Monthly Archives: June 2015
Sockeye swarm the Kasilof, prompting early commercial fishing opener
For the third year in a row, enough Cook Inlet sockeye salmon have made it up the Kasilof river that area management biologists have issued emergency orders opening a section commercial setnet fishery earlier than its regulatory start date. By midnight Saturday, more than 56,500 sockeye had been counted past the river’s sonar. By regulation, the Kasilof section of the east side setnet fishery can open up to five days early if the sockeye salmon run is strong enough to put more than 50,000 fish in the river. Read the rest here 16:31
Dutch captain found guilty of breaching EU sea fishery regulations in Irish waters
The State alleged Klass Dirk Meijvogel was the master of the Wiron 5 when she had on board equipment capable of automatically grading herring, mackerel and horse mackerel by size. Leading Shipwright James Cotter told the court that the transportation chute on board the Wiron 5 ran from bow to stern under both the automatic and manual grading equipment. There was a flow of water running along the chute transporting fish in the chute back into a sump at the aft of the ship from where the fish could be discharged into the sea, he said. Read the rest here 11:50
Rhode Island Fishermen’s Alliance Weekly Update, June 21, 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 11:30
FWC likely to put limits on harvest of barricuda
Some Florida Keys fishing guides and dive operators contend increased harvest pressure on the toothy predators have noticeably reduced barracuda numbers. “Barracuda are being caught big-time, and that’s a fact,” longtime Upper Keys dive operator Spencer Slate said Friday. “They’re definitely being overfished.” The Lower Keys Guides Association supports most of the proposed rules, but wants “the commercial daily limit be 20 fish per day per vessel; not 20 per person.” Read the rest here 11:13
Jonah crabs booming in value as managers seek fishery plan
New England lobstermen are catching and selling more of a long-overlooked crab species in their traps, leading regulators to try to craft a management plan for the fishery before it becomes overexploited. The is working on regulations for Jonah crabs, a species common along the Eastern Seaboard that is rapidly growing in market share as an economic alternative to more expensive Dungeness and stone crabs. Read the rest here 10:26
Bills seek to modify fishing-vessel safety law
Congress is working on changes to a significant part of 2010 legislation that sought to improve the safety of new fishing vessels. The Senate bill would require vessels of 50 to 190 feet to be built to standards equivalent to those developed by classification societies, but it would not require the involvement of a class society. The House bill would exempt fishing vessels sized from 50 to 79 feet in length from being built to class, and instead would have the federal government set up an alternative-compliance program for new vessels of this size built after July 1, 2013. Read the rest here Related articles here 09:19
PICTURES: Brixham Trawler Race 2015 – Video
More than 20 trawlers set off from Brixham breakwater to race two laps of the Bay – heading past Paignton and Torquay harbour before reaching Hope’s Nose and returning to Berry Head. The trawlers assembled at Berry Head before the race to hold a sail-past down towards the start line in memory of local fisherman Adrian ‘Jock’ Strike who died recently following a long battle with cancer. View photo gallery here This video is like being in the middle of the action. 22:47
Unintended Consequences – Protecting wild predators can lead to problems
That is, a recovering predator population can increase competition with humans for the same prey; it can start eating individuals of a protected prey species; or it can pit multiple predator populations in competition for the same limited prey. Or it can do all three. In the northeastern Pacific Ocean, for example, commercial harvests of king salmon have declined from historic levels, in part to protect declining wild-salmon populations, seven of which have Endangered Species Act protection. Meanwhile, the ecosystem’s seals and sea lions, which were once killed commercially, are now protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972. Read the rest here 20:48
‘Deadliest Catch’ Favorite Capt. Phil Harris Voted Greatest Reality TV Personality of All Time
Online competitions are often nothing more than a popularity contest — where a show can mobilize its fans to get out the vote before the polls close. But sometimes, as is the case with our two-week race to crown the Greatest Reality TV Personality of All Time — the popular pick is also the right one. Capt. Phil Harris — a rock star of the Bering Sea crab-fishing fleet who finally got the chance to know his sons, Josh and Jake, when they became deckhands on the Cornelia Marie — dominated each round: He won the Hero title (with 73 percent of the vote), breezed through the semifinals (with 46 percent), and ultimately defeated Hell’s Kitchen’s Gordon Ramsay in the final (with 86 percent). Read the rest here 18:00
Department of Commerce announces 2015 regional fishery council appointments
The U.S. Commerce Department today announced the appointment of 30 new and returning members to the eight regional fishery management councils that partner with NOAA, and National Marine Fisheries Service to manage ocean fish stocks. The new and reappointed council members begin their three-year terms on August 11. Read the rest here 15:25
Despite years of delays, still no action from Newfoundland government on direct fish sales to consumers
“We’ve gone out again to the interest groups in the province, and we’ve asked them to come back to us with some of the issues, or some underlying issues that they might have,” Granter said. “Then I’ll evaluate that and see where we go from there.” That statement by Granter actually represents a big step backward for the government. In 2010, the government received a report which concluded that direct selling of fish is already happening on a huge scale in the province. The report was kept under wraps from 2010 until the summer of 2014,,, Read the rest here
Commercial fishermen protest Port of Brookings Harbor poundage fee
The poundage fee, which the board approved at last month’s meeting, would add an additional charge per pound for different species unloaded at the Brookings-Harbor docks. The fee ranges from .025 cents for Pacific whiting to 3 cents for salmon. Several audience members chastised the board for their decision to implement fees and said they were concerned about the lack of transparency from the board and port offices. Read the rest here 10:27
New England Fishery Management Council asks NOAA to suspend monitoring
The commercial fishing industry won two big battles at the bruising New England Fishery Management Council meetings this week, the first on habitat and the final on the council’s vote to seek emergency measures to suspend the bulk of at-sea monitoring of groundfish boats for the remainder of the 2015 fishing season.“The science center doesn’t have the money and the industry doesn’t have the money. But that doesn’t mean we can just get rid of monitoring. We need the monitoring for accountability and suspending it is just not good policy.” John Bullard Read the rest here 09:25
Gloucester rowers host Canadians for Saturday’s International Dory Races
Gloucester’s best dory rowers will be looking to buck the trend during Saturday’s 63rd Annual International Dory Races at the Jodrey State Fish Pier (10 a.m.). Five Gloucester tandems, representing the USA, will square off with five tandems from the Lunenburg, Nova Scotia area for the International Dory Racing crown, a title that the rowers from Canada have taken in each of the last two years. Canada’s victory in 2013 ended nearly a decade of Gloucester’s dominance in the races. Read the rest here 08:25
Coast Guard continues to investigate collision of F/V Pedlar and sinking of F/V Robert C
Divers finished plugging the vents of a sunken Fairhaven-based vessel Thursday near Martha’s Vineyard to avoid future fuel discharge, the Coast Guard said Friday. The Robert C sunk after colliding Monday with another Fairhaven-based vessel, Pedlar. At 12:08 p.m. Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England’s Command Center received a radio hail, from the sole person aboard, stating the fishing vessel Robert C was taking on water 1 1/2 miles northwest of Menemsha after a collision between the fishing vessel Pedlar and Robert C, both home-ported in Fairhaven. Read the rest here 08:07
DFO find’s non native shrimp along the shores of Newfoundland’s west coast.
For the second time this year, DFO scientists have discovered a new species in the province’s coastal waters. Baltic shrimp have now found a permanent home in Newfoundland. Specimens have been identified from the Magdalen Islands to York Harbour. “Despite regulation, ballast water controls and for transportation and that kind of stuff coming from other countries, things are slipping through the cracks,” he said. In December, DFO scientists discovered a new species of razor clam based on samples collected,,, Read the rest here 07:33
Someone is slashing gear in Petit-de-Grat – business as usual
Police in Petit-de-Grat are investigating several new cases of lobster traps being cut. This new investigation takes place only months after the ‘murder for lobster’ trial, which shocked the Cape Breton community. Phillip Boudreau’s sister, Margaret Rose, says for the town, cutting traps is just business as usual. “I am not surprised because this is something that has been going on for decades in this community,” she said. Read the rest here 07:17
Pollution harms fishermen’s livelihoods
Waste pollution from sewage and mushrooming informal settlements, plus constant harassment from law enforcers has harmed subsistence fishermen in recent years, a study has revealed. Among their key findings was that there was significant environmental deterioration in the condition of the beaches. A multinational Durban oil refinery was identified as a major source of pollution (mainly chemicals /oil), often discharged into the Isipingo River. Pollution is killing our global fisheries. Where are the phony activists? Read the rest here 22:18
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for June 19, 2015
Click to read the Weekly Update for June 19, 2015 as a PDF To read all the updates, click here 20:02
Canadian David McKendrick, who caught a real-life Jaws wishes he hadn’t
David McKendrick was 22 when he went fishing one August day off Prince Edward Island. Now he realizes the great white shark he brought in — one of the biggest ever landed — was a “magnificent creature.” On its release forty years ago this Saturday, the original summer blockbusters’ vilification of great white sharks as mindless man-eaters provoked a trophy-hunting frenzy. Filled with guilt and remorse, he wishes it had never happened. Read the rest here 19:27
State of Hawaii proposes emergency ban following mass harvesting of sea cucumbers
The Department of Land and Natural Resources is proposing an emergency rule that will ban any taking of sea cucumbers for the next 120 days. The move comes as officials report a new commercial fishery that mass harvests sea cucumbers on both Oahu and Maui. Photos on social media show sea cucumbers being harvested by the hundreds, possibly thousands at a time, from a beach in Waimanalo. Currently Hawaii has no specific rules governing the take of sea cucumbers and, while taking sea cucumbers from the ocean is not against the law,,, Video, Read the rest here 16:35
An Act to amend the Coastal Fisheries Protection Act of Canada
Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows: 18th JUNE, 2015 BILL S-3 SUMMARY This enactment amends the Coastal Fisheries Protection Act to implement the Port State Measures Agreement, to prohibit the importation of fish caught and marine plants harvested in the course of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and to clarify certain powers in respect of the administration and enforcement of the Act. 1. This Act may be cited as the Port State Measures Agreement Implementation Act. The definitions “fish” and “fishing vessel” in subsection 2(1) of the Act are replaced by the following: Read the rest here15:23Warm water expected to keep killing Willamette River salmon
Higher water temperatures in the Willamette River are most likely the cause of spring Chinook salmon deaths, according to fish biologists from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.According to ODFW, this year Chinook are dying earlier than usual. Most spring Chinook salmon usually die in the fall after they have spawned. The good news: More than 51,000 fish have crossed at Willamette Falls, well above the 50-year average of 41,000 fish. Read the rest here 14:46
Flounder Fishery Management Plan draws fire at NC Marine Fisheries Commission hearing
Fishermen, recreational and commercial, along with environmentalists, scientists, seafood dealers and others spoke both for and against a proposed southern flounder supplement Wednesday. Around 160 people signed in at the hearing, of which about 66 voiced their opinions on the draft six-proposal supplement intended to reduce flounder catch – which includes both harvested flounder and dead discards – by 25-60 percent. One of the biggest items of contention between speakers was large mesh gill nets. Read the rest here 14:19
Calls for rule changes after fishermen deaths
Residents and local officials are calling for changes to federal fishing rules after the deaths of three crab fishermen in Newfoundland’s Placentia Bay. Calvin Peach, the provincial government member for the region, said Thursday federal restrictions meant the fishermen wound up in a seven-metre, open speedboat for a second crab quota rather than the longliner they had nearby. Peach said Kenneth Hickey, 48, had caught his wife’s quota Monday using her 13-metre longliner but under the rules had to use a different vessel Tuesday to get his own quota. Read the rest here 11:47
Lobster prices up in New England as season off to slow start
Prices are high because 
— the season picks up after the bulk of lobsters shed shells and reach legal harvesting size, and lobstermen said that hasn’t happened yet. This year’s summer lobster fishing season appears likely to feature a mid-July shed followed by a boom in catch, said Tim Harkins, president of the Maine Lobster Dealers Association. “Everyone I’ve spoken to expects to see new shell lobsters after (July) 4th,” he said. Read the rest here 11:01
NEW marine park off Broome that allows fishing has been slammed by green groups
Despite praising the “spectacular turquoise waters and abundant wildlife” including unique snub fin dolphins, Mr Jacob said there would not be any no-take fishing zones within the bay. It has infuriated green groups including the Pew Charitable Trusts and local campaigners Environs Kimberley, who said sanctuaries were essential to boost the number, size and diversity of marine life and protect threatened species. The new park, to be jointly managed with the Yawuru traditional owners, will ban commercial gillnet fishing and mining in Roebuck Bay but has no marine sanctuary zones. Read the rest here 10:36
Netex Canada Netting makes transition from fishing to sports industry with ease
Mark Wilson grew up in Delta, expecting to make a career of commercial fishing just as generations of his family did before him. However, the decline of the business in B.C. led him to think of other ways his skillset could be used. “I’d been taught by my brothers how to build nets, and then worked with them when I was younger. They type of netting that we built for commercial [fishing] was the same way we build golf nets or baseball nets,” he said. Video, Read the rest here 10:22
Letter: Federal fisheries legislation needed – Sam Parisi, Gloucester
As I said before, we need long-term help for our fleet. This means that we need a fisheries bill. 
and our fishermen need a bill of their own. If we continue with the same restrictive fishing policies for small boats, there will not be anyone left to fish. The industry as a whole will collapse. It’s almost there now and we cannot let this happen. By the way, Gloucester’s fleet is largely made up of small boats. We need a comprehensive fisheries bill to save the industry from disaster. If the government does not step up to the plate and throw a life ring to the industry, there will be no fishery left for anyone. Read the rest here 07:45
Fresh fish are auctioned at Hawaii pier, the largest in the United States
As the sun rises over Honolulu, commercial fisherman have already unloaded their catches and docked their boats for the day. The fish are lined up on pallets, packed in ice and displayed for buyers to inspect. The auction is the largest in the United States and one of the largest in the world. It’s the only fish auction between Tokyo and Maine, and, according to the company, the only tuna auction of its kind in the nation. Photos, Read the rest here Additional photo’s here 07:04
