Monthly Archives: January 2018
Feeling the Heat in the NW Atlantic
Rising temperatures along the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean will force American lobsters (H. americanus) farther offshore and into more northern waters, according to a new study led by researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). Climate models project that bottom temperatures in the Atlantic along the U.S. East Coast may rise by up to 4.3 °C (7.7 °F) by the end of the century. “That’s a significant change, and lobsters are particularly sensitive to warming water temperatures,” says WHOI researcher Jennie Rheuban,, >click here to read< 15:30
Lobster harvest takes a hit – Numbers starting to normalize after down season
The 2017-18 lobster season could produce half the expected harvest because of Hurricane Irma, and stone crab numbers are likely to suffer as well. “Harvest levels are returning to normal,” says Florida Keys Commercial Fishermen’s Association Executive Director Billy Kelly, but estimates that commercial lobster fisherman lost “six to eight weeks of their best production” to the storm. In total, the 2017-2018 season could yield 2-1/2 million pounds or less of lobster, an estimate Kelly says is half the expected amount. For stone crab numbers,,, >click here to read< 12:38
FISH-NL calls on Federation of Labour to clarify FFAW’s fate
The Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador (FISH-NL) is calling on the province’s Federation of Labour to clarify whether the FFAW can remain a member following the decision by Unifor, its national affiliate, to leave the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). “Inshore harvesters are demanding to know the lay of the land with the local labour movement,” says Ryan Cleary, President of FISH-NL. >click here to read<11:06 
Clyde Fishermen’s Trust raise over £37,000 to help in recovery operation of two missing fishermen on Loch Fyne
The Clyde Fishermen’s Trust have started a crowdfunding page to help in the recovery operation of fishermen Duncan MacDougall and Przemek Krawczyk who have been missing since their boat Nancy Glen capsized on Loch Fyne on Thursday (18 January). Duncan MacDougall and Przemek Krawczyk from Tarbet, Strathclyde, went missing on Thursday (18 January) when their 40ft fishing vessel Nancy Glen capsized on Loch Fyne. >click here to read< >click here for crowdfunding page on JustGiving<09:37
North Carolina: Tighter requirements for commercial fishing licenses proposed
A proposal to tighten the requirements to get a commercial fishing license in North Carolina is nearing review by the state Marine Fisheries Commission following recommendations from a committee last week. But any changes to the rules for being able to carry what is known as the Standard Commercial License would require the final approval of the N.C. General Assembly. The panel, which was made up of commission Chairman Sammy Corbett, a commercial fisherman and dealer, recreation member Chuck Laughridge and scientist Mike Wickre, has submitted a list of five requirements. >click here to read< 09:08
International Pacific Halibut Commission is Meeting in Portland, Oregon January 22-26, 2018
Hilton Portland & Executive Tower – The 2018 Navigating IPHC AM094 document now available. The deadline for Regulatory and Catch Limit proposals, and Stakeholder comment (23 December 2017) has now passed. Further comment may be provided in Session. All sessions are open to observers and the general public, unless the Commission specifically decides otherwise. All sessions will be available via webinar. Webinar attendees will be able to make comments and ask questions as noted on the schedule with other meeting attendees. Please register for the meeting on Eventbrite if you plan to attend in person. Please register for the webinar>click here< if you would like to attend the meeting via webinar. >click here to read info< 20:27
Rye Harbor will never be the same without Kohlhase
David Kohlhase Jr. grew up fishing out of Rye Harbor, “had that salt in his veins”, and was “one of those guys everyone loves to be around”, said his friend and fishing partner Tyler McLaughlin. Kohlhase, 18, died early Wednesday morning from injuries suffered in a snow tubing accident at Sunday River in Maine. McLaughlin said he will dedicating his next season of Wicked Tuna to him. >click here to read< 15:54
Rhode Island starts mandatory wild shellfishing education and certification program
The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management has introduced a mandatory education and certification program for commercial harvesters of wild shellfish. A DEM press release describes the new program as one that will enhance the safety of shellfish sold to consumers. “The goal of the program is to ensure that shellfish harvesters deliver a safe product to shellfish dealers and, in turn, to shellfish consumers,” the written statement reads. All commercial wild shellfishing license-holders will have to comply with the new certification, beginning this year. >click here to read< 14:44 
Occupation: Gender wage gap is part reality, part myth
The gender wage gap is real. But inequality does not equal inequity, and the steady drumbeat from agenda-pushers and propaganda-purveyors suggests the nation’s 18-cent disparity is due to gender discrimination – a practice outlawed nearly six decades ago.,, The No. 1 wage gap contributor is career choice.,, Do women, who make up just 7 percent of workplace fatalities, really want 50-50 parity here? If so, careers in logging, commercial fishing and steelworking await. That is, assuming the men who currently hold the vast majority of those jobs suddenly decide to work in marketing, human resources or social services. >click here to read< 11:09
Impressive pearl found in Bay of Fundy scallop
When Karen McCavour started fishing for scallops with her husband four years ago, she had no idea the mollusks could produce pearls. But over those years she has developed a growing collection, and a nearly perfect pearl discovered just last week is now one of her most prized pieces. The scallop fishery opened on the Bay of Fundy early last Monday morning. Scallops have to be shucked while on board, and that’s what crew member Andrew Fowler was doing when he came across the large, round pearl. >click here to read< 10:39
Scare-mongering Big Brother on America’s fishing boats hurts those who know the industry best
The plague on the commercial fishing industry isn’t “overfishing,” as environmental extremists and government officials claim. The real threats to Northeastern groundfishermen are self-perpetuating bureaucrats, armed with outdated junk science, who’ve manufactured a crisis that endangers a way of life older than the colonies themselves. Hardworking crews and captains have the deepest stake in responsible fisheries management — it’s their past, present, and future — but federal paper-pushers monitor them ruthlessly like registered sex offenders. >click here to read<09:47
P.E.I.’s Western Gulf fishermen excited about highest lobster numbers from survey
There will be more numbers presented at the P.E.I. Fishermen’s Association’s annual meeting in Charlottetown next month, but Francis Morrissey just couldn’t wait that long to share a statistic from Lobster Fishing Area 24. Morrissey, president of the Western Gulf Fishermen’s Association, shared the result from a settlement survey conducted last summer during the group’s annual meeting in Alberton earlier this week. “It was the highest recruitment that was ever recorded any place in Canada or the United States,”,,, >click here to read< 09:10
Don Cuddy: Local crab fisherman finds a niche market with slime eels
Slime eel, it’s what’s for dinner. Well perhaps not on menus around here but in South Korea ‘ggomjangeo’ is extremely popular and, barbecued, is sold on the street like hot dogs. With scant recognition a fishery for these scavenging bottom dwellers has been prosecuted in New England for the past 40 years. Hagfish, as they are also known, are primitive deep-sea creatures and reputedly the only living creature with a skull but no vertebrae, although, given recent events, there may be some elected officials who could potentially rival that claim. Atlantic Red Crab company founder Jon Williams has been fishing these eels since 1999.,, >click here to read< 20:02 
Fish Board: Spotter planes out, Chinook actions on hold for now
The Alaska Board of Fisheries voted to ban spotter planes in Southeast salmon fisheries and provided some relief to struggling commercial troll fishermen on Friday, the first full day of deliberations for the board. Though the board made significant changes to Southeast finfish regulations, Juneau fishermen were left with a cliffhanger: salmon action plans aimed at protecting struggling Taku and Chilkat river Chinook — which could leave fishermen docked for a significant part of the season — won’t be voted on until at least Saturday morning. >click here to read< 17:19
Steinbeck boat being restored – A crew is bringing her back to life, plank by plank, spike by spike, nail by nail.
Somewhere in the Western Flyer there is a spirit, said Chris Chase, project director for the Western Flyer Foundation, the nonprofit group restoring the fishing boat that carried Ed Ricketts and John Steinbeck to The Sea of Cortez in 1940. “I don’t know who it is,” said the 51-year-old shipwright. “It could be Ed (Ricketts). It could be John Steinbeck. It could be Carol Steinbeck (John Steinbeck’s first wife).” Whoever it is, something has saved the 80-year-old, 77-foot purse seiner from destruction. >click here to read< 14:31
Missing fishermen feared dead ‘wouldn’t last more than five minutes’ in freezing Loch Fyne, says uncle
The search for Duncan MacDougall, 46, and Przemek Krawczykis in the Argyll waters is now a recovery operation despite a heroic attempt to save them. The pair became trapped when the 40ft Nancy Glen overturned – with pal John Miller, 34, being rescued by a passing vessel. Duncan’s uncle, Thomas Aitchison, 62, says his family are struggling to cope but have to assume the pair are dead due to the amount of time they would have been in the water. >click here to read<13:56
Russian fish escaping into Louisiana waters? Sturgeon farming plan raises alarm
Nutria, feral hogs and Asian carp are just a few of the foreign invaders harming Louisiana’s marshes and rivers. Now the state is entertaining the idea of allowing the import and farming of sterlet sturgeon, a Russian fish currently banned in Louisiana. Why? The basic answer: its eggs are the food equivalent of gold, fetching prices of nearly $100 per ounce as top-shelf caviar. A plan under consideration by the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries would permit the raising of the sterlet sturgeon, a major producer of caviar in the Caspian and Black Sea regions, in indoor pools. >click here to read< 12:14
Letter: Stop digging a graveyard for our fisheries
Our fishing industry in Newfoundland and Labrador is in shambles, and yet politicians and decision-makers are blind to the fish bones pilling up in the graveyard, and with it, our prime industry, economy and our communities. Either that, or they simply do not care or have a handle on this industry they are responsible for managing and growing. Are they aware or concerned about the rapid expansion of the Canadian factory freezer trawler operations off our coasts while our groundfishery recovery is stalled and shrimp and crab fisheries in decline? >click here to read< 11:05
Bidders hungry for part of Arctic surf clam fishery after decades-long monopoly
The competition for newly available Arctic surf clam quota off Cape Breton has three times more applicants than previously reported, which is a sign of the interest in a fishery that has been controlled by a single company for decades. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans says it is evaluating nine proposals vying for 8,924 tonnes of surf clams in 2018. Until this year, the surf clam fishery was held entirely by Clearwater Seafoods,,, >click here to read<10:37
Crustacean Elation! – N.S. brewery launching Lobster-flavoured beer
A Nova Scotia craft brewery has put together two East Coast favourites to brew up something new: lobster-infused beer. Saltbox Brewery in Mahone Bay is now fermenting its first batch of Crustacean Elation—a creation that involved the use of whole lobsters early in the brewing process. Spokesman Patrick Jardine said it was something they had been talking about for some time, and finally decided to give it a try. >click here to read, cheers!< 09:44
Corps of Engineers called in to do an emergency dredging of Ocean City inlet
Ocean City is getting emergency federal attention, but you wouldn’t know it unless you do business on the water. Rising sand bars have already caused one ship carrying 11,000 pounds of fish to run aground, and the fear is many others could suffer a similar fate. Congressman Andy Harris (R-MD) said, “The port in Ocean City is an important commercial port obviously and not only for fisherman, but for other industry so we have to keep that port open its the Army Corps job to do that, and I’m glad they agreed to do this emergency dredge.” >click here to read<08:28
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for January 19, 2018
CONGRESSMAN WALTER JONES CALL FOR TOUGH MEASURES ON SHRIMP IMPORTS! Click here to read the Weekly Update, to read all the updates Click here, for older updates listed as NCFA click here 19:57
A ‘big win’ for fish – Increased spill over dams will help Columbia River spring Chinook
Touted as a big win for fish, a plan to increase springtime spill at eight federal dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers was approved last week by a federal judge.,, Spill is a term for allowing water to flow over a dam instead of passing that water through turbines that generate electrical power. Out-migrating juvenile salmon and steelhead smolts that pass through these turbines are often killed, either directly or by delayed mortality. Spill allows more smolts to escape the turbines and results in a greater return of adult fish. >click here to read<19:22 
Snow crab landing in Bering Sea
The Bering Sea opilio snow crab fishery is slowly moving forward, with 2 percent of the quota landed. Eight vessels made nine landings for a total weight in the past week of some 471,000 pounds, from a quota of 18.5 million pounds, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in Unalaska. The number of snow crab per pot is down somewhat from the same period last year. The most recent count was 201 crustaceans last week, down from 238 last year, according to Fish and Game. “From talking to the fleet, it’s been a slow start for the boats that are out there opie fishing,” said state fisheries biologist Ethan Nichols. But it’s likely to pick up, >click here to read<17:53
Loch Fyne search for missing fishermen scaled back
A major search for two fishermen missing after their boat capsized in Loch Fyne in Argyll and Bute has been scaled back. The alarm was raised by a third man who was pulled from the water by the crew of a passing boat on Thursday evening. Despite efforts of those on scene to keep it afloat, the 40ft Nancy Glenn TT100 fishing vessel sank. Lifeboats, a coastguard helicopter and rescue teams, as well as local boats, have been searching for the men. The operation has now been scaled back and further efforts will resume in the morning. >click here to read< 13:09
Young captain bets on NJ’s commercial fishing industry with new boat
As the sun rose on the docks in Point Pleasant Thursday morning, a rare sight for many New Jersey longtime fisherman came into view: a new commercial fishing boat. “This is the first time I’ve ever been in a brand new boat, commercial, anyway. It’s a beautiful thing,” fisherman Charlie Burke said. The captain of the 54-foot, $2 million boat is Pat Fehily, 28, who drove it overnight on its maiden voyage from Maine, where it was built over 19 months. >click here to read, video<12:26
Science Pushed to Back Burner, as Swiss Outlaw Live Lobster Boiling
Some find it strange, while others, simply fascinating. And others still put it on their dinner menu because they’re drawn to its preparation in a macabre sort of way. But the government of Switzerland believes the practice of throwing a live lobster in a pot of boiling water is unnecessary, and most of all, cruel.,, And this heartfelt legislative decision – presumably not on humanitarian, but lobsterian, grounds – was made Jan. 10. In short, the Swiss simply feared that these tasty, sea creatures experienced agonizing pain during those final, heated moments of their lives. There’s only one problem with that: it’s impossible, since there’s no scientific evidence to support the position. >click here to read< 10:09
“Take a dip, make a difference,” – N.S. fisherman issues chilly challenge to raise money for families of fire victims
A southwest Nova Scotia fisherman has taken the ice bucket challenge and upped the ante to raise funds for victims of a horrific fire earlier this month in Pubnico Head, N.S. Instead of emptying a bucket of cold water over your head, Todd Newell’s challenge involves immersing your entire body in icy water. Specifically, numbingly cold water found in the lobster holding tank of his fishing boat, Ted’s Legacy. “Take a dip, make a difference,” says the West Head man. >click here to read< 08:57
Stuck again, fish on board
There have been meetings, there have been talks, there have been “action items” and there has been dredging, but boats are still running aground in the state’s only ocean port, and the commercial fishermen have had just about enough. “We’ve been battling this for five years, I just don’t know what to do,” said Mike Coppa of the fishing vessel Instigator. “What happened [on Friday] was a crock of crap. We’re told they have to study this, they have to study that, but in the meantime, the boat has to get from point A to point B.” >click here to read< 08:05
Judge excludes drug test on Maine fishing boat captain facing manslaughter charges
A federal judge has restricted the federal government’s ability to use results of a blood test taken from a Cushing fishing boat captain accused of causing the deaths of two crew members when his lobster boat sank during a November 2014 gale. U.S. District Court Judge D. Brock Hornby issued his ruling Wednesday, Jan. 17 in the case of 29-year-old Christopher A. Hutchinson. >click here to read< 16:57
