Monthly Archives: March 2018
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for March 9, 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
N.L.’s fish and seafood production dips in 2017
The value of Newfoundland and Labrador’s total fish and seafood production exceeded $1-billion for the third year in a row in 2017 but is down 10 per cent from 2016. The production value for last year was almost $1.3 billion. The provincial government has released its 2017 Seafood Industry Year in Review document. It attributes the decline to a lower market value in both the commercial wild fishery and the aquaculture sector. >click to read<20:02
The 2017 Seafood Industry Year in Review >click to read<
Galley Stories! Captain Casey McManus-Fishing’s always family, and if you’re lucky, you get a bike!
Captain Casey McManus from the F/V Cornelia Marie joins us to share his Story. From Ballard Wa to Bristol Bay and across the state of Alaska. From the time he was a young kid destroying his dad’s weed wackers to sitting in the Captain’s Chair. Please remember to Like and Share this Podcast Series. >Click here to listen< There are seven other podcasts in this fishing series, From Capt Jack Molan, “You can’t make this stuff up” to Dominic Bova-First Mate, From the Southern California Desert to the Bering Sea, Yah Buddy!, and everything in between. 16:54
Feds Sued to Force Protection of Alaska’s Pacific Walrus
The Center for Biological Diversity sued the Trump administration Thursday over its denial of Endangered Species Act protection to the Pacific walrus. The lawsuit, filed in Anchorage federal court, challenges the October 2017 decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finding the Pacific walrus does not warrant listing as a threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act. “The service’s listing decision deprives the walrus of the ESA protections which it is both entitled to and desperately needs,” the complaint states. >click to read<15:30
Senator pursuing new route to Jones Act waiver for America’s Finest
The push to get a Jones Act waiver for America’s Finest will take a new tack in the U.S. Senate. Earlier this week, the Senate Homeland Security Committee approved its own version of the Department of Homeland Security reauthorization bill. The Senate’s version did not include an amendment approved by the House of Representatives to grant a waiver for the USD 75 million (EUR 61 million) ship built by Dakota Creek at its Anacortes, Washington facility for Fishermen’s Finest. >click to read< 14:09
‘This process was wrong’: N.L. fisheries minister says criticism of surf clams decision is building
Provincial Fisheries Minister Gerry Byrne says there were so many problems with the way a lucrative surf clam contract was awarded that the decision should be reversed. Byrne said it’s not just the government and Indigenous communities and nations in this province taking a stand. “Indigenous nations and communities from all over Atlantic Canada and Quebec seem to be taking a much stronger, much more vocal and negative reaction to not just the decision, but how the decision was taken,” the MHA for Corner Brook, said on Thursday. >click to read<13:24
Names of Indigenous groups who won coveted Arctic surf clam quota announced >click to read<
Massachusetts Lobster Catch Declines, Boat Prices Rise
As the summer of 2017 wore on, the word from local lobstermen was that the behavior of their prized catch had grown more unpredictable and landings were down. Well, they were right: Landings and the value of the catch declined slightly across coastal Massachusetts in 2017, but a late fall run and higher off-the-boat prices helped mitigate the damage and keep declines well below those suffered by their lobstering contemporaries in Maine. According to data supplied by the state Division of Marine Fisheries, Bay State lobstermen landed 16,565,126 pounds of lobster in 2017 with a total value of $81.54 million — for an average boat price of $4.92 per pound. >click to read<10:57
Zinke promises to ‘partner’ with oil industry, as offshore drilling opponents push back
Opponents of the Trump administration’s offshore drilling proposals pressed their case as a first 60-day public comment period drew to a close this week. Meanwhile Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, speaking at a Houston energy industry conference Tuesday, talked up the offshore plan and other administration moves to streamline drilling and infrastructure permits. The Department of Interior, Zinke said, “should be in the business of being a partner” with industry. >click to read<10:11
New Bedford City Officials Draft New Business Plan For Fishing Port
New Bedford city officials have unveiled a draft plan to expand the business opportunities for the city’s lucrative port. The Port of New Bedford is the number one commercial fishing port in the country, hauling in $9.8 billion each year. Ninety percent of that economic value is tied to the fishing industry. However, city officials are looking to diversify the port’s business and they’re betting on offshore wind. >click to read< 09:17
F/V Nancy Glen recovery mission launched
Tarbert fishermen Duncan MacDougall, 46, and Przemek Krawczyk, 38, lost their lives when the boat sank in Loch Fyne on January 18. Their bodies are still believed to be inside the boat. A third crewman, John Miller, 34, also from Tarbert, survived after being rescued by a passing vessel. The Nancy Glen is lying at a depth of 140 metres and the Scottish Government has contracted salvage experts to try and lift the boat high enough to allow divers to search inside.>click to read<08:53
NOAA’s New Marine Forecast Product Improves Weather Forecasts and Safety at Sea
NOAA’s Ocean Prediction Center (OPC) rolled out a new forecast product suite this week to provide mariners with comprehensive weather forecasts every 24 hours out to day four. Our goal is to deliver the very best impact-based decision support services and products possible to our users. These 72 hour surface weather and wind/wave forecast charts, and model generated 500 mb charts, will allow mariners to better prepare for severe weather at sea. >click to read<08:38
Keys fishermen talk about traps to stop the lionfish invasion
Lionfish are the scourge of the Florida Keys seas. Since the early 2000s, they’ve been invading local waters, devouring everything in sight.,,, It’s legal to net them, even spear them where it’s allowed.,, But the simplest, most effective method for removing lionfish is to catch them in existing lobster and stone crab traps.,, The Florida Keys Commercial Fishermen’s Association is tackling the lionfish invasion from another angle — an exempted fishing permit issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for a pilot project. >click to read< 18:53
B.C. government looks into moving open-net fish farms onto land
British Columbia’s minister in charge of aquaculture tenures for the province is hinting at a major change in the provincial government’s approach to Atlantic salmon farming in Pacific waters. After the Washington State Senate passed a bill last Friday to phase out Atlantic salmon open-net fish farming in state waters by 2025, British Columbia’s First Nations hailed the move, raising hope the provincial government would do the same. >click to read<16:49
How the Coast Guard promotes safety during crabbing season
Since the start of the season in January, Coast Guard Station Coos Bay has seen a relatively safe season. “We’ve had about 6 calls for assistance,” said Commanding Officer Kary Moss, “and those calls for assistance have all been for mechanical failures of some sort.” While mechanical failures are inevitable, to promote safety the Coast Guard requires commercial fishing vessels to complete dockside safety exams. >click to read< 15:48
Gloucester again at center of drilling fight, along with everyone from every coast.
In the late-1970s, an unlikely alliance between environmentalists and commercial fishermen in this storied seaport helped block plans to open up Georges Bank to oil exploration — an effort that ultimately led to a federal moratorium on offshore drilling. Georges Bank, a shallow and turbulent fish spawning ground southeast of Cape Ann and 100 miles east of Cape Cod, has been fished for more than 350 years.,,, In Gloucester, those who fought similar efforts a generation ago are confident the city can again win a David vs. Goliath battle with energy companies. >click to read< The non-stop articles about the opposition to drilling is overwhelming. No one wants it. Wind farms are the real threat. 14:05
An Agenda Driven Study: Marine charities net more than iconic fishery
Massachusetts boasts one of the most iconic fisheries in the U.S., but new research suggests that protecting marine coastlines has surpassed commercial fishing as an economic driver. The study is the first to calculate the economic value of coastal preservation in Massachusetts. The research finds these efforts contributed $179 million to the state’s economy in 2014, more than finfish landings ($105 million) and whale-watching ($111 million). “Marine conservation has become a major economic force in Massachusetts,,, (It is an industry of destruction.) >click to read< 12:27
Lobstermen Select IMTRA For Equipment
IMTRA announced today it has provided Offshore series LED deck lights, Exalto and Roca windshield wipers, Side-Power thrusters and Zipwake Dynamic Trim Control Systems to lobster vessels throughout New England. The newly-launched lobster boat Sailor’s Way from Stonington, Maine is the latest fishing vessel to be equipped with IMTRA gear. “The light package the IMTRA team recommended for me works so well,” said Nathan Jones, owner, Sailor’s Way. “The coastal waters of Maine are riddled with lobster pots, buoys and traffic which makes it a challenge to maneuver.I need bright lights to help me navigate and the Offshore series LED deck lights fit my needs perfectly.” >click to read<10:23
Fisheries management at ‘rock bottom’, N.L. group says
The Fishery Community Alliance is claiming fish that is landed and exported from a number of ports in Newfoundland and Labrador with cold storage facilities is not being properly traced by the province or Ottawa. In a news release Wednesday, March 7, the alliance called the lack of oversight further evidence of negligence in managing the resource on the part of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) and the provincial Department of Fisheries and Land Resources. The alliance says its members found out about the issue after they became aware of increasing shipments of unprocessed fish leaving the province for final processing. >click to read< 09:21
Why Deadliest Catch’s Johnathan Hillstrand didn’t actually retire
At the end of Deadliest Catch season 13, Time Bandit captain Johnathan Hillstrand retired after 37 years of crab fishing. His boat isn’t one of those that will be featured on season 14—a remarkable change since the boat and its crew have been filmed for the show since its second season. But Johnathan Hillstrand has been actively crab fishing this season, captaining the Time Bandit for the opilio crab season. So what’s the reason for the discrepancy? Did the show make up his retirement as a storyline? Or did he come out of retirement? >click to read<08:49
Pacific Fishery Management Council meeting in Rohnert Park, CA, March 8-14, 2018
The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) and its advisory bodies will meet March 8‐14, 2018 in Rohnert Park, California to address issues related to salmon, groundfish, ecosystem, highly migratory species, and Pacific halibut. Meeting Notice With Detailed Agenda (updated 02/14/2018)>click to read< Listen to the Meeting (GoToMeeting) >click here< (Enter the Webinar ID – The PFMC meetings 2017 Webinar ID is: 530-089-227, Please enter your email address (required) PFMC website>click here<19:32
U.S. Coast Guard discovers 14 undocumented immigrants on U.S. fishing vessel
The captain of a commercial fishing vessel called the “Linda Labin” claimed to have no idea there were 14 undocumented immigrants hidden on his boat. A federal investigation suggests otherwise. Captain Francisco Hernandez, Jose Angel Carmona-Reyes and Marco Antonio Paez-Barreto, both crew members, were arrested Saturday after a search of the fishing vessel by the United States Coast Guard revealed that 14 immigrants from Mexico were hidden in various locations of the boat, court documents show. >click to read< 17:39
Federal fisheries minister refuses to reverse decision on surf clam licence
Federal Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc has rejected calls to reverse his recent decision to award a multimillion-dollar Arctic surf clam fishing licence to a Nova Scotia company. LeBlanc says he understands there are hurt feelings among failed bidders, but he insisted the Cape Breton-based company and its Indigenous partners made the best case for Indigenous participation. The minister was responding to complaints from the Newfoundland and Labrador government and the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq chiefs. >click to read< 17:21
Minister should continue proportionate quota sharing approach with northern shrimp
An anticipated decrease in northern shrimp quotas in key shrimp fishing areas off Newfoundland and Labrador this year should result in the same proportionate quota sharing approach established last year, says the Canadian Association of Prawn Producers (CAPP). “Nobody likes to see a reduction in their quota, but in an area where the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) needs to be reduced, it is important that all fishers share these reductions in proportion to their share of the fishing quotas.” A major Northern Shrimp Advisory committee meeting is being held in Montreal today. >click to read<16:40
Portraits of the modern shrimper
San Carlos Island is home to one of the few remaining working waterfronts in Florida, and one of the last shrimping fleets in the country. The shrimping docks used to house hundreds of boats, but now, two businesses and a handful of independent fishers are left to sustain the industry. During a recent community visioning meeting, Lee County asked San Carlos Island stakeholders to discuss what made the island special – and almost every focus group said it was important to preserve and promote the commercial working waterfront, a piece of the county’s culture. >click to read< 15:31
East Hampton Selects Captain Julie Evans to Represent Fisheries on Wind Farm Project
East Hampton Town’s Fisheries Committee has selected Captain Julie Evans, who has worked on commercial and charter boats out of Montauk for decades, to be the Fisheries Representative working for local fishermens’ interests with regard to Deepwater Wind’s proposed South Fork Wind Farm project off the coast of Montauk. Ms. Evans began fishing for striped bass commercially in 1975, but became a charter boat captain after the commercial striped bass fishery was put out of business by PCB contamination, she told the East Hampton Town Board at their March 6 meeting. She has also worked as a journalist and used her background in environmental science to help run ecotours.>click to read<14:54
Coast Guard responders “harmed by chemicals used to clean up BP’s spill”
Sometimes, there is absolutely nothing worse than being proven right. It is the one thing you dreaded. Ever since the horrendous Deepwater Horizon spill in 2010, I and many others warned against using the toxic chemical called Corexit arguing that it would do more damage than good. The potential evidence of harm, or lack of evidence of its safety, was clear for everyone from BP to the US Government to see to if they had bothered to look. Nearly one million gallons of the dispersant was dropped by air and a further 770,000 gallons injected into the well head to try and disperse in excess of 200 million gallons of oil that was spilt by BP in the Gulf of Mexico. >click to read<13:21
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 44′ Young Bros. Gillnetter/Lobster Boat, 350HP, 6 Cylinder Volvo
Specifications, information and 18 photos >click here< To see all the boats in this series, >Click here<12:14
Ray Hilborn: New study provides no new information on global fishing footprint
University of Washington fisheries researcher Ray Hilborn said that a new study using satellite data from industrial fishing vessels to map global fishing effort fails to provide any new insight, despite media reports indicating otherwise. The study, published in Science in February, used messages transmitted between 2012 and 2016 from the automatic identification systems (AIS) of more than 70,000 industrial fishing vessels to create a global footprint, concluding that “industrial fishing occurs in over 55 percent of ocean area,” according to the abstract. But Hilborn said the vessels monitored for the study were in large part tuna boats over 100 feet, which have been monitored for decades. >click to read< 11:17
Gear is in wrong place for right whales, scientists say
Speaking at the Maine Fishermen’s Forum on Friday,,, The NOAA Fisheries Large Whale Take Reduction Team recently established separate working groups to study two proposals to reduce the risk of entanglement: splicing several 1,700-pound breaking strength “weak link” sleeves into vertical lines such as those that connect lobster buoys to traps; and removing those ropes altogether by requiring the use “ropeless” fishing gear. Those working groups will focus on whether either solution is technologically feasible, whether it will actually work for fishermen, and whether it can be cost effective for fishermen.,, >click to read<10:32
