Daily Archives: May 3, 2016
Coast Guard, NOAA resolve two closed area fishing cases for $80,000
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recently resolved two civil penalty cases with two separate fishing vessel owners who violated the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act when their crews were found fishing in closed areas. Following up on a referral from the NOAA Office of Law Enforcement Vessel Monitoring program, a Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod HC-144 crew sighted the fishing vessel Warrior, homeported in New Bedford, Mass., on March 21, 2014 fishing for scallops within Closed Area II Essential Fish Habitat, which is about 120 miles east of Cape Cod, Mass. On April 30, 2013 the fishing vessel Crystal Girl B, a vessel homeported in Cape May, N.J. was also detected fishing for scallops inside Closed Area I, an area about 30 miles southeast of Cape Cod, Mass., by a crew aboard the Coast Guard cutter Tybee. The Warrior owner paid a civil penalty of $39,360 on April 1, 2016 for fishing in a closed area and deficiencies with its vessel monitoring system and the Crystal Girl B owner agreed to pay $40,750 on March 18, 2016 for closed area violations, including fishing in a closed area. Read the rest here 18:39
What is Pew really up to?!! The UN and the Oiligarchs Are Teaming Up to Take Over the Oceans
Spiro Skouras joins us today to discuss his recent expose on the UN’s Agenda 2030 global goals, its oiligarch and billionaire backers, and the attempt to take over the world’s oceans. From “no go zones” and hydrocarbon rights to the shady characters and groups that are funding this resource grab, you won’t want to miss this informative interview. Take 13 minutes and 30 seconds to see what the Pew Charitable Trust, and their paid Welfare Queen’s are really up to with these vast area’s they want to become Marine Reserves that exclude fishing, but could include hydrocarbon extraction. Watch the video here 16:56
Terrible weather conditions are blamed for slow start to lobster fishery in Fortune Bay
Exceptional windy conditions resulted in most fishers only being able to haul their pots three or four times during each of the first two weeks of the season, which opened on April 16. Veteran fish harvester Ernest Follett of Grand Bank said his catch rate is down over 30 per cent compared to the first week or so of fishing last year. “It’s not fit,” he said. “With the wind from the northeast, the lobsters just don’t crawl.” Another factor may also have affected catch rates. During the first week of the season, many of the Grand Bank lobster fishers had no choice but to use frozen herring for bait as very little fresh fish was available. Read the story here 16:19
How will battery of new regulations affect Southern New England’s lobster fishermen?
Southern New England’s fading lobster fishery will be subject to a battery of new regulations, possibly closed fishing areas and stricter size standards, to try to save the crustacean’s population locally.,, But the catches on SouthCoast have not been as bad as the numbers may indicate, local lobstermen say. “The past three years have been the best I’ve ever seen,” said Jarrett Drake, a lobsterman in Marion for 26 years. “And that’s the same for everyone around me, the stock assessments are brought down by places off Virginia and Maryland that aren’t doing very well.” The overall decline, however, is here to stay, said Beth Casoni, associate executive director for the Mass. Lobstermen’s Association. “The environmental factors will continue to cause this decline, with what we know about warming,” Casoni said. “But it’s unfortunate that Massachusetts and Rhode Island Area Two, lobstermen are in this stock that is in such a downward spiral.” Read the rest here 14:47
‘Deadliest Catch’ Drama of the Week: Is Captain Wild Bill Questioning His Son’s Manhood?
“Deadliest Catch” is bringing some surprises to the wheelhouse this season, with the many ups and downs of new–and seasoned–skippers. Last week, fans saw Captain Keith deciding to make a change in his life; tonight on Discovery Channel, will Captain Wild Bill ask some similarly life-altering questions? Wild Bill’s relationship with his son has always seemed strained. Wild Bill, of course, is an old-school fisherman, guiding the Cape Caution with all that his years of experience at sea have taught him. And, typically, that approach is much more direct and black-and-white than that of his son, Zack Larson, who grew up with today’s, let’s face it, more forgiving-of-failure attitude. Wild Bill’s expectations for his son are extremely high, but, time and time again, it just seems Zack disappoints. Read the rest here 14:09
China Trains ‘Fishing Militia’ To Sail Into Disputed Waters
The fishing fleet based in this tiny port town on Hainan island is getting everything from military training and subsidies to even fuel and ice as China creates an increasingly sophisticated fishing militia to sail into the disputed South China Sea. The training and support includes exercises at sea and requests to fishermen to gather information on foreign vessels, provincial government officials, regional diplomats and fishing company executives said in recent interviews. “The maritime militia is expanding because of the country’s need for it, and because of the desire of the fishermen to engage in national service, protecting our country’s interests,” said an advisor to the Hainan government who did not want to be named. Read the story here 13:28
Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders Alliance spokesman blasts NMFS over Red Snapper reallocation
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has announced a decision to re-allocate quota in favor of recreational fishermen, much to the dismay of commercial catchers. According to the rule published on the Federal Register on April 28, the recreational sector will get 51.5% of the quota, not their usual 49%. Eric Brazer, Jr., deputy director of the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance, lambasted NMFS for the move. “Despite overwhelming opposition from the public, scientists, environmentalists, seafood supply chain, and our legal representative, not to mention unanimous opposition from the commercial red snapper industry, NMFS has decided to take red snapper allocation away from commercial fisherman and give it to the recreational sector that has overfished its allocation for nearly a quarter century,”,, Read the rest here 12:55
An Indonesian Fisherman claims he heard an Angel fall from the sky!
Indonesian villagers were shocked to discover the “angel” they found on a beach was actually a sex toy. The figure was found last month by a fisherman who claimed he heard the “angel child” falling from the sky. Local media said it was “found face down, crying and naked covered only by a white cloth”. It was described as “shining white, with round eyes with red eyebrows”. Pardin, 21, rescued it from the water and took it home, where his mother took care of it like a real human, dressing it every day in a different blouse and hijab and sitting in a chair. Word spread in the small village on Banggai island off central Sulawesi with embellishments added to the story too, such as that the ‘angel child’ was found stranded and crying, according to local media. link 12:41
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie vetoes offshore wind project again
Christie has vetoed a bill that could have resurrected Fishermen’s Energy’s 24MW Atlantic City offshore wind project. The legislation, which passed both houses of the state legislature in March, would have required regulators to open a new 30-day application window for small offshore wind projects. The Board of Public Utilities previously rejected Fishermen’s pilot over cost and viability concerns. It’s the second time Christie has quashed Fishermen’s hopes. He vetoed a similar bill in January. Read the rest here 12:16
Connecticut: Free Safety and Survival Training by Fishing Partnership Support Services May 04, 2016
This hands-on training, provided at no cost to commercial fishermen, is sponsored by Fishing Partnership Support Services, and conducted by Coast Guard Certified Marine Safety Instructors. The one day program includes: on-board firefighting, flooding & pump operations, flares & EPIRBS, survival suits, life raft equipment, man overboard and helicopter hoist procedures. Lunch is provided courtesy of Ocean Marine Insurance Agency. This training is sponsored by Connecticut Sea Grant, UCONN at Avery Point and AMSEA and is supported by the U.S. Coast Guard, the Massachusetts Fishermen’s Partnership (MFP). Location: UCONN at Avery Point – 1084 Shennecossett Road, Groton, CT, 06340 Date: May 04, 2016 Time: 09:00am – 04:00pm Details, and registration form, click here 09:30
New England fishermen get a break on monitoring costs
Commercial groundfishermen had their projected cost for at-sea monitoring cut in half this year, but fishermen say it is still unfair they’re forced to pay for policing of their own work. NOAA lightened the fishermen’s burden because data shows the federal agency can obtain adequate information on fish populations with less monitoring coverage than initially determined. Fishermen have said it is unconstitutional for NOAA to force them to pay for their own policing. Hampton fisherman David Goethel said NOAA’s reduction in coverage is not enough to satisfy fishermen. “It’s obviously an improvement,” Goethel said, “But it still doesn’t alleviate the big problem, which is we shouldn’t be paying at all.” Read the rest here 08:15
BP Drops drop its bid to avoid paying 1 Billion Seafood Industry Spill Payments
After fighting for more than two years to avoid paying almost $1 billion in oil spill damages to Gulf Coast shrimpers, oystermen and seafood processors it claimed didn’t exist, BP Plc has thrown in the towel. A federal judge in New Orleans Monday allowed BP to drop its bid to avoid paying the second half of $2.3 billion in compensation promised to seafood interests harmed by the blown-out well. The subsea gusher pumped more than 4 million barrels of crude into the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, closing fisheries and blackening the shores of five states. BP had paid out about $1 billion of the seafood fund when it balked at paying the remainder after discovering irregularities in one law firm’s client list. The seafood payout is a separate earmark within BP’s Read the rest here 07:23
