Daily Archives: May 31, 2016
Fisheries Minister Hunter Tootoo, citing “addiction issues,” has resigned
Fisheries Minister Hunter Tootoo, citing “addiction issues,” has resigned from the federal cabinet and is leaving the Liberal caucus.Dominic LeBlanc, the government’s House leader, will assume Tootoo’s cabinet responsibilities.A statement from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office says Tootoo is “taking time to seek treatment for addiction issues.”Tootoo, the first northerner to take on the role of fisheries minister, issued a brief statement saying he was stepping down in order not to distract from the important work of his colleagues.Tootoo said he has “decided to seek treatment for addiction issues” and asked for “privacy at this time.” Read the rest here 20:38
“It’s been a long time coming.” Lobster season in southwestern Nova Scotia may be best in decade
A lobster fisherman in southwest Nova Scotia says this season, which ends at midnight tonight, may have been the best in a decade. Bernie Berry, captain of the lobster boat Ready To Go and president of the Coldwater Lobster Association, said it’s too soon to calculate official landing numbers. But he estimates fishermen in the two lobster fishing areas that make up southwest Nova Scotia — from Halifax all the way down the South Shore to just south of Digby Neck — likely landed almost 75 million pounds of lobster this season. The 2015-2016 season is “one of the best, if not the best” in the past 10 years, Berry said. “It’s been a long time coming.” Read the story here 15:34
A dwindling North Fork fishing community urge emergency measures to keep black sea bass season open
About a dozen of them met at a Mattituck marina Thursday to vent their frustration at the measure, which one fisherman said would reduce his income by 80 percent. Meanwhile, the state’s top fishing regulator wrote a letter to federal fisheries managers urging them to expedite an assessment to improve the data upon which local quotas are based. State regulators are pushing federal regulators to fix the problem. In a May 17 letter to top federal fishing regulators, Basil Seggos, acting DEC commissioner, noted the fishery has been rebuilt since 2009, yet fishermen “continue to struggle under low catch limits and restrictive measures while black sea bass appear to be more abundant than in any time in recent history.” Read the story here 14:41
Sector Groups turning to technology to meet monitoring mandate
New England fishermen are starting to use digital cameras to document groundfish discards and prove they are fishing within established quotas, turning to technology for a method that may prove more cost effective than hiring human monitors. With support from the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, The Nature Conservancy is overseeing a new project, which launches on Wednesday, June 1 and is being hailed as a “new era in fisheries monitoring.” Up to 20 groundfishermen from the Maine Coast Community Sector and Cape Cod’s Fixed Gear Sector will use three to four cameras to capture fish handling activity on the decks of their vessels. After completing their trips, crews will send hard drives to third party reviewers who watch the footage and quantify the amount of discarded fish. Read the rest here 13:17
Damon Stuebner: USCGC Storis documentary was an 8-year ‘labor of love’
A Juneau man has made a film about the Storis, a dainty icebreaker by polar standards, that rescued mariners and enforced the law along Alaska’s coast for almost 60 years. It took Damon Stuebner eight years to make this documentary. “It was a labor of love,” Stuebner said. It traces Storis’ journey, from its work in World War II, to its long history in Alaska dating to 1948 when it came to Juneau. Stuebner said the story of the ship tells Alaska’s story. “Storis was there for the Exxon Valdez oil spill. It was there for the trans-Alaska pipeline construction. It was there for the 1964 Earthquake … It was the very first ship to have law enforcement seizures in the Bering Sea.” Perhaps most suspenseful is the story of Storis’ attempt to rescue the fishermen of the Alaskan Monarch in the Bering Sea in 1990. It’s a saga told with interviews and video from multiple cameras that were on scene. Movie trailer, Read the rest here 10:04
Two fishing vessels collide near Port Latour this morning, one sinks, both crews safe ashore
One day before the winter lobster season comes to an end, a fishing boat sank off the coast of Shelburne County and all five crew members were rescued. Sub-Lt. Jamie Tobin, a spokesman for the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre, said two fishing vessels collided near Port Latour around 9 a.m. on Monday. The Lois N 2 began sinking, but the other vessel was in better condition and was able to take on the crew of the sinking boat and transported them safely to shore. The JRCC didn’t send any rescue teams to the accident, but Sub-Lt. Tobin said, “we are very happy to hear that both crews are now safely on shore.” Joseph Williams of Port Latour owns the Lois N 2, which was built in 1979. The lobster fishing season on Nova Scotia’s south shore ends on Tuesday. Link 09:23
Salt in their veins and fire in their bellies: fishermen battling for Brexit
William Whyte has a new flag flying from the rigging of his vast blue-hulled trawler, its fabric snapping in the brisk breeze coming in off the North Sea. It features the cartoon of a militant-looking fish wearing armour, a union jack shield at its waist and the legend “Fishing for Leave”. These flags are appearing on boats around Britain’s coast. The country’s trawlermen are placing themselves in the vanguard of the campaign to quit the EU. There is talk of a flotilla massing on the Thames, as the country’s fishing fleets press the case for Brexit. For Scottish trawlermen such as Whyte, the EU referendum is a godsend. Striding over long, brightly coloured coils of rope, netting and sun-bleached floats laid out on the quayside at Fraserburgh, north of Aberdeen, Whyte hopes the UK will vote to leave the EU, finally releasing his industry from the constraints, the wheeling and dealing, and complexities of the common fisheries policy (CFP). Read the rest here 07:54
