Monthly Archives: October 2017
Tally’s hauls big tuna from the woods
What would you do if you came across a 400-pound tuna in the woods? Perhaps a better question: What in the world was a dead tuna doing in the woods in the vicinity of Revere Street? Those are just some of the questions the Massachusetts Environmental Police and NOAA Fisheries’ Office of Law Enforcement are trying to answer in their investigation of who dumped the headless giant tuna in the woods. “I can’t really discuss it because it’s an ongoing investigation,” said Maj. Patrick Moran of the Environmental Police. Ditto for NOAA Fisheries’ law enforcement folks click here to read the story 18:30
Body of fishermen to be repatriated home
The body of a Portugese fisherman who died aboard a US flagged purse seiner last week will be repatriated later this week. Speaking to KHJ News yesterday the purse seiner captain, Alphonso Llawa, said the victim was his 44-year old brother and he was hoping to clear things up so he can take his body back home. click here to read the story 18:07
Fisherman claims DFO policy discriminates against disabled fishermen
A lobster fisherman from Granville Ferry is suing the federal government, claiming one of its licensing policies discriminates against disabled fishermen and is therefore unconstitutional. In a lawsuit filed Friday in Nova Scotia Supreme Court, Dana Robinson says the Department of Fisheries and Oceans can authorize a substitute to fish a licence if the owner has a medical condition, but that authorization expires after five years. click here to read the story 16:31
SEEKING HELP: West Coast Senators ask for disaster aid for fisheries in the next 2017 disaster funding package.
In a bipartisan push led by Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley, all eight West Coast Senators—Merkley, Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) — today called on congressional leaders and the Trump administration to include disaster aid for fisheries in the next 2017 disaster funding package. click here to read the story 15:00
Judge invalidates all permits for fishing by aquarium trade
An Oahu Circuit Court order essentially called a halt Friday to the $2 million commercial aquarium trade in Hawaii until environmental reviews are performed. After seven weeks Circuit Judge Jeff Crabtree finally ruled in line with the Hawaii Supreme Court’s Sept. 6 opinion that existing state-issued commercial collectors’ permits are now illegal and invalid, and ordered the Department of Land and Natural Resources not to issue any new permits until collectors perform environmental reviews. click here to read the story 14:49
Dungeness crab season could be delayed again by the toxin domoic acid
Dungeness crab season is approaching in the Bay Area, along with all the rituals that come with it — the crab feeds and holiday dinners piled with crab legs, sourdough bread and crocks of melted butter. Unfortunately, there’s another, more recent local tradition that is also back: uncertainty about whether algal blooms will delay the season. Domoic acid is the naturally occurring toxin caused by algal blooms that delayed the past two Dungeness crab seasons. According to test results from the California Department of Public Health, elevated levels of the toxin have shown up in samples of Dungeness crab collected in recent weeks at several North Coast ports. However, the agency said it’s too soon to say whether domoic acid will delay the commercial Dungeness fishery, due to open Nov. 15. click here to read the story 11:05
Prelude to war – A news analysis
The mayor of Kenai, Alaska is “extremely disappointed” with the Alaska Board of Fisheries, and the mayor of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough less than pleased but “satisfied” with the Board’s big compromise. The big compromise itself? The Board will avoid both Wasilla and Kenai in favor of a 2020 meeting in Anchorage. So contentious has become the issue of Cook Inlet fishery management that politicians now argue over minutiae while the bigger issues plaguing the Inlet’s fisheries are ignored. click here to read the story 10:46
Cairns remembers mateship of seven men aboard F/V Dianne
Mateship. The word stood one metre high in white across the stage at Cairns’ Munro Martin Parklands, where the community gathered to reflect on the bond of seven mates from slug boat Dianne, while local singer Andrea Mullens sung Stand by Me, Hallelujah, Candle in the Wind and The Sailor’s Hymn.,, Speaking to hundreds of people gathered for the community reflection on Tuesday night, Dianne’s second crew skipper Adam Kelly, who was not on the boat that day, said he was thankful and privileged to have spent time with his mates. “They’ll always be legends in my eyes – every single one of them,” he said. click here to read the story 10:28
Coast Guard rescues four fishermen near South Padre Island, vessel sinks
Coast Guard crews rescued four fishermen from a sinking commercial fishing vessel 5 miles east of South Padre Island, Texas, Monday evening. At 6:20 p.m., the captain of the vessel Ben & Casey contacted Sector/Air Station Corpus Christi watchstanders on VHF Channel 16 to report the vessel was taking on water and in need of assistance. Two Coast Guard Station South Padre Island response boat crews arrived on scene at 6:41 p.m. and passed dewatering pumps to the crew of the Ben & Casey. click here to read the story 09:43
First Nation groups in Newfoundland and Labrador coming together to apply for new surf clam licence
The Qalipu Mi’kmaq First Nation Band is looking at getting in on another fishing enterprise. Earlier this year, Qalipu announced it was teaming up with the Barry Group in pursuing a quota to harvest ocean perch off western Newfoundland. Monday, three Indigenous groups from Newfoundland and Labrador, including Qalipu, the Miawpukek First Nation and the Innu Nation, announced they will be partnering to apply for a new Artic surf clam licence being made available by the federal government. click here to read the story 09:20
Doubt surrounds stranded sailors as Coast Guard reveals women had emergency beacon and never activated it
The U.S. Coast Guard announced Monday that the two Hawaii women who say they were lost at sea never activated their emergency beacon, adding to a growing list of inconsistences that cast doubt on the women’s harrowing tale of survival. Parts of their story have been called into question, including the tropical storm the two say they encountered on their first night at sea in May. National Weather Service records show no organized storms in the region in early May. When asked if the two had the radio beacon aboard, the women told the AP on Friday they had a number of other communications devices, but they didn’t mention the EPIRB. click here to read the story 08:37
Last Hope: Coast Guard Alaska Search and Rescue
Every year boats from Washington state head to Alaska for one of the most dangerous jobs known to man: commercial fishing. Those crews often face hurricane-force winds and giant waves. So, there is a dedicated group of people ready to jump at a moment’s notice to keep them safe. It’s 5:00 a.m. in Kodiak, Alaska – where only a few fishing vessels still sit idle. Most are on the open sea for salmon season, but on this morning, the crew of the Laguna Star prepares to head out for weeks in search of a big catch. Sitting in a salvage yard a mile away is another vessel – the Miss Destinee, just seven days after a wave capsized the boat. Two deckhands drowned inside. click here to read the story 08:02
Alabama seafood: fresh from the Gulf to your dinner plate
October is National Seafood Month, and there’s no better place than Alabama to enjoy fresh Gulf seafood. Whether you prefer red snapper, shrimp, flounder, oysters or blue crab, you can find it all here in the Heart of Dixie. We are a state with abundant natural resources both on land and at sea. Millions of seafood consumers from our state and across the country depend on the hard working commercial fishermen and women of Alabama supply them with some of the best seafood the country has to offer. click here to read the story 21:28
Weather ‘bomb’ slams New England, knocking out power to more than 1 million
More than 1.3 million residents of the Northeast U.S. were in the dark on Monday morning after an unusually fierce coastal storm rapidly intensified and slammed into New York State overnight. The storm knocked out power to more people across the region than any other storm since Hurricane Sandy hit exactly 5 years ago. Winds gusted higher than hurricane force from eastern Long Island to Maine, with a peak wind gust of 93 miles per hour recorded in Mashpee, Massachusetts. click here to read the story 18:13
Death of Maine fisherman found in his burned home being investigated as homicide
The death of a Whitneyville man found dead inside his burned home on Saturday is being investigated as a homicide. Maine State Police have identified the dead man as Wayne Foss, 48. Foss was a commercial fisherman who lived with his wife and son in the mobile home that burned, although his family was not home at the time of the fire, Maine Department of Public Safety spokesman Steve McCausland said in a news release Monday. click here to read the story 17:08
A Pacific bluefin tuna snagged in a fish farm pen in Scotland!
Salmon farmers off a Hebridean island have rescued a 300kg (47-stone) Pacific blue fin tuna after it appeared in one of their pens. Marine Harvest staff at Colonsay said they were stunned to see the fish, which is normally associated with the warmer waters of the Pacific. They said they spotted the 3m-long tuna after noticing “a feeding frenzy” near their salmon enclosures. The fish was eventually caught using a net and crane and returned to the sea. Farm manager Ali Geddes said: “We’d noticed a lot of activity around the southern part of the farm – there seemed to be a real feeding frenzy going on with the dolphins and porpoises. click here to read the story 14:54
‘Cautious optimism’ surrounds value of Alaska salmon fishing permits
It’s steady as she goes for the values of Alaska salmon fishing permits, with upticks in the wind at several fishing regions. “There’s a lot of cautious optimism,” said Jeff Osborn of Dock Street Brokers in Seattle. As well there should be after a salmon fishery that produced 225 million fish valued at nearly $680 million, a 67 percent increase over 2016. Bristol Bay drift salmon permits trade more than any other due to sheer volume (1,800), and it’s no surprise the value is increasing after one of the best fishing seasons ever. click here to read the story 14:31
Nova Scotia Lobster buyers want ‘above-board’ investment mechanism to secure supply
Next month, the season opens in Canada’s biggest lobster fishery but even before the first trap hits the water, there’s big news in southwestern Nova Scotia. It is a proposal from a coalition of prominent lobster dealers who want the federal government to grant them the authority to give loans to fishermen like a bank or any other financial institution. “They could put out the money, they would hold the mortgage and then they would have a business arrangement with [the] person owning the licence where they would, I assume, buy the product,” said Robert Thibault, spokesperson for the newly formed Western Nova Scotia Lobster Dealers Coalition. click here to read the story 12:40
Don Cuddy: At the fish auction, you need a translator
A sow jig hake, a lemon sole Georges or a pee wee channel anyone? Now that is some real New Bedford fish auction talk. Allow me to translate. A hake is one of our underutilized but tasty New England fish species. A sow hake is a fish that weighs in at ten pounds or more while a ‘jig’ is a variety of bottom fishing employing a lead weight with a hook attached that is jerked up and down, by hand or mechanically, to attract and snag bottom dwelling fish. And a 12-inch flounder caught in the Great South Channel is known in the trade as a pee wee channel. Sow jig hake recently fetched $3.15 per pound at the display auction in New Bedford,, click here to read the story 16:27
Calling for a shutdown – Fish farm protestors challenge Minister of Fisheries and Oceans
Protesters calling for the shutdown of fish farms interrupted a speech by Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Dominic LeBlanc on the dock of Victoria’s inner harbour Saturday. Joined by Minster of Environment and Climate Change Catherine McKenna,,, The two ministers were invited to speak to announce the federal government had reached its 2017 conservation goal of designating five per cent of Canada’s oceans as protected areas. But that announcement was interrupted by a peaceful protest by a group called Fish Farms Out Now. click here to read the story 15:31
Yarmouth Sea Products outlines extensive safety steps taken following serious injury to crewmember in 2015
It was just supposed to be another ordinary fishing trip, except that on the water things don’t always happen the way they’re supposed to. But that can change. An accident onboard the scallop dragger Compass Rose II in June 2015 left a crewmember (Clayton Joudrey) with permanent injuries. In a room of fishermen and others 28 months later, the owners of that vessel, Yarmouth Sea Products Ltd., gave a presentation on the extensive safety steps that have been undertaken to prevent such an accident from happening again. The presentation was ordered by the court as part of the penalty,,, click here to read the story 13:43
Hurricane Irma cuts Florida lobster harvest by half
A fresh catch of spiny lobster arrives dockside. But for marina owner Gary Graves, this delivery is too little, too late. “Basically, lobster fishing is pretty much over for us this year,”said Graves, who is vice president of Keys Fisheries wholesaler. Graves says Hurricane Irma dealt a severe blow when it hit Florida in September. Leaving a trail of wreckage on land, the storm also came just a month into lobster harvesting season. “We’re going to probably end up maybe 50 percent of a normal season the way it looks right now,” he said. click here to read the story 11:19
Sheriff’s captain accused of helping ‘Codfather’ smuggle cash
A Captain with the Bristol County Sheriff’s Office was indicted yesterday by a federal grand jury in connection with helping Carlos Rafael, the owner of one of the largest commercial fishing businesses in the U.S., smuggle the profits of his illegal overfishing scheme to Portugal. Jamie Melo, 45, of North Dartmouth, Mass., was indicted on one count each of bulk cash smuggling, structuring and conspiracy. In August 2017, Melo was arrested and charged in a criminal complaint. click here to read the story 10:46
Declared unfit for human or animal consumption – Eighty tons of contested Bristol Bay salmon trashed in Anchorage landfill
Some 158,318 pounds of highly contested Bristol Bay salmon from the F/V Akutan have reached their final destination: the Anchorage landfill. This summer, the custom processor was supposed to process up to 100,000 pounds of salmon a day for Bristol Bay Seafoods LLC, a small group of fishermen. But nearly everything that could go wrong did. The vessel’s owner went broke, the crew wasn’t paid, and when 158,318 pounds of fish came off the boat in early September, the third-party testing group NSF declared it unfit for human or animal consumption. click here to read the story 09:17
Alaska fisheries thrive — yet industry is on the edge
It has been a really good year across most of Alaska’s commercial fisheries. Salmon prices are up, harvests are good, fuel costs are down, and there’s more: The world’s appetite for nutritious, wild-caught Alaska fish, caught in clean waters, is growing. Alaskans’ track record for managing fisheries in a sustainable manner, both near-shore and further at sea, reinforces our reputation for responsible stewardship. Life is good.,,, Seafood employed 56,800 workers in 2015-2016 and this industry annually contributes $5.2 billion to the state’s economic output. But as good as this sounds, the fact is that this traditional industry is actually fragile,,, click here to read the story 21:45
Tropical Storm Philippe heads toward Florida Keys
Tropical Storm Philippe, which formed Saturday afternoon (Oct. 28) off the coast of Cuba, was closing in on the Florida Keys hours later and expected to cross the southern tip of the state overnight. According to the National Hurricane Center, Philippe was still a weak tropical storm as of 8 p.m. Central time with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph. It was was 75 miles southwest of Key West and moving north at 28 mph. The storm is expected to make a turn to the northeast overnight, taking it into the northwest Bahamas by Sunday morning. click here to read the story 21:36
East Hampton Town Trustees to State Opposition to Methoprene – Why it Matters
The Suffolk Legislature is expected to soon decide on the county’s 2018 vector control protocol, directly affecting the methods used by the Department of Public Works in an attempt to reduce the number of mosquitoes in Accabonac Harbor and elsewhere. Last year, the department agreed to try an experiment aimed at reducing the aerial application of methoprene, a mosquito larvicide, in the harbor, rather than institute a ban. It called for the identification of “hotspots” that could be precisely targeted for spraying. click here to read the story Why it matters -2012, Lobster catch bottoms out – Many lobstermen are convinced that aerial spraying and the widespread application of pesticides used to combat mosquitoes after an outbreak of West Nile virus in 1998 is directly related to the 1999 die-off. click here to read the story 13:11
Sea Change – The Struggle for Safety in Fishing, Canada’s Deadliest Industry
Despite safety gains in many other industries, fishing continues to have the highest fatality rate of any employment sector in Canada. Even as the long lists of the dead continue to grow, regulators and policy-makers are challenged by the grim fatalism that pervades a world in which generations of fishermen have gone out into the sea and, all too often, not come home. In the tidy port town of Lunenburg, N.S., near the ocean’s edge, a touching memorial lists the fishermen who have lost their lives at sea since 1890. “Dedicated to the memory of those who have gone down to the sea in ships,” says the inscription on a slab of black granite, and to those who “continue to occupy their business in the great waters.” click here to read the story 12:29
