Daily Archives: August 1, 2015
Seismic surveying is non-threatening says President International Association of Geophysical Contractors Nikki Martin
Recent months have brought much discussion and debate about the effects of seismic surveying along the Atlantic Coast as the federal government has approved consideration of permits for seismic operations. Numerous allegations from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) assert that seismic surveys are harmful to marine life and threaten fishing and tourism. These allegations are simply false. Read the rest here 19:50
Trident Seafoods officially opens $40m East Coast plant, which is expected to employ 175 workers
Seattle, Washington-based Trident Seafoods on Thursday officially opened the company’s $40 million value-added processing and research and development plant in Carrollton, Georgia, the company said. The plant comes as the company said it intends to grow business in the eastern United States. With an 88,000-square-foot manufacturing floor, 18,000 square feet of office space and 20,000 square feet of support area, the plant will produce seafood products cut from pollock, cod, salmon, halibut, tilapia, sole and mahi mahi. Read the rest here 13:31
All (fisheries) models are wrong, but some are useful (to indigenous people)
Models do a great job of distilling the essence of how an ecosystem might respond to external forces—such as fisheries—but only under the specific conditions that the modeller assumes to be true in the ‘world’ of the model. Sometimes these assumptions are well-grounded in reality. Sometimes they are blatant but necessary simplifications. Phil is a lively character, a fishery ecologist who runs the Ecosystem Science section of the Northwest Fisheries Science Center The cool thing about Phil, who I have met personally several times, is that he will tell you right off the bat that “models are bogus”. Read the rest here 12:44
Judge throws out phone records in lobster boat arson case
The district attorney’s office is appealing a July 6 ruling by a judge who concluded that cellphone records obtained by investigators were taken without probable cause and thus cannot be used at an arson trial involving a boathouse and fishing vessel in Waldoboro. The ruling came in the arson case of James “Jamie” R. Simmons, 40, and Fredrick A. Campbell, 31, both of Friendship. The two men and Jeffrey Luce, 36, of Whitefield were indicted in September 2014 on arson charges after they allegedly set fire to a Quonset hut-style boathouse in Waldoboro as part of a dispute over fishing territory. Read the rest here 10:47
SEASWAP: How to stop a whale of a thief
Linda Behnken, the Executive Director of the Alaska Longline Fisherman’s Association was joined by Tori O’Connell, the Research Director of the Sitka Sound Science Center, to provide an update on SEASWAP (The Southeast Alaska Sperm Whale Avoidance Project). As O’Connell explains, the project just secured $311,000 in funding from NOAA’s Saltonstall-Kennedy Grant Program,, The avoidance network will tag whales in the Chatham Strait black cod fishery and give fisherman devices to communicate where the whales are located. Listen, Read the rest here 09:30
F/V Ferrigno Boy crash in Ventura Harbor caused by loss of power
A commercial fishing boat that crashed into the Ventura Harbor this week lost control, harbor officials said Friday. The crash was reported about 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Ventura Harbor Boatyard in the 1400 block of Spinnaker Drive after the 70-foot boat lost propulsion control while maneuvering in the harbor, authorities said. The squid boat struck the docks and a 35-ton Travelift pier, which will now be used to take boats to and from their work sites, officials said. Read the rest here 09:09
House bill seeks state approval of fishing closures
On the heels of the recent announcement to close more than 10,000 acres of Florida’s Biscayne National Park to fishing, a bipartisan bill was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives that would stop fishing closures from occurring. The Preserving Public Access to Public Waters Act would require the National Park Service and the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries to have approval from state fish and wildlife agencies before closing state waters to recreational or commercial fishing. Read the rest here 09:00
Flounder cuts may be phased in following another questionable NOAA NESC stock assessment.
A widely attacked proposal to reduce summer flounder catches by 43 percent next year may be replaced by one that phases in the cutbacks over three years. Koeneke, who has suffered increasing restrictions over the years _ the minimum fish size going from 13 inches in 1985 to 18 inches today _ doesn’t accept the science. “I’m convinced they don’t know what they’re talking about. We see a lot of flounder. We raised the (size) limit and saved a lot of fish. It looks like it recovered and then the next year they say we have a problem,” said Koeneke. Read the rest here 08:29
Fishermen clean up ‘ghost gear’ from Bay of Fundy
The
started dragging the waters off the coast of Saint John and Deer Island seven years ago. More than 500 abandoned traps were hauled up from the bottom of the Bay of Fundy in 2008. “There was concern that there was all this gear down there that was fishing and killing lobsters — could entangle whales. The gear is just fishing and fishing and killing indiscriminately,” said Maria Recchia, the association’s executive director. Read the rest here 08:08
