Daily Archives: September 18, 2015
WPRFMC Press Release – Milestone Reached in Setting of New Bottomfish ACLs for US Pacific Island Territories
HONOLULU (18 Sept. 2015) A milestone was reached this week in the setting of the 2016 and 2017 annual catch limits (ACLs) for federally managed bottomfish fisheries in the US Territories of American Samoa, Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). The current ACLs of 101,000 pounds; 66,800 pounds; and 228,000 pounds, respectively, for the territories were initially set for fishing year 2013 based on a 2012 stock,,, Read the rest here 19:40
California Pricing Scheme for Commercial Fishing Licenses Found Unfair
Plaintiff Kevin Marilley filed the class action in 2013, California charged out-of-state residents like him $3,260 for a commercial fishing license, commercial fishing vessel registration, a Herring Gill net permit and a Dungeness crab vessel permit. All four licenses would cost a resident just $1,100. A federal judge found the scheme unfair under the privileges and immunities clause of the U.S. Constitution, but the state sought reversal earlier this summer in hearing before a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit. California had argued that the fishermen must show that the differing fees “exclude them, in whole or in part, from commercial fishing.” Read the rest here 16:48
I am a Fisherman committed to fishing, it’s lifestyle, community and culture – Aaron Dumler
As a fisherman and boat owner , as well a one who has served in USCG and CCG, and work is towing industry, I am compelled to point out a key difference that increases the risk and will continue to increase the risk associated with commercial fishing. PRESSURE: every single day as a boat owner/capt I juggle the costs of fuel, maintenance, continually changing regulatory requirements, provisions, repairs, taxes, vs one thing: Ex vessel price of fish and catching them (a lot of ’em) Add Variables: weather, low/wildly fluctuating market prices, crew training, then crew turn over, Read the rest here 15:42
HALIBUT FEST: celebrating Homer’s big flatfish
Homer and halibut go hand in hand. After all, anyone can see from the top of Baycrest hill that Homer is the “Halibut Fishing Capital of the World.”. So when the Alaska Marine Conservation Council (AMCC) was deciding on a place to hold the , Homer was an easy choice. “We’ve been known for Halibut for many years,” said Hannah Heimbuch, the community fisheries organizer for the AMCC who resides in Homer, “and Homer has a robust halibut fishing community for both charters and commercial fishing, making it a logical choice for the Halibut Festival.” Read the rest here 12:16
Fight the threat to Maine workers – Governor Paul R. LePage
“A National Marine Monument putting Cashes Ledge and undersea canyons and seamounts in the Gulf of Maine off-limits to commercial fishing activity will affect Maine’s offshore lobstermen, tuna fishermen, herring fishermen and groundfish fishermen. Moreover, this comes on the heels of a roughly 10-year habitat amendment process at the New England Fishery Management Council. It looks like environmental interest groups that are unhappy with that process are now going to a higher authority to upend the result achieved by the council. Procedurally, this type of end-run is a terrible precedent. Read the rest here 11:26
Decades-old projectile discovered in whale caught off Alaska’s Arctic coast
The first bowhead whale harvested this season by Inupiat hunters in Kaktovik yielded a big surprise — broken-down pieces of an old projectile left over from the days of commercial whaling, buried in the whale’s tail. A whaling crew captained by Freddie Aishanna got the bowhead, which measured slightly over 42 feet, and brought it to the beach on Sunday, said Flora Rexford, a teacher in the eastern North Slope village. “They had just celebrated, standing on the whale. Then they washed the whale. Then he started cutting and he hit metal,” Rexford said. Read the rest here 08:56
Dirty Politics – High rollers, big names back CCA agenda across U.S. & N.C.
“The CCA has nothing to do with conservation unless you consider sport fishermen having all of a certain species allocated to themselves as conservation.” Those are the words of author Robert Fritchey, who wrote the definitive book tracing the history of the Coastal Conservation Association, titled “Wetland Riders”. The CCA traces its roots to Texas in 1977 and was originally founded by mostly wealthy anglers in Houston. Fritchey ticked off the names of those early leaders in the first chapter: Read the rest here 07:27
City of Gloucester joins fight against marine monument plan
In her letter read into the record Tuesday night at a NOAA-hosted town meeting in Providence to discuss the issue, Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken stated the city’s objections to designate the deep sea canyons and seamounts — and Cashes Ledge — as a national monument. “We have learned over the years to take a balanced perspective on issues, to make sure to have researched all the facts, and to include the public in our decisions,” Romeo Theken wrote. “It is from this perspective that I write in opposition to the Conservation Law Foundation-organized proposal for a national monument.” Read the rest here 07:01
