Daily Archives: July 19, 2017
FISH-NL recommends DFO immediately suspend extra cod to south coast inshore harvesters
“The priority must be to ensure all inshore harvesters have the opportunity to at least catch their basic IQs (Individual Quotas),” says Ryan Cleary, President of FISH-NL. It’s rumoured that more than 60 per cent of the 6,500-tonne cod quota that’s been set this year off the south coast (fishing zone 3Ps) has already been taken. A DFO official said late Wednesday afternoon the Department has noticed an increase in landings, and is “monitoring” the situation. While south coast harvesters are assigned IQs, they’re also allowed to catch even more cod — this year it’s up to one full extra IQ, which local harvesters refer to as a “bump”. Rumour also has it that Ocean Choice International is currently gearing up its offshore vessels to catch south coast cod this fall. click here to read the story 23:43
The Man Who Got Americans to Eat Trash Fish Is Now a Billionaire
Chuck Bundrant was a college freshman with $80 in his pocket when he drove halfway across the country to Seattle to earn a few bucks fishing. The year was 1961. He hasn’t stopped fishing since. And today, Bundrant, the founder and majority owner of Trident Seafoods, is worth at least $1.1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.,,, Chuck Bundrant’s story is the stuff of industry legend. “He knew nothing about fishing boats, or catching and processing crab and salmon,’’ son Joe said in a corporate video two years ago. “He’d only watched a movie with John Wayne in it called ‘North to Alaska.’ And he heard there was money to be made on the fishing grounds, thousands and thousands of miles from home.’’ After a few years, Bundrant was looking for a way to start a business in the industry. He met two other crab fishermen — Kaare Ness and Mike Jacobson — and in 1973 the three put their money together and built the Billikin, a 135-foot boat that changed the seafood industry, according to Trident’s corporate history. click here to read the story 19:06
North Sea cod gets MSC certification
At times during these moratorium years of the northern cod, people in this province have glanced at the North Sea to see how that cod stock was faring. Collapsed, recovered and collapsed again, North Sea cod over the years seemed on a different path than northern cod, and different methods were undertaken to attempt recovery and sustainability. On Wednesday, the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) announced that North Sea cod has received its distinguished certification after the stock passed an independent assessment against the MSC’s strict standards.,,, “Since then the industry has worked with the Scottish Government and EU Fisheries Council to agree and implement a ‘Cod Recovery Plan’ that would nurse the stock back to health. “The plan linked the number of days fishing that boats were given to the conservation measures they signed up to. click here to read the story 17:42
East Hampton floats $15G loan to remove boat sinking in harbor
A private fishing boat that had been slowly sinking at the East Hampton Town dock in Montauk was hauled Monday after the town board picked up the $15,000 tab, officials said. The Sylvia S, a 63-year-old wooden dragger, was taken out of the water by Gone Fishing Marina in Montauk about two weeks after the vessel began leaking, Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell said. The insurance coverage on the 46-foot boat had expired.,,,Town officials had to step in to assure that the boat — which was being kept afloat by water pumps — would not sink at the town dock, where its owner was renting a slip, and become “even more of a concern,” Cantwell said click here to read the story 15:15
FISH-NL – Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Torrent River Inn in Hawke’s Bay
FISH-NL wishes to advise all inshore fish harvesters of the Great Northern Peninsula/southern Labrador that a meeting is scheduled for this coming Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Torrent River Inn in Hawke’s Bay. All harvesters are urged to attend. President Ryan Cleary will outline a number of issues that threaten the future of the inshore fishery in the area. 14:22
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 40′ Young Bros. Lobster/Tuna, Detroit 6-V-92, North Lights – 8 KW Genset
Vessel is turn key and in excellent condition. Specifications, information and 29 photos click here To see all the boats in this series, Click here 14:06
Local charter suspected of ‘high-grading’ prized halibut
Pacific Salmon Charters got an unexpected publicity boost earlier this month, when the crew of the Pacific Dream rescued passengers from a sunken boat. Last week, the company received not-so-welcome attention from state and federal game wardens. On Thursday, July 13, officers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife served a search warrant at the Pacific Salmon office at the Port of Ilwaco. According to the warrant, Pacific Salmon crews are suspected of habitually “high-grading,” or catching more than the legal limit of fish, and keeping only the most desirable specimens. Investigators say they have evidence that Pacific Salmon Charters crews high-graded on at least two trips during the short spring halibut season. click here to read the story 13:06
US court opens way for SA to recoup $100m from former Hout Bay fish poaching magnate
CAPE TOWN – A New York court has opened the way for the South African government to recoup as much as $100 million from a former Hout Bay fishing magnate. Arnold Bengis served just under four years in a United States (US) prison for poaching and illegal importation of seafood into the US. Now, this South Africa’s government is going after him again, asking US authorities to attach his assets. A New York court last week agreed to resentence him. The boss of the now defunct , Bengis, was prominent in the Cape Town fishing industry for 40 years when he was sentenced in 2004 to 46 months in a US jail. click here to read the story 12:25
FISH-NL files opposition to MPA off Newfoundland’s south coast, calling it joke to scientists and insult to inshore harvesters
The Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador (FISH-NL) has registered its official opposition to proposed regulations to govern a Marine Protected Area (MPA) in the Laurentian Channel off Newfoundland’s south coast. “The proposed Laurentian Channel MPA is an insult to inshore fish harvesters, and a cruel joke to scientists,” says Ryan Cleary, President of FISH-NL. “The fact that the proposal has been signed off on by the FFAW-Unifor is yet another example of a union that no longer champions its members or the fishing industry, and has become a lackie of Ottawa and the oil and gas industry.” click here to read the press release 11:56
Rare blue and cream colored lobster caught off New Hampshire coast
Lobstermen catch thousands of the crustaceans every year, but every now and again a gem is found among the masses. On Monday, Rye, N.H., lobsterman Greg Ward caught a hard-shelled blue and cream colored lobster around 1 p.m. near the New Hampshire-Maine border. He originally thought he caught a rare albino lobster, but said he had rarely caught blue lobsters in his 32 years of commercial lobster fishing. “This one was not all the way white and not all the way blue,” Ward said. “I’ve never seen anything like it. Usually, the stronger lobsters are usually the reddish brown color but this one still had a hard shell.” click here to read the story 10:51
Fishermen in Dingle have landed a rare giant squid for the second time
A fishing crew in Kerry couldn’t believe their luck after they encountered a rare giant squid for the second time this year. The sprawling 5.5 metre Architeuthis landed in Dingle after it was caught by the Cu na Mara crew 150 miles west, on the Porcupine Bank.,,, Patrick Flannery, skipper of Cu na Mara, told RTÉ: “When we opened the net we couldn’t believe it, that it was another one. The lads were very excited. What are the chances of two in one year!” Video, click here to read the story 09:14
Laurentian Channel Marine Protected Area – Fishing activity singled out for extra blame
I have read many Government of Canada documents. Some of them caused me to roll my eyes, some of them caused chuckles, some were examples of great work, and there has been one document that was the most insulting thing I have ever read. That insulting document (click here) is the reason I write this letter. The Canadian government is about to designate a part of the ocean as a marine protected area (MPA).,,, You can read the document and see for yourself, but the document can be summarized as saying that commercial and recreational fishing are the reason fish species are in danger of extinction and the humans who prosecute those activities have to be stopped. The document is saying that if we continue to dig up the ocean floor, if we continue blast the crap out of the North Atlantic with air guns, and if we continue to ram into whatever whales and turtles we see, it’s no big deal. However, if we bait one hook or set one net or set one crab pot, and if we do it for either recreational or commercial purposes, we are scum. Harvey Jarvis, Portugal Cove. click here to read the letter 08:26
