Monthly Archives: April 2017
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
Easter Sunday marks the fourth day of Canadian Fisherman Richard Gillett’s hunger strike.
The vice-president of the Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador (FISH-NL) set up camp in front of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans headquarters in St. John’s on Thursday. One of Gillett’s requests is a meeting with Dominic LeBlanc, the federal minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, to ask for an independent review of science and management at DFO. “Up until right now we haven’t heard anything from Minister LeBlanc,” Gillett said. Gillett said he thinks the fishery in Newfoundland and Labrador is close to extinction. click here to read the story 17:25
Fishers, St. Vincent Harbour Authority pleased with ice breaker response time
“They did marvelous” says St. Vincent’s Harbour Authority’s president Jake Hunt. ‘They’ are the icebreaker crew who opened up the waters around Hare Bay this week. With cold temperatures and Mothers Nature’s latest snowstorm, the ice in Hare Bay was thick and frozen together. It would be a while for the ice to break apart and worse still, cause a delay before fisherman could get to work. With the crab season opened since April 6th, it would be difficult for local fishermen to set their crab pots. The seal fishery is also underway. An ice breaker became the best option. click to continue reading the story 14:00
Poor season drives a black market for crabs in Qld
Poor weather over summer has resulted in a lucrative black market for the sale of mud crabs in Queensland. Recreational fishermen have been caught taking to websites such as Facebook, eBay and Gumtree to illegally sell mud crabs for up to $50 to try to reap the benefits of a poor crabbing season. It comes as the Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol was preparing for a busy long weekend as thousands of people were taking to the water over the Easter break. Fishers and crabbers have also been found resorting to illegal activities such as keeping undersized and female mud crabs after a dry summer saw fewer mud crabs being caught in Queensland’s waterways. Earlier this year, a man was fined $3100 after pleading guilty to five crab-related offences, click here to continue reading 13:24
Coast Guard, locals help fishermen, dog after boat floods off Hampton Harbor, NH
The Coast Guard and Hampton Fire Rescue helped two people and a dog to shore Saturday after their boat started taking on water about three miles east of Hampton Harbor, New Hampshire. Aman aboard the fishing boat used a VHF radio to contact watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Northern New England at about 8:30 p.m. Saturday. The man reported the Patricia Lynn II was rapidly taking on water and the two men aboard were using buckets to dewater the boat. He also said they were using a bilge pump but it was not keeping up with the rate of flooding. The man said both men aboard had donned survival suits, and put a lifejacket on a dog that was also aboard the boat. click to continue reading the story 12:18
From Port to Plate: A journey of New Bedford’s most profitable product
Who knew that a silver dollar-sized scallop could provide such bang for a buck? As the most profitable item turned over in the most profitable port in the country, this milk-colored mollusk has almost been solely responsible for the re-birth of New Bedford’s working waterfront since the turn of the century. While other New England ports have shrunk or been gentrified from a working waterfront to high rise condos and upscale restaurants, New Bedford has thrived. OUT AT SEA- Captain Earl Chor Sr. described an early 12-day April trip to the Elephant Trunk Flex Access Area as “smooth” despite working around a few days of harsh weather.,, TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER- In the damp and hollowed display room of BASE there are dozens of tall cardboard bins filled with ice and bagged scallops, known as lots, lining the room.,, SPANNING THE GLOBE- click here to read this big story 08:51
Helping US Shrimpers, New Trump order might hit India’s shrimp exports
The $5.5-billion Indian seafood export market might face new restrictions in America. The new Donald Trump government, in an executive order, is set to enforce countervailing duties strictly on countries held to be dumping goods. America is the major importer of Indian seafood, with a share of 28.5 per cent in 2015-16, for 153,695 tonnes worth $1.3 billion. Frozen shrimp is the principal item of export to the US, with a share of 94 per cent in value terms. Another executive order directs their department of commerce and the Office of the US Trade representative to examine every form of trade abuse and non-reciprocal practice that contribute to the US’ large and persistent trade deficit, largest of any major nation in 2016 at $500 billion. Within 90 days, both these agencies are to give a comprehensive report to the President on the causes. “The US is the only country which is imposing an anti-dumping duty on Indian shrimp, to give level playing to its producers. click to continue reading the story 19:30
MAFMC Votes15-4 AGAINST Hudson Canyon Sanctuary bid
In their official nomination, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and their Coney Island Aquarium staff outlined their specific reasons for nominating the offshore Hudson Canyon as a National Marine Sanctuary. (We listened to the presentation online. It was pathetic, actually),,, While claiming to have “community-based support for the nomination expressed by a broad range of interests,” the WCS marine sanctuary plan had actual fishermen and fishing industry leaders incensed. In a letter of opposition on behalf of coastal fishermen, Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) executive director Jim Donofrio noted that regardless of the WCS’s intention, recreational fishermen would not have any legal protection under the federal sanctuary law. Thank you Jim. click here to read the story 12:54
Canada has MPA Fever – Atlantic Canadian fishermen not hooked on idea
A federal government plan to speed up the creation of more marine protected areas in Canada is getting pushback from some Atlantic Canadian fisheries groups. Marine protected areas are established to protect species at risk or unique species from human interference. These areas can close designated ocean and coastal areas to economic activities like offshore energy development and fishing. “This is a huge impact on all the fisheries in Canada,” said Ian MacPherson, the executive director of the Prince Edward Island Fishermen’s Association. MacPherson and other fishing industry representatives outlined their concerns this week in appearances before the parliamentary standing committee on fisheries and oceans. click here to continue reading the story 12:04
Mystery shrouds the death of a Tarpon Springs fishing captain
It began as a fishing trip like any other. Gregory Lasnier stocked the commercial fishing boat he captained with ice, bait and groceries. He waited for a deckhand who never showed. A friend hugged him goodbye. On Feb. 16, he set off alone, leaving his dock behind Holiday Seafood off Island Drive and steering the Daniel I into to the Gulf of Mexico as he had so many times before. It was a fishing trip like any other, until it wasn’t. The Coast Guard found Lasnier dead in the boat’s pilot house Feb. 26, on the other side of the Florida peninsula, hundreds of miles from any of his normal fishing spots. What happened on board the Daniel I during those 10 days remains a mystery. There is no body. There is no autopsy. There is no boat. Coast Guard responders said they couldn’t recover any of it. The boat was taking on water, and conditions were unsafe. They believe the Daniel I sunk off the coast of Sebastian Inlet south of Melbourne, although even that part of the story is unclear. But one thing is certain: The sea became his graveyard, the boat his casket. click here to read the story 11:29
Telling it like it is! NOAA has done enough already and has failed in spectacular fashion
One wonders why a Marine Sanctuary is needed to protect shipwrecks. Sanctuaries are usually established to protect ecosystems. The typical reason for establishing a Sanctuary off our shores is inapplicable because our native ecosystem has been destroyed. After the opening of the Saint Lawrence Seaway in 1959 NOAA was assigned the responsibility of protecting the Great Lakes from invasive species, essentially making the entire region a sanctuary. NOAA has failed in spectacular fashion.,, NOAA allowed the Lamprey Eel and Alewife into our native waters shortly after the Seaway opened. These and other foreigners decimated our native fishery. Smelt survived until the 1980’s but now they too have been displaced by some other invasive species that NOAA failed to protect us from, was it the Quagga Mussel or the Round Gobi? (must read) Click here to read the letter. 10:04
Conecticut lobstermen fighting for survival
Connecticut’s Congressional Delegation wants to make sure that Connecticut Lobster Fishermen get their two cents in before they change any fishing plans for Southern New England. Lobster fishermen, fighting for survival, are being asked to speak up before federal regulators make a new lobster management plan for Southern New England. U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy and the Connecticut Congressional Delegation want the local lobster industry to survive long-term. But, lobstermen said new regulations could put them out of business at a time they see lobster catches growing. “Our records indicate it went up for the last three years not a lot, but a little bit,” Ted Whipple, who is a lobster buyer, said. Whipple said despite what government regulators claim, lobster fishing is improving. click here to read the story 08:49
New business venture streamlines catch directly to consumer, Front Door Fish
Front Door Fish is operated out of Garibaldi, but the customer base is global. “Garibaldi is where we do Front Door Fish out of because we have a processing plant and custom canning there,” sales and marketing manager Warren Howe said. The mission for their seafood business is simple: To deliver the freshest, highest-quality catch to customers’ front door. The product, which isn’t beholden to traditional processing or storage methods, is par with what only family and friends of fishermen could provide, according to Howe. “Everybody wants the quality of fish we used to provide for our friends,” he said. Front Door Fish was started as a platform to ship certain products overnight anywhere in the country. click here to read the story 18:27
Big Read! – The Blood of the Crab
Meghan Owings plucks a horseshoe crab out of a tank and bends its helmet-shaped shell in half to reveal a soft white membrane. Owings inserts a needle and draws a bit of blood. “See how blue it is,” she says, holding the syringe up to the light. It really is. The liquid shines cerulean in the tube. When she’s done with the show and tell, Owings squirts the contents of the syringe back into the tank. I gasp. “That’s thousands of dollars!” I exclaim, and can’t help but think of the scene in Annie Hall when Woody Allen is trying cocaine for the first time and accidentally sneezes, blowing the coke everywhere. I’m not crazy for my concern. The cost of crab blood has been quoted as high as $14,000 per quart. click here to read the article 17:58
Maryland DMR says Chesapeake blue crab population grew by 35 percent over the past year
Marylanders could have an easier time finding — and affording — local crabs this summer, a survey of the Chesapeake Bay blue crab population suggests. There are more than 550 million blue crabs in the Chesapeake Bay, an increase of more than a third over this time last year and one of the highest counts of the past two decades, according to state officials. They credit favorable weather and past harvest restrictions for a second straight year of strong crab population growth. “We fully anticipate a robust crab season this year,” said Dave Blazer, fisheries survey director for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Officials plan to explore whether the increasing numbers should prompt regulators to loosen harvest restrictions or lengthen the crabbing season. click here to read the story 17:18
House Bill Aims to Help Young People Enter Commercial Fishing Industry
A bipartisan bill has been introduced by the House of Representatives to establish the first national program to help young men and women enter the commercial fishing industry. The legislation, introduced by Congressmen Seth Moulton (D-MA) and Don Young (R-AK), would provide up to $2 million a year in grant funding through NOAA’s Sea Grant Program. “This bill is designed to allow the next generation of fishermen, or people who want to get into the fishing industry, to receive training to become successful businessmen or women,” said John Pappalardo, the CEO of the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance. Representatives from the Alliance will head to Washington D.C. later this month to join other groups from the Fishing Communities Coalition to lobby lawmakers. “We will be walking Capitol Hill for a couple of days talking about this bill,” Pappalardo said. click here to read the story 16:26
Hunger Strike – FISH-NL VP protesting outside DFO in St. John’s
The vice president of FISH-NL is camping outside the Department of Fisheries and Oceans building in St. John’s in protest. Richard Gillett, a fish harvester from Twillingate, says he will stay outside the building — without food and drinking only water — until his two demands are met. “I’m going to stay here as long as it takes to get a meeting with the minister of fisheries, and I’m prepared to go all the way on this one,” he said. Gillett is vice president of the Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador (FISH-NL), a group of fishermen trying to break away from the Fish, Food and Allied Workers (FFAW) union. FISH-NL is seeking to be ratified as the bargaining agent for the province’s fish harvesters. Gillett is requesting a meeting with federal Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc, and an independent review of the relationship between DFO and the FFAW. click here to continue reading the story 15:56
Brexit ‘provides golden opportunity to regain control of fisheries policy’
Brexit provides a “golden opportunity” to revitalise the UK’s fisheries industry, the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) has said. The free market think tank claimed the sector has been in decline for decades, due in part to the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy. An IEA study urges the Government to remove indirect subsidies, such as grants for harbour improvements and transport links, because it says infrastructure is better operated on a commercial basis. The report calls for subsidies for the industry to be phased out and replaced with market mechanisms to protect fisheries. click here to continue reading the story 15:35
Prince William Sound humpy forecast of 67.16 million fish is largest on record!
State fisheries biologists are forecasting what would be the largest pink salmon run on record into Prince William Sound, with liberal fishing time and area anticipated if the returns prove as strong as expected. Meanwhile, in the Copper River district, the first commercial fishing period is expected to begin during the week of May 14, with harvest projections of 889,000 sockeyes, 207,000 cohos and 4,000 Chinook salmon. The forecast calls for a pink salmon total run of 67.16 million fish, with a commercial harvest of 58.92 million pinks. That would be in marked contrast to 2016, where the run forecast was 40.9 million pinks, but the commercial harvest of 8.65 million pinks was the lowest harvest since 2002 and the second lowest in 20 years, biologists said. click here to read the story 15:08
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for April 14, 2017
Click here to read the Weekly Update, to read all the updates, Click here 12:17
NMFS – Revised black sea bass quotas for the 2017 fishing year and projected specifications for 2018.
NMFS proposes revised black sea bass specifications for the 2017 fishing year and projected specifications for 2018. In addition, this rule proposes to remove an accountability measure implemented at the start of the fishing year designed to account for commercial sector overages in 2015. Updated scientific information regarding the black sea bass stock indicates that higher catch limits should be implemented to obtain optimum yield, and that the accountability measure is no longer necessary or appropriate. This action is intended to inform the public of the proposed specifications for the 2017 fishing year and projected specifications for 2018. Comments must be received by 5 p.m. local time, on May 1, 2017. continue reading the notice here 10:38
New Jersey continues to fight summer flounder cuts
New Jersey’s fight against approved summer flounder measures hangs in the balance, and a meeting next month could prove critical for flounder fishermen. The state’s Marine Fisheries Council met Thursday evening at the Galloway Township branch of the Atlantic County Library in part to discuss its strategy in opposing a federal regulatory commission’s decision to cut this year’s summer flounder catch by 30 percent. “I’m getting questions every day,” said Dick Herb, the council’s chairman. “We just don’t know what’s going to happen there.” There’s a lot of things going on behind the scenes,” he added. Earlier this year, the state council voted to go out of compliance with the federal measures, which could trigger a pivotal decision by new Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross following a federal regulatory meeting in May, Herb said. click here to read the story 09:54
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke – Keep Offshore Oil Drilling and Seismic Testing Away From the Atlantic Coast
On April 6 Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke told the National Ocean Industries Association that an executive order was forthcoming that would start the process of rewriting the five-year plan for the Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program. The next day an op-ed in Morning Consult by Carl Bentzel began Big Oil’s public relations campaign to paint oil/gas exploration and drilling off the Atlantic coast as safe and oil-spill free given new technology and safeguards. Mr. Bentzel argues that the “first steps should be responsible assessment of oil and gas resources in our South Atlantic Ocean.” So let’s start with seismic airgun blasting that is the essence of this exploration. While proponents of seismic testing say the process is safe for marine life and will provide information for a public debate, neither point is factual. click here to read the op-ed 09:17
Twillingate Fisherman Richard Gillett enters Day 2 of hunger strike: ‘If I can’t fish, I’m no good to no one’
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—Friday, April 14th, 2017 – Richard Gillett, an inshore fish harvester from Twillingate and Vice-President of the Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador (FISH-NL), began a hunger strike Thursday afternoon on the grounds of DFO’s NL headquarters in St. John’s. Gillett’s demands include: a meeting with the federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, Dominic LeBlanc, and his assurance of an independent review of DFO science/management; as well as an independent review of the relationship between DFO and the Fish, Food and Allied Workers (FFAW) union. “Enough is enough,” says Gillett, “This is a desperate situation that needs to be looked into right now. The industry is in the worse mess it’s ever been in,” says Gillett, who’s been drinking only water since Thursday afternoon. “DFO science has been gutted and the management system we have today, when most of our fisheries are in crisis, is the same one that we had back in ’92 when the cod moratorium came down. And the FFAW, which is supposedly our union, stopped standing up for fishermen long ago and got in bed with DFO.” “If I can’t fish I’m no good to no one. I’m no good to myself. I’m no good to my family. I’m no good to my friends. I was meant to fish.” On Tuesday, April 11, Gillett, along with Ryan Cleary, President of FISH-NL, travelled to Ottawa and met with five of NL’s Liberal MPs, including: Gudie Hutchings, Yvonne Jones, Ken McDonald, Scott Simms and Nick Whalen. The MPs called the meeting to discuss the current fisheries crisis. click here to read the press release, and FISH-NL’s presentation 08:26
Gulf of Maine Cod: Fishermen protest conclusion drawn in first year of DMF multi-year study
The Baker administration cabinet secretary in charge of the industry-based survey of Gulf of Maine cod agrees with commercial fishing interests that conclusions drawn from the initial findings of the multi-year study are premature. Matthew A. Beaton, secretary of the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, penned a letter to commercial groundfish sectors in which he addressed the most recent incident to fan the flames of discontent among fishermen regarding the validity of the science used to measure the Gulf of Maine cod biomass.,, But on April 3, a Boston Globe story proclaimed the initial results — which fall in line with the dire assessments by NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center of the cod stock’s imperiled state — “a milestone in the war over the true state of cod” in the Gulf of Maine. The story said the DMF scientists had “reached the same dismal conclusion that their federal counterparts did: The region’s cod are at a historic low — about 80 percent less than the population from just a decade ago.” Typical Boston Globe crap. click here to read the story. 22:54
Gloucester fish company’s owe workers $203K in damages
Kristian Kristensen and his two Harbor Loop companies — Cape Ann Seafood Exchange and Zeus Packing — must pay more than $200,000 in liquidated damages to 132 employees in a settlement over violations of overtime and record keeping. The U.S. Department of Labor said an investigation by its wage and hour division unearthed violations from October 2011 through September 2014. The probe determined Kristensen and the companies owed $203,998 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages. Liquidated damages are monetary compensations for a loss or a person’s rights or property, awarded by a court judgment. click to read the story here 19:08
A Shrimp That Can Kill With Sound Is Named After Pink Floyd
Legend has it that the band Pink Floyd once played so loudly at a show that the sheer volume had killed all the fish in a nearby pond. Now there’s a new species of shrimp, named after Pink Floyd, that can kill fish by making a loud noise. Synalpheus pinkfloydi rapidly opens then snaps closed its large claw, creating a sound that can reach up to 210 decibels — louder than a typical rock concert and loud enough to kill small fish nearby. It turns out, however, that its new name has nothing to do with that urban myth about Pink Floyd’s volume. Dr. Sammy DeGrave, head of research at Oxford University Museum of Natural History, says the inspiration for the shrimp’s name was really the color of its claw: pink. “The reference is to the line, ‘By the way, which one of you is Pink?’ from the song ‘Have A Cigar’,” DeGrave told NPR when reached over the phone. click to read the story 17:37
