Monthly Archives: December 2017
Civil war rifles recovered by Canadian fishermen
The future for a crate of rifled muskets that have spent the past 150 years underwater is starting to look bright after years of conservation work. The archaeology department at Memorial University in St. John’s Newfoundland has been working since 2011 to save a crate of 20 Pattern 1853 Enfield rifled muskets that were delivered to Canada via fishing trawler after an extended period on the bottom of the Atlantic. Great photo’s, click here to read the story 21:59
SAFMC decides for now to not limit the number of head and charter boats
Some good news. The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council at their meeting this month decided, at least for now, to not move forward with limiting the number of charter and head boats in the snapper-grouper fishery. The comments received by the SAFMC were overwhelmingly against limited entry. My thanks to all who submitted comments. One of the important points we made was that the SAFMC really doesn’t know what permitted snapper-grouper charter boats are catching or targeting, whether they are fishing in state or federal waters or even if permit holders are not fishing at all and simply banking the permit. click here to read the story 18:01
EMF (Electromagnetic Field) Effects and the Precautionary Principle – Nils E. Stolpe/FishNet USA
The following is taken from an OSPAR Commission (https://www.ospar.org/) report from 2008. It clearly shows that at the time when interest in offshore wind turbines was really starting to grow there was very little knowledge of, nor had much significant research been done on, the effects of electromagnetic fields on marine or estuarine species, and what little had been done was on mature organisms, with little or no attention given to immature stages. Background Document on potential problems associated with power cables other than those for oil and gas activities: Conclusions in regard to electromagnetic fields Our current knowledge about effects of electromagnetic fields on the marine environment, in particular fauna, is not sufficient. Only a few preliminary conclusions can be reached. click here to read the article 17:07
Fishermen’s Doubts Persist on South Fork Wind Farm
As 2018 approaches, so does Deepwater Wind’s plan to submit applications to more than 20 federal, state, and local permitting agencies for the South Fork Wind Farm, an installation of up to 15 turbines it plans to construct approximately 30 miles east of Montauk. With a first-quarter deadline to submit those applications looming, commercial fishermen in East Hampton remain generally opposed to the project,,, The specific concern voiced at the town trustees’ Dec. 11 meeting, and again at last Thursday’s meeting of its harbor management committee, is the prospect of trawl nets getting caught on them, which fishermen say would be both costly and potentially deadly. click here to read the story 14:18
Coastal communities to ask for disaster declaration after cod forecast reduced by 80 percent
Kodiak officials already are drafting a disaster declaration due to the crash of cod stocks throughout the Gulf of Alaska. The shortage will hurt many other coastal communities as well. Gulf cod catches for 2018 will drop by 80 percent to just under 29 million pounds in federally managed waters, compared to a harvest this year of nearly 142 million pounds. The crash is expected to continue into 2020 or 2021. Cod catches in the Bering Sea also will decline by 15 percent to 414 million pounds. In all, Alaska produces 12 percent of global cod fish. click here to read the story 12:39 
Shellfish industry accuses conservation group of ‘smear campaign’ against scallop fishery
Shetlands inshore shellfish industry and local marine scientists have strongly condemned what they describe as a “series of false allegations” from a conservation organisation about the sustainability of king scallops from the islands. The Shetland Shellfish Management Organisation (SSMO) and NAFC Marine Centre has accused campaign group Open Seas of a “smear campaign” after it called for the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) not to renew its accreditation of scallops. click here to read the story 10:23
Ocean perch stock rebuilt, could lead to more commercial fishing opportunities in 2019
Federal restrictions designed to protect Pacific ocean perch from overfishing have worked well enough for the Pacific Fishery Management Council to consider the fishery “rebuilt,” meaning it will relax restrictions. Once the new rules take effect in 2019 it should have significant economic value to the coast, experts say. “It’s a big deal for fisheries along the coast,” said Phil Anderson, who works with Ocean Gold Seafood in Westport and serves as chairman of the Pacific Fishery Management Council. click here to read the story 09:47
When Rome was burning, Nero played his violin – Current Fisheries Policy Damaging Industry
Just a little over a year ago, the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour came out swinging against FISH-NL. The head of the federation of labour, Mary Shortall, said FISH-NL was raiding one of its member unions and the federation was completely against it. Shortall said all of the federation’s member unions were standing in solidarity with the FFAW-Unifor. The fact that FISH-NL was formed because a significant number of the FFAW-Unifor’s fish harvester membership was totally unsatisfied with the FFAW-Unifor, was totally ignored by the federation of labour. click here to read the story 09:19
Money fish rule
Once more trawlers in the Bering Sea have gone to court in an effort to stop the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) from billing them for the costs of managing Chinook salmon in the Bering Sea.,,, U.S. Commerce Department “cost recovery regulations, as applied to catcher-processor sector participants violate the (Magnuson-Stevens Act) MSA and (Administrative Procedures Act) APA, are arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion and not in accordance with law, and are in excess of statutory jurisdiction, authority or limitations and short of statutory right,” the trawlers charged in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for Alaska. click here to read the story 08:25
Bering Sea cod conflict brewing between on and offshore buyers
“Cod Alley” is getting crowded, and some fishermen want to limit the boats in the narrow congested fishing area in the Bering Sea. The North Pacific Fishery Management Council is looking at changes, including restricting flatfish factory trawlers from buying cod offshore. The Pacific Seafood Processors Association is pushing for restrictions on factory trawlers to protect its members’ shore plants in Unalaska, Akutan, King Cove and Sand Point. According to the PSPA’s Nicole Kimball, seven factory trawlers bought cod from 17 catcher boats in 2017,,, click here to read the story 21:23
Abandoned and adrift, North Pacific fishing vessel will be sunk by Coast Guard
A Coast Guard cutter is heading to a derelict fishing vessel adrift in the Northern Pacific with the sole purpose of sinking it, possibly with machine gun or artillery fire. “Certainly, a 170-foot fishing vessel drifting out there can cause some pretty serious damage to even a large commercial freighter,” said Lt. Cmdr. Orion Bloom, command center chief for the U.S. Coast Guard’s 17th District, Bloom said the vessel Alaska Patriot, currently adrift about 215 miles south of Chirikof Island, is a navigational hazard. click here to read the story 19:52
Coast Guard, good Samaritans rescue 4 from fishing vessel in the Gulf
The Coast Guard and good Samaritans rescued four people from a vessel 3 nautical miles south of Bayou La Batre, Alabama, Wednesday. The Eighth Coast Guard District watchstanders received an alert at 10 a.m. from an emergency position indicating radio beacon registered to the commercial fishing vessel Eunice Lemay with four people aboard. Coast Guard Sector Mobile watchstanders issued an urgent marine information broadcast and received a report from two good Samaritans, the commercial fishing vessel Erica Lynn and the sailing vessel J&B, of the Eunice Lemay keeled over with four people on its side. click here to read the story 19:24
Canadian government says chances are minimal that virus will spread from farmed to wild salmon
Canadian fisheries officials say their research concludes there are minimal risks to sockeye salmon in the Fraser River in British Columbia of an infectious virus from Atlantic salmon farms transferring to wild populations. Current fish health management practices such as vaccination and eradication of infected fish help to minimize the risk, according to Fisheries and Oceans Canada in Ottawa. The advice in the report on infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) was developed by consensus of the peer review group of 39 experts from various disciplines, Canadian officials announced during a teleconference from Ottawa on Dec. 20. click here to read the story 17:47
New York State Looks To Promote Locally Caught Seafood
With 90 percent of U.S. seafood consumption coming from fish imported from other countries, New York State is looking to identify ways to promote locally caught seafood through legislation recently signed by Governor Cuomo that will create a New York State Seafood Marketing Task Force. The bill was supported by State Assemblyman Fred Thiele and State Senator Ken LaValle. The Task Force will address ways to grow resources and data available to the State’s local fishermen, aquaculturists and associated small businesses, develop the marketing of and sustainability of New York seafood, and examine previous studies, pilot programs and initiatives of both New York and other states to find the most effective seafood marketing practices. click here to read the story 16:43
Georgia extends shrimp trawling season until Jan. 15, announce the opening of commercial harvest of jellyfish
The state has extended the food shrimp harvest season 15 days until Jan. 15 and announced the opening of the season for the commercial harvest of jellyfish. Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Mark Williams announced Wednesday he was extending the season that commercial trawlers may operate in state waters that are currently open until 6:15 p.m. Jan. 15.,, .,, The DNR also announced that state waters will open for commercial trawling for jellyfish from 6:30 a.m. Jan. 1 until 8:30 p.m. March 31. click here to read the story 16:04
A message from Sam Parisi – When senators and congressmen call you, you know you that your message is getting out there
A message from Sam Parisi – When senators and congressmen call you, you know you that your message is getting out there about the implementation of a US Fish Bill. You wonder why and then you realize that your dream to have federal legislation in the form of a Fish Bill has some merit. I have had calls from Senators on the West Coast and New England wanting to help and giving me advice. One of them said, “Sam this will have the backing of not only those engaged in the fishing industry, but also those associations for conservationists.” click here to read the letter 14:26
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 44ft.11in. Samson Enterprises Lobster, Crab, Longliner, GM 6V71
Specifications, information and 32 photos click here To see all the boats in this series, Click here 12:50
Cooke Aquaculture acquires Houston fishing company in $650M deal
Cooke Aquaculture acquired Omega Protein Corp. in a $500 million USD deal — approximately $650 million (Canadian) — in one of the single largest foreign investment deals a New Brunswick company has ever done in the United States. “It’s the single largest acquisition [our] company has ever made,” said Joel Richardson, vice-president of communications for Cooke. “When a New Brunswick company reaches beyond our borders and acquires a company outside our province, it helps strengthen jobs back here and at home.” click here to read the story 12:03
N.J. yacht captain pleads not guilty in 2015 death in waters off Westerly
A New Jersey yacht captain must surrender his merchant marine license and passport as he awaits trial for seaman’s manslaughter in the September 2015 death of an 81-year-old man in waters off Westerly. U.S. Magistrate Judge Patricia A. Sullivan on Tuesday released Cooper “Chick” Bacon, 78, of Cape May, N.J., on $50,000 surety on a charge that he failed to take adequate safety precautions while operating a 60-foot Princess luxury yacht on Sept. 22, 2015, near Fishers Island Sound, off Napatree Point. The yacht he was piloting collided with a 23-foot power boat, the Peggy K, killing its only occupant, Walter S. Krupinski, of Stonington, Connecticut. click here to read the story 10:49
Lobster fisherman defends maligned practice of ‘controlling agreements’
The federal government’s attempt to stop corporate control of the lucrative lobster fishery is facing another challenge, and the Nova Scotia fisherman at the centre of the case has taken the rare step of speaking out about it. Hubert Saulnier, 63, is a familiar face on the Meteghan wharf in southwestern Nova Scotia. He has been fishing for more than four decades and has held many positions with the local fishermen’s association. Saulnier is also one of 14 fishermen in a so-called controlling agreement with Yarmouth Sea Products, one of southwest Nova Scotia’s largest lobster buyers. click here to read the story 09:36
Market Price is a whopper
There may still be some small fishing boats being built along the Maine coast, but they seem to be few and far between. WESMAC Custom Boats’ latest surely isn’t among them.,,, Built for commercial scallop fishing, lobstering and gillnetting, Market Price will be homeported in Point Pleasant, N.J., and fish off the mid-Atlantic coast up to 100 miles offshore. With that service in mind, the Pot Luck Lobster Co. chose a big, rugged hull, built in this case to meet American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) construction standards, for its newest vessel. click here to read the story 08:07
Imaginative Aussie Couple Documents Fish Boat Conversion on Video
Brupeg started life in 1974 as an Australian prawn fishing trawler. In 2013 she sunk in the Burnett River from flood waters left over from a cyclone. Damien and Jess Ashdown tell the story of the boat’s conversion, which includes using “vege” fuel. Then we’ll reprise some of their videos”. We brought Brupeg in 2014 after she had sunk in a flood. It was love at first sight. She was a stripped out steel hull about to be cut up for recycling. We had a pretty specific set of requirements and it took us four years to find the right boat. The places we want to go are often hostile and demanding and need a strong hull click here to read, and watch the video’s 19:40
Canada’s Cooke Inc. acquires Omega Protein Corporation
Cooke Inc. (“Cooke”), a New Brunswick company and parent of Cooke Aquaculture Inc., today announced the completion of its acquisition of Omega Protein Corporation (NYSE: OME) (“Omega Protein”), a nutritional product company and a leading integrated provider of specialty oils and specialty protein products. Under terms of the transaction, Cooke has acquired all outstanding shares of Omega Protein for $22 per share in cash, or a total value of approximately $500 million USD. click here to read the story 17:05
Rural Alaska losing access to fisheries, report says
The increasing costs to get into Alaska’s fisheries are making it difficult for new fishermen to break into the business — especially in rural, coastal communities. That’s according to a recent report from University of Alaska Fairbanks and Sea Grant scientists. They worry that in an industry once defined by hard work, a fishermen’s success now mainly depends on access to money. The year is 1971. America was losing the Vietnam War war. The Beatles broke up. (Bore enlisted!) The personal computer wouldn’t exist for another decade. And Jim Moore moved to Southeast Alaska to go fishing. He got in just in time. click here to read the story 15:32
The 27 most captivating photos of the US Coast Guard in 2017
From Guam in the Pacific to Puerto Rico in the Atlantic, from north of the Arctic Circle to south of the equator, the US Coast Guard patrols and protects the world’s largest exclusive economic zone, covering nine time zones. It is one of the five military branches, a member of intelligence community, a first-responder and humanitarian service, and a law-enforcement and regulatory agency that defends more than 100,000 miles of US coastline and inland waterways. Photos from a year in the life of the Coast Guard — where no day is ordinary click here to see the photos 15:06
Mid-Atlantic Council Discontinues Development of Squid Buffer Framework
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council voted last week to discontinue development of a framework action that would have considered establishing a squid fishery buffer zone in waters south of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. This decision will allow the effects of the recently-approved Squid Amendment to be realized prior to any additional action. The Council included the Squid Buffer Framework in its list of possible actions for 2017 in response to public concern regarding longfin squid fishing effort during Trimester 2 (May-August) in an area south of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. click here to read the press release 13:28
German Energy Policy Lost: ‘Energiewende Has Failed,’ Says Leading Enviro
In an opinion piece at the Mittel Bayerische daily, Harry Neumann, National Chairman of the environmental group Naturschutzinitiative e.V. declares Germany’s Energiewende (transition to renewable energies) a failure and writes: “The wind power industry and nature protection cannot be reconciled.”,,, Neumann also notes that despite having installed close to 30,000 wind turbines, Germany’s “CO2 emissions are not dropping, but rather are rising again.” He adds, During the expansion of renewable energies, they failed from the start to set impact limits too protect nature, species, forests, and landscapes.” click here to read the story 12:43
‘White gold’ on deck of French trawler signals bumper haul of scallops
On the trawler Thierisa the mood was festive. It was the first day of the scallop season and the deck already groaned with the “white gold” of a bumper season in the waters off northern France. After two and a half hours on turbulent waters, they arrived at the fishing grounds but had to wait until noon and the start of the scallop season at Bay of the Seine. Police helicopters hovered to make sure no nets were lowered early. Northern France’s season for scallop, or “white gold”, runs from October to mid-May but in Bay of the Seine it starts in November. click here to read the story 12:17
With The Timber Economy Gone, Port Orford Looks To The Sea
Recent decades have not been kind to rural Oregon. As natural resources come under increased pressure — and the economy becomes more globalized — small, resource-based communities have been hit hard. Port Orford, on Oregon’s south coast, is no exception. But now, some people in Port Orford are trying innovative approaches to adapting traditional livelihoods to the new reality so their town can survive – and even thrive – in the 21st Century. click here to read the story 11:30
Trade: Why new lobster markets are needed to protect 450 jobs in our region after Brexit
New markets for the lucrative £35m lobster fishing industry in Holderness are to be investigated to help protect 450 jobs after Brexit. The local lobster fishery is the largest in Europe, landing more than one million lobster each year. Some 250 fishermen and 200 onshore jobs are supported by the industry, with 65 vessels operating out of Hornsea, Withernsea, Easington and Tunstall. But with more than 80 per cent of the Holderness catch exported to Europe, new markets will be needed if the UK leaves the EU without a favourable deal. click here to read the story 10:28
