Monthly Archives: April 2015
North sea cod stocks bounce back, analysis shows
While the fish populations in many of the 400 problem fisheries might be healthy, no one knows the true status because of severe lack of scientific data on the stock size and how many are caught by fishermen each year. The research was commissioned by Seafish, the government-funded body which represents the seafood industry, and the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) which certifies fish and shellfish as sustainable. Dr Tom Pickerell,,, Read the rest here 15:50
Japanese reactor radiation detected off Vancouver Island, B.C.
University of Victoria chemical oceanographer Jay Cullen said Monday that it’s the first time radiation has been found on the shorelines of North America since the quake and tsunami ravaged the Japanese north coast and disabled the nuclear reactor. “We’re more than a thousand-fold below even the drinking water standard in the coastal waters being sampled at this point. Those levels are much, much, much lower than what’s allowable in our drinking water.” Read the rest here 15:28
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 60′ Steel Stern Trawler, W/ Federal Permits, 400HP, CAT 3408TA
Specifications, and information and 11 photos of the vessel, click here To see all the boats in this series, Click here 11:40
Fisherman out $20K in forfeited crab and fines over illegal fishing
A fisherman from New World Island has to pay thousands in fines and was made to forfeit tens of thousands of dollars worth of crab for violating fishery regulations. Chesley Coish of Hillgrade was convicted on two counts of fishing in an area not listed on his crab licence — once in 2012, another in 2013. Coish was fined $4,000 for both convictions. He was also ordered to forfeit over 8,000 pounds of crab worth $16,333. Until the fines are paid, Coish will be unable to transfer his licence. Click here 10:09
Spiny lobster season ended March 31with good catch, great prices but looming challenges
While the fishery itself is in good shape, the largest threat facing the people who make their living on the water comes from the land side. Development pressure, which chased the commercial fishing industry out of Key West to Stock Island decades ago, is now reaching that island as well. The Monroe County Commission is even considering buying some commercial waterfront on Stock Island, to prevent it from being turned into a site for hotels and recreational marinas. Audio, Read the rest here 09:40
Holy Smoke! Elver prices rise to around $1,900 per pound
Expectations for the volume of elvers that will be caught in Maine this spring may be low but, based on prices that dealers are offering fishermen, the value of the fishery could be headed back up to what it was a couple of years ago. The snow and cold spring temperatures are keeping landings to a trickle so far this season, but for fishermen who are catching baby American eels, the price is back up,,, Read the rest here 09:25
BREAKING: F/V Captain Gavin runs aground of Point Pleasant Beach
The Coast Guard responded to a call for help from the 77-foot Captain Gavin about a mile south of the Manasquan Inlet at 5:15 a.m. Wednesday. Petty Officer 1st Class Nick Ameen says there were three aboard. Ameen says there is no apparent damage to the vessel and no signs of pollution. The Coast Guard will continue to monitor the situation from a boat and from the beach while officials discuss the best way to free the vessel. 08:17 Video 15:11
To tame the invasive Asian Carp, local chef pitches processing plant
Plopping a 25-pound Asian carp in all its glorious ugliness onto a table in the middle of a conference room is a sure-fire way to get an audience’s attention. For Chef Philippe Parola it is the start of a familiar pitch: find a way to facilitate the consumption of the invasive species before it wrecks freshwater ecosystems in Louisiana, much as it already has in the upper Mississippi River valley. Read the rest here 07:55
Japanese scientists breed first captive bluefin tuna
Scientists from Kinki University in Wakayama have been working on the technology for 30 years. “The first challenge was to increase survival rates from harvested eggs to hatchlings, and we got it to 5 per cent,” the university’s Professor Yoshifumi Sawada said. “The bluefin hatchlings ate each other, so we then had to introduce other types of hatchling species for them to eat.”,The scientists also faced the difficulty of replicating the best conditions for Bluefin,,, Read the rest here 07:21
Crew of F/V Christina & Caelyn rescue man from the water in Portland Harbor
A 55-year-old man was rescued by a local fishing vessel after the captain spotted him in the water in Portland Harbor, Maine. The Christina & Caelyn crew rescued the man from the 38 degree Fahrenheit water and provided him basic medical attention. Maine EMS met the fishing vessel at the pier and transported the man to Maine Medical Center for hypothermia treatment. “This lucky man is alive today due to the quick response by the Christina & Caelyn captain and crew” Read the rest here 22:27
Sardine crash threatens port funding
ILWACO — If fishery managers shut down the commercial sardine fishery this year — and it is likely they will — the Port of Ilwaco could lose important tonnage that helps to establish it as a priority among other small ports. Sardines are not a major local cash harvest and the fishermen fishing for them are not based in Ilwaco, but at one time the fish were a big part of processing operations at Jessies’ Ilwaco Fish Company at the Port of Ilwaco, and are a significant product for seafood processors in Clatsop County, Ore. Read the rest here 16:36
‘Precision fishing’ trial confirmed to help the tiddlers
A new form of commercial fishing has improved the survival rates for by-catch, scientists involved in the New Zealand project said. The system – which uses a large, flexible PVC liner with specifically sized holes along its length, allows undersized fish to escape before they are brought on board the fishing boat. The fish that are brought on board stay in better condition because they are still swimming in the liner when they are on the deck, the scientists said. Read the rest here 14:00The future of our children’s ocean
This is our son Kyle. Kyle has spent most of his young life battling cancer. For many years, we were told he had no future. His battles have been long and merciless, but after nine years, he is finally winning this war. He now officially has a future, and to us, it is nothing short of a miracle. Could you imagine living nine years not knowing if your child would live through the next 24 hours? As his parents, his care and his new life are everything to us.,, We are commercial fishermen. We are generations of fishing families. Read the rest here 10:48
Keeping tradition alive – Through a devastating accident Alaska Native artist Mike Webber finds his gift
At 54, Cordova artist Mike Webber’s boyish looks and lighthearted demeanor belie the challenges that brought him to his craft. “How did I get into carving? The answer to that is simple. I broke my neck when I got wrapped up in a deck winch,” says Webber. “I spent the whole summer and winter learning to walk again.” His father, Bill Webber, Sr. and Uncle, Jim Webber, are among the most successful fishermen in the fleet. Quick witted, agile, utterly charming, and fiercely competitive on the fishing grounds at ages 80 plus, few will ever come close to matching their legacies. Read the rest here 10:08
The Gulf of Maine: Poster Child for Global Weirding?
Since it’s snowing this evening, again, I though I’d write something on climate, which I know is not weather. As so often, the great state of Maine, seemingly peripheral, turns out to be central, in this case because of the Gulf that bears its name. Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment (PDF): So, rather than a definitive theory of everything, this post is one citizen’s effort to try to make sense of the situation. So, to do that, I’ll ask, first, who believes the Gulf of Maine is warming? Read the rest here 08:20
Marshfield Lobsterman Billy Kent is a damned good man!
Marshfield lobsterman William Kent Jr. woke up Monday morning raring to work, but a federally-mandated fishing closure will keep him on land for almost another month. But instead of calling the day a wash, Kent decided to head down toward the harbor and get his hands dirty another way. Kent on Monday spent several hours picking up debris from the marsh behind the Esplanade, along Joseph Driebeek Way. Much of the trash – ranging from signs to plastic bottles, to a large, Oriental rug,,, Video, Read the rest here 22:01
To Attract Fishing Boats, Start With Infrastructure Say Fishermen at Seward Meeting
The Seward fishing community showed up in force at a mid-day work session of City Council and the Port and Commerce Advisory Board. Council and PACAB had a question: How do we attract fishing boats to Seward? The fishermen and women had an answer: build more infrastructure and develop marine service businesses. Seward fishermen have pressed for a public crane in the small boat harbor and may get one in a year or two, but they made it clear that a crane alone will not persuade fishing families to settle in Seward with their boats. Read the rest here 21:26
Amidst Speculation, Investigative Committee Detains One Over Sea of Okhotsk Trawler Tragedy
Russia Slams Reports of Trawler Sinking on Striking Submarine Click here, Survivors point to safety breaches as cause of trawler tragedy in Sea of Okhotsk Click here, Russia’s Investigative Committee has detained the deputy director of a company that owned the trawler that sank in the Sea of Okhotsk on Thursday, claiming 56 lives, the law enforcement agency said on its website Monday. Read the rest here 17:43
Calais man gets year of probation, fined $5,000 for lying about pesticide sales that killed hundreds of lobsters
Clyde Eldridge, 65, owner of local feed and pet store C&E Feeds, also was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine. Eldridge waived indictment in November and admitted that he lied in 2010 when questioned by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials as part of an investigation into the illegal use of cypermethrin on the New Brunswick side of Passamaquoddy Bay in the previous year. The pesticide application killed hundreds of lobsters off Deer Island and Grand Manan in November and December 2009, according to a previously published report. Read the rest here Cooke Aquaculture admits to pesticide violations here 16:23
Statement by Captain Paul Watson: West Coast North American Commercial Herring Fishing Should be Shut Down Permanently
The herring industry must be permanently closed. The decline of the herring is giving rise to an increase of seal and sea lion populations, a decline in pelicans and other sea-birds and is starving whales and dolphins including Orcas. And of course the many species of fish that also depend upon the herring including wild salmon aready threatened by pollution and the ecological destruction of the domestic salmon farms. These other species need the herring more than humans. For every can of sardines on the shelf in a super-market and every order of Kazunoko (数の子/鯑) (herring roe) an animal in the sea, starves and dies. Read the rest here 15:40
NOAA Marine Operations Seeks Fishermen
Getting a job commercial fishing often takes months of pounding the docks, trying to convince a skipper to take a chance on a greenhorn or low-hour crewman. But one organization is actively looking for anyone with at least six months experience: the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. NOAA has regular openings on its ships, not just for those with fishing experience, but also licensed and unlicensed merchant mariners and licensed engineers, which he says are in short supply through out the marine industry. Read the rest here 11:19
Fisherman bitten, pulled off boat by sea lion in San Diego’s Mission Bay
A 62-year-old man was bitten by a hungry sea lion Sunday afternoon and pulled into the water at Mission Bay. The man was aboard his boat after a day of fishing and was posing for a picture with a “trophy fish,” according to San Diego lifeguards. A sea lion leaped out of the water onto the boat railing and, while attempting to snatch the large fish, bit the man, pulling him into the water, according to the lifeguards. Read the rest here 11:07
Sea Shepherd rescues crew of sinking pirate fishing ship Thunder
The Australian crew of the Sea Shepherd have come to the rescue of an illegal fishing vessel sinking off the coast of West Africa. The Melbourne-based crew of the Bob Barker responded to a distress signal from the pirate fishing vessel the Thunder, the very ship they had been chasing for the past 110 days. At 11am local time today there were three life rafts in the water carrying all 40 of the pirate vessel’s crew members, Captain Hammarstedt said. Read the rest here 10:47
Lost at Sea memorial service a decade strong
On Easter Sunday, a small group of people gathered around a granite Lost at Sea monument overlooking the marsh in Murrells Inlet. Since 2005, a special ceremony has been held on the first Sunday in April each year to honor those killed at sea. Thirty names have been added to the Lost at Sea memorial during that time, but this year, no new names were added. Read the rest here 08:09
Mexican fishermen stealing America’s fish: Illegal, unregulated fishing a huge problem – Bill introduced
With Africa and the Middle East disintegrating into chaos, the U.S. economy tanking into a part-time job market and immigrants crossing America’s southern border unabated, caring about some foreign fishermen poaching American waters may seem like a low priority. But it’s not. These thieves have been stealing from America for decades, driving up the price of seafood, shortening harvest seasons and forcing good, honest commercial fishermen out of business, U.S. officials say. Read the rest here 07:58
Menhaden: The stock is healthy, so should harvest cuts remain?
February, a regional fisheries commission reversed course and announced Atlantic menhaden were neither being overfished nor experiencing overfishing — an important finding for Virginia, which has the only menhaden rendering plant left on the East Coast. Next month, the will meet in Northern Virginia to decide if that new benchmark assessment is convincing enough to lift a controversial 20 percent coast-wide reduction in the commercial fishery imposed in 2013. Read the rest here 21:02
North Pacific Fishery Management Council will meet the week of April 6, 2015 in Anchorage, AK
The North Pacific Fishery Management Council will meet the week of April 6, 2015 at the Anchorage Hilton Hotel, 500 W. 3rd Avenue, Anchorage, AK. AGENDA and SCHEDULE. All meetings are open to the public, except executive sessions. The Council meeting will be broadcast at https://npfmc.adobeconnect.com/april2015 19:26
Rhode Island Fishermen’s Alliance Weekly Update, April 5, 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 12:34
Fishermen, Buyers, Consumers. Get Connected With Fisherman’s Link!
I got an email from a fella out on the West Coast that has built a website that connects buyers of fish, and fish products to the source, US fishermen. The site is called Fisherman’s Link. For a very nominal fee, you can create a page for your fish and products. It allows for potential customers to Enter their zip code, choose the distance to search, then click the blue ‘Find Seafood Nearest to You’ button. You can test drive this site. www.FishermansLink.com Log in above with username “Demo” and password “demo”. Let us know what you think! 11:54
PHOTO GALLERY: A changing tide for Costa Rica’s artisanal fishing communities
Adrian Arguijo Valdez is an artisanal fisherman. His weathered hands are a testament to countless years of direct exposure to sun and wind on the Golfo de Nicoya, off Costa Rica’s north-central Pacific coast. Threads dance off the edges of his loose clothing, but there is still great strength in his presence. “I will always be a fisherman, but these days there are fewer and fewer fish for me to catch.” Photo’s, Read the rest here 10:50
