Daily Archives: April 1, 2016
Fisherman’s Wharf feast celebrates belated crab season, but exposes wounds
The dripping, juicy crab served to fishing industry dignitaries, politicians and other celebrators Friday in San Francisco may have served as a salve for those suffering from the late opening of the commercial Dungeness season, but it didn’t ease the belly pains caused by money troubles. “This has been a disaster,” said Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, who joined San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and state senators Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, and Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, in a crab feast at Fisherman’s Wharf honoring the crab season’s opening this week. Huffman seemed to catch himself and adjust his tone as he glimpsed the melted butter, fresh crab meat, sourdough bread and wine piled high on tables set up on the pier outside Seamen’s Memorial Chapel. Read the rest, Click here 22:33
LIFO suction – War between big fish and little fish, or perhaps corporations and small business
If the controversy over quotas in Shrimp Fishing Area 6 doesn’t sound familiar, it should. Because it really is the same old song and dance when it comes to our age-old industry: too many boats chasing too few fish — or, in this case, one of the species those fish feed on. Pandalus borealis — the northern shrimp — has gone a long way towards alleviating some of the pain caused by the collapse of the cod fishery almost 25 years ago. But it, too, has come under pressure, and the science indicates quotas must be reduced. Read the rest, Click here 17:45
West Ocean City harbor gets fishing boats back
Efforts by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to recreate a navigable channel from the Ocean City inlet to the West Ocean City harbor have apparently paid off, as several large commercial fishing operations were able to resume activities Monday out of the local port. Winter storms were blamed for increased sediment deposits near the inlet, making it difficult for some of the bigger fishing boats to navigate the area without becoming stuck or damaged. Merrill Campbell of Southern Connection Seafood was clearly overjoyed on Monday, saying the commercial fishing operations in West Ocean City were once again “open for business,” as at least three boats from the New Jersey area were docked there. Read the article, Click here 16:41
The Gulf of Maine Research Institute’s forecast could be affected by next week’s anticipated cold snap.
An early June start to this year’s lobster season appears less likely in the latest forecast by researchers, but water temperatures in the Gulf of Maine still favor a “very early” start by June 19 or so. Scientists at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute in Portland put the odds of a very early start to the season – meaning two to three weeks before the traditional early July start – at 62 percent in the latest update of the forecast, issued Thursday. Read the rest, Click here 11:28
ACOA loans a half-million dollars to a Nova Scotia company helping Chinese men get boners
The sea cucumber, an alleged aphrodisiac, is getting Nova Scotians excited. ACOA is extending a $500,000 loan to Ocean Pride Fisheries to develop products from sea cucumbers, reports the CBC: A relation of sea urchins and starfish, sea cucumbers are caught by dragging a narrow roll bar, which skips along the ocean floor. The company has an enterprise allocation quota for 771,100 kilograms caught off the coast of Nova Scotia. It currently employs about 70 people on a seasonal basis and will add another 25, according to [Ocean Pride president Jules] Leblanc. Read the post,click here 10:57
The Long Blue Line: Cutter Tamaroa and ‘The Perfect Storm’
This year marks the 25th anniversary of “The Perfect Storm,” also known as the “Halloween Nor’easter” because it struck in late October 1991. It was the third major weather event to hit the East Coast in an unusually active month. By October 28, two large weather systems collided off the East Coast. Hurricane Grace had formed the day before and was moving from the southeast on course for an un-named extra-tropical cyclone. The two weather systems spawned a much larger and more powerful storm. By October 30, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data buoys reported sustained winds of over sixty miles per hour with gusts well over 70 mph, and waves as high as 40 feet. Read the story, Click here 09:18
Department of Fisheries and Oceans cuts N.L. snow crab quotas for 2016 season
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans has cut the total allowable catch for snow crab in Newfoundland and Labrador
this upcoming season by about 13 per cent. Some fishing areas will see quota cuts of more than that — division 3Ps, in the Placentia Bay area, will see a 30 per cent reduction, while most areas of 3K, along the northeast coast, will see a 20 per cent cut. Some areas of 3LNO also face 20 per cent cuts. DFO has set the 2016 total limit at 43,802 tonnes. The first divisions open for fishing on April 4. Link 08:57
Use Property Rights to Save Fisheries Around the Globe, Says New Study – Who needs Science?!
If nothing is done to reform open-access fisheries around the world, fishing stocks could drop by as much as 77 percent below current levels by 2050, reports a new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. If, however, property rights were assigned to individual fishers or communities, the yield trajectory of most of the world’s fisheries would shift sharply upward and most would recover biologically in only 10 years. These conclusions were reached by a team of researchers led by University of California, Santa Barbara environmental scientist Christopher Costello in their study, “Global fishing prospects under contrasting management regimes.” The Bean Counters. Read the article, Click here 08:18
On the hook-At-sea monitoring fees are the latest threat to NH’s dwindling fishing industry
Working as both a biologist and a fisherman, David Goethel brings a unique perspective to the state and federal fishery management boards he’s an adviser on. “I’ve spent all my life acting as a translator because they speak all different languages,” says Goethel, who worked as a research biologist at the New England Aquarium before he became the owner and operator of the Ellen Diane, a 44-foot fishing trawler based out of Hampton. But the most recent disconnect between the factions has resulted in Goethel and other groundfishermen filing a federal lawsuit. Read the article, Click here 07:51
