Monthly Archives: February 2016
NOAA issues climate warning for scallops
The NOAA study, formally known as the Northeast Climate Vulnerability Assessment, said Atlantic sea scallops have “limited mobility and high sensitivity to the ocean acidification that will be more pronounced as water temperatures warm.” “The biomass has been increasing over the last 10 years, and there is no sign of it depleting because of the warmer waters,” Richard Canasta said. “They’re talking a few degrees, and that’s not going to make much of a difference in terms of scallop population.” Read the rest here 07:21
CFOOD: Ethical Issues in the Gulf Snapper Fishery
In 2007 the Gulf snapper fishery moved to an individual fishing quota management system (IFQ). Under this system, each fisher was allocated a certain amount of fish for the year instead of having a fishing season and race to fish. Kingpins of the Gulf make millions off red snapper harvest without ever going fishing by Ben Raines, AL.com January 24th 2016 “AL.com has looked into the issue of leasing of red snapper quota, and found that prices for commercial leases have meant working fishermen often pay more to lease snapper quota from the quota holders than they earn from the catching the fish itself. They question why commercial snapper, unlike oil or forestry products, should not be put out to bid, but allocated to the historical fishermen.” Raines concluded that 77 percent of the annual red snapper catch is held by just 55 people. Bruce Turris, President of Pacific Fisheries Management Inc. responds. Read it here 21:12
Judges Urge Mediation in Water Contract Fight
Calling an appeal between California environmentalists and federal agencies over expired water contracts a “bizarre position,” a Ninth Circuit panel Tuesday encouraged the parties to mediate the issue instead.,, Appellant Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations argued Tuesday that the federal government failed to do environmental impact statements and violated the National Environmental Policy Act by approving the interim contracts. The federation claims the government has repeatedly renewed two-year interim agreements with contractors and ignored the long-term environmental impacts on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Read the rest here 20:55
Finally, California Seeks Federal Disaster Declarations for Commercial Crab Fishing
In a letter to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. today requested federal declarations of a fishery disaster and a commercial fishery failure in response to the continued presence of unsafe levels of domoic acid, a potent neurotoxin, in Dungeness and rock crab fisheries across California and the corresponding closures of those fisheries. “Crabs are a vital component of California’s natural resources and provide significant aesthetic, recreational, commercial, cultural and economic benefits to our state,” Governor Brown said in the letter to Secretary Pritzker. “Economic assistance will be critical for the well-being of our fishing industry and our state.” Read the rest here 20:17
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for Feb 8, 2016
Click here to read the Weekly Update, to read all the updates, Click here 14:09
Coast Guard rescues two Fishermen Tuesday after boat overturns near Carolina Beach
The Coast Guard rescued two men Tuesday after their boat overturned near Carolina Beach. Sector North Carolina watchstanders received a report at 11:06 p.m. Monday stating two men, ages 25 and 35, were aboard the 41-foot fishing boat Allicat, when the boat ran aground in Snow’s Cut. The men remained aboard and waited for high tide to re-float the boat, but at 1:16 a.m. Tuesday, watchstanders received notice the vessel overturned and one man was in the water. Read the rest here 13:37
Moulton reports his letter spurs Reforms to NOAA observer program
Congressman Seth Moulton (D-MA) commended the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for agreeing to make important reforms to the Northeast Fishery Observer Program (NEFOP) for lobster fishing. In August, Moulton, along with Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senator Ed Markey, Congressman Stephen Lynch and Congressman Bill Keating sent a letter to NOAA that called on the agency to address issues with the observer program and its impact on the New England lobster industry. The letter asked for an action plan from NOAA for specific cost, sustainability and safety concerns raised by the region’s lobstermen. Read the rest here 12:44
Why Does the ‘Calamari Capital’ Import the Frozen Stuff from China When Buying Local Supports the Economy?
Globalization has hit Rhode Island hard. Those manufacturing jobs that allowed my immigrant parents and generations of other Rhode Islanders the opportunity to raise their families in modest comfort are long gone. It’s not just manufacturing, either. Our state is touted as the “calamari capital” of the world. Yet, walk into any local supermarket today and you will find packages of frozen calamari from China competing with offerings from Galilee, often at a lower price. Now, we can sit around and lament the impact that globalization has had on our local economy, or we can personally change this troubling societal trend by taking a very simple action. Read the article here 10:08
Cheap dollar paying off for lobster fishermen in southwestern Nova Scotia
Yarmouth – After being trapped by low shore prices in past years, this is a good season for lobster fishermen in southwestern Nova Scotia. What’s the catch? Many people are attributing the turnaround to the low Canadian dollar. Fishermen were paid around $6 a pound for their catches at the start of the season, compared to prices of $4 and even closer to $3 in recent years. Last week the price had climbed to around $10 a pound – not so great for the consumer, perhaps, but good for the fishermen. Read the story here 09:39
Shetland Fishermen’s Association (SFA) warns skippers of dangers fishing near Total’s gas pipelines in Yell Sound
The fishermen’s body has accused the company of “doing nothing” to make the area safe. It is urging shellfish boats in particular to stay away amid “serious” concerns for vessel safety. The concerns are due to the amount of rock dumped on top of the MEG (monoethylene glycol) and service lines running adjacent to the main gas pipelines coming from the Laggan-Tormore field west of Shetland. On Monday, following delays of more than 18 months, Total was finally able to announce that it had brought ashore the first gas as part of a £3.3 billion development viewed as crucial to the UK’s energy security. Read the rest here 08:55
Thomas O’Malley, of Marshfield, joins Mark Alliegro in race to unseat U.S. Rep. William Keating
“There’s a lack of common sense and nothing going on in Washington,” O’Malley said Monday about what prompted him to launch a campaign for Congress. “I want to bring common sense back to government.” Creating jobs in the district, easing government rules and regulations imposed on fishermen, stopping illegal immigration and strengthening the military to be “second to none” are major issues that should be addressed, O’Malley said. “He’s probably a nice man,” O’Malley said about Keating. “But I don’t think he’s done enough for the middle class and fishermen. He’s been in lockstep with the current administration and voted for the Iran deal, which has been horrendous for the U.S.” Read the rest here 08:26
FFAW ‘lied to and misled’ members about scallop settlement, says lawyer
A lawyer for scallop fishermen in the Strait of Belle Isle says the Fish Food and Allied Workers union lied to and misled members about a settlement with Nalcor. David Goodland made the comment Monday in the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador, where he summed up the case brought brought by 71 fishermen from the Great Northern Peninsula and southern Labrador. During summations from both sides, Cletus Flaherty, the FFAW lawer, argued that the court cannot consider any allegation of fraud because it’s not part of the fishermen’s statement of claim. Read the rest here 07:17
Kodiak Fisherman Charged With First-Degree Murder Claims Self Defense
The man killed at a Kodiak harbor early Sunday morning was shot with an assault rifle by a former crewmate aboard his fishing vessel, according to charging documents filed in the case. Kodiak police announced the arrest of Washington state resident Matt Bowe, 28, early Sunday in the death of 25-year-old Welton Daniel Albers. Albers, who went by “Dan,” was from Houston, Texas, according to a statement sent Monday by the Kodiak Police Department. According to an affidavit filed Sunday by Kodiak Police Department officer David Duncan, police first received a 911 call about the shooting about 12:45 a.m. Sunday. The caller, 26-year-old Everett Grass, told police that his friend had been shot several times aboard the fishing vessel Katherine. Grass frantically pleaded for officer assistance, the Kodiak statement said. Read the story here 05:53
Why is the NMFS calling the New Hampshire obligatory NEFMC seat vacated?
The state of New Hampshire has been notified by the National Marine Fisheries Service of vacancies for New Hampshire’s obligatory seat and two at-large seats for the New England Fishery Management Council. New Hampshire’s obligatory seat is held by Ellen Goethel, who is completing her first term as a council member. Read the article/notice here. The process of filling council seats requires the governor of each New England state to submit the names of at least three candidates to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce for consideration. The state of New Hampshire uses a public process to recommend individuals for the governor to consider for submission. 22:30
Icicle sues Alaska fisherman over $41k in unpaid credit
Alaska salmon processor Icicle Seafoods has sued a fisherman who it extended more than $41,000 in credit to but who allegedly never repaid the debt, the company said. The Kodiak, Alaska fisherman, Randy Blondin, used the credit provided through a “fisherman’s account” to outfit the vessel Stephanie Lynn for the 2014 fishing season, according to the company. The complaint asks a judge to order US Marshals to seize the vessel until the matter is resolved Read the rest here 16:26
Stephen Taufen – More than just Antitrust, Lender Liability & Your Boat Loan Read it here 20:54
F/V Ocean One breaks from anchor, drifts into Manasquan River railroad bridge
A commercial fishing boat anchored in a Manasquan River cove drifted into a NJ Transit railroad bridge this morning. The bridge spans the Manasquan River between Point Pleasant Beach and Brielle and carries train traffic along the North Jersey Coast Line. The unoccupied vessel, which has reportedly been anchored in a nearby cove for about two weeks, was towed to commercial docks by the U.S. Coast Guard, according to Jerry Meaney, a local first responder who posted a video of the scene. Link 14:26
‘Fish-Work’ chronicles commercial fishing lifestyle at Imogen Gallery
In anticipation of the upcoming FisherPoets Gathering, Imogen Gallery presents “Fish–Work,” an exhibition by professional artist and fisherman Corey Arnold of Portland. This will be Arnold’s second exhibition at Imogen, held in conjunction with the 2016 FisherPoets Gathering, an annual celebration of the fishing community, and a window into a very specific industry through stories and poetry written and recited by fisher folk. The exhibition opens Saturday, Feb. 13 for Astoria’s Second Saturday Art Walk with a reception from 5 to 8 p.m. Read the rest here 13:10
Commercial Crabber Fined for Overfishing
California wants a Washington state seafood company fined for the nearly two tons of dead Dungeness crabs it had to dump from a 17-ton haul: far more “dead loss” than can lawfully be taken even with a permit. A California Fish and Wildlife warden found defendant Pacific Dream’s commercial fishing boat, the Renard unloading crab caught in or around Half Moon Bay on Nov. 23, 2014. The captain showed a Dungeness Crab Vessel Permit and acknowledged the dead crabs came from his ship. The warden found 3,850 lbs. of dead crabs and 31,436 lbs. of live crabs. Read the rest here 12:39
Mid Atlantic Fishery Management Council Meeting in New Bern, NC February 9 – 11, 2016
The public is invited to attend the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s February, 2016 meeting on Tuesday, in New Bern, NC . Briefing Materials & Agenda Overview Agenda click here Attend Meeting with Adobe Connect Click here Listen Live! 12:15
Dockside killing in Kodiak – Washington man charged with 1st Degree murder
One 28-year-old fisherman is dead and another is in custody after an early Sunday shooting in Kodiak’s Saint Herman Harbor. Kodiak police were notified of the shooting in the Saint Herman Harbor area at around 12:40 a.m. Sunday morning. There, officers found an unresponsive male with multiple gunshot wounds, police wrote in a statement Sunday. Medics transported the 28-year-old victim to Providence Kodiak Island Medical Center where he was later pronounced deceased, KPD said. The victim has not yet been identified pending notification of family members. “Police took 28 year-old Matt Bowe, from Washington state into custody and have charged him with murder in the first degree,” Kodiak police wrote. Link 11:36
CSIRO head Larry Marshall defends climate research cuts as angry scientists protest
CSIRO head Larry Marshall has sought to defend deep cuts to climate science programs after days of sustained criticism, saying global warming research was “one piece of a much larger puzzle” in solving Australia’s biggest challenges. His defence came as dozens of scientists, including some whose jobs are under threat at CSIRO, rallied in Melbourne, warning the cuts would hurt Australia’s ability to address the climate change threat. Dr Marshall also claimed support for climate measurement, such as air pollution monitoring at the Cape Grim station in Tasmania and ocean research via the RV Investigator vessel, was not under threat. He said the Ocean and Atmosphere division of CSIRO would be reduced from 420 staff to 355. Read the rest here 10:43
Mandurah: men fined $8000 for interfering with crab pots “just having a look”.
Two Halls Head men have each been fined $8,000 for interfering with commercial crab pots. On a Thursday night on November 26 last year, a Fisheries and Marine officer saw two people in a small runabout travelling around the Peel-Harvey Estuary and Cox Bay. Aaron Edwin Pollard (32) and Andrew Michael Collyer (31) were ordered to each pay $8,000 in fines, plus court costs of $169.10, for illegally pulling four commercial crab pots in Cox Bay under the cover of darkness. A recorded interview was heard in Mandurah court last week, where the men admitted to Fisheries and Marine Officers that they pulled the pots with the intention of Read the rest here 08:23
Advocates Hope Seafood Marketing Campaign Will Net More Business for Local Fishing Industry
It took something terrible to turn Santa Barbara business advocates onto the idea of doing some good for the local commercial fishing industry. That awful thing — the May 2015 oil pipeline leak near Refugio State Beach — scared customers of all sorts away from seafood caught locally, crippling some fishing operations long after officials said the fare was safe to eat. Around that time, the Santa Barbara Chamber of Commerce realized it could do a better job serving fishermen by coming up with a collective campaign to brand local catch sold outside the area. Read the rest here 07:34
Fishing for China: Making money off Asia’s growing appetite
If you want to sell seafood to the Asian market, the China Fisheries and Seafood Expo in Qingdao is a must-attend. It’s the biggest of its kind in Asia and one of the biggest in the world. This year’s attendance weighed in at 30,000 people, 1,300 companies and 45 countries. At the corner booth of the Canadian pavilion — which is in just one of seven large convention centres, all on a massive exposition compound just on the edge of the port city of Qingdao — is the Newfoundland and Labrador counter. Read the rest here 06:43
Latest Green Idea: Pouring Millions of Tons of Bubble Mix into the Sea
A new study suggests that large ocean going ships could help reduce global warming, by pouring surfactants into their wake, to extend the life of the shiny bubbles churned up by ship’s propellers. According to the Huffington Post; … Crook and her co-authors maintain that their climate model shows the scheme could bring a 0.5-degree Celsius reduction in the Earth’s average surface temperature by 2069, helping to offset the 2-degree warming expected by then. Pouring enough surfactant into the sea, to allow bubbles to survive for 10 days in open water, might kill a lot of sea life. Surfactants are often used in cleaning products, such as dish washing liquid, because they are very effective at breaking up organic matter. Read the rest here 17:06
Farmed Atlantic Salmon make Seafood Watch’s ‘avoid’ list
Environmentalists and an aquaculture company disagree about the findings of a new report from the United States that advises consumers to avoid some farm-raised Atlantic Salmon. “It’s not surprising, it’s clear that we need to have improvements in Canada. If we want to even be nearly equivalent to some of the better practices that are happening in Norway and Scotland,” said Susanna Fuller, a Marine Conservation Coordinator with the Ecology Action Centre. Read the rest here 16:34
Pros and Cons Of Internet Onboard Ships: A Sailor’s Perspective
Beginning your career in the new millennium has its own plusses and minuses. One cannot take away the fact that seafaring was an entirely different ballgame ‘back in the days’. While one had to endure more hardships and longer tenures, life was a tad better off when it came to port stays, paperwork, commercial pressures, traffic density etc. Pros 1. Keeping abreast with current affairs and sporting events. CONS: 1. Onboard Social Life,,, Although this is about merchant mariners, Fishermen also have access to the internet. Interesting. Read the rest here. 15:38
Lake Okeechobee – More bad water? We hope not
Here we go again. Large amounts of polluted water from Lake Okeechobee are beginning to flow into the Caloosahatchee. This is harmful fresh water and is the result of a need to drop the lake level because of unprecedented rain amounts. It is water filled with the wrong kind of nutrients and phosphorous. It can create suffocating algae blooms, killing sea grass and marine life. It can impact tourism. No one wants to fish, swim or look at ugly water. Read the rest here 14:24
Water managers race to drain rising Lake Okeechobee risking wide spread damage to estuaries
The Corps could begin sending as much as 4.9 billion gallons of water — about 7,400 Olympic swimming pools — daily into the St. Lucie river on the east coast. Even more would be released into the larger Caloosahatchee on the west coast. Such massive dumps in the past have caused widespread damage to the estuaries at the mouths of the rivers, where seagrass beds and oysters can’t tolerate such high amounts of freshwater. Already, a brown plume has spread off the coast of Sanibel. The last time so much water was released, in 2013 and following a 1998 El Niño, fish kills and dead sea life lasted for months, infuriating local communities. Read the rest here 11:19
Lowenthal introduces Albatross and Petrel Conservation Act to protect imperiled seabirds
Congressman Alan Lowenthal (CA-47) today introduced new legislation that will protect imperiled seabirds from international fishing threats and increase ongoing conservation efforts in the United States and abroad. The Albatross and Petrel Conservation Act would implement the international Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP), a conservation agreement that has been signed by thirteen member countries since 2001. President George W. Bush first asked the U.S. Senate to ratify the agreement in 2008, and while President Barack Obama has listed it as a priority, the Senate has yet to take action. Read the rest here 11:00
