Daily Archives: August 4, 2018
Don Cuddy: Sector reopenings benefit to New Bedford remains to be seen
The news emerged on July 19 that NOAA approved a plan that may now permit some New Bedford fishermen back to work. ,,,So while this decision is a small step forward for the groundfish industry here, it is not yet time to set the church bells ringing since the majority of the inactive quota is owned by inactive fishermen. When the catch share system was introduced in 2010 it gave all permit holders a slice of the pie- the “pie” being a share of the TAC, or total allowable catch, for the annual fishing year, which for groundfish begins on May 1. Individual allocations were based on a permit holder’s catch history over a ten-year period from 1998 to 2008, I believe it was. That effectively means all of the cod, haddock and flounder swimming around on Georges Bank, more than one hundred miles offshore, have someone’s name on their backs, similar to a herd of cattle,,, leased , sold, or traded,,, >click to read<20:53
Celebrating the U.S. Coast Guard’s 228th Anniversary
“You can kick this old service around, tear it to pieces, scream from the house-tops that it is worthless, ought to be abolished or transferred to the Navy, have the people in it fighting among themselves and working at cross purposes and it bobs up serenely bigger and stronger than ever.” – Cmdr. Russell R. Waesche, Sr. As the quote by World War II Commandant Russell Waesche indicates, the evolution of the United States Coast Guard provides a unique study in organizational history. This August (4th) marks the 228th birthday of an agency that has endured through the absorption of other agencies and their missions, personnel, offices and assets. In spite of multiple reorganizations and departmental transfers, the service has expanded in range and mission set. >click to read<
Openhydro receivership leaves murky waters
It’s a tall order for a sheriff: arrest a turbine control centre at the bottom of the. But that’s what a warrant filed with the federal court on behalf of a German shipping company calls on them to do. “It is unusual to have a warrant on a cargo 37 metres below the sea’s surface,” said Marc Isaacs, the attorney who filed the claim on behalf of BBC Chartering Carriers GMBH & Co.KG. “We will have to figure that one out.” There’s a lot of figuring out left to be done as a result of the 1,000 tonne tidal turbine placed on the floor of the Minas Passage by the Ireland-based OpenHydro group of companies that was placed into receivership a week later. >click to read<17:36
Slow going toward the 39M harvest forecast
Commercial salmon harvests in Prince William Sound topped the 15.4 million mark through July 31, up by three million fish over the previous week, compared to 20.4 million delivered by the same time a year ago. All five species of Pacific salmon are running below the catch rate or the same statistics week one year ago. The pink salmon harvest has reached nearly 11 million fish, compared to 13 million at this time in July of 2016, and this year’s forecast of 32.7 million humpies. Deliveries of sockeyes have reached 1.3 million fish, compared to a year-to-date harvest in 2017 of 1.4 million, and the keta harvest stood at 3.2 million fish, compared to a catch of 5.4 million chums through the same time last year. On the bright side, the Copper River district >click to read<13:47
Florida lobster fishermen testy on trade
Just as they prepare for a crucial harvest in the wake of Hurricane Irma, lobster fishermen in the Florida Keys fear a trade war with China could undermine storm recovery in the island chain. Florida’s nearly eight-month commercial spiny lobster fishing season opens Monday. Keys fishermen had hoped the harvest would help them recoup losses from last September’s hurricane, which made landfall in the Keys with 130 mph winds.,, “Hopefully the tariffs will get figured out because you can’t run your boat and not make money, especially after a hurricane year when you’ve lost so much,” Piton said in a recent interview outside his Key Largo home, where he docks his boat, “Risky Business II.” >click to read<12:49
Hearing for FISH-NL Set for August
The president of the Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union says FISH-NL does not have the support to move ahead with its application to represent fish harvesters in the province. FISH-NL, led by Ryan Cleary, is looking for a ratification vote to represent inshore harvesters. FISH NL’s Ryan Cleary says the hearing will either lead to a vote or it won’t, but first he’s hoping all harvesters and their families will attend the presentations. The meeting is happening at the School for the Deaf on Topsail Road in St. John’s. Cleary says it’s finally happening 20 months after they submitted the application. >click to read<11:39
The man who built a better crab trap: Arlington company’s pots stack the decks on reality TV’s ‘Deadliest Catch’
Lance Nylander, company president with 31 years in the industry, obsessed over how to build a better king crab trap. Through grit, trial and error, fair pricing and multi-use trap design, the resourceful entrepreneur and eighth-grade dropout has cornered a crab and fish trap market that has survived complex quota systems, industry rationalization and Chinese knock-offs that were no match for his original. “I quit my competitor, and off I went, started with a thousand units, and it just kind of went from there,” Nylander said of his 1987 business venture. “Four years later, Dungeness Gear Works was number one in the industry.” >click to read<09:32
Testimony: Young fishermen being driven from Long Island fishing industry
A generation of young fishermen are being driven from the industry by an antiquated licensing system that makes it difficult if not impossible to transfer permits, fishermen said at one of several state meetings last week. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has hired a consultant from Maine to meet with commercial fishermen across the metropolitan area over the next month to compile proposals for fixing the system.,, Norman Stiansen, a commercial fisherman from Hampton Bays, said his son Peter recently gave up on becoming a commercial fishermen because he couldn’t get the needed licenses. >click to read<08:50
Fraser River sockeye salmon fishing bonanza to start next week
The Fraser River will open next week for its first sockeye salmon run of the season, in a year that is expected to bring in millions of fish for the first time in four years. For local fishermen, it’s better than Christmas. “Oh, we’re super excited,” said Richmond fisherman Roy Jantunen, hours after learning the Pacific Salmon Commission had announced a 24-hour opening from 7 a.m. Wednesday. Jantunen is preparing to go flat out for that full day, without any sleep, to maximize his catch. “It’s great news,” he said. “Last week, we were pulling out the nets and getting them ready. We haven’t used these nets in four years.” >click to read<08:08
