Daily Archives: October 5, 2016
New Dakota Creek fishing ship will be first in U.S. since 1989
Commissioning a new ship costs a bundle. Ask Helena Park, CEO and founder of Fisherman’s Finest in Kirkland. She has hired Dakota Creek Industries in Anacortes to build a ship unlike one built in the United States in more than 30 years. Ms. Park, as everyone calls her, came to the U.S. from South Korea as a high school exchange student in 1973. She began working in commercial fishing in 1982. Three and a half decades later, at age 60, she’s looking at an $80 million bill for the building of America’s Finest, which will replace both ships in her fleet. Read the story here 16:48
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for October 3, 2016
Click here to read the Weekly Update, to read all the updates, Click here 16:17
Fishermen found clinging to cooler 23 miles off Florida coast
In his 25 years of spearfishing, Dean Brodley had never seen anything like the situation that played out in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday. Brodley put in his 28-foot power boat at Carrabelle, Fla., in the morning. Accompanying him on the boat were his friend Brandon Phillips, Phillips’ girlfriend and another friend. “We met down at Carrabelle early, loaded up with ice and everything. We were out and about, hitting several dive spots,” said Phillips, who began spearfishing about a year ago. “We were coming back in and were going to hit one more dive spot when I saw something I didn’t recognize.” Brodley said Phillips pointed to an object off the boat’s starboard. “He spotted what looked like a buoy, just floating. And on a whim, we headed in that direction just to see what it was,” said Brodley. “About halfway to them, we could see them splashing.” As they approached, the men couldn’t believe the sight of four men, exhausted, hanging onto a floating Igloo cooler. They were 23 miles offshore. Read the rest here 15:27
Canadian fishermen catch record-breaking 320-lbs shrimp
Rene Kirouac and his brother-in-law, Raymond Bergeron, were sailing aboard their trawl when they noticed some unusual movement along the rocks located near the coast. Upon approaching, they noticed that the movement was caused a giant shrimp, and they set out to capture the amazing creature. Realizing quickly that their fishing traps would be useless against a crustacean of this size, the two men rushed out of their hunting rifles to handle the huge animal. It was the most difficult catch of my life!” says Mr. Kirouac, an experienced shrimp fisherman. “It just refused to die! We fired at it from close range and knocked it repeatedly on the head with a metal shovel, but it had very little effect. It took sixteen .30-06 ammo before it stopped crawling, but we finally got it!” Biologists from the University of Quebec in Rimouski (UQAR), under the direction of Professor Denis Langevin, were quickly dispatched to take measurements of the animal and conduct various analyzes. “We took samples of the content of its stomach and the results are absolutely stunning,” Professor Langevin told reporters. “It seems that this particular prawn fed on fish that should have been its predators, such as cod, hake, Greenland halibut and flounder. We even found some seal and beluga meat! This specimen was clearly an abnormality in the food chain.” Read the rest here! 14:57
Bodega Bay – Optimism for the coming Dungeness crab season is building
Optimism for the coming Dungeness crab season is building amid growing evidence that last year’s historic problems with toxic algae along the California coast may not be an issue again this year. The Nov. 15 commercial season opener is still nearly six weeks out, so there are no guarantees at this point. But testing of sample crabs suggests the fishery will likely open on time, making the shellfish available for the lucrative holiday markets, according to state officials. “We believe that the worst may be behind us,” state Sen. Mike McGuire, chairman of the Joint Legislative Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture, said during a Tuesday hearing at the UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory. Fishermen and consumers, who have turned Dungeness crab into a must-have winter treat, can thank cooling ocean temperatures for the brightening forecast, officials said. Read the story here, nine images. 14:34
“Talking” Cod Found To Have Regional Accents
Professor Simpson: ‘There is a vast ecosystem on our doorstep which we barely understand – but all rely on. It’s time to get out there and listen.’ The academic, who discusses the research at an event organised by the National Environment Research Council this week, suggested boats could avoid spawning grounds at key times. He hopes to use the new ‘quiet’ ship, RRS Sir David Attenborough, the vessel the public wanted to name Boaty McBoatface, to continue his study. Recordings of American cod are very different to those from their European cousins, so there is a precedent. This species is highly vocal, with traditional breeding grounds established over hundreds or even thousands of years, so the potential for regionalism is there.’However, there is also growing concern that essential fish ‘gossip’ is being drowned out by noisy boats and drilling. Sounds travel far further under the sea as water is hundreds of times denser than air. The work could help shed light on whether southern fish will be able to understand their northern counterparts if they are forced to seek out the colder waters they prefer because of climate change. (rolls eyes) Read the story here You can listen to these cod talking by clicking here 13:47
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 47′ MDI Gillnet/Lobster, CAT 3406, Kubota 12 KW 3 Phase Generator
Specifications, information and 24 photo’s click here To see all the boats in this series, Click here 12:52
Four fishermen rescued off New Brunswick
The Summerside-based Canadian Coast Guard Vessel, Cap Nord, was dispatched Tuesday evening after a New Brunswick fishing vessel reported it was taking on water. Sub. Lt. Blair Gilmore with the Canadian Coast Guard’s Joint Recue Coordination Centre, said all four persons onboard the Julie and Jolene were able to get safely onboard a “vessel of opportunity,” the fishing vessel Black Pearl that was in the area at the time. No one was injured and the four crewmembers were taken into port at Richibucto. The distress call from the Julie and Jolene was received around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. The vessel subsequently sank. Link 12:31
Canada’s Fishing Industry at Risk of Major Stock Collapse
Canada’s $6-billion fishing industry is at risk of suffering another major stock collapse, the country’s Environment and Sustainable Development commissioner warned Tuesday. “We’re at potential risk for another stock to potentially collapse. It’s disconcerting that the department wasn’t aware of this, couldn’t wrap it up,” Julie Gelfand told reporters in Ottawa. In her fall report, Gelfand said 15 of Canada’s major fish stocks, which are considered to be critically at risk, are still being fished. Twelve of those stocks currently have no government rebuilding plan in place — a number the commissioner said they weren’t even aware of until she had completed her audit. “We gave them that number,” Gelfand said. Read the story here 10:47
How a ‘rogue’ environmental group transformed (HIJACKED) American fisheries
One of the nation’s largest environmental groups — bankrolled with $50 million from the heirs to the Walmart fortune — has spent millions of dollars pushing a wholesale change in how the U.S. manages its fisheries, an AL.com investigation reveals. Critics blame the Environmental Defense Fund effort for hurting fishing communities on every coast, from Kake, Alaska, and Gloucester, Mass., to Bayou La Batre, Alabama. The group has pushed a system that turns the right to catch a pound of fish into a private commodity that can be bought and sold like a share of stock on Wall Street. The government then gives these shares to individual commercial fishermen, granting them the right to catch that fish, or lease or sell the right to catch it to another fisherman. EDF gained unprecedented access to the levers of power in 2008 when President Obama appointed the vice-chair of EDF’s board – Jane Lubchenko — as the head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which manages the nation’s fish stocks. Once in power, Lubchenko, a respected but little known fisheries professor in Washington State, enacted a national catch share policy that mirrored EDF’s longtime goals. Read this story. Read the story here 09:21
The Latest BULLETIN HURRICANE MATTHEW – 800 AM EDT WED OCT 05 2016
At 800 AM EDT (1200 UTC), the center of Hurricane Matthew was located near latitude 21.5 North, longitude 74.9 West. Matthew is moving toward the north-northwest near 10 mph (17 km/h). This motion is expected to continue today, followed by a northwestward turn tonight. On this track, Matthew will be moving across the Bahamas through Thursday, and is expected to be very near the east coast of Florida by Thursday evening. Read the update here You can reach the National Weather Service by scrolling down the page and clicking on the NWS icon. 08:34
