Daily Archives: December 21, 2015
Oregon: Commercial Dungeness crab season opens Jan. 4
Testing of crab in recent weeks show the elevated levels of domoic acid in the southern half of the state have decreased and are all below U.S. Food and Drug Administration alert levels for three sample periods in a row. Based on these results and consultations with the Oregon Department of Agriculture, the Oregon commercial crab industry and Washington and California Departments of Fish and Wildlife, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is opening the ocean commercial Dungeness crab season along the entire Oregon coast just after the New Year, Jan 4. Read the press release here 20:57
Using Intimidation, China tries to create new fishing areas on the East Sea
VietNamNet Bridge – Colonel Le Thanh Van said China was trying to create new fishing areas in the East Sea (South China Sea). Specifically, China strengthened military activities such as training, reconnaissance patrols and maneuvers at sea to show of force, intimidate and deter the countries involved in maritime disputes with China. China increased surveillance patrols to support its marine exploitation activities, including pursuing, using water cannons, demolishing, seizing fishing equipment, and even beating Vietnamese fishermen in an attempt to prevent them from going out to sea for fishing. Read the article here 17:38
Op-Ed: The risks oil lobbyists don’t want you to know
As the Obama Administration nears a final decision about opening the Virginia coast to offshore drilling, outsider oil and gas industry representatives have ramped up their campaign to drill. But these oil lobbyists do not represent the many Virginians that stand firmly opposed to the proposal to open our coasts to offshore drilling — business owners, community members, fishermen, and families along the coast. After all, we’re the ones whose jobs would be put at risk if offshore drilling begins off our coast. Read the op-ed here 16:14
American Tuna Boat Association – ‘Difficult year’ for purse seiners
The president of the American Tuna Boat Association is forecasting a difficult year ahead for purse seiners supplying the two canneries in American Samoa. Brian Hallman, who attended last week’s meeting of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, says its failure to increase fishing days on the high seas is not a good outcome for the US fleet. He says with no fishing on the high seas or in Pacific Island countries’ waters, vessels will either tie up and not fish or leave the western Pacific area. Read the article here 12:19
Recreational Cod study aims to help fish crisis
With cod at historically low population levels and commercial fishermen limited to landings that are just a fraction of what they once were, the recreational catch is now believed to account for as much as one-third of total landings of Gulf of Maine cod. But recreational landings data was considerably poorer than the commercial data, which made it hard to estimate their true impact on the population or know the effectiveness of regulatory measures. Solving the cod crisis will take a lot of research, (of course!) Read the article here 12:04
Quincy legislator Ayers pushes fish farm proposal
Four granite sewage storage tanks built more than a century ago have sat unused on Moon Island
for decades, since Boston built a treatment plant on Deer Island in the 1960s. They can each hold 50 million gallons of water and open directly onto Boston Harbor. Now, state Rep. Bruce Ayers, a Quincy Democrat, wants to see the state look into using the former vats as fish and shellfish farms – a suggestion Ayers said came from Squantum residents John Coughlin and Richard Donahue. Ayers recently met with officials from the state Department of Fish & Game and the Division of Marine Fisheries to discuss legislation he sponsored that would ask the state Department of Fish & Game to study the feasibility of such a project. Read the article here 09:23
Oyster fishermen on private lease without permission lose boat, dredges, and twenty five sacks!
Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries agents seized a boat used by two men Thursday to dredge for oysters on a private lease 
from the owner, according to the department. While on routine patrol, agents say they spotted Chance Lovell, 37, of Theriot, and Russell Callahan, 28, of Dulac, dredging oysters illegally in Terrebonne Parish. They cited the men for unlawfully taking oysters from a private lease, failure to have written permission, sanitation codebook violation, no commercial fishing license and no oyster-harvester license. Read the rest here 08:59
Study from Oxford suggests rogue waves are random
New research out of the University of Oxford in England is giving weight to a theory held by some mariners in the province: that rogue waves come with no warning, and are often preceded by much smaller waves. “If you do have a very large wave and it’s in deep water, what you’re not going to get is the waves building up until you get your really large [wave],” said Thomas Adcock, a professor with the department of engineering. Adcock said large, freak waves are unpredictable. The crew aboard the can attest to this. Read the article here An expanded article – Scientists Model Rogue Waves Read the article here 08:30
UNVEILED: The Last Trip is a ‘fitting tribute’ to lost fishermen
A new memorial to Hull’s lost fishermen has been unveiled. The Last Trip aims to commemorate the estimated 6,000 men who sailed from Hull’s St Andrew’s Dock but never returned home. The cylindrical feature includes 90 replica ship bows and the names of the job titles onboard different types of trawlers over the years. It was officially unveiled yesterday in a ceremony performed by a number of relatives from fishing families in the city. Read the article, View Video and photo gallery here 08:05
