Daily Archives: July 3, 2015
National Marine Fisheries Service commercial dolphin season closure forces Keys restaurants to import
Florida Keys restaurants are searching for other sources of mahi-mahi, after federal authorities brought an early closure to the island chain’s commercial dolphin season. In the Keys, mahi-mahi is the usual catch-of-the-day for sandwiches and entrees on most menus. Eateries will soon begin outsourcing the popular dinner fish, after the NOAA Fisheries last week closed the commercial dolphin season early for the first time on record. Any other mahi being served will most likely be imported from elsewhere in the Caribbean, and Central America. Read the rest here 19:53
Little pockets of pus – Subsistence fishermen find possible infection in Yukon chum salmon
As yukon salmon continue their summer runs, subsistence fishermen continue to express frustration about gear restrictions, closures, and — now — potentially infected fish. When managers and fishermen met for their weekly teleconference on Tuesday, they heard reports of discoloration and pus in chum salmon. “Little pockets of pus when you fillet the fish that’ll be about the size of a pea or maybe a little smaller,” he said. “And I know that in warm water, which is what we have right now, ichthyophonus really grows rapidly if the fish is infected.” Read the rest here 19:20
Maine lawmaker Rep. Robert Alley, D-Beals, will try again for scallop harvesting limit
A Maine legislator says he will try again next year to persuade the Legislature to limit the harvest on the state’s popular, meaty scallops. The fishing industry this year resisted a bill proposed by Rep. Robert Alley, D-Beals, and it later died in committee in April. He had proposed legislation to create a limit of 90 pounds a day per person on wild-caught Maine scallops so future generations, he said, would still be able to harvest them. Read the rest here 16:39
Sheriff Allman speaks in Sacramento at ‘Fish, Flows and Marijuana Grows’
Allman opened by offering a subtitle to the Fish, Flows and Marijuana Grows named hearing. “Wildlife, Water and Weed, that’s what we’re seeing in Mendocino County,” he said. “The amount of water being diverted is absolutely staggering,” Assemblyman Jim Wood, D-Healdsburgsaid. “We need to get a handle on this.” “This industry has been in the shadows for a long time,” Hezekiah Allen, Emerald Growers Association said. “The war on drugs has not only failed us, but created this situation. This is commercial agriculture. Regulate this please. We would rather pay taxes than fines.” Read the rest here 14:41
Fur seals taking over – penguins, pelicans, tuna and fish at risk
According to Mr Adrian Pederick MP, Liberal Member for Hammond , the New Zealand fur seals require immediate management in South Australia. “They are taking over and these fur seals will have an environmental impact in the future if they get down to the Southern Lagoon and Pelican Island and take out the pelican breeding grounds,” Mr Pederick said. “In essence we are saying to the Government, stop sitting on your hands and do something ,,, Read the rest here 14:09
This is good! The truth about Atlantic salmon, Owen Myers, St. John’s
The Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF) is an elitist mainland/foreign organization that is not the last word in Atlantic salmon conservation, much as they would like us to think otherwise. The board of directors is stacked with old political warhorses and looks like the Senate. Those guys are into catch and release on a helicopter-only river in Labrador out of sight of public scrutiny, and have gourmet meals in palatial surroundings. What the ASF is not saying is that conservation of our salmon will only be achieved when we force the Norwegians and their front men in salmon farming in this province to grow aquaculture salmon in on-land tanks. Read the rest here 10:01
Good season for Northumberland lobster
As the wind came round to the southwest after a choppy morning on the water, Dan MacDougall smiled at a 71/2-pound lobster. “Look at the size of that fellow there,” said the Cribbons Point, Antigonish County fisherman, lifting the big crustacean. After two hard years, it’s been a good lobster season on the Northumberland Strait. The export of live lobsters to overseas markets continued to grow, and the slow rebound of the American economy, coupled with a late start to the Maine lobster fishery,,, Read the rest here 09:36
In Ocean City, these fishermen still hold tightly to the industry that shaped the town
The commercial harbor here was buzzing the way it rarely does anymore, the 50-foot Sea Born unloading more than 8,000 pounds of fish after a week at sea. The crew never seemed to stop moving — lifting barrels, shoveling mounds of ice into containers, weighing and grading the fish that sometimes ends up as sushi in New York City and even Japan. But the industry that started it all continues to gradually disappear. Capt. Kerry Harrington, 59, is one of only a handful of local commercial fishermen still holding on despite tighter regulations, rising expenses and shrinking quotas and territory. Read the rest here 08:54
That Didn’t Take Long: North & South Carolina Shark Attacks Blamed on Global Warming
As one might have expected, from mainstream media’s let’s-see-what-we-can-blame-on-global-warming department comes the CBSNews article “Strange” spike in shark attacks puzzles experts.“The trend is normally zero or one attack in that area in any one year,” said Dr. Samuel Gruber, the director of the Bimini SharkLab. Theories as to why this is happening range from time of day, to bait fishing, sea turtle migration, lunar cycles and global warming. Whose theories? WHAT ABOUT THE SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURES THERE? Read the rest here 07:58
Virginia considers opening blue crab winter dredge fishery, would mean reducing daily bushel limits of hard pot crabbers
After closing the winter dredge fishery for Chesapeake blue crab for seven years straight to help the struggling stock rebuild, the state is inching closer toward reopening it this winter. The Crab Management Advisory Committee of the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) voted overwhelmingly last week to recommend ending the closure — a move that actually puts the committee at odds with VMRC staff and its commissioner, who recommend keeping the ban in place. Read the rest here 07:23
