Daily Archives: March 29, 2018
New boat hits the seas for Labrador Fishermen’s Union Shrimp Company
The Labrador Fishermen’s Union Shrimp Company Ltd (LFUSC) has a new shrimp trawler on the waters for 2018. The Northern Osprey III, newly built in 2017, set sail for the company for the first time this February. The vessel is currently fishing shrimp off the shores of Labrador in Shrimp Fishing Area 5. The vessel belongs to MV Osprey Ltd, a company in which the LFUSC has a 50 per cent share. It is replacing the Northern Eagle in MV Osprey’s fleet. The Northern Eagle, built 1996, has been sold. >click to read<20:42
“Dead in the Water” – Documentary on Plight of N.E. Ground Fishermen to be Screened in 4 Maine Towns
Maine residents will have an opportunity soon to witness the devastating impacts of federal regulations on the lives of New England ground fishermen, as seen through the eyes of a documentary filmmaker with a long record of acclaimed work. David Wittkower’s “Dead in the Water” will be shown at four Maine community theaters in April. It will be shown in Kittery, Waterville, Boothbay Harbor. and in Belfast. The 7 p.m. screenings will be followed by a question period and panel discussion featuring local, New England commercial fishermen and the film makers. For location information, >click to read<18:31
The Secret Lives of Commercial Fishermen – Corey Arnold
In the early 2000s, Corey Arnold worked on commercial fishing boats in some of the world’s most dangerous waters, taking photos of the job whenever he had the chance. Soon galleries and magazines were paying attention. In 2008, Arnold shot a story for Outside in Bristol Bay, Alaska, about environmental threats from the proposed Pebble Mine. During that assignment, he discovered a seasonal fishing community at Graveyard Point, near the mouth of the Kvichak River, and established his own salmon operation. (An excellent photo article.) >click to read<16:50
As the Pacific sardine population keeps dropping, the feds come under scrutiny
On April 8, the Pacific Fishery Management Council – a body of appointed officials that regulates fisheries off the West Coast – will be presented with the draft assessment of the sardine population from roughly southern California to Canada. The news it brings is neither good for fishermen nor the local marine ecosystem: The estimated number of sardines in July 2018 – which dictates policy for the 2018-19 fishing year – is 52,065 metric tons, an approximately 97-percent drop from 2006, the most recent peak. What is in dispute: the accuracy of the population assessment, and how we got here.>click to read<15:30
No pipe in the strait: fisheries groups and First Nations to Northern Pulp
They don’t want pulp effluent in the Northumberland Strait. An alliance has been forged among the Gulf Nova Scotia Fleet Planning Board, the Maritime Fishermen’s Union, the Prince Edward Island Fishermen’s Association (PEIFA), the New Brunswick Fisheries Association and Pictou Landing First Nation. Their purpose is to publicly and officially oppose the proposed discharge of Northern Pulp’s effluent into the Northumberland Strait – and to demand a federal environmental assessment into the matter. >click to read<13:51
New York’s fish tale is no exaggeration – fluke limits unfair and too low
Wanna hear a fish story? Forget the tale of the 50-pound bluefish, or the yarn about the weeklong battle with a great white that got away. The oldest, most incredible fish story yet told in New York is the one about the federal government’s obscenely unfair quotas on local commercial fluke catches. Those limits, in place for a quarter-century, destroy any notion of fair competition between New York fishers and their peers from other states. >click to read<13:11
NC Fisheries Association Files Lawsuit Against Marine Fisheries Commission For Lack Of Openness And Transparency
NC Fisheries Association yesterday filed a lawsuit against the Marine Fisheries Commission for violating open meeting laws and an overall lack of transparency and openness. In February 2016, North Carolina State Auditor, Beth Wood, issued findings in connection with an audit of the Division of Marine Fisheries. The audit findings included, “there have been open meetings laws violated by several members of the commission.” Also included in the auditor’s findings were, “four separate email chains dated January 14, 2015,,, >click to read<11:28
Fields withdraws name from fish board consideration
It was a quick dip into the state fisheries politics pool for Duncan Fields. The Kodiak resident on Wednesday withdrew his name from consideration for the Board of Fisheries, a little less than two weeks after Gov. Bill Walker announced his nomination March 16, according to a press release from Walker’s office. Fields, a commercial salmon fisherman and former member of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, had become a flashpoint of controversy among sportfishing groups because of his background in commercial fisheries.>click to read<10:47
Lobster Fishing Area 41 – Clearwater Seafoods’ offshore lobster monopoly
Wedgeport lobster fisherman Lucien LeBlanc has watched the big blue Clearwater Seafoods trawler Randell Dominaux hauling lobster traps 80 kilometres off the southern tip of Nova Scotia — and looked on with envy. “If a genie popped up and I could get one wish, I’d like to have a zone all to myself. Not just to myself — I’d love to have it for LFA [lobster fishing area] 34. They have a large zone and they only use a miniscule amount of it,” LeBlanc said. The Clearwater trawler is working its side of what’s known as Lobster Fishing Area 41 — a vast area reserved exclusively for Clearwater in a lobster fishery unique in Canada. >click to read<09:10
NOAA/NMFS to foot at-sea monitoring costs – Thank You Senator Shaheen!
Timing may not be everything but it sure counts for a lot. Just ask New Hampshire groundfisherman David Goethel. Goethel, who had persevered through cascading years of escalating regulation, slashed fishing quotas, a failed lawsuit and, more recently, the prospect of paying the full cost of at-sea monitoring, was ready to get out of commercial groundfishing. “I had planned to sell my boat this summer,” Goethel said Wednesday, referring to his 44-foot, Hampton, New Hampshire-ported Ellen Diane. “I was done.” Last week, following a full year of working behind the scenes with U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Goethel got the news he and other groundfishermen wanted to hear: >click to read<08:24
Wife says federal fishery observer on sunken boat ‘traumatized’
The wife of a federal observer who was aboard the fishing vessel that sank off the coast of Hawaii Island over the weekend said Wednesday that her husband, a humorous adventurer and outdoorsman, was shaken by the dramatic event. Steve Dysart was mostly uninjured, though “he said he has some bruises, some bumps, that sort of thing,” Sherri Dysart said. “He said sometimes he’s quite traumatized, but he’s able to come in and out of that. He sounded shaky, but in good spirits and thankful for the other crew members, they all worked as a team.” >click to read<07:31
