Daily Archives: February 9, 2018
Coast Guard suspends search for F/V Queen Ann’s Revenge off Barnegat, NJ.
The Coast Guard has suspended its search for the two-person crew of a fishing boat in distress approximately 40-miles off the coast of Barnegat, New Jersey, Friday. Coast Guard first responders searched 4,441 square-miles by sea and air for the crew of the Queen Ann’s Revenge since the search began shortly after 1:20 a.m., Thursday. >click to read< 21:16
FISH-NL condemns DFO’s discriminatory restriction to latest scientific information on commercial fish stocks
The Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador (FISH-NL) condemns a move by the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans this year to limit access to the release of the latest scientific information on the status of key commercial fish stocks, and calls for a more fair and open process. “The raw scientific data on the status of commercial stocks such as shrimp, crab, caplin and groundfish should be available for all hands to absorb at one time,” says Ryan Cleary, President of FISH-NL. “This is a huge leap backwards for transparency. >click to read< 19:55
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for February 9, 2018
Click here to read the Weekly Update, to read all the updates Click here, 19:13
F/V Nemesis Pulled from the bottom of New Bedford Harbor
Crews managed to lift the fishing vessel Nemesis out of about 20 feet of water on Friday. The Dinah Jane remained submerged but will be pulled from the water soon. It has yet to be determined when exactly. The two Carlos Rafael scallopers sank around 1:30 a.m. Monday at Homer’s Wharf. On Friday, crews blew air into sunken vessel and used a crane to stabilize it. After examination, the Nemesis will likely remain docked off Homer’s Wharf, according to the Harbor Development Commission. >Photo’s, click to read<18:09
Congress passes spending bill after brief government shutdown
Congress approved a $300 billion, two-year spending bill and an additional $90 billion in aid for victims of hurricanes and California wildfires early Friday and President Trump signed it, ending a brief partial shutdown of the federal government.,,, of interest, tucked in the bill is $200 million for nine declared fishery disasters from Alaska to California dating to 2014. Reps. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, and Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough, have been urging approval of funds to aid fishermen affected by the 2015-16 closure of the Dungeness crab season and several salmon fisheries going back to 2014. The administration would decide how to allocate the money. >click to read< 15:14
One Year After The Sinking, Crab Fishermen Remember The F/V Destination — And Take Extra Precautions
This Sunday, Feb. 11 marks the one-year anniversary of the loss of the F/V Destination. Its sinking ranks as the Bering Sea crab fleet’s deadliest accident in more than a decade. While the cause remains a mystery, memories of the crew are inspiring fishermen to stay extra safe this winter.,, Almost a year later, the tragedy is still fresh in the minds of many fishermen, especially crabbers who are out dropping pots in the same area the Destination went down. “Do I think about it?” asked Captain Rip Carlton of the F/V Patricia Lee. “Yes.” >click to read< 13:58
US Senate candidate Nardolillo on Sheldon Whitehouse’s Conflicting Positions
State Rep Bobby Nardolillo, himself a candidate for the US Senate, reacted today to an announcement from the incumbent regarding Off Shore Drilling. On Monday, February 12th, Sen. Whitehouse will appear on the Bay Campus of URI to pledge his effort to prevent any off shore oil exploration in New England waters. Mr. Whitehouse will be joined at this announcement by Christopher Brown, President of the national commercial fishing organization, Seafood Harvesters of America. The plan appears to be that the Senator will cite potential degradation of fishing grounds as the driver for preventing oil exploration. “I was surprised to read the notice of this rally.” Rep. Nardolillo said. “Especially in view of our Junior Senator’s full throated support for the Deepwater Wind project, off Block Island.” >click to read< 12:46
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Declares Fisheries Disasters Following Hurricanes Irma and Maria
Today, in conjunction with the requests put forward by the Governors of Florida, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross determined catastrophic fishery disasters occurred in the areas because of impacts from Hurricanes Irma and Maria that made landfall in August and September of 2017. Under the Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the Governors asked the Secretary of Commerce to determine whether a commercial fishery failure occurred due to a fishery resource disaster, in these cases caused by destructive hurricanes. >click to read< 12:25
‘Let’s go get him’ – Fishermen recover body of captain stranded in vessel off Canso
Fishermen have recovered the body of the captain who was at the helm of a fishing vessel that’s been stranded off the coast of Canso, N.S., for the past three days. Steven Goreham said he and five took a boat out Friday morning when the tide was low to try to recover their friend, Captain Roger Stoddard, who they believed was dead. Stoddard was the last crew member still on board the Fisherman’s Provider II, which became stuck on a shoal about four kilometres offshore on Tuesday. >click to read< 11:20
Changes to act mean more fishing wealth headed back to Pictou County
A local fisherman is cheering proposed reforms to the federal Fisheries Act that he says will bring more industry profits back into Pictou County. The changes mean that fishermen may only hold one licence for each species and must make their own catches, taking wealth away from big fishing corporations in favour of local independent owner-operators. That’s according to Ronnie Heighton, a River John fisherman and president of the Northumberland Fishermen’s Association. >click to read< 10:40
What the tags tell us: one fluke’s life reveals a lot
How long does it take a fluke to grow a 1/4 of an inch? The answer: about seven months. At least that was the data collected on a fluke that was tagged and released in Narragansett Bay last June and recaptured in January near the Hudson Canyon. The angler Daphne Forster released the fluke on June 15 about 4 ½ nautical miles south of Sakonnet Point, Rhode Island. The fish was then netted Jan. 24 by the Evening Star, a commercial dragger that was fishing in 300 to 400 feet of water. The Evening Star offloaded the fluke in Beaufort,,, >click to read< 09:23 
New fish house in Stumpy Point helps keeps a tradition alive
The commercial fishing village of Stumpy Point begins coming alive about 4:30 each morning when captains and crew members head from their homes to the harbor to start another day. Within an hour, a parade of boats head from the docks out into the Pamlico Sound or even offshore. Stumpy Point, first settled in the late 1700s, is 15 miles from the nearest gas station and mostly is confined to just one road that wraps around about a quarter of Stumpy Point Bay, which spills out into the Pamlico Sound.>click to read< 08:53
