Daily Archives: November 11, 2016
Inshore trawling reduction sought by N.C. Wildlife Federation – a petition for rule making?
The N.C. Wildlife Federation announced on Nov. 2 its plans to file a petition for rule making that would designate all inside coastal waters along North Carolina’s coast as nursery areas to reduce by-catch mortality due to trawling. The Federation’s petition seeks amendments to several parts of North Carolina’s administrative code “in order to promote and ensure the viability and sustainability of North Carolina’s valuable fisheries resources for all citizens.” In doing so, it seeks to designate “all coastal fishing waters not otherwise designated as nursery areas as special, secondary nursery areas, to establish clear criteria for the opening of shrimp season, and define the type of gear and how and when gear may be used in special secondary nursery areas during shrimp season.” Yes! of course! As expected, representatives of commercial fishing interests disagreed. Read the story here 14:57
Icelands Fishermen’s Strike Began Last Night – All ships not in harbor are on their way to land
A fishermen’s strike began at 11 pm last night when wage negotiations had failed between them and Fisheries Iceland, RÚV reports. This is their first strike since 2001. Marine engineers, on the other hand, were able to reach a deal with the fisheries, with the provision that their negotiating committee would approve, and postponed their strike until 3 pm on Monday. Heiðrún Lind Marteinsdóttir, managing director of Fisheries Iceland, reported that fishermen had been close to striking a deal, but there had remained disagreement regarding the number of deckhands on pelagic fishing vessels. A few days, or even a week, could go by before the next formal negotiating meeting is called. All ships not in harbor are on their way to land. Link ,,, Fishing strike confirmed as Iceland talks break down – Read the story here 14:14
Nova Scotia fish exporters not intimidated by Trump’s anti-free trade talk, nor should they be!
The fishing industry is used to dealing with crises, whether it’s collapsing fish stocks, low catch prices or the effects of climate change. But clouds of another kind may be gathering on the horizon. Donald Trump, president-elect of the United States, lashed out at trade agreements during the election campaign, and even pledged to rip up the North American Free Trade Agreement if it wasn’t renegotiated. Even so, that doesn’t faze some people in Nova Scotia’s fishing industry — despite the fact that in 2015 the province exported $960 million worth of seafood to the U.S, according to provincial government. “He’s not going to tear that up. He’s mostly all talk,” said Dannie Hanson, vice-president of sustainability for Louisbourg Seafoods in Cape Breton. “His bark is worse than his bite.” Hanson expects Trump may try and alter some free-trade agreements rather than discard them, but he said that could end up benefiting Canada. Read the rest here 12:42
Cape Cod fishermen want to see “buffer zones” for midwater trawling in the region
Cape Cod fishermen are looking for regulators to address the impacts of industrial midwater trawling in the region. The New England Fishery Management Council recently voted to analyze possible “buffer zones” to limit where trawlers can fish to help manage the herring fishery. Current regulations protect waters up to 40 miles offshore from Canada through Cape Cod Bay for about 10 months out of the year, according to local fisherman Pete Kaizer, from the fishing vessel Althea. “What they’ve done in the last seven or eight years is they have depleted this whole flow of forage food coming down this coast and therefore we have seen a decline, and the localized depletion, of predators,” Kaizer said. Read the rest here 11:13
A fisherman from east China’s Zhejiang Province catches colorful giant lobster worth over $88,000
A fisherman from east China’s Zhejiang Province caught a rare colorful lobster weighing more than 1.5 kilograms earlier this week. The 1-meter-long lobster is largely green, with purple stripes and yellow dots on its back. Its legs are black and white and tail red. Zhou said he had never seen such a lobster in his 40 years of fishing. Some of his friends and neighbors believe it belongs to a rare kind named Panulirus ornatus after comparing it with online images. Panulirus ornatus has the largest size among all lobsters. It likes to live in sandy mud near coral reefs deep under the sea. Japan, the Indian Ocean and south of the Pacific is their main habitats, while they seldom appear in Zhejiang-Fujian waters. In 2010, though, another fisherman from Songmen Township in Zhejiang Province caught a similar lobster in East China Sea and sold it for 600,000 yuan ($88,000). Link 10:52
Video Report: Ride along with the largest commercial fishing operation in Michigan
A major player in Michigan’s commercial fishing industry, Serafin Fisery, is located in Pinconning. Dana Serafin runs the business with his father, Jerry. Jerry tells us, he’s been doing this since he was a boy in the 1960s and Dana’s been on his deck since he was nine-years-old. “Now it’s a little bit harder, you gotta pay the bills! When you’re nine, you don’t care,” said Dana. The Serafin family has a license for more than 80 fishing nets. They leave these trap nets in specific locations, 100-120 feet below the surface of Lake Huron. “He is the largest producer in the state of Michigan,” said Tom Goniea, senior fish biologist and commercial fish administrator for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Goniea said most of Dana’s sales stay right here in Michigan. Watch the video, read the rest here 10:14
Atlantic States Marine Fishery Commission votes to extend closing the Gulf of Maine to shrimping
The ASMFC’s shrimp section, the panel responsible for setting the northern shrimp regulations, voted to extend the closure throughout 2017 and to establish a 53-ton research set-aside that effectively will produce the only shrimp harvested in the next year from the Gulf of Maine. The 53-ton research set-aside more than doubles the 2016 RSA of 22 metric tons. The panel unanimously approved the motion by Terry Stockwell of Maine that calls for eight trawlers fishing from Maine and one trawler each from Massachusetts and New Hampshire to fish for eight weeks from mid-January to mid-March. The vessels will be limited to one trip per week and a catch of 1,200 pounds of northern shrimp per trip. The RSA also will allow trap fishing, with five trappers allowed to fish for eight weeks, with a limited catch of 500 pounds per week. Vessels will be limited to 40 traps and “preference will be given to individuals in the lottery with double grates and having history prior to the June 7, 2011 control date.” Read the story here 09:32
Coast Guard medevacs skipper from fishing boat 94 miles west of John’s Pass
The Coast Guard medevacked a 51-year-old man Thursday from a commercial fishing boat 94 miles west of John’s Pass. Rescued was Randall Lauser from Largo. At 10:40 a.m. watch standers from Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg received a call via VHF-FM marine band radio channel 16 from a crew member aboard the commercial fishing boat Swordfish. Lauser, the captain of the boat, suffered a hand injury and was in need of emergency medical assistance. A flight surgeon was notified and recommended Lauser be medevacked. Link watch video here 08:37
