Daily Archives: March 2, 2018
Seeking an elusive, expensive catch: quotas
Dan Edwards was raised in a British Columbia household of eight kids, supported by fishing – as the family had been for generations. “It was never an easy life,” Mr. Edwards says. “My father and grandfather worked hard. But they made a living – fishing.”,,, But what really makes fishing unprofitable for many Pacific fishermen is that about 70 per cent of the landed value (or gross revenue) of their catch can go to pay the owner of the fish. And the owner is not the province, the country, the Queen nor Njoror, the Norse god of the sea. The effective owner of B.C.’s fish is the holder of the individual transferable quota for catching them. >click to read< 22:14
Conservationists want emergency order to save killer whales off B.C. coast
Several conservation groups say the federal government’s failure to issue an emergency order reducing threats to endangered orcas off the B.C. coast ahead of fishing and whale-watching season could mean the species’ extinction. The organizations say Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Environment Minister Catherine McKenna had not recommended an emergency order to cabinet by March 1, which could have seen priority feeding refuges established, fishing restricted and speed reductions for commercial vessels put in place for the season. >click to read< 19:35
Newfoundland and Labrador calls on Ottawa to quash surf clam fishing licence
The Newfoundland and Labrador government is demanding Ottawa reverse its decision to award a lucrative Arctic surf clam fishing licence to a Nova Scotia company that says it has Indigenous partners from every Atlantic province and Quebec. Newfoundland Fisheries Minister Gerry Byrne says the Five Nations Clam Company does not have any Indigenous partners from Newfoundland and Labrador, despite a federal statement that claims otherwise. >click to read< 15:44
Fishing in winter: Captains talk risk vs. reward
Fishing in winter. It’s a weather game, and it isn’t an easy guess as to when and how conditions will change, and what a crew might suddenly be up against. So say two commercial fishing boat captains working out of Stage Harbor and now on the hunt for monkfish some 100 miles south of Chatham – an area near Atlantis Canyon, considered Southern New England territory. Nick Muto owns the Dawn T, Greg Connors the Constance Sea.These southern trips are 36 hours – a 12-hour ride there, 12 hours of work, and a 12-hour ride home. >click to read< 14:50
NSW DPI is cracking down! Men in hot water after lobster catch
A fisherman and his deckhand are in hot water after being caught with dozens of expensive eastern rock lobsters while at a fast-food restaurant in Newcastle. The two men had been under surveillance for some time before authorities discovered 40 of the valuable crustaceans – most of them cooked – in their refrigerated truck on February 23. The vehicle and lobster were both seized.,, Offences attract up to 10 years in prison and fines of up to $88,000, as well as penalties of up to 10 times the market value,,, >click to read<13:53
Has California’s salmon fishery hit bottom?
A third straight year of low king salmon runs is expected to deliver another blow to one of the North Coast’s most iconic and lucrative fisheries, wildlife managers indicated Thursday, as both regulators and fishermen faced the prospect of a federally -mandated plan to reverse the trend and rebuild key stocks. The grim news comes amid a dramatic, years-long decline in the state’s commercial salmon landings, which are down 97 percent last year from their most recent peak, in 2013, when they hit 12.7 million pounds. The full picture for commercial and sport seasons won’t be clear for several more weeks,,, >click to read< 13:01
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for March 2, 2018
>Click here to read the Weekly Update<, to read all the updates >Click here<, for older updates listed as NCFA >click here< 12:35
Seafood processor will pay $300,000 fine for oversized fish waste piles at two Alaska plants
Trident Seafoods has agreed to pay a $300,000 penalty and remove an underwater pile of seafood waste near Sand Point in a settlement with the federal government involving Clean Water Act violations at two Alaska plants. The infractions also involve the Seattle-based company’s seafood processing plant at Wrangell in Southeast Alaska, the Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday. At both facilities, Trident exceeded the one-acre limit on seafood processing waste piles it can discard into the water under its permits, the agency said. >click to read< 11:40
Department of Fish and Wildlife employee in Southwest Washington allegedly stole $80,000 worth of fuel
A Southwest Washington employee of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife has been fired after the agency alleged that he stole more than $80,000 in fuel. The Cowlitz County Prosecutor is reviewing the case for charging here. Bob Woodard, 47, had worked for the department for approximately 25 years and was an IT specialist in the Southwest Washington region. Public affairs director Bruce Botka said an internal investigation found Woodard had used multiple fuel cards given to different employees to make fraudulent purchases starting in 2010. Woodard was fired in early December. >click to read< 10:22
Maine lobster catch dips to lowest level in 6 years in ’17
The state that dominates the U.S. lobster haul saw the catch fall to its lowest level since 2011 last year, yet the industry is still strong and the crustaceans remain easily available to consumers, regulators said Friday. Maine fishermen caught a little more than 110.8 million pounds (50.3 million kilograms) of lobster last year, following a stretch of five consecutive years in which the state topped 120 million pounds (54 million kilograms) annually, the state Department of Marine Resources announced. Fishermen in Maine, who typically catch about 80 percent of America’s lobster, also made slightly less money. >click to read< 09:57
