Monthly Archives: August 2015
One dog too many
A dogfish in every mesh – in this part of the world dogfish (as in spurdog) are one of the few fish that will get stuck – enmeshed – in a trawl to such an extent that the trawl cannot be hauled in the normal way. In this instance, the Innisfallen has filled her trawl and had to tow it astern of the boat all the way into the harbour and alongside the quay…where a hire crane was used to lift out the trawl, dogs and all. Normally a haul of this size would be cause for celebration… Photo’s, Read the rest here 09:30
Woman officer of fishers group in CamSur killed, others get death threats
Gerlie Menchie Alpajora, mother of two and secretary of Sagñay Tuna Fishers Association (STFA), was shot dead while sleeping beside her two children, aged 4 and 2, inside their home last July 30.Alpajora was reportedly killed for being a staunch anti-illegal fishing advocate, and for allegedly providing information to local authorities on persons involved in dynamite fishing and other forms of illegal fishing activities in their locality, the BFAR spokesperson said. Read the rest here 09:21
EPA’s Gina McCarthy should be fired for Western waterway mess
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy’s career of administrative neglect, malfeasance and outright incompetence has been capped by her Agency unleashing one of the worst environmental disasters of the 21st century. EPA clean-up crews breached a waste storage dam that produced a torrent of heavy metal-laden toxic waste, potentially fouling an entire western river system and impacting the drinking water of tens of millions of people. Read the rest here 09:00
Sport fishermen win greater share of red snapper catch
On Thursday, the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council increased the share of the catch going to recreational fishermen — made up of charter boats and non-commercial anglers. The council met in New Orleans. The change gives recreational fishermen 51.5 percent of the total catch and commercial fishermen 48.5 percent. Currently the catch is split 50-50. The change needs the approval of the U.S. Commerce Department. Commercial fishermen opposed giving recreational fishermen a greater share and said the shift would keep red snapper off the tables of restaurants. Read the rest here 19:31
No wonder we keep losing ground! Few attend fishery hearing in Morehead City
MOREHEAD CITY | Few people (yeah. two!)showed up for a public hearing on a proposal that federal fisheries officials say could have a big impact on rebuilding declining stocks in the snapper-grouper fishery. The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council is holding a series of public hearings this week and next on a proposal that would establish up to nine Special Management Zones from North Carolina to eastern Florida to protect valuable spawning sites. Read the rest here 14:48
The Nova Scotia boatbuilding industry is booming!
The Nova Scotia boatbuilding industry is booming. The order books are filled up for several years or more at most shops, there’s talk of at least one new shop opening on Cape Sable Island and the demand for used vessels is high on both sides of the border. With the Canadian dollar now trading below par with the U.S. greenback, the exchange rate is an attraction for Americans buying Canadian says Tim Edwards, executive director of the Nova Scotia Boatbuilders Association (NSBA). Read the rest here 12:40
In-stream tidal turbines – Fishing organization wary of turbines
The Striped Bass Association is asking provincial authorities to stop the planned placement of in-stream tidal turbines in the Minas Passage. “Currently, there is no evidence that fish can or will avoid (these)devices in this environment,” reads a news release from the group. “Basically, nothing with regards to environmental impacts to fish has yet been demonstrated.” Four companies are planning on placing test turbines at the Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy. FORCE has a facility on land near Parrsboro that manages and monitors four berths for turbines in the Minas Passage. Read the rest here 11:34
Slanted Journalism – Facebook posts used against candidates pursuing seats on Humboldt Bay Harbor Commission
Ryan Burns, a writer for Lost Coast Outpost, and in this latest article, he dig’s into the back grounds of various candidates running for seats on the Humboldt Bay Harbor Commission. With a board majority up for grabs, this election has the potential to shift the ideological balance of power on the board. Ryan makes sure his readers are well informed of their social media activity. “Balance of Power at Stake With Eight Candidates Pursuing Seats on Harbor Commission” Read the rest here 11:02
Tina Ward was penniless and unemployed – Fish, family and the ties that bind
Tina Ward was penniless and unemployed the day she stepped from the bus in Seaview, Washington, and headed in to apply for a job as a fish processor at the Sportsmen’s Cannery. It was an act that would shape and change her life forever, but of course, she couldn’t have known that then — when you’re only 13 years old, the moving hand of fate can be pretty hard to recognize. More than three decades later, sitting outside the same cannery, now as its owner, she laughs about that long-ago summer day: “It was time to think about school clothes for the fall, Read the rest here 09:54
DRIVE TO DRILL: The growing resistance to Atlantic oil and gas drilling
(The third in a three-part series. To read the first, “Energy lobbyists behind governors’ crusade for Atlantic drilling,” click here. To read the second, “Gov. McCrory goes to bat for Big Energy,” click here.)Monthly town council meetings in Kure Beach, North Carolina, an oceanfront community of 2,000 people located 15 miles south of the port city of Wilmington, are usually quiet affairs, drawing a half-dozen or so residents to discuss mundane matters like board appointments and budgets. But the council’s first meeting last year was anything but quiet or mundane: What happened there on Jan. 27, 2014 is considered the bellwether for the growing grassroots movement against oil and gas drilling in Atlantic Ocean waters. Read the rest here 09:14
Survival of local fleets, communities – Maritime Fishermen’s Union supports DFO owner/operator and fleet separation policies.
The Maritime Fishermen’s Union 
(MFU) has been pushing for stricter enforcement of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans owner operator and fleet separation policies. Squires said that in order for fishermen to get a fair price, there needs to be competition at the wharf level for the purchase of their fish. “If a fish buying company owns the fishing boats, the buying stations and the processing facilities, they have no reason to pay a good price at the wharf level — they just make their profit somewhere along the line.” Read the rest here 08:36
Fishermen reeling over proposal to close famed Georgetown Hole to snapper-grouper fishing
Local fishermen and various organizations are concerned about a proposal that could close areas off the South Atlantic coast to snapper-grouper fishing. The Snapper Grouper Amendment 36 is designed to identify important areas of spawning habitat for snapper grouper species, including deep-water speckled hind and warsaw grouper, that can be designated for protection to enhance spawning and increase recruitment by closing snapper-grouper fishing in those areas. Read the rest here 07:43
The Milford Laboratory is trying to bring back bay scallops
The population of bay scallops, a smaller relative of sea scallops, has been dwindling in U.S. waters for decades. The Milford Laboratory is trying to bring them back by breeding the shellfish that are most likely to survive and reproduce in the wild. Scientists don’t know precisely what caused bay scallops to die off, Dr. Stiles said. Contributing factors could be overfishing, pollution and the demise of eelgrass, an underwater plant that provided bay scallops protection from predators, she said. Read the rest here 07:24
Portuguese Navy honours White Fleet fishermen lost at sea
Portuguese Naval officials returned to St. John’s Friday morning for the annual wreath laying ceremony to honour the crew of the Portuguese White Fleet who died off the coast of Newfoundland. The tradition began in 2012, when the Portuguese Navy searched for the unmarked grave of Dionisio Esteves. Esteves, 26, was a fisherman who sailed on the Santa Maria Manuela and died while fishing in 1966. For centuries, St. John’s was the port of call for the White Fleet — large fishing vessels from Portugal known for their white sails. Video, Read the rest here 07:04
South Carolina and Georgia shrimpers brace for black gill
While Lowcountry shrimpers have seen little of their catch infected with black gill disease this year, scientists say it’s only a matter of time. The infection, which causes dark spots to appear on the midsection of shrimp, is not dangerous to humans. It remains somewhat of a mystery to scientists and shrimpers, but some of them blame it for reduced shrimp population in recent years. Charles Gay of Gay Fish Company on St. Helena Island said his shrimpers began seeing black gill this week. Read the rest here 13:24
Cod comeback
“Last year was a pretty good sign of fish around, and this year was even better — more places, and a really good sign, places like Renews Rock. They hadn’t been there in 15 years, and the fish are back there now,” he said. “Ferryland right on down to Calvert, Bay Bulls, all those places are seeing a lot of fish.” George Rose, director of the Centre for Fisheries Ecosystems Research, said the scientific surveys it has done of cod populations bear out what fishermen are saying: the cod are back. Read the rest here 11:30
Why Hout Bay fishermen die trying to make a living
On Friday August 7, four men sat around a table in Hangberg, Hout Bay, watching the harbour and waiting for the body to arrive. Two of the men were drinking beer out of small glasses and smoking cigarettes, flicking the ash into an empty abalone shell. Ralph Warner, a 56-year-old Hangberg skipper, stood next to Josephs, who is also a fisherman, and lit another cigarette. “They call us small-scale fishers but we’re dying on a large scale,” he said. Read the rest here 08:51
Bloody, red Cod Livers has Long Harbour fisherman suspicious of nearby Vale Smelter operation
Andy Murphy of Long Harbour said last spring he was finding herring with bloody red-coloured innards, something he insists is a result of Vale’s smelter operations in the town. Now, Murphy said he is finding cod with the same discolouration and wonders if chemicals are being pumped out near the shore by Vale and contaminating the fish. “I noticed the livers are really dark red,” he said. “Some of them are green and red, more are white and red, and I’ve never noticed that before. Plenty of people noticed it during the food fishery.” Read the rest here 08:02
NOAA adds Insult to Injury with Observer Coverage – Governor Baker will push for Industry Inclusion in Assessments
With a crystalline portrait of America’s oldest seaport serving as the backdrop, Gov. Charlie Baker on Thursday attacked NOAA’s plan to force fishermen to pay for at-sea observers on their boats and reiterated his pledge to help convince the federal fishing regulator to consider science other than its own. “Under the federal rules, there’s currently one source of truth and that source of truth is designed and delivered by NOAA,” Baker said. “NOAA operates under a standard that’s called ‘best available information’ and at this point in time the only best available information is theirs.” Read the rest here 20:57
Seafood industry chief slams WWF ‘treachery’
NO Australian primary producer should trust the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) according 
president Karen Collard. Ms Collard has been angered by WWF’s public support for the net fishing bans proposed by the state government. “WWF is enacting a long-term plan to end all fishing in Australian waters – and exert the maximum possible control over all other primary industries as well,” she said. “By supporting the decrease of Queensland seafood production, WWF are increasing demand on poorly managed foreign food Read the rest here 19:24
The Harvey Haddock Report – Fullabullard to Fishermen, DROP DEAD!
At a meeting here in NYC on august 12, 2015 the Mid Atlantic Fishery Management Council voted in favor of economically devastating quota cuts in the summer flounder fishery of 29% for each of the next three years. 70 commercial and recreational fishermen were at the meeting to plea for a delay so the North East Fishery Science center could review the stock assessment data using different data inputs. But the council cowardly co towed to Fullabullard’s bullying and rubber stamped the reductions. Read the rest here 18:28
The O’Hara Fishing Dynasty – Knowing when to fish or cut bait
On July 31, O’Hara Corporation launched the first American fishing vessel that will be able to chase fish through polar ice off the coast of Alaska. Now in its fifth generation, the O’Hara family business has shown the ability to adapt as fishing technology, two world wars, and changes in international fisheries laws upended the industry. “Every generation had its bad thing to deal with,” said Frank O’Hara Jr. Frank Jr.’s great-grandfather started the fishing family dynasty in 1904 when he launched a Gloucester sailing vessel, the Francis J. O’Hara, Jr., which fished for cod, haddock, and halibut off of Georges Bank until it was sunk by a German U-boat in 1918. Read the rest here 13:39
Denmark Finds Sea Shepherd Guilty of breaking the Faroe Islands Pilot Whaling Act
On Friday, Netherlands-based marine conservation charity, Sea Shepherd Global, and five Sea Shepherd volunteer crewmembers were found guilty in a Danish court of breaking the Faroe Islands Pilot Whaling Act. All parties also face a subsequent conviction of public disturbance. The volunteers were facing charges relating to the “crime” of interfering in the slaughter of over 250 pilot whales on the killing beaches of Bøur and Tórshavn in the Faroe Islands on July 23. Read the rest here 12:36
Charleston, OR – F/V Drill Conductor Workshop
CHARLESTON — The Alaska Marine Safety Education will be offering a two-day drill conductor course Aug. 31-Sept. 1. The course is free for commercial fisherman and meets training requirement 46CFR28.270.Participants will learn emergency procedures and the use of safety equipment aboard commercial fishing vessels. This class will be physically demanding, including timed immersions suit donning, entering the water and liferaft, starting dewatering pumps, extinguishing fires, etc. Register online at www.amsea.org, call Steve Kee at 541-756-9224 or email him at [email protected]. Link 11:53
Coast Guard rescues 2 Fishermen from grounded vessel near Ocean Shores, Wash.
Coast Guard crews rescued two mariners from a grounded 42-foot commercial fishing vessel near Ocean Shores, Tuesday. An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew, from Coast Guard Air Station Astoria, Ore., extracted the mariners and safely transferred them to local EMS personnel at Ocean Park for evaluation. Watchstanders received a mayday call from the Fishing vessel Tamara over VHF-FM channel 16 at 5:47 a.m., stating the vessel had gone aground. Read the rest here 10:02
Wearing Rose Colored Glasses on P.E.I. – High hopes that Invasive green crabs could become lucrative commercial fishery
P.E.I.’s first commercial green crab fishery is underway. Fourteen fishermen have been granted licences from the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans to fish this invasive species until mid-November. Not a lot of green crab has been landed so far. Fishermen believe the two recent harsh winters have knocked numbers down. Luke Poirier says chefs have been making the crab into a single-bite appetizer using Cajun-style spices. He believes a successful soft-shelled crab fishery will be established eventually on P.E.I. Read the rest here 09:47
F/V Jamie K safely removed from the water
The Jamie K, the commercial fishing vessel that ran aground off of Cape Blanco on July 21, has been removed from the water with help from a crew from Bandon. The accident led to a dramatic rescue of the four crew members by a U.S. Coast Guard swimmer, who safely swam with each person to shore at night during high winds. Led by Bandon resident Mike Berry, the 52-foot vessel was removed last week, an operation that took the entire week. The process involved diving to tie cable underneath the boat, which was on its side just off the beach near offshore rocks. Read the rest here 09:20
State control of red snapper fisheries creates problems – Tom Marvel, owner/operator, F/V Sea Marvel
Much has been written about the ongoing debate over red snapper, most recently by J. Scott Butherus of the Naples Daily News in July. I would like to offer a different perspective. The article criticizes the Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Management Council for treating red snapper as one homogeneous group and therefore managing them as such. However, biologically they are one group. It seems the article takes issue with current management, more so with how fishermen are managed as opposed to how the fish are managed. Read the rest here 08:49
NESC AGAIN is Questioned, Criticized as Mid Atlantic Council Cuts Fluke by more than 26 percent
It could have been worse. The initial proposal announced in July called for a 43 percent reduction. A lot of theories were thrown around at the meeting, ranging from illegal harvests to dogfish shark predation.Some wanted the panels’ science and statistical committees to take another look, which was part of the motions by Fote and Kaelin. Greg DiDomenico, director of the Cape May-based Garden State Seafood Association, said more than one-third of the time, new stock assessments show the older ones were wrong. Read the rest here 19:42
Montauk’s Dock to Dish Steers The East End Toward Locally Caught Seafood
There’s no shortage of seafood in East Hampton. Restaurants and markets throughout the town are stocked with favorites like shrimp, squid, swordfish, cod and more. However, not all fish are caught and distributed equally. Bonnie Brady, executive director of the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, said the demand for certain species of fish is one of the reasons why the market is under so much strain. Read the rest here 16:53
