Daily Archives: May 10, 2017
FISH-NL describes price of cod as ‘scandalous’ and another example of FFAW conflict; renews call for province to allow in outside buyers
The Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador (FISH-NL) says the 2017 price of cod recently negotiated by the FFAW is an insult to the province’s inshore harvesters, and renews its call for the province to allow in outside buyers. “That price is scandalous,” says Ryan Cleary, President of FISH-NL. “It’s an insult to already injured inshore harvesters. The FFAW expects cod will save harvesters from shellfish declines, but then the union agrees to a price that will starve our fish harvesters as fast as DFO mismanagement.”The high price of cod this year is up 5 cents a pound. The 2017 price per pound paid to harvesters for Grade A cod has been set at a high of 83 cents, and low of 20 cents. In 2016, the Grade A price paid was 78 cents a pound, with 20 cents as the low mark for Grade C. read the press release here 19:45
Why Alaska’s Favorite Boot Brand Is Becoming a Hit All Over the U.S.
Alaska may not be considered a fashion destination, but a particular brand of rugged waterproof boots is showing up all over the state, on everyone from salmon fishermen to schoolkids. And consumers in the Lower 48 are taking notice. Recognized for its iconic brown Legacy pull-on boot, Xtratuf has been protecting Alaskans since the 1960s against harsh weather conditions, including heavy rainfall, which can average 90 inches annually in the southeast part of the state. click here to read the story 18:45
New calendar check could be needed for shrimp seasons
This year’s brown shrimp season is in full swing, with boats small and large trawling and skimming the bayous, lakes and canals of Louisiana’s central coast since 6 a.m. Monday. Early reports were somewhat encouraging, but there are indications that policy-makers will need to consider more flexibility when charting seasons to come. “If we have another warm February or March we will be giving everybody a heads up,” said Jeffrey Marx, the biologist who manages the shrimp program for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. “It is pretty much a year-to-year thing.” click here to read the story 16:07
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 49’11″X 19′ Novi Lobster Boat, 350HP, 6 Cylinder Mitzubishi, Kobota 11000 KW Auxilary
Specifications, information and 19 photo’s click here To see all the boats in this series, Click here 14:29
Shrimpers hoping for relief from foreign worker shortage
Rio Grande Valley shrimpers, faced with a crippling shortage of foreign workers due to Congress’ failure to renew the H-2B Returning Worker Program, may have a glimmer of hope in the federal spending bill signed into law May 5. The bill contains language authorizing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to raise the cap on the number of foreign workers with H-2B visas. U.S. companies can hire in fiscal year 2017 from 66,000 (33,000 for each half of the fiscal year) to nearly 130,000. The question is whether Homeland Security will follow through and raise the cap, and how soon. Andrea Hance, executive director of the Texas Shrimp Association, said owners of shrimp fleets and processing plants on the Texas coast are in desperate straits for want of workers, with the Texas shrimp season set to reopen in mid-July, she said. click here to read the story 12:48
Maine – Fishing surveillance bill amended
A bill that would authorize the Department of Marine Resources to conduct surreptitious electronic surveillance of lobster boats drew mixed reviews at a hearing by the Legislature’s Marine Resources Committee in April. But at a work session last Wednesday, the committee voted to recommend passage of an amended version of the bill. Introduced by Rep. Walter Kumiega (D-Deer Isle) at the request of the Department of Marine Resources, LD 1379 — as initially formulated — would have given the DMR commissioner authority to approve installation of electronic tracking devices on lobster boats without first getting a warrant from a judge. The approval would have been based on an affidavit from the chief of the Marine Patrol that he had “probable cause” to believe that a civil violation of the laws regulating the placement or hauling of lobster gear had occurred. At its work session last week, the committee scrapped the idea of authorizing the commissioner to approve installation of tracking devices and took a new approach. click here to read the story 11:53
‘Financial predator’ who stole millions from widow and partners sentenced to 5 years
Russell Moore spent nearly 30 years as a Northwest fisherman, investing every dime he had in the company he co-owned with businessman Terrance Cosgrove and three other partners. Cosgrove, it turned out, bilked Moore out of most of his money. He also stole the life savings from the widow and children of his best friend, and raided the trust funds of the family of another close friend, according to a wire-fraud and mail-fraud plea agreement. Moore stood before U.S. District Court Judge John Coughenour on Tuesday morning — with Cosgrove standing nearby — and described the theft that had ruined him. “This was my retirement plan,” Moore said in a Seattle courtroom. “I didn’t get much,” he said, explaining the partners got less than $500,000 of the more than $4 million they had lost after Cosgrove declared bankruptcy. Prosecutors say he stole millions from his partners in the Bothell fishing company and at least $335,000 — maybe much more — from the widow and children of a friend, and at least $500,000 from trusts belonging to the family of another longtime friend. click here to read the story 10:57
Another Senseless Regulation! Northern Red Hake possession limit slashed to 400 Lbs per trip
Seaview Crab Company Expands To Offer Online Ordering
Brothers Joe and Sam Romano and longtime friend Nathan King founded Seaview Crab Company as a simple roadside market along Carolina Beach Road back in 2006. Prior to opening the market, the three worked as commercial crabbers, hustling to sell their catch to other markets. But when a small seafood and tackle shop became available for rent just down the road from where they usually set up shop, the business really began to take off. Since that time, the company has gained a loyal local following, both as a wholesale and as a retail seafood outlet. But many of their customers are also folks who live outside of Wilmington and travel here to spend time at the beach. MacBride said that Seaview began taking orders for shipments over the phone and soon realized the need for online ordering. click here to read the story 08:33
The Fisherman Who Saved Fishtown
Fishtown looks as it did a half-century ago, when it was simply a fishing port. The commercial fishing boats, the Janice Sue and the Joy, bob slightly on gentle wakes left by charter boats heading out of the river. And smoke drifting from the crooked-arm chimneys of a smokehouse beside the white clapboard Carlson’s Fisheries is a sign that the business of fish mongering is well underway. Inside, a second pot of coffee is brewing in the big Bunn coffeemaker, and a hundred pounds of whitefish have just lost their pinbones to the deft hands of four Carlsons: Bill Carlson, owner of the fishery and of Fishtown, his wife Jennifer, his son Clay, and his great nephew, Chris Herman. Clad in suspenderes foul-weather pants, streaked now in blood, the foursome has worked shoulder-to-shoulder for over an hour. They banter as they work—Bill quips that his white hair is really blonde, turned from eating too much fish. Good read, click here to read the story 08:00
