Monthly Archives: February 2018
Maine lobstermen’s conservation efforts an investment in the future
How many of you keep money in the bank? Savings accounts, money market accounts, certificates of deposit or investments — we all use different methods to ensure that we have something set aside for the future. Maine lobstermen have been doing just that for the past century, making sure that there will be lobsters in the Gulf of Maine for their children and grandchildren to harvest. In doing so, they have earned a worldwide reputation as leaders in stewardship of marine resources. >click to read< 10:19 
$40 Million Later, A Pioneering Plan To Boost Wild Fish Stocks Shows Little Success
Back in 1983, it seemed like a good idea. Local populations of California white seabass, a favorite among recreational and commercial fishermen, prized for its mild, tender, flaky white flesh, were declining.,, But as is often the case, things weren’t so simple. Some 35 years and nearly $40 million later, the future of the Ocean Resources Enhancement and Hatchery Program (as it’s formally called) is in jeopardy: The first formal scientific evaluation has concluded that the program had increased white seabass populations by less than 1 percent — a stunningly low success rate. >click to read< 09:52
Offshore drilling foes, denied microphone, hold rallies
With giant inflatable whales, signs that read “Drilling Is Killing” and chants of “Where’s our meeting?” opponents of President Donald Trump’s plan to open most of the nation’s coastline to oil and natural gas drilling have staged boisterous rallies before public meetings held by the federal government on the topic. That’s because the public cannot speak to the assembled attendees at the meetings. The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is meeting one on one with interested parties and allows people to comment online, including typing comments on laptops it provides. People also can hand bureau officials written comments to be included in the record. What they can’t do is get up at a microphone and address the room. >click to read< 08:29
Coast Guard Saves Four Fishermen from sinking New Bedford Fishing Vessel
A New Bedford-based fishing vessel sank Wednesday night off Martha’s Vineyard, but its crew of four is fine thanks to their fast action in taking safety measures, the Coast Guard said. The Sea Star radioed at about 6:20 p.m. that it was quickly taking on water, listing heavily and crew members were donning their emergency suits, Petty Officer Nicole Groll, a Coast Guard public affairs specialist said about 9:10 p.m. Wednesday. >click to read< 22:21
A Talk – Commercial Fishing Navigates Change to Bring Home Profit
A taste of the enthralling work of commercial fishing Saturday described a tug-of-war with not just the deep, but also a sea of federal regulations. How the captain and crew know where to set up the hooked lines for tuna, how the moon rules when fish bite, the extent that Big Brother’s eye is on the industry, the astounding amount that a scallop fishing permit is worth, what happens when one guy, days out to sea, gets a fever,,, Karter Larson’s talk on commercial fishing from Barnegat Light’s Viking Village dock is standing room only each year at the LBIF. >click to read< 21:39
I Tried to Find Love on a Sea Captain Dating Site
This Valentine’s Day, we’re celebrating strange and misfit love stories. Because love is weird, and weirdo love is the best love. We are all of us are beautiful and unique snowflakes, and it’s only right that dating apps cater to every possible community. If you’re into woke graphic designers, Bumble is the dating app for you. Fancy a freelance type who goes to the same coffee shop every day? Happn. Want the dregs of society to send you unsolicited dick pics? It’s Tinder. But what if you’re craving a man of the tides? A date who knows their stern from their bow? Enter Sea Captain Date. >click to read< 19:12 
St. Anthony Seafoods becomes seven-month operation for first time in its history, Employees are worried
For the first time since the plant went into operation in 1999, St. Anthony Seafoods will not be running year-round. With uncommon layoffs and rumours about even more future cuts to shrimp quotas, plant worker Trudy Byrne says it’s a particularly stressful time. “This year even our engineers got laid off. We went from a year-round facility to a seven-month facility,” she said. Byrne has worked for the plant since its dawning days and says there is worry across the board about the future of both the shrimp fishery and the shrimp plant. >click to read< 18:19
How towns are affected by reduced fishing fleets
Over the years I have seen our fleet in Gloucester, Mass decline. As a former fisherman in the sixties we had about two hundred draggers, and times were good . Then the foreigners came with bigger boats using small mesh nets catching everything, and it was not until 1974 that we enacted the 200 mile limit. This was overdue. Now comes the good, the bad and the ugly. The good news was, we were rid of the foreigners! The bad news was NOAA took over. The ugly news is our fleet has dwindled to around fifty fishing vessels, thanks to the bad news part. NOAA, the unreliable science people, determines our livelihoods. >click to read<16:39
Commercial fleet highlights economic impact of Sitka Sound herring catch
Despite three days of impassioned testimony before the Board of Fisheries in January, not much has changed for the Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery, which will ramp up in about a month. Local subsistence harvesters won an increase in the size of their exclusive use area, but failed to persuade the board to reduce the commercial catch. Fishermen and processors from Petersburg joined with other commercial interests to remind the board of the economic importance of the annual springtime export. >click to read< 14:53
Letter: CCA wants to kill competition
Many years ago I believed in the need for a Coastal Recreational Fishing License, and after reading the Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) mission statement written at that time, which included the benefits for ALL those involved in the coastal fisheries (recreational and commercial), I joined and became a lifetime member to help achieve the goal of a recreational saltwater fishing license. Over the years I have seen this association move more and more into just another political attack group. After spending three years on the Southern Flounder Advisory Council, I had seen enough. Doug Bolton >click to read<13:46:06
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 55′ Bruno Gillnetter/Lobster, 475HP CAT 3408, with permits
Specifications, information and 9 photos >click here< To see all the boats in this series, >Click here< 12:04 
Letter: Predators prevent salmon, southern resident orca recovery
Seal and sea lion population explosions along the West Coast and particularly in our Salish Sea region have corresponded with the declines of salmon and steelhead runs. Per recent reports from the Puget Sound Institute, these mammals take six times as many Chinook as tribal, recreational and commercial fishers combined in Puget Sound alone. That doesn’t even include predation by birds, fish, whales and other animals.,, H.R. 2083 (the Endangered Salmon and Fisheries Predation Act) seeks further control of California sea lion populations in the Columbia River. >click to read< 10:24
Missing fishermen found clinging to capsized vessel in the Gulf
The Coast Guard has concluded its search for an overdue vessel with two people aboard, Tuesday. The boaters were located clinging to the hull of their capsized vessel by a good Samaritan vessel, Lady Tierny, approximately 18 miles south-southeast of Port Fourchon, Louisiana. The Lady Tierny transported the survivors to emergency medical services in Port Fourchon. Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector New Orleans received a report that a 23-foot white Mako commercial fishing vessel with two people aboard, last known to be approximately 10 miles west of the Southwest Pass jetties in the Gulf of Mexico, did not return when expected. >link< 10:02
“ammonium” – San Francisco’s love affair with Dungeness crab grows more toxic
According to a new study published by researchers at San Francisco State University, wastewater pollution also makes our relationship with Dungeness crabs more toxic. Waste doesn’t disappear with a flush. In San Francisco, wastewater from homes and streets drains to treatment facilities operated by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. The facilities clean the water according to federal and state standards. But a form of nitrogen, called “ammonium,” remains when SFPUC releases the water into the Bay and Pacific Ocean. >click to read< 09:05
A key vote looms on commercial fishing in North Carolina
A high stakes meeting of the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission (MFC), set to begin today, includes a proposal that advocates say could devastate the state’s commercial fishing industry by redefining the requirements for a license. “This can change the whole ball game,” said Dare Commissioner Steve House, who is planning to attend the meeting and speak out against the proposal. “They’re working to obliterate an industry and a whole way of life. And it’s not just a battle anymore — it’s all-out war. And I’m ready to fight it.” >click to read< 08:30
Florida commercial fishermen could get $200 million in aid
Florida’s commercial fisheries, hit hard by Hurricane Irma, should pull in a $200 million boost from the two-year federal budget passed last week. The $200 million will be included as funding for the “catastrophic regional fishery disaster for Florida” in the proposed $300 billion increase in the federal budget, Florida U.S. senators Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio announced. Part of that federal money could go toward ongoing trap-recovery efforts, Florida Keys Commercial Fishermen’s Association executive director Bill Kelly said Monday. >click to read< 19:29 
Govt considering ditching fishing boat camera plans
The government is considering scrapping the rollout of cameras on commercial fishing vessels altogether. Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash said many in the fishing industry were unhappy with the camera proposal and all options were on the table – including dumping it entirely. One of Mr Nash’s first moves when he became the Fisheries Minister was to put the brakes on the rollout of electronic monitoring of the commercial fishing fleet.,, “We could continue the project as it is, we could delay it – at the extreme we could dump it.” >click to read<18:44
Fearing fraud, US pushes for imported shrimp to be tracked
A bipartisan group of US senators have called for shrimp to be included in new legislation aimed at improving the traceability and transparency of seafood imports and preventing fraud. In a letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee, 11 senators from across the political divide supported language in the Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies appropriations bill that sought to include shrimp in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Seafood Import Monitoring Programme (SIMP). >click to read< 15:58
Dave Cousens, longtime chief of lobstermen’s association, to step down
David Cousens, a South Thomaston lobsterman who has led the Maine Lobstermen’s Association for 27 years, is stepping down as president of the organization. Cousens, 60, said the organization needs new leadership when it faces new challenges, including lawsuits aimed at protecting whales that become entangled in fishing lines. He said resolving that issue will require a lot of time and effort and it will be better handled by handing over the reins to someone else. Besides, Cousens said Tuesday, “it’s time to step back and enjoy life a little bit.” >click to read< 14:45
Sunken trawler Dianne finally removed from the ocean floor
The fishing vessel Dianne has been partially raised from the sea floor. This afternoon the RACQ Capricorn Helicopter Rescue Service was tasked to search for excess debris from the sunken vessel floating off the coast of Seventeen Seventy. The aerial search was requested after salvage crews managed to partly lift the trawler from her resting place 30m under the sea, where she has been lying since October 16, 2017. Following the partial raising of the Dianne on Monday, the vessel was towed underwater to shallower waters,,, >click to read< 13:17
Walter Kumiega announces Maine Senate run
Rep. Walter Kumiega (D-Deer Isle) has announced his candidacy for the Maine Senate in District 7 (most of Hancock County). Kumiega has been a member for the Maine House for the past eight years. He would replace Sen. Brian Langley, whose term expires this year. If elected to the Senate, Kumiega would continue to chair the Marine Resources Committee, a task vital to Hancock County. Kumiega also would seek to be the legislative commissioner to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. >click to read< 11:51 
12 hours on a fishing trawler in Iceland.
It was about 5:30 am when we boarded the fishing trawler. The slick deck of the boat was barely visible under the dim sodium vapor lamps as we were greeted by handshakes and warm good mornings from the crew members. The night before, my Italian producer and I had driven 2.5 hours from Reykjavik after a night of drinking. We’d barreled along desolate, straight highways to a small homestay where an elderly Icelandic man had shuffled us into a room lined with bunk beds before setting off to sea. We’d missed every famously photographed landmark in Iceland on this trip, but the ensuing 12 hours on an Icelandic fishing trawler made it all worthwhile. Photo article, >click here< 10:15
Something Irritated Her Eye; She Pulled Out A Cattle Worm (Photo)
During the summer of 2016, Abby Beckley was working as a deck hand on a commercial fishing boat near Southeast Alaska when her left eye started feeling irritated. It was probably just an eyelash that had become trapped, she thought, so she rubbed and poured some water over her eye in hopes of extricating the errant hair. But when that didn’t work, she took a closer look into the mirror. There she saw it: something a kin to a small piece of fuzz. She pinched at it and pulled it out. It wasn’t a fuzz. And there wasn’t just one. >click to read< 09:09
Harvey Jarvis: Fishery proclamations much ado about nothing
For those who missed it, the week beginning Feb. 5th gave us a great example of how the media is used to convince us what a what a great job is being done. On day one we had a letter in The Telegram from the FFAW telling Dominic Leblanc what he should do (“Fishery corporations kick messaging into high gear,” Feb. 5), and the next day we had Dominic Leblanc standing at a podium telling everyone what he has done or is about to do. Then about 30 seconds later we had a press release from the FFAW patting itself on the back for another great win. I am referring, of course, to the news of how Dominic Leblanc is reversing some of Stephen Harper’s reforms plus making some changes to the Fisheries Act. >click to read< 08:31
Benchmark study of lobsters begins
In 2015, data collected in a benchmark assessment of New England lobster stocks showed record-high abundance for the combined stocks of the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank and record lows for the lobster stock of southern New England. Now, about three years later, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is beginning preparations for the next American lobster benchmark assessment that is expected to be completed around March 2020. “We’re in the very early stages right now,” said Jeff Kipp, senior stock assessment scientist at the Arlington, Virginia-based ASMFC that regulates the Northeast lobster fishery. “The process will be mostly data-driven.” >click to read< 21:10
SMAST meeting brings fishing, offshore wind in the same room
Offshore wind developers spent the majority of a 3-hour meeting Monday attempting to win over the local commercial fishing industry. For much of he meeting, the fishermen in attendance rolled their eyes, scoffed at various PowerPoint slides and even went as far as to say offshore wind is unwanted. “Nobody wanted this,” one fisherman out of Point Judith said. “Nobody wanted problems. We are assured there would be none. And here we are.” Twenty members of the Fisheries Working Group on Offshore Wind Energy sat around a table at SMAST East hoping to solve various issues between the two ocean-based industries. >click to read< 18:09 
Large-scale fraud under investigation at Rockland lobster company
State and local law enforcement agencies are investigating a suspected large-scale fraud and theft case that targeted a local seafood business. Chad W. Salvas, 39, of Rockland was arrested last May and charged with two felony theft and two felony forgery charges. At the time, the business owner of J&J Lobster told police he suspected his dock manager, Salvas, had stolen the money, according to an affidavit filed in court by the Rockland Police Department. >click to read< 17:36
Still No Charges for the Company Behind Canada’s Largest Mining Spill
The company responsible for the Mount Polley mine spill—one of the largest environmental disasters in Canadian history—has found out it’s not going to face any charges in British Columbia. The news likely has billionaire Murray Edwards, owner of Imperial Metals and the Mount Polley mine (and the Calgary Flames) toasting with his rich friends in London (where he lives to avoid paying taxes). If you’re not in BC, there’s a chance the aerial images of the disaster haven’t already scarred you forever. This is what the collapsed tailings pond at the Mount Polley mine looked like in August 2014. >click to read< 16:55
Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council meeting in Raleigh, NC February 13 thru 15, 2018
The public is invited to attend the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s meeting in Raleigh, NC at the Hilton Garden Inn Raleigh/Crabtree Valley 3912 Arrow DriveRaleigh, NC, 27612 Briefing Materials & Agenda Overview Agenda >click here< Attend Meeting with Adobe Connect >click here< Listen Live! www.mafmc.org 14:40
Fishing boat to be raised from Loch Fyne to give families ‘closure’
Families of two dead fishermen have been given hope that they will be able to bury their loved ones after ministers announced they will look at salvaging the wreck.,,, The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) had been surveying the site to decide if the wreck could be raised but said it could not. But the Scottish Government has said it will now work with salvage specialists and the families of the crewmen to support efforts to retrieve the bodies of the missing fishermen. >click to read< 13:54
