Daily Archives: February 22, 2016
Nils Stolpe – Are you getting the idea that if you’re a fisherman Daniel Pauly isn’t on your side?
FishNet-USA/February 22, 2016 – “… The crisis in the world’s fisheries is less about scientific proof than about attitude and political will. And the world’s fish need a dynamic, high-profile political champion like a Bono or Mandela to give finned creatures the public profile of cute and furry ones.” (Daniel Pauly in “Hooked on fishing, and we’re heading for the bottom, says scientist”,,, This quote by the Pew Charitable Trusts’ premier fisheries researcher says just about all that needs to be said about the ongoing anti-fishing campaign that they have been financing, along with a handful of other mega-foundations, to convince anyone who is willing to listen that, in spite of a dearth of compelling scientific evidence supporting this strum und drang , the world’s oceans are – and have been – facing a crisis brought about because of the depredations of commercial fishermen. Where are the Kardashian’s when Pauly really needs them? Read the rest here 19:23
Species groups follow patterns reacting to climate change on US northeast shelf
Researchers studying marine fishery species grouped by similar depth and temperature distribution have found that those groups have similar responses to the effects of climate change. Interactions between individual species in those groups, however, may be affected by the amount of available habitat, predator-prey relationships, and competition for food resulting from shifts in range and distribution, the study says. Gets interesting. The study was conducted through a joint partnership between NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center and The Nature Conservancy, and was funded by a grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation! Read it here 17:12
‘Captured’! EPA Let Green Lobbyists Write Its Global Warming Regs.
The Obama Administration basically let lobbyists tied to left-wing environmental groups write the government’s massive global warming regulatory scheme, according to documents obtained by a free market legal group. Attorneys with the Energy & Environment Legal Foundation (E&E) released a report Monday calling the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) a “captured” agency “allowing green pressure groups improper influence.” Michael Goo. “Mr. Goo shared his draft options secretly, using his private email rather than his official EPA email, with lobbyists and high-level staffers at the Sierra Club, Clean Air Task Force and the Natural Resource Defense Council; also using Goo’s non-official account, these lobbyists in turn told Goo how to draft or alter the policy that was ultimately implemented in the rules,” the report reads. Read the rest here 14:16
Trolling for king salmon in Sitka
The winter troll line in Sitka extends from Point Woodhouse on Biorka Island to Cape Edgecumbe, just off the volcano. The season continues from Oct. 11 to April 30 — or until the quota is filled, whichever comes first. According to Fish and Game, there are about 9,000 left to catch in 2016. I’ve been out a few days this winter, short days, town and the surrounding mountains appearing coated in a layer of ash. It’s quieter on the docks, where I live on a World War II tugboat with my wife and 8-month-old daughter. No shouts of seiners, or the hip-hop beat from deck speakers. Slight lift of the chin as you pass another. All that will start to change in the coming weeks, as seiners for the sac roe fishery begin arriving. Read the story here 12:53
Japanese Fishermen want workers’ comp for diseases allegedly linked to 1954 U.S. H-bomb tests
Former fishing boat crew members who developed cancer or heart diseases after being exposed to fallout from U.S. nuclear tests in the Pacific will apply for mariners insurance benefits more than 60 years after their exposure. If their illnesses are found to be related to doses of radiation, the benefits will be effectively treated as workmen’s compensation. The planned claims involve five former crew members in their 80s and two relatives of the deceased fishing boat workers in Kochi Prefecture, according to the center for supporting victims of nuclear tests in the Pacific, a citizens’ group based in Sukumo, Kochi Prefecture. Read the article here 11:07
F/V Saputi en route to Greenland after hitting ice, taking on water
A fishing vessel is en route to Nuuk, Greenland, after it struck ice Sunday night, tearing a hole into the hull. The F/V Saputi was fishing for turbot in the Davis Straight when it began taking on water. The Danish Coast Guard is en route to escort the ship to Nuuk. All 15 crew members on board are safe, said Harry Flaherty, president and CEO of the Qikiqtaaluk Fisheries Corporation. “Overall the pumps on the vessel was able to keep up [with] the influx of seawater,” he said. link 10:37
41st Maine Fishermen’s Forum on tap for March 3
The weather has been crazy this winter, with the temperature sometimes below zero one day and near 60 the next. A semblance of order will soon be restored as fishermen and members of a host of related industries gather at the Samoset Resort in Rockport for the 41st annual Maine Fishermen’s Forum. The full program — including more than 30 seminars on subjects related to the fishing industry, gear, regulations and the like — gets into full swing on Friday, March 4. That’s when the Maine Lobstermen’s Association will host its 62nd Annual Meeting. Read the article here 09:39 To visit the Maine Fishermen’s Forum website, Click here
We need a rigorous examination of our fishery, Phil Earle, Carbonear
An inquiry is the only thing that can save this province’s fishery. Other then the occasional comment of concern for the dwindling state of, and wrongs in, our fishery made in the media by a few truth-seekers and truth-speakers, who do not have a vested interest in the resource or who are not government or union position dependent, no one else in the province ever comments on, raises issues in, the pursuit of correcting the abuse and mismanagement of our fishery. The only thing that can save the fishery from its death spiral is the people of the province. Read the rest here 08:26
