Daily Archives: August 1, 2017
Jury clears fish broker in alleged tuna smuggling scheme
A Marblehead tuna broker has been cleared of federal charges that he orchestrated a scheme to illegally catch and export bluefin tuna. Robert Kliss and his Lynn-based business North Atlantic Traders were found not guilty of charges that included conspiracy, smuggling and falsifying records, by a U.S. District Court jury on Friday. Kliss, his business and a captain-for-hire, John Cafiero, were indicted in April following a four-year investigation by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and federal prosecutors. The allegations came to the attention of investigators in 2012, after a member of the crew on the famous fishing boat the F/V Hannah Boden came back from a swordfishing trip off the coast of Long Island, New York, and reported to the boat’s manager that Cafiero had also been fishing for bluefin. click here to read the story 21:17
No new rules for declining southern New England lobstering
An interstate panel that manages fisheries voted on Tuesday against a plan to try to preserve the declining southern New England lobster population with new fishing restrictions.The New England lobster fishery is based largely in Maine, where the catch has soared to new heights in recent years. But the population has collapsed off Connecticut, Rhode Island, southern Massachusetts and New York’s Long Island as waters have warmed in those areas. An arm of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission considered a host of new restrictions about lobster fishing in southern New England on Tuesday and chose to shoot the plan down.,, “It’s time to think a little differently about how we are managing lobsters in southern New England,” board member Peter Burns said. “We know there are things we can do,” (it was a lively discussion!) click here to read the story 18:38
Coast Guard medevacs 43-year-old fisherman 25-miles south of Shinnecock Inlet
The Coast Guard medevaced a 43-year-old man from a fishing vessel 25-miles south of Shinnecock Inlet, New York, Tuesday. Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound watchstanders received a notification at 1:50 a.m., of a crewmember aboard a fishing vessel (F/V Ashton Matthew) who was suffering from shortness of breath and tightening in his chest. A Coast Guard Station Shinnecock 47-foot Motor Life Boat (MLB) crew got underway at 2:30 a.m., and arrived on scene less than an hour later. Members of the boat crew brought the 43-year-old man from the fishing vessel aboard the Coast Guard MLB, then transported him to Station Shinnecock where he was then safely transferred to a local EMS crew. -USCG-18:11
Brexit Hopes Fade for Some Who Want It So Badly
The faded Welsh industrial port of Milford Haven and the picturesque English harbor town of Brixham are economic worlds apart, but they’re both desperate to leave the European Union. Locals say Brexit can boost their fishing industry, hit by competition from foreign fleets and quotas on catches during 44 years of EU membership. The worry is that the country will repeat the mistakes on the way out they say were made on the way in by ceding to too many European demands. What they don’t want is to end up with access to more fish, though fewer markets. “There’s a lot of bargaining and we need to come down hard and do something about it,” said Mark Albery, 43, who catches lobster, crab and whelk in the waters off Milford Haven on Wales’s southwestern tip. A fisherman since he was a teenager, he’s not optimistic over a favorable deal. “Not with this country, no, not at all. We just do what we’re told in the end.” click here to read the story 15:32
New regulations are aimed at boosting lobster population as Black Sea Bass flourish!
Bart Mansi goes out most every day at 4:00 A.M. to tend to his hundreds of lobster pots. What he brings back often depends on what federal regulators allow him to haul in. These days he doesn’t catch enough to fill the tanks at his Guilford Lobster Pound. “We used to ship them all over,” said Mansi. “Ship them to Maine, Canada, all over. But now the worm turned and we’re buying from them now.” Manzi says lobstermen on Long Island sound once numbered 7-hundred now only about a dozen remain and he’s concerned stricter federal regulations could sink their livelihood even more. “Unfortunately other states are going to be making decisions for us,” On Tuesday the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission will vote on new rules on harvesting size, seasonal closures to fishing areas, and reducing the number of traps to try to boost the lobster population in southern New “We’re not the problem,” said Mansi. He believes predators are the real problem. Video, click here to read the story 14:05
The Kings of Crab from Castletownbere – The Shellfish Ireland Story
It’s 1987 and sitting in a kitchen in the small town of Castletownbere in the west of Cork, two young friends with a keen interest in fishing founded what would later become Shellfish Ireland. Friends Richard Murphy and Peter O’Sullivan combined their love of fishing and worked together to catch and supply brown crab to local seafood buyers. As the years progressed, Shellfish Ireland grew to become a respectable and reliable seafood producer. Speaking to co-founder Richard, he fondly recalls the beginnings of the company, “Shellfish Ireland first began in 1987 in my father’s kitchen. I used go fishing with my friend Peter in the mornings, cooking and process the catch in the afternoon and then delivering to our customers that evening. They were long days full of hard work, but we enjoyed the challenge.” Enjoying the challenge would prove successful for the determined Castletownbere duo, who recognised a gap in the local market. click here to read the story 12:14
Hiring seafood workers in Bristol Bay has been tough for years. This summer, it’s worse.
Seafood processors in Alaska’s Bristol Bay this summer have had trouble finding enough workers to handle the fish that come through their plants. Those in the industry say a confluence of factors, including a lack of visas for bringing foreign workers to the industry, a hotter economy in the Lower 48, and a record-breaking salmon run in Bristol Bay, was to blame. “There was a significant lack of process workers for some companies in the bay, and it exacerbated the problems of having to deal with high levels of harvest,” said John Garner, president of Seattle-based North Pacific Seafoods, which has locations across Alaska. Some processors couldn’t keep up with the huge amount of fish coming in, which forced them to resort to whatever method was fastest to get the pounds through the plant. click here to read the story 10:03
B.C. fishermen facing limited or no openings for sockeye
Commercial fishermen in B.C. won’t be getting many – if any – opportunities to harvest sockeye salmon this year, though they may be able to at least net some pink salmon. This year’s Fraser River sockeye return is expected to be low, based on historical patterns, and the early signs are that they are coming in even lower than forecast. Nass and Skeena River sockeye aren’t doing any better. The only runs that seem to be doing relatively well are Somass River sockeye and Central Coast chum salmon. No commercial opening had been expected for Somass sockeye, but returns were strong enough to allow for a small opening for seine and gillnet fisheries. click here to read the story 09:05
‘Unreasonable delay,’ – FISH-NL urges Labour Board to call immediate vote for fishermen to choose their union
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Aug. 1st, 2017 The Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador (FISH-NL) is calling on the province’s Labour Relations Board to conduct an immediate vote of inshore harvesters to decide which union they want to represent them. “It’s been seven months since FISH-NL presented our application for certification to the board with no end in sight,” says Ryan Cleary, President of FISH-NL. “The delay is unreasonable, given that time is of the essence.” On Dec. 30th, 2016, FISH-NL presented an application to the province’s Labour Relations Board requesting the new union be certified as the bargaining agent for inshore fish harvesters, currently represented by the FFAW-Unifor.,,, While FISH-NL and the FFAW-Unifor supplied information to the Labour Relations Board in response to the order, Derek Butler President of ASP, refused. click here to read the press release 07:56
