Daily Archives: July 12, 2015
Bristol Bay fishery Sunday update – catches climbing, processors plugging up.
Saturday’s bay-wide catch was 2.1 million sockeye, bringing the season total to 18.7 million. The total run is estimated at 27.7 million fish so far this summer, still below the pre-season forecast of 54 million – but not a total bust according to some fishermen. Lower combine setnetter Jonah Golden said it seemed like most people were catching their quota with time to spare. “We caught our quota and got to come in and take a little nap,” he said Sunday morning. Read the rest here 21:08
Environmental And Climatic Alarmism Demand Accountability
In Aesop’s story of the boy who cried wolf the consequences included him losing his sheep and his credibility, even if he later told the truth. Today, environmental and climate alarmists who cry wolf don’t lose anything. There is no accountability. In fact, they continue to have credibility, keep their jobs and receive funding as millions of others suffer in a multitude of ways. Cod numbers declined, and they blamed humans. Overfishing is a small part of the problem because quotas are set with little knowledge of the natural variation in stock numbers. The best study of variations in fish populations and climate by Klyashtorin and Lyubukshin is virtually unknown outside of Russia. Read the rest here 19:57
Huge herring haul worries rival fishermen, environmentalists
A little fish that New Englanders have sought since the Colonial era is at the center of a battle over how to manage massive boats that trawl swaths of ocean off the East Coast. The catch for the Atlantic herring, which travels in groups sometimes numbering in the billions, is in the midst of a massive boom. Last year fishermen caught more than 95,000 metric tons of the fish for the first time since 2009, federal statistics show. Now rival fishermen are raising concerns about the high catches, and regulators are starting to consider whether the big haul is adversely impacting the environment, marine mammals or other fisheries. Read the rest here 14:29
The Rhode Island Fishermen’s Alliance Go Fund Me Campaign for Arson Struck Fishermen
On Friday, July 10, 2015 three fishing vessels were destroyed in a senseless act of vandalism . Two of the vessel owners will have great difficulty recouping from this tragic loss and may be on the brink of losing their businesses. Both men have been in the Rhode Island commercial fishing community for a very long time and have worked very hard for others in order to start their own dream of their own business. Please click here to donate for this worthy cause. 13:08
Willapa Bay Gillnetters begin legal challenge to new salmon management policy
A group of commercial gillnet fishermen filed a petition June 30, seeking judicial review of a new salmon 
policy on Willapa Bay. The Willapa Bay Gillnetters Association, represented by attorneys Ryen Godwin and Gregory Jacoby of Tacoma-based McGavick Graves, argues the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife acted outside of statuary authority when it placed restrictions on fishing times, place, manner and fishing method in the policy instead of in a rule. The attorneys also claim the department acted in an “arbitrary and capricious” Read the rest here 12:42
The Ocean Grabbing, Ripping, Gutting, and Fishing Restrictions Begin Off Block Island!
Construction will begin the week of July 20, and take about 8 weeks. Vessels are also prohibited within the Coast Guard’s 500-yard Safety Zone around each foundation during construction. Area B is a heavily used trawling area this time of year, and there may be some irate draggers,” said Rhode Island lobsterman Bill McElroy at Deepwater’s meeting last week to share construction plans and fishing access information. Read the rest here 12:18
Rhode Island Fishermen’s Alliance Weekly Update, July 12, 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 11:13
Bristol Bay fishery Saturday update – Naknek-Kvichak netted 1.1 million yesterday, it’s biggest catch to date.
The Bristol Bay fishery continues to show signs of building towards either a peak or a long tail end with another day of big catches Friday. Naknek-Kvichak netted 1.1 million yesterday, it’s biggest catch to date. KDLG reports that some processors had already started letting people go because of the smaller-than-forecast run. Activity at the Bristol Bay Port is ramping up, though. “In the last 24 hours we’ve taken in 98 reefers of salmon,” said Robert “Herk” McDermott, the port manager, speaking Friday. For context, he said 139 was the most they had ever moved in a 24-hour period. Read the rest here 10:38
Florida Congressional Offices Want To Block Biscayne National Park’s Fisheries Plan
A challenge to Biscayne National Park’s efforts to improve the health of their fisheries has been mounted by three of Florida’s congressional representatives, including one who has drafted legislation to require state approval before the National Park Service moves to restrict commercial or recreational fishing access in areas of the Great Lakes or U.S. marine waters that it oversees. “We feel that both of these measures are ridiculous and entirely unnecessary,” Caroline McLaughlin, NPCA’s Biscayne program analyst, said Friday. Read the rest here 08:58
