Daily Archives: October 2, 2017
FISH-NL makes formal request for Prime Minister to reopen province’s Terms of Union
The Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador (FISH-NL) has formally asked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to reopen the province’s Terms of Union with regards to fisheries management “The Terms of Union must be revisited so that the principles of adjacency and historical attachment are made constitutional corner stones,” Ryan Cleary, President of FISH-NL, wrote in a Sept. 28th letter to the Prime Minister. “No one minister or government should have such absolute control over Newfoundland and Labrador’s fishery fortunes.” Most commercial stocks off Newfoundland and Labrador are at or near critical levels, with inshore harvesters and their enterprises starving for fish. click here to read the press release 22:00
FISH-NL president Ryan Cleary has written a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asking for the Terms of Union to be re-opened so that inshore harvesters get a fair shake. click here to read the story 10/3/17 11:13
Fisherman David Goethel: Justices ruled on technicalities, not merits
The rejection by the Supreme Court is the third defeat suffered by Goethel and co-plaintiff South Dartmouth-based Northeast Fishing Sector XIII since they first sued NOAA Fisheries and other federal officials in December 2015 in U.S. District Court in New Hampshire.,,, “The Supreme Court was our last judicial hope to save the centuries-old New England industry,” Goethel said in a statement. Later, in an interview, Goethel let loose against what he said is the “stacked deck” of standing up to regulators, as well as his frustration with the justice system. click here to read the story 20:56
Dear Lord! Anchorage commercial fisherman killed in Las Vegas massacre
An Anchorage commercial fisherman, 35-year-old Adrian Murfitt, was among the dozens of people killed in the mass shooting Sunday at a Las Vegas music festival. Brian MacKinnon said he was at the concert by country singer Jason Aldean with Murfitt, his best friend, when the shooting started and a bullet hit Murfitt. “We were taking a picture and it went through his neck,” said MacKinnon, who’s also from Anchorage, in a phone interview from Las Vegas. “There’s a lot of amazing people — there was nurses, doctors, firemen. Everybody who was at that concert really jumped on it, did everything they could. We just couldn’t save him. click here to read the story 16:28
“Fish Wars” or a Regime Shift in Ocean Governance? Nils E. Stolpe
The reasons for Big Oil’s (now more accurately Big Energy’s) focus on fisheries – and on demonizing fishing and fishermen – has been fairly obvious since a coalition of fishermen and environmentalists successfully stopped energy exploration on Georges Bank in the early 80s. Using a handful of ocean oriented ENGOs as their agents, the Pew Charitable Trusts and other “charitable” trusts funded a hugely expensive campaign that the domestic fishing industry is still suffering from, but that campaign has paid off handsomely to the entities that participated in or funded it.,, If anyone wonders why one of the founders of Microsoft might be interested in supporting research by Daniel Pauly, from an article in the NY Times last week,,, and retired admiral and Chairman of the Board of the U.S. Naval Institute James G. Stavridis had a column in the September 14 Washington Post titled The Fishing Wars Are Coming. click here to read the article 14:48
Enviro Groups Demand U.S., Canada Act to Save North Atlantic Right Whales
Conservation and animal-protection groups today sought action by the United States and Canada to prevent painful, deadly entanglements in fishing gear that threaten the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale. In letters to Canadian officials and the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service, the groups demanded action to reduce risks to these imperiled whales. North Atlantic right whales, one of the world’s most endangered mammals with fewer than 500 individual animals remaining on Earth, lost nearly 3 percent of their population this year. click here to read the story 14:00
Supreme Court has declined to hear at-sea monitor case
The U.S. Supreme Court has denied a petition filed by a New England fishing group over the cost of at-sea monitors. New Hampshire cod fisherman David Goethel led the lawsuit. He says the cost shift adds hundreds of dollars to the daily cost of fishing and is driving people out of business. Attorneys for Goethel say on Monday that they’re disappointed the Supreme Court has declined to hear the case. They say they’ll look for new ways to challenge the cost shift, which they contend is unlawful. The suit named the U.S. Department of Commerce, which includes the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. click here to read the story 12:58
Lower Township man gets 38 years in murder try on boat
A Lower Township man was sentenced to 38 years in prison Thursday in the 2015 attempted murder of a woman on a boat, according to the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office. Ernest P. Davis was convicted in June of attempted murder and aggravated assault of 39-year-old Dorris Howell, of Middle Township’s Whitesboro section. Davis also was convicted of possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose and hindering his own prosecution, according to the Prosecutor’s Office. Davis shot Howell with a shotgun on the fishing vessel Storm on Oct. 3, 2015. click here to read the story 12:31
The Japanese like to see sea urchins with big gonads, but not too big.
Newfoundland and Labrador has made a dollar on urchins, but could potentially make more in future. “It needs to have the right shape, the right colour, the right texture and most importantly the right taste,” said Philip James, a scientist with the Norwegian institute of food, fisheries and aquaculture research (Nofima), describing the seafood market demand, at the recent World Seafood Congress in Reykjavik, Iceland. About 90 per cent of the globally produced urchin gonad — or roe, as is more commonly known — is sent to the Japanese market. It can be hard at times for the world’s producers to source good roe, with urchins plucked from the ocean not always having consistent quantity and quality. click here to read the story 11:18
USCG Calls For PLBs On EVERY Life Jacket
In the United States Coast Guard’s upcoming El Faro investigation report, Captain Jason Neubauer USCG, Chairman of the Marine Board of Investigation, will recommend that all Personal Flotation Devices on oceangoing commercial vessels be outfitted with a Personal Locator Beacon.,,, A PLB (personal locator beacon) is a specific type of EPIRB that is typically smaller, less expensive, has a shorter battery life and unlike a proper EPIRB is registered to a person rather than a vessel. click here to read the story 09:41
$1.4 billion fishing industry stays afloat amid regulations, tragedies
It’s been two months since the missing crab vessel Destination was found on the ocean floor of the Bering Sea. The Seattle-based crew went missing in February. All six people on board died when the crab boat went down in “Deadliest Catch” waters. You can see the memorial that still stands at Fisherman’s Terminal in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood. It’s a grim reminder that Alaskan fishing is still coined the most dangerous job in the world, but the commercial fishing industry also has helped form the blueprint of the Pacific Northwest. Latest numbers from the state show it brings in $1.4 billion a year to our state. Today, it employs more than 14,000 people. Today, the $35 million, 191-foot freezer liner Blue North glides across the Bering Sea, catching cod in a moon pool. Video, click here to read the story 09:02
