Daily Archives: January 24, 2018
Lots of inshore issues to talk about at DFO meeting in Shearstown
Wednesday’s meeting in Shearstown for inshore harvesters was filled to the brim with conversation, as the Department of Fisheries and Oceans allowed the event to continue well beyond its planned two-hour duration. The discussion covered an array of topics, from the future of bycatch to qualms about size restrictions for vessels and the potential for oil exploration to harm marine life. Chad Payne, a harvester from Old Perlican, brought up the bycatch issue. He said it seemed wasteful for harvesters to get rid of perfectly good fish,,, >click here to read< 20:36
‘Cod is Dead’ uses New Bedford to highlight hurdles affecting fishermen
One of the first scenes in “Rotten: Cod is Dead” opens at night in the Port of New Bedford. Spotlights atop the fishing vessels light the area. A few belong to Carlos Rafael, noted by their green color and “CR” logo.,,, The hour long show looks beyond Rafael and focuses on catch shares in the New England Fishery. >click here to read< 19:05
EDF says Rotten gets it wrong about New England and catch shares – >click here to read< 
Federal waters off Georgia, South Carolina closed to fishing for brown, pink, white shrimp
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources announced on Jan. 24 that NOAA Fisheries have closed federal waters off Georgia to all fishing for brown, pink, and white shrimp. During the closure, no person may trawl for brown, pink, or white shrimp in federal waters off Georgia effective at 8:45 a.m. on Jan. 24Georgia, South Carolina NOAA Fisheries will issue a new Fishery Bulletin announcing the re-opening to shrimp harvest in federal waters off Georgia once the date is determined.. >click here to read< and in South Carolina >click here to read<17:55
Bulllard: Seafood farming is key for the future of seafood and our communities
As I retire from NOAA Fisheries, I want to share my vision of a bright future where marine aquaculture is part of our collective strategy for ensuring economic and environmental resiliency in coastal communities. If done responsibly — as it is in the United States — aquaculture is increasingly recognized as one of the most environmentally sustainable ways to produce fish protein. While world population is rising, the amount of wild fish is not. >click here to read< 17:00
Industry tops subsistence on Board of Fisheries herring votes
In a morning of controversial deliberations at the Alaska Board of Fisheries meeting Tuesday, subsistence users weren’t successful in herring conservation measures to cut commercial fishing harvests. But a favored backup proposal, No. 106, did pass by a 6-1 vote: 4 square miles in Sitka Sound were added to a 10-square mile protected area reserved for subsistence harvest and barred from commercial fishing. >click here to read< 15:18
Keys lobstermen catch a break, traps get a $1 per-trap tag waiver
In the wake of Hurricane Irma, every dollar saved helps, say Florida Keys commercial fishermen. Untold thousands of spiny-lobster traps, the primary gear in the most economically significant Keys seafood harvest, disappeared or were destroyed by the Category 4 storm in September. The statewide lobster industry based in the Keys will get a bit of a break in the 2018 season that opens in August. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission at its December meeting agreed to waive for one season the annual $1 per-trap tag fee for the allowed 473,500 traps in the lobster fishery. >click here to read< 13:44
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 45′ Gamage Scalloper/Lobster, Cat 3306, Federal Permits
Specifications, information and 5 photos click here To see all the boats in this series, Click here13:12 
Dangerous swells will complicate harvest this week as Crabbers go to sea
An informal Dungeness crab price strike ended this week on the Washington and Oregon coast after Newport-based crabbers decided to accept $2.75 a pound from Trident Seafoods. Columbia River-based crabbers began soaking pots at 9 a.m. Monday. Crabbers didn’t reach a formal agreement with industry giant Pacific Seafoods after days of stalemated talks in which fishermen sought a starting price of $3 a pound for wholesale deliveries to processors. Last year’s price was $2.89 a pound. >click here to read< 11:53
Fines for violating whale-protecting speed may be inadequate, says fisheries minister
Fisheries and Oceans Minister Dominic LeBlanc says he was “surprised” by the more than 500 reported speed limit violations in the Gulf of St. Lawrence last year and questions whether penalties should be stiffer to better protect North Atlantic right whales this year. “This is my own view, that a $6,000 fine may not represent an adequate sanction, it may not represent a sufficient deterrent,” said LeBlanc. ,,, As of late last week, only 14 of the 542 cases had resulted in a fine — all of them a minimum of $6,000, Transport Canada officials have said. >click here to read< 11:10
There won’t be new scallop fishing off the coast of Nahant after all
After hearing from more than 200 people who wrote letters demanding a reconsideration, the state has decided not to allow sea scallop dredging where it is currently prohibited off the coast of Nahant. “I am not anti-making-a-living,” said commercial lobsterman Justin Mahoney. “I have no problem with a fisherman making a living. I don’t like that we don’t know what the long term effects could be.” The State Division of Marine Fisheries proposed a pilot program that would allow dredging for scallops in areas where it is currently not allowed from February and March. >click here to read< 09:35
Fishermen say Deepwater data falls short of assurances
Fishermen and their advocates this week ramped up criticisms of Deepwater Wind and its efforts to prove that the planned South Fork Wind Farm would not hurt fishing off Long Island, challenging the basis of the company’s data and its adherence to the required review process. On Friday, fishermen and East Hampton Town Trustees again spotlighted what they say is a dearth of information from Deepwater’s scientists that pertains directly to the marine species that migrate through the region and their sensitivity to electrical currents, at an hours-long meeting with company representatives and members of the Trustees board. And on Monday a group of fishermen and fishing-related business owners released their own detailed assessment,, >click here to read< 09:06
