Monthly Archives: May 2017
FISH-NL’s warnings of rising unrest play out, crab harvesters hold protest fishery off Port aux Choix
Predictions by the Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador (FISH-NL) of rising unrest in the province’s fishing industry are playing out as inshore fishermen launched a protest crab fishery this morning off Port aux Choix on the Great Northern Peninsula. “Storm clouds have been brewing for months over the Newfoundland and Labrador fishery, and DFO, the police, Ottawa and the provincial government were warned long ago,” said Ryan Cleary, President of FISH-NL. “This is going to get uglier before it gets better.” As many as nine crab boats from the province took part in this morning’s protest fishery, although not all vessels set crab gear. click here to read the story 14:32
Crab fishermen set pots in off-limits zone to protest Quebec harvesting in area – click here to read the story 16:38
Five fishermen rescued from grounded fishing vessel in St-Pierre
The crew of a Newfoundland fishing boat was rescued early Monday after their vessel ran aground in St-Pierre-Miquelon. Five fishermen from the Arlene & Adonna were taken to a hotel after their boat ran into the rocks on L’ile-aux-Marins, a small island in the St.-Pierre harbor. Enrique Perez, the president of St-Pierre-Miquelon’s Search and Rescue group, said the Société Nationale de Sauvetage en Mer had to leave the fishing vessel in place, but were able to take the fishermen off. click here to read the story 12:05
Fisherman’s Memorial remembers ‘Destination’ crew lost at sea
Members of the commercial fishing community came to remember those lost at sea at the Fisherman’s Terminal in Ballard Sunday. The Fisherman’s Memorial is an annual ceremony, but this year it had added importance. In February, the Seattle-based crabbing boat the Destination mysteriously disappeared off the coast of Alaska. It had six crew members on board. click here to view a video, read the rest 10:42
Waste Water Treatment Plants: Once home to thriving aquaculture, Great Bay is under great strain
GREAT BAY’S wonderful production of gourmet food has come to an unbelievable halt, and there’s bound to be a lot of uninformed debate on how to get those species such as clams, oysters, smelt, herring, white perch, crabs, lobsters and other multiple flora and fauna that may slip my mind.,, We’ve lost just about all of this incredible fish and game resource gradually! We’re going to get some flack from the do-gooders as to why they are gone, but when you look at the changes that have been parallel to the loss of fish, it’s been the rebuilding or refitting of the many sewage treatment plants that have been put into service that seem to be the answer to this lack of fish and game. You can see it in the lack of eelgrass beds that used to cover thousands of acres of tidal flats. These new treatment plants have filtered or poisoned most of the nutrients from the Piscataqua River and the many other rivers that serve their municipalities that dump their now super-treated effluent into the tidal water, now so sterile and lacking in nutrients and full of poison that plants and animals cannot survive. Read this article! click here 08:43
BC Halibut Fishermen Accuse Global NEWS of Irresponsible Journalism with Oceana Canada’s Fake News
“Global NEWS’ May 5th reporting on Canada’s Pacific commercial halibut fishery was irresponsible fake news, says Chris Sporer, Executive Manager of the Pacific Halibut Management Association of BC (PHMA), an organization representing commercial halibut fishermen in the province. “Global NEWS made no attempt to contact the industry or to get the facts, and then used stock video footage that has nothing to do with our fishery,” notes Sporer. The Global NEWS report was click here>prompted by an Oceana Canada report on bycatch in Canada’s commercial fisheries. PHMA and its members disagree with the conclusions of the report. For the BC halibut fishery, the report relied on a data set that is a decade old and incomplete. As a result, the data could not be fully analyzed and is misinterpreted. click here to read the story 16:09
‘Atlantic’ – an urgent and visually moving lament against corporate privatization of the ocean
Fortunately, Risteard O’Domhnail’s Atlantic—a remarkable docudrama about corporate and government malfeasance responsible for destroying fishing communities across the Atlantic Ocean’s coastlines—exemplifies an impeccably crafted style of documentary filmmaking which may resonate emotionally long after viewing it.,, Atlantic succeeds as a lament about fisherman forced to pay witness to what seems unimaginable: a corporate takeover of the Atlantic Ocean. This is a shocking concept, given the time-honored narratives which treat the ocean as a vast, unconquerable enigma associated with man’s total subservience to nature. click here to read the article, and watch the video trailer 15:11
Five names added to Alaska Commercial Fishermen’s Memorial in Juneau at 27th Blessing of the Fleet
It was a warm, sunny Saturday in downtown Juneau. Dozens gathered for the 27th annual Blessing of the Fleet and to honor the commercial fishing fleet and also to remember the lives of five commercial fishermen whose names will soon be engraved in the Alaska Commercial Fishermen’s Memorial. The memorial is a curved, smooth granite wall engraved with over 200 names. Some have small stars next to them, indicating fishermen who died at sea. Paul Dayton Fredrick’s name is one waiting to be engraved. His name will have a star next to it. Kyle Moselle is Fredrick’s son-in-law. He said Fredrick passed away last June. click here to read the story 14:04
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission meeting in Alexandria, Virginia May 8 – 11, 2017 – Listen Live
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission will meet at The Westin Alexandria, 400 Courthouse Square, Alexandria, Virginia 22314, May 8 – 11, 2017 The agenda is subject to change. The agenda reflects the current estimate of time required for scheduled Board meetings. Click here for details, Click here for webinar 12:37
Offshore Wind Power Will ‘Absolutely Cost Jobs’ Of US Fishermen
The fishing industry is worried the first offshore wind farm to come online in the U.S. will ruin their way of life and kill jobs. An offshore wind turbine three miles off the coast of Block Island, Rhode Island, will kill large numbers of fish and potentially drive hundreds of small coastal enterprises out of business, according to a fishing industry representative. Fishermen fear offshore wind turbines will continue to pop up along Atlantic Coast, eventually make it impossible to be a commercial fisherman. “This will absolutely cost jobs in the U.S.,” Bonnie Brady, director of the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, told The Daily Caller News Foundation. “If New York Governor [Andrew] Cuomo’s administration gets what it wants from offshore wind that’s thousands of fishing jobs. It’ll rip the coastal communities apart.” Brady says New York’s government is willfully ignoring fishing jobs in favor of the wind industry and thinks the consequences of Cuomo’s policy could spread economic devastation to fishermen well beyond the state. click here to read the story 10:46
LIPA, PSEG urged to disclose costs of green-energy program – “Of course they’re not going to give the numbers,” said Bonnie Brady, director of the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, which has joined a lawsuit to stop a wind farm off the South Shore. “I think the governor needs to rethink his mandate. He’s destroying fishing jobs for pie-in-the-sky [wind-energy construction] jobs that are not going to last.” click here to read the story 10:52
A Hudson Canyon-sized power struggle is developing 100 miles off N.J.’s coast
In November 2016, the Wildlife Conservation Society nominated Hudson Canyon to be designated a National Marine Sanctuary. The WCS selected the canyon, the largest submarine crevice on the Atlantic Coast, due to its wide biodiversity. The canyon is home to more than 20 protected species, including the North Atlantic right whale, according to the conservation group. “This is a canyon the scale of the Grand Canyon,” said Jon Forrest Dohlin, the Vice President of the WCS and the director of the New York Aquarium. “It seemed like something that could really benefit from awareness and protection.” But commercial fishermen see this as the latest in a series of moves that could lead to increased fishing restrictions from the Gulf of Maine to the Gulf of Mexico. Commercial fishermen in New Jersey fear losing access to a profitable fishing ground. According the Greg DiDomenico, the executive director of the Garden State Seafood Association, click here to read the story 09:54
Relief bills seek $140 million aid for California crab and salmon fishery disasters
California lawmakers introduced new legislation last week seeking to unlock $117 million in federal disaster aid for commercial fishermen and other business owners financially scarred by a series of catastrophic crab and salmon seasons threatening to upend the state’s fishing industry. North Coast representatives including Congressmen Jared Huffman and Mike Thompson, state Sen. Mike McGuire and Assemblyman Jim Wood, also have petitioned Gov. Jerry Brown to seek a disaster declaration for this year’s severely restricted salmon season, which already portends severe hardship with commercial fleets still in port.,,, Local fishermen, many of them proud and not especially trusting of government, said people who could use assistance aren’t holding their breath. click here to read the story 09:04
Interior Department Releases List of Monuments Under Review, First-Ever Formal Public Comment Period for Antiquities Act Monuments
The Department of the Interior today (5-5-17) announced the first ever formal public comment period for members of the public to officially weigh in on monument designations under the Antiquities Act of 1906, and the Department released a list of monuments under review under the President’s Executive Order 13792, issued April 26, 2017. A public comment period is not required for monument designations under the Antiquities Act; however, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke and President Trump both strongly believe that local input is a critical component of federal land management. Comments may be submitted online after May 12 at http://www.regulations.gov by entering “DOI-2017-0002” in the Search bar and clicking “Search,” or by mail to Monument Review, MS-1530, U.S. Department of the Interior, 1849 C Street NW, Washington, DC 20240. Marine Monuments under review are, Papahanaumokuakea, Northeast Canyons and Seamounts, Pacific Remote Islands, Rose Atoll, Marianas Trench. click here to read the press release, 18:03
Labor Council latest to make plea for Carlos Rafael permits to remain in New Bedford
The line of organizations with their eyes focused on the future of Carlos Rafael’s fishing permits continued to grow Friday. The Greater Southeastern Massachusetts Labor Council addressed a letter to John K. Bullard, NOAA’s regional director from Maine to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, as well as U.S. Attorney William Weinreb that urged the two men “to allocate the fishing permits now controlled by Carlos Rafael to the New Bedford area.” We sent a letter basically because of the fishing industry in New Bedford,” Cynthia Rodrigues, president of the council said. “(The permits landing elsewhere) will hurt the fishing in New Bedford.” Bullard said he couldn’t comment on matters under litigation but saw no issues with parties announcing their opinions on the matter. click here to read the story 16:56
Save our seal(er)s – Jim Winter, St. John’s
The population of harp seals off Canada’s East Coast is about 7.5 million. For over 50 years, marine mammal scientists have studied the herd, and from this science annual quotas are set. During this period, the herd has more than tripled in size. The seals we hunt are fully weaned and independent. Harp seal dames feed their offspring for 11 to 15 days and leave them; they are not helicopter parents. The use of anthropomorphic words like “baby” is merely heart-tugging propaganda. The only study portraying the killing as inhumane was paid for by the International Fund for Animal Welfare and conducted by a group of British vets and was never peer-reviewed, as is customary with studies of this kind. Every other study, including one by the International Veterinary Group, has found the hunt to operate as humanely as any slaughterhouse in the Western World. click here to read the letter 16:11
Compensation coming for lobster fishermen sidelined by Maritime Link work
The company behind the Maritime Link has agreed to compensation for a group of 60 Cape Breton lobster and crab fishermen affected by the project this season. Work began last month on installing one of two 170-kilometre cables that will eventually cross the ocean floor between Cape Ray, N.L., and Point Aconi, N.S. At landfall in Cape Breton, cable laying and other offshore construction activity will close a three-kilometre-long and 600-metre-wide swath of ocean bottom to lobster fishing for the entire 2017 lobster season. “Emera needs a safety installation zone that remains clear of all fishing gear and that’s particularly important during the summer cable landing,” said Jeff Myrick, senior communications manager with Emera Newfoundland and Labrador, a subsidiary of Halifax-based Emera Inc. Terms of the compensation deal reached with the fishermen are not being released, he said.,, ‘Only reasonable’ to expect compensation click here to read the story 12:12
Proposed new rules for lobstering up for vote amid decline in southern New England
Scientists have said populations of lobsters off of Connecticut, Rhode Island and southern Massachusetts have declined as waters have warmed. A board of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is scheduled to vote on new management measures Monday and Tuesday. Fishing managers are considering tools like trap reductions, changes to the legal harvesting size of lobsters and seasonal closures to try to preserve the population. Some lobster fishermen have opposed the possibility of new measures, saying such a move would kill off what remains of a once-vibrant fishery. “Any further reductions in traps would be hard to accommodate, given that there are so few fishermen left in (southern) Massachusetts and Rhode Island,” said Beth Casoni, executive director of the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association. click here to read the story 11:26
Perfectly good fisheries data being ignored – Harvey Jarvis, concerned citizen
DFO is currently under fire, from several different fronts, about recent science stock assessment estimates and the subsequent management decisions. Someone not familiar with the science assessment process might believe the federal Fisheries minister’s recent announcement to conduct cod assessments every year is way of addressing current deficiencies. It is not! Conducting full, peer-reviewed, annual assessments used to be a normal occurrence until Ottawa gutted DFO science and management at the regional level. Those annual assessments failed to prevent the cod moratorium in 1992. Simply reverting to an annual assessment process will in no way address current deficiencies. Critical to the assessment process is the mathematical model that computes biomass. Critical inputs to that model are survey indices and commercial catch. If the model is flawed or if critical inputs are not included, the assessment results will be flawed. click here to read the letter 09:37
Copper River salmon return may not be huge, but at least they’re en route
After a long hard winter, Alaska’s commercial salmon fishing season officially gets underway in less than two weeks. The first big fishery for sockeye and king salmon is set for May 18 at Copper River, and the town of Cordova is buzzing, said Christa Hoover, executive director of the Copper River/Prince William Sound Marketing Association. “The mood changes at the start of May with all the folks back in town and boats going in and out of the water,” she said. Enthusiasm among the fleet of more than 500 drift gillnetters has not been dampened by a reduced harvest projection. Fishery managers expect a Copper River salmon catch this season of just 889,000 sockeyes, 4,000 kings and 207,000 coho salmon. “Regardless of the forecast from one year to the next, fishermen just want to have their nets in the water. It’s what they do and they are ready to go,” Hoover said. click here to read the story 08:34
Letter: Why Richard Gillett went on a hunger strike. ” In my opinion he is a brave man,,,”
April 13th, Richard Gillett went on a hunger strike because he felt that rural Newfoundland and Labrador was facing a bleak future due to the mismanagement of oceans that had sustained us for 500 years. Richard had two requests: one for a review of the science and management of all provincial fish stocks, the other a review of the relationship of the Fish, Food and Allied Workers union and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Those are two very legitimate questions.,, In my opinion he is a brave man who is concerned about this province and has done more than anyone since the moratorium to bring to the forefront the state of our oceans. Click here to read Capt. Wilfred Bartlett, retired, letter 17:41
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for May 5, 2017
Click here to read the Weekly Update, to read all the updates, Click here 16:25
Washington discusses tangle-net chinook fishery
Washington’s Fish and Wildlife Commission on Friday deliberated — but took no vote — on whether a commercial tangle-net spring chinook salmon fishery would be acceptable this year in the lower Columbia River. Washington and Oregon have slightly different polices for managing the Columbia River, the result of the Columbia River reforms process that began in 2013 and go into full implementation this year. Jim Unsworth, director of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Curt Melcher, director of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, have been delegated authority to negotiate the differences, but the talks are not concluded. click here to read the story 15:42
Attention US East Coast Fishermen.
On may 17th President Donald Trump will be giving the commencement address to the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London CT. We are seeking interested commercial fishing vessels to come together in a show of solidarity to ask our President to look into the management problems that have plagued our industry for decades. We all know the issues that are destroying our industry and we need to get the word out to his administration that we, like farmers, coal miners and a whole host of American small businessmen are struggling to hang onto our businesses because of the onerous regulatory situation that has plagued our industry. What we are seeking is if there are enough interested people to put together a flotilla of vessels to sail up the Thames River as a show of support for his plan to minimize industry and job killing over regulation. We recognize this is short notice but this is a golden opportunity to show the President who we are and the importance of our industry to the fabric of our nation and our coastal communities. If we find enough support and a commitment to show up to form a parade of vessels we will announce more details as to the time we would need to assemble and also receive other ideas to get the message to the President on our desire to “Make commercial fishing great again”. This is not a protest of our President. It is a rally in support of his pro business agenda that would benefit all Americans. If interested please call Bob Guzzo @860-608-5988 or Joel Hovanesian @401-742-3162 Thank you for your consideration to this undertaking. 14:23
FISH-NL challenges federal Fisheries Minister to meet with harvesters his government is starving out
The Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador (FISH-NL) says the federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans appears oblivious to the hardship facing inshore harvesters this year as the result of punishing quota cuts and severe industry downturn. Ryan Cleary, President of FISH-NL, challenges the Minister to visit some of the rural communities directly impacted, and meet with harvesters his government is starving out. “The Minister should go to places like Anchor Point and Twillingate and explain to harvesters how they’re expected to get by when so many of them have nothing left to fish,” says Ryan Cleary, President of FISH-NL. “Harvesters are being starved out.” click here to read the press release 13:12
South Shore lobstermen dismayed by failed bid for longer season
Lobstermen are busy loading their boats with traps and buoys and getting their gear back in the water after a three-month closure lifted this week for most of the South Shore. But Marshfield lobsterman John Haviland said he is starting the season feeling more disenchanted than ever after federal regulators turned down a proposal to allow lobstermen to fish year-round with a new rope line designed to reduce the chance of entangling endangered whales. “I’m disappointed that we put three years worth of research and meetings into trying to do the right thing, and it was not successful,” Haviland, president of the South Shore Lobster Fishermen’s Association, said. “It makes you question if you should keep doing the one thing you’ve always done.” Since 2015, federal regulations have banned the use of lobstering equipment from Feb. 1 to April 30 off Cape Cod Bay and beyond, shutting down the local industry for the winter. The goal is to reduce the chances of whales becoming entangled in the gear. click here to read the article 12:09
DFO shark survey to focus on endangered porbeagle – Anecdotal reports suggest population is on the rise
The federal Fisheries Department is preparing to go on a shark-catching expedition this summer. “I am very, very excited,” said Heather Bowlby, the principal investigator for the shark survey, which is set to begin in late June. “I think it’ll be a great learning opportunity, and I think it’ll be really fun.” The department has put out a tender seeking bids from fishermen with tuna and swordfish licences who have the longline equipment necessary to catch the endangered porbeagle sharks the survey is concentrating on. Bowlby estimates the survey will take 40 to 45 days at sea as sharks are caught, tagged and returned to the ocean alive. The project has a $390,000 budget.,, The survey will take place at 60 stations in Atlantic Canadian waters between the Bay of Fundy and the Grand Banks. Between two and five vessels will do the work. Each vessel will have 600 hooks on longlines, which will be in the water for about four hours at a time. click here to read the story 10:09
Louisiana’s 2017 inshore spring shrimp season set by commission
Louisiana’s inshore brown-shrimp season will have a staggered opening, beginning May 8 at 6 a.m. in Zone 2 and a week later, May 15 at 6 a.m., in Zones 1 and 3, after action taken Thursday by the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission. Those opening dates and times were recommended by department biologist Jeff Marx, who told the regulatory board brown shrimp have grown more quickly this year than usual due to warmer temperatures and lower-than-average rainfall. About 25 shrimpers in attendance Thursday, many of whom had addressed the commission, hailed the regulatory board’s decision to go with an earlier opening this year. Some felt the season should have been opened in April. click here to read the story 09:18
East Hampton Fisheries Advisory Committee Urge Study on Importance of Fisheries
Representatives of East Hampton Town’s Fisheries Advisory Committee this week again asked the town to help fund a comprehensive analysis of the socioeconomic importance of fisheries on the East End and reiterated fishermen’s concerns about the Deepwater Wind offshore turbine installation. The committee would like to hire Cornell Cooperative Extension to conduct the economic analysis, and its members are seeking participation from East Hampton and other local municipalities in order to raise the $100,000 needed to pay for it. Brad Loewen, the chairman of the fisheries committee, who is a bayman and a former town councilman, said the committee has also been examining how — or if — the State Department of Environmental Conservation considers potential detrimental effects on fisheries when assessing the impact of proposed projects, such as the offshore wind farm. With unsatisfactory responses so far from the D.E.C. to requests for information, the committee, which is working with John Jilnicki, a town attorney, may ask the town board to submit a Freedom of Information Law request for the needed documents. click here to read the story 08:52
A ‘Dock to Dish’ Effort Meant to Support N.H. Fishermen
Commercial ground fishermen on the east coast are struggling–so much so that there’s concern about whether they, and not the fish they catch, are an endangered species. An organization called New Hampshire Community Seafood is launching an effort to get more Granite Staters interested in eating local seafood, with the hope that it’ll provide a boost to fishermen. Manager Andrea Tomlinson is trying to sign up 1,000 members who want regular deliveries of fresh seafood. “You know, the real reason we’re in business is to support the remaining ground fishermen here in New Hampshire. That’s our mission.” Tomlinson says there are far fewer fishermen off New Hampshire’s coast than there were two decades ago. The reason, she says, is cod catch quotas that are meant to prevent over-fishing. “In 2015, our sector was limited to catching approximately 62,000 pounds of cod, whereas three years prior to that, our sector was able to catch 2,000,000 pounds of cod,” Tomlinson says. click here to read the story 08:06
End of era for Naples fishing industry? Commentary by Tom Marvel, commercial fisherman, Naples
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