feb. 9, he said a sale would have to be agreed before March 1, as this is when the new scallop season starts every year.“The deal is off. I won’t sell unless I get my number. I do not need to sell,” he said, speaking to Undercurrent at the show. Although he has not named the possible buyer, Rafael has been open about contemplating selling to an “international company”, thought to be Canadian salmon farmer and processor Cooke. Read the rest here 14:08
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Scallop survey technologies get grilling by select NOAA panel
In the scallop science world, what’s going on this week on the waterfront is a little like a battle of the bands: three competing methods of surveying scallops, pitted against each other in front of a panel of tough scientific judges. Dr. Kevin Stokesbury of the UMass Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology said, “What is happening here is that they’re examining the different survey types.”. “Because NOAA wanted to have a review of all the survey techniques as the basis for what they are going to finance,” Stokesbury said. Read the rest here 11:21:
Court of Appeals rejects gillnet lawsuit – may go to Oregon Supreme Court.
A lawsuit challenging changes to the lower Columbia River gillnet policy was rejected Wednesday morning by the Oregon Court of Appeals. Steve Fick, owner of Fishhawk Fisheries, and Salmon for All President Jim Wells sued the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife over the process of rule-making regarding a proposed gillnet policy. The policy, created by former Gov. John Kitzhaber in August 2012, orders that gillnetting be phased out on the Columbia River’s main stem. Read the rest here 10:54
Darien, Ga. – Fort King George looks back on Scottish heritage
Before modern-day Darien was considered a hub for commercial fishing and shrimping, it was the territory of Highland Scots from 1736-1750. Sailing from Inverness on the Prince of Wales, under the direction of Hugh Mackay and George Dunbar, a group of Highlanders made their way to Savannah before British General James Oglethorpe instructed them to make settlements at the mouth of the Altamaha River to ward off Spanish invaders. Read the rest here 10:25
Alaska fishermen consider leaving Copper River/Prince William Sound Marketing Association
In 2005, the fleet of Prince William Sound fishermen who hang curtain-like nets from their boats to catch salmon voted to assess itself a 1 percent tax to fund Alaska’s first regional seafood development association. The fishermen who let out nets from shore joined in 2009. The Copper River/Prince William Sound Marketing Association has since helped boost earnings for the two groups – the drifters and setnetters – by creating brand-name recognition for their fish. It also helped raise the price of the region’s sockeye to the highest in the state. Read the rest here 09:33
Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council Address Hawai’i, American Samoa, Protected Species Issues
HONOLULU (18 March 2015) The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council
concluded the second day of its three-day meeting in Honolulu yesterday with recommendations for federally managed fisheries in Hawai’i and American Samoa as well as protected species. Federally managed fisheries operate seaward of state waters, which generally encompasses waters 0 to 3 miles from shore. Read the rest here 08:03
Bids for Icicle Seafood lining up
The hope from Icicle’s owner Paine and Partners, which recently closed another fund that it intends to focus partly on seafood investments, is for the sale process to be closed soon,sources told Undercurrent News. There are US companies interested in buying the whole thing, as well as foreign players, sources said. A big talking point at the Boston show was how foreign companies would structure a deal for the pollock quota-owning part of Icicle, but that does not seem to be stopping interest. Foreign companies can only own 25% of US quota holders. Read the rest here 20:15
Rising tide of America’s sustainable seafood by Ray Hilborn
This year marks 40 years since the passage of landmark Congressional legislation that fundamentally overhauled how the $90 billion U.S. commercial fisheries industry is managed. It established a unique public-private partnership in which the industry, working with scientists and both federal and local authorities, would regulate fishing according to agreed-upon scientific standards for environmental sustainability, even as the industry stretched to meet skyrocketing demand for seafood. Read the rest here 17:19
Alaska Market Fresh: Waiting for halibut? You may have to wait a bit longer
The halibut season opened last weekend. But the blustery weather may make those hankering for halibut to be a bit patient. “This is the first week of the big halibut opener and wouldn’t you know the whole winter the weather has been nice and warm and this weekend a blizzard happens,” says John Jackson of New Sagaya Markets. “I saw a total of about 1,076 pounds landed over the weekend, and that is nothing. Thanks to the weather, it is what it is. I am hoping that we hear better news in the next few days.” Read the rest here 15:28
It’s all in the data – Advocates use mapping to save Newport Coast Guard helicopter
Last year, the Coast Guard wanted to withdraw a MH-65 Dolphin helicopter from Newport because of budget constraints. Search and rescue operations would have been handled by crews at Air Station North Bend to the south and Air Station Astoria to the north, roughly 45 minutes to an hour in flight time from Newport. While the Coast Guard maintained that emergency response times would still have fallen within its two-hour national standard, countered,,, Read the rest here 12:31
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 40ft. Holland Crab,Lobster, 410HP, 6 Cylinder Sisu 645B5BM Diesel
Specifications, and information and 21 photos of the vessel, click here To see all the boats in this series, Click here 12:14
Fish aid plans may leave out buybacks, buyouts
Bullard, however, said that the re-aligned philosophy of how to best spend the remaining $10 million would not necessarily spell the end of planning a buyout or buyback program to help the fishery over the long haul. “We don’t want to give up on the (the buyback or buyout) and want to keep thinking about how it may work,” Bullard said. “But there is more of a feeling now that perhaps we should use the majority of those funds for other purposes.” Read the rest here 11:42
My Turn: Magnuson-Stevens reauthorization moves forward – Rep Don Young
Almost 40 years ago, without regard for the conservation of our fisheries or the needs of the Alaskan people, foreign fishing fleets dominated the waters off Alaska’s shores and took anything and everything in their reach. Ask anyone familiar with the times. Deck lights of foreign vessels – dozens if not more – could be seen just miles off the coast of Kodiak and other coastal communities. Recognizing the need for change, countless Alaskan fishermen came to Congress to ask for help in pushing the foreign fleets out. Read the rest here 10:35
Public meeting on commercial red snapper catch share program Wednesday 6 PM
The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council will hold a scoping workshop in Panama City Wednesday night to discuss and collect comment on potential changes to the red snapper commercial individual fishing quota (IFQ) program, also known as a catch share program. Read the rest here 10:24
Extreme winter puts $100M Great Lakes fishing industry behind schedule
The commercial fishing season is weeks behind schedule because boats remain lodged in ice formed over the course of the second consecutive extremely cold winter on the Great Lakes. Greater ice coverage last year delayed the 2014 commercial fishing season by nearly six weeks. Once fishing started, it was so good that 2014 went down as one of the strongest years in recent memory. Read the rest here 09:17
Ecology Action Centre: Harpooned swordfish more sustainable
Nova Scotians can do their bit to protect the swordfish fishery by purchasing product caught only by harpoon, says the Ecology Action Centre’s marine policy and certification co-ordinator. “With a harpoon, the swordfish is targeted directly, and this is a sustainable model,” Catharine Grant said Tuesday. The alternative in the province is the longliner fishery, much of it centred on the Scotian Shelf.However, last week, the prestigious Monterey Bay Aquarium, through its Seafood Watch program, condemned this style of catching swordfish for its lack of sustainability. Read the rest here
What’s Killing the Baby Sea Lions? Environmentalists say the overfishing of sardines. Fishermen say that’s a crock.
The sardine decline has pitted environmentalists against fishermen. The conservation group Oceana argues that commercial fishermen are taking too many sardines. Ben Enticknap, a senior scientist with Oceana, said sardine numbers routinely swing up and down based on ocean cycles and seasonal productivity. But, according to the sardine fishing industry, blaming overfishing for the sea lion collapse is a stretch. Diane Pleschner-Steele, director of the California Wetfish Producers Association,,, Read the rest here 08:00
5 Houma residents cited for oyster refrigeration regulation violations
Department of Wildlife and Fisheries agents cited Houma residents Leonardo F. Vega, 36, Jose Cardenas-Arrendondo, 32, Antonio C. Aguado, 59, Antonio C. Aguado Jr., 32, and Ricardo C. Rodriguez, 39, for violating oyster refrigeration requirements on March 8, according to a release.Violating oyster brings a $400 to $950 fine and up to 120 days in jail. Violating oyster sanitation regulations and failing to maintain oyster harvesting logbook each bring a $25 fine and up to 10 days in jail. Read the rest here 20:42
