Monthly Archives: May 2018
Kings of the wild frontier
In 2013, I sat in a courtroom in Bethel, Alaska, and watched the trial of 23 Yup’ik fishermen, accused of flouting a ban on the fishing of king salmon the previous summer. The ban had been implemented by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game as king salmon numbers plummeted, unexpectedly and inexplicably. The fishermen pleaded not guilty. They were justified in fishing, they said, because the taking of king salmon was part of their spiritual practice, their cultural heritage. First amendment. Mike Williams, then chief of the Yup’ik nation, pulled me to one side during a recess. “Gandhi had his salt, we have our salmon,” he said. For the Yup’ik, getting arrested was no accident. They had issued a press release about their intention to fish before setting out. >click to read< 14:46
Alaska Legislators pass a flurry of bills in final days before adjournment
Among the bills passing in the final days of last week were some significant pieces of legislation, Fishing loan increases (HB 56) Fishermen can borrow more money from the state’s Alaska Commercial Fishing Loan Fund in this measure from Rep. Dan Ortiz, I-Ketchikan. HB 56, passed Thursday, allows fishermen to borrow up to $400,000 for commercial fishing entry permits and individual fishing quotas. They can also borrow up to that amount to upgrade their gear or fishing boat. The old cap was $300,000. >click to read<13:58
Federal Delegation ‘Solidly Behind’ New Bedford in Fishing Fight
Prior to a town hall-style meeting in New Bedford on Saturday, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren quietly gathered with fellow senator Ed Markey and Congressman William Keating in the Wharfinger Building on Pier 3. Inside, the three legislators sat for more than an hour, listening to representatives of the fishing community relay their present and future concerns facing the industry. About 80 fishermen out of New Bedford have been unable to fish or lease their quotas since NOAA shut down Sector IX in November. The shutdown remains in effect until the feds can estimate how much quota convicted “Codfather” Carlos Rafael depleted in his overfishing scheme. Massachusetts’ two senators have been all but crucified for what many see as inaction on the Sector IX closure. >click to read<09:12
Two fishermen dead after lobster boat capsizes
Two fishermen are dead after a lobster boat capsized on the water off Inverness County early Saturday morning. Nova Scotia RCMP say they recieved a 911 call at around 6 a.m. about a fishing vessel that had capsized less than 100 metres from the shore near Port Hood. There are few details available at this time, but sources say a 30-foot lobster boat carrying three fishermen capsized near the community of Colindale, N.S. Three men on board were thrown from the boat, and one of them was able to swim to shore. Video, >click to read<20:33
Shrimp boat runs aground along Holden Beach coast
What started as a normal day on the job turned into a bit of nightmare for one shrimp boat captain. Big Earl, the shrimp boat, washed up on the beach in Holden Beach. Boat Captain, Virgil Coleman said he got in trouble around 4 p.m. Thursday. Coleman said he, along with another person had just started shrimping when the winds caused a net to get stuck in the boat’s propeller. The current winds pushed the boat closer to shore overnight and eventually beached the ship on the east end of the island. Video, >click to read<14:49
PEIFA shares concerns about right whales
The Prince Edward Island Fishermen’s Association (PEIFA) would like to clarify and expand upon some of the information that has been in the media recently regarding North American Right Whales (NARW). The PEIFA shares the concerns of the public around the declining population of these magnificent marine mammals. The organization has been very active during the past winter attending numerous Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) informational meeting and representing the Prince Edward Island inshore harvesting sector,,, Both the snow crab and lobster fishers on P.E.I. have supported and implemented the reduction of rope in their fishing practises and other gear standardization. >click to read<13:57
Portuguese fishermen helped launch Georgia shrimp industry
Wild Georgia Shrimp had it pretty good around here until the likes of John Martin and Joe Santos arrived on our shores following World War I. These two men were among the early wave of Portuguese refugees who crossed the Atlantic Ocean early in the 20th Century, only to chart a course right back into the sea to reap its bounty. Suddenly, our local shrimp began showing up in large numbers on menus and dinner tables from here to New York City. By the 1930s, the public’s newfound taste for these crustaceans had filled the docks along Brunswick’s East River with shrimp boats, all of them captained and crewed by stout-hearted Old World mariners. Those vessels would include the seven trawlers Joe Santos and partner John Mendes owned jointly in the Union Shrimp Company. >click to read<12:49
Scientists say Maine’s lobster boom won’t last. Here are the fisheries coming next
In southern New England, many fishermen have turned their attention to species such as Jonah crab and black sea bass, the numbers of which have increased as ocean temperatures warm and as lobster in the region have become more scarce. Maine’s lobster landings remain near historic highs, but some say the changes that have occurred south of Cape Cod are inevitable in the Gulf of Maine. “I know it’s a hard concept to get around, but it’s going to happen,” Norbert Stamps, a Rhode Island fisherman, told a roomful of other fishermen at the Maine Fishermen’s Forum in Rockport in March. “It seems as the lobster declined [in southern New England], the crab increased. And sea bass are everywhere.” >click to read<10:43
San Pedro fisherman officially hangs it up at 99 years old
When Robert “Bobby” Austin was growing up in the 1920s and 1930s, Torrance was an expanse of open acreage. He also started driving at 10 — walked right into the Torrance police office at the age of 14 asking for a driver’s license. “How did you get here?” the desk officer asked. “I drove,” Bobby replied, pointing to the Model T Ford outside. Good enough. Traffic was nonexistent and gas was a nickel a gallon. Only a couple years later, in 1937, he beat the captain of a fishing boat at arm wrestling to win a spot on his crew for the next trip out. For 81 years, Austin’s fishing boats have called San Pedro Bay home. >click to read<08:26
Ottawa considers dozens more marine protected areas in Maritimes that have not been made public
Ottawa is considering dozens more marine protected areas in Maritime waters, according to maps and other data shared by the federal government with stakeholders. The maps show 24 proposed marine protected areas (MPA) on the Scotian Shelf, including the entire Bras d’Or Lakes in Cape Breton and dozens more in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The maps show 24 proposed marine protected areas (MPA) on the Scotian Shelf, including the entire Bras d’Or Lakes in Cape Breton and dozens more in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. >click to read<18:53
Investor confidence shaken by surf clam controversy: Fisheries Council of Canada
The Fisheries Council of Canada says the Trudeau government’s decision to seize nearly $25 million in surf clam quota from one company and give it to another is causing investors to lose confidence in the industry. Council President Paul Lansbergen said governments have established and maintained a consistent model for applying licensing rules over the years, which has led to expectations of their consistent application — something that’s critical for businesses to make investment decisions. But in the wake of the controversial expropriation of an Arctic surf clam quota by Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc, without any compensation, Lansbergen said “a clear lack of criteria and policy has created a climate of uncertainty and instability in fisheries management.” >click to read<17:23
Maryland’s Crab Country: Not Enough Visas, Not Enough Workers
Music blared as 21 Mexican women methodically cracked open steamed crabs piled high inside a cool, bright room. They picked out the meat and packed it into 1-pound containers that their employer, G.W. Hall & Sons, ships to wholesalers in the mid-Atlantic and as far away as Canada. A half-mile down Old House Point Road, the picking room at a competing company, Russell Hall Seafood, was silent, no workers to be seen. Bare metal tables, normally heaped with crabs this time of year, gleamed. The difference: one firm won the visa lottery, and the other lost. “It trickles all the way down the line,” said fisherman Burl Lewis, who normally sells a large amount of menhaden to Russell Hall Seafood but recently laid off a crew member from his 52-foot boat, the Trying Times. “The Mexican labor creates jobs for Americans. It’s creating my job.” >click to read<16:49
Quit blaming the commercial fishermen
The recent letter by Gary Mills from Terrace on the Department of Fisheries & Oceans (DFO) management of the West Coast fisheries (B.C. getting East-Coast treatment) is misinformed and disrespectful to the hundreds of men and women working in the commercial fishing industry on the North Coast. Through 10 years working as a biologist, fisheries observer and commercial fisher on both the East and West Coast, my experience has been much different. First, casting blame solely on commercial fishing for declining fish stocks is not fair. >click to read<14:46
Why is it that so many prominent environmental campaigners turn out to be such scumbags, sleazebags, hypocrites or frauds?
The latest to be exposed is, of course, New York’s ex-Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. When Schneiderman wasn’t busy – allegedly – “choking, beating and threatening” women, he was busy bullying the people he calls “climate deniers”. Here he is on a video in 2014 declaring that “climate deniers have no place in public life.” Let me give you a few more examples: Al Gore and the Portland massage therapist (one of several victims, allegedly, of his tentacular groping…) Rajendra Pachauri, former head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, exposed as a serial sex pest. David Suzuki – Canada’s most feted eco-campaigner who just happens to be a dick who is extremely rude and – see also Gore – an appalling hypocrite: >click to read<12:40
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for May 11, 2018
>Click here to read the Weekly Update<, to read all the updates >Click here<, for older updates listed as NCFA >click here<11:50
Mysterious South Carolina fish with humanlike teeth stumps the internet
The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources on Wednesday asked its social media followers to identify a fish with “humanlike incisors.” he department posted a riddle to its Facebook page, which reads: “You’ll need a saltwater fishing license to catch me! I like to hang out near rocks, jetties, reefs, and even bridges … The coolest thing about me? I have human-like incisors and molars to help crush my food. I like shrimp and oysters just like you do!” >click to read<11:19
Hawaii’s commercial swordfish fleet shut down for rest of year
Hawaii’s commercial swordfish fleet has been shut down for the rest of the year following a court order aimed at protecting endangered loggerhead sea turtles. The National Marine Fisheries Service closed the Hawaii shallow-set longline fishery in a move heralded Wednesday by conservation groups that sued for the turtle protections. Under the court order the swordfish fishery will close, and a new biological assessment will determine what the limit will be next year. “It’s a good result for all parties,” said Jim Cook, board member with the Hawaii Longline Association. >click to read<10:51
No mutiny: FFAW bans all FISH-NL supporters from running in its elections
All fish harvesters and processors who tried to split from Newfoundland and Labrador’s only fisheries union are now banned from running for executive positions. The Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union (FFAW) has altered its constitution to require anyone running in this summer’s election to sign an affidavit stating they have never signed a card with another organization. “If there’s people out there who are looking to tear down the organization, those people certainly cannot run for office,” Sullivan said.>click to read<10:00
Zinke Tells Panel Definitive Word on Offshore Drilling Plan Months Away
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke on Thursday reiterated that no new oil and gas exploration will be allowed off the Florida coast, but said the Trump administration’s plans for other offshore areas won’t be announced until the fall. Zinke appeared before the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Thursday to discuss a wide range of budgetary issues. But his talk with lawmakers hit a rough patch when Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., grilled him over the Interior Department’s plans to open up waters around the U.S. for oil exploration. >click to read<20:13
Proposal for tighter oversight of recreational striped bass catch dies
Commercial fishermen asked state regulators Tuesday night to make recreational fishermen tag their striped bass the way commercial operators do, to make sure they’re not taking too many fish. But the idea died when Doug Jenkins, president of the Twin Rivers Watermen’s group, in Warsaw, outlined his proposal to the Virginia Marine Resources Commission’s finfish management advisory committee. “We’re losing our rockfish (striped bass) quota and losing our crab industry,” Jenkins told the committee. >click to read< 18:32
5 things to know about Canadian Tire’s new acquisition, Helly Hansen
Canadian Tire Corp. announced Thursday its plans to acquire Norwegian outdoor apparel brand Helly Hansen in a $985-million deal. Here are five things to know about the skier and sailor-focused clothing company: Sea Captain Helly Juell Hansen and his wife Margrethe launched the company in 1877 out of Moss, Norway after the captain discovered a better way to protect himself from Norwegian weather by applying linseed oil to cotton canvas, according to the company’s website. That trick resulted in supple, waterproof clothing and the duo started producing and selling jackets, trousers and other items made this way. >click to read<16:28
LI fishermen object to black sea bass quota deal
Fishermen critical of a recent deal to ease black-sea bass regulations demanded further state action at a fisheries meeting Tuesday, but officials said the interstate agreement was the best they could get this year. Around a dozen angry party- and charter-boat captains attended a meeting of the Marine Resources Advisory Council in Setauket Tuesday night to raise objections to the deal, which effectively nixed a planned 12 percent reduction in the state’s recreational black sea bass quota this year. They and a supporting lawmaker cited a more lenient quota for competing New Jersey fishermen, saying anglers would favor the Garden State given its earlier season open and ability to keep more fish at a smaller size. >click to read<15:20
FFAW-Unifor bans thousands of members from running for executive positions in communist-like move: FISH-NL
The Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador (FISH-NL) accuses the FFAW-Unifor executive of manipulating the union Constitution to project their own jobs, and punish the inshore harvesters who took a stand against them. “The upwards of 3,000 harvesters who support FISH-NL have been banned from running for executive FFAW positions — including president, and vice-president,” says Ryan Cleary, President of FISH-NL. “So much for democracy — the labour situation in the Newfoundland and Labrador fishery is as bad as any communist regime ever was, and yet another reason why the Labour Relations Board must proceed with a vote.” >click to read<13:53
DFO scientists clarify the decline of cod
In a province where the fishery is foundational to its survival, the decline in cod stocks has many worried and searching for clear answers. This announcement was a particular shock as the same assessment in 2016 predicted a considerable increase in cod numbers for this year. But scientists and harvesters who had noted the declines in the cod’s food source, and the many starving fish of last year’s cod fishery, were not as surprised. Research scientist with the department of Fisheries and Oceans Dr. Mariano Koen-Alonso says the sudden and sharp decline in cod stock is something being seen across the ecosystem. >click to read<11:30
Raising the bar in a single hoist, Cadets redesign modern helicopter rescue basket
Coast Guard Academy Mechanical Engineering cadets have been prototyping a new and improved rescue basket, which could revolutionize the way the Coast Guard conducts search and rescue missions onboard the MH-60 Jayhawk helicopters. First Class Cadets Christian Breviario, Riely Brande, Benjamin Crutchfield, Nolan Richerson and Spencer Smith spent the last year working closely with the U.S. Coast Guard Research and Development Center to improve upon the current rescue basket design, after receiving input from search and rescue operators in the fleet.,, The new design, which is roomy enough for two individuals to comfortably sit in the basket, allows Coast Guard operators to shave off precious time during mass rescue situations. >click to read<10:40
Links between minister’s wife and surf clam deal lead to renewed calls for ethics probe
The ethics commissioner has rebuffed a request from a Conservative MP to investigate Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc’s decision to award a license for the Arctic surf clam fishery to a group with federal Liberal ties. But Conservatives are now asking Mario Dion to take a second look at the deal — because they say they now have evidence that a member of LeBlanc’s wife’s family had a financial stake in the winning bid. The Conservatives claim that link may have influenced LeBlanc’s decision — an suggestion the minister calls “ludicrous.” >click to read<09:58
N.J. Governor asks feds for six-month extension to assess impact of offshore wind farms on state’s main fishing grounds
Gov. Phil Murphy is asking the federal government to extend the public comment period on proposed new lease sales for offshore wind in the New York Bight, a step that could delay the process for up to six months. In a letter to Ryan Zinke, Secretary of the Interior, the governor requested more time (180 days) because the areas in New York under consideration for wind-energy development include New Jersey’s main fishing grounds, including two that are closest to its coast. >click to read<08:44
Chesapeake Bay’s blue crabs made it through tough weather, survey finds
Despite the seemingly unending winter weather, Maryland found that the population of blue crabs in the Chesapeake Bay are “healthy and sustainable.” According to this year’s Blue Crab Winter Dredge Survey from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, even though around 35 percent of adult female blue crabs didn’t make it through the cold, icy weather, there was a marked increase of young crabs returning to the bay this year. “The population is showing more resiliency to those ups and downs and those stresses,” said Chris Moore, senior regional ecosystem scientist with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. >click to read<23:36
Fishermen frustrated as Placentia lift bridge leaves boats stuck in harbour
The $50-million Sir Ambrose Shea Lift Bridge in Placentia works great — if you drive a car or a truck. The current problem is a cable reel that broke April 30, and the replacement isn’t due for about a month. Ken Viscount, a Placentia-area fisherman for more than 30 years, says it feels like they’ve been dealing with bridge problems day-in, day-out since it opened almost a couple of years ago. “It seems like every time it’s a good fishing time, like crabbing is now, I mean, that’s the fishermen’s moneymakers, eh? The bridge is broke,” >click to read<20:29
Clearwater throws cold water on surf clam rival’s prospects in 2018
Halifax-based Clearwater Seafoods spoke for the first time Tuesday since losing a valuable arctic surf clam quota and raised doubts about whether a new Indigenous rival will be able to live up to its promise to harvest in 2018. The company suggested the licence for about 9,600 tonnes of the shellfish, worth an estimated $29 million, is on hold while the award is challenged in Federal Court. “Our understanding is with a judicial review process, the Department [of Fisheries and Oceans] would pause in issuing a licence until that process plays itself out,”,, >click to read<18:02
