Monthly Archives: March 2017
‘A major concern’: Snow crab, shrimp assessments worry fisheries minister
The Newfoundland and Labrador minister of fisheries and natural resources has added his voice to those concerned about what the latest shrimp and snow crab assessments will mean for 2017 quotas. “What we’re hearing from harvesters is that they are concerned and this is a major concern of ours as well,” Steve Crocker said Thursday. “When you look at our shellfish industry, it provides thousands of jobs in our plants and we have thousands of harvesters who rely on these resources for their income.” The federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans estimates the volume of crab available to be caught dropped 40 in one year, and shrimp stocks off the northeast coast of Newfoundland and southern Labrador are at their lowest level ever. Continue reading the story here 16:23
An Unprovoked Attack: Sea lion bites fisherman at Sand Point dock
A crewman aboard a fishing vessel tied up at the Peter Pan Seafoods dock at Sand Point was bitten by a sea lion who jumped aboard the commercial fishing vessel, causing severe injury, the Aleutians East Borough said in a report published Feb. 28. The attack on Michael “Mack” McNeil, of Deer Park, WA, occurred on Jan. 23, on board the F/V Cape St. Elias, the borough reported in an article written by Laura Tanis, borough communications director and editor of “In The Loop,” the borough’s online newsletter. Owner/skipper Ben Ley said the attack was unprovoked. “We were taking off a pollock net and putting on our cod net at the time,” Ley said. “There were zero fish on board. That’s what’s kind of eerie about this.” McNeil was standing with his back to the stern ramp as the crew moved a net forward off the reel and stacked it to put away. None of them saw the sea lion swimming around nearby. “This was completely out of the blue,” McNeil said. “I was running hydraulics, and I walked around to clear the backlash. The sea lion came up all the way out of the water, jumped up over the stern ramp and up onto the deck, several feet up.” The sea lion grabbed him before it even hit the deck, McNeil said. Other crew members grabbed McNeil before he got any closer to the stern ramp. continue reading the story here 14:10
Fishermen’s fury as Brussels DEMANDS access to 60% of British Waters after Brexit
Scotland’s fisherman have said they will not bow to pressure from the European Union (EU) to allow them to be held to ransom over Brexit. And they are calling for Theresa May to make an immediate impact assessment on current fish stocks in United Kingdom waters. The European Parliament Committee on Fisheries (PECH) is demanding access under its common fisheries policy for the right for fishermen from other countries to access up to 60 per cent of Britain’s fish supplies. And Brussels bosses say they will not allow Britain to sell fish to the EU should they not get their way. The concerning rhetoric has been blasted by fishermen in Scotland who are wholly opposed to the EU over the effect the bloc’s policies are having on their livelihoods. The industry is hitting back and today issued a direct demand to the UK and Scottish governments not to give away their income. continue reading the story here 13:46
Always Top Quality! Your Seafreeze Ltd. Preferred Price List for March 2017 Has Arrived!
Contact our sales team today @ 401 295 2585 or 800 732 273 Click here for the complete price list from Seafreeze Ltd. – We are Direct to the Source-We are Fishermen-We are Seafreeze Ltd! Visit our website! 12:23
Breaking the Records! Maine lobster landings set records in 2016
Maine fishermen landed more than 130 million pounds of lobster in 2016 valued at $533.1 million before paying out bonuses, the most ever landed at the highest value ever recorded. The value of the fishery jumped by more than $30 million since 2016 and made lobster the most valuable, and fastest growing industry, of all of the state’s commercial fisheries, which topped $700 million last year. After the state’s 19 lobster co-ops paid their bonus, the overall value of all Maine lobster reached $547.2 million, according to the state. “The historic landings reflect the hard work of our harvesters to build and sustain this fishery,” said Commissioner Patrick Keliher of Department of Marine Resources at the Annual Fishermen’s Forum in Rockport Friday. continue reading here and the story will be updated 11:59
Some industry members fear confusion as Nova Scotia launches its own seafood brand
Nova Scotia’s decision to create its own seafood brand is getting mixed reviews, with praise from some exporters and a pan from one industry association concerned it could cause confusion in the marketplace. Fisheries and Aquaculture Minister Keith Colwell unveiled the $150,000 branding effort Thursday at the Halifax airport cargo hangar where tonnes of live lobster are flown to Europe, Asia and the Middle East. “We realized sometime ago we have to have a unique brand for Nova Scotia,” Colwell said.,, The Halifax-based Lobster Council of Canada is not on board with the new brand. The council has spent years promoting the region’s exports as Canadian lobsters. “We believe it will lead to confusion in the marketplace,” said executive director Geoff Irvine. “We would prefer Nova Scotia processors use the Canadian brand.” Read the story here 11:25
St. George sternman admits to sinking rival’s lobster boat
A St. George man was sentenced Thursday, March 2 to 24 months in prison for sinking a competitor’s lobster boat last summer. Vincent Hilt, 22, pleaded guilty during a hearing in Knox County Unified Court to felony charges of aggravated criminal mischief and felony theft. Hilt is the second person convicted of the Sept.1 sinking of the 36-foot lobster boat Oracle owned by Joshua Hupper of St. George. In January, 21-year-old Devlin Meklin of Warren admitted to the same charges as Hilt and was sentenced to 24 months with all but three months suspended. The case against Hilt’s captain — Alan B. Norwood Jr., 47, of St. George — remains pending in court. Norwood has pleaded not guilty to aggravated criminal mischief for allegedly paying Hilt $500 to sink Hupper’s boat. continue reading the story here 10:54
Cape May fishermen chase scallops despite risks, trade-offs
Scallops caught by boats based in southern Cape May County may end up on your plate at a local restaurant, or in the frozen foods section of a Wal-Mart or Costco, or even in foreign countries like France. But before the delicious white mollusks end up frozen in a chain store or fresh at a restaurant, commercial fishermen have to scrape them from the bottom of the ocean floor. It’s a fairly lucrative business that fuels a commercial fishing industry worth tens of millions of dollars each year. But the job takes an emotional toll on the fishermen who must leave their families for up to two weeks at a time to go to sea. Tom McNulty Jr.’s wife, Mandy, gave birth Feb. 16 to a daughter. Zoe McNulty was born at 7 pounds, 12 ounces, the proud father announced recently. But with scallop season quickly approaching, he’s going to have to leave them to go make a living.,, “It’s hard on your family,” he added. “You miss birthdays. You miss graduations.” Photo gallery, continue reading the article here 10:17
FISH-NL calls for independent, expert review of DFO in light of reported dramatic decline of key stocks
The Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador (FISH-NL) is calling for an independent, external review of the management/science capabilities of the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans in relation to the reported dramatic decline of key stocks off Newfoundland and Labrador. “The picture right now for our harvesters is bleaker than the moratorium,” says Ryan Cleary, President of FISH-NL. “When cod stocks collapsed in the early 1990s harvesters could turn to other species, but crab, shrimp and south coast cod are apparently in simultaneous free fall, if not outright collapse, and the common theme is DFO management.” continue reading the press release here 09:32
UPDATED: Five fishermen rescued from sinking vessel
Five men were rescued from the fishing vessel Ocean Way around ten miles east of Whalsay on Friday morning before it sank less than one minute later after taking on water. The men abandoned the trawler and jumped into the sea, which is thought to have been less than seven degrees in temperature, before they were collected by the lifeboat. Lifeboat coxswain Alan Tarby described the scene as “chaos” and said there was less than one minute between the men jumping into the water and the boat fully sinking. He believed something “struck the bottom of the boat and made a hole in it”. The men walked away unharmed after being taken into Lerwick Harbour on the lifeboat. The lifeboat crew and Shetland Coastguard were alerted at around 6.50am after receiving reports of water entering the Ocean Way (LK207). Read the story here and here 09:01 Video: Five Fishermen Rescued from Sinking Trawler 13:37
At Last, Greenpeace Admits to ‘Rhetorical Hyperbole’
A few years ago Greenpeace and allied groups chose my company, Resolute, Canada’s largest forest-products company, to be their next victim. They compiled a litany of outlandish assertions: We were “forest destroyers,” for example, aggravating climate change, and causing a “caribou death spiral and extinction” in Canada’s boreal habitat. Greenpeace harassed companies we do business with, threatening them with the same sort of smear campaign that they launched against us and even instigating cyber-attacks on their websites. And they bragged about the damage — $100 million, in Canadian dollars — that they claimed to have inflicted on our business. They were lying about our forestry practices, so we did something that none of the group’s other targets have yet found the wherewithal to do: We sued them, in Canada, for defamation and intentional interference with economic relations, and in the United States under RICO statutes. A funny thing happened when Greenpeace and allies were forced to account for their claims in court. continue reading the article here 18:35
American Samoa: Coast Guard comments on armed boarding of purse seiner Jeanette
As we reported this morning, armed Coast Guard agents who arrived on a C-130 aircraft boarded the purse seine Jeanette apparently looking for drugs. The Jeanette had been out at sea but was ordered to return to port. A fishing boat owner who was at the dock said that friends on the Jeanette said the agents were looking for drugs but didnt find any. More than half a dozen Coast Guard men from Honolulu were involved in the operation. Lt. Kevin Whalen, head of the Coast Guard Marine Safety Detachment Unit in Pago Pago, sought permission from Coast Guard Public Affairs in Honolulu to respond to our questions about the operation. This is the statement he was authorized to give KHJ News: “The Coast Guard was engaged in an active law enforcement in American Samoa. “It is the policy and standard practice of the Coast Guard to conduct law enforcement boardings, armed. The Coast Guard is committed to public safety.” Link 14:24
Potentially precedent setting fisheries case now in the hands of a Federal Court of Canada judge
A court case looming over Atlantic Canada’s inshore fisheries is now in the hands of a Federal Court of Canada judge. Justice Cecily Strickland reserved her decision Wednesday after two days of legal arguments in an Ottawa courtroom that centred on whether the minister of fisheries has the power to manage the fishery for social and economic objectives outside of fish conservation. Labrador fisherman Kirby Elson is appealing a 2015 decision by the minister to take away his snow crab licence because he refused to exit a controlling agreement with two fish processors, one that allowed them to control the licence and the wealth it generated. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans says such agreements are an end run around its policies that individual fishermen — not corporations — are the beneficiaries of inshore licences. continue reading the story here 12:09
Ocean conditions appear improving for salmon
Warm water temperatures in the north Pacific Ocean are starting to cool after three years, but their effect on Northwest salmon will persist for another year or two. “Strange times, but things are looking up, that’s the message,’’ said Marisa Litz of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Litz made her comments on Tuesday at the agency’s annual unveiling of Columbia River, coastal and Puget Sound salmon forecasts. She recently completed her doctorate from Oregon State University in Fisheries Science, focusing on how variable ocean conditions affect growth and survival of young salmon in the Northwest. Tuesday’s meeting began a six-week process that concludes with the Pacific Fishery Management Council adopting ocean salmon fishing seasons in mid-April. continue reading the story here 11:31
Port Mouton fisherman thinks organized theft ring at work
Donaldson Fisher named his lobster boat “Positive Thinking”, but there weren’t many positive thoughts on his mind last month when he came to Port Mouton wharf to find 300 pounds of his lobster stolen. Fisher is one of three fishermen who had a total of 9,000 pounds of lobster stolen off wharves in Queens last month. A second victim in Port Mouton was Fisher’s brother, and he too had 300 pounds stolen. “We came in that night, put them overboard, because we put them overboard to wait for the higher price, you know this time of year the price keeps going up,” he says. The price currently for lobster is $9.75 a pound. “The next day a fella came up there and saw the cages to the wharf, I checked, my lobsters were stolen that quick.” continue reading the story here 10:15
Hispanic man wins $1.85M judgment over racial abuse while crewing on an Alaska fishing vessel in 2011
A Hispanic man who worked aboard an Alaska fishing vessel has won a $1.85 million settlement against his former employer, Seattle-based Alaska Longline, after being subjected to relentless racial harassment and dangerous working conditions, his attorneys said. Francisco Miranda, 37, and other Hispanic crew members were called “dirty Mexicans” and other racial epithets by the former captain and first mate of the Ocean Prowler in 2011, according to a stipulated judgment in the case. The captain also treated Hispanic crew members differently from those who were white and made comments like, “They should all swim back to Mexico,” the judgment says. A white crew member confirmed the allegations, testifying in a declaration that the captain was “racist towards the Mexican people on the boat …”, according to the judgment. continue reading the story here 09:17
Zeldin Reintroduces H.R. 3070, Local Fishing Access Act To Protect Long Island Fishermen
Rep. Lee Zeldin has taken a stand to protect Long Island fishermen. Zeldin recently reintroduced his bill to protect Long Island fishermen as the Local Fishing Access Act. During the last Congress, the bill passed the House with unanimous bipartisan support as H.R. 3070, the EEZ Clarification Act, a release from Zeldin’s office said. The Local Fishing Access Act would reform the federal law that bans striped bass fishing in the Block Island transit zone, which includes federal waters between Montauk and Block Island, Rhode Island, he said. The Local Fishing Access Act is aimed at providing Long Island anglers “relief from confusing regulations. It will also allow Long Island’s fishermen to once again enjoy commercial and recreational striped bass fishing in these local waters just like they do in adjacent state controlled waters,” a release said. continue reading the story here 08:29
Editorial: Sea change
You might see it at Prosser’s Rock, or in Ochre Pit Cove, or Twillingate. You might see at any one of scores of small ports and wharfs all over the province; sometimes smaller boats, sometimes larger, steaming to port with big loads of snow crab. For years, it has been the high-value backbone of the new fishery: after the failure of the cod fishery, the crab fishery was the big-ticket savior. Sure, there were fewer fish harvesters involved; there were fewer licences than cod, and the bounty wasn’t split among so many. But there were jobs for rural Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, those fishing crab and another valuable species, shrimp, and processing them for market. But the news has turned bad. Batten down the hatches. A rural storm is coming. continue reading the Op-ed here 07:57
Northern Shrimp lovers lining up for local catch
Joe Jurek knew his catch would be popular. He just didn’t know how popular. Jurek, a Gloucester-based groundfisherman who specializes in yellow-tail flounder on most fishing days, now holds the rarified position as the only Massachusetts fisherman allowed to fish for northern shrimp in the Gulf of Maine. His tenure as shrimper-in-residence will last only two more weeks, much to the dismay of local northern shrimp lovers — including Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken — who literally have trooped down to the dock with buckets to try to buy the cold-water delicacies. The local shrimp have disappeared from seafood retail shops in the last four years the shrimp fishery has been closed. “Once people found out about it, it was like a bunch of seagulls,” said Romeo Theken, who along with a couple other dozen friends put in an order for about 230 pounds of the small, sweet shrimp. “Now people know the process, that they have to sign in at the auction and buy it through a seafood dealer.” Jurek said he’s averaging 350 to 400 pounds of the shrimp per fishing day, which he lands at the Cape Ann Seafood Exchange at an average off-the-boat price of about $6.50 a pound. continue reading the story here 07:28
The deadliest cast: Creating a batch of rubber crabs
On the Discovery Channel’s hit show, “Deadliest Catch,” Derrick Ray is a captain for one of Alaska’s most successful and beloved crab fishing ships, the Aleutian Ballad. During the offseason for crabbing each summer,Ray and his crew take customers on the high seas to simulate the experience — at least without the rough weather, long hours and extreme danger. A staple of the Bering Sea Crab Fisherman’s Tour is that the customers get to see the massive 10-pound crabs up close. Every year, the team keeps between 500 and 800 of these crabs in tanks for the tourists during the summer. During every tour season, many of the crabs do not survive. And when they die, they start to rot and smell, then must be thrown away. Not only does the high value of the crabs cut into the company’s bottom line, but the whole process is also wasteful. Ray and his company wanted a more sustainable approach. Rubber crabs! Read this interesting article about 3-D printing here 20:26
2016 Annual Report of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
Report to Our Stakeholders Robert E. Beal – On behalf of the Commission and the 15 Atlantic coastal states, I am pleased to present our 2016 Annual Report. The report fulfills our obligation to inform Congress on the Commission’s use of public funds, provides our stakeholders with a summary of activities and progress in carrying out our cooperative stewardship responsibilities, and reflects our Commissioners’ commitment to accountability and transparency in all they do to manage and rebuild fisheries under their care. We remain grateful to the Administration, Members of Congress, our governors and state legislators for their continued support. Many of our accomplishments would not have been possible without their trust and confidence. Read the report here 16:03
Fishing For Leave – First Brexit Policy Released
Fishing for Leave released one of the first detailed 144-page Brexit policy documents this Tuesday in Westminster with Nigel Farage MEP and former Secretary of State Owen Paterson MP. The policy paper clearly details the realities of Brexit to ensure the UK regains all fisheries waters and resources automatically with nothing to negotiate. Speaking to the 30 national journalists FFL said “We have devised future policy to ensure the UK takes advantage of the clean slate afforded by the terms of Article 50, that the ‘treaties shall cease to apply’ and therefore the CFP too”. “We cannot adopt any element of the disastrous CFP into UK law as proposed with the Great “Repeal” Bill as this would bind us to the CFP, betraying Brexit for political convenience and a small minority of vested interests”. “This policy details a bold new approach to manage UK fisheries sustainably by eliminating the cause of discards, EU Quotas, and replacing them with Days-at-Sea whilst preserving current entitlement investments”. “We have a golden opportunity to become world leaders with Brexit. This policy proposes sustainable management with Days-at-Sea that works for everyone regardless of whether you are the smallest boat or biggest company whilst providing a stable transition”. continue reading the rest here 15:27
N.J. lawmakers ask Trump’s new commerce secretary to stop flounder cuts
It’s not clear how much Wilbur Ross knows about fishing or the complex world of marine regulations. But some members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation hope Ross, who was sworn in as secretary of commerce Tuesday, will step into an intense fight over summer flounder catch guidelines. The delegation wasted no time in appealing to Ross, who now oversees the agencies tasked with regulating the fishing industry. A bipartisan letter sent Tuesday and signed by 12 New Jersey lawmakers, including both U.S. senators and U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo, R-2nd, asked the former billionaire businessman to considering putting approved flounder reductions on hold. Last month, a federal regulatory commission voted in favor of an option to cut fluke limits for recreational and commercial fishermen by 28 percent to 32 percent for 2017. continue reading the story here 15:06
Furuno’s new Multi-Beam Sonar
Furuno is proud to announce that it is bringing side-scanning capabilities to its flagship NavNetTZtouch and TZtouch2 MFDs with its latest network sensor called the DFF3D. This multi-beam Sonar takes the highly-desired capability to scan port to starboard under the vessel and adds Furuno’s commercial fisheries spin on it. This deep-water Sonar delivers a sidebar detection range of an unprecedented 650+ feet, while being able to see down to over 1,000 feet. The DFF3D utilizes a new, compact multi-beam transducer, along with Furuno’s own advanced signal processing, to produce eye-popping images that will help you find and track fish. The transducer and fairing block is only 14 inches long, which makes this a perfect fit for boats of all sizes. To top it off, the transducer features a built-in motion sensor, which keeps the images stable, even in rough seas. continue reading the article here 13:18
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 82ft Steel Dragger, 3412 Caterpillar
Specifications, information and 33 photo’s click here To see all the boats in this series, Click here 12:32
Spiny Lobster season in the Florida Keys: Not as strong, not a disaster
One month remains in the regular lobster season but many of the traps put out by the Florida Keys commercial fleet are back on the hill — meaning pulled ashore until next summer. “We’re bringing in about 235 traps now from 200 feet of water,” Conch Key commercial fisherman Gary Nichols said Tuesday. “This season has been kind of fairly good,” Nichols reported from aboard his 43-foot boat. “It’s not as good as the last couple of years and the market has been softer.” Tom Hill at Key Largo Fisheries agreed, “It hasn’t been a bad year, but it’s not as robust as it has been. I think we have had less production than in the past few seasons.”,, The Asian market for live Florida lobster, which buoyed the fleet after the economic recession, remains a critical component of the fishing economy but was not as profitable as in the past seven to eight years. continue reading the story here 10:17
Wind energy is not the answer
Urban voters may like the idea of using more wind and solar energy, but the push for large-scale renewables is creating land-use conflicts in rural regions from Maryland to California and Ontario to Loch Ness. Since 2015, more than 120 government entities in about two dozen states have moved to reject or restrict the land-devouring, subsidy-fueled sprawl of the wind industry.,, If the wind lobby and their myriad allies at the Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council and other environmental groups acknowledge turbines’ negative effects on landscapes and rural quality of life, it would subvert their claims that wind energy is truly green.,, In New York, angry fishermen are suing to stop an offshore wind project that could be built in the heart of one of the best squid fisheries on the Eastern Seaboard. Read the article here 09:44
It’s good business to keep Bristol Bay protections
Regulations are in the crosshairs in Washington, D.C. these days. Those elected officials and appointed agency leaders have been clear in their goal to get rid of regulations they say are blocking jobs and economic activity. I humbly suggest that in this flurry to slash red tape, one Environmental Protection Agency protection should stay in place: the one protecting the Bristol Bay fishery in Alaska from the controversial Pebble Mine. I guarantee you the EPA’s plan to restrict mine waste disposal in Bristol Bay waters protects jobs and economic activity: those of my family and the 14,000 others who rely on our nation’s most valuable salmon fishery. In fact, we Alaskans call the sockeye salmon that return to Bristol Bay in their annual spawning runs “red gold.” Bristol Bay is the largest wild salmon fishery remaining anywhere in the world. For thousands of years, those fish have represented not just survival, but wealth. continue reading the op-ed here by Kim Williams 09:08
On this Day in 1977: 200-mile fishing zone takes effect
On this day in 1977, a 200-mile territorial fishing zone took effect, with the waters off Cape Cod being one of the two areas where the Coast Guard focused its enforcement efforts. Coast Guard vessels also patrolled the rich fishing grounds near Kodiak, Alaska, to protect American fishermen from foreign competition. “Poachers illegally fishing U.S. waters or taking the wrong kind of fish can be seized,” United Press International reported. Foreign vessels were required to obtain permits to fish within 200 miles of the US coastline, while some coastal areas and species of fish were deemed off-limits altogether. The federal government warned other nations that Coast Guard patrol boats would not hesitate to board foreign fishing boats within the 200-mile limit to ensure compliance. scroll down the page to read the rest of the story here 08:29
Labrador fisherman’s lawyers fight to keep his “controlling” agreement with fish processor
A lawyer for a Labrador snow crab fisherman who had his fishing licence stripped by the federal minister of fisheries said the minister had no authority to do so. Kirby Elson, 62, lost his licence in 2015 because he refused to exit a controlling agreement with two Newfoundland and Labrador fish companies that gave total control of the licence and its wealth to the companies. Byron Shaw, one of Elson’s lawyers, argued Tuesday the minister of fisheries has no authority to interfere in a contract that transfers wealth between a harvester and a third party. He said the policy the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) is enforcing has nothing to do with the management of fish stocks. The case opened Tuesday at the Federal Court of Canada and is expected to last two days. continue reading the story here Stakes of inshore fisheries case are ‘absolutely massive,’ says observer, Why people are watching this case? continue reading the story here 08:04
