Daily Archives: June 20, 2017

Coast Guard medevacs Fisherman man with ankle injury near Shelikof Strait, Alaska

A Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew medevaced a 58-year-old man with an ankle injury from a fishing vessel in the vicinity of Shelikof Strait, Alaska, Sunday.  The Jayhawk crew safely hoisted the man and transported him to awaiting EMS personnel in Kodiak. Watchstanders at the Coast Guard Sector Anchorage command center received a medevac request from the New Dawn crew for a crewmember with a broken ankle. Watchstanders requested the launch of the Jayhawk crew after consulting the duty flight surgeon who recommended medevac of the crewmember. Click here for video 18:06

FISH-NL questions whether province’s Federation of Labour still supports FFAW after union convicted of deceiving members

The Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador (FISH-NL) is questioning whether the province’s Federation of Labour still stands “shoulder to shoulder” with the FFAW since the union has been convicted in court of deceiving its membership. “As federation president, Mary Shortall came out last November and took sides, condemning FISH-NL,” says Ryan Cleary, President of FISH-NL. “But Friday’s unprecedented ruling by the Court of Appeal, backing up an earlier Supreme Court of NL decision, means the FFAW broke its sacred trust with its membership.” click here to read the press release 16:03

The Bunker Resurgence: The Good News Beyond Recent Fish Kills

According to Megan Ware, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission in Arlington, Virginia, “Results of the 2015 stock assessment indicate that the [menhaden] stock is not overfished, and overfishing is not occurring.”Joe Warren, an associate professor with the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University, agrees. Professor Warren’s lab uses acoustics to estimate the biomass (weight) of menhaden in the Peconic River and Flanders Bay. That’s essentially the same technology recreational fishermen employ using fishfinders.,,, Warren further observed that each of the surveys encountered anywhere from five to 25 schools that could range from hundreds to tens of thousands of fish. The professor cited anecdotal evidence that there are more bunker in New York waters as humpback whales off the Atlantic coast on the south side of Long Island have been observed feeding on bunker during the past several years. click here to read the story 15:37

Nunavut’s Baffin Fisheries signs deal for new trawler

Baffin Fisheries, the largest shrimp harvester in Canada’s North, plans to add another vessel to its existing fleet of four. That intent was announced June 16 when the Inuit-owned Nunavut company said it had signed a letter of intent with Norway’s Havyard Ship Technology for the design and construction of a new Arctic trawler to fish cold water turbot and shrimp in the Arctic Ocean adjacent to Nunavut.  The vessel under consideration is 75 metres long and 17 m wide, with a capacity to hold up to 1,200 tonnes—nearly double the capacity of the largest vessel currently operating in Nunavut. click here to read the story 14:40

New Jersey man convicted of attempted murder in fish boat shooting case – faces life in prison

A man who shot a Whitesboro woman aboard a fishing vessel docked at Lund’s Fisheries in October 2015 has been convicted of attempted murder, Cape May County Prosecutor Robert L. Taylor said. Ernest P. Davis, 44, also was convicted of possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose and hindering his own prosecution following a one-week trial in Cape May County Superior Court, Taylor said. On Oct. 3, 2015, Davis shot Doris Howell, 39, with a shotgun while aboard the fishing vessel “Storm,” which was docked in Lower Township. As a result of the shooting, Howell’s left foot and part of her calf were amputated, Taylor said.  Taylor said due to the charges and Davis’s criminal history, he faces a maximum of life imprisonment with an 85 percent parole disqualifier. click here to read the story 12:22

Chris Oliver Appointed to Lead NOAA Fisheries

Today, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, with concurrence from the White House, named Chris Oliver Assistant Administrator for NOAA Fisheries. The Texas native assumed his new position on June 19, taking the helm from Acting Assistant Administrator Samuel Rauch who will return to his position as the Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs.,,, Oliver most recently served as Executive Director of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, a position he held for the past 16 years. He has been with the Council since 1990, also serving as a fisheries biologist and then deputy director. During his tenure as executive director he led the way on several cutting edge management initiatives, including development of limited access privilege programs and fishery cooperatives and catch share programs, the North Pacific’s comprehensive onboard observer program, numerous bycatch reduction programs, extensive habitat protection measures, commercial and recreational allocation programs, and coastal community development programs. He was also responsible for all administrative and operational aspects of the Council process, and lead staffer for legislative and international issues. click here to read the press release 11:32

Offshore Wind Faces Stiff Test From Hurricanes

As new offshore wind farms are built off the Northeast coast, a new report suggests that the current models of wind turbines may not withstand the most powerful of hurricanes. The study, by the University of Colorado Boulder, the National Center for Atmospheric Research and the U.S. Department of Energy, is intended to help the budding offshore wind industry as it expands into hurricane-prone regions, such as the East Coast. “We wanted to understand the worst-case scenario for offshore wind turbines, and for hurricanes, that’s a Category 5,” said Rochelle Worsnop, lead author and a graduate researcher in the University of Colorado’s Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (ATOC). click here to read the story 10:58

Rock lobster ‘resilience’ to climate change promising, but future not assured

The southern rock lobster is showing resistance to the effects of climate change, Tasmanian researchers have found, but warn that does not mean the species is immune to future environmental perils. The study, which reported on findings taken over a 25-year period, investigated the environmental aspects that influence the species’ settlement across a range of Australian locations, and found the fishery as a whole is showing broad resilience to changing ocean currents, water temperatures, swell and wind patterns. The research compared monthly records of the number of juvenile lobsters surviving in the open ocean and returning to shore. Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies’ (IMAS) Professor Caleb Gardner said there were a number of factors found to affect the juvenile lobster populations, but those that were significant in one area were often completely different to those in another. click here to read the story 10:19

Q&A – Dion Dakins on the hunting and eating of seal in Canada

Seal: Too Cute to Eat? That’s the name of a panel that took place at the Terroir culinary summit late last month in Toronto, and a question that makes Dion Dakins chuckle. Dakins is the chief executive of Carino Processing Ltd. in Newfoundland, which processed 55,000 animals for meat, oil and hides in the past sealing season. For him, the question gets to the core of the seal debate. He believes hunting seal is sustainable, humane and a necessary fisheries ecomanagement tool. Opposing him are animal-rights groups (most of them based outside Canada) that have spun the “cute” element into a disproportionate fundraising tool.,,, You say if seals aren’t harvested, they’ll have to be culled. Can you explain? click here to read the story 09:29

Maine congressional delegation asks forfeited groundfish permits be redistributed through Northeast

Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King and Reps. Chellie Pingree and Bruce Poliquin sent a letter Monday to U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross asking that the 13 groundfish permits forfeited by Carlos Rafael — a New Bedford fisherman who has pleaded guilty to 28 federal counts of tax evasion, falsifying fishing quotas and conspiracy — be redistributed to fishermen throughout the Northeast, not only New Bedford. In their letter, the Maine congressional delegation said that groundfish permits embody a shared resource and, as such, should be returned to groundfish fishermen in “a fair and uniform manner.” click here to read the story 08:53