Daily Archives: November 12, 2016
Divide and conquer has always been the FFAW model
“Adjacency” is a word that can bring about anxiety in a room full of fishermen/women like few other industry terms can. This unnecessary fear essentially stems from the policies forced upon them by Fish, Food and Allied Workers (FFAW) politicians speaking from both sides of their mouths, depending on which group they might be feeding bait to at that particular moment. There has been an unnecessary divide created that has helped the fishermen’s union tighten the stranglehold on members for so many years — divide then conquer. It’s been the primary tactic of many oppressive empires over time, and has been implemented with precision by the FFAW in Newfoundland and Labrador. Read the rest here 18:38
Bright outlook for Dungeness crab season and holiday feasts
After enduring the most dismal Dungeness crab season in memory, one that ravaged fishermen and left consumers with the holiday blues, Bay Area crab lovers can put on their party hats. The 2016-17 commercial crab season will begin Tuesday on schedule, state regulators declared this week. The harmful algae blooms that tainted last year’s catch with a neurotoxin known as domoic acid have receded to normal levels along most of the California coast. That means Bay Area consumers will in all likelihood have crab for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, and fishermen will begin to recover from a brutal 18-month period in which a delayed and abbreviated crab season was sandwiched between two poor Chinook salmon seasons. “We’re just excited to get back out there,” said Devin Bunch, Read the story here 13:43
Tara Marie: Reasons why the “Deadliest Catch” is fake
The Deadliest Catch is yet another reality show that focuses on the blue-collar world of an unassuming job, one that we all know, but none us know, you know? This time, it’s the high stakes life of a fishermen. It makes sense that The Deadliest Catch is fake — it’s about fishing, fishing is boring, ergo a non-boring fishing show cannot possibly exist — but there’s a lot more to it than that. Read on … How in the hell do you fake a storm, of all things? Even the X-Men can’t do that! Well, it’s really simple: you pay the government to borrow their weather-controlling device and then viola! insta-storm. Okay, no. See, what actually happened is, there was flooding in the show at one point, but flooding isn’t that exciting. You know what is exciting? A storm that is so bad, it’s threatening to capsize the boat! Oh no, they’re all going to die! How was it done? Simple,,, Read the rest here 12:20Australia’s Fisheries authority considers streaming video from boats to ensure safety of marine life
Australia’s federal fisheries authority is exploring an ambitious plan to stream live footage from fishing vessels in a bid to improve its ability to respond to controversial reports that nets are killing endangered marine animals. The plan could also help protect the authority’s on-board observers in rare instances where their daily reports expose them to aggression and threats from the crews with whom they spend weeks or months at sea. Dr James Findlay, chief executive of the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA), revealed that the agency had started approaching ship-to-shore communication providers to explore the possibility of using streaming video of activity on fishing vessels “as close to real-time as we can”. Dr Findlay revealed the agency’s ambitions during a senate estimates hearing last week. The environment and communications committee was questioning AFMA over its handling of a high-profile brush between a whale shark and the controversial factory freezer trawler the Geelong Star in February. Read the story here 11:47
All eyes on Iceland as fishermen’s strike threatens seafood supply
Icelandic fishermen have gone on strike, threatening supplies to Grimsby’s seafood cluster. Negotiations over pay structure changes have failed to find a solution with the North Atlantic nation’s famous industry, heavily relied upon by Europe’s Food Town. They tied up vessels at 11pm on Thursday. Representatives from North East Lincolnshire had been planning a trip to Reykjavik, with 75 per cent of the seafood auctioned on Grimsby Fish Market caught by Icelandic hands. It may now be triggered if the dispute isn’t settled quickly on the back of the direct action. Chief executive of market operator Grimsby Fish Dock Enterprises, Martyn Boyers, said: “This will resolve itself, it is not permanent, but it is a bad thing. “Because of the way the system works we have fish on its way. It won’t affect this week but it will the week after. Read the story here 10:03
Wanted fisherman fled to Cuba
A Marathon trap fisherman accused of using dozens of untagged traps apparently fled to Cuba following a two-month investigation into illegal lobster fishing, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the State Attorney’s Office. FWC officers served a warrant on Nov. 4 after surveilling the vessel, said FWC officer Bobby Dube. In all, 19 untagged traps were fished, according to the FWC. Some traps were also improperly numbered, records state. A mate aboard the vessel — Juan Miguel Exposito-Carralero, 46 — was charged with 71 misdemeanor counts of fishing illegal traps when FWC officers converged on the vessel after it was returning to port, said Assistant State Attorney Christina Cory. The captain that the FWC had been targeting, Ricardo Hernandez, 52, was not on the vessel at the time and happened to be in Cuba, Dube said. It does not appear he fled, but he left before the warrant was served, Cory added. The case marks a shift in how some poachers are reacting to the FWC as well as the Florida Keys Commercial Fishing Association’s efforts to quelch trap robbing, said the latter association’s executive director Bill Kelly. Read the story here 08:22
