Daily Archives: May 16, 2015
Big Green Bureaucracy – Commercial fishermen fight to fish near NASA
George Sweetman must follow the crabs. This year, they lure him to the shallows surrounding NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, where the beginnings of a blue crab revival crawl inside his steel traps. But a plan to phase out his trade from these remote waters could claw back a recent turnaround in the fortunes of Sweetman and others who fish the Mosquito Lagoon — the northernmost section of the Indian River Lagoon — killing off their unique heritage.But the feds say he and others who fish commercially must go because they clash with the government’s conservation mission. Read the rest here 20:10
In Benton, dinner crowd says alewives are good eating
The menu included locally smoked whole alewife and two varieties of alewife chowder and lobster, along with traditional sides such as corn, potatoes and rolls. It was a sold-out crowd Friday night at the Benton Grange as about 100 people came together in what is becoming an annual feast to celebrate the Benton Grange, or alewife. The dinner is a way to recognize the small fishes’ annual spring run from the Gulf of Maine upstream to spawn in inland lakes. Benton has the distinction of hosting the largest run in the state and one of the largest on the East Coast, estimated at nearly 3 million fish. Read the rest here 19:14
Monterey Italians recalled in new book
Monterey Peninsula resident Mike Ventimiglia’s ancestors fished, worked the canneries, operated and owned fishing boats as a well as a cannery on Cannery Row in Monterey. This collection of vintage photos was brought together from various sources including personal family collections, local library archives and from personal albums of the members of the Amici Club, an organization of individuals of Sicilian Italian descent. Read the rest here 19:00
The May 2015 SMAST Yellowtail Flounder Survey begins, and we have our first update!
This innovative survey , another SMAST/industry collaborative, is underway. The Captain is Ronnie Borgeson. Ronnie has the F/V Angenette, which is his own boat. Crew is Tim Barrett of the F/V Odessa, Al Gerry of the F/V Raptor, and Meghan Lapp of Seafreeze Ltd. The SMAST team is Dr. Kevin Stokesbury, Erin Adams, Travis Lowery, and Eli Powell. Also on board is Don Cuddy of the Center for Sustainable Fisheries. We will be receiving daily updates from the vessel, and here is todays: Photos and the update here 15:04
Mayday Mayday: Democratic Control Over Our Fish is Going Down
Fishermen and the public came to the Council meeting to provide input on the fleet diversity amendment to the New England groundfish Catch Share policy only to be shut down by the Chair of the Council. When I asked the Council Chairman Terry Stockwell if he could allow time for the group of fishermen, students, and hospital representatives to testify he said “no”. Not only did he insist “no” in response to my plea that he consider how far folks had traveled – in some cases 4 to 5 hours – instead of listening and being a public servant, he called me an “asshole” publicly. Read the rest here 12:50
Anchorage, Seattle greet first fish of Copper River salmon season
The ceremonial first fish of the Copper River salmon season has arrived in Seattle on an airplane from Alaska. Thousands of pounds of salmon arrived on an Alaska Airlines jet painted like a giant fish on Friday morning at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Fishing season on Alaska’s Copper River Delta began this week. Seattle eaters as well as restaurant chefs look forward to the delicious fish to arrive soon after the first fish come out of the water. Video, Read the rest here 12:02
This red herring is relevant: fisherman
When you are fishing on the Atlantic ocean, and have done so for years, there’s an expectation of what you will be pulling into your boat. But once in awhile, something comes over the gunnels that makes a fishermen stop and look, and scratch his head. Andy Murphy of Long Harbour did just that when he saw red herring coming aboard his boat off the community one day about a week ago. And he said the herring, with their bloody scales, looked eerily familiar to the herring that fishermen pulled aboard in 1969 when phosphorus made its way into the bay,, Read the rest here 11:20
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for May 15, 2015
Click to read Weekly Update for May 15, 2015 as a PDF To read all the updates, click here 10:50
Fixing a catastrophe: Divers removing 90,000 tires from ocean
An estimated 700,000 tires were dropped into the ocean off Hugh Taylor Birch State Park in the early 1970s in a failed attempt to create an artificial reef. At the time, before anyone had figured out how to recycle tires or burn them for electricity, tire dumps were appearing all over the United States. The Osborne Tire Reef was intended to be an environmentally friendly way to dispose of steel-belted radials. The bundles of tires would attract fish — which are drawn to vertical structures — and provide a foundation for the growth of corals. But not much coral grew on them, Read the rest here 10:45
$10 Million budget Proposal to get better counts of Gulf red snapper makes headway
The next time government researchers go out in boats to collect data on snapper with fishing lines and underwater cameras, they might have a flood of additional data to include in their fish count: information gathered by recreational anglers, charter boat captains and academic researchers. A $10 million budget proposal by U.S. Rep. David Jolly, R-Indian Shores, directs the federal fisheries service to award funds to everyone from commercial fishing operations to marine science laboratories for projects that collect data on fish populations. Read the rest here 09:46
Boards and Commissions Director Gillis resigns days before Board of Fisheries nominee due
ANCHORAGE—Gov. Bill Walker’s Boards and Commissions Director Karen Gillis has left her position amid growing controversy over a Board of Fisheries seat that has yet to be successfully filled. Walker, who is required by Alaska Statute to appoint a person to the seat by May 19, has previously appointed two candidates to the open seat; neither has lasted longer than a month. Though staff in the governor’s office confirmed Gillis’ departure, they have refused to discuss when she left, or release an updated list of candidates for the open seat. Read the rest here 09:33
“Deadliest catch”? Not even in the top three
In the 11th season of Discovery Channel’s flagship show “The Deadliest Catch,” the title’s fallacy still goes largely unnoted. Crab fishing on the Bering Sea isn’t the deadliest fishery in the United States, and it hasn’t been for the entire run of the show; it’s not even in the top three. Two East Coast fisheries are the ones where fishermen are most likely to become fish food. Groundfish—including cod and flounder—on the East Coast was the deadliest fishery in the U.S, followed by Atlantic scallops. The third, with which I have personal experience, is Dungeness crab fishing on the Oregon and Washington coasts. Read the rest here 08:36
