Daily Archives: July 10, 2017
Big Problems Ahead For Irish Fishermen
The first shots in the Brexit war are likely to affect fishing communities in Howth, Rush, Loughshinny, Skerries and Balbriggan where there are many families involved in fishing industry. It is estimated that for every crewman on board a boat, there are four people employed ashore in spin-off jobs. The County Leader spoke to prominent local fisherman, Ivan Wilde who operates out of Skerries who said, “The six to 12 mile exclusion zone won’t make that much of a difference to us, as we don’t fish there too much, but if they extend that to a 12 to 200 miles range, that would have a severe impact on local fishermen. We get approximately 60 per cent of our catch within that area.” We also contacted Clogherhead based fisherman, Barry Faulkner, who has three boats at sea and he fears that the Irish Sea will be split down the middle. click here to read the story 22:46
Fishermen make waves after Scup limits are lowered
Most of the fish caught by the Stonington fleet is processed at Gambardella Wholesale Seafood and the talk there today is about the change in Scup regulations. Two boxes of Scup processed at the plant weigh about 120 pounds which is almost two thirds of what fisherman are now allowed to haul in a day. “Two hundred pounds. We clean the net we get 200 pounds,” said fisherman Bob Guzzo. “They’re so prevalent we’re catching them with six inch mesh which is unbelievable.” Guzzo says he ends up having to throw back perfectly good fish so he doesn’t go over the daily catch limits. The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection lowered the Scup limits on Sunday because the summer quota which is a lot less than the winter quota is already at 72 percent. “Back in 2005 the fishery was overfished and it’s been rebuilt since then so they just want to keep it there,” said Mark Alexander with the DEEP. “I know the fishermen are frustrated because there are a lot of fish out there.” It’s not just Scup. Fishermen say Sea Bass are also thriving. Video, click here to read the story 22:03
Coast Guard, Make-A-Wish Alaska and Washington grant child’s wish in Kodiak, Alaska
Members from Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak and Make-A-Wish Alaska and Washington granted a child’s wish to be a rescue swimmer in Kodiak, Alaska, Friday and Saturday. Andrew Bishop, an 8-year-old boy from Woodland, Washington, was designated as an honorary rescue swimmer aboard the MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter after completing modified rescue swimmer pool training and basic air crewman training, Friday. Bishop was given a flight suit and reported for duty as a rescue swimmer, Saturday morning. During his first day of duty, he responded to a search and rescue case where he and the aircrew hoisted a hiker with simulated injuries. Bishop and the crew simulated CPR on the hiker and safely transported him to the air station. After the mission, he was met by members of various Coast Guard units and families and was presented an Air Medal for his work during the rescue. click here to read the story, and view more image’s. Well Done! 20:09
Big Turnout for the Fluke for Luke Fishing Tournament on the Vineyard!
Outside the Portuguese-American Club in Oak Bluffs, a plaque rested on the counter of a makeshift weigh station. In the center of the plaque was the name Luke Gurney along with his prize-winning fish weight and the year 2007. Ten spaces ahead, the 2017 tile was blank. Over 400 people signed up to fill this year’s space. The VFW has held an annual fluke fishing derby on this July weekend for many years, but this year a group of Mr. Gurney’s friends organized a new tournament to serve as a memorial and fundraiser called Fluke for Luke. The funds would go to the family of Mr. Gurney, a commercial conch fisherman who died in a fishing accident in June of last year. click here to read the story 17:29
EU-Norway snow crab row could fuel oil tensions in Arctic
On the face of it, a relentless battle between the European Union and Norway in a remote part of the Arctic is about snow crabs. But the real fight may go beyond who gets to catch the modest crustaceans around Svalbard, a unique Norwegian archipelago in the Barents Sea. What is really at stake is oil, some experts say, and a coming race for the commodity of which there is a lot in the polar region. “No country wants to give up resources without receiving anything in return. That is the principle here too,” Norwegian Fisheries Minister Per Sandberg tells AFP. Norway, which is not a member of the EU, has slammed Brussels for authorizing European vessels from mainly Baltic nations to fish for crabs in the Svalbard area, saying it violates its national sovereignty. A Latvian ship has already paid the price. In January, a ship called “The Senator” was intercepted by Norwegian coast guards while crab fishing around Svalbard, and recently received a hefty fine. “What happened is totally new,” says Sandberg. “The EU is unabashed to make this kind of a decision without consulting us.”click here to read the story 13:48
Coast Seafoods Company gone by August?
After farming shellfish in Humboldt Bay since the 1950s, the largest shellfish producer in the state Coast Seafoods Company could be gone by next month following a consequential California Coastal Commission decision in June, according to Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District Executive Director Jack Crider. “Conceivably, if something doesn’t change, Coast could be out of business by the middle of August,” Crider said. “It is a really serious situation. More than anything, it’s just this signal to the aquaculture industry that California is just not the place to be, which is sad. Really sad.”,,, Attempts to contact Coast Seafood Company’s Southwest Operations Manager Greg Dale since June have not been returned. Attempts to contact Coast Seafood Company’s Oregon-based parent company Pacific Seafood Group were not returned by Saturday afternoon. click here to read the story 13:17
Southeast gillnetters set a one-week record
Commercial fishermen caught a historic amount of fish this week in a district south of Juneau. Statistics are still preliminary, but catch numbers for gillnetters in the Taku River-Port Snettisham district will likely set a record for the first full week of July, according to reports from the Alaska Department of Fish & Game. ADF&G is reporting that fishermen in the district caught 170,000 chum salmon from July 2 to July 8, well above the previous record for the week of 134,000 set in 2013. So far, gillnetters have caught nearly five times as many chum salmon this year compared to last year. click here to read the story 12:25
An Alaska fishing commission has worked itself out of a job. But its commissioners still make more than $130,000 a year
The two political appointees, Ben Brown and Bruce Twomley, are being paid even though they’ve all but stopped doing the Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission’s most essential work: They haven’t limited access to a fishery since 2004, and they’ve resolved no more than three permit applications in each of the past five years, down from the dozens that were once processed annually. The commission was created in the 1970s in an experiment at “limited entry”: capping the number of commercial fishermen in state fisheries as a means of conservation. The commission decided which fisheries to limit, then reviewed applications from fishermen and ruled on who would get to keep fishing and who would lose access — a right that had been enshrined in the Alaska Constitution until voters approved a limited entry amendment. The permits issued to the remaining fisherman essentially gave them exclusive rights to what had been a public resource — fish in the sea. Later, with a push from U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, the federal government began a similar process in waters outside the state’s 3-mile limit. click here to read the story 08:19
Coast Guard medevacs fishing vessel captain from a beach in the vicinity of Prince William Sound, Alaska
A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew forward deployed to Cordova, Alaska, medevaced the captain of the fishing vessel Coventina from a beach in the vicinity of Prince William Sound, Alaska, Saturday. Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Anchorage command center received a medevac request for the captain of the fishing vessel Coventina after it was reported he fell in the fish hold, injuring his ribs and showing signs of shock. A relief captain took control of the vessel and navigated to Stockdale Harbor on the northwest side of Montague Island. A Coast Guard flight surgeon was briefed and recommended immediate medevac. “Due to the configuration of the vessel the aircrew deemed it safer for the fishing vessel Coventina crew to transfer the injured captain to a nearby island,” said Petty Officer Nicholas Lippert,,, click here to read the press release 07:50
NMFS: Public Comment Period Opens – Review and Streamline Regulatory Processes and Reduce Regulatory Burden
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