Monthly Archives: June 2016
Speaking of Greenpeace, Even in fish science, payers may sway players
Many scientists, conservationists and policy makers who’ve been perplexed and vexed by Hilborn’s industry-friendly advocacy in debates about reauthorizing our federal fisheries law, or California’s process to create a network of marine protected areas, or seafood sustainability, have been surprised—but maybe not too surprised—to learn the extent of Hilborn’s industry ties. – Yesterday Carl Safina, and John Hocevar, Oceans Campaign Director for Greenpeace USA put up an op-ed on NatGeo, referencing research funding specifically relating to UW fisheries biologist Ray Hilborn. The premise is that Hilborn didn’t disclose funding sources for some of his research, which seems to be a sticking point for the doom and gloomers that receive funding from Pew Charitable Trust to push Pews anti-fishing agenda. Read Even in fish science, payers may sway players, click here While we’re at it, lets look at some of Carl’s funding, click here No need to look at Greenpeace funding because, Greenpeace has been working to protect people and planet since 1971. The organization does not accept corporate or government funding. Wink! 12:27
Finally, courage to counterpunch the green bullies – Greenpeace Faces a Resolute Opponent
When the name Resolute was chosen in 2011, after the merger of Bowater and Abitibi-Consolidated, the Canadian company, a global leader in the forest products industry and the largest producer of newsprint in the world, likely didn’t know what a harbinger it was. Today, it stands alone, set in purpose, with firmness and determination. Displaying the rare courage to stand up to the typical environmental extremists’ campaign of misinformation and shaming designed to shut it down, Resolute Forest Products is fighting back. Many people are probably unaware of the shakedown tactics used by groups whose touchy-feely names belie their true goals. Like most companies, Resolute originally went along. As Peter Foster explains in the Financial Post: “a cabal of radical environmental non-governmental organizations, ENGOs — including Greenpeace, ForestEthics and the David Suzuki Foundation — agreed to stop their campaigns of customer harassment in return for the members of the Forest Products Association of Canada, FPAC, agreeing to sanitize a swathe of the Canadian Boreal forest, and to ‘consult’ on development plans. Astonishingly, governments played no part.” The result was the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement. The ENGOs ultimately aspired to put the majority of the Boreal forest off limits — ending economic development. Regarding the Greenpeace-promoted concept of “intact forest landscape protection,” Laurent Lessard, Quebec’s Minister of Forest, Wildlife and Parks, says it threatens “absolutely devastating” economic implications. Read the story here 10:27
Despite delay, Dungeness maintain strong economic grip
While some commercial crab fishermen are still trickling into ports in Oregon and Washington, the majority of commercial crabbing has slowed for the season as attention turns toward other fisheries. Those remaining are primarily doing so for the live crab market, which fetches top dollar. Oregon and Washington landings, The latest total for Oregon is 13.8 million pounds, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) — a dramatic increase from the 8.2 million caught in 2014-15. The Port of Astoria has recorded 4.4 million pounds. Oregon landed 9.7 million pounds in January alone. In February 2.7 million pounds were recorded. The catch slowed to 700,000 in March and 440,0000 in April, respectively. Washington’s January catch also eclipsed the total for the 2014-15 season. Read the rest here 08:59
Long Island Commercial Fishing Association wants assurances fishing won’t be limited by protection zone
Three Long Island lawmakers have introduced a bill that would create a marine mammal and sea turtle protection zone around Plum Island and two other environmentally sensitive eastern Islands, but a fishing group wants assurances it won’t limit fishing. Assembs. Steve Englebright (D-Setauket), Fred Thiele (I-Sag Harbor) and Sen. Kenneth LaValle (R-Port Jefferson) introduced the legislation June 1. It would create a protection area from the high-water mark on the shore outward to 1,500 feet around Plum Island, Great Gull Island and Little Gull Island. The zones would prevent the “harassment” of harbor seals, harbor porpoises and several species of sea turtles. Read the rest here 08:31
EU referendum: Would Scotland’s fishermen be better in or out?
The fishing industry plays a key role in the economy of the North East of Scotland. Ahead of the EU referendum on 23 June, I spoke to two different camps of opinion-Ken Banks. “I have not met a local fisherman yet who would not pack his bags and leave the EU.” The words of Jimmy Buchan – skipper of Peterhead’s Amity II who featured in the BBC’s Trawlermen series. He has worked at sea since leaving school in 1976. The 55-year-old’s feelings on the forthcoming referendum on whether the UK should stay in the EU are clear – leave in a bid to secure a future for fishermen. The Aberdeenshire town of Peterhead is Europe’s largest white fish port, so the topic could hardly be more crucial. The Scottish government believes that EU membership is in the “best interests” of Scotland’s fishing industry. Read the rest here 19:21
BC Fisheries Workers Demand Rule Changes From Federal Government
Representatives of BC shoreworkers and commercial license holders are in Ottawa today, demanding changes to federal legislation in order to save fish processing jobs on the North Coast. They want Ottawa to require local processing and individual licence ownership — which has become a huge issue in the wake of last November’s announcement by Canfisco that it was shutting down its Prince Rupert cannery – resulting in hundreds of job losses. Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen says there’s a lot riding on the meeting. He says coastal communities are being devastated by federal policies which allow North Coast fish to be processed in China and Alaska — and which permit nearly 80 per cent of commercial licences to be bought up by large corporations. Read the press release here 18:32
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for June 6, 2016
Click here to read the Weekly Update, to read all the updates, Click here 16:26
Rep. Lamar Smith has valid reasons for investigating NOAA
Reading the news lately, one might think that Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) is some sort of backwards character from the 19th century, a “member of the Flat Earth Society.” So great is the venom directed at him that the UK’s Guardian has referred to him as a “Witch Hunter.” But what exactly is Smith’s crime? Under his authority as chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, he’s chosen to investigate the research methods of the taxpayer-funded National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Last year, NOAA released a study that found there has been no “pause” in recent global warming. Because the findings contradict every other set of observed data on global temperatures, and were issued ahead of the Paris Climate summit, Smith wants to know if political bias factored into the report’s formulation. Adding weight to Smith’s inquiry was the subsequent publication of a study in Nature Magazine that disagreed with the NOAA report, saying the observed “slowdown” in warming is real, and occurred at a time when carbon dioxide emissions have been rising steadily. Because Smith has chosen to investigate the means by which NOAA reached its conclusions, however, he has been accused of holding “anti-science” views and trying to “intimidate” the scientific community. Read the rest here 15:51
Diane Hill is the chief and (so far) only seamstress for Bristol Bay Brailers, LLC, a new business in Naknek.
While fishermen tune up their boats, there are many other workers also gearing up for the salmon season. Welders, net hangers, and cannery workers are all streaming in to support the industry. This year, a Naknek family has established another piece of that fishery puzzle: a homegrown brailer operation called Bristol Bay Brailer, LLC. Hill is the manager and chief-and-only seamstress of Bristol Bay Brailer, LLC. Her husband, Bill Hill, his two brothers Nathan and Karl, and their business partner Russell Phelps co-own the company. They’re all fishermen, and Hill says they’d been talking for years about the need for locally produced brailers. “We were like, why don’t we make brailers here? We’ve been buying them from other places, but we’re in the heart of fishing, so why don’t we buy them here?” Audio, read the story here 14:11
US and Canada reject Sweden’s call for lobster ban
Canada and the United States on Monday rejected Swedish calls for a ban on imports of live American lobsters, saying fears of an invasive species displacing its European cousin are unsubstantiated. Speaking for both countries, Steven Wilson, a deputy director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), told a news conference that Swedes had “found some evidence that there are lobsters in their waters”. “But those lobsters could not thrive and could not rise to a population that could either pass disease or overcome the native species,” he said. Current evidence points only to lobsters escaping, not a full blown invasion, he added. “There just isn’t enough scientific information that gives you the impression that this is something that could take hold , which is important in the invasive-species standard internationally,” Read the rest here 11:24
South Atlantic Fishery Management Council propose changes to Yellowtail Snapper fishery
The change comes following requests from a group of Florida Keys fishermen, as yellowtail snapper are primarily harvested in the Keys. The commercial yellowtail fishery was closed in October in 2014, after National Marine Fisheries Service projected the fishery would meet its annual catch limit of 1.6 million pounds. The fishermen want the season to end in July when there is less fishing pressure and the fish are spawning, said Bill Kelly, executive for the Florida Keys Commercial Fishermen’s Association. “The closure should occur when prices are at their lowest and demand is at its lowest,” Kelly said. “Also, the season should be closed when the fish is spawning.” In addition, commercial fishermen have lobbied to reallocate some of the recreational catch to the commercial side, as the recreational side has only caught a little more than half of its 1.4 million pound annual limit, according to federal fishery managers. Read the rest here 08:40
Would Hawaii Marine Monument Expansion Hurt The Tuna Industry?
Conservationists and others are crying foul over letters that state lawmakers recently sent President Obama that urged him to not consider expanding the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument. They’re specifically concerned about the numbers used to justify opposition, calling the estimated $7 million financial hit to the longline tuna fishing industry misleading at best. “It’s just a false logic to suggest that a mobile fishery resource has to be fished in this particular location,” said David Henkin, staff attorney for Earthjustice, a nonprofit environmental law organization. “You’re talking about catching fish,” Henkin said. “You’re not cutting down trees. You’re not mining for gold.” Representatives of the longline fishing industry say it’s not so much about how much money from ahi they would potentially lose if the monument is expanded as it is about the government further limiting the places they can fish. “The fact of the matter is that we continue to be squeezed out of traditional areas,” said Sean Martin, president of the Hawaii Longline Association. Read the story here 08:04
CNMI Lt. Gov. Hocog Asks Western Pacific Fishery Management Council to Collaborate on Three Key Issues
Acting Gov. Victor Hocog of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) today asked the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council to work with the Commonwealth to address regulations that impact the people of the CNMI. On behalf of Gov. Ralph Torres, who is off-island, Hocog made his remarks during the opening of the 166th meeting of the Council today at the Fiesta Resort & Spa in Garapan, CNMI. “I humbly ask this Council to consider the state our people are faced with,” he added. “I choose to ask the Council in the days ahead on this meeting to give serious thoughts and consideration [on how we can] work together and achieve what islanders need without compromising standards.” Hocog listed three items of concern: 1) the 0 to 3 miles of submerged lands and waters around islands of the Islands Unit of the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument (MNM) that have not been conveyed to the CNMI; 2) sea turtles and sharks; and 3) US military bombing of Farallon de Medinilla (FDM). Read the press release here 21:26
“Much sympathy” around this coastline for fishing communities pro-Brexit campaign
An Irish fishing industry representative says north Atlantic coastal states, including Ireland, Iceland and Norway, should form their own economic union with Britain if it votes to leave the EU this month. Irish Fish Producers Organisation chief executive Francis O’Donnell told The Irish Times that there was “much sympathy” around this coastline for the “Leave” camp. The impact of the EU common fisheries policy had been very severe on coastal communities on both islands, Mr O’Donnell said. He said Ireland has one of the largest and biologically fish-rich sea areas, but has been allocated quotas for 18 per cent of the total catch. For this reason he believes there is tacit support here for the grassroots Fishing for Leave campaign initiated by a British skipper, which says it has been endorsed this side of the Irish Sea in Northern Irish ports like Kilkeel, Co Down. Read the rest here 20:44
Fishermen Oppose, but New York Bureaucrats are determined to build a wind farm off the coast of Long Island
New York State is mounting a broad effort to reduce the cost of building a wind farm off the coast of Long Island, an ambitious push to generate clean power in U.S. waters. The state’s Energy Research and Development Authority plans to bid for a federal lease to develop a 81,000-acre (127-square-mile) site in the Atlantic Ocean. If it wins, New York would undertake initial site studies and pursue an agreement to sell the electricity. The state would then hold an auction of its own, selling development rights to the highest bidder. New York officials see offshore wind as critical for meeting the state’s goal to get half its power from renewable sources by 2030. By doing the initial planning and guaranteeing a buyer for the power, the state intends to make the project appealing to developers, driving down costs and making it more likely the wind farm will be built. “This is a resource that has to be, and will be, developed,” John B. Rhodes, president and chief executive of the New York State authority, said in an interview Friday. “It is our job to do it as surefootedly and cost efficiently as possible.” Read the rest here 20:06
A Life of Subsistence Fishing on Grand Traverse Bay for Ed and Cindy John
They’re married, they’re Native American, and they make a living fishing on Grand Traverse Bay. Ed and Cindy John share thoughts about subsistence fishing during a windy day setting nets. “When you look at the lake you see a calm beautiful surface, but when you talk about the fishery, when you go underneath, it’s like a metropolis down there,” says Cindy John, her piercing eyes darting from depth sounder to GPS coordinates to husband Ed, precariously braced against a gunwale. Today, West Grand Traverse Bay is anything but a calm surface. Two days into a ferocious summer blow, the blue-green miles of water between the peninsulas are a jagged fabric of whitecaps that skitter crates of netting across the Linda Sue’s tilting aft deck. Sideways to the wind, the heavy trawler wallows in the wave troughs, its growling diesel outdrive pushing steadily toward the edge of a deep-water bank, where the Johns hope to intercept schools of whitefish and lake trout in their summer pattern. Great story, Read the rest here 18:01
P.E.I. government invests in province’s lobster holding capacity
There will be more space available in P.E.I. to store live lobsters so they are as fresh as possible when they are processed and sent around the world. “The food industry requires extensive physical infrastructure to produce and to grow their businesses,” Economic Development and Tourism Minister Heath MacDonald said. “Innovation P.E.I. is responding to the industry’s needs by providing grants to five projects that will enhance our province’s live lobster holding capacity, enhancing our exports and supporting the economies in our rural communities while building our reputation as Canada’s Food Island.’’ Innovation P.E.I. has contributed more than $224,000 in grants to the Live Lobster Holding Program since it began in March 2015, with the remaining $2.2 million coming from the private sector. Read the rest here 16:35
Expert: Scientists exaggerated Great Barrier Reef coral bleaching story
There is growing scientific conflict over bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef. Picture: Tourism Queensland Activist scientists and lobby groups have distorted surveys, maps and data to misrepresent the extent and impact of coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef, according to the chairman of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Russell Reichelt. A full survey of the reef released yesterday by the authority and the Australian Institute of Marine Science said 75 per cent of the reef would escape unscathed.,, “We’ve seen headlines stating that 93 per cent of the reef is practically dead,” he said. “We’ve also seen reports that 35 per cent, or even 50 per cent, of the entire reef is now gone. Read the rest here 15:47
Biloxi, Ms. Fisherman and tourists prepare for shrimp season
Many say that shrimp are one of the most beloved types of seafood. “We’re looking for some shrimp for the gumbo, and also for the grill, and to fix it other ways. We’d figure we’d come by here,” said tourist, Lucretia Pope. Fisherman like Randy Lesso, Jr. are preparing for the Monday kickoff of shrimp season. “My dad has been doing this for 44 years, I’m just following in his footsteps. “Our boats are ready to go and ready for the opening on Monday morning.”Lesso says that at the end of the day, it’s all about serving the customer. “It’s a great feeling because you can come down here and get some fresh shrimp off our boats. Every morning you come in here 7, 7:30 to get what we caught that night. A lot of people love it, that’s why they come down here to see us.” Video, read the rest here 12:06
Lobster prices up over last year
Although lobster prices along the North Shore are up a bit from last year, some harvests have gone the other way, River John fisherman Ron Heighton says. “In most areas the catches are down,” said Heighton, who is also the long-serving president of the Northumberland Fishermen’s Union. “Price wise, we’re doing better than last year. And catch wise, in some areas the catches are as good as last year and in some areas they’re not.” Processers and buyers have been paying $6.50/lb. for market-sized lobster compared to about $5.75/lb. for the same period last year, Heighton said. Read the rest here 11:13
Opinion: Red Snapper recreational fishermen— Allow Reallocation Among Fishermen, want shift to state management
Many Gulf Coast anglers have been asking themselves what the world is coming to lately, when they can fish federal waters for red snapper for only a few days this year while commercial boats can take sport fishermen out anytime to catch snapper for the boat to sell. I sure wondered how that could be when, in April, I first heard about Texas captain Scott Hickman’s trips,” which — quite legally — allow him to take sport fishermen along to fill his fish boxes per the commercial catch shares he owns. He accepts no payment from these anglers, just as by law he can accept no tips. The anglers cannot legally keep any fish nor buy fish from Hickman. But they can buy fish caught that day from the fish house back at the dock — for a premium price (at least a few bucks more per pound than the usual market price). At first, this scheme seemed outrageous to me, as it apparently did to many in the recreational-fishing community. Then I started trying to put my finger on why it pissed me off, and mostly I came up with reasons why it shouldn’t, especially when considered within the context of our bizarro snapper-management regime. Read the rest here 10:30
British Fishermen ‘offered 25 times a day’s wage to smuggle people into UK’
British fishermen have disclosed people smugglers have been offering them 25-times a normal day’s pay, across the Channel. At least one former fisherman was so worried about the ease of smuggling people into the UK’s unwatched coves and bays that he wrote to the Home Office, only to be assured “everything is fine”. Home Office and Ministry of Defence officials will this week meet to discuss bolstering security in the Channel, after the rescue of 18 Albanians and two Britons from a sinking boat off the Kent coast last week raised fears about the scale of people smuggling along Britain’s coastline. “I have been approached in the past by a man who asked if I was interested in making more money,” said one fisherman, who asked not to be named. Read the rest here 22:22
Fishermen protest marine reserve at Kaupulehu
KAUPULEHU — The sea is full of fish. Especially on one stretch of North Kona coastline whose closure for 10 years needs only the governor’s signature to be final. That’s according to the 40 or so fishermen who lined Queen Kaahumanu Highway waving signs on Saturday to protest the establishment of the Kaupulehu Marine Reserve, the island’s first initiative to put a reef off-limits to fishing while a subsistence plan is drafted for the 3.6 miles of coastline at Kaupulehu Bay. Anglers who troll, cast nets and fish with spears were angered that such bounty was being placed out of their reach, and questioned the state’s motives for the closure. “Out of all of the areas on the island, they want to close the one in front of the millionaires and billionaires,” said Abram Boido, owner of Mobile Marine Repair Service in Kailua-Kona. “Ask yourself, is it the fishing?” Read the story here 21:54
Groundswell – Opposing Catch Share Embezzlements for the Gulf of Alaska
Gulf of Alaska groundfish trawl bycatch amendments for analysis top this week’s North Pacific Fishery Management Council meeting in Kodiak. First up is the 10-year review of the Crab privatization quota system. It put roughly 1,350 fishermen out of work and shifted roughly $800 million of labor’s surplus to some sealords — embezzled from captains and crew. Into today’s capital flight torrent enters 40 groundfish trawlers, also wanting a mixed economy of brutish capitalism combined with another socialistic program of government giveaways. That’s Alternative 2 in the analysis outline, an IFQ proposal. It will result in more capital fleeing Alaska, robbing our communities of the labor surplus that drives rounds of respending that stimulate coastal economies. Greed and lazy are common economic bedfellows. They’ll embezzle 70% off the top, too. IFQs are euphemistically called “catch shares,” while those who do fish get less of a share than before. Since they saw trawl IFQs as inevitable politically, a splinter group of weak feeling local fishermen came up with a nonsensical idea to at least get one piece of the giveaway trawl pie, in something misnamed a Community Fishing Association. Read the op-ed here 20:51
Western Australian fishing company issues plea to be able to catch great white sharks again
A long-time WA fishing company says the latest fatal shark attack in coastal waters makes a case for commercial fishers to be able to catch great whites again. Shark fishing off the metropolitan coast was banned in 2007 but on Saturday Southwestern Fresh Fish took to Facebook writing a long post arguing in favour of shark fishing off metro beaches. “Over more than 35 years here at Southwestern Fresh Fish we have encountered hundreds of great white sharks. In our opinion they are definitely increasing with the main time of year to see them now increasing from just a few months per year to around eight months per year,” said the Bunbury firm. Read the rest here 16:54
The North Pacific Fishery Management Council is meeting June 6, 2016 at Kodiak Harbor Convention Center
The Council will meet the week of June 6, 2016 at the Kodiak Harbor Convention Center, 236 E. Rezanof Drive, Kodiak, AK. The AGENDA and SCHEDULE are available and will be updated as documents become available. Alaska Air is offering Travel Discounts. Details of meetings to be held during the week follow. The Council’s meeting will be broadcast live beginning their first day via Adobe Connect Click here to Listen Online. 14:55
Woman diver found dead in suspected ‘large white shark’ attack two days after Australian surfer Ben Gerring died
A woman’s body was discovered near Perth in Western Australia and police reports say she had “significant injuries consistent with a shark attack”. It is believed she had been diving near the northern suburb of Mindarie on Sunday morning local time. The Fisheries Department is setting up shark capture gear, saying there is a significant threat to public safety. The 60-year-old female was with a 43-year-old male diving partner in the reefs off Mindarie. The tragedy comes just two days after the death of Australian surfer Ben Gerring who died in hospital three days after losing his right leg in a shark attack. Read the rest here 13:30
Quebec fishermen catch first invasive Asian carp found in St. Lawrence River
There may be plenty of fish in the sea, but two fishermen in the Lanaudière region caught what may be the only Asian carp in the St. Lawrence River last week. Pierre Thériault and Gerald Boucher, commercial fisherman from Lanoraie, reeled in the 29-kilogram invasive species on May 27. “We really weren’t sure what it was. It looked like a carp… it had the same colour, but it was huge! We could see it was different from the others,” said Thériault. Not long after contacting biologists from Quebec’s Forests, Wildlife and Parks Ministry, it was confirmed that the fishermen’s catch was a one-metre-long female grass carp, one of four Asian carp species. Read the rest here 11:54
DAVID G. SELLARS’ ON THE WATERFRONT: Hodgepodge of ships crowd Port Angeles Harbor
The cargo ship Alaska moored to the Port of Port Angeles’ Terminal 3 to take on a load of logs for export to China. The 616-foot ship was launched earlier this year from the Shin Kurushima Dockyard in Japan and made her maiden voyage to the United States in April. I daresay before 2016 runs its course, we will see Alaska in Port Angeles again. Platypus Marine, the full-service shipyard, yacht-repair facility and steel-boat manufacturer on Marine Drive in Port Angeles, hauled out Jamie Marie. She is an 80-foot commercial fishing boat that ran aground in the early morning hours of May 23 in Ocean Shores. About 24 hours later, with the help of a couple of tugs and a high tide, the vessel was freed from her predicament and now sits on the hard while personnel paint the bottom, replace the cutlass bearing and the keel cooler, and assess the need for possible future maintenance and repair needs due to her out-of-water experience. Read the report here 11:28:45
