Monthly Archives: August 2016
Couple “Tie’s the Knot” on the deck of the bride’s longliner
As part of the ceremony for Tracy LaCosta of Campbell’s Creek and her husband Ben Hickey, a rope knot tying took place. While the fisherman’s knot came natural for LaCosta, who seasonally works day to day on the Aggie Jane II they got married on, it was more of a challenge for landlubber husband Hickey, who got seasick for about six hours the first and only time he went out on the water to witness his partner’s work. “I didn’t even make it out to the first crab pot when I was over the side puking up,” he said. LaCosta said there is great symbolism in the fisherman’s knot as it’s the strongest and is unbreakable and that’s why they decided on it as part of the ceremony. Read the story here 10:04
Noon Time Today! PETA plans ‘nude’ protest against Lobster Festival
Representatives from PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) alerted media Aug. 2 of their intention to launch a nude, or at least mostly nude, protest against the Maine Lobster Festival Wednesday, Aug. 3. “Wearing claws and almost nothing else, a sexy PETA supporter will lie on a giant plate — complete with to-scale cutlery, a garnish of cilantro and lemon, and a side of vegan butter — right across the street from the Maine Lobster Festival in Rockland,” the statement said. “PETA’s message to festival attendees is ‘Try to Relate to Who’s on Your Plate.'” The group plans to hold the protest at the intersection of Main and Park streets at noon. The organization has argued for years that eating any meat is cruel to animals. Read the rest here 08:53
The seemingly ‘unstoppable’ lionfish flooding Florida’s coast and beyond
In 2011, when Rachel Bowman saw an abundance of large, pretty reddish fish while riding in a boat across the Florida coast, she didn’t think much of it. But a year later, once she got certified to dive, she speared the exotic fish and recognized an opportunity. Three years later, the fisherwoman, who was born in North Carolina and whose father was a shrimper, is selling this creature, called lionfish, to restaurants, local markets and 26 Whole Foods Markets across Florida. “I’m the first person to sell [lionfish] to Whole Foods and to set up that deal,” Bowman told CNBC. And in the Sunshine State, many other commercial fishing operations have begun to sell lionfish as well. The fish’s reproductive habits may bolster their successful invasion. Females may be able to spawn as often as every four days, which could result in the release of up to 2 million eggs a year from a single fish, according to USGS. Read the story here 08:05
Fisherman take a battering as sea bass to be taken off menus to save fish from extinction
The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), the global advisory body on sustainable use of oceans, has advised the British Government there should be “zero catch” of sea bass in British waters around England, Wales and the Irish Sea in 2017. This includes both commercial and recreational fishing. A study by the council revealed sea bass stocks were at a high in 2010 but have been rapidly declining since then due to over-fishing and a subsequent reduction in reproduction. The EU has been making efforts to stop the decline of sea bass since the beginning of 2015 by banning deep sea trawling for the first three months of the year when the fish are in spawning season in the Channel, the Celtic Sea, Irish Sea and southern North Sea. Read the rest here 18:57
NOAA/NMFS Considers Moving Trawl Surveys to Fishing Vessels
NOAA Fisheries is initiating a planning process to support its intention to transition part or all of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s spring and fall bottom trawl surveys from the NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow to fishing industry vessels provided that survey data collection quality and time series integrity can be maintained. “The bottom trawl survey is perhaps the most valuable ecological data set that we maintain at the Center,” said Bill Karp, the center’s director. “Those data are critical for many of the fishery stock assessments in the region and are mined by a wide variety of researchers for other purposes. By sharing the responsibility for gathering these data with the fishing industry, I think there will also come greater shared confidence in the results obtained using them.” Read the rest here 17:12
“Delusions of a Mad Man”. The story of Harvey Haddock, a fisherman who finally had enough and decided to do something about it
READ THIS! “Delusions of a Mad Man”. Excerpted from a novel in progress by Jim Lovgren. Harvey Haddock cursed his father, why did he have to be a commercial fisherman? He could have been anything, a doctor, lawyer, porno star, anything but a damn commercial fisherman. He knew it was wrong to curse his father, but his rage needed an outlet and since his problems started with his career choice, his anger naturally returned to its birthplace. His father was a fisherman, and so was his grandfather, brother, and uncles, it seemed like everybody in his family at some time was a fisherman, probably going all the way back to Sweden where his ancestors had originated. The difference was that in other countries, and even in America until a few years ago, Commercial fisherman were respected as the hard working food providers that they were, but somehow something went wrong in America. Read the story here 16:05
Transportation Safety Board releases findings on Placentia Bay crab fishing deaths
The Transportation Safety Board says a modified boat, poor communications and the failure to wear life jackets all likely contributed to a boating accident in Placentia Bay last year where three men died while fishing crab. Their bodies were found in June 2015, after it was believed their boat capsized in strong winds. None of the men were wearing life jackets. As there were no witnesses or survivors, the TSB said it can’t say with certainty what happened, but pointed to key risk factors. Notably, the board said the boat owner hadn’t been using his regular crab-fishing vessel — he was using a smaller, 7.1-metre open boat he “hastily” modified for the job. The report said he was under pressure to fish, as he hadn’t caught any of his quota two weeks before the end of the fishing season. His main boat was being repaired and taking longer than expected; he couldn’t use the vessel licensed to his wife as it could only be used to fish her quota, the report said. Read the rest here 15:06
Animal Rights Crusaders Crash Brooklyn Lobster Party To Protest Crustacean ‘Torture’
An animal rights group barged into a lobster boil party in Brooklyn yesterday, shouting, holding signs, climbing on tables and dousing one another in “blood.” Collectively Free, the group behind yesterday’s demonstration, crashed The Great Brooklyn Lobster Boil at The Landing at Industry City—a $60 per ticket event featuring lobsters cooked on-site—calling out the event for “speciesism” and “lobster torture.” Chanting “Her whole life, your one meal, lobsters feel, lobsters feel” and “If you want to get some peace, let the lobster torture cease,” over two dozen protestors acted out the moments of the lobster’s death, screaming and, confusingly, pouring blood on each other. As security attempted to corral the group, one member climbed on a table where people were eating, eventually getting pulled down. It’s unclear whether the person who pulled the protestor down was affiliated with Industry City or one of the many surprised, bib-clad patrons attending the event. Watch the video, read the rest here 11:28
Blue Harvest Fisheries Acquires Hygrade Ocean Products
Blue Harvest Fisheries, LLC has today announced the acquisition of Hygrade Ocean Products Inc. Hygrade is a New Bedford, Massachusetts, based processor and distributor of scallops, cod, and other premium fish products. By virtue of the acquisition, Blue Harvest will begin marketing and distributing Company-landed scallops, bluefin tuna, and swordfish directly to customers. With operations in Newport News, Virginia, and Fairhaven, Massachusetts, Blue Harvest owns a fleet of 15 scallop vessels and is an active participant in the bluefin tuna and swordfish fisheries. “By vertically integrating, Blue Harvest can now provide its customers with greater product traceability, quality assurance, and variety,” said Mr. Jeff Davis, CEO of Blue Harvest. He continued by saying, “The acquisition of Hygrade is consistent with our strategy of building a vertically integrated premium seafood company.” Read the rest here 10:09
WWF-Canada report says Canadian forage fish are in trouble
A new WWF-Canada report says Canadian forage fish are in trouble and more needs to be done to protect the small marine species. The conservation group says the report looked at 27 fisheries and found that three fisheries in Atlantic Canada are in critical condition, including two herring stocks in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The report also said the status of stocks was unknown in 75 per cent of the fisheries, including all capelin fisheries and all the fisheries in British Columbia. It says in all cases, fisheries management does not sufficiently account for predator needs. The group says forage fish are a vitally important food source for predators such as whales and seabirds, and are also critical to the recovery of commercial fisheries such as northern cod. It says more needs to be done to protect forage fish, including gathering adequate data about stocks to inform fisheries management decisions. Link WWF-Canada warns that small fish are in big trouble Link 09:40
Supplier takes heat for Price Chopper’s illegally small lobsters
A New England seafood supplier said it deserves the blame for unlawful lobsters being sold by Price Chopper. The Department of Environmental Conservation on Tuesday seized 1,100 pounds of lobster from two Price Chopper supermarkets and a company distribution center after it found illegally small lobsters at stores in Binghamton. “It’s important for people to understand that Price Chopper didn’t knowingly accept short length lobsters from us,” said Dave Madden, an owner of Lobster Trap, a distributor from Cape Cod, Mass. “We delivered them in error.” New York enacted the size restrictions to prevent overfishing, but Lobster Trap said most other Northeastern states are not as strict. That led company workers to mistakenly mix smaller lobsters into the shipment bound for New York. Link 09:12
The abandoned Irish Piper did not go quietly. But go it did!
The 41-foot wooden boat, one of the more infamous vessels in Gloucester because of its previous owners’ penchant for abandoning it at various boat yards and dockages, had its own Irish wake Monday when the city cut up the boat at Rose Marine and disposed of it. The city had recovered the boat Saturday from about 37 feet of water in the southeast harbor where it sank Thursday. The Piper, however, did not give up all its secrets as it went to its final demise — most significantly, who legally owned the boat and abandoned it on the Gloucester Harbor mooring for nearly a month this summer.”That’s a little murky,” said Gloucester Harbormaster T.J. Ciarametaro on Monday afternoon.” All we know is some guy bought it at auction, but we haven’t been able to track down exactly who. We’ve got several possible names, but we’re not sure yet exactly who owned it, so I don’t want to start naming anybody without knowing for sure. Read the story here 08:21
Is total destruction of fishing industry the goal?
Your front page article (Commercial fishers ‘gutted’ by govt reforms)The fishermen under threat from government ‘reforms’ to the fishing industry just doesn’t ‘irk’ people, it angers. My father was a commercial fisherman. He helped represent Aussie fisherman overseas, helped set up co-ops, and represented his fellow fishermen to the politicians of the day. The ultimate result in trying to make a sustainable fishing industry was constantly thwarted by bureaucrats. The professional fishermen warned the government not to hand out professional fishing licences to weekend, hobby ‘fishermen’ as the depletion of stock would be resultant. They were told, by some, the intention was not going to be to make ‘raggedy arsed fishermen millionaire’s’. The fishermen knew what they were talking about and were ignored. Regrettably, this was the case with each government. Read the rest here 19:46
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission could increase menhaden catch
New Jersey commercial bait fishermen want to see the coastwide catch of menhaden increased nearly 80,000 metric tons. “We’re focused on the science. If the science supports an increase, we want to take it,” said Jeff Kaelin from Lunds Fisheries, a commercial fishing operation in Cape May. The amount of menhaden fishermen will be able to take from the water next year will be decided Wednesday in Alexandria, Virginia, when the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission meets. The Atlantic Menhaden Technical Committee has given the ASMFC options that would allow the catch to increase by as much as 10,000 to 80,000 metric tons. Kaelin said Jersey gill netters have been shut out of the fishery since July 4, after fishermen reached their allocation for this year. He said if they had more quota, they could be selling bait to New England lobstermen who are clamoring for bait. Read the rest here 19:22
NOAA Announces New Fisheries Allocation Policy
NOAA and our partners at the Fisheries Management Councils have taken an important step to clarify how allocations of fish harvest among recreational, commercial, and subsistence fishermen should be made.Today, NOAA is issuing an agency Fisheries Allocation and Review Policy (pdf). We are issuing two complementary procedural directives to provide guidance for implementing the policy: Recommended Practices and Factors to Consider When Reviewing and Making Allocation Decisions (pdf) and Criteria for Initiating Fisheries Allocation Reviews (pdf). We’ll also host a conference call on Tuesday, August 2 at 4 pm (EDT) to discuss the policy and answer any questions for the recreational community. Join the call: Phone number: 1-800-369-1932 Passcode: 42334 You’ve told us in the past that allocations can seem locked in place, unable to keep pace with changing fisheries. We appreciate your perspective and that is why we included a commitment to examine allocations in our National Saltwater Recreational Fisheries Policy Implementation Plan. Read the notice here 18:49
California fishermen win key ruling over Delta water supply
A group of commercial fishermen won a potentially significant court ruling in the seemingly endless battle over California’s water supply and the volumes of water pumped south through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. A federal appeals court last week ruled that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which delivers water from the Delta via the federal Central Valley Project, violated federal environmental law by renewing a series of two-year delivery contracts for south-of-Delta agricultural customers. The court said the bureau should have given “full and meaningful consideration” to the idea of reducing the amount of water available for delivery in the contracts. The ruling by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals won’t void any of the supply contracts, said Stephan Volker, an Oakland lawyer representing the fishermen. But it could force the Bureau of Reclamation eventually to reduce the amount of Central Valley Project water pumped through the Delta to farmers and leave more water in the estuary to help endangered fish species. Read the rest here 16:51
Historic West Coast fishing vessel Stephanie to be restored
The Humboldt Bay Maritime Museum and the City of Eureka teamed up in 2011 to restore a historic wooden fishing vessel, one of the oldest if not the oldest of its type on the West Coast, and the museum finalized a grant application on Saturday to fund more work on the ship, Humboldt Bay Maritime Museum board member and owner of Zerland & Zerlang Marine Services, where the boat has had repairs, Leroy Zerlang said today. “That will take care of the rest that needs to be done to it,” he said. The drag boat, Stephanie, is 60 feet long by 16 feet wide and was built in 1917 at Fisherman’s Wharf. It is tied to the long history and tradition of fishing on Humboldt Bay, Zerlang said. The boat’s original owner was Tom Lazio, who named it after his stepdaughter and had it in his fleet of fishing vessels. Read the story here 13:58
At annual Stonington blessing, fishermen add one more to ranks of those who have died at sea
When Peggy Krupinski used to attend the Blessing of the Fleet each year, her husband Walter was always with her. This year, she came alone. Helped on both sides on Sunday by the family members of men who lost their lives on fishing boats, Krupinski held an anchor-shaped wreath of red flowers over Stonington Harbor. Standing behind her on the fishing boat Neptune, The Most Rev. Michael Cote, bishop of Norwich, read a prayer. “O God, who alone know the depth of the oceans and the destiny of souls, we commit to your care those who never returned from the sea.” Krupinski let the wreath drop into the harbor. “Give them pardon and peace with you, and grant that we may see them again.” And with that, Walter Krupinski — known as “Wally” — was added to the list of Stonington fishermen who have died at sea. Read the rest here 11:06
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission Summer Meeting – Alexandria, Virginia August 2-4, 2016
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission will meet in at the The Westin Alexandria August 2-4, 2016. The agenda is subject to change. The agenda reflects the current estimate of time required for scheduled Board meetings. The Commission may adjust this agenda in accordance with the actual duration of Board meetings. Interested parties should anticipate Boards starting earlier or later than indicated herein. Board/Section meeting proceedings will be broadcast daily via webinar beginning at 10:15 a.m. on August 2nd and continuing daily until the conclusion of the meeting (expected to be 4:00 p.m.) on Thursday August 4th. Click here for details, Click here for webinar 10:45
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for August 1, 2016
Click here to read the Weekly Update, to read all the updates, Click here 10:25
‘Only virgins’ operate N. Korea fishing boat
North Korea’s main newspaper Rodong Shinmun has printed a story about a fishing boat operated only by “virgin women.” The article appeared on July 30 under the headline “We also are the keepers of Golden Sea.” Named “The Daughter-Young Men Heroine of Korean Worker’s Party,” the highly praised fishing boat is operated by the fishing industry in the city of Nampo, according to the article. Mobilizing women into the fishing industry ― where men are usually in the majority ― and praising the launch of the boat are viewed as an attempt to boost output by increasing the number of people employed in it. The state, which has been under heavy international sanctions in response to its nuclear program earlier this year, is promoting the campaign to boost its sputtering domestic economy and pursue its philosophy of “self-reliance” by imposing heavier workloads on the people. Encouraging women to work on a boat, which can be demanding, clearly reflects the pressure North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un is under to dig his country out of stagnation. Read the rest here 09:37
The Infamous Cape Pond Ice and Gloucester’s Fishing Infrastructure is Struggling.
In this, the summer of the 25th anniversary of the Perfect Storm that gave rise to Cape Pond Ice’s cult-like cache, the venerable ice making plant in Gloucester’s Fort neighborhood is being battered by its own series of man-made and natural forces. The 168-year-old company, the chief supplier of essential ice to what remains of Gloucester’s fishing fleet, as well as a host of other commercial customers, has been crippled by mechanical problems and last week’s historic run of record heat that has been anything but kind to the final product. The myriad problems besetting Cape Pond Ice are a startling reminder of how losing one link in the symbiotic chain connecting the fishing fleet with its shoreside infrastructure can upset the fragile balance that has come to define commercial fishing. They also are a reflection of the greatest fears of public officials and fishing stakeholders — that the continued demise of the commercial fishing industry is exerting escalating financial pressures on shoreside, fishing-related businesses that have long depended on the fleet. Read the story here 07:52
Maine Skipper arrested and charged with assault with a dangerous weapon (a machete)
The captain of a vessel at the Boston Fish Pier was arrested Sunday morning after another person reported being held at knifepoint. Massachusetts State Police arrested Stephen A. Thuotte, 54, of Porter, Maine, the Captain of the vessel Lydia & Maya. Thuotte was arrested and charged with assault with a dangerous weapon (a machete). Police say the victim is a 46-year-old man from Brunswick, Maine. The victim refused medical treatment. Both suspect and victim were on the vessel together. Thuotte will be arraigned Monday at South Boston District Court. No additional information regarding the incident were released. Link 06:44
