Daily Archives: August 27, 2015
Bad Actor Making Hoax Distress Calls Gets Vinalhaven Island Man a Year in Prison
A 23-year-old Vinalhaven man will spend a year in federal prison for making fake distress calls last year that prompted a wide-ranging Coast Guard search.Owen R. Adair, 23, was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court by Judge Nancy Torresen for making the false distress calls on Sept. 30, 2014. Adair repeatedly told the Coast Guard operator that he urgently needed assistance because a crewman on his fishing vessel had sustained a serious injury and was bleeding badly, “In fact, the defendant was not aboard a vessel but was ashore on Vinalhaven Island and was using a VHS radio in his truck,” Read the rest here 22:07
Shrimp business bounces back for some, not others
Ten years after Hurricane Katrina left him with nothing but his three medium-sized refrigerator vessels, shrimper Steve Bosarge has overcome major tribulation to expand his business. Years before the catastrophe, Bosarge diversified his business because of increased shrimping competition. In the 1990s, he began providing endangered species animal relocation and site clearance services for oil companies. He had no way of knowing that this side work would save his business. He continues that service today, along with his original career. Many captains of smaller boats were not as fortunate. Read the rest here 18:50
Maine DMR – “We’re gonna nip ten days off of your scallop fishing season”!
Maine fishing regulators are proposing to trim 10 days from scallopseason along the state’s southern coast. The state Department of Marine Resources announced the proposed terms of the 2015-16 scallop season on Thursday. The southern scalloping zone would be reduced from 70 to 60 days. The Midcoast and eastern Maine zone would have 70 days, the same as last year. The far eastern zone, which includes scallop-rich Cobscook Bay, would remain at 50 days. Under the proposal, the upcoming scallop fishing season would begin in early December and end in mid-April. The state is also proposing a series of targeted closures of waterways to scallop fishing. link 17:10
Illegal red snapper catches has Corpus Christi man facing 5 years in prison
The co-owner and operator of Exclusive Fishing Texas, Christopher James Garcia, has plead guilty to not reporting the catch of red snapper and illegally selling more than 1,000 pounds of the fish caught in the Gulf of Mexico. Back in 2013, undercover agents met with Garcia in San Antonio after he drove two separate loads of red snapper from Port Aransas. He had not reported the fish against his catch quota (a violation of federal law) and did not have a wholesale truck dealer’s fish license (a violation of Texas law). Read the rest here 16:47
Not Bread Alone: Visiting Lobster Land
We’ve just come back from the Canadian Maritimes (Nova Scotia, Cape Breton Island, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick) where the lobster industry is flourishing. The Maritimes all have a long seafaring tradition including a thriving lobster fishery. Anywhere along the long and rugged coast where there is a sheltering harbour (yes they spell it with a U) to dock a boat, you’ll find lobstermen with their work-horse boats, stacks of traps, and picturesque but functional dockside shacks. Even with restrictive fishery management practices designed to insure a future harvest, they’re pulling up lobsters like crazy. Read the rest here 16:27
Evidence supports trawling depth limit
The first scientific evidence that trawling in waters deeper than 600 metres is ecologically damaging and provides poor economic return is reigniting debate about the controversial fishing practice. For years, European scientists, environmentalists, politicians and commercial fishermen have debated whether or how to limit deep-sea trawling, which critics say causes huge damage to ocean ecosystems. The latest findings, which use survey data to assess how the ratio of undesired fish to commercially valuable ones changes with depth, are published in Current Biology1. Read the rest here 15:16
‘Something fishy’ — Protesters sign their disapproval of Kenai River Sportfishing Association
The hundred or so people holding signs outside the Soldotna Sports Complex on Thursday afternoon were demonstrating their opposition to the Kenai River Sportfishing Association, which was holding a banquet inside as part of its annual Kenai River Classic fundraiser. But their message wasn’t directed at KRSA. Neither were the similar signs displayed by eight boats and a kayak in front of the riverside home of KRSA founding member Bob Penney on Wednesday evening during another Classic event. Read the rest here 14:38
Tuna Fever hits Newfoundland and Labrador! Gerry Byrne calls for equal tuna fishing access – Immediately!
“Newfoundland and Labrador was largely left out and, despite now having more lucrative opportunities to participate the fishery, this province continues to be left out, “ said Byrne. “It’s simply not fair and must be corrected. DFO should immediately implement the ‘Gail Shea Halibut solution’ and give Newfoundland and Labradorians equal access to the resource as all other provinces regardless of recent catch history.” Byrne is calling for several hundred tuna licences to be immediately issued to Newfoundland and Labrador and that all licences should be made ‘Atlantic Wide” in order to allow fishermen to adjust to the migratory patterns of the fish. Read the rest here 13:43
B.C. mine protestors hold “Extra Tuff” rally on Capitol steps
Xtratuf boots are ubiquitous in Southeast Alaska. About a hundred pairs of the brown rubber boots, along with photos of Alaskans, were on the steps of the Capitol building Wednesday to protest mines in British Columbia. “This day and this gathering is truly about celebrating clean water and healthy fisheries and the things that make Southeast what it is,” said Edie Leghorn, speaking into a microphone. The rally participants carried signs that read “Get Extra Tuff on BC Mines“ Read the rest here 09:18
SMAST professor researches fishing nets to help save juvenile haddock
Many commercial fishermen are appalled by regulations that force them to throw undersized fish back into the sea, when they are likely to be already dead. To reduce the unwanted catch of juvenile haddock, professor Pingguo He, a researcher at the UMass Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology, has undertaken a project that could adapt a Norwegian net device to the nets used by the fishing industry on Georges Bank. The Norwegian nets have reportedly proved effective in letting juvenile haddock escape the net and have a much better chance of reaching maturity. Read the rest here 07:33
Good Morning, John – An open letter to John Bullard, Dave Sullivan, Gloucester
To NOAA Regional Administrator John Bullard: As a fellow MIT alumnus, I am baffled at your stubborn adherence to a fish monitoring plan that the most cursory analysis shows is not only unsustainable, but will simply not provide the data you say you need to understand New England fish populations. Unfortunately, you have painted yourself into a corner by making enemies of the most valuable source of information on New England fish — the fishermen themselves: You have branded them as biased liars whose reports cannot be trusted — hence the need for “monitors.” Read the rest here 07:11
