Daily Archives: April 26, 2018
Lawsuit challenges fishing methods that could threaten right whales
An environmental activist is seeking a preliminary injunction to stop the use of vertical buoy fishing lines in Massachusetts waters to protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales. In lawsuit filed in late February in U.S. District Court in Boston, conservationist Richard Maximus Strahan of Peterborough, New Hampshire, has sued the administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the assistant administrator of the Nation Marine Fisheries Service, the secretary of the Massachusetts Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, the director of the state Division of Massachusetts Fisheries Service, the commissioners of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association, as a representative of its members. Strahan wants to stop the state’s lobster association members from further lobster pot and gill net commercial fishing operations unless they can scientifically demonstrate the endangered whales and sea turtles would not be killed or injured. >click to read<19:14
State regulators: Lobster season will have to wait – a sudden influx of right whales
Lobstermen already have to observe a three month closure from Feb. 1 to April 30 annually in an effort to reduce the number of whales that get entangled in fishing gear during their annual migration. Now, however, boats won’t be able to hit the water until May 6 at the earliest, and a second regulation imposes a 10 knot speed limit for vessels less than 65 feet long through May 15. Right whales feed close to the surface and are vulnerable to vessel strikes. “There are a number of challenges in this industry, and one of those is being able to fund your livelihood for 12 months when you can only fish for nine months,” John Haviland, president of the South Shore Lobster Fishermen’s Association, said. >click to read<17:34
FISH-NL calls on Labour Board to conduct vote – FFAW-Unifor’s membership numbers ‘misleading’
Almost 16 months after FISH-NL presented an application for certification, the preliminary report of an investigator with the Labour Relations Board was released last week, with final submissions on Wednesday. The investigator’s report is now in the hands of the Board, which will ultimately decide how to proceed. FISH-NL has estimated the number of inshore harvesters in the province at around 4,500, while the FFAW-Unifor pegs the number at as high as 10,000. The difference is in definition. >click to read<15:50
San Diego’s “Fishy” History: The Birth of Tuna Fisheries
Founding of the American Tuna Fishery – San Diego is often credited with birthing the American tuna fishery. The industry traces back to 1903, when a sardine packer in San Pedro switched to canning of albacore. “Consumers’ acceptance of canned tuna soon led to the development of fishing fleets in both San Diego and San Pedro,” a research paper published by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in July 1978 stated. “San Diego became the major base for the fleet, a position it continues to hold [through 1978].” The first cannery opened its doors in 1909; the first tuna cannery arrived two years later. >click to read<13:31
Fishermen prepare for lobster season
Warren Francis and his family were in high spirits as they readied their brand-new fishing boat at Pictou Landing’s wharf under a sunny spring sky for the upcoming lobster season starting next Monday.,, But fisherman Ronnie Heighton, who sits on the Gulf of Nova Scotia Fleet Planning Board, said that fishermen plying the Northumberland Strait for catches can “live quite happily.” “There’s never a bad day when you fish lobster,”,, However, Heighton states that danger lies ahead for fishermen who rely on the Strait for their livelihoods.>click to read<12:00
Coast Guard medevacs 66-year-old man from fishing boat 40 miles southwest of Fort Myers Beach
The Coast Guard medevaced a 66-year-old man from a 90-foot fishing boat 40 miles southwest of Fort Myers Beach, Thursday. Rescued was Alfredo Simon, 66, from Fort Myers. At 2:44 a.m. Sector St. Petersburg watchstanders received a call via VHF-FM marine band radio channel 16 reporting Simon was suffering from symptoms of a heart attack aboard the 90-foot fishing boat, Double E. A flight surgeon recommended Simon be medevaced. A 45-foot Response Boat-Medium boatcrew from Station Fort Myers Beach was launched, arrived on scene and transported Simon to the station. -USCG-10:43
Newport Port Commission gets an earful from the fishing community
The Newport Port Commission this week got an earful from a large group of commercial fishing families who contend that the port’s financial troubles should not be placed on the backs of the fishing community. The port commission this week was scheduled to consider fee and lease increases which fishermen claim would raise their rent and service rates 18% to 60%. Several fishermen came right out and accused the commission of trying to make up for lost income and other opportunities at the still under-developed Newport International Terminal. >click to read<09:35
Monterey Bay fishermen working round the clock to pull in plentiful squid
In Monterey Harbor, a collection of at least eleven boats have been fishing for squid not far from shore since April 1, their lights visible off the coast at night. When the fishing is good, said Joe Russo, second captain and deckhand on the fishing vessel King Philip, it’s not uncommon for them to spend 24 hours a day netting tens of thousands of pounds of slippery squid with each return to shore. They continue through the spring, summer, and into early fall, if they don’t exceed the quota set by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. >click to read<08:47
