Daily Archives: September 5, 2015
“What are they smoking?” – Fishers should have a say in offshore drilling planning
“What are they smoking?” was my initial reaction to media reports the federal environmental protection agency signed off on June 15 on a proposal by Shell Canada to start exploratory drilling in the Shelburne Basin off southwestern Nova Scotia. The real bombshell wasn’t the drilling in water depths ranging from 500 to 3,500 metres some 250 km southwest of Halifax, slated to begin in 2015-2016. No, the real bombshell was that federal Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq had reportedly approved Shell’s window of 12 to 21 days to bring an emergency response vessel and on site in the event of a well blowout. Read the rest here 15:04
NOAA urged to expedite decision to allow the American Samoa purse seiner fleet to fish in the high seas.
Tri Marine International’s CEO, Mr. Renato Curto and Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Joe Hamby visited senior NOAA and Department of Commerce officials in Washington, D.C. this week urging them to expedite their decision on the petition to allow the American Samoa purse seiner fleet to fish in the high seas. NOAA’s public comment period on the petition ended on August 17th.Over 100 comments were received, only four of which were against the petition. Heidi Happonen, spokesperson for Tri Marine said with such broad support for restoring access to the high seas,,, Read the rest here 12:52
Plethora of pinks gives Alaska fishermen pause
Alaska’s pink salmon catch is pushing 180 million fish, making it the second largest harvest ever; the 219 million pinks of 2013 remains the record. Alaska’s humpy haul has been pushed by the record production of three regions – more than 15 million pinks were taken from the Alaska Peninsula, compared to less than 1 million last year. Kodiak’s record pink catch is nearing 30 million, triple last year’s take. And Prince William Sound’s harvest has already topped 97 million pink salmon. All that fish goes into a competitive global market and, in a word, the pink market stinks. Read the rest here 12:14
Vancouver Aquarium wants to mix conservation with commercial aquaculture!
The Vancouver Aquarium has long trumpeted its dedication to conservation of aquatic life. Under a new and potentially controversial initiative, the institution wants to have its fish and eat them, too, by launching into the commercial aquaculture business. The pitch goes like this: local rockfish populations such as those in Howe Sound have suffered due to poaching, while European and Japanese eels have been heavily overharvested, including for the sushi market. Enter the aquarium with the notion of sustainable farming of rockfish and wolf eels to take some pressure off wild stocks while turning a buck at the same time. Read the rest here 10:33
State floats new plan for fishing disaster money in New Bedford on Friday
The state Division of Marine Fisheries listened to those who wanted a wider distribution of $6.7 million in federal fisheries disaster money. At a meeting of the groundfish disaster aid working group in New Bedford on Friday, the agency laid out a plan where more than $6 million of the money would be used in direct aid to fishermen. While an earlier proposal set a fairly high bar of 20,000 pounds of groundfish landings in any year from 2012 to 2014 to qualify for aid, the new plan would require 10,000 pounds of groundfish or have at least one trip in 2014 on which a vessel carried an observer. Read the rest here 10:10
Nearly four times as many tuna landed on P.E.I. than same time last year
In 2014, the Island fleet had landed 28 fish, weighing 6.988 tonnes by September 3. By September 3 this year, Department of Fisheries and Oceans numbers indicate 107 tuna, weighing approximately 25 tonnes, have already made their way to buying stations. Good August weather might partly explain the higher landings so far this year suggests Doug Fraser, a member of the P.E.I. Fishermen’s Association’s tuna advisory committee. P.E.I benefitted from a in previous years, too, but this year it is being handled separately. Read the rest here 09:25
FWC tightens rules on use of certain stone crab traps
State fishery managers have removed a loophole that gave some unscrupulous commercial trap fishermen a leg up on fellow fishermen and had serious impact on the lucrative spiny lobster fishery, which is centered in the Florida Keys. Bycatch of lobster in stone crab traps has always occurred, and vice versa. But recent changes to both fisheries have created additional motivation for fishermen to shift their effort from targeting stone crab to lobster, the FWC biologists said. Read the rest here 08:32
