Daily Archives: September 24, 2015
Training aims to bring Fishermen back alive
From the article: More than half of all commercial fishing deaths in the 2000s occurred after a vessel disaster. Of disasters with known causes, nearly a third involved vessels flooding. When at sea, he said, boaters have to be creative in finding anything around them to slow down flooding, be it a tarp, pieces of wood, neoprene scraps from old immersion suits — even the SpongeBob SquarePants Nerf ball the crew of the fishing vessel Clam Juice from Gloucester, Massachusetts, stuck in an exhaust-pipe hole to keep their vessel from sinking as they were towed home. Read the rest here 17:03
NOAA Seeks Letters of Public Support for International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) Nominees
NOAA Fisheries is seeking letters of public support for nominees (listed below) for two presidential appointments to serve as U.S. Commissioners to the International Pacific Halibut Commission. The IPHC is a bilateral regional fishery management organization established between Canada and the United States for the management of the Pacific halibut fishery. Terms expire for the current commissioners December 31, 2015. Commissioners are eligible for reappointment. Of the two appointees, one must be a resident of Alaska and the other shall be a nonresident of Alaska. Read the rest here 16:48
Stop Wall Street Fisheries and Protect Main Street Fishermen – Please sign this Petition
My name is Ed Snell and I am a fisherman based in Portland, Maine. We have allowed a system that has monetized access to fish and paved the way for very few entities to ‘own’ the right to catch and sell fish stocks. This means that fishermen without much (or any) fish quota are forced to lease quota from other permits, often for prices that approach and sometimes exceed the market price for that fish. In other words, fishermen are fishing at a loss, because others control their legal ability to go fishing. Please read the rest, and sign the petition. Thank you. 16:25
‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help you’
The Working Waterfront Festival takes place this weekend and features the traditional Blessing of the Fleet, to be held Sunday afternoon on the State Pier. This year, New Bedford welcomes NOAA’s Eileen Sobeck to the ceremony. Ms. Sobeck holds the title of Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, and in that capacity oversees the management and conservation of marine fisheries. According to the NOAA web site: “Her focus is on rebuilding the nation’s fisheries and the jobs and livelihoods that depend on them by promoting management approaches that will achieve both sustainable fisheries and vibrant coastal communities.” It is difficult to reconcile such lofty goals with the harsh reality facing New England groundfishermen today. Read the rest here 15:44
Community Development Quota entities also affect Kodiak fisheries
Fishermen all over America wonder about the special fishing rights given to the Western Alaska near shore villages, about 65 of them by name, in the Magnuson-Stevens Act. That was one of Ted’s biggest blunders. Now, at least one member of a regional fish council appears to be helping corrupt public elections. It’s a mess few understand, but with hundreds of millions a year at stake, and advantages that normal competitors cannot match when it comes to markets for quota catch shares. Tim Smith of Nome is asking for greater transparency and accountability. Here’s his latest piece, edited just for you. Read the rest here 13:35
Dolphins – Friend or Food?
Dolphins are often collateral damage of the fishing industry — they get entangled in fishing gear targeted at other fish species, and often sustain injuries and die. But what happens to such accidentally-trapped dolphins? Sometimes they get eaten, researchers have found. Small-scale or artisanal fishermen and women in West Africa commonly treat such accidentally caught animals as an , according to a recent study. Read the rest here 12:21
New Bedford Working Waterfront Festival gives visitors a free, fun behind-the-scenes look – Sept 26th, and 27th
The 12th annual Working Waterfront Festival lets the public get a firsthand look at the culture of fishing and for the commercial fishing community to tell its own story. The event presents all that goes into bringing seafood from the ocean to the table. This year’s theme is “Every Object Tells a Story.” Here’s the part I like the best! My friend Hunter Lees of Fairhaven, will make his runway debut and modeling the latest apparel! Lees says that he loves his chosen profession and is following in the footsteps of his father Thomas Lees and his uncle, Toby Lees. Read the rest here 11:41
School Principle bans seafood from lunches because one student has a seafood allergy! BRILLIANT!
One of the largest elementary schools on P.E.I. has banned seafood from students’ lunches because a student has a life-threatening allergy. Parents at Stratford Elementary received a memo this week saying students can no longer bring seafood of any kind to school.”Fish is a new one, so I think that causes a bit of you know, a bit of a pain for parents. It’s a new one and I even had a parent ask me today, you know, ‘what’s next?’ and really don’t have the answer to that,” said principal Kenny MacDougall. “As principal of the school, I have to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all students and that’s why we’re asking parents’ cooperation in such a serious matter.”MacDougall said staff try their best to make sure banned foods don’t enter the school. He’s asking parents and students to be extra cautious when packing lunches. Link 10:25
Norwegian firm Grieg Seafarms poised to invest $300 million in Placentia Bay
But Marystown Mayor Sam Synard is predicting that Placentia Bay will soon become the industry’s epicentre. He said a Norwegian company is poised to invest some $300 million into , including a hatchery in Marystown. Representatives from the company are in attendance at the industrial showcase in Placentia, and declined an interview request from CBC News Wednesday, Read the rest here 09:41
‘You will die’: Adam Moser’s parents speak out on drug death
It has only been four days since Jeanne and Jim Moser lost their son Adam to an apparent drug overdose, but on Wednesday, the family began to speak out, pleading with parents and friends not to turn a blind eye to the opiate epidemic in the Seacoast. Adam died at age 27 on Saturday, Sept. 19 from an apparent overdose in Portsmouth of what his father Jim said was likely pure fentanyl, a drug commonly laced in heroin. Moser was well-known to many Seacoast residents and beyond for his tuna-fishing exploits on the National Geographic Channel television series “Wicked Tuna,” Read the rest here 09:02
That Bogus WWF ‘death’ of the world’s oceans report? – Marine populations unchanged for almost 30 years
“The report states that 61% of commercial fish stocks are fully exploited misleadingly implying that these stocks are overfished and not sustainably exploited,” said Europêche Managing Director Kathryn Stack. “In fact, if we look at the FAO report in question, it clearly states that over 70% of global fish stocks are within biologically sustainable levels (below or at MSY levels i.e. full exploitation, which incidentally is the objective of the CFP and many RFMOs by 2020)**. It is unacceptable that an organisation such as WWF can be allowed to distort information which has a huge impact on the fishing sector’s reputation.” Read the rest here 08:11
