Daily Archives: December 2, 2017
Losing hope for lobster south of Cape Cod
Tom Tomkiewicz remembers when there were so many lobster traps in Buzzards Bay it looked as if he could walk across the water on their buoys. Now, the 42-year-old lobsterman and his dwindling number of colleagues have to set their traps far out to sea, well beyond view of the coast, to catch the few lobsters that remain. “There’s nothing here,” said Tomkiewicz, one of only 35 Massachusetts lobstermen who still have permits to fish in the state and federal waters that stretch from Nantucket Sound to Long Island Sound. “It’s crazy.”,,, The steep decline has left regulators in a quandary click here to read the story 21:20
History — and crabbing — run deep in the Chesapeake Bay town of Hampton
It’s well before dawn and I’m driving through the darkness down a rutted dirt lane toward a small commercial boat marina on the outskirts of Hampton, Va. Pulling up, I can just make out the figure of Lee Smith in the light of a streetlamp. Smith is a fourth-generation Chesapeake Bay waterman who has agreed to take me out on his fishing boat while he harvests blue crabs.,,, “I’m a waterman, not a fisherman,” Smith told me, explaining that while he does trawl for fish, he does much more, including crabbing, clamming and oystering. Watermen have to be versatile to make a living, he says, and that means possessing the skills and equipment to catch whatever is both legally fishable and abundant enough to make money. click here to read the story 20:11
Ban on commercial striper fishing weighed
Stripers were pushed to the brink of extinction in the late-1970s but made a dramatic comeback. Now recreational anglers say the coveted fish again is struggling, and they’re lobbying Beacon Hill to implement new limits that include making the fish off-limits to commercial fishermen. One proposal, filed Rep. Walter Timilty, D-Milton, would limit commercial licenses to fishermen who can demonstrate they’ve caught and sold more than 1,000 pounds of striped bass annually over the last five years. Another proposal, offered by Rep. Thomas Stanley, D-Waltham, would phase out commercial fishing for striped bass by 2025 and establish fines up to $500 per fish for violators of new regulations. click here to read the story 19:29
Dwindling winter steelhead are on their own again at Willamette Falls
With the first four dozen winter steelhead counted at Willamette Falls and scattered early catches reported in both the Clackamas and Sandy rivers, Oregon scientists, fish managers, anglers and others must helplessly hold their figurative breath. Sea lions, which chewed through as much as 25 percent of the dismal return of 2016-17 steelhead, pretty much have free rein this winter to repeat the carnage. “The impact, if left un-managed, will be pretty devastating,” said Shaun Clements, senior fish division policy advisor for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. click here to read the story 16:11
Clearwater Seafoods fighting counterfeit North Korean clams
Clearwater Seafoods of Halifax has been fighting a secret battle with North Korea. Ian Smith, CEO of Clearwater, says his company has spent millions of dollars building up consumer demand for Arctic surf clams in Asia and the North Koreans are using devious methods to infiltrate the Chinese market for surf clams. “In the China market there’s a very large North Korean Arctic surf clam fishery,” Smith said on Friday in Halifax during a tour of the latest addition to Clearwater’s clam fishing fleet, the Anne Risley. click here to read the story 14:42
Feces of entangled North Atlantic right whales show ‘extreme suffering’
A new study offers a glimpse into the state of mind of North Atlantic right whales when they are trapped and dying in fishing gear. By measuring hormone levels in the collected feces of the endangered whales, scientists have determined the animals’ stress levels are “sky-high.” “What it tells us is that there is extreme physical trauma and extreme suffering going on,” said Rosalind Rolland, a senior scientist at the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium and the lead author of the study. click here to read the story 14:14
Coast Guard, local agencies search for unconfirmed person in the water
The Coast Guard is responding to a report of an unconfirmed person in the water, Saturday. At approximately 4:20 a.m. Coast Guard Sector New Orleans received a report of a 30-foot shrimp vessel on fire in Long Bay near Buras, Louisiana. It was reported that the vessel later sank in approximately 4-feet of water approximately one mile from Joshua Marina. A portion of the super structure is visible above water. It is unknown if a person was aboard the vessel when it sank. Anyone with information about the incident or the vessel is requested to contact Coast Guard Sector New Orleans at (504) 365-2200. link 13:18
New cell towers rising in Unalaska
From new cell towers now rising to the proposed high-speed Terra Aleutian connection to the rest of the world, GCI is making progress on improving cellphone and internet service in Unalaska, according to Vice President Dan Boyette. One new cellphone tower has been erected and should be providing basic cellphone service by the end of November on Captains Bay Road. The 100-foot tower at Offshore Systems, Inc. replaces a smaller hillside unit at the commercial dock and warehouse complex, servicing factor trawlers, freezer longliners and other large fishing and cargo and research vessels. click here to read the story 12:46
Arrest made in the case of the headless tuna
The mysterious autumnal tale of Gloucester’s headless bluefin tuna has taken another arresting turn. Literally. On Friday evening, following the first day of the re-opened tuna season, Massachusetts Environmental Police officers arrested a Gloucester fisherman whom they believe dumped the illegally harvested 400-pound giant bluefin tuna in the woods off Revere Street in late October. Harold E. Wentworth, 40, of 24 Liberty St., was arrested by Environmental Police officers at the dock in Rockport and transported to the Rockport Police Station to be booked on the charges of improper disposal of waste, expelling trash or litter from a motor vehicle and operating a motor vehicle after suspension for operating under the influence. click here to read the story 08:26
