Daily Archives: August 25, 2017
Hurricane Harvey Update Statement – Catagory 4 – 600 PM CDT Fri Aug 25 2017
Hurricane Harvey Tropical Cyclone Update, NWS National Hurricane Center, 600 PM CDT Fri Aug 25 2017 – Air Force Reserve Reconnaissance aircraft data indicate that Harvey has become a category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 130 mph (215 km/h). A station at Aransas Pass run by the Texas Coastal Observing Network recently reported a sustained wind of 74 mph (119 km/h) with a gust to 96 mph (154 km/h). click here to read the update 19:30
No feast during sockeye famine in Richmond
For a second year in a row, all commercial fishing of the Fraser River’s sockeye salmon has been closed by the Fraser River Panel, the regulatory body that assesses annual salmon runs. Only 1.7 million sockeye are expected to return to the Fraser this year, which is just over a third of the 4.4 million that were expected at the start of the year.,,, The closure should put a premium price on salmon for consumers, according to local fisherman Gus Jacobson. click here to read the story 18:47
Vessel monitoring technology partnership makes tracking more accurate
Accurate vessel monitoring is now easier with a technology offering that combines monitoring with a transponder. exactEarth’s exactTrax small vessel monitoring technology is now incorporated into the VMS Track-Pro, the newest Class B AIS transponder from Weatherdock. Purpose-built VMS Track-Pro is thought to be the world’s first single-bracket, battery powered and purpose-built AIS-based tracking solution. It is designed to be a secure, easy-to-use, and cost-effective solution for tracking fishing vessels and other small crafts. VMS Track-Pro was developed with extensive input and feedback from fishermen, as well as detailed analysis of homeland security requirements. click here to read the story 17:56
Blue Hill Bay Urchin fishermen troubled by trackers
The start of the early season for divers, rakers and trappers to fish for sea urchins is less than a month away. Early this month, harvesters who work in Blue Hill Bay learned that the Department of Marine Resources will be right there with them on their boats, at least figuratively. Early this month, DMR announced that urchin fishing in most of Blue Hill Bay will be banned except for fishermen who agree to carry an electronic GPS tracking device on their boat and keep it turned on and “continuously recording data” as to the boat’s geographic location throughout the entire fishing season. The rule applies to boats that drag for urchins as well as to boats used by divers, trappers or rakers.,,, “It seems totalitarian,” one fisherman said. “The noose seems to be getting tighter every year.” click here to read the story 16:56
Canada, U.S. launch joint investigation into deaths of 13 right whales
The United States and Canada are launching a joint investigation into the deaths of the endangered North Atlantic right whales, after the United States’ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) declared the die-off an “unusual mortality event,” or UME, on Thursday night. Confirmation of the investigation came on Friday, during a phone conference involving representatives of NOAA and Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO). According to NOAA officials, a UME declaration is only triggered when there is significant die-off in a population and one that demands a significant response. click here to read the story 15:59
FFAW — Frigging fishermen and Alienating Workers
Good morning NL, all ships at sea, and inshore fish harvesters far and wide. Just so you know, the FFAW-Unifor’s sole right as your union is to negotiate the price of fish, and administer the collective agreement. That’s it. Period. End of FFAW story. When it comes to negotiating fish quotas with Ottawa or compensation packages with Nalcor, the FFAW-Unifor needs your permission. Case in point, the recent Supreme Court of NL case that found the FFAW-Unifor deceived scallop fishermen in the Strait of Belle Isle. click here to read the story 14:05
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for August 25, 2017
Click here to read the Weekly Update, to read all the updates, Click here for older updates click here 13:47
New video appears to show disfigured, unhealthy farmed salmon
Hereditary chief George Quocksister Jr., 68, from the Laich-Kwil-Tach Nation has been gathering footage of unhealthy salmon all month. Quocksister has been going from salmon farm to salmon farm along the east coast of Vancouver Island from Cambell River to Alert Bay. “I’m examining them and seeing what’s going on in them, and it’s sure not very good,” he said on the phone from a boat in a remote area off the coast. “I’m not a scientist, right, but you can obviously tell they have a disease,” said Quocksister. “It’s beyond horrible.” The footage has been edited into a video and posted online by independent biologist and marine activist Alexandra Morton. Video, click here to read the story 13:04
At Category 2, Hurricane Harvey fast approaching Texas
Hurricane Harvey intensified overnight and is expected to strike the Texas coast on Friday night or early Saturday, the National Hurricane Center said. The NHC said in Friday’s 10 a.m. advisory that Harvey has maximum sustained winds of 110 mph. The center of the storm is about 115 miles southeast of Corpus Christi, Texas, and 120 miles south-southeast of Port O’Connor. The NHC said in Friday’s 10 a.m. advisory that Harvey has maximum sustained winds of 110 mph. The center of the storm is about 115 miles southeast of Corpus Christi, Texas, and 120 miles south-southeast of Port O’Connor. click here to read the story 12:00
National Hurricane Center – Hurricane Harvey Public Advisory – click here to read the update
James McCauley shares memories in new memoir ‘In My Wake’
James McCauley has spent most of his life on the water. About four years ago, after his wife, Joan, suffered a stroke and he began taking care of her, McCauley decided to sit down and write his memories of commercial fishing, by hand, on yellow legal pads. Those afternoons spent writing led to his memoir, “In My Wake,” which he published this year. The book recounts his career and draws from years of logs kept on his vessels, but “a lot of it is just memory,” he said.,,, McCauley was the owner and operator of two boats, the F/V Jerry & Jimmy and F/V Alliance. He helped develop the marine fisheries program at the University of Rhode Island, where he taught from 1970-74, and was the president and chairman of the board of the Point Judith Fishermen’s Cooperative Association from 1985-95. click here to read the story 11:25
Gulf Shrimpers seek shelter from approaching storm
At the Brownsville Shrimp Basin Thursday morning, workers at the Zimco Marine unloading dock raced against the clock to unload frozen shrimp from trawlers and load it onto trucks. “We have to get it done quick before the rains start and the winds start,” Supervisor Leonard Leyva said. “It’s already getting pretty dark so we’re trying to get things done quick.”,,,Next door at Texas Shrimp Association headquarters, TSA Executive Director Andrea Hance said most of the Brownsville shrimp fleet was either back in port or on its way. Earlier in the week, amid forecasts that Harvey would reorganize as it bore down on the coast, captains began steaming homeward, she said. Hance owns two shrimp boats with her husband, Preston, who called in to report that the Brownsville Ship Channel was packed with incoming trawlers. click here to read the story 09:19
As Harvey Closes-In Shrimpers Race Inland – Video, click here to read the story 12:36
Fish pie – Everyone wants a piece
Representatives of the haves and have-nots of American ocean fisheries gathered in a packed college classroom here on Wednesday to offer Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, their ideas on what he could do with the Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Conservation and Management Act. The now 40-year-old federal fisheries legislation is the legacy of the late and revered Alaska Sen.Ted Stevens.,,, And there is no doubt the MSA has problems when it comes to dealing with recreational fishing. Anglers, charter-boat operators, commercial fishermen and environmental groups are at the moment all in a Gulf of Mexico scrum fighting over red snapper. It is in many ways a tussle that almost makes the long-running fish war in Cook Inlet look tame. click here to read the story 08:25
Coast Guard searches for fisherman last seen on fishing vessel near Port Fourchon
The Coast Guard is searching for a person who was last seen aboard a fishing vessel approximately 30 miles southwest of Port Fourchon, Louisiana, Thursday. Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector New Orleans received a report at approximately 8 a.m. that a man had gone missing aboard the fishing vessel How You Doing 2 and was last seen by crew members at 4 a.m. click here The Coast Guard has determined the identity of the missing person to be Roy Kerwood, Thursday. Anyone with information regarding the missing person’s location is asked to contact Coast Guard Sector New Orleans at (504) 365-2200. Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector New Orleans received a report at approximately 8 a.m. that a man had gone missing aboard the fishing vessel How You Doing 2 and was last seen by crew members at 4 a.m. –USCG– 06:58
