Monthly Archives: March 2016
Green light stops sea turtle deaths in gillnets
Illuminating fishing nets is a cost-effective means of dramatically reducing the number of sea turtles getting caught and dying unnecessarily, conservation biologists at the University of Exeter have found. Dr Jeffrey Mangel, a Darwin Initiative research fellow based in Peru, and Professor Brendan Godley, from the Centre for Ecology and Conservation at the University’s Penryn Campus, were part of a team of researchers who found that attaching green battery-powered light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to gillnets used by a small-scale fishery reduced the number of green turtle deaths by 64 per cent, without reducing the intended catch of fish. It is the first time that lighting technology has been trialled in a working fishery. At a cost of £1.40 ($2) for each LED light, the research showed that the cost of saving one turtle was £24 ($34) – a sum which would be reduced if the method was rolled out at larger scale. Read the rest here 08:57
Vision for New Bedford’s waterfront focuses on fishing, revamped State Pier
Expanding the scope of New Bedford’s commercial fishing industry — and showcasing it with greater public access on a revitalized, multi-use State Pier — are key components of a detailed vision for the city’s entire waterfront outlined in a report that culminates an 18-month planning process and looks decades into the future. Boston consultants Sasaki Associates focus on three waterfront sections: northern, roughly from the Whale’s Tooth parking lot to I-195; central, roughly from Route 6 into the NStar site of a failed casino bid, now used by Sprague Oil and Eversource Energy; and southern, primarily involving the Marine Commerce Terminal and surrounding parcels. Read the rest here 08:22
Coast Guard suspends search for fishing boat skipper
Coast Guard officials say the search for a captain who disappeared when a boat with a load of fish overturned has been suspended. The search ended at 7 p.m. Wednesday after 11 hours. Coast Guard spokeswoman Rachel Steiner said the Patty AJ capsized Wednesday while making a turn in the channel of Coos Bay. Three of the four people aboard the vessel reached safety while a Coast Guard helicopter, two boats and a dive squad scrambled to find the captain. Read the rest here 07:38
Framework 55 slashes groundfish quotas, halves at-sea monitors, enviros pissed
It seems the proposed rule, also known as Framework 55, has a little bit of something for everyone to hate. They have until close of business on April 5 to submit their comments to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Environmental groups, such as Oceana, are bitterly criticizing the projected reduction in ASM for groundfish boats to about 14 percent from about 24 percent, saying the rule will “weaken the chances of recovery for this historic fishery.” Fishermen point to the further reductions in what they already consider minuscule catch quotas and say those reductions — combined with the absorption of the costs for ASM — could finally be the management initiative that shutters the Northeast multispecies groundfish fishery for good. Read the rest here 20:10
Scientists skeptical over proposed EU ban for North American lobsters
North American scientists are refuting Sweden’s claim that an all-out trade ban is needed to head off an invasion of eastern North American lobsters, a move that would rob the Canadian industry of a multi-million dollar market. Last week, petitioned the European Union to list the American lobster as a foreign species, which would prohibit U.S. and Canadian imports of live lobsters to its 28 member states. The move would pose a major threat to Canada’s East Coast fishery which imported about $75 million in live lobster to European markets last year, a figure that the Lobster Council of Canada says accounts for about 10 per cent of live exports. Read the rest here 16:26
Fishing vessel capsizes in the channel of Coos Bay, three safe, skipper believed to be trapped onboard
Rescuers scrambled to find a fishing skipper believed trapped within his capsized vessel in the channel of Coos Bay near the bar just out of Charleston at Buoy 5 Wednesday morning. Coast Guard spokeswoman Rachel Steiner said the Patty AJ was headed into port with a load of fish when it capsized during a turn. Three other crew members were able to escape. A Coast Guard helicopter, two boats and a dive squad were on scene this morning attempting to find the captain. Read the rest here 15:02
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 135′ RSW Trawler 12 Cylinder (2) CAT 3412, CAT Auxiliary’s
Specifications, information and 14 photo’s click here To see all the boats in this series, Click here 12:27
Santa Cruz boaters, crabbers upset with harbor entrance restrictions
Boaters and crab fisherman had a few salty words for leaders of the Santa Cruz Port Commission at its meeting Tuesday night, blaming them for poor management of the harbor entrance that could leave crab fisherman unable to motor out of the harbor when commercial crab season opens Friday. Lisa Ekers, the port director, said dredge operators would work day and night starting Wednesday to take advantage of expected dry weather and smaller surf. Commercial fisherman Jason Collins said he was frustrated that more wasn’t done to prepare for an El Niño winter predicted to have larger than normal surf, rainstorms and tons of sand drifting east from the San Lorenzo River near the harbor. photo gallery, Read the article here 09:44
P.E.I. fishermen have concerns about some proposed safety requirements
The P.E.I. Fishermen’s Association has concerns about some of Transport Canada’s proposed changes to safety requirements for commercial fishing vessels. Transport Canada says these changes are designed to help prevent accidents and loss of life. It notes 58 per cent of the fatalities are caused by stability-related accidents and 27 per cent are caused by falling overboard. The proposed changes include new safety equipment requirements, introducing safe operating procedures for crews, and requiring stability assessments for some existing and all new fishing vessels. Read the rest here 08:56
Alaska trawlers furious about Walker’s council nominations
Two months after a heated meeting, trawlers are again accusing Alaska Department of Fish and Game Commissioner Sam Cotten of short-changing their industry. Gov. Bill Walker submitted nominations to fill two seats of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council on March 9, sending waves of dissatisfaction throughout an industry segment that claims Walker’s administration is forcing it out of the process at the worst time possible. Trawlers claim nominees were chosen based on fealty to a specific vision of Alaska fisheries rather than experience. Read the rest here 08:07
Maine: Despite chill, elver fishermen eager for start of season
Along the banks of the Union River on Tuesday morning, between the boat launch on Water Street and the Leonard Lake dam, more than a dozen elver fishermen were staking out their spots, waiting for noon to come so they could set up their nets along the banks. More than 10 miles away, in a marsh at the edge of Hog Bay in Franklin, lifelong fisherman Babe Stanley had the banks of a tidal stream all to himself — except for robins darting about and a fox that ran up a nearby hillside. Stanley, 87, trekked through ankle-deep snow that morning from Route 200 to a bend in the creek where he usually sets his nets to await the start of Maine’s 2016 elver season. Read the article here 07:54
New England Fishermen face devastating cod cuts
New Bedford’s commercial fishing industry — battered by last month’s arrest of magnate Carlos Rafael on federal conspiracy charges, last week’s drug raids on the waterfront and ongoing monitoring costs — took another punch to the gut this week, as government regulators proposed new cuts to cod catches that could take effect May 1. “Those cuts will be devastating to the groundfishing fleet of New Bedford, and the whole New England coast,” said John Haran, manager of groundfish Sector 13. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), in conjunction with the New England Fishery Management Council, released a proposed update Monday to the federal management plan for the northeastern fishery. Read the rest here 20:45
Slowing Chinese lobster demand, anticipated early season likely mean more conservative pricing
Lobster prices have fallen significantly after anticipation of continued strong growth in Chinese demand failed to come to fruition, with some industry executives expecting more conservative pricing for next season. In September last year, strong Chinese demand was keeping lobster prices high despite the usual post-Labor Day slowdown in the US, with softshell lobster selling for between $4.75 to $5.75 a pound. Some sources predicted that high prices could remain the norm for the foreseeable future. “Last year prices surged, but we had a long cold winter, supply was short, demand from China drove prices up pretty [high],” said Neil Zarella of Boston Lobster Company. Read the article here 15:39
Comment by John Sibert, University of Hawaii: Environmental Bullies – Conservationists or Agenda-pushers?
Dr. Molly Lutcavage wrote a piece last week on Medium titled, Environmental Bullies, how conservation ideologues attack scientists who don’t agree with them. Though a summary follows, we encourage you all to read the article here. Dr. Lutcavage felt Carl Safina and other ENGOs like Pew Oceans have maligned her and her peers for their research because it would, “get in the way of fund-raising campaigns, messages to the media, book sales, rich donors, and perhaps the most insidious – attempts to influence US fisheries and ocean policies.” I, like many other scientists, practice my profession with the expectation that my work will be used to improve management policies. However, scientists who choose to work on subjects that intersect with management of natural resources sometimes become targets of special interest pressures. Pressure to change or “spin” research results occurs more often than it should. Read the comment here 14:23
Feds halt South Atlantic offshore drilling leases , but not seismic testing
There were public expressions of surprise, relief and victory from environmental groups and local officials after the U.S. Department of Interior’s March 15 announcement that there would be no offshore drilling leases in the Atlantic Ocean for the 2017-2022 period. But for drilling opponents and environmental advocates, that celebration has been tempered somewhat by news that, even without drilling, the process of awarding permits for seismic testing in the Atlantic will go ahead — and could lead to such testing later this year. Read the rest here 13:07
Scots fishermen’s leader caught up in suspected terror attack
A SCOT spoke today of how his decision to have a lie-in possibly saved his life as terrorists struck in Brussels. Fishermen’s leader Michael Park , 56, from Stonehaven, alerted friends with a Facebook post: “Nearly took the flight. Thank God I didn’t. “NATO say it’s part of a coordinated attack with more to come. Not good when your sitting on Eurostar in Brussels.” Michael had also been staying in a hotel near the Parliament and next door to the Metro where another bomb is reported to have gone off. Read the rest here 09:14
Pillar Point Harbor bustles as crabbing opens: Commercial fishermen preparing for short Dungeness season
Months behind schedule after California’s annual nearly $90 million Dungeness crabbing industry was shuttered this year, commercial fishermen are anxiously preparing for the season to open this weekend after state officials announced the delectable crustaceans are finally safe to eat. Pillar Point Harbor in Half Moon Bay is again a flurry of action with captains and their crews gearing up to reel in the year’s first commercially-caught crab as early as Saturday morning. Porter McHenry, captain of the Merva W and president of the Half Moon Bay Seafood Marketing Association, said he’s eager to put his crew to work and locals are rushing to get ready after being given just a week’s notice. Read the rest here 08:41
Rep. Bill Straus — Impact of the federal fisheries arrests in New Bedford
By now the local reaction to the waterfront arrests in New Bedford of one of the port’s major figures has begun to shift to inevitable questions of the role of the federal government in the regulation of commercial fishing. Operating under federal law, the current groundfish system of control, the so-called “catch shares” plan, began with Amendment 16 in 2009 by vote of the New England Fishery Management Council. This intricate system of allocating by fish species what can be caught and landed by licensed federal permit holders has clearly changed the market economics for New England fishing; a rapid concentration of fish permit holders has led to what functions as a government-created near monopoly. Read the rest here 07:43
National Fisheries Institute Statement on EU Lobster Trade Discussion
It is important to note that there is no EU ban on imported live lobsters from North America. Sweden has raised the specter of such a prohibition but no embargo has been implemented. We will work with our European colleagues to better appreciate their apprehensions. We need to understand how 32 lobsters found in EU waters over an 8-year period constitutes an “invasion.” We will also work to identify credible, science-based solutions to reduce the chances of live North American lobsters entering EU waters. Read the rest here 14:59
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for March 21, 2016
Click here to read the Weekly Update, to read all the updates, Click here 14:31
Chase the Ace winner helps son to follow his dream of becoming a fisherman!
A Nova Scotia woman who won $1.7 million in a local lottery that triggered a province-wide “Chase the Ace” craze says her son has been able to follow his dream of becoming a lobster fisherman because of her winnings. Donelda MacAskill won the jackpot last October in a game of Chase the Ace that drew tens of thousands of people to the tiny Cape Breton community of Inverness. The 61-year-old woman from Englishtown, N.S., said since her big win, she’s helped her 38-year-old son Kenzie follow in his father’s footsteps to attain a lobster fishing license of his own. Read the rest here 11:28
The Governor needs to fix the dysfunction at the Division of Marine Fisheries
We (Beaufort Observer) have reported a number of articles on the N. C. Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF). Our focus has been mostly on the inadequacy of the “science” DMF and its Marine Fisheries Commission (MFC) use to regulate the fisheries industry in North Carolina. However, in the course of researching these articles we have learned a great deal about how the DMF operates. It is another classic tale of a bloated bureaucracy that has become entangled in . We’ll save the details for later articles we are still working on, but what we have seen in DMF has been a perfect example of “mission creep” and a “solution looking for a problem to solve.” Read the rest here 10:51
Sister marks 50th anniversary of Blue Mist II tragedy with wreath ceremony
For Georgina Moss of Gander, February 18th has always been a special day — it’s her birthday. But in 1966, the date became significant for a different reason. It was on that day that her two brothers, John and Max, died aboard the Blue Mist II along with 11 crew members. The fishing trawler was caught in a winter storm off Cape Anguille along the west coast. This year, to mark the 50th anniversary, Moss was finally able to commemorate her brothers. Her family contacted the local 103 Search and Rescue Squadron and asked if she could drop a wreath into the ocean near the site of the tragedy. An audio story of the tragedy is with the article. Read the rest here 09:06
Scientists, lobstermen disagree on state of fishery
Mark Sweitzer has a degree in chemistry, but he began fishing for lobster back in the 1970s and is still at it today. Sweitzer fishes out of the Port of Galilee on the F/V Erika Knight. “I like being outside,” he said. “I always thought about going back to school for geology or forestry or something like that, that would enable me to be outside. I love being outside and I love being around the ocean, so that was a big part of it, and I like having my own business.” Rhode Island’s lobster fishery may never see another boom time like the period in the ’80s and ’90s when there were plenty of lobsters and lots of money to be made. There are fewer lobsters and fewer lobster fishermen today, but explanations for the stock fluctuation vary widely. Read the rest here 08:19
Coast Guard rescues three New London fishermen after their boat catches fire
Crew members from the U.S. Coast Guard Station New London rescued three New London fishermen from an area south of Fishers Island Sunday morning after their boat caught fire. The father of one of the three crewmembers of the Long Shot, a 50-foot liner stationed in New London, called the Coast Guard from shore about 6:45 a.m. Sunday to tell them the boat had caught fire on Cerberus Shoal, located about halfway between Fishers Island and Montauk. Read the rest here 17:59
Investigators claim Skipper to blame for sinking of north-east trawler
A skipper of a north-east trawler that sank off the Atlantic coast has been blamed for causing it to capsize. The Banff-registered Kairos sank off the Isles of Scilly last May, after overturning as the crew tried to recover a lost net in rough seas. The Marine Accident Investigation Branch launched a probe into the incident, and released their findings yesterday – ruling skipper Alan Bolt’s actions were “directly” to blame for the boat being lost. The body ruled the 46-year-old did not consider the hazards of continuing to try and retrieve a lost net in worsening sea conditions, and that the boat’s loss was “inevitable”. Read the story here 14:10
Letter: Rafael stains the whole waterfront,
Congratulations to NOAA, the IRS, and the Coast Guard for taking down Carlos Rafael
. His demise is cheered by the intrepid fishermen of New Bedford. The fishermen who venture hundreds of miles out to sea for many nights are loyal to their fishing tradition. They must be, to survive. If a crew member shirks, the crew must make up for his failure. No parasites at sea. The Coast Guard at Otis sleep next to their choppers, and rise up at night to go out, whether stormy, icy, foggy, or all three, to save the souls of the fishing folk. No parasites on Coast Guard choppers. Read the rest here 11:33
Their proposal would hurt North Carolinians – Jerry Schill, President, North Carolina Fisheries Association
In response to a letter to the editor, “Thoughts on marine fisheries,” Wednesday, March 16, I offer the following comments. It should be noted that the Kinston authors sent the letter to several media outlets. On the subject of shrimp trawling, the writers fail to acknowledge the many studies done by researchers over the years that have documented bycatch associated with this fishery and that despite decades of trawling, overall benthic productivity is dramatically increased. They also ignore the efforts by commercial fishermen to work proactively to reduce bycatch. Those studies began in the late 1980s and resulted with bycatch reduction devices in shrimp trawls. Currently, even though North Carolina is ahead of federal requirements to reduce bycatch, there is cooperative research ongoing to reduce it even further. Read the rest here 10:11
Federal regulations are sinking New Hampshire’s historic fishing industry
On New Hampshire’s Seacoast, Granite State fishermen tell the tale of an out-of-control federal agency more dangerous than any sea monster. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration severely limits their catch of ground fish, flounder and cod that dwell in the Gulf of Maine. International competitors face fewer rules and supply most U.S. seafood. Dave Goethel of the Yankee Fishermen’s Cooperative in Seabrook estimates that NOAA, which manages U.S. fisheries and the president’s climate change agenda, has reduced his catch by 95 percent. Read the rest here 09:40
Walker administration says loophole costs $1.4M in taxes from some of the big Washington-based factory trawlers
Gov. Bill Walker’s proposed fish tax increase has drawn attention to a loophole giving a discount of as much as $1.4 million a year to some of the big Washington-based factory trawlers that fish off Alaska’s coast — and Walker’s administration is working to fix it. Price estimates used by the state to assess existing taxes on 300 million pounds of yellowfin sole are less than one-sixth of the true prices upon which the taxes are supposed to be based, according to officials at the state Fish and Game department. Four other types of fish have also been discounted, some drastically, the department says, while one has been overvalued. Read the rest here 00:11
