Daily Archives: August 4, 2015
N.S. fishermen happy with Ottawa’s promise to protect independent licenses
Members of the Maritime Fishermen’s Union are pleased that Fisheries and Oceans Canada will begin enforcing a policy that would prevent a corporate takeover of inshore fishing licences. Graeme Gawn, union president for Local 9 in southwestern Nova Scotia, said the federal department announced in late July a tightening of its policy to preserve independence of the inshore fleet in Atlantic Canada’s fisheries. “In our area is where it’s the biggest issue,” Gawn said Tuesday. “We’re facing companies buying up lobster licences, in particular, under questionable agreements.” Read the rest here 22:57
Help save a friendly fisherman!!! – Rodney Baker
My husband Rodney Baker was diagnosed with Metastatic Melanoma Cancer. We have no insurance and no savings, and they want treat this aggressively. We all know what that means. With that being said, him being sick from treatment he will not be able to work. He’s a commercial fisherman, he’s captain of The Casey’s Pride out of Madeira Beach. He’s been fishing for 30+ years, he loves it, besides my children and I fishing is his life. My goal is $5000 for now because I don’t know we’ll need and were not usually the type of people to ask for help,,, Read the rest here, and help if you can. 20:38
‘Summer of the Shark’ continues with 13-foot tiger reeled in off Folly Beach
Commercial fishermen pulled in an 800-pound, 13-foot tiger shark on Saturday less than a mile off the Washout, the popular surfing hangout on Folly Beach. Just what edgy beachgoers need to hear after a few months of big catches and a rash of bites.But the ocean is the wilderness and those big sharks are in coastal waters all the time — they tend to feed behind the breakers or along steep drop-offs. In fact, Joe Morris and Mike Huff of Seasonal Seafood had pulled in a 400- to 500-pound shark earlier that night and on Monday pulled in a 700-pound shark that was 11 feet long. Read the rest here 20:13
Fishermen oppose river diversions to fix Louisiana coast
Fishermen spoke out Tuesday against plans to rebuild coastal Louisiana by siphoning Mississippi River freshwater and sediment into the Bayou State’s disappearing sub-deltas. “I do not believe we have seen evidence that you’re going to build all this land, protect all these people, with these diversions,” said Clint Guidry, president of the Louisiana Shrimp Association, representing commercial shrimpers. Byron Encalade, president of the Louisiana Oystermen’s Association, said he “lived” the effects of a freshwater diversion in operation since 1991,,, Read the rest here 19:05
Marine toxins prompt expansion of crab-fishing closure on Washington coast
State shellfish managers today doubled the area of Washington’s coast closed to crab fishing after finding elevated levels of marine toxins in crab tested north to the Queets River. Effective immediately, recreational and commercial crab fishing is prohibited in 45 miles of coastal waters from Point Chehalis to the Queets River, expanding on a closure in effect since early June that extends 45 miles south to the Columbia River. Dan Ayres, coastal shellfish manager for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), said the area now closed to crab fishing includes more than half the state’s 157-mile-long coast. Read the rest here 16:59
The Easy Lady – Restoring the wooden boat from keel to chine and one plank above
More often than not, the sentimental and historical value of something is more than the sum of its parts. Such is the case of The Easy Lady, a well-known commercial fishing boat in Shem Creek. She’s owned by Captain Kenneth Ezell who considers her the crown jewel of his career. The Easy Lady has a hydraulic pot hauler and is designed to catch 100 bushels of crabs a day to be delivered to local picking houses. The ship can also be converted to a shrimp boat in under 45 minutes. There is nothing else like it on Shem Creek. Read the rest here 16:32
Deadliest Catch’s First Female ‘Intimidated’ Salty Dogs
Greenhorn Amy Majors is the first female shipmate to join Discovery Channel’s “Deadliest Catch.” She sat down with FOX Business Network’s Stuart Varney, along with Captain Keith Colburn, to discuss why she wanted to hit the rough seas. “I’ve been a fisherman my entire life. I’m third generation… it’s a family thing,” she said. Captain Colburn nearly replaced Majors because she intimidated the all-male crew. Video, Read the rest here 15:51
Boston Fisheries Foundation inducts Dr. Brian Rothschild into Seafood Hall of Fame
The foundation honored Rothschild at the 2015 Boston Seafood Festival for his distinguished research and leadership in the management and sustainability of local fisheries. “Brian has been a major influence in fisheries management policy for decades at a local and international level,” said Richard Stavis, Boston Fisheries Foundation board member and CEO of Stavis Seafoods. Read the rest here 14:00
Russia re-submits claim on vast Arctic seabed at UN
Russia has submitted its bid for vast territories in the Arctic to the United Nations, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday. The ministry said in a statement that Russia is claiming 1.2 million square kilometres of Arctic sea shelf extending more than 350 nautical miles or about 650 kilometres from the shore. Russia was the first to submit its claim in 2002, but the UN sent it back for lack of evidence. In 2007, Moscow staked a symbolic claim to the Arctic seabed by dropping a canister containing the Russian flag on the ocean floor from a submarine at the North Pole. Read the rest here 13:42
P.E.I. Tuna fishermen delay season start to let fish ‘fatten up’
Although tuna season is now officially underway on P.E.I., many fishermen are choosing to delay their start. Friday was the first day of fishing, but buyer Jason Tomkins says he didn’t think any of the Island’s 300-plus tuna fishermen were heading out. He says tuna on the U.S. East Coast have been coming in small, and some Island fishermen are holding out. “The fish have just arrived here in the last couple of weeks and a lot of the results so far out of the fish down in the Eastern Seaboard of the U.S. have, I guess, been a little less than desirable,” said Tomkins. Read the rest here 10:05
At Sea Monitoring – “Catch accountability for the groundfish industry is not optional,” NOAA Regional Administrator John K. Bullard
NOAA has denied the request by the New England Fishery Management Council in June to use emergency measures to immediately suspend at-sea monitoring for vessels in the Northeast multispecies groundfish fishery. In a letter dated July 30, NOAA Regional Administrator John K. Bullard said the council’s request did not meet any of the criteria for emergency action. The council’s request to suspend at-sea monitoring was viewed as long shot from the moment it was passed,,, Read the rest here 09:27
“Pacific to Plate” bill announced to boost coastal fish markets
San Diego Assembly Speaker Toni G. Atkins has announced that she will introduce legislation, “Pacific to Plate,” to clarify and streamline state laws to make it easier for, and other fish markets like it, to grow and thrive. The proposed state legislation would allow Fisherman’s Markets to operate as food facilities and would allow fresh fish to be cleaned for direct sale at Fisherman’s Markets. It would also let commercial fishermen organize under a single permit, just like Certified Farmers’ Markets. Read the rest here 08:25
Wolves of the Sea – Photographer captures the lives and craft of Paros fishermen
For the past five years, Austrian photographer Christian Stemper has been regularly visiting the island of Paros. Not for the purpose of enjoying its beaches and quaint villages – beautiful as they may be – but rather, to document the lives of its old guard of fishermen. Many of his subjects are in their sixties and seventies, and represent a traditional but dying way of life on the island, as younger people are drawn to more comfortable jobs, and restaurants opt for commercial fish imports in such tough economic times. Read the rest here 08:18
