Monthly Archives: January 2018
EU Trawlers Step Up ‘Pulse’ Fishing Efforts, Devastating British Fisheries Ahead of Brexit
European Union trawlers have been stepping up illegal ‘pulse fishing’ in British waters under a special EU derogation, inflicting “total devastation” on the North Sea. The controversial method of sees fishing vessels — mostly Dutch trawlers — drag electrodes across the seabed to zap sole and plaice off the floor. It is officially banned, but the European Commission — which controls the fisheries of EU member-states through the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) — granted a special derogation for it to be carried out on an “experimental” basis in British fishing grounds in the North Sea. >Video, click here to read< 12:45
Commercial fishing captain accused of dumping dozens of traps
A Florida Keys commercial fishing captain was arrested on felony commercial littering charges this week after investigators say he illegally dumped more than 30 lobster traps along the reef that police considered evidence in an ongoing investigation. Ricardo Hernandez, 53, was booked on 31 counts of commercial dumping and 31 counts of evidence tampering Thursday following a two-years-long investigation by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. >click here to read< 11:35
Riders of the storm: The Islanders keeping fish on the menu
Lobster fisherman Scott Samson is one of many who has been left perplexed and frustrated by the apparent lack of lobsters in Jersey’s waters. Earlier this week Don Thompson, the president of the Jersey Fishermen’s Association, said that rough seas and bad weather had led to the worst period of fishing for ‘12 to 15 years’. Scott agrees, even going so far as to say that in the 20 years he has worked as a commercial fisherman, the past 12 months have been the toughest he has experienced. >click here to read< 11:11
Tumby Bay business concerned for fish prices
A Tumby Bay business owner is concerned how pressure put on commercial fishers and the rising number of recreational fishers will affect fish prices going forward. Tumby Bay Takeaway owner Aaron Gates has concerns about how the state government’s commercial licence buy-back and the periodic closure of the Sir Joseph Banks Group to net fishing will affect commercial fishers and fish prices in the future. Late last year the government announced a $20-million voluntary buy-back scheme to remove 100 commercial net and longline licences. >click here to read< 10:25
Making demersal seines more precise
Demersal seines are so effective that the haul can become unmanageable. It has also been difficult to avoid bycatches when using them. Since 2013, fisheries researchers at the Institute of Marine Research have been working to redesign this fishing gear. One aim of the recently completed project was to find a way to separate species. >Video, click here to read< 09:58
Islip Town plans to open up more shellfish beds in bay
Islip Town’s program to lease acres of shellfish beds to private companies is on track to expand from 125 acres to more than 1,500 acres. The proposed change must be approved by the state Department of Environmental Conservation, but will be good news for the roughly 120 people and businesses on a waiting list to lease the bottom of the Great South Bay, town officials said. >Photo’s click here to read< 09:22
September 27, 1981 – BAYMEN FEARFUL AS SEWER START NEARS – The Island’s remaining 10,000 independent baymen fear that the opening of the Southwest Sewer District next month will mark the beginning of the end of commercial shell-fishing in the Great South Bay. >click here to read< 12:02
Queensland Fishers can expect ‘biggest changes industry has ever seen’
THE recreational and commercial fishing industries could be on the verge of some of “the largest changes in Queensland fishing”. Under State Government direction leaders in those industries joined environmentalists and government representatives for the first time last week to thrash out necessary changes to boost inshore fish stocks. Under State Government direction leaders in those industries joined environmentalists and government representatives for the first time last week to thrash out necessary changes to boost inshore fish stocks. >click here to read< 18:51
Board of Fisheries weighs proposals protecting Chinook stocks in Southeast
The future of king salmon fishing in Southeast will change this week as the Board of Fisheries considers proposals to boost struggling Chinook stocks on the Chilkat and Taku rivers. The board convened in Sitka Thursday for a 13-day meeting that will resume Monday morning. The meeting isn’t limited to king salmon. This year’s proposals cover everything from the number of crab pots a commercial Dungeness fisherman can use, to the use of deep-sea release mechanisms for rockfish and the opening of a commercial squid fishery. >click here to read<17:50 
2019-2024 National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program Public Meetings Scheduled Nationwide
Public meetings will take place across the country using an open-house format, so participants can arrive any time during the scheduled meeting time. At the meetings, participants can ask questions, share information, talk with our team members one-on-one, and learn more about the National OCS Program. We also encourage participants to submit written comments to inform BOEM of specific issues, impacting factors, environmental resources, alternatives to the proposed action, and mitigation measures to consider in its analyses. For those unable to attend one of the scheduled meetings, BOEM is offering a Virtual Meeting Room where participants can visit the same stations available at the open house meetings. There they are able to review and download the same handouts and posters offered at the meetings and provide comments. >click for times, dates, and locations<15:36
Federal prosecutors charge Casey’s Seafood owner in blue crab case
The president of a local seafood company was charged in Newport News federal court Friday with falsely labeling imported crab meat from foreign waters, passing it off as being more expensive Atlantic blue crab. James R. Casey, 74, of Poquoson, who owns Casey’s Seafood in Newport News, is accused of directing his employees to take crab from Asia and South America, blend it with true Atlantic blue crab, and put “Product of the USA” labels on the packages. >click here to read<12:57
Government for hire: Washington State contracted to green nonprofit
The Wall Street Journal’s scrutiny of Washington Governor Jay Insee’s office continues after new details were revealed about policy advisor Reed Schuler. “Basically, what we found out is that the World Resources Institute, which is a green nonprofit, and the Hewlett Foundation — which has invested massively in the green climate change agenda — is paying his salary; is paying his benefits, and paying his expenses,” >click here to read<11:42
Letter to the Editor: Redefining a commercial fisherman
According to a N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) release, at the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission (MFC) meeting last November in Kitty Hawk, there was a motion by Commissioner Chuck Laughridge to, “Ask the chairman to appoint a committee of commission members to develop a definition of a commercial fisherman, with staff support from the Division of Marine Fisheries, to bring an update back to the commission at its February 2018 meeting.”,, So why is MFC Commissioner Chuck Laughridge wanting to define what has already been defined? Interestingly enough, this isn’t the first time the MFC has attempted to define, or rather redefine a commercial fisherman. The real question is why? >click here to read< 09:45
Prince County P.E.I. fishermen assured effluent plans being opposed
It is 326 kilometres away, by road, but a pulp mill in Pictou County, N.S., figured prominently in the Prince County Fishermen’s Association’s recent annual meeting at the O’Leary Legion. The president of the P.E.I. Fishermen’s Association, Bobby Jenkins, and then P.E.I. Minister of Fisheries Alan McIsaac made it clear they are adamantly opposed to Northern Pulp pumping effluent from its mill into Northumberland Strait. All members of the Prince County Fishermen’s Association fish in the Northumberland Strait. >click here to read< 08:53 
Helping Mr. Charles Anderson Sr.
Mr Charles was victimized by theft of his materials. With a retired fisherman’s income, it will be a daunting task for him to replace what has been lost. He has helped so many around here that it is time, IMO, to help him in his need. The nets he builds are the best around here and supplements his living expenses. He’s a living legend in our game and it burns me up to see him suffer because of a thief…Please join me in Helping him to regain his footing… A fundraiser by Joseph Daughtry >click here<21:35
Kelp farm proposed for Long Island Sound
Atlantic Clam Farms of Connecticut is looking to harvest a native species of sea kelp in Long Island Sound. The company, which cultivates hundreds of acres of Greenwich waters for shellfishing, wants to begin its kelp farm in Payea Reach — southeast of Great Captains Island and southwest of Island Beach — and offer the seaweed for human consumption and other commercial uses after an awaited approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.,, If the kelp farm is approved, set up at the four-acre area would begin on or after Nov. 1 each calendar year, >click here to read<20:55
The Squid That Sink to the Ocean’s Floor When They Die
While the lives of squid are mysterious in many ways, one gruesome truth is that after mating comes death. First the male dies. Next the female, after making a little pouch of eggs, begins to starve. “She is unable to feed because the egg mass is in front of the mouth,” explains Henk-Jan Hoving, a deep sea biologist at Geomar Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Kiel, Germany. “She probably gets energy from the breakdown of her own tissue, either from the liver or the mental tissue. This is how she stays alive, basically.” Then, once the female is dead and the eggs have hatched, her body will often float to the ocean’s surface and get eaten by birds. >click here to read< 17:43
Government Takes Culinary Action, New Law Outrages As Animal Rights Activists Thrilled
If you’re a Pink Floyd fan, you know the song “Comfortably Numb.” The song has just become the anthem for lobsters in Switzerland. Why? Because the Swiss government has just passed a new animal protection rule banning the culinary art of tossing a live lobster into a boiling pot of water to cook it.,, Animal activists have been successful in urging Swiss officials to pass the law, which focuses on all kinds of animal cruelty, like illegal puppy farms and banning bark collars that send an electric shock to a dog’s neck when barking. >click here to read<17:30
Washington State could end net pens for fish by 2024
By 2024, Washington could ban all net pens where nonnative fish are raised commercially. A bill approved Thursday by the Senate Agriculture, Natural Resources and Water Committee would keep the state from renewing the existing leases as they expire between 2022 and 2024. No new leases are being issued but the state has legal obligations to honor current leases. The proposal also calls for an extensive study of the practice of raising fish in large pens by companies that lease space in Washington waters. It would be presented to the Legislature in January 2021. >click here to read< 14:41
New bill could put Washington salmon farms in jeopardy – >click here to read< 
Bering Sea snow crab fishing underway
Bering Sea snow crab fishing was just getting underway, and the first deliveries were expected later this week, according to Ethan Nichols of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in Unalaska/Dutch Harbor when the snow crab quota was cut back again this year by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. There is a reduced Bering Sea Tanner crab season, thanks to new rules allowing fishing when fewer female crustaceans are present. And small boats in the Unalaska Island area have a Tanner fishery for the first time in two years. >click here to read<13:03
Crabbers battling on several fronts
This is an announcement directed at the Washington Dungeness Crab Fishermen’s Association general membership. We have a meeting, Wednesday, Jan. 17, from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Ocean Center, 1600 N. Montesano St. in Westport. Washington coastal crabbers have endured overwhelming changes in management and profitability over the last 10-15 years. The one thing Washington crabbers could count on year to year was the unknown. >click here to read< 10:21
P.E.I. fishermen call for more officers to combat illegal fishing
The vice president of the Prince County Fishermen’s Association is renewing a push to have more fisheries officers in West Prince. Shelton Barlow, who fishes lobster out of Howard’s Cove, made the comments earlier this week at the association’s annual general meeting in O’Leary. “It is a large area,” Barlow said. “I’d like to see officers out there at every wharf. When you come into the wharf, you’d like to see an officer now and then to keep you in check. We need a lot more.” >click here to read<09:01
Friday Morning Fire Damages Scallop Boat in Barnegat Light
Fire officials are investigating the cause of a commercial boat fire Friday morning on a fishing boat in Barnegat Light. Station 51 of the High Point Volunteer Fire Company, Station 49 of the Surf City Fire House, State Police and EMS Squad 12 responded to the scene. >click here to read< 20:42
US review shows pesticides harm threatened salmon, whales
Federal scientists have determined that a family of widely used pesticides poses a threat to dozens of endangered and threatened species, including Pacific salmon, Atlantic sturgeon and Puget Sound orcas. The National Marine Fisheries Service issued its new biological opinion on three organophosphate pesticides — chlorpyrifos, diazinon and malathion — after a yearslong court fight by environmental groups. >click here to read< 19:58 
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for January 12, 2018
Click here to read the Weekly Update, to read all the updates Click here, for older updates listed as NCFA click here18:20
Offshore Wind Technology Failure – Offshore wind is not all its cracked up to be!
Massachusetts’ ambitious goal to deploy offshore wind is supported by a 2016 Massachusetts state law that requires state utilities to purchase this power. This developer-friendly law exposes tax and ratepayers to triple current energy cost after public subsidies equal to 65 percent of project cost. The public now assumes the lion’s share of economic risks, while wind developers’ “skin in the game,” is as little as 10 percent. The United States has adopted the United Kindom’s offshore wind turbine design code. Massachusetts lawmakers wrongly assume that offshore wind is a reliable energy source. Per a landmark judgment issued by the U.K. Supreme Court in July 2017, there is fundamental failure in the offshore wind industry standard design code (J101). Barbara Durkin
Landmark Case Changes Offshore Wind Legal Landscape – >click here to read< 14:45
Illex Squid: Falklands concern with vast fishing fleet gathering on high seas
A vast fleet of fishing vessels assembling to catch Illex squid on the high seas, some 400 miles north of the Falkland Islands, is an issue of concern to the Falkland Islands Fisheries Department. Director of Natural Resources John Barton confirmed to Penguin News this week that the fleet had been out there from an early date and was likely to be catching small squid as well as having the capacity to catch a great deal of squid. This could, of course, impact on Falklands fishery catches. >click here to read< 13:02
Fast-moving fire destroys fishing wharves in Lower Prospect
Two wooden fishing wharves, a pair of boat sheds and one boat have been destroyed by a fire in Lower Prospect, N.S. The first crew of firefighters arrived at the end of the Lower Prospect Branch Road shortly after 9 p.m. on Thursday. “When we arrived, one wharf and one boat shed was already on fire, but it was spreading quickly to a neighbouring wharf as well,” said Ola Legere, acting division commander with Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency. video, >click here to read< 12:23
Nearly every governor with ocean coastline opposes Trump administration drilling proposal
The Trump administration’s proposal to open vast portions of US coastline to oil drilling was met with ferocious opposition from a number of the coastal governors it would affect. At least one governor, Florida’s Rick Scott, a Republican, asked for and received a waiver from the administration. That move by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke drew accusations of favoritism, which have been denied. But the fact remains that nearly every governor with ocean coastline opposes drilling off their coast or, in one case, has concerns. >click here to read<11:12
Why the Trump offshore drilling plan is another Canada-U.S. complication
As much as half a million kilograms of haddock caught on the rich fishing grounds of Georges Bank this weekend will be landed in ports in southwestern Nova Scotia, as the winter fishery gets underway after a storm-delayed start to 2018.,,, Canada and the U.S. jointly manage fisheries on Georges Bank through various trans-boundary committees that agree on quotas, resource sharing and stock health. >click here to read<
Maine Department of Marine Resources Launches Online Elver License Lottery Application
Maine’s Department of Marine Resources is pleased to announce the launch of the online Elver License Lottery application, which is available to residents of Maine. Available at www.maine.gov/elverlottery, the system allows applicants to submit their name for a chance to win an elver license. The online application was created by the Department of Marine Resources, in partnership with the state’s digital government portal provider, InforME. The rising market prices of these young eels have gained the attention of existing commercial fisherman and anyone interested in applying for these coveted licenses. >click here to read<09:29
