Daily Archives: April 17, 2017
Fishermen shot down in fishing monitor dispute.
A federal appeals court has found in favor of the U.S. government in a challenge brought by a New England fishermen’s group over the cost of at-sea monitoring. The monitors are workers who collect data that help the government craft fishing regulations. The government shifted the cost of paying for monitors to fishermen last year. A group led by New Hampshire fisherman David Goethel sued the government over the rule change. Read the rest here 20:47
2016 GARFO Year in Review
The Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office (GARFO) is proud to announce the release of our second annual Year in Review report. The report highlights some of our key accomplishments for 2016, many of which were achieved through partnership and collaboration with the New England and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Councils, Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, and Northeast Fisheries Science Center. Printed copies are available upon request. Click here to read the report. 16:54Three Off Shore wind article’s regarding Mass, Long Island and Maryland
Massachusetts Readies for First Offshore Wind Procurement in June – Massachusetts is drawing closer to its first solicitation for wind energy in state waters, with a call for bids due in June. Click here Offshore wind farm may not meet peak summer demand on South Fork – An offshore wind farm at the center of a LIPA plan to address spiking electric demand on the South Fork will produce excess energy when it’s needed least, and fall short of a sharply expanding summer peak load, a recent analysis found. Click here US Wind Tackles Viewshed Concerns For Maryland Offshore Wind Project – In order to resolve concerns about the visual impacts of its proposed wind farm off the coast of Maryland, developer US Wind has offered to move the first line of turbines farther offshore, as far as five miles to the east. Click here 15:55
The New England Fishery Management Coucil will meet in Mystic CT. April 18 thru 20, 2017
The New England Fishery Management Council will be meeting in Mystic CT at the Hilton Hotel. To read the final agenda, click here Register click here to listen live via webinar. 12:32
Cold Water Cowboys – Season 4 returns for more danger and drama
Being a fisherman off the coast of Newfoundland is a dangerous career. Being injured by machinery or a sharp object is always a concern. If something bad happens, you might be hours away from shore. And if things go really bad, you’re dead. Filming what goes on aboard a fishing boat off the coast of Newfoundland is just as dangerous. Just ask showrunner Maria Knight, whose small team captures dramatic and triumphant footage for Cold Water Cowboys, returning for Season 4 this Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on Discovery. “It’s not easy for my guys on a lot of levels,” says Knight. “They’ve all received emergency training—they can’t get on the boat without it—and they’re on a boat. It may look majestic on TV with them on the ocean, but there’s not a lot of space and it’s constantly moving. It puts the guys through a major workout.” click here to read the story 11:52
Working Waterfront: Blaine Harbor’s Community Presence
With deeply-rooted ties to the commercial fishing industry, Blaine Harbor sees commercial fishing vessels as an important part of the waterfront. Today, a smaller fleet sets out each day to harvest Dungeness crab and salmon during those respective seasons and supplies to four local seafood buyers. Port Commissioner, Bobby Briscoe, and his wife call Blaine home. Briscoe, a fourth-generation fisherman born and raised in Bellingham has operated commercial fishing vessels for over forty years in Alaska, Washington, Oregon and California. “Being a maritime family, a part of the Blaine community and now Port Commissioner gives me a unique perspective. As the gateway to the Pacific Northwest, Blaine harbor and the local commercial fishing fleet are an integral part of this hard working picturesque seaside community.” click here to read the story 11:23
Researchers seek fishing ground closures off N.S., N.B., to protect right whales
Canadian researchers say they have a solution to a new U.S. government requirement that its seafood imports be caught in a way that minimizes harm to marine mammals. Sean Brillant, the report’s lead author, has recommended the summertime closure of Roseway Basin off southwestern Nova Scotia and areas around Grand Manan in the Bay of Fundy. Those are two areas where North Atlantic right whales usually congregate in summer. Closing them, the paper claims, would reduce the risk of gear entanglements by more than 30 per cent at a cost of 140 tonnes in lost seafood catches. click here to read the story 09:22
7 kinds of junk N.J. has dumped into the ocean to build reefs
For over 30 years, New Jersey marine officials have cultivated an underwater network of 15 artificial reefs to provide a home for fish and other sea life for the benefit of fishermen, scuba divers and the species themselves. And they do it by sinking a variety of objects that settle onto the ocean floor at locations from 2 to 25 nautical miles offshore, from Sandy Hook to Cape May. Here’s a look at the things that line the seabed off the Jersey Shore. Click to watch a couple of video’s, and view photo’s of different items used to build the reef network. 08:52
Marine National Monument Pushback: The Fight Over Papahanaumokuakea Just Escalated
Government officials from the United States and three of its territories are working to undermine President Barack Obama’s marine conservation legacy less than four months after he left office. Obama used his executive authority in August to dramatically expand protected areas in the Pacific, the largest being the four-fold expansion last summer of Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, which now covers 583,000 square miles in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. But with the Trump administration taking over in January, commercial fishermen and others who vehemently opposed the expansion of that monument and other marine preserves have renewed the fight.,, Leaders of the eight councils followed up with a March 1 letter to Trump explaining why they thought it was bad policy to keep American fishing vessels out of the monuments, saying it has “disrupted” the councils’ ability to manage the fisheries and eliminated the vessels’ ability to act as “watchdogs” over U.S. fishing grounds threatened by foreign fleets. click to continue reading the story here 08:17
