Daily Archives: December 8, 2015
Washington again delays commercial crabbing on south coast
Commercial crab fishing continues to be delayed on a portion of Washington’s southern coast. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife said Tuesday that tests show crabs from the area are safe to eat. But the agency decided with Oregon and California to delay crabbing there to prevent too many crabbers from overwhelming the small area. Read the article here 20:42
Tip of the Iceberg – Backlash ensues as Rep. Lamar Smith roots out corruption at NOAA
What you allow is what will continue.
In an era of waste, fraud and abuse, one House member has decided to fight the green ideology that has infested much of the federal government, including NOAA. According to today’s Washington Post, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Tex) is being pilloried by his Democratic counterpart Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (Tex.) for trying to prevent duplicity and restore scientific integrity in all agencies under his purview. This is turning what used to be a relatively bipartisan panel into a verbal fisticuffs among lawmakers and their staffs. Read the article here 19:56
Pacific Seafood Group sues National Marine Fisheries Service – calling fishery quota restrictions illegal
California-based groundfish catcher and processor Pacific Seafood
has sued the US government seeking to overturn what they say are “illegal” regulations that threaten the company’s future. A company subsidiary, Pacific Choice Seafoods, which operates a processing plant as well as vessels that fish the Pacific Coast groundfish limited-entry trawl fishery, filed suit on Dec. 4 in a northern California federal court against the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and its ultimate overseer, US commerce secretary Penny Pritzker. Read the article here 13:50
NTSB: No plans to salvage Fishing Vessel Orin C
The National Transportation Safety Board confirmed today it will lead the investigation into last week’s sinking of the Orin C that cost the life of a Gloucester fisherman, but the agency has no plans to salvage the 51-foot vessel from the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. Keith Holloway, an NTSB spokesman, said the investigation could take as long as 12 to 18 months to determine the probable cause of the Dec. 3 sinking that took the life of 47-year-old Gloucester fisherman David “Heavy D” Sutherland. “Information will be released as it becomes available,”,, Read the article here 12:05
Maine: Scallop season is under way, but maybe not for long
Maine’s winter scallop season opened last Tuesday, Dec. 1, and divers working in Blue Hill’s Salt Pond and outer harbor — both closed to draggers — got a nice surprise. According to Trisha Cheney of the Department of Marine Resources, divers in both areas were able to harvest their 15-gallon daily limit on opening day and the scallops they landed fetched an excellent price. Just how long the good news will last, around Blue Hill or elsewhere Downeast, is an open question. Read the article here 11:14
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for December 7, 2015
Click here to read the Weekly Update, to read all the updates, Click here 10:32
Lobster fraud: No lobster found in lobster rolls at local sushi restaurants
The operators of eight sushi restaurants in San Diego were convicted of seafood fraud for serving “lobster rolls” that didn’t have any lobster in them, the City Attorney’s Office announced Monday. The “truth-in-menu” investigation was launched last year. Investigators from the City Attorney’s Consumer and Environmental Protection Unit purchased advertised “lobster rolls” from various sushi restaurants throughout San Diego, then sent them to a laboratory where DNA testing confirmed that no lobster was found in any of the rolls. Read the article here 10:10
Public safety comes first for crabbers
A panel of agency heads and industry experts gathered in Santa Rosa Thursday to discuss the delayed California crabbing season, how to proceed with opening waters should the algae-produced neurotoxin levels subside in shellfish and what to do if they shouldn’t. “It’s rare these days that you see individuals and industries putting public safety ahead of profit,” said state Sen. Mike McGuire, who hosted the panel discussion as chair of the , along with the vice chair, Assemblymember Jim Wood. Read the article here 08:32
NEFMC proposal would limit access to hake fishery – concerns “over unrestrained increases in fishing effort”
The New England Fishery Management Council is hosting a public meeting tonight in Gloucester as an initial step in possibly drafting an amendment that would modify the small-mesh multispecies fishery into a limited access fishery. Currently, the small-mesh multispecies fishery, which includes whiting (silver hake), red hake and offshore hake, is an open fishery, accessible to any fisherman with the appropriate permit. The proposal to limit access to the fishery is based in in the small-mesh fishery, the council said. Read the article here 08:13
Fishermen’s Federation chief says lessons will be learned from Beryl tragedy
Trawlermen who failed to rescue their crewmate after he plunged into the freezing water will be “going through hell”, according to the chief executive of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation (SFF). The crew of the Banff-registered Beryl boat battled to save the life of senior worker Joshua Aryeetey after he plunged into the Atlantic off the coast of Shetland on February 10. However, the 47-year-old, from Ghana, died after he spent nearly an hour in the icy waters.SFF chief exec Bertie Armstrong has said that the only thing the crew failed on was getting him out of the water in time,,, Read the article here 07:47
