Daily Archives: February 20, 2016
Don’t expect price jump for Alaska red salmon this year
Early signs point to continuing headwinds in world markets for Alaska salmon. Let’s count the troubling signs: • Global currencies remain in disarray • The ongoing Russian seafood embargo diverts more farmed salmon to the U.S. • Tons of product remains in freezers from back-to-back bumper sockeye runs. (Most of Alaska’s salmon goes to market frozen or headed and gutted. One plus: Aggressive market promotions have kept reds moving briskly at retail outlets at home and abroad, removing some of the backlog. Read the rest here 16:12
NOAA releases $705k in Federal Disaster Assistance to RI to help local fishermen
U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse together with Congressmen Jim Langevin and David Cicilline and Governor Gina M. Raimondo and the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) on Saturday announced a new wave of federal funding has been released from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to provide direct assistance to Rhode Island fishermen affected by the 2013 groundfish disaster. The $705,658 allocation will also support a recruitment and training program aimed at enhancing the commercial fishing industry’s workforce. Read the rest here 13:47
Fishermen, processors respond to fish tax proposal
Despite acknowledging the need for more revenue, fisheries stakeholders raised lots of questions about the governor’s plan to increase state fisheries taxes this week. To help fill the state’s budget gap, Alaska Governor Bill Walker has asked legislators to consider a variety of tax increases – including by one percent. During a House Fisheries Committee hearing on Thursday, state tax director Ken Alper explained that the increase, estimated to bring in an additional $18.4 million, essentially would make fish revenue match the cost of fisheries management. Read the rest here 13:28
California Fishermen snag Twelve foot clubhook squid – That’s a lotta Calamari!
Grant Eberle has seen his fair share of squids in his 20 years at Humboldt State University’s marine laboratory, but none have been as large as the one he got this week. Splayed out on metal tray in the Trinidad-based laboratory was a member of the world’s third largest squid species — the robust clubhook squid. Weighing in between 60 to 70 pounds and at least 12 feet in length from mantle to tentacle tip, Eberle said it was the largest squid he had ever seen. The squid was a bycatch from a local fishing vessel’s dragline net (?) that was about 400 yards underwater. The squid was caught nearly 10 miles south of Eureka and was brought into Eureka on Tuesday, Eberle said. Read the rest here 12:26
The growth of Marine Conservation Zones is killing Britain’s fishing industry
Keith Turner has sent a petition of 249 signatures to Marine Environment Minister George Eustice, calling for an end to the expansion of Marine Conservation Zones “without producing impartial scientific evidence as to why more of these zones are needed”. Mr Turner, who worked out of Brixham and Plymouth harbours, said he was fighting for the livelihood of fishermen like his grandson, Dominic Welsh, an Exmouth scallop boat skipper. In January eight new Marine Conservation Zones around the South West, from Land’s End to Foreland Point in North Devon, were announced. Read the rest here 10:14
Oregon State University study finds salmon hatcheries produce genetically different fish
New research from Oregon State University suggests hatchery-raised salmon, which are bred to help bolster wild stocks in B.C. and elsewhere, are genetically different from the populations they’re introduced into. Researcher Michael Blouin says scientists have known for some time the offspring of wild and hatchery-raised salmon are less adept at surviving in the wild, negatively affecting the health of wild populations. The question is, what is it about hatcheries that create fish believed to be inferior at surviving in the wild? Read the rest here 09:27
Scallop Fishermen haul ice age walrus skull from the Bay of Fundy
Scallop fishermen have dragged more than they bargained for out of the Bay of Fundy near Saint John, pulling up a walrus skull that dates back to the ice age. “It just came up on the dragger and I just thought it was a piece of stick at first,” said Todd Paul, a fisherman from St. Mary’s First Nation. “It’s pretty cool.” The skull was pulled from the waters about 2.5 kilometres off of Cape Spencer. “We were guessing what it was,” he said. “Once we seen a tusk coming out of it, I knew it was like a walrus of some kind.” Read the story here 09:12
Model pitchmen: Fishermen promote “Gloucester Fresh” branding campaign
A year ago? No way. But in this, the springish winter of 2015-16, a late-afternoon February photo shoot along the docks at St. Peter’s Square and around the bend of Harbor Cove near Felicia’s Oil wasn’t all that much of a challenge. So, with the sun shining Wednesday afternoon and the temperatures hovering near 50 degrees, Gloucester Economic Development Director Sal Di Stefano accompanied his merry band of fishermen to their boats tied up along the waterfront so they could make like Mrs. Brady for the camera. “Come on Mark, work it,” Di Stefano called to Mark Ring as the Gloucester lobsterman posed on his boat, the Stanley Thomas, for Sperling Interactive photographer Coco Boardman, who is part of the effort to tell the stories of local fishermen. “Where’s that intensity?” Read the story here 08:16
