Daily Archives: May 24, 2018
P.E.I. lobster buyers vote to suspend collecting lobster levy
Island lobster buyers are not collecting the one cent per pound levy this year, but fishermen will continue to pay theirs. P.E.I. was the first province in the region to introduce the two cent levy in 2016. The levy took one cent per pound from Island fishermen for lobster they brought in and another cent per pound from the buyers. The money was used for marketing lobster products with the fishermen’s levy going toward the Lobster Fishers Marketing Board and the buyer’s share to the P.E.I. Lobster Marketing Authority Inc. Francis Morrissey, former acting president of the P.E.I. Lobster Marketing Authority Inc., said buyers voted earlier this year to suspend collecting the levy in 2018. >click to read<22:53
Low Copper River sockeye returns leave state mulling closures
Initially poor runs of sockeye salmon on the Copper River have prompted the state to cancel at least one window for commercial fishing from the river, with future opportunities being reassessed based on tracking data. The state Department of Fish and Game issued a Wednesday statement closing a planned Thursday window for Copper River commercial fishing, but allowing a subsistence fishing window on the same day to continue. The statement cited sonar data from Miles Lake as a key factor in the closure. >click to read<19:16
Justice Department fines 2 Hawaii commercial fishing companies over illegal discharge
Two Honolulu-based commercial fishing companies have been ordered to pay civil fines after they discharged oily bilge waste into the Pacific Ocean. Under a settlement reached with the U.S. Department of Justice and the Coast Guard, Triple Dragon, LLC, its company manager and vessel operator have been ordered to pay fines totaling $25,500 for violations of the Clean Water Act and the Coast Guard’s spill prevention and pollution control regulations. The other company, Capt. Millions III, its manager and vessel operator were ordered to pay fines totaling $22,000 for the same violations. >click to read<18:18
World First: LNG-Fueled Fishing Trawler Powered by MAN D&T
MAN Diesel & Turbo was picked to provide a complete propulsion package and fuel-gas system for the world’s first fishing vessel with LNG propulsion, an 86-m newbuild purse-seiner dubbed ‘Libas’ to be built by Cemre Shipyard in Istanbul. Libas will feature a MAN 6L51/60DF main engine, Renk gearbox, MAN Alpha propeller system and MAN Cryo LNG fuel-gas system with a 350 cu. m. tank. Liegruppen, the Norwegian fishing group, has ordered the vessel, while compatriot, Salt Ship Design, has provided the design. >click to read<16:18
Playing with a “Full Deck”? Scientists say fish feel pain. It could lead to major changes in the fishing industry.
Fish feel pain. Read that sentence again: Fish feel pain. The idea that fish suffer runs counter to almost everything Americans have been taught about creatures of the sea. That their brains are not complex enough to experience pain. That their behaviors when stressed — such as wriggling violently on a hook — are just unconscious reactions, disconnected from the suffering of sentient beings. That they’re, more or less, unfeeling little meat sticks that don’t deserve animal welfare protections. Greg Abrams, a longtime commercial fisherman in Florida, perhaps best sums up the classic American attitude about fish and their potential to suffer: “God put these animals on the earth for us to survive on,” he says. “Whoever’s coming out with ‘fish are tortured’ or ‘fish feel pain,’ they’re not playing with a full deck. I don’t want to be rude.” >click to read<13:48
Crew of sunken ‘Ocean Way’ was unprepared for emergency
On the morning of 3 March 2017, the twin-rigged trawler Ocean Way foundered 18 nautical miles north-east of Lerwick, Scotland, after suffering a flood in its aft compartment/accommodation space. The flood was almost certainly the result of hull damage caused when the port trawl door struck the hull during recovery of the gear. Despite the crew’s efforts to bring the flooding under control using fixed and portable pumps, the ingress of water exceeded the pumping effort and Ocean Way succumbed to overwhelming down flooding when the open accommodation space escape hatch submerged. >click to read<12:37
Turf War: Eastern Shore lobster fishermen say vandalism, threats continuing
Jason Keating had a buoy on the hauler Saturday morning when another lobster boat steamed slowly by with eight people aboard. “You move your (expletive) gear right now you (expletive),” was shouted at him, among other things, from Colin McKay’s passing cape islander. Keating recorded the interaction with a video camera he’d purchased the night before. In fact at least four of Little Harbour’s eleven fishermen have begun carrying video cameras to record their interactions on the water with McKay. “I bought the camera to protect myself,” said Keating. Graphic Video, >click to read<10:31
Maryland congressman seeks reassurance on impact of offshore wind
An amendment to legislation has been passed that requests the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to study the effects of offshore wind projects on wildlife offshore Maryland.
The House Committee on Appropriations marked up the FY19 Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations bill earlier in May. Congressman Andy Harris authored, and the committee passed, an amendment ordering the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) “to study the effects of offshore wind projects on marine mammals and fish, as well as the need for any mitigation measures.” >click to read<09:30
Illegal fishing drives early shutdown of elver fishery
The Department of Marine Resources announced Wednesday afternoon that it will shut down the elver fishery two weeks early “because of illegal sales which jeopardize the department’s ability to manage the fishery.” The department will use its emergency rulemaking authority to close the season. The elver fishing season will close at 6 a.m. on Thursday, May 24. The season was scheduled to end at noon on Thursday, June 7. Under the regulation, licensed harvesters may not fish for or take elvers after 6 a.m. on May 24, but may possess and sell elvers until noon on that day. Licensed dealers may purchase elvers until noon on May 24, and may possess legally purchased elvers until 6 a.m. on May 29. >click to read<08:34
‘Just one more nail in the coffin,’ Fishermen react to Vineyard Wind announcement
Ed Anthen-Washburn, the Director of The New Bedford Port Authority, received a constant stream of calls Wednesday afternoon after the announcements of offshore winf contracts.,,,”I think its fair to say to say the general reaction in the fishing industry is shock,” Anthes-Washburn said.,, The Vineyard Wind award for the power purchase agreement with Massachusetts was the worst-case scenario for Rhode Island commercial fishing vessels, for all squid vessels and really for the worlds calamari supply,” said Meghan Lapp, a fisheries liason for Seafreeze Ltd, which owns vessels that harvest squid, mackerel, butterfish, and herring. Lapp said Rhode Island lands more squid than the rest of the East Coast combined. >click to read< 00:08
