Daily Archives: March 4, 2016
Almost 20 years ago, a big bust! – Cape Cod brothers, scallopers face possible $5.8 million fines
In what officials say are the largest fisheries sanctions ever sought in the Northeast two Cape Cod brothers and their fleet of scallopers out of Fall River face proposed civil penalties of more than $5.8 million. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has cited James G. Spalt of Barnstable and Peter Spalt of Marston Mills their fish processing corporation Cape Spray Fisheries five fishing boats and 12 fishing captains for some 300 fisheries violations under the Magunson Fisheries Conservation and Management Act. “It certainly is the biggest (fine) in this region within anyone’s memory” said Terry Frady a public affairs spokesman for the National Marine Fisheries Service. Read the rest here – This is how it ended up, Brothers to pay $2 million to settle fishery fraud – Read the rest here 16:42
Public asked to report illegal fishing on Coast Guard tip line following the big bust
Days after the owner of a large-scale New Bedford fishing operation was arrested on federal charges that he has been falsifying records to conceal quota violations for years, the U.S. Coast Guard in Boston is asking the public to report illegal fishing by calling a toll-free tip line. A news release issued Wednesday said confidential tips can be left anonymously at (844) 847-2431. Petty Officer Andrew Barresi said Thursday that the tip line isn’t new, but the Coast Guard wanted “to really get out the word” to anyone who knows of illegal activity that “there’s a place that you can report it.” People who might call the number could be fishing boat captains, deck hands, family members, “anybody who sees something suspicious,” Barresi said. well, alrighty then! Read the rest here 16:05
Maine’s 2015 lobster catch value jumps by $37 million
The volume was down but the value was up for Maine’s 2015 total lobster haul, according to the Maine Department of Marine Resources. The estimated cumulative gross income for the statewide lobster fishing fleet increased from $458 million in 2014 to $495 million last year – a jump of $37 million, according to a press release issued Thursday night by DMR. It is the sixth year in a row that the estimated dockside value of Maine’s annual lobster harvest has hit an all-time high. And for the first time since 2007 — before the onset of the Great Recession — the average per-pound price that Maine fishermen were paid for their catch was more than $4. That average increased from $3.70 in 2014 to $4.09 in 2015, according to the release. Read the rest here 15:09
Trawler can’t clear Ocean City Inlet, Smaller fishing vessel ferries catch
Though an adjusted schedule hastens the arrival of the Currituck to dredge the commercially paralyzed Ocean City Inlet, at least one boat, the Instigator, has begun offloading its catch at the White Marlin Marina on Somerset Street in Ocean City. On Monday and Wednesday, the 80-foot trawler was forced to use the marina as a backup mooring location, unloading thousands of pounds of sea bass onto a smaller fishing boat, the Skilligalee, which hauled the catch from Ocean City to the commercial harbor in several trips. The catch was then processed normally as the smaller vessel reported no problems navigating the inlet. Read the rest here 14:42
Just now! A tight fit.
A tugboat takes the clammer F/V Star Light through the Fairhaven bridge skillfully navigating the narrow opening with little room to spare. 11:39
What happened to the mullet? Fish is scarce in Lee County
Whether from Mother Nature, red tide, the Lake Okeechobee releases or all three, local fishermen face financial impact, as do the commercial fisheries they supply. The mullet are missing. The silvery fish are usually plentiful this time of year. And smoked mullet is a menu staple at seafood restaurants across Southwest Florida. But some local restaurants, seafood markets and commercial fishing businesses say they are having a hard time finding mullet. The chief suspects in the declining numbers are Mother Nature, red tide and releases of dirty water from Lake Okeechobee. Read the rest here 11:20
Mississippi Oyster fishermen working once again as reefs re-open
Fresh, Mississippi oysters are available once again now that oyster season re-opened at sunrise Thursday. After being closed since early December, oyster fishermen say they are happy to be working the reefs again. Boats loaded with sacks of fresh oysters arrived at the seafood docks in Pass Christian late Thursday morning. “Definitely happy to be back fishing again,” said fisherman, John Livings. Livings’ boat was among the first to unload its 25 sack limit. Soon, others were waiting in line at the docks. “They didn’t grow as much as we thought they was going to grow. At least we got to go to work and make our limit. So it’s good,” Livings explained. Read the rest here 10:25
Keith Sullivan set the tone early at FFAW shrimp rally Thursday, railing against “that bullshit policy, LIFO”
Fishermen’s union president Keith Sullivan set the tone early at a shrimp rally Thursday, railing against “that bullshit policy, LIFO” — last in, first out — and how it affects Newfoundland and Labrador harvesters. A little while later, when Fogo Island Mayor Andrew Shea suggested that some civil disobedience might be needed — breaking down doors, or tying up the big foreign freezer trawlers at the wharf — a harvester towards the back of the room shouted, “Come on, let’s go!” His friend leaned over and said to him, “In jail, you will be.” The first harvester replied, “I don’t give a f—.” Bill Broderick, a representative for the Fish, Food and Allied Workers (FFAW), reminded the crowd that non-violent political action is what they’re going for. Read the rest here 08:47
B.C. First Nation vows to stop herring roe fishery in its territory
The Tla’amin First Nation has served notice that it will take action to halt any commercial herring roe fishery in its traditional territory. A band council resolution sent to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) says a commercial fishery would cause “irreversible damage” to a herring stock that is just showing signs of recovery after a catastrophic collapse in the 1980s. “If the decision of Fisheries and Oceans Canada is to proceed with the commercial herring fishery, Tla’amin Nation will take steps to restrain the mismanagement of the fishery,” the resolution reads. A DFO manager alerted the band’s fisheries manager Kevin Timothy to the possibility of a commercial opening in waters near Powell River. Read the rest here 08:24
Squeezed Scallops Land High Prices
With her shrimp-colored outriggers and a home port of Seaford, Va., it wasn’t hard to wonder what a boat like Carolina Queen III was doing so far up north when she ran aground in a storm near Rockaway Inlet on Long Island last week. Turns out she was chasing the nation’s most lucrative fishery: sea scallops, which, in 2014, amounted to a $400 million market. “It’s a pretty mobile fleet,” said Deirdre Boelke, the sea scallop fishery analyst for the New England Fishery Management Council, explaining that the fishery spans an area from North Carolina to Maine, and that scallops prefer a depth of about 50 meters, or 150 feet. Read the rest here 07:43
Speier, Huffman introduce disaster relief funding bill – The Crab Emergency Disaster Assistance Act of 2016
U.S. representatives will announce legislation that would provide California fishermen and businesses with $138 million in funding. The Crab Emergency Disaster Assistance Act of 2016 would provide $138.15 million in assistance to Dungeness and rock crab fishermen and related businesses. The funding is contingent on U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker declaring the state’s crab fishing industry a disaster and a commercial fishery failure. This comes after the shutdown of this year’s commercial crab season. The season was supposed to open on Nov. 17 but remained closed because of high levels of harmful acid in the crab. Read the rest here 07:21
