Daily Archives: February 24, 2016
Hampton Roads – 12 people lose fishing licenses following “serious violations”
Twelve people across Hampton Roads had their fishing license revoked for “serious violations” in January and February. The 
Virginia Marine Resources Commission filed the violations at its January and February meetings, said spokeswoman Laurie Naismith. Violations include Convictions of giving a false statement/altering a fishing license, one count of failure to have an approved receptacle for sewage disposal on board an oyster harvesting vessel, failure to report mandatory harvest reports and three counts of forging a public document, and so on. Read the rest here 22:03
WAIT!! That Coast Guard boats under 36 feet life raft rule that has you runnin’ like a fool? Its on hold!
New life raft regulations for fishing boats no longer required – Less than two weeks ago, U.S. Coast Guard officials were in Petersburg explaining new safety requirements announced in January: that fishing boats under 36 feet would have to carry life rafts if traveling more than three miles off shore. The law was supposed to take effect Feb. 26. Also, larger boats over 36 feet needed to upgrade their life rings or floats to life rafts by Nov. 1. But all that’s changed. “It’s all been put on hold,” said Steve Ramp, Commercial Fishing Vessel Examiner for the Coast Guard based in Sitka. He said Congress decided to repeal the change in safety requirements earlier this month. Read the rest here 19:59
Complete video – Subcommittee Hearing – Magnuson-Stevens Act at 40: Successes, Challenges and the Path Forward
The
will hold(held) a hearing on the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA), the law that guides the management of federal fisheries, on Tuesday, February 23, at 2:30 p.m.The hearing will examine the fishery law’s successes, challenges, and future on the 40th anniversary of its enactment into law. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is currently revising a cornerstone of MSA implementation, known as National Standard 1, that prevents overfishing. The hearing will focus on that rulemaking and if revisions to the MSA are necessary. Watch the video here 16:25
Tootoo urged to promote TPP and billions in seafood exports, briefings show
Federal Fisheries and Oceans Minister Hunter Tootoo is being urged by his department in a new briefing documents to help it rebuild its scientific capacity after it was gutted by the former Harper government. The federal department, responsible for protecting Canada’s fisheries and oceans and promoting sustainable development, told Tootoo in the internal briefings that several of its divisions suffered more than $150 million in cuts to annual budgets under the former government, including a struggling Canadian Coast Guard service. At the same time, the briefing notes touted recent trade agreements, including the controversial , saying they were offering growth opportunities for Canadian fisheries exports. Read the article here 15:26
Marine Resources Committee approves stripped-down version of lobster license changes
Lawmakers on the committee that handles marine resources issues voted Wednesday to make modest changes in the rules that control lobster fishing licenses in Maine, side-stepping a more controversial proposal for access to Maine’s most lucrative fishery. Members of the Marine Resources Committee voted 11-1 to increase the age for young people to finish a required apprenticeship program, and to take steps to verify the validity of hundreds of names on a license waiting list. The action was a compromise between attempts by the Department of Marine Resources to trim the waiting list without hurting the resource and established lobstermen, who were opposed to what they saw as a loss of control and the potential for overfishing. Read the rest here 14:38
Catch Shares: West coast groundfish management is disaster, say participants
The Pacific Groundfish Quota Program Workshop Workshop brought together nearly 200 people who had been involved in creating, implementing, or making a living under the program, to look at successes and failures in the past five years. Most found the program had both, but criticism was harsh at the two-day workshop, held in Portland a few months before the Pacific Council begins the program’s first five-year review. The workshop was also known as Santa Rosa III, the third workshop of stakeholders looking at performance. The first in the series was held in Santa Rosa near the start of the IFQ program. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), who implemented the program in 2011, offered a scorecard of three successes and five “causes for concern” since the program began. Others were more blunt. Read the article here 13:52
Electronic Monitoring: Different Fisheries Require Different Solutions
Dan Falvey fishes aboard the 50-foot FV Magia out of Sitka, Alaska, for Pacific cod, black cod, and halibut. Alongside that boat two cameras lean out over the water, each pointed at the spot where the longline emerges from the deep. When the hydraulic winch kicks into gear and the line starts coming in, the cameras switch on, recording high-definition video of everything the fishermen pull out of the water. Knowing what species come out of the water, and how much of each, is key to managing fisheries sustainably. In many fisheries, boats are required to carry an observer onboard to record that data. Read the NOAA article here 11:54
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 65′ Steel RSW Offshore Lobster, 570HP CAT, John Deere 45 KW Generator
Specifications, information and 11 photo’s click here To see all the boats in this series, Click here 11:19
Improving the lobster industry – By Rep. Lydia Blume
When people across the world think of Maine, one of the first things that come to mind is lobster. Lobster and its fishery are central to the culture and the psyche of our state – especially our coastal communities. It is one of the major reasons people visit Maine and the lobster industry contributes greatly to our overall economy. Our is special and the envy of the world. Lobstermen developed their own system of conservation measures to ensure the sustainability of the fishery long before the concept was common practice. It is well worth protecting and improving when needed. Why is this fishery so successful? There are three basic reasons. Read the rest here 10:10
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for Feb 22, 2016
Click here to read the Weekly Update, to read all the updates, Click here 09:56
Pacific herring – Fish Fight in San Francisco Bay
In January, Nate Lee and his daughter Maya threw circular cast nets from the Ferry Point pier in Richmond and caught about sixty pounds of 
. Several dozen other fishermen were fishing with similar gear, all filling buckets and coolers with the six-inch fish. But for Lee, Chin, and hundreds of small-scale recreational fishermen in the Bay Area, the rules may soon be changing. Currently, there is no limit on how many herring that recreational anglers can catch. And commercial fishermen want fishery managers to cinch down on what they see as growing competition for — and possibly a threat to — the same resource. Oceana’s Geoff Shester weighs in. Read the rest here 09:29
Event filled Summit for commercial fishermen set for Tuesday at the Pontchartrain Center in Kenner
Louisiana’s annual fisheries summit, designed to acquaint commercial fishers and others in the seafood business with new technologies and marketing techniques, is scheduled to open Tuesday morning . Held for the past three years in Houma, the event had its venue changed as a way of encouraging more of the state’s fishermen to attend. The summit will provide fishermen, dock owners, processors and other related businesses “an opportunity to network and obtain information on what’s happening in the commercial fishing and seafood industries.” It is sponsored by Sea Grant, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and the LSU AgCenter, as a voluntary education program. Read the rest here 09:06
New Port of Brookings Harbor plant brings jobs
The new structure under construction at the Port of Brookings Harbor will soon allow seafood caught by commercial trawlers to be processed locally, creating about 25 new jobs. Located next to the cold storage facility on Lower Harbor Road, the facility is being built and will be operated by Brookings-based buyer B.C. Fisheries. It is scheduled to open in time for shrimp season. “Completion of the plant will be done around June, but we’ll be operational by April 15,” said Mike Manning, a port commissioner and owner of B.C. Fisheries, at a meeting Feb. 16. Processors will initially focus on cooking and peeling Oregon pink shrimp, sending the product to distributors on the West Coast. Read the rest here 08:38
