Daily Archives: June 16, 2016
Many words created few changes to the Gulf of Alaska bycatch reduction package the North Pacific Fishery Management Council is pondering.
At its June meeting in Kodiak, the council held another session dedicated to the plan, which would enact one of several options aimed at reducing the amount of halibut and chinook salmon bycatch in the Gulf of Alaska groundfish fishery. The council moved three alternatives into a public scoping process but before making adjustments to alternatives, the overarching goals and objectives debate spurred a two-hour word battle among members that the chair found unproductive. Not only should the plan reduce bycatch, as the purpose and needs statement says, but should also “promote increased utilization of both target and secondary species while minimizing economic barriers for new participants and limiting harvest privileges.” The council lingo is meant to protect new entrant fishermen from consolidation and overwhelming entry costs to purchase fishing quota. (This is a long article with lots of info.) Read the story here 20:44
Coast Guard medevacs fisherman 60 miles east of Atlantic City, NJ
The Coast Guard medevaced a man Wednesday from a fishing vessel approximately 60 miles east of Atlantic City, New Jersey. Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Delaware Bay in Philadelphia received notification at about 5:20 p.m. from the crew aboard the fishing vessel Jeffrey Scott that a 57-year-old man was experiencing abdominal pain. Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City launched an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew to assist. The man was hoisted at approximately 6:45 p.m. and transported to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center in Atlantic City at 7:30 p.m. where he received further medical attention. “This was a challenging hoist due to the amount of rigging on the boat, but when we got on scene the crew was prepared and extremely helpful,” said Lt. Kyle Burke, a pilot on the case. “They maintained great communications with us through their VHF radio and everything went very smoothly. I’m so glad we were able to help this man get to the medical attention he needed.” Watch video, click here 18:13
Sending “Chuck” home -15-pound lobster gets new lease on life
He may have been too big for a pot anyway but a grocery store on Newfoundland’s west coast has spared the life of huge lobster that it says was a big draw for children in Corner Brook. Colemans says its O’Connell Drive store received the massive, 15-pound crustacean — nicknamed ‘Chuck” — in a shipment from a local seafood supplier. After weeks at the store, Colemans asked marine biologist Robert Hooper, of the Bonne Bay Marine Station in Norris Point, to have a look. He estimated Chuck is more than 50 years old. “Everyone agreed the best outcome for this lobster would be to release him back into the ocean,” said Colemans in a news release. So, on June 14, Mike Snooks, a Colemans seafood manager, carefully packed up the giant lobster for a car ride to the beach. After his claw bands were removed, Chuck disappeared into the depths of the Bay of Islands. Link 17:39
Gulf Coast snook populations finally recover from devastating 2010 cold snap
The number of snook along Florida’s Gulf Coast finally is where it was before a devastating freeze in January 2010 decimated the population, forcing the state to impose an unprecedented ban that hit hard the charter fishing and tourism industry from Tampa Bay south. Snook, widely considered Florida’s most popular nearshore game fish that drew sport fishermen from all over the world, are back in robust numbers along the state’s Gulf Coast, where the population took a big hit six years ago. The recovery was due to a concerted effort by state regulators, wildlife biologists, commercial, sport and charter fishermen who lost a lot of business during the ban. Read the story here 16:27
N.C. Senate wades into fisheries management – Commission would lose members, get supermajority requirement
It looks like the other shoe has dropped on legislators’ promise that they were “watching” the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission. A provision in the N.C. Senate’s version of the state budget, making its way through the General Assembly, would cut two members from the nine-person commission. A supermajority — five out of seven commissioners — would also be required for the commission to take virtually any action, including changing rules on fishing regulations. Per another provision, if the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality directs the commission to create a fisheries management plan supplement — a stop-gap measure intended to quickly protect species that may be in decline — it could not include strategies that were not a part of the original management plan or rules that “result in severe curtailment of the usefulness or value of equipment.” Read the rest here 15:39
Catch Shares: After 10-year crab review, NPFMC seeks social impact information. Are they blind?
The North Pacific Fishery Management Council approved a 10-year review of rationalization on June 10, the program that ended derby-style crab fisheries in 2005 and gave quota shares to vessel owners, captains and processors. The aim was to reduce overcapitalization and create a safer fishery by allowing crew to fish slower with a guaranteed quota allocation compared to the previous free-for-all. The study – The 10-year review charted a continuation of trends found in the five-year review. Vessel consolidation continued along with quota consolidation, but both somewhat stabilized in the last five years. Fewer people hold quota than before. Each individual quota holder, naturally, holds more quota now than in 2004; 53 fewer people hold Bristol Bay red king crab crew shares now than in 2005. In the two years following rationalization, the crab fleet shrank from 256 vessels in 2004 to 91 in 2006. Read the rest here 12:49
UPDATED: 2 lobster fishermen drown, 1 survives when boat capsized this morning near Bathurst, N.B.
Two commercial lobster fishermen drowned early on Thursday in the Bay of Chaleur off Miller Brook Wharf, near Bathurst, N.B., when their boat capsized. The bodies of the two drowned fishermen have been recovered. A third fisherman survived and was treated at hospital and released. The drowning victims are a 45-year-old man from Bathurst and a 67-year-old man from Salmon Beach. The man who survived was a 47-year-old man from Salmon Beach. RCMP responded to a call about a capsized fishing boat at 5:15 a.m. on Thursday. Fishermen on a nearby boat retrieved the bodies of the two dead men. Link 12:18 Our hearts and prayers go out to the family, friends and loved ones of Darren Cole, 45 from Bathurst and Garnet Dickson, 67, from Salmon Beach. 15:25
Deep Sea Fishermen’s Benefit Fund treasurer accused of stealing over $10,000 pleads not guilty
The treasurer for the Deep Sea Fishermen’s Benefit Fund is accused of stealing more than $10,000 from the Warrenton nonprofit. Janelle Marie Adams, 42, of Hammond, pleaded not guilty Wednesday in Clatsop County Circuit Court to first-degree aggravated theft. The alleged theft occurred between May and November 2013. Warrenton Police Chief Mathew Workman said the investigation began in September 2014. Adams was arrested last month after a grand jury indictment. She is out of custody on a release agreement from the jail. Police continue to investigate, and believe she may have stolen more funds. “This has been an ongoing investigation for a couple of years now,” Workman said. “There is more to come on this.” Read the story here 11:20
The Louisiana Senate approves commercial fishing tax break
The Louisiana Senate today approved two bills by a local lawmaker aimed at restoring sales tax exemptions for commercial fishermen and the purchase of fuels for residential use that were nixed in the confusing final moments of the year’s first special legislative session. Senate Bill 4 by Sen. Norby Chabert, R-Houma, restores a long-standing tax break for purchases of fishing vessels, supplies, fuels, lubricants and repair services by a licensed commercial fisherman in Louisiana. Chabert’s bill would also restore the commercial fishing exemptions for two cents of the state sales tax that were scrubbed of dozens of tax breaks earlier this year to raise additional revenue for the state. Both changes in Chabert’s bill would begin July 1. Read the rest here 11:05
P.E.I. lobster fishermen being polled about season extension beyond June 30th closure
Island lobster fishermen are being asked if they want an extension of the spring season. In most parts of the Island, the season is scheduled to end on June 30th, but low catches in some areas and stormy weather have prompted a discussion around adding more fishing days into July. “It’s very preliminary at this point. We’re doing a canvas amongst our harvester organizations to see if there’s interest for us to proceed,” explained Ian MacPherson, executive director of the P.E.I. Fishermen’s Association. “It won’t be something we proceed with unless there’s quite a bit of significant support.” A spokesperson for DFO Gulf Region says the department has not received any request from P.E.I. for an extension to the spring lobster season but says there was no delay in the opening so “no circumstances which would warrant an extension of the season”. Read the rest here 09:11
Boston Fish Pier’s seafood business evolving with the industry
After years of struggle in the face of a declining local fishery, the Fish Pier in Boston is again bursting with seafood businesses. But with New England fishing stocks tightly managed, the Fish Pier dealers are now more reliant on fishermen from distant oceans, their catch arriving by truck after being shipped through Logan Airport or the Conley Terminal. Just a few years ago, Fish Pier was a little more than half full, the tail-end of a rocky period when its decline seemed inevitable. Today, it is nearly fully occupied with 15 tenants — part of a booming secondary trade of more than 60 seafood processing businesses in and near the South Boston waterfront. They’ve managed to survive because of their proximity to local highways, Logan, and the Conley Terminal, which brings in massive cargo containers from all over the world. Read the rest here 08:10
Bay of Fundy tidal turbines on hold over environmental concerns
Plans for the installation of a tidal turbine on the bottom of the ocean floor in the Bay of Fundy, N.S., have been put on hold. The company, Cape Sharp Tidal and the provincial government have postponed the project. Fishermen and scientists are concerned about the impact the turbines could have on an important and diverse marine ecosystem. Lobster fisherman Colin Sproul of the Bay of Fundy Inshore Fishermen’s Association is against installing the tidal turbines. He tells The Current‘s Anna Maria Tremonti why stopping this project is important to him. “The reason for our involvement in this is to preserve our way of life and our culture. The bay has sustained us for 400 years. My family has five generations of involvement in this industry and we will not see it washed it away by corporate efficiency and greed.” Audio report, Listen, read the rest here 08:01
