Daily Archives: July 31, 2015
Digby DFO find short and berried lobster and unhailed halibut, clammers get hit also
In Parker’s Cove on July 21 they found 21 short lobster in a fisherman’s catch. At the Digby wharf on July 29, they found eight berried lobsters and three shorts in a fisherman’s catch. And on July 30, they found four shorts and one berried lobster in a fisherman’s catch in Parker’s Cove. DFO also seized a truck and all the fishing gear on a vessel at the Harbourville wharf, after they found a fisherman unloading halibut without a monitor. The DFO officers also seized 200 pounds of halibut which was sold at auction for $1,593. They also seized another,,, Read the rest here
Local Authorities Should Help With Fisheries Enforcement
Now, all of this talk about sea bass, scup, and surf clams got me thinking about striped bass, and I cannot remember for the life of me when the last time an article was written in a Cape Cod paper about illegal possession of stripers, both in terms of bag limit or minimum size, by either recreational or commercial anglers. It’s pretty well known that schools of striped bass are regularly encountered on the tuna grounds east of Chatham and on Stellwagen Bank, and there is a vocal group of anglers who believe that the prohibition on fishing,,, Read the rest here 15:47
The Real Story behind Canada’s Murder for Lobster Case
Two years ago, in a small Nova Scotian village, a local troublemaker and lobster thief went missing, and three lobstermen eventually confessed to his vicious murder. Had this trickster finally gotten what was coming to him, or was the real story — and what it said about its community — something much more tragic? On the morning of June 1, 2013, Venard Samson motored across the mouth of Petit-de-Grat Harbour in a small fishing boat. The narrow harbor, off the southeastern coast of Nova Scotia, is wedged between Petit-de-Grat Island, where he lives, Read the rest here 15:18
Boat crash damages pier, docks at Ventura Harbor
Multiple docks and a pier at the Ventura Harbor were damaged Wednesday in a boat crash, the Ventura Harbor Patrol said. The patrol received many reports about the accident about 10:30 a.m. at the Ventura Harbor Boatyard in the 1400 block of Spinnaker Drive, authorities said. A 70-foot commercial fishing vessel named , a squid boat out of Los Angeles, damaged the pier, docks and utilities so significantly that the area was determined unsafe and it was taped off, officials said. Read the rest here 11:11
A Dragger and Her Captain, Soon to Part Ways
Captain Greg Mayhew recently sold the ship’s groundfish permit — the last on the Vineyard — to The Nature Conservancy, which has partnered with the Martha’s Vineyard Fishermen’s Preservation Trust to help keep the groundfish quota in the community. Without any federal or state permits, however, the old dragger is likely nearing the end of her long residency in the harbor. Several generations of the Mayhew family have fished the waters around the Vineyard. Mr. Mayhew’s great-grandfather would sail out of Menemsha in a catboat to harpoon swordfish. Read the rest here 10:51
Maryland DNR forms position to give more voice to seafood industry
Former Queen Anne’s County commissioner and waterman George O’Donnell has been brought onto the Department of Natural Resources’ payroll as a seafood industry and fisheries stakeholders liaison, of sorts. O’Donnell has been in the position since July 8, and according to Maryland Watermen’s Association President Robert T. Brown, he’s already been working with the commercial industry to find solutions to their issues. “We’ve finally got a friend up there,” Brown said. Read the rest here 10:26
Willapa Bay plan cuts Chinook production by one-third
The production of hatchery Chinook in Willapa Bay will decrease by more than one-third as a result of a policy adopted recently by the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission. The policy, adopted in June, also is likely to decrease the number of fish commercial fishermen can catch if the commission’s action survives a legal challenge. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife officials have said that they needed to adopt the new policy to avoid having the Chinook listed under the federal Endangered Species Act. Read the rest here 10:14
Barge accident dents wind farm foundation off Rhode Island
First, it was the weather. Rough seas forced the Providence company to push back until last Sunday the installation of the first steel foundation for the five-turbine wind farm off Block Island. Now, Deepwater is dealing with a construction mishap. Earlier this week, one of the barges being used in the project hit the latticework “jacket” foundation that had been placed in the water and dented one of its four hollow, tubular legs.,, a previously-scheduled boat tour on Monday of the project site for U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, Gov. Raimondo and other elected leaders and state officials to marvel this engineering feat! Read the rest here 09:45
Lessons from ‘the last clam’: Casco Bay shellfish ‘renaissance’
Tim Johnson of Harpswell had been clamming for more than 30 years when, in 2014, he hung up his hoe. Between predators such as the invasive green crab and other factors, the flats just weren’t profitable any more. “We’d go out, and there’s nothing there,” Johnson of Brunswick said. “It’s kind of depressing to dig the last clam.” In fact, the legal amount of softshell clams being harvested are down 70 percent since the green crab invasion of recent years, Brunswick Marine Resources Officer Dan Devereaux said — though he said the invasive crustaceans seem,,, Read the rest here 09:08
Seafood industry backs Catholic Charities North Fishing Community Fund
More than 30 companies and individuals combined to donate more than $35,000 to Catholic Charities North Fishing Community Fund. Boston-based Sailors’ Snug Harbor foundation made the largest donation — $10,000 to the fishing community fund. Other major donors included American Seafoods, Arista Industries, Bama Seafoods Products, CB Richard Ellis, Elite Seafood, Espersen, High Liner Foods, Harbor Seafoods, Ipswich Shellfish, Northern Ocean Marine, Proteus Industries, Mark Leslie and William Canty. Other contributors include American Refrigeration, Eastern Fish, GE Foundation, H&M Bay, Label Print America, Polar Seafood, Preferred Freezer Services and Santander Bank. Read the rest here 08:21
Iceland blasts Arctic Five for exclusion from fishing agreement
Iceland says the recent Arctic fishing moratorium, signed by the five Arctic coastal states without Iceland’s participation, is “unacceptable” and a worrying precedent. “We have been able to have good cooperation between the eight (circumpolar) countries and it has been a success — until now,” said Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson, Iceland’s minister for foreign affairs and external trade, in an interview with Radio Canada International’s Eye on the Arctic this week. Read the rest here 07:50
