Monthly Archives: March 2015
NOAA, states and fishing industry reconsider buyout or buyback plans
Even as Massachusetts pushes to get the second phase of federal disaster funding to eligible Bay State beneficiaries, the fate of the federal buyout or industry buyback plan initially included in the third and final phase of funding could be in jeopardy. Participants in a meeting Friday between NOAA, New England state fishery directors and fishing industry stakeholders confirmed today that the remaining $10 million slotted for either a federally funded vessel buyout or an industry-funded permit buyback now could be shifted to provide other forms of assistance Read the rest here 19:48
No NOAA Confidence! 5 Gulf States Propose Gulf State Red Snapper Management Authority
ast week, marine fishery directors from all five states bordering the Gulf of Mexico — the first time all of the states have collaborated — sent out a proposal to Congress to develop an independent body, Gulf State Red Snapper Management Authority. The group would approve each state’s management plan, coordinate population assessments, provide consistent accountability measures and distribute federal funding for research, assessment and management. Read the rest here 18:50
3Ps Inshore fishermen want draggers stopped from fishing during cod spawning time
There’s nothing that irks Lamaline fisherman Alfred Fitzpatrick more than reports of cod being dumped by offshore draggers — large boats he and other south coast fishermen say shouldn’t be permitted to fish while the cod stock has gathered to spawn. “We’ve been told of all the little fish, belly up, floating away behind the boat. Don’t that paint a picture?” Fitzpatrick said. “That’s the future, that’s my livelihood floating away. It’s the same thing that happened back in the 1980s.” Those reports of high-grading,,, Read the rest here 12:17
Wind farms are making the North Sea one of the world’s most overcrowded bodies of water
The report noted that the installation of cables, pipelines, and other energy-related structures can impact marine life. Dolphins, it said, “can be seriously affected by the noise of pile driving new structures into the seabed.” Ships have to navigate around turbines and oil platforms. Cables can present problems for fishermen. And the precious waters already are becoming degraded. The report cites a study in which 98% of Norwegian seabirds were found to have plastic particles in their stomachs. Read the rest here 11:54
West Coast waters shifting to lower-productivity regime, new NOAA report finds
Large-scale climate patterns that affect the Pacific Ocean indicate that waters off the West Coast have shifted toward warmer, less productive conditions that may affect marine species from seabirds to salmon, according to the delivered to the Pacific Fishery Management Council. Read the rest here 11:41
Too much competition in Maritime lobster fishery, says Shea
The Maritime provinces need to stop competing against each other, says federal 
, and proceed with a lobster levy to promote Canadian lobster internationally. “It became abundantly clear to me in travelling internationally that the industry has been doing way too much competing against each other instead of working together to get products to market,” said Shea Read the rest here 11:27
Where have all the ice smelt gone? N.H. ice shanties are empty, the catch in Maine is down, environmentalists struggle for answers
The fishermen are gone now because the smelt are gone. Catches of 60, 70, 100 smelt on a tide — the six-hour period between low and high tides — were routine. What happened? Some say it’s just a cycle, though the decline has been steady since the state began smelt surveying in the early 1980s. Studies blame the high levels of nitrogen washing into the bay from septic systems, lawn fertilizer and sewage treatment plants. The nitrogen prompts algae blooms that smother the grass and quite possibly smelt eggs clinging to the bottom in tidal headwaters. Read the rest here 09:48
Two more sentences handed down for Deepwater Horizon fraud, claimants falsely alleged commercial fishing ties
Study finds some West Coast fish can survive in low-oxygen ocean dead zones while others leave
Scientists say they have found that some fish can survive in low-oxygen dead zones that are expanding in deep waters off the West Coast as the climate changes. The study focused on catches from 2008 through 2010 of four species of deepwater groundfish — Dover sole, petrale sole, spotted ratfish and greenstriped rockfish. Oregon State University oceanographer Jack Barth, a co-author, says commercial fishermen will likely start taking oxygen levels into account as they decide where to tow their nets. Read the rest here 08:17
Federal fisheries minister expresses fish export optimism
Shea joined industry representatives on a conference call Monday from Seafood Expo North America in Boston to share her optimism for the industry. The free trade deal with South Korea, Shea said, is projected to increase Canadian exports by 32 per cent and boost the Canadian economy by $1.7 billion annually. Read the rest here 08:08
NJ Senate influenced by the Humane Society moves to ban shark fin trade
The New Jersey Senate has passed a bill to ban the trade, sale and distribution of shark fin products and may now join several U.S. states and territories with already with similar laws. The bill introduced by Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union), along with Sen. Christopher Bateman (R-Somerset) in May 2014, passed today by a vote of 28 to 10 according to The Humane Society of the United States. Read the rest here 19:58
“Deadliest Catch” Vessel Aleutian Ballad, From a Colorful Past to Industrial Tourism
The Aleutian Ballad was a crab boat for 23 years before it was converted into an industrial tourism ship. The crabber was shown on the Discovery Channel hit series The Deadliest Catch when it was hit by a 60-foot rogue wave that rolled the ship on its side. But that night in 2005 wasn’t the first time a rogue wave knocked the ship over, co-owner David Lethin said. Read the rest here Take the tour! Click here 16:47
Lack of Nation to Nation relationship between the Canadian Government and Indigenous fishermen causes conflict
On Monday March 9, 2015, a fishing trial began outside a Vancouver Court House. With the lack of Nation-to-Nation relationships between the First Nation and the Canadian Government, disputes – in this case fishing disputes – must be handled by the provincial courts, even when the provincial court overrides the decisions by the Supreme Court of Canada. Read the rest here 16:10
Salvage Crew Waiting For High Tide To Free Stuck F/V Joyce Lynn II – Video
If at first you don’t succeed, wait for high tide and try again. That could be the motto Monday for TowBoatUS as they again try to free a commercial fishing boat which ended up beached just north of the Port Everglades jetty Friday night. Attempts over the weekend failed to budge the boat. TowBoatUS salvage expert Travis Bason said Sunday the vessel’s rudder and prop were a problem. Read the rest here 14:18
Costco’s fish import licence suspended
Canada’s food safety watchdog has suspended Costco Canada’s fish import licence. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says the retail giant is not reliably following food safety controls on a consistent basis. The agency says Costco is in violation of federal fish inspection regulations and the suspension on imports went into effect on Feb. 26. Read the rest here 13:45
Federal officials plan to track every fish and crustacean shipped to U.S. ports
Before any seafood enters the U.S. market, officials said, it must contain information that federal, state and local officials currently do not ask for: its origin, who caught it, when and with what. That data can be taken by any federal, state and local authority at a port and submitted to a central database for tracking. Conservationist groups that pushed the administration to better protect global fishing stocks for years cheered the report. Michele Kuruc, vice president of ocean policy for the , called it historic. Read the rest here 12:37
From Iceland to New Bedford: Waste not, want not for fisheries
The materials in question — cod heads, livers, skin and intestines — are as about as raw as it gets but they are nothing to sniff at, and the numbers bear that out. In 1981, the Icelandic cod fishery produced 460,000 tons, worth $340 million. In 2011, only 180,000 tons came ashore but these “holistic” fish swelled the cod coffers to $680 million that year. Read the rest here 10:42
Maine survey to assess depleted shrimp nearing completion
Shrimp trawlers and trappers are collecting samples for state regulators in the Gulf of Maine. The Maine Department of Marine Resources is paying four trawlers $500 per trip and allowing them to sell up to 1,800 pounds of shrimp per trip. It is also allowing five trappers to keep up to 100 pounds of shrimp per week for personal use. Read the rest here 09:46
Tradex 3-Minute Market Insight: Controversial Halibut Bycatch Reductions; Stock Scarcity Closes Golden King Crab Fishery
After speaking to a few Alaska trawl boat groups, some feel the recent decisions by IPHC are unfairly weighted on the trawl fisheries The Golden King Crab is the most abundant species of crab in their Alaska range; however, the closure announcement comes as a result of abnormal and EXTREMELY low harvests this season. Watch the update here 09:31
Letter: NOAA’s action still leaves out smaller boats
To the editor: With regard to NOAA’s accepting parts of a proposal of the Northeast Seafood Coalition and Gloucester fishermen: I still fail to see how this will help the small boat and fisherman who cannot go out to Georges Bank. How can this help them? It seems the larger boats have a better chance to make a living and that can be good, but what about the small guy? Is NOAA going to help them? I think it’s about time that NOAA think about the entire fleet, and not just cater to the bigger vessels. SAM PARISI Gloucester @GDT 07:35
4 rescued after fishing boat runs aground off Fort Lauderdale
The U.S. Coast Guard rushed to the rescue of four fishermen late Friday night after their 63-foot boat crashed ran aground off Fort Lauderdale Beach. Saturday night, the Joyce Lynn II was beached and breaking apart. Low tide has left the vessel stuck in the sand. “Well, right now, it’s grounded. They’re trying to take all the oil out of it and the gas out of it right now,” said area resident Beth Drude, who is helping with cleanup efforts. Read the rest here 20:24
David G. Sellars – On The Waterfront: Platypus’ expansion bid promotes economy, jobs
Earlier in the week, Platypus hauled out Pacific Grace for a “shave and a haircut.” After the commercial fishing vessel’s bottom was cleaned and a new coat of bottom paint applied, technicians in the electronics department installed a new transducer for the fish finder on the 50-foot vessel that hails from Gig Harbor. Platypus also hauled out Shemya, a 59-foot commercial fishing vessel from Kodiak, Alaska. Personnel on Thursday and Friday were enveloping the vessel in a plastic tent in preparation for no small amount of painting. Read the rest here 13:23
The Importance of Boatyards, Friends, and Pi Day (3/14/15)
Getting a fishing boat up to Port Angeles, Washington from Astoria, Oregon in January, as we did this year, produced mixed reactions for my husband and I. Irrational thinking peppered in with the, mostly, rational thought that prevailed. In retrospect, it needed to be done. We had pole work to do, a repaired generator and a new muffler to install. It is eminently easier to do boat work in a yard where the boat and owners are well-known by the trades people who work on boats. It is also nice to go home at night. Read the rest here 12:51
JUST IN: Presidential Task Force on IUU Fishing & Seafood Fraud releases action plan
Today, March 15th, the Presidential Task Force on Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing and Seafood Fraud, co-chaired by the Departments of Commerce and State, released its action plan. This plan articulates the aggressive steps that federal agencies will take both domestically and internationally to implement the recommendations the Task Force made in December 2014. Read the release here 11:14
Rhode Island Fishermen’s Alliance Weekly Update MAR 15, 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 10:36
Gloucester taking part in seafood expo
Gloucester will play an active role in the Seafood Expo North America, which will be held Sunday through Tuesday at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center. Interim Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken on Sunday will demonstrate how to cook under-utilized species. Read the rest here 10:19
Sea hunt: Officials plan to track seafood ‘bait to plate’ to end fraud
For crimes committed on the high seas, Arnold Bengis
is going to pay. He’s already served a five-year federal prison sentence for stealing massive amounts of rock lobster from South African waters and importing it to the United States. Now a federal judge wants the former Long Island resident and two co-conspirators to fork over another $20 million in restitution to the South Africans. Described as a modern-day pirate, Bengis is the face of fishery crime. Read the rest here 09:31
Coast Guard medevacs fisherman near Cape Cod
Search and rescue crews from Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod, Massachusetts, medically evacuated a man from a fishing boat 110 miles east of Cape Cod, Friday. Watchstanders at the Coast Guard Sector Boston Command Center received an urgent call from the fishing vessel Capt Joe stating that a 62-year-old crewman aboard was suffering from severe abdominal pain. Read the rest here 22:38
Science is ‘in decay’ because there are too many studies, finds, er, new study
Science could be in decay as there are simply too many new studies, a new study has found The research, dubbed ‘Attention decay in science,’ was recently published online by professors from universities in Finland and California. They concluded scholars can’t keep pace with scientific literature. Read the rest here 20:36
