Daily Archives: September 15, 2015
Fish trial alleges lobster imports ‘unfit for human consumption’
A trial began Monday for a local man accused of unlawfully bringing cases of fish and other seafoods into Canada via the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel, including an allegation he imported frozen lobster “unfit for human consumption.” Gerald Goldhar and two Windsor companies with which he is associated — Jer-Mar Foods Ltd. and Coldwater Fisheries Ltd. — were charged with 18 counts of illegal importation, falsifying required documents used to monitor the types of foods entering Canada and providing false and misleading statements to government officials. Read the rest here 18:41
An Unnatural History of The McLobster
From Robert Steneck’s home in South Bristol, Maine, his view reaches past the pale granite headlands at the mouth of the Damariscotta River to be swallowed by the open Atlantic. The word “pristine” tends to pop into the heads of visitors, he said, but he prefers a more objective description. “The Gulf of Maine is a highly simplified and arguably domesticated ecosystem,” Steneck, a marine ecologist with the University of Maine, explained. “If you put it that way, are you surprised that we have McLobsters?” Read the rest here 17:48
Promising forecast for fall chinook run on Columbia River
After record-high temperatures and drought decimated summer fisheries, Ervin Leslie only hopes that fish biologists are on the mark in forecasting the fall chinook run now under way as the fifth-largest in recent history. More than 925,000 fall chinook are expected to return to the Columbia River. The largest run number of 1,175,700 was in 1941. But that’s not the only bounty in the forecast. Other healthy runs anticipated include about 200,000 coho and a summer steelhead run estimated to reach about 300,000 by the time it ends later this month. Read the rest here 16:51
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council – Scoping Hearings for Action on Unmanaged Forage Species
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council has scheduled a series of scoping hearings to gather public input for a proposed action to protect unmanaged forage species. The proposed action would consider a prohibition on the development of new, or expansion of existing, directed fisheries on unmanaged forage species in the Mid-Atlantic until adequate scientific information is available to promote ecosystem sustainability. Eight hearings will be held between September 15, 2015 and October 1, 2015 in locations throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. Written comments may also be submitted through October 2, 2015. Dates and locations Read the rest here 16:16
Planning ramps up for SeaFeast, Bellingham’s new waterfront festival
Commercial fishing and seafood processing employ more people in Whatcom County than Western Washington University, more than breweries and more than bike shops. Bellingham is on the water, with a waterfront soon to be redeveloped. But Bellingham’s myriad events, for the most part, ignore the waterfront and the county’s maritime heritage. Deborah Granger is trying to change that. Granger is the lead planner for a seafood and waterfront festival called the SeaFeast, which will be held in Bellingham next fall. Read the rest here 16:02
Eastern Fisheries forms Eastern Fisheries Europe, opens plant in Staphorst, Netherlands
Eastern Fisheries, headquartered in New Bedford, announced on Monday the opening of a sixth wholly owned
in Staphorst, Netherlands and the official formation of a new corporation, Eastern Fisheries Europe (EFE).The new 23,000 sq. ft. processing plant will provide ‘real-time’ support and service to their EU customers, the company said, in a press release. The new facility will focus on the sales and distribution of scallop products and live lobsters, with more than 500 metric tons of cold storage and a 20,000 pound lobster holding tank. “This new processing plant,,, Read the rest here 15:39
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for September 14, 2015
Click here to read the Weekly Update, to read all the updates, Click here 15:22
N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission decisions led to flounder debacle – Allyn B. Powell
I was somewhat disappointed in the lack of research in your Sept. 1 editorial “Fishy business on fish rules” on southern flounder. A recent stock assessment on southern flounder prepared by the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries was rejected by independent biologists during the peer review process. Basically, the assessment was rejected because it did not consider that the southern flounder stock is an “open population.” That is, unknown numbers of southern flounder exit North Carolina waters to enter southern (South Carolina, Georgia and Florida) waters, some unknown numbers remain offshore after spawning and some unknown numbers might enter North Carolina waters from the south.,, Read the rest here 11:53
Kitzhaber’s original sin yields a disappointment
A state-dictated transition from gillnets to seining gear to harvest Columbia River hatchery salmon continues to fail to meet expectations, according to latest results. And yet fisheries managers continue resisting a formal reassessment of the plan until next year when, supposedly, gillnetting will cease forever on the river’s main stem. The Columbia Basin Bulletin (www.cbbulletin.com) on Sept. 11 reported the latest results from the seine fishery, which was eliminated in Washington in 1935 and in Oregon in 1950, but revived by ex-Gov. John Kitzhaber when he unilaterally,,, Read the rest here 11:13
Maine holding hearings about scalloping cutback
Maine fishery regulators are preparing to hold a series of public hearings about a plan to cut back the number of scallop fishing days in the coming season. The proposal would cut back the number of scallop fishing days in the southern scalloping zone from 70 to 60 days. The hearings will be held on Tuesday in Augusta, on Wednesday in Ellsworth and on Thursday in Machias. 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. The proposal says the upcoming scallop fishing season would begin in early December and end in mid-April. (AP) 10:43
Americas Finest – Follow the construction of this Bering Sea Fishing Trawler from start to finish
Welcome to Floating Steel! July 1, 2015 11am my first look at, “Americas Finest.” Hard to imagine that this seemingly unpretentious beginning will turn into a hi tech ocean fishing trawler destined for the Bering Sea and who knows where. This is my first day on an estimated 36 month journey photographing and documenting the book project to be named, “Floating Steel”. Harry von Stark Photo’s and website here 10:00
Snow crab filled truck, sprayed with dangerous chemical, stolen
Police in Nova Scotia are investigating the theft of a tractor-trailer carrying more than 18,000 kilograms of snow crab in a container sprayed with a dangerous chemical. Police say the 2007 Freightliner was reported stolen from Nova Truck Centre on Barker Lane in Westville on Sunday. Police are warning people that the crab was to be shipped to Japan and is in a container laced with a preservative, which is not harmful to crab but can be lethal if consumed. link 08:21
Nova Scotia salmon farmed on land brought to market
A Nova Scotia company that’s spent eight years developing a system to farm fish in large tanks on land says it’s finally ready to bring its locally-raised Atlantic salmon to market. The company, Sustainable Fish Farming, has a farm close to the Bay of Fundy in Centre Burlington. The facility works on a that recycles all saltwater in the salmon tanks, while waste is drawn out and used as fertilizer. The salmon are fed organic fish food, and since the farm carefully controls any contaminants that enter the tanks, it is not necessary to give the fish antibiotics. Read the rest here 07:55
Deadliest catch: Fisherman hauls in a 50-lb military shell. Not once, but three times!
A retired RCMP officer and gunsmith got quite a surprise last week when a local fisherman asked to show him a military-style shell that had gotten caught in his net. Ray Hynes of Bristol’s Hope, was shown the shell on Thursday after the fisherman asked him to identify the object. “He opened up his trunk and there’s this big five-inch shell in there, about two-feet long,” he said. Hynes said the man had hauled it up in his net not once but three times that day, while he was fishing for crab off Conception Bay. Read the rest here 07:36
