Daily Archives: March 17, 2017
Fukushima radiation not cause for alarm in US
Radiation from the Fukushima nuclear reactor disaster in Japan has reached North American shores, but — despite a number of reports shared on social media— scientists say the levels of radiation are so low that it poses no risk to public health. Late last year, researchers announced that Cesium-134 was discovered in waters off the coast of Oregon and in one sockeye salmon in a British Columbia lake. The news reports have been used as the basis for viral stories about the radiation. One story from alternativemediasyndicate.com carried the headline: “Fukushima Radiation: Your Days of Eating Pacific Ocean Fish Are Over, Or Worse.” Another story from organicandhealthy.org labeled the discovery of the salmon as “bad news for everyone” and described the U.S. West Coast as “contaminated.” Ken Buesseler, a senior scientist at Massachusetts’ Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, has traveled to Japan numerous times since 2011 to study the Fukushima disaster’s effect on seawater. continue reading the story here 18:19
Crewmember Sentenced in July Bristol Bay Tender Assault, bannished from the fishing grounds
Alaska State Troopers reported the conclusion and conviction of a crewmember that assaulted his captain and a fellow crewmember on the F/V Diligence, a tender that was at the time moored in the Egegik Commercial Fishing District last summer. It was July 3rd that troopers responded to the assault complaint. 54-year-old Don Iodice was placed under arrest on the charge. On July 13th, Iodice was arraigned and by October, he entered a change of plea in the case. He was scheduled to be sentenced in the case on December 15th of last year, But, when the date arrived, Iodice didn’t. A $10,000 bench warrant was issued on January 19th, and Iodice was back in court on March 10th and his warrant was quashed. Five days later, Iodice was sentenced to 360 days with 330 suspended in Naknek District Court and placed on probation for two years. In addition, Iodice was ordered to not return to the fishing grounds in Bristol Bay. Link 17:09
Congressman Jones Testifies On Behalf Of North Carolina Shrimpers at the U.S. International Trade Commission
Today at the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3) testified on behalf of Eastern North Carolina shrimpers in strong support of continuing anti-dumping duty orders against imported warmwater shrimp from Brazil, China, India, Thailand, and Vietnam. The ITC first enacted these orders more than 10 years ago to offset cheating by foreign producers, and to help level the playing field for American shrimpers. ‘Shrimping is an integral part of Eastern North Carolina’s heritage and economy,’ said Congressman Jones. ‘Hard working Eastern North Carolina fishing families have been devastated by unfairly traded foreign shrimp. If these orders aren’t continued, I have no doubt that producers from communist China, Vietnam and elsewhere will start illegally dumping shrimp into our market again. That is unacceptable, and I hope the ITC will stand up for American workers.’ Click here to read the rest 16:29
U.S. Coast Guard avoids budget cuts
The U.S. Coast Guard will not see the budget cuts the Trump administration planned for the branch after a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers blocked the move. While President Donald Trump continues to push Congress to boost budgets for military branches managed by the Department of Defense, the administration sought to strip $1.3 billion in spending for the Coast Guard. The cut would have been equal to 12 percent of the branch’s budget. The Coast Guard is managed by the Department of Homeland Security. According to Defense News, the service received an “avalanche” of support from lawmakers from both major political parties after a letter signed by 23 senators protested any cuts. Hey! Washington isn’t broken after all! Read the story here 13:22
Zurik: Snapper barons slam FOX 8 probe, but Trump admin. may think otherwise
An alliance of fishermen who make millions off a public resource wants us to retract all our stories from our “Hooked Up” series. The series showed how 50 fishermen can make $23 million a year from red snapper, and many never even drop a line in the water. The Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance and its executive director, Buddy Guindon, sent us a 23-page letter, calling our stories sloppy and biased. Many of the complaints focus on statements made by subjects we interviewed for our stories. They include 20 separate citations of comments in our series by Congressman Garret Graves of Louisiana.,, Graves says he’s heard from congressmen from all over the country since our five-part series was broadcast. He thinks now is the time to change the system.,,,While the group of 50 fishermen have been unhappy with our reports, we’ve heard from dozens of others with positive comments, like a Florida commercial fisherman who wrote, “Your report hit home with all our concerns in regards to how unfair the small commercial fishermen are being treated and wrongly represented.”Read the story here 12:32
Marine Conservation Society fish stock downgrade branded meaningless by fishermen
The Marine Conservation Society said that two North Sea haddock fisheries are now rated 4 (amber), and the other has dropped from being a “good choice” – rated 2 – to one to eat only occasionally after scientists said stock was at the point where action is now needed to increase the number of fish of breeding age. But fishermen warned that the data did not reflect the picture on the ground. Bertie Armstrong, chief executive of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation, said: “The fishing industry is well used to these sorts of frankly meaningless publications – it’s not so long ago that we were told that there were only 100 cod left in the North Sea. Try telling that to fishermen today who are seeing huge volumes of large cod on the grounds. Read the story here 11:48
Fisheries Minister Steve Crocker DFO should listen to harvesters seeing different catch rates than DFO scientists
Not all Newfoundland and Labrador fish harvesters are witnessing such a dramatic decline in shellfish stocks, according to provincial Fisheries Minister Steve Crocker, who said the federal government should listen to local fishermen when deciding upcoming quotas. Local fish harvesters are seeing catch rates that don’t match up with the analysis produced by DFO scientists, according to Crocker. That analysis showed major declines in shrimp and snow crab biomass, and hinted at a dire situation for fish harvesters who rely on those stocks to make a living. Crocker said he would be speaking to federal Fisheries Minister Dominic Leblanc this week, and would urge him to listen to local fish harvesters. Read the story here 10:08
NOAA OLE closes a successful investigation after numerous Observers filed complaints against an Alaskan-based vessel
“This was a large, time consuming investigation involving many violations, victims, and witnesses,” said Kevin Heck, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of OLE’s Alaska Division. NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement began receiving complaints filed by Observers1 about the Aleutian Sable, owned by Arctic Sablefish, LLC, in 2013. A case file was opened and officers began communicating with one of the vessel’s operators, Jay Hebert, and closely monitoring the vessel for compliance purposes. Complaints and violations continued to pile up through October 2014. Once the investigation was complete, OLE investigators forwarded the case package to NOAA’s Office of General Counsel for prosecution. On March 8, 2016, a Notice of Violation and Assessment of Administrative Penalty (NOVA) was issued to the owner and operator of the F/V Aleutian Sable. The NOVA charged the following eight counts of violations under the Magnuson‐Stevens Act Read the rest here 09:28
Rare Hawaiian seal drowns at NOAA-funded fish farm site
An endangered Hawaiian monk seal has died after wandering into a net pen and becoming trapped at a fish farm that was partially funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Hawaii. Officials with NOAA said Thursday the death of the 10-year-old monk seal happened at Blue Ocean Mariculture, the same fish farm that NOAA’s National Marine Fishery Service has been using for research in conjunction with a plan to expand aquaculture into federal waters around the Pacific. Ann Garrett, the service’s assistant regional administrator for protected resources, confirmed the farm was the same one used for the NOAA-funded research, but could not comment further on the agency’s involvement. NOAA is working on a plan to expand aquaculture into federals waters despite concerns by some environmental groups who say the industrial-scale farms could do more harm than good to overall fish stocks and ocean health. continue reading the story here 08:16
