Daily Archives: April 7, 2016
U.S. Labor Department: Two Gloucester Fish companies on hook for not paying overtime
The U.S. Labor Department has filed suit against two Gloucester waterfront businesses and their owner, seeking more than $200,000 in damages after the company failed to pay overtime to its workers over a three-year period. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Boston and announced this morning, targets Zeus Packing Inc. and Cape Ann Seafood Exchange, both based at 27 Harbor Loop, and their owner, Kristian Kristensen, is seeking $203,998 in liquidated damages for 132 workers, designed to compensate them for hardship they sustained by not having received the money they should have been paid, said Carlos Matos, the Labor Department’s wage and hour division’s Massachusetts district director this morning. Read the article here 22:28
Maine Marine Patrol charges two men for elver violations
Dana Wayne-Holmes, 61, of Gardiner was arrested on Saturday in Waldoboro after an investigation by the Maine Marine Patrol indicated that he was attempting to purchase and sell elvers without a license. Wayne-Holmes held an elver dealer license in 2015 but did not hold a dealer license for this year, Nichols said. The Maine Marine Patrol allegedly seized 13½ pounds of elvers from Wayne-Holmes worth more than $18,000 based on per pound value at the time of the violation. Also charged in the investigation was licensed harvester Irving Banks, 47 of Jefferson, who was accused of exceeding his individual elver quota, which is punishable by up to a year in jail and a $2,000 fine. Read the article here 20:23
Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council Announces Funded Collaborative Research Projects
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council announces that four research projects have been selected to receive a total of approximately $610,000 in funding as part of the Council’s 2016-2017 Collaborative Fisheries Research Program. The four projects each address research priorities identified by the Mid-Atlantic Council in a Request for Proposals distributed in December 2015. “Accurate information is the foundation of effective fisheries management,” said Council Chairman Rick Robins. “These research projects will help fill critical gaps in our understanding of Mid-Atlantic fisheries and ensure their continued sustainability.” Details on the selected projects are provided below. Click here for the details 18:36
The Cover Up Of The Texas American Eel – Part Three
While helping Texas Parks and Wildlife (TP&WD) with the Southern Flounder brood stock collection for restocking of Sabine Lake for 8 years, I have been researching the Texas American Eels. I had many questions in regards with the species and its regulations pertaining to catching. Thus to be safe, I got permission from TP&WD to do research on the American Eel in Texas. In addition, I would ask about the Texas American Eel research every few years to cover myself in case of any changes in Texas Parks and Wild Code. by Jason Fregia Part 3 Read the article here The Cover Up Of The Texas American Eel – Part Two Click here Part One Click here 17:44
Wiki-fishing: How Alaska’s smaller boats compete with vast trawlers
Stephen Rhoads, a commercial longline fisherman in Alaska’s verdant south-east panhandle, fishes by two rules. One is: stay married. Mr Rhoads has seen countless marriages of fellow fishermen sink under the weight of so many days at sea. The second rule is: use fewer hooks.,, A war between small family fishing operations and Seattle-based companies pushed Alaska to statehood in 1959. The state’s $6 billion commercial fishing industry still suffers from a David-and-Goliath complex . Over the years, Alaskan halibut fishermen have faced big reductions in their harvest limits while factory trawlers dump millions of pounds of dead halibut overboard as by-catch. Read the article here 16:42
Pacific Fishery Management Council Meeting in Vancouver, Washington April 8-14, 2016
The Pacific Fishery Management Council and its advisory bodies will meet April 8-14, 2016 in Vancouver, Washington, at Hilton Vancouver Washington. Download the June 2015 Meeting Notice WITH Agenda (includes full logistics for public comment deadlines). Listen to the Live Audio Stream, Enter your email, and the Webinar ID – The April 8-14, 2016 Webinar ID is: 105-442-547. 13:56
Always Top Quality! Your Seafreeze Ltd. Preferred Price List for April 7th 2016 Has Arrived!
Contact our sales team today @ 401 295 2585 or 800 732 273 Click here for the complete price list from Seafreeze Ltd. We are Direct to the Source-We are Fishermen-We are Seafreeze Ltd! Visit our website! 13:19
Locally caught Dungeness crab on sale, offering Bay Area fishermen some relief
Last week’s opening of the put fresh, local Dungeness in stores once again and got lots of Bay Area commercial fishermen back out on the ocean. Neither circumstance is expected to last much longer than a few more weeks, with winter long gone and the crab catch thus far below what it typically would be at the start of the season, according to industry veterans. “We’re not setting the world on fire,” fourth-generation fisherman Tony Anello said, “but we’re doing OK.” Read the article here 10:41
Newfoundland and Labrador: Fishing — by the numbers
It can make your eyes glaze over, I’ll grant you that. And if you’re not emotionally or financially tied to the argument that’s being hotly debated in the public forum, you probably have tuned out. So it is with the current, ongoing spat over northern shrimp. It’s the case of the duelling reports; with the Fish Food and Allied Workers on the one hand arguing the social and economic benefits of the inshore fishery, and the Canadian Association of Prawn Producers and their factor freezer trawlers on the other, with numbers to argue that they, too, employ local people and support the local economy. Both have statistics to support their cause. Both say the reports being used by their other side are flawed. Read the article here 09:38
Rhode Island Cod fishermen will benefit from federal cash
The state of Rhode Island has received nearly three-quarters of a million dollars to help fishermen affected by the 2013 groundfish disaster. The $705,658 in federal money, which will provide direct assistance to fishermen, was released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The money also will help recruit and train the industry’s work force. “Fishing is vital to our history and our economy, and we need smart policies and investments that will help set the fishery on a more viable, sustainable path for the future,” said U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, a Jamestown resident and a member of the appropriations subcommittee that led the effort. Read the rest here 08:31
The “Catch Shares Fishing Experience.” Texas charter captains use loophole to get around federal red snapper limits
The future of recreational fishing in the Gulf of Mexico is for sale in Texas. While charter boats and private recreational anglers in the Gulf were only allowed to catch red snapper in federal waters on 10 days last year, two companies in Galveston, Texas have been taking recreational anglers red snapper fishing all year round. The Texas companies have been getting around the federal limits and seasons by selling the “Catch Shares Fishing Experience.” The Texas companies involved own “catch shares” of the commercial red snapper fishery that allow them to harvest a set number of pounds per year for commercial sale. Instead of catching those fish with a professional crew and selling them to a fish house, the captains are taking recreational anglers fishing and letting them buy the fish afterward. Read the article here 07:54
