Daily Archives: September 23, 2016
New York State Extends Commercial Black Sea Bass Season to October 13th
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced that the state has extended the commercial black sea bass fishing season to October 13. Originally scheduled to close on September 17, the recent tropical storm contributed to a lower rate of black sea bass landings, making New York’s waters prime for an extended harvest season. After review of the most recent landings data, Department of Environmental Conservation and Division of Marine Resources staff determined that the commercial season could be extended. The current trip limit of 50 lbs. per day remains in effect. For certain commercially harvested species like black sea bass, annual commercial quota allocations are provided by the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. Fishery management tools such as fishing trip limits and quota management plans have been implemented for quota managed species. The Department of Environmental Conservation continues to work closely with commercial fishermen to expand black sea bass harvest opportunities, and also has called for a revised, more equitable federal management strategy to improve the fishery experience. Link 19:06
Southeast commercial king crab season will remain closed
The fall red and blue king crab fishery has been opened only twice in the past decade, in 2005 and 2011.The numbers are still at historically low levels. Joe Stratman is the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s lead crab biologist for Southeast. “The stock health in the survey areas ranged from below average to poor,” Stratman said. He and other biologists track two groups of king crab in Southeast: the legal biomass and mature biomass. Basically, the legal crabs are crabs that are big enough to be harvested in the commercial fishery. The mature biomass also includes crabs that are sexually mature but not big enough to be landed. “Both mature and legal surveyed biomasses declined on the average of 7 percent annually from 2001 to 2013,” Stratman said. Read the story here 18:06
Hurting US Shark Fishermen: Enviro and recreational groups lobby Congress to pass the Shark Fin Trade Elimination Act of 2016
A collective composed of 80 nonprofit and conservation organizations penned and postmarked a letter to the United States Congress, asking that legislators pass the Shark Fin Trade Elimination Act of 2016, in effect banning the trade of shark fins in the United States. The Shark Fin Trade Elimination Act of 2016 is supported by more than 200 businesses, non-profits, associations and scientific organizations and would help save species of sharks from going extinct. Specific supporters include the American Sportfishing Association, the Recreational Fishing Alliance, the Billfish Foundation, Guy Harvey Foundation, the International Game Fish Association, Discovery Channel, Landry’s Inc, Lokai, Sea World and many others. NGO Oceana, who also supports the ban, said it conducted a poll that found eight in 10 Americans said they supported a national ban on the purchase and sale of shark fins. (I’d like to see that poll!) Read this. Click here 16:48
Remember the Labor Day Drunk Skipper Story? The dock repair estimate is in!
After assessing damage that an allegedly boozy boater caused when he crashed into a dock in Aurora Harbor on Labor Day, city officials have determined that repairs will likely cost about $80,000. Juneau Harbormaster Dave Borg said that PND Engineers examined the damaged dock after Darrin R. Hess, 51, crashed into it on Sept. 5 while driving the, a 43-foot commercial fishing vessel. Shortly after the collision, which left the dock in unstable condition, police arrested Hess and charged him with driving under the influence and refusing to take a breath test. Police took Hess to Lemon Creek Correctional Center after the crash. Before slamming into the dock, Hess played “bumper boats” with several other boats in the harbor at the time, Borg said shortly after the wreck. Neither Borg nor Rios know what the extent of the damage was to the boats Hess hit. Read the rest here 15:23
DFO makes two more major seizures – $90,000 worth of scallops and then lobster, a truck and a boat
Fishery officers in Digby and Meteghan have made two more significant seizures. About noontime Sept. 21, Fishery Officers from Digby unloaded 160 bags of scallops at the Digby wharf. Fishery officer Jacklyn Titus told the Courier that the officers had conducted an inspection of a commercial scallop vessel on the Bay of Fundy and detected alleged violations. Titus says one individual was arrested and released and charges are pending. The 6,200 pounds of scallops were sold for $90,000, which will be held in trust pending the outcome of court proceedings. In a separate incident Sept. 22 in Weymouth, Fishery Officers arrested two individuals after an Aboriginal Food Fishery inspection. Officers seized 675 pounds of live lobster, a truck and small size fishing vessel. Includes a list of seizures, arrests and sentences from this summer. Read the rest here 14:40
Dungeness crabs – Studies focus on acidic ocean impact
Millions of pounds of Dungeness crab are pulled from Pacific Northwest waters each year in a more than century-old ritual for commercial and recreational fishermen. But as marine waters absorb more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, federal scientists are worried that the ocean’s changing chemistry may threaten the sweet-flavored crustaceans. So scientists with the NOAA Fisheries’ Northwest Fisheries Science Center are exposing tiny crab larvae to acidic seawater in laboratory experiments to understand how ocean acidification might affect one of the West Coast’s most lucrative fisheries. Research published this year found that Dungeness crab eggs and larvae collected from Puget Sound and exposed to higher levels of carbon dioxide — which increases ocean acidity — grew more slowly and larvae were more likely to die than those in less corrosive seawater. Read the rest here 14:14
Gulf council seeks input from fishermen for coral reef protections
Fishermen will be able to provide input for coral protection areas in the at a workshop Monday hosted by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council. The meeting will be at 6 p.m. at the Courtyard by Marriott, 142 Library Drive, Houma. The council’s scientists recommended protecting 47 areas in the Gulf, but with the help of the Coral Advisory Panel and Shrimp Advisory Panel, the number has been narrowed to 15 priority areas. The meeting is to get feedback from fishermen who use bottom-contacting gear in federal waters in the Gulf before the council begins its public scoping process. Another meeting is to be held in Alabama. “Most of the areas, no one fishes in, but there is one area off the boot of Louisiana and several off Texas and Florida where there is some fishing activity. They want to get feedback from fishermen to see how much impact it would have to fisheries,” said Julie Falgout, seafood industry liaison with Louisiana SeaGrant. Read the rest here 11:08
Maine aquaculture firm financed for land based California yellowtail farm
Maine, U.S.A.-based aquaculture firm Acadia Harvest has completed a new round that will give it USD 700,000 (EUR 623,000) to build out a land-based fish farm in Corea, Maine that will have a one-million pound capacity. The Company plans to open its plant in late 2017. The capital, which comes from a combination of private and institutional investment, will allow the company to fund land acquisition, development and operation permits and some build-out of the farm, which it said would focus on growing California yellowtail it will market as “Maine Hiramasa. Acadia Harvest is also researching the use of fish waste as nutrition for other commercial species, and in developing sustainable aquafeeds. Read the story here 10:25
Fisherman must shell out $100,000 for three rock lobsters caught illegally in marine park
Two years ago, commercial fisherman Christopher George Hansen caught what might be the most expensive rock lobsters ever netted. The Tasmanian delicacies should have brought him about $200 at market; instead, he will pay close to $100,000 for the three lobsters. Hansen was this week censured by a Federal Court judge in Canberra for setting his lobster traps in part of the South-east Commonwealth Marine Reserves Network – a huge collection of protected marine areas that stretches from Tasmania in the south to South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales. Determined to send a message to other small-time fishermen, the federal government pursued Hansen, of Tasmania, through the courts in a two-year case that has racked up tens of thousands of dollars in legal costs. Read the story here 08:41
Fisherman appeals case shifting monitor costs
New Hampshire fisherman David Goethel is looking to the federal appeals court to overturn a federal judge’s ruling that allows NOAA Fisheries to impose the cost of at-sea monitoring on Northeast groundfish permit holders. Goethel, represented by lawyers from the Cause of Action watchdog group, has filed an appeal with the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston, hoping to reverse U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Laplante’s July 29 ruling in Goethel’s lawsuit that granted summary judgment to the federal government. “NOAA lacks the authority to require industry funding for at-sea monitors. Its decision to do so violates federal statutes and the Constitution,” said Alfred Lechner Jr., president and chief executive officer of Cause of Action as well as a former federal judge. “Our clients had a legal right to their day in court at the time they filed suit. The decision holding otherwise is an error. An appeal from the decision of the district court has been filed.” Read the story here 08:13
