Daily Archives: December 18, 2015
Minister Tootoo Sets Arctic Surf Clam Total Allowable Catch
Hunter Tootoo, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, announced that the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for Offshore Arctic surf clams will be set at 38,756 tonnes for 2016, which is the level it has been at for a number of years. Prior to any change in the TAC and any decision on new entrants, the Minister has asked for science work to be completed and work undertaken to consider a spatial management system, which has been recommended by two independent studies of the fishery. Underscoring the Government of Canada’s commitment to the precautionary principle, the Minister said that managing fisheries based on robust scientific evidence is a priority. Read the press release here 19:46
Spousal Relief Fund For Genny
This fund has been set up for my mother, Genny Pavan. We are currently trying to raise any money we can for her during this difficult time. The money will be used to help her with financial struggles she has endured since the loss of her spouse Doug. Her lights are on the verge of being turned off, and is months behind in other bills. She has basically been left on her own, with no help and broken promises. As many of us already know, in September Doug tragically lost his life fishing off the coast of Tofino while aboard the Caledonian when the boat suddenly capsized. Please read the rest here , and please donate if you can. Related articles – Caledonian Tragedy Family Relief Fund click, – For: Wes Hegglund, Keith Standing, Doug White – There appears to be a problem with the Caledonian Tragedy Family Relief Fund click
Southeast Dungeness crab harvest below average
Most areas in Southeast closed to commercial fall fishing for Dungeness crab on November 30. The State has crunched the numbers and the season was below average in both harvest and participation. First, the numbers. The harvest was 547,000 pounds. That’s less than the five year average of 715,000 pounds. This fall’s harvest is 17 percent of the year’s total harvest which is about five percent less than what it’s been recently. The participation was also down. 118 permit holders participated in Southeast which is about 20 less than last year. Audio, and read the article here 15:54
New rules for dolphin proposed
A federal fishery council has approved a rule that could keep the 
open so that by the time the migrating fish makes its way to the Florida Keys, the commercial fishery will not be closed. The National Marine Fisheries Service closed down the commercial dolphin fishery in July, the height of dolphin fishing in the Keys. For the past two years, fishermen off North and South Carolina, who generally fish for tuna, have targeted dolphin heavily and the annual commercial allocation has been near run out by the time Keys fishermen start fishing for dolphin. Read the article here 15:15
Dungeness crabbers worry sensationalized domoic acid headlines will scare away demand
As Dungeness crabbers in California, Oregon and Washington continue to wait for domoic acid to drop to safe levels so they can begin the already-delayed crabbing season, some fear that falling consumer confidence might impact this season’s prices. According to an executive at a wholesale company who wished to remain anonymous, (source A), despite having “plenty of inventory” to hold them over as the company waits for the fishery to open, “bad press has lowered demand…irresponsible reporting of media on domoic acid has damaged our markets”. Read the article here 14:06
‘Deadliest Catch’ spinoff “Dungeon Cove” is coming to Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel is spinning off its “Deadliest Catch” series, with a new series that explores the lives of Dungeness crab fishermen and their families in and around Newport, Oregon. “Deadliest Catch: Dungeon Cove,” which the network says is a working title, is set in one of the last remaining fishing towns along the edge of the Oregon coast, heading north to British Columbia an area that has earned the dubious distinction of being crowned Graveyard of the Pacific. Read the article here 12:46
Maine: Lobster license squatting
Maine has a fairly complicated system for limiting entry into the lucrative lobster fishing industry. As presently constructed, some would-be fishermen might wait a decade or more for the chance to have a license of their own. Currently, more than 300 people are waiting. No new licenses are issued in many lobster management zones until someone surrenders one. In other zones, entry is based on the number of trap tags that are surrendered. Read the article here 10:06
Whole Foods denies that it sells shrimp peeled by slave labor in Thailand.
“After thorough investigation, we’re confident Thai Union shrimp at our stores did not come from [an] illicit processing facility,” the retailer tweeted Tuesday morning. Whole Foods has a built its business on attracting customers who are willing to pay for high-quality food, such as organic meat and dairy products. But the store was also one of the retailers named in an extensive investigation by the Associated Press, which found workers in Thailand who were kept as slaves to clean shrimp that’s sold at many major U.S. retailers. Read the article here 08:49
Nunavut shrimp interests hurt by Thailand slave-labour stock that ‘taints’ entire industry
Slave workers in factories are reportedly behind Thailand’s shrimp industry, yet many restaurants and grocery stores in Canada carry this shrimp stock instead of the shrimp harvested by Nunavut’s Inuit-owned sustainable fisheries. “It’s unfortunate because it taints the entire shrimp industry,” said Chris Flanagan of the Baffin Fisheries Coalition (BFC). “Any seafood that is harvested under these kinds of conditions should not be imported into Canada.” Read the article here 08:04
Spread of algal toxin through marine food web broke records in 2015
While Dungeness crab captured headlines, record levels of the neurotoxin domoic acid were found in a range of species, and the toxin showed up in new places. Researchers monitoring the unprecedented bloom of toxic algae along the west coast of North America in 2015 found record levels of the algal toxin domoic acid in samples from a wide range of marine organisms. The toxin was also detected for the first time in the muscle tissue or filet of several commercial fish species. Read the report here 07:38
