Monthly Archives: June 2016
Lobster fishery propels boatbuilding boom, could see resurgence in Liverpool
Speaking at the Mersey Forum on June 8 at Lane’s Privateer Inn in Liverpool, the executive director of the Nova Scotia Boatbuilders Association said companies from Cheticamp in Cape Breton to Meteghan in Digby County are busy trying to keep up with orders. “It has been very strong in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, just servicing the needs, primarily, of the lobster fishermen,” Tim Edwards told the Queens County Advance. “In addition to that, there is a small handful of yards doing work for the city of Halifax and the Province of Nova with ferries and also small patrol boats for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. When you lump all that together, it is busy times.” Read the story here 11:36
North Carolina: House Bill 1122 – Limit Marine Net Fishing Bill
A bill has been introduced in the state House that, if passed, would put it to a popular vote whether to ban gill nets and other forms of nets from coastal fishing waters in North Carolina. On May 10, Rep. William Richardson, D-Cumberland, filed House Bill 1122, also known as the Limit Marine Net Fishing Bill. The bill is before the House committee on rules, calendar and operations. One commercial fishing advocacy group said while they’ve been assured by legislators that HB 1122 will most likely not pass the rules committee, much like a similar bill submitted in 1995, it comes at a very bad time. Jerry Schill, president of the N.C. Fisheries Association, a nonprofit advocacy group for the state’s seafood industry, said HB 1122 is “almost the same wording” as a 1995 bill also introduced by Rep. Richardson. Read the rest here 10:55
Lobster-trap report draws ire from Florida Keys commercial lobster fishermen
Florida Keys commercial lobster fishermen bristled at a report on traps in protected marine areas being presented at this week’s South Atlantic Fishery Management Council meeting. The report on small no-trapping areas created to safeguard spots with branching elkhorn or staghorn corals is scheduled for a Spiny Lobster Committee meeting at 9:30 a.m. Thursday in Cocoa Beach. “We worked [with fishery regulators] to develop these 60 coral protection areas,” said Ernie Piton, president of the Florida Keys Commercial Fishermen’s Association. “We even proposed more than they asked for.” Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission surveys at selected coral protection zones in 2014 and 2015 logged traps and parts of traps spotted in the zones, most of which are unmarked by warning buoys and do not appear on most nautical charts. “Some of the older gentlemen in our industry have been doing this 30 or 40 years and they don’t use GPS; they go by sight,” Piton said. Read the rest here 09:36
Epic 1888 cruise of the USS Albatross netted details of pioneer fishermen
The 1887 to 1889 cruise of the USS Albatross all along the mainland West Coast would have been an awe-inspiring adventure for anyone interested in American industrial and social history. The resulting “Report on the Fisheries of the Pacific Coast of the United States,” by J.W. Collins based on work by W.A. Wilcox and A.B. Alexander, is one of the best first-hand accounts we possess about the people and resources of the West Coast in a pivotal period. The Albatross poked into dozens of “small streams, bays, and harbors along the coast, many of which had not previously been investigated.” The original edition of the report — I recently found one for about $20 — is packed with detailed charts of river mouths and estuaries, showing canneries, fish traps, gillnet drifts, shellfish beds and dozens of other features. The charts of the Columbia River are humble masterpieces, but far too large to reproduce for a newspaper article. View 6 images read the rest here 07:24
Fishing Partnership Support Services named Community Health Worker Program of the Year
The Fishing Partnership Support Services has been named Community Health Worker Program of the Year Award for 2016 by the Mass. Association of Community Health Workers, the statewide group announced Friday. The organization that started out as a health insurance provider in 1997 is today, since 2011, a comprehensive provider not only of health care through the Massachusetts Conductor, but a one-stop resource where highly skilled “navigators” walk fishing families, and even some who aren’t, through the often daunting and difficult task of dealing with bureaucracies of many kinds. Verna Kendall of New Bedford, office manager of the New Bedford partnership office, said that initial goal was a narrow but important one: “When we began the fishing families had no place to go for health care, so Jim (her husband) and the group started the health plan. Read the rest here 22:41
Dire warnings in the battle for Atlantic Canada’s lucrative northern shrimp
Nova Scotia fishermen and politicians are warning Ottawa about a possible repeat of the political meddling that led to the devastating collapse of the cod stocks in the early 1990s. This time, however, the problem isn’t cod, it’s northern shrimp. A federal panel reviewing the quota for Newfoundland’s north coast wrapped up the last of six public hearings Friday in Halifax, where 150 fishermen, processors, industry representatives and politicians packed a stuffy conference room. With hundreds of millions of dollars at stake, the temperature in the room went up as the presenters traded barbs over the fate of a lucrative industry that is only around 40 years old. Read the rest here 20:56
Family members upset over Newburyport fishermen monument
A memorial located along the city’s waterfront honoring the lives of fishermen lost at sea has been temporarily moved and partly dismantled, and family members of one of the victims are voicing their complaints over how it was done. Almost 20 years ago, the Newburyport-based Heather Lynn II sank after colliding with a steel tow line that connected a barge to a towboat. The 45-foot-long fishing vessel capsized, and its crew of three drowned. In recognition of the tragedy that took the lives of Jeffrey Hutchins, Kevin Foster and John Michael Lowther, the Heather Lynn II Memorial was erected along the city’s waterfront more than 16 years ago near where the former harbormaster’s shack was located. More recently additional names were added to the memorial to honor Capt. Sean Cone, 24, and Dan Miller, 21, who died when the Newburyport-based Lady Luck sank about 30 miles southeast of Portland, Maine, on Feb. 1, 2007. The monument was moved a few weeks ago to a weedy edge of the nearby parking lot as work progresses on a new harbormaster facility that also includes amenities for transient boaters. Read the rest here 17:21
LIFO – Northern shrimp quota panel hears from New Brunswick fishing companies
Two major New Brunswick fishing companies appeared Friday before a federal panel in Halifax to argue for the existing northern shrimp allocation regime. They are trying to maintain historical access they were granted to fishing grounds off Newfoundland and Labrador as the northern shrimp stock declines. “How is pushing a fleet out involved in the fishery for 38 years a fair policy?” questioned Jean St. Cyr, a policy analyst for two offshore shrimp licence holders in New Brunswick: Caramer Limited and Lameque Offshore Fishing Limited. Both companies are based out of New Brunswick’s Acadian peninsula. The federal government is under pressure in Newfoundland and Labrador to end the so-called, last in, first out policy — also known as LIFO — in the northern shrimp fishery. Read the rest here 13:11
Aiden Penton’s story – Fogo Island fisherman has taken big risks to build his business
Aiden Penton did not need written notes when he addressed the LIFO panel at Gander two weeks ago. The Fogo Island fisherman simply told his life story. “My father was a fisherman, my grandfather was a fisherman and my great-grandfather …” he told panellists Paul Sprout, Wayne Follett, Trevor Taylor and Barbara Crann. His family has been making a living from the sea for so long that “I don’t know how far I can go back,” he said. But he knows one simple truth: he was born a fisherman, and carries on a family legacy that began several generations before. He went ‘aboard the boat’ when he could only crawl and he’s made a living from fishing for almost 50 years. He’s seen some pretty hard years. He’s seen fisheries fail. Read the rest here 12:47
An open letter to all red snapper fishermen – An allocation solution?
There has been no proposal that can satisfy all the stakeholders in the Gulf Red Snapper fishery—the commercial, recreational and charter fleet. The latest move to reallocate red snapper quota from the commercials to the recs has angered the commercials because it took money from their business without adding significantly to the recs season. The same thing happened when the charter fleet separated from the recs. It gave them a longer season at the expense of the recs season. If you gave all the quota to the recs, two viable industries would be shut down and only increase their season to 18 days, roughly. Compounding the issue are the different regulations in state waters. It’s easy to game the system when I can practically fish in three, maybe four, states from Dauphin Island. So what do we do? I would ask you to consider a Gulf-wide tag system for the recs, very similar to the system for commercials and charter fleet. How would it work? Read the rest here 12:16
No-wake violation leads to 289 fishing violations for Delaware commercial waterman
DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife Natural Resources Police arrested a commercial waterman June 3 for nearly 300 fishing violations, after boarding his vessel for a no-wake violation near the Lewes Public Boat Ramp on May 31. Most of the violations were for illegal take of knobbed conch, according to the department. Shawn P. Moore, 40, of Georgetown, was charged with 289 counts of possession of undersized knobbed conch measuring less than the legal size limit of 5 inches in length, plus four counts of unlawful method of take for summer flounder, four counts of possession of unlawfully taken fish, and one count each of no commercial license in possession while fishing and failure to observe a slow-no-wake zone. Moore pled not guilty to all charges at Justice of the Peace Court 3 in Georgetown and was released on a $15,400 unsecured bond pending a later appearance in the Sussex County Court of Common Pleas. Read the rest here 11:51
Fishermen Using Experimental Lionfish Traps
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources is advising the public that several commercial fishermen will be using “experimental lionfish traps” this summer, and said boaters are asked to be careful to avoid these traps. Currently, traps are located east of St. David’s Head in approximately 25-28 fathoms [150-168ft] of water; however, traps will also be placed in other areas of the Bermuda Platform – South Shore, Southwest, East and North. Traps will be identified with flag buoys similar to those used on lobster traps. The lionfish traps are similar in design to lobster traps and have a fixed funnel so that large fish like groupers cannot get into the traps. They also have escape slots that allow smaller fish to get out but keep the lionfish in. Read the rest here 08:47
Interior Approves New York City Offshore Wind Project, Commercial Fishermen Oppose
The Offshore Wind Project in New York City is given a go signal by the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) last week. On the other hand, the commercial fishermen disagree in building windmills on pylons within approximately 329 square kilometers of the New York Bight. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said that the department took a major step in broadening the nation’s energy portfolio, channeling power near population centers on the East Coast. The Offshore Wind Project is a public-private collaboration by Con Edison, Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) and New York Power Authority (NYPA). On the other hand, the fishing industry has urged for BOEM to relocate the project. They reasoned that the wind development might constraint valuable scallop habitat and initiate navigational hazards for fishing boats. They added that the construction of the project could also harm the scallop fishery. Read the rest here 08:25
Chris Elkins, Ph.D., President of the CCA of NC calls NC marine fisheries advisory committee a sham!
All coastal states in our nation, except North Carolina, have a Joint Enforcement Agreement with the National Marine Fisheries Service because a JEA makes sense: It saves money and aids law enforcement. A special legislatively mandated group called the JEA Advisory Committee has been studying whether North Carolina should enter into a JEA with the National Marine Fisheries Service. A JEA would allow enforcement of federal fisheries rules by N.C. Marine Patrol officers and bring hundreds of thousands of dollars to the patrol. On June 1, the committee, charged with advising the legislature on the JEA, met in New Bern. It has become clear that the committee is indisputably a sham. Read the rest here 19:18
Reopening Western Australia’s shark fishery could boost seafood supply and public safety
Reopening Western Australia’s metropolitan shark fishery could benefit public safety and give a much needed boost to the supply of premium seafood, according to a fishing industry chief. Western Australian Fishing Industry Council chief executive, John Harrison, has welcomed a call by Premier Colin Barnett for a scientific assessment of the Perth coast fishery’s closure in 2007, saying that reopening the commercial fishery may produce knock-on benefits for the public. Following a spate of recent attacks, fisheries and environmental experts have been asked to re-examine research to see if there is any link between the 2007 closure of the fishery and the increasing prevalence of great whites off Western Australia’s south west. “Political pressures caused the unwarranted closure of the metropolitan shark fishery that stretches from Lancelin to south of Mandurah in 2007,” Mr Harrison said. Read the rest here 18:53
Salvage nearly complete of shipwrecked F/V Privateer
Salvage operations on the sunken, dismantled shrimp boat Privateer continued Tuesday and are close to wrapping up, nearly two months after the 74-foot vessel sank just north of the Ocean Shores jetty. But some debris and monitoring remained in place, and the latest work caused some lube oil or grease to release a sheen, according to the latest update from the Department of Ecology. In an email to city officials and others overseeing the incident, Andrea Unger of the state Department of Ecology said contractor Global Diving and Salvage “has finished deconstructing the vessel this morning and has removed most of the Privateer. They were able to remove most all the ship but some of the port-side’s metal ‘skin’ will have to remain in place. The port side of the vessel was too deeply buried in the sand.” Global used two excavators to pull out as much of the port side that was possible, Unger said. Read the rest here 15:54
Dominic LeBlanc shuns ‘part-time’ label, talks of future legacy as fisheries minister
Dominic LeBlanc spoke Wednesday about the legacy he hopes to leave as fisheries minister, a signal his appointment may not be as short-term as some of his critics have suggested. LeBlanc, who also works as government house leader, was appointment as minister of fisheries, oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard in a surprise announcement came last week, after the abrupt resignation of Hunter Tootoo. Tootoo resigned from cabinet and left the Liberal caucus to seek treatment for addiction issues, after what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said was a “very difficult situation.” “As some of you know, I have been on this job now for eight days,” LeBlanc said in his opening remarks at the launch of a national summit in Ottawa to mark World Oceans Day. He said that he hopes 40 years from now, “the legacy for me … is defined by the work that I can do with all of you on protecting and preserving our oceans, the ecosystems in our oceans, and leaving a legacy and a footprint that would inspire the people in this room and those whom you represent.” Read the story here 14:35
Brexit: Aberdeen University study reveals 92% of UK fishermen plan to vote Leave on June 23.
The poll, conducted by researchers at the University of Aberdeen, also revealed a majority of fishermen did not think leaving the European Union would detrimentally affect their trade. Over three in four believe leaving the EU and its common fisheries policy would enable them to catch and land more fish. Around the same number think Brexit would have no impact on the trade of fish between the UK and other European countries. 93% of fishermen believe leaving the EU would boost the industry’s fortunes, the survey also revealed. The researchers behind the poll admitted Scottish fishermen, despite having the largest fleet in the UK, were “slightly over-represented” in the survey, accounting for 68.4% of respondents. “Fishermen view the EU very negatively and this further marks them out from the general UK public who are far more split over positive and negative feelings towards the EU.” Read the rest here 14:07
Video – Two fishermen rescued after their boat sinks off the Cork coast
Two men were rescued at sea this morning by Castletownbere’s RNLI. Castletownbere’s RNLI all weather lifeboat was launched early this morning to go to the assistance of a fishing vessel which was reported sinking eleven miles south west of Dursey Island on the Beara peninsula. The naval vessel LE Orla and the Coastguard’s Rescue 115 helicopter were also tasked. The lifeboat was on scene at 5:50am and found two fisherman in a liferaft. The men, both in their 40s, were taken aboard the lifeboat and were reported to be safe and well. The lifeboat is due to arrive back to Castletownbere at approximately 8:00am this morning. Video, read the rest here 13:33
LIFO – Nova Scotia fish companies fight to keep northern shrimp quota in Area 6
Nova Scotia fish companies that pioneered the offshore northern shrimp fishery are fighting to keep their share of quota as the Trudeau government faces its first major fisheries decision in Atlantic Canada — one that pits province against province. The question is, who gets to catch a plummeting northern shrimp stock off Newfoundland and Labrador? “We’re being used to fix a problem we didn’t create,” said Andrew Titus, captain of the Mersey Phoenix, a Nova Scotia-based factory-freezer shrimp trawler. “If they change those rules, that is a direct hit to us … they want to kick us out of an area where we have been fishing since 1978,” said Titus, an employee of Mersey Seafoods. The so-called last in, first out policy — known as LIFO in bureaucratic jargon — has been used to manage quota sharing for decades, including the northern shrimp fishery. It means the last entrants to a fishery are the first out when a quota is cut. Read the story here 09:39
NOAA grants SMAST $1.6 million for monkfish study
Researchers at the UMass Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology have won a federal grant valued at $1.6 million to conduct research into the growth and movement of monkfish, NOAA announced Tuesday. The grant is part of a unique “research set-aside” program that pays for at-sea research not with direct dollars but with fishing opportunities whose proceeds pay for the researchers and for the boat they are using. In the case of SMAST, where Dr. Steven Cadrin and research technician Crista Bank will be doing the study, 250 days at sea allocated in the grant each year for 2016 and 2017 should produce $1.361 million to pay for the boat and $270,000 for the research over two years, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “A previous monkfish research set-aside grant to this group found that the current approach of estimating monkfish growth is not valid, exposing a gap in the monkfish stock assessment. This two-year project proposes to fill this gap for juvenile monkfish through this tagging study,” said a NOAA press release. Read the rest here 08:04
Maine Elver Harvesters Net Third Highest Overall Value in the History of the Fishery
With Maine’s 2016 elver season concluding yesterday at noon, the 982 harvesters who fished this season netted $13,388,040, which is the third highest value in the history of the fishery according to preliminary landings data from the Maine Department of Marine Resources. Maine DMR data indicates that the total was nearly $2 million more than was earned last season by the 920 active harvesters. While the average value this season was $1,435 per pound compared with $2,171 last season, it was the fourth highest on record. Preliminary landings data indicates that harvesters caught 9,330 pounds of the 9,688 total statewide quota compared with 5,259 pounds harvested last season. According to DMR data, 285 harvesters reached their individual quota in 2016 compared to 104 in 2015. Read the rest here 07:42
Salmon canning jobs dwindling as consumer tastes change, says Canfisco
B.C. cannery workers are urging Ottawa to save their dwindling jobs and restore the traditional West Coast industry by protecting fish processing jobs. “I’m not a man that begs. But I’m asking you. Keep this community alive.” said Arnie Nagy, cannery union president of the Local 31 Shoreworkers. Nagy joined a conference call with a Fisheries and Oceans Canada standing committee in Ottawa Tuesday to call for fish processing to be protected and kept in local B.C. communities like Prince Rupert where 500 Canfisco jobs were recently lost.,, Rob Morley, Canfisco president, says they are fighting a losing battle. “Consumers don’t want fish in a can. They want it fresh. That is why the Prince Rupert plant closed.” “We’re doing this because the demand for canning is declining. That’s the least efficient operation we have. We sell [fish] fresh because that’s what the consumers want,” said Morley. Read the rest here 22:09
‘Wicked Tuna’ Star Paul Hebert gets 4 years of probation for defrauding the government
A man whose fishing job was featured on the reality television show “Wicked Tuna” while he was receiving government disability benefits was sentenced on Wednesday to spend four years on probation and pay a $5,000 fine. Paul Hebert, of Gloucester, Massachusetts, must also pay more than $53,600 in restitution as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors. Hebert, 51, used to live in Barre. He was charged last summer with accepting more than $44,000 in Social Security and Medicaid disability benefits between 2010 and 2013. He pleaded guilty earlier this year to charges of Social Security and Medicaid fraud and was sentenced Wednesday in federal court in Burlington. “It is outrageous that Paul Hebert pretended to be disabled and poor in order to collect Medicaid benefits while at the same time starring as a captain of a fishing boat in a national TV reality show,” HHS Boston special agent in charge Phillip M. Coyne said. Read the rest here 18:25
Lobster yachts: Working boats recast as pleasure craft
“Lobster boat” conjures up images of hardy boats and even hardier crews wrangling traps on a roiling sea. However on many of today’s so-called “lobster boats,” the only lobster wrangling is on a plate. There are now two categories of boats called lobster. There’s the original version developed specifically for the lobster trade off the Maine coast. Then there’s the recreational “lobster light,” more commonly referred to as lobster yachts. These pure pleasure boats borrow heavily from the appearance of working lobster boats but with modifications that are less focused on working and more on playing. Most of us know the profile of a working lobster boat whether we realize it or not. The Orca in Jaws, probably pop culture’s most famous boat, is a modified lobster boat. Read the rest here 16:16
South Shore Lobstermen innovating for Whale closure exemption
Representatives from local fishermen’s associations may have a solution they hope can lead to an exemption in a federally mandated closure that grounds local fishermen from Feb. 1 to April 30. The closure encompasses nearly 3,000 square nautical miles, including parts of Massachusetts Bay and the waters around Cape Cod. It was first implemented in 2015 and affects fishermen who use vertical lines, such as lobster fishermen. The goal behind the closure is to protect the right whale from possible entanglements. Since before the closure began, the fishermen have been looking for a compromise so they can help protect the endangered species without hurting their livelihoods. The solution that may be the key to an exemption is a type of sleeve local fishermen have been trying out for about two years. Read the story here 15:48
Star of reality show ‘Wicked Tuna’ to be sentenced for fraud
A man featured on the reality television show ‘‘Wicked Tuna’’ is scheduled to be sentenced in Vermont on charges he received government disability benefits while he was fishing on the show. Paul Hebert, of Gloucester, Massachusetts, is due in federal court in Burlington on Wednesday. He pleaded guilty earlier this year to charges of Social Security and Medicaid fraud. As part of a plea deal with prosecutors, Hebert agreed to pay more than $53,600 in restitution. Attorneys are recommending probation. Hebert’s attorney has said he filed for the benefits before he got the job on ‘‘Wicked Tuna.’’ The National Geographic Channel show follows several Gloucester-based boats that try to land bluefin tuna, which can weigh hundreds of pounds and fetch tens of thousands of dollars. link 14:44
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission revisit chance of reopening Maine shrimp fishery
Interstate fishing regulators are revisiting the possibility of reopening Maine’s shrimp fishery, now in its third year of a shut down since warming oceans have negatively affected the shrimp population. Fishery managers with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission are opening up the possibility of new regulations to manage the fishery. Fishery Management Plan Coordinator Max Appelman said new regulations would address issues such as overfishing. “The big challenges facing this resource are overcapacity in the fishery and overcoming adverse effects of climate change,” Appelman said. (Here comes catch shares!) Read the rest here 13:48
Always Top Quality! Your Seafreeze Ltd. Preferred Price List for June 8th 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! 13:16
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 55′ Bruno Trawler-Scalloper-Gillnetter Detroit 12-V-71 (Fresh Rebuild)
To see specifications, information and 22 photos Click here. To see all the boats in this series, Click here 12:54
