Daily Archives: April 7, 2018
New Bedford: Industry on the Brink
Two computer screens lit Richie Canastra’s windowless office. The co-owner of BASE (Buyers and Sellers Seafood Exchange) seafood auction scrolled through scores of financial data associated with commercial fishing landings at 62 Hassey St. The numbers that starred back since NOAA implemented a groundfishing ban last November tell a dark story in an industry already struggling to survive. “With the ban, if we’re not up and fishing by May 1, you might as well just call (groundfishing in New Bedford) over,” Canastra said. >click to read<22:52
Where are the friends of fishing?
British fishing has long been neglected for two reasons. First Ted Heath sold it out by accepting the Common Fisheries Policy in his desperate desire to get into the Common Market.,, Second, fishing has strong emotional support but a weak political punch.,, Now when the country has voted to be free of the EU and fishing is one of the few powerful cards we have to play, we have the chance to redeem. Moreover the Common Fisheries Policy has so comprehensively failed,,, >click to read<20:17
Scallop boat skipper and owner fined for breaching Isle of Man fisher regulations
A Kirkcudbright scallop boat skipper and its owner have been fined for breaching Isle of Man fishery regulations. Anthony True was caught fishing for king scallops in the 21-metre Kingfisher within three nautical miles of the island without a permit. Manx rules only allow vessels of 15 metres or less to fish for scallops inside the three-mile limit. Mr True and owner John King, of West Coast Sea Products Ltd, pleaded guilty when they appeared before the Deputy High Bailiff in Douglas. >click to read<19:39
Harvest of clams continues to dwindle in New England
The clam fishery is coping with a declining number of fishermen, a warming ocean, harmful algal blooms in the marine environment and growing populations of predator species, said regulators and scientists who study the fishery. It leaves clammers like Chad Coffin, of Freeport, Maine, concerned the harvest will decline to the point it will be difficult to make a living. “It has been a gradual decline, and it’s getting to the point where there’s a tremendous amount of acreage that’s not producing anymore,” Coffin said. “It should drop significantly more over the next two years.” >click to read<18:38
Ukraine and Russia Face Off Over Fishing Boat
On Sunday, Ukrainian border forces detained the Russian-flagged, Crimean-registered fishing vessel Nord in the Sea of Azov, along with her crew of 10 fishermen. The Ukrainian authorities charge that the Nord illegally crossed Ukraine’s maritime borders. In response to the arrest, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said Wednesday that Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service had “hijacked” the Nord. The shipowner, a collective named “First of May,” has appealed directly to the Russian Foreign Ministry for diplomatic intervention. >click to read<15:37
‘Protected’ marine area open to oil, gas exploration
Newfoundland and Labrador’s offshore oil and gas regulator is taking bids for exploration off the island’s east coast, in an area the federal government recently listed as a marine-protected area. While the area is closed to fishing, it remains open to the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB) — and that’s not sitting well with the president of the fisheries union. “We cannot ask fish harvesters to accept the closure of an area to fishing activity in the name of conservation while continuing to allow oil and gas exploration in that same area,” said Fish, Food and Allied Workers president Keith Sullivan in a news release.>click to read<13:39
Eel smugglers halted in sting led by Europol
Spanish and Portuguese authorities announced Friday that they have taken down a criminal network that has been making large profits by smuggling glass eels to Asia. Authorities across the continent have been trying to tackle the smugglers, who take European glass eels to Asian countries, where they are raised into adults and their meat commands high prices for local delicacies. In the latest operation against the traffickers, four Chinese citizens, three Spaniards and three Moroccans were arrested in Spain in an operation coordinated by the European Union’s police body, Europol. >click to read<10:48
Northern cod an icon for fisheries mismanagement
I wish to respond to the March 31 letter to the editor (“Northern cod numbers no reason to panic: FFAW”) by Keith Sullivan, President of the FFAW-Unifor. Sullivan is correct — the latest scientific information on the health of the Northern Cod stock isn’t reason to “panic.” Indeed, the news from DFO science of a 30 per cent decline in the iconic resource that was already deep in the “critical” zone is reason for inshore harvesters to riot in the streets, or, at the very least, burn the few union cards left. The news is also reason to demand an independent investigation of the management practices of the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) in the Newfoundland and Labrador region. >click to read<10:13
