Monthly Archives: September 2015
Possible World Record breaker for longest lobster roll at the P.E.I. Shellfish Festival
At 79-feet and one-inch long, organizers felt the sandwich was big enough to earn the Guinness world record. The sandwich was prepared by Charlottetown chef Ross Munro, Food Network Canada chef Lynn Crawford and Indiana chef Matt Nolot. “Partying, shucking and shellfish. It’s great,” said Munro after the record attempt. “I’m very happy, it’s always fun to bring something different to the Island.” The roll also was made with 75 pounds of lobster donated by the P.E.I. Fishermen’s Association, as well as 20 litres of mayonnaise, 24 lemons and five pounds of red onion. Read the rest here
Halibut fishermen in Bristol Bay had their best season in several years this summer.
BBEDC Regional Fisheries Director Gary Cline said some would consider this summer a surprisingly good one for halibut, given the decline in quota seen in much of the state in recent years. “It was nice to see the halibut fishery start to rebuild, comparing the last several seasons, and this year the ex-vessel value came about to be approximately $226,205 dollars,” Cline said. That estimate is for the nearshore fishery in Area 4E, prosecuted by local fishermen who access the quota through BBEDC. “So we had 17 fishermen and they delivered 45,000 pounds, roughly, which was the biggest volume since 2007,” Cline said. Listen, Read the rest here 18:31
Stop wasting money; let marine animals be – Harold K. Isham Jr.
After reading about how the agency (NOAA) was spending $2.75 million for rehabilitating mammals, among other related tasks, I began to wonder why scientists are researching great whites instead of killing them so as to save protected seals; why we’re spending money on protecting and saving seals when numerous seals become great white sharks’ daily meals; and why we simultaneously save and protect seals when they are feeding on so many fish species needed for the fishing industry. Read the rest here 17:18
Rhode Island Fishermen’s Alliance Weekly Update, September 20, 2015
The Rhode Island Fishermen’s Alliance is dedicated to its mission of continuing to help create sustainable fisheries without putting licensed fishermen out of business.” Read the update here To read all the updates, click here 17:00
Jail time for Maryland Watermen pleading guilty of illegally obtaining Virginia oyster licenses
Edward “Bruce” Lowery and Richard N. Fluharty, both of Tilghman Island, pleaded guilty last month in Accomack General District Court to three counts each of giving false information to a police officer and four counts each of failing to report their catch, according to the Virginia Marine Resources Commission. Each was fined $200 and sentenced to six months and 10 days in jail, with all but 10 days suspended. The two were charged with forging a public record in claiming Virginia residence on their applications for licenses to harvest oysters in the state. Read the rest here 16:39
Docked fishing vessel Sylvia Lyn II catches fire, sinks in Cook’s Harbour
RCMP in St. Anthony responded to a call around 7 p.m. Friday that a fishing vessel had caught fire at the Cook’s Harbour wharf on the Northern Peninsula. The Cook’s Harbour fire department and St. Anthony fire department were both on the scene when police arrived. Police say the nearly 20-metre fishing vessel, named the Sylvia Lyn II, caught fire around 5:30 p.m. while docked at the wharf. No one was aboard the ship when the fire started, and crews worked for hours to extinguish the fire. Read the rest here 13:10
NH congressional delegation stands with fishermen
Fishermen have said this month that the U.S. Congress is their last hope in preventing federal regulations from destroying their industry. So it was a boost of confidence this week when three New Hampshire congressional legislators took a stand for the fishing industry. They filed legislation, sent letters requesting action and held a roundtable that placed themselves, fishermen and federal officials in the same room to discuss the fate of the fishing industry. “I think they’re all believable,” said Peter Kendall, a former New Hampshire commercial fisherman. “I think they’re all behind us.” Read the rest here 12:46
Commercial fisherman pulls a grass carp from his net in Lake Erie
On Thursday, September 17, 2015 a commercial fisherman had an interesting find when he pulled a grass carp from his net in Lake Erie .The Grass carp is a species of the Asian carp, which feeds on aquatic vegetation. The fish was caught west of Point Pelee Thursday morning and weighed in at about 23 pounds (10.5 kilograms), though they have been known to grow upwards of 99 pounds (45 kilograms). The carp was sent to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in Burlington for testing. This specific testing will include whether the fish was fertile or sterile,,, Read the rest here 12:22
Louisiana Shrimp Task Force approves money to assess sustainability
The Louisiana Shrimp Task Force approved spending $10,000 for a fishery sustainability pre-assessment to be done in the state. A pre-assessment is the first step in a fishery being certified environmentally sustainable and conforms to a set of internationally recognized standards. In a Fishery Improvement Plan, a pre-assessment is done on the fishery to gauge where the fishery stands relative to a certification standard. In this instance, the Marine Stewardship and Conversation program standards. Read the rest here 10:49
Regulatory Discards: Cost of Outdated Rules? Millions Of Dead Fish
This is utterly crazy. Hundreds of thousands — perhaps even millions — of pounds of edible and valuable fish are being wasted every year, thrown overboard from commercial fishing boats off the Connecticut coast, due to long-outdated federal regulations that have not kept up with a changing climate and shifting fish populations. The problem is that catch quotas for some species are based on where the fish were when regulations were created decades ago, not where they are today. “This is tremendously wasteful. It makes no sense,” said David Simpson,,, Read the rest here )09:00
Proposal to Protect Deepwater Habitat and Cashes Ledge, Divides Room
The commercial fishing industry noted that the area under consideration isn’t even entirely clear. The meeting’s agenda listed three canyons — Oceanographer, Gilbert and Lydonia — and the four seamounts south of them, but NOAA officials admitted the area in consideration could change. In fact, the two other canyons in the area — Nygren and Heezen — were mentioned, and plenty of speakers, both for and against monument designation, brought up Cashes Ledge, north of the area that was the meeting’s planned topic of discussion. Read the rest here 18:30
Senator Ayotte Challenges NOAA regional administrator John Bullard over fishing regulation’s.
Fishermen aired grievances face to face with federal officials they say are ruining their industry, backed in person by U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., who arranged the meeting at Pease Tradeport Friday. Ayotte backed fishermen, telling Bullard that the regulations fly in the face of federal law. She said the Magnuson-Stevens Act which sets parameters for fishery management requires NOAA balance the fisheries’ health with the welfare of fishing communities. Read the rest here 14:09
Senators Shaheen, Ayotte push for a full investigation into NOAA at-sea monitoring program
“As you may know, the New England fishing industry has been devastated in recent years by severe cuts to catch quotas,” wrote the Senators. “In this moment when the fishery can least afford it, NOAA announced on August 4, 2015, that it would end its funding for the ASM program on October 31, 2015. This move will cost individual fishermen an estimated more than $700 per trip and will force many out of business entirely.” Read the rest here 13:18
Bagels, cream cheese, salmon…. and weed?
Rosenberg’s owner Jason Pollack said that he came up with the idea of infusing pot into gravlax as a joke, but the samples were so popular that he has decided to perfect his technique and sell the combination. “It puts two things that people really love together,” Pollack said. “That’s why I did it. There were people freaking out when they heard about it.” Pollack makes a tincture — a combination of herbs and strong alcohol — with the marijuana, then spreads it onto the salmon along with salt and other ingredients. After about 72 hours,,, Read the rest here 12:43
NOAA Grants available to help New York’s fishing industry recover from superstorm Sandy
Grants totaling $3.6 million are available to businesses in New York’s fishing industry affected by the impacts of Superstorm Sandy. Funded through the NOAA, the grants will reimburse sectors of New York’s fishing industry that suffered a loss of revenue due to the storm. Eligible applicants include businesses in the following sectors: bait and tackle; for-hire fishing boat operators; marinas; commercial harvesters; commercial seafood dealers, shippers or processors; and aquaculture facilities. Read the rest here 09:36
Fishery follies. Really Fred Winsor? Conservation chairman, Sierra Club Canada
Noah-Davis Power’s letter “A meaningful moratorium.” The Telegram, Aug. 7 identifies several key issues which have plagued the fishing industry, but have never been appropriately addressed. They include how we fish, and how we manage our fisheries. Regarding how we fish, neither the Canadian government, nor the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador have ever effectively acknowledged and addressed overfishing from bottom trawling – that process where fishing vessels tow large steel doors and heavy steel rollers across the ocean floor. Read the rest here 09:03
What about the jobs?! Assateague National Seashore: Commercial fishing, Aquaculture ban proposed
Chincoteague officials are preparing to respond to a plan that could put an end to commercial fishing, aquaculture and the horseshoe crab harvest within the boundaries of Assateague Island National Seashore. Assateague Island National Seashore Superintendent Deborah Darden presented an overview of a draft general management plan for the national seashore — including the proposed prohibition on commercial seafood activities — to the Chincoteague Town Council on Thursday, Sept. 17. Read the rest here 08:27
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
Canada sidesteps protection of endangered fish, study finds
Endangered and threatened marine fish species in Canada are routinely refused protection by the federal government, contrary to scientists’ recommendations, a new study has found. In fact, the more endangered the fish are, the less likely they are to get protection under Canada’s endangered species legislation, researchers at the University of Victoria and the Ecology Action Centre in Halifax report. “It’s a bit of a perverse outcome,” Julia Baum, a University of Victoria biologist who co-authored the report, said during an interview with CBC Radio’s Quirks & Quarks that airs Saturday. Read the rest here 21:51
EXXON VALDEZ RESPONSIBLE FOR CONTINUED COLLAPSE OF ALASKAN FISHERIES, STUDY SUGGESTS
Fish stocks in Alaska’s Prince William Sound may still be affected by the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, according to a report from scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The report finds that the exposure of crude oil to Pacific herring and pink salmon embryos may affect their development into adults. The report challenges the notion that the collapse of herring stocks was unrelated to the Exxon spill, which was long held on the basis that the four-year gap between the spill and the herring collapse in 1993 suggested another cause. Read the rest here 16:42
Computer Glitch shuts inshore herring fishery causing bait shortage – Price Spikes!
While the DMR says the Atlantic herring fishery is usually very predictable, because its quotas are monitored throughout the year, a computer glitch caused regulators to miscalculate the quota in the inshore areas of the gulf of Maine. This caused an immediate cap on herring fishing in that area without warning, causing bait prices to spike in many northern fishing areas. Fishermen Downeast say, a normal price for a bushel of bait herring would be $25, but as late as last week, the price shot up to almost $40 in many areas. Video, Read the rest here 12:46
Giant tuna processed in Panacea – 777-pound bluefin caught in Canada and shipped to Mineral Springs
A 777-pound Prince Edward Island bluefin tuna ended up in Panacea, but it did not swim there. The Panacea seafood market Mineral Springs by the Bay processed the big beauty last week. Business owner Tim Williams said processing the catch was a career highlight. While Williams is not selling the tuna filets, the value is about $50 per pound. “These fish are so valuable,” Williams said. “We don’t have them in our fishery. They are very highly regulated. They’re protected because their numbers are low. Read the rest here 11:55
NOAA Seeking Input on Deep Sea Canyon and Seamount Protection
NOAA invites your input on possible permanent protections for three deep sea canyons –Oceanographer, Gilbert, and Lydonia — and four seamounts off of New England’s coast. Deep sea canyons, which plunge to depths greater than 7,000 feet, and sea mounts, which rise thousands of feet above the sea floor, create unique habitats supporting tremendous biodiversity and fragile ecosystems that are home to corals, fish, marine mammals, turtles, and more. Read the rest here 11:32
