Monthly Archives: October 2015
Life as a lobsterman: Better times, but it’s still a struggle.
SEABROOK — After a windy morning 9 miles off New Hampshire’s coast, Charles Knowles and his brother transferred 216 pounds of live lobster with their bare hands into plastic bins on Knowles’ docked fishing boat during Wednesday’s lunch hour. Some of his catch was destined for dinner tables this weekend. A man with a winch pulled up several plastic bins from Knowles’ 32-footer at the Yankee Fisherman’s Cooperative, nestled between salt flats and Route 1A. For his efforts, Knowles will earn $4.10 a pound — or $886 for the day’s catch. Read the rest here 11:37
Office of the State Auditor is looking at a potential audit of the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries
Dr. Louis Daniel, DMF director, confirmed Friday the division has been contacted about a potential audit. He said he received a letter from the OSA on Thursday. However, the letter didn’t include any details, such as the audit’s focus. News-Times staff contacted Bill Holmes, media contact for the OSA, with questions about the audit, including the reason for an audit. Mr. Holmes wouldn’t say who requested an audit of the division or why; he said at this point, the OSA is “just asking the DMF a few questions to help us evaluate whether we need to do any additional work. Read the rest here 10:24
Capt. Jack Hansen of Morro Bay
Captain Jack Hansen, 85, a long-time Morro Bay commercial fisherman, crossed the bar peacefully on August 22, 2015, at the home of his daughter, of whom his cherished boat, “The Darlene,” built with his own hands, was named after. At his side, of course, was his beloved cat and best friend, Morris. While fisherman and friends cheered him on, Jack regretfully left his boat for the last time just days ago, refusing assistance and stating, “By God, I’ve done it all these years, I can do it one more time!” As he was leaving, he placed his hands on the stern, and expressed gratitude for his boat aloud, “Thanks for the wonderful life, providing for my family and keeping them safe.” Read the rest here 09:48
Senate Passes Legislation to Combat Pirate Fishing
The Senate unanimously passed the Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing Enforcement Act of 2015. In May, Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), and Brian Schatz (D-HI) introduced legislation to combat the multi-billion dollar threat posed by illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities. The legislation is the House companion to the Senate bill, which passed the House of Representatives in July. The bill now heads to the President’s desk to be signed into law. Read the rest here 08:38
Don Cuddy: Collaborative research can save the New England groundfish industry
The data used for fish stock assessment in the Northeast is derived primarily from the annual spring and fall surveys conducted by the Henry B. Bigelow, the Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s 208-foot research vessel. The results are largely distrusted by many fishermen who contend that NOAA is using the wrong bottom-trawl gear on a vessel that is in any case too large for the task. Furthermore, fishermen say, random sampling of the vast survey area is not sufficient to develop an accurate picture of stock abundance. Read the rest here 08:07
Red crab fishing season underway
The Bristol Bay red king crab fishing season is underway, and the quota is almost the same as last year’s, at 9.7 million pounds. That’s down slightly from last year, and so is the number of boats. On Tuesday, 58 boats were registered, and a few more are on their way north from Seattle, according to biologist Miranda Westphal of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, in Unalaska. Last year, 63 crab boats were signed up, she said. The situation is different for another big Bering Sea crab fishery. When fishermen set pots for snow crab in a few months, they will have a lot less to catch. Read the rest here 19:11
Despite factory trawler opposition, Adak wins 5,000-ton cod quota
Despite factory trawler opposition, Adak has won a guaranteed minimum of 5,000 metric tons of Pacific cod each year, in hopes that the local 
will re-open. The Aleutian Islands Pacific cod catcher vessel fishery and shoreplant delivery requirement was approved last week at the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, meeting in Anchorage. While the fish council action doesn’t specify exclusive rights for Adak, it did impose the requirement for cod west of 170 degrees longitude, where the only shore plant is in Adak. Read the rest here 13:24
Possible Scotian Shelf Blowout aftermath: To protect fishery, nix toxic oil dispersants
The fishing banks of the Scotian Shelf have supported coastal communities and the fishery for more than 300 years because our industry is both highly successful and highly regulated. Those stringent regulations benefit all Nova Scotia. Recent lobster catches are the largest ever recorded. Three-year classes of haddock are the largest in more than 50 years. Scallop landings are at all-time highs. The Scotian Shelf fishery is functioning at an extremely high level, contributing over $1 billion annually to provincial exports, supporting scores of communities and providing thousands of jobs. Read the rest here 11:44
Georgia man faces prison again for stealing sea turtle eggs
Less than two years after he was released from prison, Lewis Jackson found authorities waiting for him as he boarded a ferry boat on remote Sapelo Island carrying a cooler full of contraband valued by some as a mythical aphrodisiac. Inside the cooler, investigators found zip-top bags filled with the ping-pong ball sized eggs of loggerhead sea turtles, animals protected by the Endangered Species Act. Stealing eggs of the threatened species is a federal crime. Read the rest here 10:40
Net Effect: A different tack, and Campbell: Fishing regulations
Our new WRAL documentary takes a different tack. It’s the result of a growing chorus of recreational fishermen, associated organizations and environmental groups that have raised legitimate concerns about certain commercial fishing practices. They practically beat down our door, giving us information, showing us data and offering up experts to interview. Their concerns are backed up by a number of state officials, including a scientist. Read the rest here – Campbell: Fishing regulations: After publishing my column about this topic in September, a coastal newspaper that had long printed my offerings immediately said they would no longer publish me. Read the rest here 09:49 Nova Scotia to unveil new aquaculture regulations, attempt to ‘restore public confidence’ after recent fish health scares
Nova Scotia will unveil much tougher rules Monday to oversee the aquaculture industry in a bid to “restore public confidence.” Regulations governing the industry will go from two pages to 60 by the start of the week, the province’s minister of fisheries and aquaculture said. “We are going to a more firm regulatory process. We are going to be doing more testing,” Minister Keith Colwell told CBC after a tour Friday of the department’s new laboratory in Truro, N.S. Moratorium on new salmon farms remains – Aquaculture has an image problem in Nova Scotia, fuelled by ,,, Read the rest here 08:52
Alaska should never stray from ‘Fish First’ policy
Fish come first” has been the essential foundation of Alaska’s salmon management since statehood. The Alaska Supreme Court affirmed this principle on Sept. 25, 2015, by rejecting a lawsuit from commercial fishermen in Cook Inlet Fishermen’s Fund vs. the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, which asked for more fishing time even when it reduces spawning escapements below minimum goals established to protect future returns. This ruling is a significant win for all fishermen concerned with the sustainability of the state’s salmon resource and for our Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Read the rest here 08:21
Crab Fishermen Trained as ‘First Responders’ for Entangled Whales
Crab season means more Dungeness crab on Bay Area menus, but it could also mean more injured whales. The cetaceans get entangled in crab trap lines, which is why the federal government is teaching crabbers to become first responders. Geoff Bettencourt is a fourth-generation fisherman. From his boat, The Moriah Lee, he points to an area in Half Moon Bay. “The whales have been so thick in here. Like close, where they’ve never ever been,” says Bettencourt. Listen, and read the rest here 20:26
Historic boat ReKord needs home, Yarmouth realtor says
The owner of a century-old vessel docked in Yarmouth may have had his dream crushed, but to paraphrase an old saying: “One person’s loss could be another person’s gain.” Dave Bishara, the realtor who has listed the vessel with Tri Nav Marine Brokerage Inc., has great respect for her history and the owner’s passion. He says the boat needs to be sold immediately and holds high hope it will sell locally, perhaps to be hauled up on shore as a summer getaway. Read the rest here, and more info here. 16:27
Woman Among the Baymen
“Clam Power” read the T-shirt on the sturdy woman carrying gear from her pickup to her no-frills work boat tied to a ramshackle dock in Patchogue, on the South Shore of Long Island. The woman, Flo Sharkey, 72, works full time on the bay, and on Wednesday morning, she and her son, Paul Sharkey, 36, a bayman himself, loaded rakes, hip waders and bushel baskets into the boat and headed out through Swan Creek into the open bay. People who make their living on these waters are known as baymen, and it’s a dwindling profession. A woman doing it for a living is nearly unheard-of. Read the rest here 14:54
EU ministers OK Baltic catch limits; Envirocrat activists object
The ministers reached the agreement Thursday night at a meeting in Luxembourg. In a statement, they said the limits take into account scientific advice as well as the EU’s recently changed Common Fisheries Policy. But Andrew Clayton, a spokesman for Pew Charitable Trusts, a non-governmental organization, said the limits, which concern 10 commercial fish stocks, exceed scientific recommendations in seven cases. Last year, he said, ministers exceeded scientists’ recommendations for herring, cod, plaice, Atlantic salmon and sprat. Greenpeace said,,, Read the rest here 13:56
Mexico braces for Patricia, the Western hemisphere’s strongest hurricane ever
Hurricane Patricia headed toward southwestern Mexico Friday as a monster Category 5 storm, the strongest ever in the Western Hemisphere that forecasters said could make a “potentially catastrophic landfall” later in the day. Residents of a stretch of Mexico’s Pacific Coast dotted with resorts and fishing villages on Thursday boarded up homes and bought supplies ahead of Patricia’s arrival. With maximum sustained winds near 200 mph, Patricia is the strongest storm ever recorded in the eastern Pacific or in the Atlantic, said Dave Roberts, a hurricane specialist,,, Read the rest here 09:39
“Be bold. Think big.”- N.S. cousins prepare to launch schooner they built in Stewiacke
Two cousins in Stewiacke, N.S. have built a 24-metre wooden schooner, just like their great-great-grandfather once did. Evan Densmore was only 22-years-old when he started designing the schooner with his cousin Nick Densmore, then 20-years-old. They set up shop in their backyard, a smaller operation than Cameron Shipyard, the business their great-great-grandfather started in South Maitland, southwest of Truro, N.S. They’ve been working on the boat for five years, full-time for the last three, said Evan Densmore, now 27. “When I started this, it was so far away that I couldn’t even really dream of it,” Densmore said. “It’s pretty cool.” Read the rest here 08:20
Nova Scotia fishery can co-exist with Shell oil drilling, ministers say
Two provincial cabinet ministers are trying to reassure fishing groups that their industry will be able to co-exist with Shell Canada, after the company got the green light to begin drilling for oil off the coast of Nova Scotia. This week, fishery industry representatives warned that parcels of the ocean that may be snapped up for oil and gas exploration are too close to major fishing banks on the Scotian Shelf, putting those fishing grounds at risk. But Energy Minister Michel Samson is not concerned. Read the rest here 08:07
8 Arctic countries to sign historic coast guard deal
All eight Arctic nations — including Canada and Russia — are to sign a historic deal next week for their coast guards to work together in the treacherous and increasingly accessible waters of the North. Creating the Arctic Coast Guard Forum is considered a significant step forward for international co-operation in the region and will flesh out previous search and rescue agreements “(The forum) will be an operationally focused organization that strengthens maritime co-operation and co-ordination in the Arctic,” said an emailed statement from the United States Coast Guard. Read the rest here 07:49
‘Objects thrown’ as Brixham fishermen are threatened by French vessels in the English Channel
BRIXHAM fishermen have been involved in a fracas with their French counterparts in the English Channel this morning. The scallop trawler Joanna C was surrounded by ten French vessels in the Baie de Seine, off Le Harve, with the Brixham fishermen then claiming that objects were thrown at them.The vessel has now been forced to abandon its fishing trip and return to port in Devon. Derek Meredith, who owns the Joanna C,He said: “The French fishermen surrounded my trawler and threatened to smash it up.” Read the rest here 18:29
Tri Marine disappointed with NMFS decision – Purse seiners will continue to fish but…
The decision by the National Marine Fisheries Service not to issue an emergency rule to exempt purse seiners that deliver at least half of their catch to the local canneries from the ban on fishing in the high seas, puts fish supply for the canneries in jeopardy. In early statements Tri Marine said that locally based purse seiners would have to fish in waters close to Papua New Guinea and would find it uneconomical to travel all the way to Pago Pago to off load. Read the rest here, Meanwhile, The president of the American Tunaboat Association Brian Hallman says the ban on high seas fishing is very costly to US purse seiners, and while they will continue to fight on, at some point boat owners cannot continue to lose money and stay in business. Read the rest here 17:29
Little Compton fisherman awarded $2.6 million for arm injury
A Superior Court jury awarded a Little Compton fisherman and his wife about $2.6 million with interest after the fisherman lost his right forearm when it got caught in a winch in April 2013. The Newport County jury awarded $1.88 million plus $554,600 interest to and $200,000, plus $59,000, to his wife, Debra L. Lambert, following a two-week trial earlier this month before Judge Walter Stone, court records show. The Lamberts sued N. Parascandolo & Sons, Inc., and H.N. Wilcox Fishing Inc. in March 2014, alleging that they failed to safely,,, Read the rest here 16:38
FishNet USA/Update – So how’s that “catch shares” revolution working out for groundfish?
From Nils Stolpe – Alternating with original FishNet USA articles I will be going back to pieces I’ve written (for FishNet and other outlets) over the past 19 years – isn’t it amazing how fast time goes when you’re having fun? – to see how accurate I was in identifying industry trends and predicting what their impacts were going to be. Rather than redistributing the original articles I’ll link to them on the web and try to keep these updates to two pages or under. The original for this update from March, 2014 can be read here Read the rest here. 13:31
Insults and heated rhetoric fly before House Natural Resources Committee red snapper hearing
A charter boat captain from Florida has angered commercial fishermen by comparing them to “old-time” plantation owners and sharecroppers in prepared testimony to Congress. Bob Zales is scheduled to appear before the today to testify about a bill that would allow states to manage the Gulf of Mexico’s red snapper fishery. H.R. 3094 is a controversial bill on a controversial issue — one that has pitted commercial fishermen against recreational anglers and some charter boat captains. Read the rest here 12:26
Defense attorney: Texas lawyer indicted over oil spill fraud
A Texas lawyer, San Antonio attorney Mikal Watts, faces criminal charges after he was accused of submitting thousands of false claims for damages from the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The British oil giant sued Watts in 2013, alleging that more than half the clients were “phantoms,” people whom Watts never properly signed up, people who weren’t commercial fishermen or people who were dead. BP said claims officials could verify the Social Security numbers of only 42 percent of Watts’ claimants, and Read the rest here 09:56
Prominent fisherman ‘hit the ceiling’ after Gail Shea election loss
Some leaders in the Newfoundland and Labrador fishing industry can hardly contain their enthusiasm about this week’s convincing election win by the federal Liberals and their leader, prime minister-designate Justin Trudeau. During the 11-week campaign, Trudeau made a number of commitments that many say will help transform the fishery and inject renewed life and confidence into some rural communities. One of those Liberal pledges includes a commitment to review the controversial last in, first out policy in the shrimp fishery. The policy, better known as LIFO, Read the rest here 08:38
New England fishermen fear looming costs for at-sea monitors
New England fishermen, running out of time before the federal government hands them the cost of monitoring the industry at sea, say emergency intervention is needed or many of them will be out of business. Several New England congressmen said they are looking for ways to reduce the burden for fishermen. U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, a New Hampshire Republican, has submitted a bill to terminate the independent, third-party monitoring program unless it is fully funded by NOAA. She and., requested an investigation of the monitoring program,,, Read the rest here 08:02
Maine Department of Marine Resources approves reduction to scallop fishing days
The Department of Marine Resources has voted in favor of a 10-day reduction for the upcoming season. Scallop season runs from early December to mid-April, at a time when lobster fishing is not as lucrative. The area that will see a change this year, called Zone 1, runs from New Hampshire to the Penobscot River. Last season, scallop fishing in that zone was allowed on 70 days. This season, it’ll only be allowed on 60. Last year, though, the fishery saw an 18-year high in terms of profit. Maine scallops were worth almost $7.5 million. Read the rest here 07:36
Feds charge father, son with Alaska halibut fishing conspiracy
Charles Petticrew Sr. has been charged with a single count of conspiracy for falsifying individual fishing quota (IFQ) records for more than three years, according to federal charges filed Tuesday in Juneau. Petticrew and his family worked together “to submit false locations for the statistical areas where halibut were caught on federal IFQ forms, Alaska Department of Fish and Game Longline Fishery Logbook entries and halibut tickets,” the charges say. In all, Petticrew and his son allegedly faked records relating to about 4,000 pounds of halibut,,, Read the rest here 21:32
