Daily Archives: September 13, 2016
Searchers find second ship from doomed expedition
The second of two British explorer ships that vanished in the Arctic nearly 170 years ago during a storied expedition to find the fabled Northwest Passage has been found. The Arctic Research Foundation said Monday that the HMS Terror has been located by a research ship. Last seen in the 1840s while under the command of Sir John Franklin, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror have long been among the most sought-after prizes in marine archaeology and the subject of songs, poems and novels. “I can confirm it has been found,” said Aleta Brooke of the Arctic Research Foundation, one of the groups involved in the search. Franklin and 128 hand-picked officers and men had set out in 1845 to find the Northwest Passage, the long-sought shortcut to Asia that supposedly ran from the Atlantic to the Pacific by way of the harsh, ice-choked Arctic. Read the story here 18:18
Ridiculous study claims: elevated ocean CO2 gives fish brain impairment
From the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Scienceand the department of “let’s put some fish in a tank and gas them” comes this sub-par science fair level experiment where the only purpose seems to be to demonize CO2 by grabbng a headline. In essence, they’ve created “Dory” from the children’s movie Finding Nemo in an artificial environment that in no way is anything like conditions on a coral reef. Plus, by just dropping the fish into this elevated CO2 environment they aren’t used to, not only are they negating generations of fish and any adaptation that might occur, they are testing fish in a stressed environment that they have no experience with. This truly is bad science. Read the post here 15:41
Will Obama fence off more of the ocean? US fishermen are fearful
American fishermen are deeply fearful that the Obama White House could cut them off as early as this week from major fishing areas of the U.S. continental shelf on both coasts, further restricting one of the most highly regulated fishing industries in the world. At stake are millions of dollars in fishing revenue and hundreds of jobs — and in some parts of the country, the survival of an embattled way of life that has persisted for centuries but is facing environmentalist pressures unlike anything before. “This totally affects us, but we don’t know what’s going on,” one fishing boat owner, who asked to remain anonymous, told Fox News. “We are just out of the loop. No one even wants to say what effect it will have.” “They are throwing all fishermen under the bus, along with their supporting industries”. Behind-the-scenes maneuvering to get influential Democratic legislators to support such new preservation areas publicly — a tough call, since the affected fishermen are also constituents. So far, many of the Democrats are keeping a low profile. One exception has been U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. Blumenthal was backed by some 40 environmental groups — but not by many of his neighboring Democratic Senate colleagues. Read the story here 14:10
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for September 12, 2016
Click here to read the Weekly Update, to read all the updates, Click here 13:54
F/V Captain Andrew rescues two fishermen and their sunken boat from the sea
The Captain Andrew is Georgetown’s oldest wooden hull shrimp boat was built in 1968. It has combed the waters ever since and on Saturday morning, the crew caught one of its greatest catches – rescuing two fishermen from the sea and their boat from the bottom of the ocean floor. Adam Wiseman was fishing with his friend, Troy Cooper, in the Atlantic Ocean near the North Santee Bay off South Carolina on Saturday morning when an ice box caused his boat’s weight to shift. The boat flipped. And within seconds, Wiseman was in the water along with a school of hungry sharks and the 300 pounds of jellyfish they had on board their craft before it capsized. “It was less than five seconds,” Wiseman said. “We didn’t have time to make a radio call. We didn’t have time for anything.” The Captain Andrew was shrimping nearby when crew members saw Wiseman swimming for the ice box. The crew picked up its nets and set out to save the sinking vessel and its men. Read the story here 11:49
U.S. Seafood Producers to White House: Don’t Harm Fisheries for Ocean Monuments
Today, in advance of the “Our Oceans” conference being held later this week at the State Department, the National Coalition for Fishing Communities (NCFC) delivered a letter to the White House calling on the President to refrain from designating new marine monuments under the Antiquities Act. Copies of the letter were also delivered to the offices of Senators representing the states of the signers. The letter, with over 900 fishing industry signers and supported by 35 fishing organizations that represent the majority of domestic seafood harvesters, instead urges the President to conserve marine resources through the federal fisheries management process established by the bipartisan Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Management Act (MSA). Read the story here 11:06
‘Dead in the Water’ – New film chronicles the spiraling decline of Gloucester’s fishing industry
It’s now been more than three years since David Wittkower, struck by the spiraling decay of the Gloucester groundfishing fleet, decided to make a film chronicling its decline from the robust fleet he remembered as a kid growing up in Rockport. The making of Wittkower’s film, “Dead in the Water,” as with nearly every film project ever devised, has been an arduous slog through an endless array of creative decisions and more earthly problems—chief among them how to raise enough money to create the film the Los Angeles-based director first envisioned. Now, with the assistance of the Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives Association and generous benefactors throughout Cape Ann, Wittkower is closing in on having enough capital to finish the film and assemble a working print, possibly by as early as Thanksgiving. Read the story here 09:47
Cuomo signs the Ex-Lax fish bill
Seriously, you read that headline correctly. Among the bills signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Friday is legislation that would ban the sale of escolar — a fish that causes some cases, uhhh, distressing gastrointestinal effects for diners — by any other name. Because only Casey Seiler can do such a Tale of Actual Legislation justice, from his report earlier in the year: Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee and Sen. Tony Avella are the most recent lawmakers to address the problem of the misbranding of escolar — aka walu or the snake mackerel — a fish that while reputed to be rich and delicious can have a rather, well, unpleasant impact on a certain subset of diners. Read the rest here 09:27
Fish harvesters are “ready to revolt.” Ryan Cleary to help form breakaway fish union
A former NDP MP says forming a new union for fishermen will be a big challenge, but Ryan Cleary told reporters on Monday that he thinks it is possible. Cleary held a news conference in Petty Harbour to talk about what he called a “David versus Goliath challenge.” Harvesters have been pleading with him to start a union that represents fishermen only, Cleary said. They are currently part of the Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union (FFAW), which also represents plant workers. Cleary called that a “conflict of interest,” and said it’s hard for the union to be critical of government policies when it received “untold millions” from the federal government. He said harvesters are “ready to revolt.” Read the story here ‘Fish harvesters have lost confidence in the FFAW’ – Read this article here ‘The FFAW is a conflict of interest wrapped in a mystery inside a huge puzzle with pieces missing, the missing pieces being fish’ Read this article here 07:50
