Monthly Archives: July 2016
Great white shark numbers off Massachusetts rose sharply last year
A big jump in the number of great white sharks seen off Massachusetts has given rise to a couple of compelling mysteries. Greg Skomal, senior marine fisheries scientist for the state government, tags great whites along the coast. He collaborates with researchers in Halifax who tag blue sharks and other species, and collect data from Skomal’s tags when they’re in Canadian waters. Skomal is still collecting this year’s data, so he can’t comment on it yet. But from mid-June to October in 2014, his team identified 68 individual white sharks off the eastern shore of Cape Cod. In the summer of 2015, that number increased to 141 individuals. There are still many questions left to answer, such as what proportion of the total existing population is being spotted off the coastline. “Is it 10 per cent, is it five per cent, is it 50 per cent?” he said. “We could be seeing just a fraction of what’s out here.” Read the rest here 09:13
Fast-moving trawl line cuts short the budding life of a young Maine lobsterman
Jon and Melinda Popham got married aboard the Melinda Ann, a former pleasure craft that Jon had converted into a lobster boat. He named it for his bride, and planned to build their future on it. “He told me he wanted me to stay home and raise our (2-year-old) son, he was worried about making sure we had the best of everything. He loved (fishing) and he was doing well, he told me this year would be epic,” Melinda Popham said Wednesday. The Popham family’s dream life was shattered Saturday when Jon Popham, 28, of Machiasport died after falling out of the Melinda Ann near Jonesport. Although the Coast Guard hasn’t released many details about the accident, Melinda Popham said Wednesday that her husband was apparently pulled overboard and dragged under the water when his foot got caught in the line of a 15-trap trawl. One of his sternmen, Timmy White, dove in with a knife to try to cut him free. Read the story here 08:51
Salmon are rolling into Upper Cook Inlet’s commercial fishery
The drift fleet and setnetters in Cook Inlet have been out frequently in the past two weeks and were out for extended hours Thursday. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game also opened the drift gillnet fishery in the Expanded Kenai and Expanded Kasilof Sections of the Upper Subdistrict and the Anchor Point Section of the Lower Subdistrict for an additional 12-hour period on Friday to increase harvest on the sockeye salmon bound for the Kenai and Kasilof rivers, according to an emergency order issued Thursday. The salmon harvest came in just shy of 2 million as of Tuesday, with sockeye leading the pack at 1.6 million, followed by pink salmon at approximately 244,000 fish. Silvers and chum are starting to come in as well, with about 43,000 silvers and about 57,000 chums so far, according to Fish and Game’s inseason harvest estimates. Read the rest here 08:27
Once-bountiful scallop fishery collapses as oil leak persists in Newfoundland bay
The oil has been seeping for about three years — sometimes in drops, sometimes leaving large slicks — fouling a scenic area in western Newfoundland once known for its scallop fishing. Concerned residents near Shoal Point in Port au Port Bay have tried everything from news releases to photos and video of the bubbling leak from an abandoned exploration well, trying to spur a permanent fix. “If there was a leak in St. John’s harbour, the coast guard would probably jump on it within hours,” said Bob Diamond of the Port au Port Bay Fishery Committee. What is certain is that the scallop fishery, a once crucial economic driver in the area, has collapsed over the last three years, he said in an interview. Read the story here 20:48
All in a day’s work – dragging on the ‘Kestrel’ catching fluke and sea bass in the Sound
Wanna know what it’s like to go on a fishing trip with me, but you don’t spot any rods or reels (except a huge one with nets and chain on it)? Well, if you have ever stopped at Bacci’s Lobster Landing for the world’s best lobster roll, you have looked across the dock and have seen the bow of the Kestrel, a modest craft capable of catching enormous amounts of fish. Of course, you won’t see enormous amounts of fish because by the time you’ve taken your first bite of the roll, Capt. Doug Pogany has already delivered his catch to the market in New London. Sometimes he goes to Hunt’s Point, which has replaced the Fulton Fish Market; when that’s closed, he travels to New London To see the whole operation, you’d have to do what I did: Get up at 3:30 a.m., Read the story here 20:06
The Importance of Insurance. Keep you and your boat covered
Boat owners can be liable for more crew injury costs than they might expect. In high risk jobs someone is bound to get hurt or ill on deck. Dillingham attorney Jurgen Jensen explains the importance of insurances and how they can keep the captain and the boat protected. “Injuries are pretty obvious: somebody’s going to get hurt. If you lose a finger, obviously that’s an injury that could happen on the boat, But this can also come up with illnesses. If somebody falls ill with cancer and they’re on your boat fishing, the court will say that you owe maintenance and cure. You will owe for medical bills while they’re getting cured of cancer, and you’ll owe the daily maintenance rate, which generally ranges between $35 and $55 dollars a day.” Maintenance- means the boat owner has to cover room and board while a fisherman recovers from his or her injury. Cure refers to the medical costs accumulated during recovery. Jensen suggests that any boat injury be treated and documented to protect oneself against any future ailment claims from an injured crewman. Audio report, read the rest here 19:29Coast Guard crew assists disabled fishing vessel 100 miles East of Chatham, Mass.
The Coast Guard Cutter Tahoma responded Sunday to a disabled fishing vessel 100 nautical miles East of Chatham and continued assistance through Tuesday. At 11:53 a.m. Sunday, a Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England watchstander received a distress call from a crewmember aboard the 62-foot eastern rigged trawler fishing vessel, Challenge. The crewmember reported Challenge was disabled due to engine failure approximately 100 nautical miles East of Chatham near Georges Bank with seven people and 1000 pounds of scallops aboard. At approximately 1:15 p.m. Sunday, Coast Guard Cutter Tahoma, then 170 nautical miles from Challenge, was diverted to offer assistance. The Tahoma crew arrived on scene at 2:30 p.m. Monday and rigged a tow. Link 17:57
The fishermen’s filmmaker
Dave Kaltenbach has been capturing the Viking Village fishing fleet on video and in his art for years. He has several videos he has made on Long Beach Island, including one on the aftermath of superstorm Sandy. His most recent film, “Yesterday’s Fish, Today’s Challenges,” was show at the Lighthouse International Film Festival on Long Beach Island in June. It tells the long history of the fishing port of Barnegat Light, now commonly known as Viking Village. A longtime resident of Barnegat Light, now living in North Carolina, he considers himself the “Filmmaker for the Fisherman,” despite having made movies, documentaries on a variety of subjects, as well as commercial and music videos. “Capt. John Larson got me involved with filming the fishermen 18 years ago,” he said recently. Read the story here 17:23
Proposed “no discharge zone” by Washington State, Commercial vessels would have five years to comply
Boaters and vessel operators would not be able to release sewage, treated or untreated, into Puget Sound under a proposal by Washington state regulators. The Department of Ecology said Thursday, July 21 it and other state agencies petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to designate the waters of Puget Sound a “no discharge zone” to improve water quality and protect shellfish beds and swimming beaches from harmful bacteria. Critics say the proposal is too broad and will be costly for many who would have to retrofit their vessels to accommodate holding tanks. They say many vessel operators currently use marine sanitation devices to treat sewage before it’s pumped overboard. If approved, the zone would immediately apply to all vessels, with the exception of tugboats, commercial fishing vessels and some boats that would have five years to retrofit their vessels. There are more than 150,000 recreational and commercial vessels in Puget Sound. Read the rest here 17:11
Two fishermen rescued from burning fishing boat in Cook Inlet
Alaska commercial fishermen report a dramatic rescue in Cook Inlet early Thursday. Domnin Martushev said was getting ready to fish for sockeye salmon early this morning when he noticed thick, black smoke pouring out of a nearby vessel. “We knew something was wrong,” Martushev told KTUU by cell phone from the fishing vessel, Player. Matushev and his captain motored toward the burning vessel. Another fishing boat had also come to help but its engine died so it wasn’t able to assist. The Player approached the burning vessel, Winchester. “We went up to the bow and we grabbed the two passengers. We grabbed their hands and tossed them in our boat,” Martushev said. It turned out the smoke was the result of a fire in the engine room, Martushev said. Read the rest here 13:25
Invasive green crab population reaches record high in Shediac Bay
The population of green crabs in Shediac Bay has exploded this year, says Jim Weldon, of the Shediac Bay Watershed Association. Weldon, the green crab project manager, has been monitoring numbers of the aggressive invasive species since 2013. “This is the highest numbers we’ve ever seen,” he said. Weldon attributes the harsh winter of 2014 with keeping numbers at bay last year. “The ice was thick, the crabs that were hibernating in the mud were crushed, the numbers were way down.” The aggressive invasive crustacean can wreak havoc on eelgrass beds that provide shelter to other aquatic life. “They are going to go after the seed populations of mussels, oysters, quahogs and anything that is small enough that they can open.” Read the story here 12:59
When Whitburn fishermen plotted to overthrow the king
Today we recall the time when local fishermen begged to get rid of a man who was making their lives a misery. But he wasn’t just any old chap, as historian Douglas Smith explains, he was the king of England – Henry VIII. “It was the day the fishermen of Whitburn begged a Scottish king to rid them of the English king – a man they blamed for many of the miseries of life in a small fishing village.” The plea for help followed a revolt in 1536, known as the Pilgrimage of Grace, against several royal enactments, principally the dissolution of great monasteries and abbeys. Much blame was popularly placed on Thomas Cromwell, chief minister to Henry VIII, who was “the cause of all our miseries and heresies” – according to those behind the rebellion. Two parts, P-1 today, P-2 tomorrow Read the rest here 12:18
Three face shrimping-related charges in Terrebonne
Three Chauvin residents face charges after complaints over the past two weeks about fishermen illegally catching shrimp in Bayou Little Caillou, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries 
said. David Blanchard, 35, and his deckhand Ellis Gilling, 35, were cited Wednesday on charges of taking commercial fish without a commercial license, failing to comply with bait dealer permit regulations and using skimmers in a closed season. Kenneth McDuff, 59, was cited on charges of allowing unlicensed fishermen to use a vessel license and gear license, and failing to comply with bait dealer permit regulations. Agents said they spotted Blanchard and Gilling unloading shrimp from a boat about 1 a.m. and asked to see their licenses. Read the rest here 09:46
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission extends Herring catch limits to prolong catch of lobster bait
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has extended some of Maine’s emergency Atlantic herring restrictions to Massachusetts to try to close a loophole that threatened to derail the summer supply of lobster bait. On Wednesday, the Commission voted 2-1 to cut the number of days that herring boats can land fish each week within its jurisdiction from five to two, with Maine and New Hampshire representatives voting in favor of the landing day reduction and Massachusetts voting against it. Under its emergency rules, Maine had already cut its landing days down to two in an attempt to prolong the availability of fresh herring throughout the lobster season, but boats that fished that area could still land for five days if they sailed to a Massachusetts port such as Gloucester. “Without constraints on the landing (in Massachusetts) we would not make it into August, much less September,” said Terry Stockwell of Maine Department of Marine Resources. Meanwhile, Maine lobstermen are struggling. “The bait freezers are empty,” Stockwell said. And the bait that is available is expensive. Read the story here 09:11
“Make no mistake about it, the Town of East Hampton has sold out commercial fishermen,”
New York is close to approving the state’s first offshore wind farm, hoping to sidestep the controversies that have left other East Coast projects in limbo and the United States’ vast offshore wind capacity untapped. (only in America can the wind become a commodity!) More hyperbole. By contrast, the South Fork proposal appears to have local support, notably in the town of East Hampton, where the wind farm’s transmission lines would connect to land. The town council voted in 2014 to secure a completely carbon-free electricity supply by 2020, followed by transportation and heating in 2030. “The citizens of East Hampton have been visionary about that goal, very vocal in their support for offshore wind,” said Kit Kennedy, the director of the energy and transportation program for the Natural Resources Defense Council. (beware of anyone that calls herself “Kit”) One advantage that South Fork has over Cape Wind: Its 30-mile distance from land means that the turbines will not be visible on the horizon. (because the citizens would be reminded every month of being scammed, when the open they open their electric bills) Read the rest here 08:13
These fishermen catch fish in the filthy bay where Olympic athletes will compete — here’s how bad it’s gotten
Behind the airport on Rio de Janeiro’s Governador Island, fishermen live an area called the “Molotov Cocktail,” so known because of the pollution found there. These fishermen catch their fish in Guanabara Bay — the place where Olympic sailors will compete that’s become something of a legend over the past year because of the high levels of sewage, viruses, and trash lurking in the water. Guanabara Bay is huge, and the fisherman don’t work near the Olympic competition area. But they still have to contend with pollution and the increasingly poor reputation of the bay. Alex Sandro Santos, the president of the Fishermen Association of Tubiacanga, is a third generation fisherman in the area. Fifty years ago, he says, Read the rest here 21:30
B.C. coast to see historic cleanup of marine debris as Japanese tsunami money runs out
A coordinated marine-debris cleanup described as the largest in Canadian history is underway all along B.C.’s west coast, from the remote wave-tossed beaches of Cape Scott and Haida Gwaii to the tourist-heavy Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. It is largely funded by the last of a $1-million package provided by the Japanese government in 2012 for tsunami debris cleanup in B.C. “We can’t burden the island’s landfills,” she said. “We brought in five tonnes of plastic ourselves last year.” This year, the groups are operating as a team, using the helicopters to lift one-tonne loads of debris onto a single barge that will work its way down the coast over about a week in late August to early September. The barge will end up in Steveston, with debris delivered to Richmond’s Westcoast Plastic Recycling, which can accept industrial debris that is not contaminated. Read the rest here 21:10
The Lady Is Still Here – Radio Caroline’s “Pirate radio” Floating Legacy Ross Revenge
The Blackwater Estuary is in the English county of Essex. Despite its closeness to Colchester, England’s oldest town, it is a remote and lonely stretch of water, just down the coast from the busy seaside resort of Clacton on Sea. The small village of Bradwell is an ideal location for a nuclear power station, forlorn and unloved. On some weekends, teams of volunteers head for Bradwell with their tool boxes; in July 2014, the nuclear power station welcomed the return of a famous and iconic neighbour, the Ross Revenge, which is now moored in the estuary adjacent to the power station. The Ross Revenge, commissioned in 1960 for the Ross fishing company, was an Icelandic trawler supplying the UK market with fish. The vessel was involved in the “Cod Wars” of 1975-6 when she regularly featured on the UK’s TV news. Then the Ross company put her up for sale. She was eventually acquired by… Radio Caroline,,, Read the story here – A little song from John Hyatt 16:34
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 48ft Crabber – Gillnetter, 230HP Detroit Diesel
Specifications, information and 22 photo’s click here To see all the boats in this series, Click here 15:00
Holyrood plans crackdown on recreational caught seafood black market
A crackdown on “hobby fishers” who sell lobsters, prawns, crabs, scallops and other seafood for financial gain was welcomed by an industry leader last night. Scottish Creel Fishermen’s Federation (SCFF) chairman Alistair Sinclair said genuine commercial fishers supported efforts to end a practice which was widespread and had “been going on ever since people started to fish”. He was speaking after the Scottish Government launched a consultation on plans to introduce catch limits for hobby fishers in inshore waters. SCFF, which has 480 members around Scotland, has played a key role in discussions on the way forward for hobby and unlicensed fishermen. Mr Sinclair said: “It was widely recognised around the table that there is a black market serving people who want to procure their shellfish as cheaply as possible. “This affects bona fide fishermen who are trying to earn their living from the sea.” Read the rest here 14:41
City tells longtime Gloucester activist activist to stay away from 2 city officials
Longtime Gloucester activist Susanne Altenburger has been told by the city’s lawyer that she can no longer contact two of its officials by phone. And if she wants a face-to-face meeting with them, a city police officer must also be present. General counsel Charles “Chip” Payson notified Altenburger of the policy earlier this month in two letters sent on behalf of Economic Development Director Sal Di Stefano and Fisheries Commission Director Al Cottone. The letters came after Di Stefano and Cottone were granted harassment prevention orders against Altenburger on June 24. The court orders — which barred Altenburger from any contact with Di Stefano and Cottone for two weeks — were vacated by Judge Joseph Jennings III on July 8, after neither man showed up to press for a renewal.Both men said in sworn affidavits that Altenburger, an outspoken advocate for boat building and other issues regarding Gloucester’s harbor and working waterfront, made them fear for their safety. In his affidavit, Di Stefano said he believes Altenburger owns a gun and has a concealed-carry permit, a charge she denies. Read the story here 14:09
8 Shark Fishermen From Same Family Murdered In Mexico
Gunmen burst into a home and killed eight shark fishermen from the same family in Mexico’s Pacific beach resort of Puerto Escondido, authorities said on Tuesday. The armed group arrived in a vehicle late on Monday, stormed the house and opened fire with high-caliber weapons in the southern state Oaxaca, officials said. “Four men died at the scene and four more, also males, died in a hospital during treatment,” Joaquin Carrillo Ruiz, Oaxaca’s chief prosecutor, told AFP. The victims were all fishermen who caught sharks, but the prosecutor’s office said in a statement that investigators were looking at whether they were involved in illicit activities. It did not give more details about the investigation, but drugs are moved off the coasts of southern Mexico. Last week, the navy recovered 900 kilograms of cocaine inside 33 packages that were floating off the coast of Chiapas state, south of Oaxaca. Read the rest here 11:49
Working Waterfront: Gulf Seafood on county’s agenda today
The Monroe County Commission will take the first significant step today in purchasing the former Gulf Seafood commercial working waterfront on Stock Island. The commission will vote to accept a $2.2 million state grant that would go toward the roughly $7 million purchase of the waterfront property, which is currently home to about a dozen fishermen. The county set aside $5 million in sales tax revenue for the purchase more than a year ago. The project could accomplish the goal of protecting commercial fishing in an area that has seen a tremendous growth in waterfront hotels, resorts and upscale marinas recently, fishermen said. Lower Keys commercial fisherman Daniel Padron called the purchase “monumental” for protecting commercial fishing in the Lower Keys. Read the rest here 10:17
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for July 18, 2016
Click here to read the Weekly Update, to read all the updates, Click here 08:47
Zeldin amendment helps the Nation’s Fishermen, prevents abuse of the Antiquities Act of 1906
The amendment bars funding for the designation of any national marine monuments by the president in the Exclusive Economic Zone. Marine monuments are areas of ocean where fishing would be banned without consulting the local community, fishermen, or regional fisheries managers. Mr. Zeldin in a release said the Obama administration’s “overzealous interpretation of this law is causing great concern” among the fishing community because the president has sought to apply his power to vast portions of the ocean. In 2014, he said the president declared a 407,000-square-mile National Marine Monument in the Pacific Ocean where commercial fishing was banned and recreational fishing was severely limited. Now, important fishing areas in the Northwest Atlantic, where fishermen from Greenport and Montauk have long worked, are under consideration with little public input and no transparency. Bonnie Brady, the executive director of the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, “These are the critical waters that Mr. Zeldin’s amendment will protect.” Read the rest here 08:07
SMAST wins patent on 3D counting, measuring fish on deck of a boat
A newly patented 3-D photograph system developed at the UMass Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology soon may greatly add to scientists’ knowledge about ocean fish populations, the school announced Tuesday. The device, the work of now-retired dean Dr. Brian Rothschild and graduate student Glenn Chamberlain, includes two digital cameras and a reference frame. Using a common technique called stereo photogrammetry, the device essentially uses 3-D images to map the surface of the fish. The reference frame will permit the monitoring not only of the number of fish, but their size. The fish can be on the deck, or in a net, and the data obtained can be stored permanently, Rothschild said. “The concept is very simple,” Rothschild said, and the parts are easily obtainable commercially; the two cameras cost about $500, he said. “We built one and it did work,” he said. Read the rest here 20:32
Pew Calls for 2 year moratorium on Commercial Fishing of Pacific Bluefin Tuna
The Pew Charitable Trusts today called for a two-year moratorium on commercial fishing of the highly depleted Pacific bluefin tuna. In this year’s stock assessment, scientists found that the population is at just 2.6 percent of its historic size and that overall fishing mortality remains up to three times higher than is sustainable. Despite that dire state, the two international bodies that manage Pacific bluefin—the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission, which met this month in California, and the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, which meets in December in Fiji—have failed for several years to agree on a Pacific-wide recovery plan that will end overfishing and return the population to healthy levels. Projections from the International Scientific Committee for Tuna and Tuna-like Species in the North Pacific Ocean show that under current conditions, the catch limits now in place have a less than 1 percent chance of successfully rebuilding the population over the next 20 years. Read the rest here 16:27
More Skeena River fish escaping North Coast fishermen in 2016
The fishing season has had a grim opening. While the season opened earlier than in recent years, fisherman are having a poor harvest in the Skeena River. The Skeena Tyee test fishery, a gillnetter that collects data for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to determine the amount of sockeye salmon that escape the fishery, reported higher than average levels of escapement on July 8-9. The Northern Representative for the United Fishermen and Allied Workers’ Union (UFAWU), Joy Thorkelson, said only 7,000 fish were caught and there were 230 boats out fishing. Area 4, in the Skeena, is tracking well but people have different theories about why so many fish bypassed those fishermen. “We don’t know if it was deep or the fishermen weren’t fishing in the right areas. We don’t know what happened. There was lots of escapement and they should have caught way more than they did,” she said. Read the rest here 13:39
Inquest into deaths of French fishermen on Bugaled Breizh is delayed
An inquest into the deaths of French fishermen whose boat sank off the Lizard peninsula 12 years ago will be delayed until January. Cornwall coroner Emma Carlyon announced today that she would most likely start the inquest on how the Bugaled Breizh sank in the new year. It was initially due to be held in September but has been delayed while more evidence is gathered, a preliminary hearing in Truro was told. The trawler from Loctudy, Brittany, sank 14 miles from Lizard Point in January 2004. The families of the fishermen claim the boat was pulled under after tangling its nets with a submarine during a Nato exercise, although this has always been disputed by the Ministry of Defence (MoD). Read the rest here 12:15
Direct-buy seafood still finding its sea legs
Being allowed to do something and being able to do it are two different things. Buying seafood direct from a fisherman for personal use is no longer against the law in Newfoundland and Labrador, since the provincial government’s announcement in September 2015. Yet direct sales (not through a processing plant or established retailer) are still not the everyday for most — both buyers and sellers. There are fish harvesters interested in exploring direct sales and potential customers abound, but the challenge is connecting one with the other. Blaine Edwards has offered some help through From the Wharf (fromthewharf.com), an online marketplace bringing fish harvesters and seafood lovers together. Read the rest here 12:01
