Daily Archives: January 3, 2016
Irish fishermen are getting another raw deal
Ireland has 23% of European waters and the richest fishing waters in the European union, yet we are allowed a mere 4% of white-fish quotas. Irish fishermen are tied up for lack of quotas and have no other means of making a living, except fishing, and yet they pay their taxes. It is estimated that pelagic vessels hold 86% of the mackerel quotas and land at Castletownbere, in West Cork, for shipment to the continent. The proposed expansion of this area is to facilitate foreign vessels and not Irish fishermen, because they have no quotas to fish their own grounds. It is a bad deal. Link Irish Examiner 12:48
Our View: New England Fishery Management Council needs to take a new tack
A New Hampshire cod fisherman has sued the National Oceanic and Atmospheric and Administration over the hardship looming when he is required to pay for at-sea monitors. Monitors are required on a certain percentage of fishing vessels to satisfy regulations meant to reduce waste of the resource at sea and protect the fishery. David Goethel’s suit is appropriate mainly because he puts his boat into a fishery that was declared a disaster in 2012 by the Commerce Department, NOAA’s parent. Fish biomass for several species, including cod and some flounders, has rapidly eroded the opportunity for success for groundfishermen like him. Read the op-ed here 11:10
Militia members have occupied the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge building
A group of militiamen on Saturday occupied the headquarters of a national wildlife refuge in Oregon in support of two brothers who are slated to report to prison on Monday on arson charges, the Oregonian newspaper reported. “We’re planning on staying here for years, absolutely,” Ammon Bundy, one of the occupiers, told the newspaper via telephone. Militia members at the refuge claimed to have as many as 150 supporters with them. The Malheur National Wildlife refuge building, federal property managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, was closed for the holiday weekend. Read the article here 09:38
A date with Tsukiji fish market’s bluefin tuna auction
To sleep or not to sleep? This was the question I was considering the night before a 3 a.m. rendezvous for a guided tour of Tokyo’s Tsukiji fish market, the highlight of which was viewing the famous bluefin tuna auction. Considering the late hours I keep, it was really a no-brainer: sleep could wait. But what I later learned is that failing to wake up would have meant missing the final tuna auction open to visitors in 2015, and thus the main point of my first trip to the biggest wholesale fish and seafood market in the world. Read the article here 08:57
Commercial Fishing Boat Runs Aground Near China Camp In Marin County
Two boaters in distress were able to safely walk to shore after a 30-foot commercial vessel lost power in the North Bay and ran aground Saturday at China Camp State Park near San Rafael, according to United States Coast Guard officials. The Coast Guard got a phone call from a commercial fishing vessel that had run aground at China Camp around 8:34 a.m. They dispatched a 45-foot surf rescue boat and a helicopter, according to Lt. Cmdr. Jon Lane. Read the article here 08:05
