Daily Archives: April 9, 2018
The Boat at the Bottom of the Sea
Captain William Prout was up early. Or was it late? During crabbing season it was sometimes hard to tell the difference. The day before, Friday, February 10, 2017, Prout and his crew had offloaded a batch of snow crab on the remote Bering Sea island of St. Paul. Then they’d turned the Silver Spray around and motored back out to the fishing grounds to collect their remaining crab pots. At 5am on Saturday, Prout pulled his anchor and pointed his bow southeast. Hours of darkness still remained—dawn came late on the Bering Sea in February. Captain Prout stayed in the wheelhouse, drinking coffee with his son and looking out at the icy night, as the Silver Spray churned along. >click to read<20:06
Busted! Environmental Police discover scallops hidden in bathroom, refrigerator
A commercial scallop vessel was found to be hiding scallops in the bathroom and refrigerator following an inspection on Sunday, according to the Massachusetts Environmental Police. The fishing vessel Lugia was on a “closed area trip” which restricted the landing limit to 18,000. Upon completion of the off-load, the vessel was found to be over the limit by three-hundred pounds. Environmental Police officers asked the captain if there were any more scallops on the vessel after the off-load, according to Maj. Pat Moran. >click to read<18:24
Ice, winds block early fishing season in Gulf of St. Lawrence
Thick ice and cold weather conditions are preventing an early snow crab fishing season that would help reduce potential ship strikes and whale entanglements in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The Coast Guard’s Sir William Alexander, a light icebreaker, was called to smash through packs of ice off the northeast coast of New Brunswick to help the critically endangered North Atlantic right whales that are expected to make their way to Canadian waters later this spring. “The ice conditions are severe,” said Douglas Roe, commander of the icebreaker. >click to read<16:43
Indonesia Seizes Fugitive Fishing Boat Carrying 18 Miles of Illegal Gillnets
Indonesia, acting on a request from Interpol, has seized a fishing boat carrying 600 illegal gillnets that can stretch up to 30 km (18 miles) after it evaded capture in several countries, the Fisheries Ministry said. The vessel, the STS-50, had targeted Antarctic toothfish, the ministry said, a cod species that plays an important role in the Southern Ocean ecosystem. Officially stateless, the STS-50 evaded authorities by flying eight different flags at different times, including those of Sierra Leone, Togo, Cambodia, South Korea, Japan, Micronesia and Namibia, the ministry said in a statement on Sunday. >click to read<13:22
BLACK SEA BASS – THE NEW “WAR BETWEEN THE STATES”
On April 9, 1865, General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant at the Appomattox Court House in Virginia, signifying the end of the U.S. Civil War. One hundred and fifty-three years to the day, north and south are set to do battle yet again, this time over sea bass. From April 30 through May 3, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASFMC) will hold its 2018 spring meeting in Arlington, VA, a city that was once the dividing line between Confederates to the South and the Union Army to the north during the bloodiest war in U.S. history. >click to read<12:41
State of Washington v. United States: Supreme Court to tackle salmon case without Justice Kennedy
When the full Supreme Court resumes arguments in mid-April, the Court will be short by one Justice when it considers a long-running dispute about salmon fishing, Indian treaty rights, and culverts in the state of Washington. On March 19, the Clerk of the Supreme Court clerk Scott Harris told the parties in State of Washington v. United States that a routine check missed Justice Anthony Kennedy’s participation in an earlier judicial decision from 1985, when Kennedy was on the federal circuit bench, related to the current case. After learning about the situation, the court said Justice Kennedy declined to end his participation in the current case. With eight Justices on the bench for the April 18 arguments, Washington v. United States should get its fair share of attention. >click to read<
1996: Calving of right whales faces new threats – Today: Lobstermen fear Right whale extinction threat is being overstated
The math of protecting right whales from extinction is scary stuff: The stakes are high, scientific opinion varies and some rescue plans could make it impossible for lobstermen to earn a living. Getting that math right matters when the futures of right whales and Maine’s lobster industry are so closely intertwined. Right whale numbers have dwindled to about 450 because of deadly ship strikes, fishing gear entanglements and low birth rates, while Maine’s lobster industry is the backbone of the state’s coastal economy, raking in about $434 million from landings in 2017 and generating another $1 billion for Maine in post-dock revenues. >click to read<08:56
1996: Calving of right whales faces new threats -,,, Scientists have sighted 20 calves, a record after years of falling counts. Only 320 or so of the behemoths now ply the North Atlantic.,,,at times getting hit. Other whales get entangled in fishing gear. But scientists say the roots of the problem go beyond such incidents and are increasingly a grim mystery, prompting a redoubling of protective efforts and detective work. >click to read<
