Daily Archives: July 28, 2015
Coast Guard searching for missing father and son in Brazos River
The U.S. Coast Guard is searching for a father and son who went missing Tuesday morning. Officials said Brandon Orr and Phillip Orr were last seen fishing in a commercial crab boat in the Brazos River south of Freeport. “We know that the two individuals put in the boat in the San Bernard and were moving crab traps into the Brazos River,” Capt. Nick Harmon with the Game Warden said. “Earlier this morning, about 9:30, someone noticed the boat was running in circles in the river. Units came to investigate. Read the rest here 22:43
Crabbers, Herrera unite behind tri-state management
Pacific County resident Dale Beasley traveled to Washington, D.C., recently to testify in support of a bill that he says is a top priority for the fishing communities of Ilwaco and Chinook. Beasley, president of the Columbia River Crab Fisherman’s Association, was invited by U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash., to speak on behalf of H.R. 2168, a bipartisan bill introduced by her and U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., that would permanently reauthorize tri-state management of the West Coast’s commercial and recreational Dungeness crab fisheries. Read the rest here 20:05
Coast Guard Station Valdez boatcrew responds to a 30-foot fishing vessel taking on water
The boatcrew transferred a dewatering pump and damage control kit to the two boaters and assisted them in controlling the onboard flooding before escorting the vessel to Cordova. Coast Guard Sector Anchorage watchstanders received a report from the crew aboard Fishing Time of the vessel taking on water due to a four-inch crack in its hull. Watchstanders launched the Station Valdez 45-foot Response Boat-Medium boatcrew to the scene. Read the rest here 18:15
Bristol Bay fishery Tuesday July 28 update – The fish may have outlasted the fleet this year, returns are still continuing but effort is winding down.
Through Monday, the total Bristol Bay sockeye run was estimated at 51,935,000, according to Area Management Biologist Tim Sands. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has stopped sending out daily run summaries, but managers are still tracking the activity. “It looks like we’ll break 52 million in the total run here today,” Sands said Tuesday. Although fish are still returning to Bristol Bay, buyers are shutting down. Sands said Tuesday that there were only two buyers in the Nushagak District. Read the rest here 16:52
Barely half of all the sockeye salmon migrating up the Columbia River have survived to reach their spawning grounds
Unseasonably hot water has killed nearly half of the sockeye salmon migrating up the Columbia River through Oregon and Washington state, a wildlife official said on Monday. Only 272,000 out of the more than 507,000 sockeye salmon that have swum between two dams along a stretch of the lower Columbia River have survived the journey, said Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife fisheries manager John North. “We’ve never had mortalities at this scale,” said North. Read the rest here 15:16
Commercial conch waterman arrested for felony tampering, reckless endangering, numerous fisheries charges
NEAR BOWERS BEACH, Del. (July 28, 2015) – DNREC Division of Fish & Wildlife Natural Resources Police officers arrested a New Jersey-based, Delaware-licensed commercial waterman July 24 on numerous fisheries-related charges and a felony after he tried to evade a fisheries compliance boarding on Delaware Bay and steered his vessel away and into the path of a police boat. Natural Resources Police said that as their patrol boat neared the commercial vessel, its captain, Kenneth W. Bailey, 61, of Heislerville, N.J.,, Read the rest here 14:52
Atlantic cod could be at risk from noise created by wind farms and other off-shore developments
A study carried out by the University’s world-leading Institute of Aquaculture found that Atlantic cod exposed to noise levels
common in land-based aquaculture facilities exhibited significantly reduced rates of egg production and fertilization. But the researchers believe this could also have implications for Atlantic cod in the wild. Dr Andrew Davie, of the University’s world leading Institute of Aquaculture, said: “We need to be cautious as our study focused on the noise generated in enclosed,,, Read the rest here 13:36
Maine Department of Marine Resources Advisory Council to vote on sea urchin swipe card system
A key Maine panel is scheduled to vote this week on a plan to track the state’s sea urchin fishery with swipe cards. The swipe card proposal is subject to the approval of the Maine Department of Marine Resources Advisory Council, which meets Thursday in Augusta. State regulators want to create a swipe card system to record transactions in which fishermen sell urchins to dealers. Officials say the cards would help efficiently gather data about the fishery and eventually help give fishermen more flexibility about when they fish. Read the rest here 13:10:12
Terry McAuliffe says all Maryland crabs are born in Virginia
Maryland crabs, Maryland crab cakes, Maryland crab soup…Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe says it’s all a sham. “You know, Maryland talks about its crabs,” McAuliffe said with a chuckle during a July 21 radio interview. “If anyone from Maryland is listening, I want to make this perfectly clear: All the crabs are born here in Virginia and they end up, because of the current, being taken (to Maryland). So really, they should be Virginia crabs.” No such thing as a Maryland-born crab? Let’s crack this claim open. Read the rest here 12:10
Cameroon: Turtle Excluder Device Is Precondition for Certification to Export Shrimp to U.S.
In order for Cameroonian shrimp fishermen to have certification to permit them export their products to the US markets, they have to implement the use of TED. Imoulanok Louis Martin, a shrimp catcher expressed his willingness to take advantage of the situation to gain access to the US market, hoped that implementing TED will increase their catch. Read the rest here 10:37
Fishing Vessel Losses Top U.K. Accident Statistics
The U.K. Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has published its Annual Report highlighting the work of the branch during 2014. Highlighted in the report is the loss of life in the fishing sector. Twelve commercial fishing vessels were lost in 2014 compared with 18 in 2013. This compares favourably with the average losses during the last 10 years (19 vessels per year). 75 percent of the losses were in the small < 15 metre sector. Eight fishermen lost their lives in 2014 compared with only four lives lost in 2013. The average number of fishermen who lost their lives over the last 10 years is 8.5. Read the rest here The report is available here. 09:18
A sudden increase in the number White cross jellyfish in Bay of Fundy
There has been a sudden increase in the number of white cross jellyfish in the Bay of Fundy in recent weeks, and a researcher says the scientific world is trying to figure out if it’s part of a natural cycle, or the result global warming or human activity. Nick Record, a senior research scientist at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in East Boothbay, Maine, is building a library of jellyfish sightings based on citizen reports. He said reports of white cross jellyfish started coming in about two weeks ago, first in Penobscot Bay in Maine and then in the Bay of Fundy. Read the rest here 08:54
Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholds California ban on legal shark fins
“The purpose of the shark fin law is to conserve state resources, prevent animal cruelty, and protect wildlife and public health,” said Judge Andrew Hurwitz in the 2-1 ruling, which upheld a federal judge’s decision in the state’s favor. In dissent, Judge Stephen Reinhardt interpreted federal law differently. The national government, Reinhardt said, is authorized to “manage and maximize the productivity of fisheries” in federal waters that extend 200 miles offshore. Bruce Wagman, an attorney for the Humane Society of the United States,,, Read the rest here 08:02
