Daily Archives: June 28, 2017

Lawsuit Launched to End Whale, Sea Turtle Entanglements in California Dungeness Crab Gear

The Center for Biological Diversity today filed a formal notice of intent to sue California’s state wildlife agency for failing to prevent commercial Dungeness crab gear from entangling, injuring and killing threatened and endangered humpback whales, blue whales and sea turtles. California’s Department of Fish and Wildlife authorizes and manages operation of the fishery, which last year entangled at least 21 endangered or threatened whales, contributing to a third straight record-breaking year for entanglements along the U.S. West Coast. An endangered leatherback sea turtle was also caught in commercial Dungeness crab gear in 2016. Today’s notice letter notes that the Department’s failure to protect imperiled whales and sea turtles from entanglements in crab gear violates the federal Endangered Species Act. click here to read press release 20:47

Owner of Giant 20-Pound Lobster ‘Beyond Ticked Off’ Over TSA’s Handling of Crustacean

The owner of the 20-pound lobster that was photographed by TSA agents inside Boston’s Logan Airport and posted to social media is furious about how the agency handled the massive sea creature. Chris Stracuzza of Savannah, Ga., told Inside Edition that he is “beyond ticked off” that agents were able to open his luggage in the first place. They shouldn’t be able to go through people’s luggage and post their photos online,” he added. The huge lobster was posted on social media Monday by TSA spokesman Michael McCarthy, the day after it was photographed inside Logan Airport. And Stracuzza isn’t the only one unhappy with the way the lobster was handled.  Video, click here to read the story 17:38

Carcass of right whale being towed to P.E.I. to determine cause of death

The Canadian Coast Guard and Fisheries and Oceans Canada were expected to beach a dead right whale on a Prince Edward Island shore Wednesday in a bid to learn what killed at least six of the endangered mammals in recent weeks. Tonya Wimmer of the Marine Animal Response Society said the carcass was being towed to shore at Norway, P.E.I., with the intention of conducting a necropsy on Thursday. “For the coast guard and Fisheries and Oceans … it is a very slow process to ensure the safety of the people on the boats and also make sure they don’t lose the animal midway coming in. Some of these animals are coming from quite a ways away,” Wimmer said. click here to read the story 15:22

Is the Gulf Seafood Fish House deal close?

What was once the Gulf Seafood fish house on Stock Island may become Gulf Seafood again in the near future. “We think it’s going to happen, that it will be preserved in perpetuity for commercial fishing,” said lobster fisherman Simon Stafford. “That’s the real goal. It would be something unique to the Lower Keys.” Monroe County staffers have been working with the Florida Communities Trust to acquire the eight-acre property at 6011 Peninsular Ave. for several years. If the purchase goes through, the concept is to keep the property dedicated as a publicly owned “working waterfront” with a focus on commercial fishing.  “We can say it’s moving forward in a positive way,” Lisa Tennyson, county director of legislative affairs and grants acquisition, said. “We can’t say much beyond that.” click here to read the story 14:35

Chesapeake Bay fishery to keep deteriorating unless nutrients from land are addressed

The March Bay Journal 2017 commentary, Don’t let menhaden become a case of could have, should have, would have, laments the decline in Bay menhaden populations and blames the reduced number of predatory “sport” fish on Omega Protein’s harvest (click here). The Atlantic States Marine fisheries Commission is quite clear this year that “Atlantic menhaden are neither overfished nor experiencing overfishing” (click here). In Maryland, juvenile menhaden are sampled annually through the Estuarine Juvenile Finfish Survey. The index of juvenile menhaden has been low since 1992, and “environmental conditions seem to be a major factor driving recruitment.” (click here). Something other than overfishing must contribute to, or even be responsible for, reduced Bay menhaden populations. I contend that the primary cause of depleted finfish stocks, including bottom-feeding fish like croaker that do not eat menhaden, and the menhaden themselves, is poor water quality, not overfishing. click here to read the story  12:17

Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 45′ Solid Fiberglass Lobster/Dive boat, 750HP John Deere

Specifications, information and 12 photos click here Vessel was built new 2016 by Long Beach Boat Building Ltd in Nova Scotia and was finished by Dana’s Boat Shop in Westport, ME. To see all the boats in this series, Click here 12:04

DFO plan for at-sea observers met with skepticism by lobster fishermen

A federal government proposal to introduce mandatory at-sea observers on board the southwest Nova Scotia lobster fleet is getting a cold shoulder from representatives of three fisheries groups.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans wants observers to monitor bycatch of cod and cusk caught inadvertently in lobster traps. Bernie Berry of the Coldwater Lobster Association said the plan would require all fishermen to notify the government every time they plan to leave port — a process known as hailing out. Some would be randomly selected to have an observer from an existing monitoring company meet them at the dock prior to sailing. click here to read the story 11:37

The Nushagak run surges early, and maybe big too?

Bristol Bay’s westside district posts a million sockeye catch Monday, and both the Wood and Nushagak Rivers have met their escapement goals. The red run is off the charts, but the kings are lagging big time.,,, On Sunday June 25, the fleet caught more than 400,000 sockeye, and Monday’s tally was an incredible 1,050,000. “Since I’ve been here, the single day harvest has never exceed a million fish,” Sands said Tuesday morning after the counts came in. “I talked to Jeff Skrade [his predecessor], and he recalls once in 1981 breaking the million fish harvest, and I don’t know if that was sockeye or just fish, but, we’re pretty excited down here to see such a big harvest.” click here for audio, read the story 11:09

Port of Newport re-assessing access to new International Terminal

Three Newport Port Commissioners got an earful of opinions from local mid-water commercial fishermen Tuesday night down on the Bayfront. Over 80 fishermen showed up at the yachat club to tell the Newport Port Commission that they feel left out of the port’s plans in that the port seems to be focusing on bringing back heavy shipping to Newport at the expense of the Newport fishing fleet, the largest in Oregon and which is a major contributor to the Newport area economy.  Fishermen reminded the commission that a promise was made a number of months ago that as the port began negotiations with the shipping industry, scheduling access to the International Terminal would be formulated to serve both the shipping industry and the fishing fleet. click here to read the story 08:49

Search Effort Continues for Missing Argentine Fishermen

An Argentine Navy salvage vessel is working with a remotely operated vehicle to inspect the hull of the shrimp trawler Repunte, which sank in a storm about 35 nm off of the port of Rawson, Argentina on June 17. Seven men remain missing ten days after the vessel went down, and the SAR effort continues. The two known survivors were identified as Julio Guaymas, 39, who was lifted from the water by a SAR helicopter; and Lucas Trillo, 35, who was rescued by a good samaritan fishing vessel. Newspaper Los Andes reports that dozens of relatives and friends of the missing organized a protest march through the port of Mar Del Plata to demand answers from the shipowner and from the maritime authorities. click here to read the story 08:29

Maritime mystery in Connecticut! How did huge Pacific Dungeoness crabs get to Norwalk waters?

It’s not easy to stump the marine experts at the Maritime Aquarium. But that’s exactly what happened after fishermen from Copps Island Oysters hauled in four unusual, clawed critters last week on the south side of the Norwalk Islands. Dick Harris, marine specialist for Copps Island, said the fishermen were unsure of what the creatures were — and what to do with them — so they tossed three back and one brought to the aquarium. Aquarists identified the 2.5-pound crustacean as a male dungeness crab, native to the icy waters of the Pacific. “We’re doing our own research on this right now,” said Sandi Schaefer-Padgett, senior aquarist at the aquarium. “It’s not normal. We don’t often get things that no one’s seen before.” click here to read the story 07:36