Daily Archives: May 25, 2017
Recreational IFQ’s? Louisiana wants to give 150 anglers almost unlimited access to red snapper
Despite vehement opposition from recreational-fishing advocacy groups, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries says it has worked up a pilot program that will award a significant portion of the state’s red snapper haul to select recreational anglers. The department announced the plan in a Thursday afternoon press release, just one day after meeting with pro-recreational fishing groups and mentioning nothing about the program. The structure would be similar to what exists in the commercial sector, where fishers have been awarded percentages of the overall commercial quota, and may harvest their red snapper at any time during the year. The system, called individual fishing quotas, has been panned by recreational-fishing organizations as well as good-government groups because it has set up so-called Sea Lords, who own quota and make hundreds of thousands of dollars on a public resource without ever leaving the dock. click here to read this story 20:20
Beaufort shrimper brings damaged trawler home: ‘It’s life or death. It’s what we do’
If not for opening day, a shrimp fleet might have been spared the dings, bruises and brokenness the boats were nursing at a private dock on St. Helena Island on Thursday. But opening day for a shrimper is a hallowed date. South Carolina waters are open to trawling and those who make a living in white rubber boots are on the water. Even when the weather this week churned up some of the nastiest conditions experienced fishermen had ever seen. It was during a storm early Wednesday morning, in the dark more than a mile off of Pritchards Island, that the shrimp boat Gracie Belle was waiting for daylight and the 8 a.m. start of shrimp season. The boat and its crew wouldn’t make it to work, though all would be saved by the end of the day. Good Video, Great story! Click here to read the story 18:12
Coast Guard identifies missing Fishermen, search continues for the Crew of F/V Miss Debbie
The search resumes Thursday for three men lost at sea when their fishing boat capsized as a result of a reported tornado. Hobo Seafood, which owns the capsized boat, Miss Debbie, put out a notice Thursday morning saying the search Wednesday – which was Day 2 of searching – was unfruitful largely due to uncooperative weather. “Weather has been too rough for divers to inspect the fishing vessel, but they are using other means for the search,” Hobo Seafood put out in a statement. Click here to read the story Coast Guard identifies missing fishermen, The Coast Guard identified Gary McGowen, Benjamin Dover and Isaac West as the three adult males that went missing about one mile northeast of Tybee Island on Tuesday evening. Click here to read the story 16:31
Renewed calls for income bridging as harvesters and plant workers experience worst ice situation in decades
Severe ice conditions continue to affect people working in the fishing industry. Harvesters and plant workers have been without income for several weeks, some for over two months. Over the past few weeks, FFAW leadership has met with the senior DFO officials, Premier Dwight Ball and fisheries minister Steve Crocker to emphasize the dire situation hundreds of families are experiencing. Repeated calls by the FFAW, provincial government and affected individuals have resulted in the federal government acknowledging the situation, yet action has not been taken to provide income support. click here to read the press release 15:55
FISH-NL calls on Ottawa for ice compensation/gear replacement
The Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador (FISH-NL) is calling on Ottawa to extend EI benefits for fish harvesters on Newfoundland’s northeast coast impacted by severe ice conditions. FISH-NL also says harvesters who lost crab gear should be compensated because the federal government should not have opened the fishery in their areas. “Some harvesters and their families are having an extremely hard time of it,” says Ryan Cleary, President of FISH-NL, in calling for ice compensation in the form of an EI extension. “They can’t go fishing because ice conditions haven’t improved, and they ran out of EI benefits weeks ago.”,,, John Gillett, an inshore fisherman from Twillingate, wrote the following letter today to federal Fisheries and Oceans Minister Dominic LeBlanc, click here to read the press release 15:44
Coastal lawmaker wants to create fish farming industry in North Carolina waters
A proposal moving through the state Senate calls for leasing waters off the North Carolina coast so people can farm fish. Senate Bill 410 would allow people to lease from 100 to 1,500 acres in the state’s sounds and the Atlantic Ocean, where they could build underwater pens to raise various species of fish that they could later sell to supermarkets and restaurants. “We’re creating an industry here,” sponsor Sen. Bill Cook, R-Beaufort, told members of the Senate Finance Committee this week. “This is not something we’re doing in North Carolina. This will allow us to do fish farming and bring in some big bucks.” Sebastian Belle, executive director of the Maine Aquaculture Association, told lawmakers that fish farming is a $100 million business in his state, which has been leasing areas along its coast for 35 years. “The sector is growing worldwide,” Belle said, adding that fish farming “will help keep kids in those (coastal) communities working on the waterfront.” click here to read the story 13:23
Hybrid green crab species threatens N.L. lobster – also eat clams, scallops and even each other
They’re fearless. They can live for weeks out of the water. They will eat anything, even each other. “They were born ferocious,” said Cynthia McKenzie, a scientist with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans based in St. John’s. McKenzie is one of a group of researchers who have identified a species of green crab that is ravaging parts of Newfoundland’s south coast. Fishermen in Placentia Bay, on the southeast coast, first noticed green crab in 2007. “When a lobster spawns … the green crab is there to eat it,” said Clarence Marsh. “I think the green crab got a big effect on the lobsters, and that’s why there’s none here in this bay now.” The green crab are “numerous,” said Marsh, and they don’t stop at eating lobster. He has also found tiny green crabs inside scallop shells. Click here to read the story 10:42
Crew held against their will? U.S. Coast Guard investigating commercial fishing trip.
One captain, three crewmen with little experience, and two very different stories about what happened on a fishing trip that ended with a U.S. Coast Guard escort back to land. Bill Owen, one of the crew members, said he felt held against his will while working on a commercial fishing boat that left out of Ft. Pierce on May 11. Owen said he responded to an online job posting looking to hire fishing hands. He said the trip was to last six days but on the fifth day, things turned combative. “Tuesday came and we were told we’re not going in [to land], [the captain said] I’m not going to tell you when we’re going in, I’m not going to tell you where we are,” said Owen. “It got progressively worse [going] from just aggressive talk to aggressive actions. That’s when it went from being not fun to this is a serious issue.” Saved by the Phone,,, Click here to read the story 09:38
Pacific Seafood/Trident deal back in the barrel? Suit against the sale alleges violation of monopoly laws.
A lawsuit has been filed against Pacific Seafood and Trident Seafood Corporation for allegedly violating federal anti-trust laws by Trident earlier ignoring a $1.8 million offer to buy Trident – nearly $800,000 less than an offer made earlier by Innovation Marine and Front Street Marine. Attorneys for Innovation Marine and Front Street Marine contend the move was to solidify a fish processing monopoly along the Oregon Coast. Here’s a reaction by Pacific Seafood’s attorney Dan Occhipinti: Click here to read the story 08:25
Maine lobstermen worry about possible closure to protect coral
Charles Kelley began fishing for lobster on Outer Schoodic Ridge about 20 years ago, preferring the solitude of deep waters to the crowded inshore fishery.,, Kelley is worried that he could lose his winter fishing territory if interstate regulators decide to ban all fishing in a 31-square-mile area at the ridge and an 18-square-mile area southwest of Mount Desert Rock to protect deep-water coral gardens found in those waters.,,, Some environmental groups have banded together to oppose the lobster exemption, among other aspects of the proposal, including the Conservation Law Foundation, Natural Resources Defense Council, Oceana and The Pew Charitable Trusts. “Heavy offshore trap gear … poses a threat to long-lived and vulnerable deep-sea coral communities,” they wrote in an April 11 letter. “Trap fisheries directly damage corals.” Click here to read the story 07:58
