Daily Archives: October 18, 2018
Newfoundland and Labrador: Snow crab fishery changes tactics as stocks hit 25-year low
A study six years in the making shows some grim statistics for snow crab in Newfoundland and Labrador. The study was released at the same time the Department of Fisheries and Oceans announced the crab fishery was moving to a precautionary approach. That means if the crab numbers are low, the total allowable catch will be lowered, meaning less fishing for the province’s harvesters. >click to read<19:11
New Jersey: Andrzejczak/Land Black Sea Bass Summer Flounder Bill Clears Assembly Panel
In an effort to benefit commercial fishing operations, Assemblymen Robert Andrzejczak and Bruce Land (both D-1st) have sponsored legislation permitting commercial fishing vessels to possess more than the daily trip limit of black sea bass and summer flounder under certain conditions. The bill was advanced Oct. 18 by the Assembly Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee. >click to read<18:23
Report details economic value of Alaska’s salmon hatcheries
A new report shows that Alaska’s salmon hatcheries created one fourth of the economic value of the state’ total salmon harvest between 2012 and 2016 along with about 4,700 jobs statewide. McDowell Group, the Juneau-based economics consulting firm, based the report on eight of the state’s largest hatcheries, documenting $600 million in economic value. The estimate of jobs was done on an annualized basis, or how seasonal jobs are calculated as if they were year-round. The report, sponsored by the eight private nonprofit hatcheries included in the study, was released as the state Board of Fisheries considers proposals submitted by sportfish interests to curtail hatchery production, citing concerns on the impact of hatchery fish on wild salmon stocks. >click to read<15:55
Norway and Russia agree to slash cod, haddock quotas in Barents Sea, suspend capelin catch
The joint Norwegian-Russian Fishery Commission decides to reduce next year’s quotas to 725,000 tons. “After another round of constructive and good negotiations with Russia I am pleased that we have reached an agreement for 2019,” says Norwegian Fisheries Minister Harald T. Nesvik. “This will allow us to continue to harvest our joint fisheries in the Barents Sea in a sustainable way,” he adds. In 2019, the Barents fisheries will also see haddock quotas reduced quotas. The capelin catch will be halted. <click to read<
In Iceland, activists, industry are raging war over commercial whaling
In Iceland, a worldwide hotspot for whale watching, gentle giants seem to rule the sea. But all the while some species of whales are still being hunted. Iceland is one of just two countries in the world that allows commercial whaling in defiance of the International Whaling Commission’s ban on whaling, making this island nation the frontlines of the war on whaling. “Iceland is all fishermen,” said Kristjan Loftsson, the managing director of the Icelandic whale hunting company, Hvalur H/F. “We are utilizing the ocean.” >click to read<14:30
Northern Shrimp: Regulators set hearing on shrimp rules
Meeting in Portland earlier this month, the ASMFC’s Northern Shrimp Section approved, subject to public comment, an “addendum” to the current version of the Northern Shrimp Fishery Management Plan. The addendum would allow each of the three states that have shrimp landings — primarily Maine but also New Hampshire and Massachusetts — to allocate their annual catch quotas between the types of gear used in the fishery. The ASMFC will take written comments on the rule until Wednesday, Nov. 7. >click to read<11:46
Death of a fisherman – lifejackets now mandatory for company crewmen
A fatal accident inquiry at Lerwick Sheriff Court heard on Wednesday that Kirkudbright based West Coast Sea Products had made the wearing of lifejackets mandatory for its crewmen after the death of 34-year-old Scott Rennie from Newton Stewart. Mr Rennie fell from the scallop dredger King Challenger as he tried to unhook damaged gear on the ‘tipping deck’ of the 21metre long boat on 23 June 2016. In what Sheriff Ian Cruickshank called an “incredibly brave” effort to save Mr Rennie, fellow crewman Darren Rennie, who is no relation, dived into the sea to get a line around his unconscious crew mate. >click to read<10:01
Facing the Wind – A fisherman’s take on offshore wind
Local fishermen are on the verge of forever losing local fishing grounds to wind power as California trades one renewable resource (seafood) for another (electricity). The state of California and its citizens are on the front line of the efforts to convert our energy use from the burning of fossil fuels (oil and gas) to renewable sources of power — solar and wind. The latest move toward this conversion is for the sale of offshore ocean leases to wind power companies for the development of “at sea” wind farms with the ocean area off of Eureka and Trinidad as the prime first sites. >click to read<08:55
