Daily Archives: April 23, 2017
Fresh and Local: Community seafood program lure customers with fresh catch
The return of warm weather is sending commercial fishing boats back out into the ocean and re-awakening the growing local seafood movement, which seeks to help small fishermen, just as the local food movement has helped small farms. “Fishermen are facing many problems and this isn’t the only answer, but it helps,” said Erik Chapman, acting director of the N.H. Sea Grant program at the University of New Hampshire and a cofounder of LocalCatch.org, which coordinates hundreds of direct-to-consumer seafood operations around the world.,, This year, N.H. Community Seafood is adding some fish caught commercially on rod and reel as well as those caught by nets used by commercial dayboats, and is incorporating some oysters and lobsters along with groundfish species such as cod, haddock and flounder, plus less-known species such as hake and dogfish (which is sometimes called cape shark to increase its consumer appeal). click here to read the story 18:09
Animal rights industry never has to take bait
A few years ago my wife and I took two of my boys to the Northern Territory and were lucky enough to be given extensive access to the Tiwi Islands by the local land council. It was a rare privilege and I learnt much, but the thing I did not expect to learn had nothing to do with the culture of the local Tiwi Islanders at Bathurst and Melville Islands or the progress they were making at Tiwi College. What stuck with me were the photographs on the walls of the Barramundi Lodge showing World War II GIs, in the hundreds, swimming during shore leave. Today the waters of the Tiwi Islands are so infested with saltwater crocodiles that the Aboriginal kids we met would not dare swim beyond knee deep at their pristine beach. Across the NT coastline and in most of the Top End’s saltwater rivers, swimming is strictly off the agenda. Croc watching is big tourism business and crocs make great copy for the local newspaper, the NT News. But as the Tiwi elders told us, it was not always this way. In the days when crocodiles were hunted for food by the Tiwis and for skins by white hunters, it was not nearly so dangerous to enjoy the tropical waters of the Territory. Croc hunting was banned in the Territory in 1964, in Western Australia in 1962 and in Queensland in 1974. Populations have boomed and croc distributions widened dramatically since. So it is with sharks today. click here to read the article. 14:16 Sadly, the link redirects to subscribe. It worked earlier. This shark article explains the sharks today problem. ‘There’s no shark increase’: Fisheries minister ignores Federal government’s call for cull click here to read the story 20:14 
Hunger Strike: Day 11 – Canadian Fisherman Richard Gillett taken from protest site in ambulance
Richard Gillett, on a hunger strike in front of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans building in St. John’s, has been taken off site in an ambulance. Gillett, a fisherman and vice-president of the Federation of Independent Seafood Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador (FISH-NL), is in the 11th day of a hunger strike. Supporters applauded Gillett as paramedics took him from his tent on a stretcher and loaded him into the back of a waiting ambulance. Richard’s wife Joyce made the call to the ambulance. His father, John, said, “I got my son back.” He told CBC he didn’t want his son to embark on the hunger strike, but added, “He’s got his own conviction.” link 13:39 Ambulance takes hunger striking fisherman to hospital – Click here to read the story 13:44
Historic Great Lakes fishing tug Palmer dismantled at former Azarian Marina
A crew from Vassh Excavating and Grading began work Friday to dismantle the historic Palmer, a 90-year-old commercial fishing boat. The Great Lakes fishing tug was carved out of the ice on the Root River in January after the boat sank at its slip at the Pugh Marina in late December near the State Street Bridge. The crew began work to demolish the 47-foot long, 13-foot-wide Palmer by hauling debris out of the boat. After they complete their work, only the metal shell of the Palmer will remain. Once all the boat’s debris has been removed, the shell will be hauled from the former Azarian Marina site off Water Street. When demolishing the boat, Vassh’s crew began to uncover a treasure trove of historic items, including three steering wheels in nearly perfect condition, eight porthole windows, a lamp from 1896, various old wood carvings and books from the 1920s. They also located the original 1926 lights, a Case motor and Twin Disc transmission. click here to see images, video, and read the story 13:24
“The Queensland government’s response is a f—ing joke,” – Fishers furious over delayed warning of toxic foam spill
Fishers are furious they weren’t warned for days about a toxic foam spill in Brisbane waters, saying hundreds of kilograms of prawns were caught in the affected area. On the night of Monday, April 10, 22,000 litres of firefighting foam containing potentially harmful chemicals was released from a Brisbane Airport Qantas hangar, with some likely making it into the water in the lower reaches of the Brisbane River and killing about 20 fish. Queensland Environment Minister Steven Miles admitted his department knew of the spill by the following day but did not alert the public until Good Friday, when many people were disengaged with the news. He warned against eating seafood caught in the affected zone – from Bulimba Creek to Fisherman Island and north to Shorncliffe – but said this was outside commercial fishing areas. Trawler Michael Wilkinson said the T5 trawl fishing zone he and more than 30 others were licensed to fish entirely overlapped the affected area. “The Queensland government’s response is a f—ing joke,” he said, saying fishers should have been warned out of the area as soon as the spill occurred. click here to read the story 12:11
Land Based Fish farm gets cash injection
Ottawa is pumping $1 million into Hants County’s Sustainable Blue’s fish farming operation to boost production of Atlantic salmon and commercialize cutting-edge marine water treatment technology. Federal funding will allow the company to build a 300-metric tonne land-based saltwater grow-out facility, which will bring its total capacity to 500 metric tonnes. This will allow production of Atlantic salmon year-round. In making the announcement, Kings-Hants MP Scott Brison said the money from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency will benefit the self-contained aquaculture operation, which is the first facility of its type in the world growing drug-free fish, produced sustainably on land. click here to read the story 11:17
Lobster Prices are Starting to Drop
It was tough cold weather season for local fish markets, but finally lobster prices are starting to drop. Schermerhorn’s Seafood in Holyoke has been in business for more than 100 years. They told 22News they’ve never seen lobster prices this high for this long. Low demand driven by high prices and low supply driven by cold fishing waters. Schermerhorn’s said this coming week, the lobster beds should open up and prices should drop. Video, read the story here 10:40
Arron Banks to launch pirate radio station off Clacton coast if he becomes UKIP candidate
Millionaire businessman Arron Banks will start his own pirate radio station off the Clacton coast to help become the Essex town’s MP if he is selected as the UKIP candidate. Mr Banks, who caused controversy this week by admitting he knows nothing about the town, would use the pirate radio station, based in a fishing trawler, to help his election campaign. DJs would include former UKIP leader Nigel Farage, who now hosts a nightly LBC radio talk show, and former BBC Radio One presenter Mike Read. The details have been confirmed by Andy Wigmore, a spokesman for Mr Banks. In a statement issued to this newspaper, Mr Wigmore, a former DJ himself who would also be one of the station’s presenters, said: “We have been given a trawler by fishermen campaigning for fishing rights after Brexit. click here to continue reading the story 08:48
