Monthly Archives: November 2018
McGuire to Host Hearing on Whale Protection Efforts and State of Latest Crab Season
Senator Mike McGuire, Chairman of the Joint Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture (JCFA), and Assemblymember Mark Stone, Vice Chairman, are hosting a comprehensive hearing next week at the Aquarium of the Bay in San Francisco. They will kick off the hearing with a State of the State of the California Dungeness Crab Season,,, Then they will transition into the robust efforts the State, Crab Fleet and numerous environmental organizations have been laser focused on: Protecting the Golden State’s majestic whales from entanglement. >click to read<20:30
Virtual whale entanglements seen as a learning tool
Scientists know for sure that commercial fishing rope entangles and eventually can kill North Atlantic right whales. But with the aid of technology to simulate an entrapment, scientists want to better understand and ultimately identify new, less harmful gear options. “We don’t want to have solutions that are good for whales but bad for fishermen,” said biologist Timothy Werner, who co-authored a recent study about the interactive simulation technology at the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium in Boston. >click to read<19:26
Editorial: Too close for comfort
Friday brought what may be the worst oil spill so far in the East Coast offshore. Husky Energy’s SeaRose production vessel spilled as much as 250,000 litres of oil into the ocean on Friday morning. Much of that oil is unlikely to be recovered and has instead been widely dispersed. The SeaRose is the same vessel that failed to follow iceberg protocols in March 2017, and was almost hit by an iceberg. Meanwhile, the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB) and the provincial government are still tied up in the usual conundrum. That’s the problem of being oil industry proponents, promoters, owners — and regulators. >click to read<
Gulf of Mexico Shrimp harvest reaches the lowest level recorded since October 2002
Commercial shrimp harvest reached 10.4 million pounds in the Gulf of Mexico for October 2018, the lowest reported for any October in the records maintained by the Southern Shrimp Alliance (SSA) going back to 2002. According to data from the Fishery Monitoring Branch of NOAA Fisheries’ Southeast Fisheries Science Center, in total, landings for the month were roughly 30 per cent below the prior sixteen-year historical average for the month. >click to read<12:13
Southwestern NS fishermen asked ‘Are you ready?’ as focus is put on safety heading into season
The Fisheries Safety Association of Nova Scotia and the Nova Scotia Fisheries Sector Council have been busy in the weeks leading up to the opening of the lobster fishery delivering man overboard drills, safety equipment demonstrations and safety messages at wharfs throughout southwestern Nova Scotia as part of their ‘Are You Ready?’ program. “Attendance at these drills has been fantastic, even in smaller ports for 10 or less vessels we are still seeing all captains and crews show up,” said Matthew Duffy, safety advisor for the Fisheries Safety Association of Nova Scotia. >click to read<10:53
Axed jobs and closed plants loom, warn crab harvesters about new management approach
Fishing businesses are on the line if the Department of Fisheries and Oceans implements a new management system for snow crab, says Port de Grave harvester. “Bankrupt … plant workers will lose their jobs. Plants will definitely close. Fishermen are definitely bankrupt,,, I’d say 80 per cent of the industry is bankrupt,” said Brad Doyle.,,, “We’ve had environmental issues that weren’t taken into account,” says fisher Brad Doyle. Fishers like Doyle want to known what impact other fish species and the growing population of harp seals is having on snow crab. >click to read<21:49
With Deepest Sorrow, We Say Farewell to Daniel “Danny” Moyer Cohen…
Daniel Myer Cohen, a pillar of the East Coast commercial fishing industry, and an eloquent spokesperson for commercial fisherman throughout America, died on November 20, 2018 in Cape May, NJ, at the age of 63, after a protracted and heroic struggle with cancer. “Danny,” as he was known, took over the small fishing-dock and several fishing boats left to him by his father, Joseph Cohen, in 1976 and built it into Atlantic Capes Fisheries, Inc., an industry leading vertically integrated seafood enterprise. ACF’s fleet of scallop, clam and other fishing vessels working out of company owned and managed facilities in Ocean City Maryland, Cape May and Point Pleasant New Jersey and additional ports in New England, supply seafood to company owned processing plants in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. >click to continue reading<18:54
Feds will keep only two of Carol Rafael’s seized vessels
More than a year after a judge ordered Carlos Rafael to forfeit four fishing vessels, the government will retain only two, according court documents obtained by The Standard-Times.,,Judge William Young filed a final forfeiture order Monday. According to the order, the Lady Patricia and all its permits as well as the Olivia & Rafaela and its permits must be forfeited to the United States. A total of $306,490 must also be paid to the United States. >click to read<18:23
Commercial fishermen oppose proposed oyster farm in Brunswick
A group of Brunswick commercial fishermen opposed an application by Mere Point Oyster Co. for a 40-acre lease in Maquoit Bay. “If I can’t go there because there’s something in the way, then I’m not going to stand for it,” lobster fisherman Andrew Ulrikson said during a Nov. 19 hearing held by the Department of Marine Resources, The Times Record reported. But Marine Resources aquaculture program director Jon Lewis said that the project can be approved with conditions to follow certain practices. >click to read<17:43
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 45′ Millenium Marine Tuna/Longline
Specifications, information and 22 photos >click here< To see all the boats in this series, >click here< Vessel cruises at 10 – 12 knots and 18 – 20 knots WOT. New L/P mini super spool 22 mile longline reel, beeper buoys available for additional $20,000. 14:42
‘It’s been an interesting life,’ Cape Sable Island fisherman reflects on decades of fishing
Bradford (Baffy) Symonds Jr. was only a-year-and-a-half old when his mother took him to Seal Island for the first time. “I’ve pretty well been on the ocean every year since,” said the retired Cape Sable Island fisherman. “It’s been an interesting life.” Symonds attended his first year of school on Seal Island in 1936. “There were about 40 to 50 students,” he says, explaining the island fishermen all took their families there in November. “Some stayed all winter. We always came home.” >click to read<14:00
Commercial Dungeness crab season delayed in Northern California
California Department of Fish and Wildlife Director Charlton H. Bonham issued a memo Tuesday delaying the Northern California commercial Dungeness crab season due to poor crab meat quality test results. The delay includes Fish and Game Districts 6, 7, 8 and 9 (Mendocino, Humboldt and Del Norte counties). The northern Dungeness crab fishery is delayed until 12:01 a.m. on Sunday, Dec.16, pending another round of test results tentatively scheduled for Dec. 1. If these results indicate good quality, the fishery will open and be preceded by a 64-hour gear setting period that would begin no earlier than 8:01 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 13. >click to read<12:13
Fisheries bill: Changes would allow small vessels to spend more days at sea and land more catch
Fishing rights should be redrawn to give a higher quota to smaller vessels after Brexit, the Labour party is to propose in an amendment to the government’s fisheries bill. The changes would allow small boats to spend more days at sea and land more catch than they do at present, though catches would still be subject to negotiation with the EU on common fishing grounds. Under current allocations, two-thirds of the UK’s quota of fish under the EU’s common fisheries policy is controlled by three major multinational companies. >click to read<11:27
Largest lobster fishing season opens in southwestern Nova Scotia next week
The largest commercial lobster season in the region, the province and the country gets underway next week in southwestern Nova Scotia and along the province’s south shore with the opening of the LFA 34 and 33 lobster fisheries.,, Aboard boats leaving from wharfs at the opening of their seasons will be more than 5,000 fishermen, which includes extra crewmembers that are hired for the opening weeks of the season. There are around 1,678 lobster licences amongst these two LFAs. >click to read<08:14
Vineyard Wind loses backing of a fishing board, decision may have serious consequences for proposed offshore wind farm
The Fishermen’s Advisory Board, which advises the Coastal Resources Management Council on fishing issues related to offshore wind, voted unanimously Monday to deny its support out of fear that the layout of the project’s 84 towering wind turbines in Rhode Island Sound would close off fishing grounds that are considered some of the most productive for the state’s commercial fleet.,,, The disagreement could have broader implications for the offshore wind industry and its relations with fishing communities all along the Northeast coast that are already fearful of being shunted aside in the interests of new energy development. >click to read<20:53
Coast Guard orders Taylor Energy to stop 14-year Gulf of Mexico oil leak
The Coast Guard is coming down hard on the owners of a broken oil platform that has been allowed to leak off southeast Louisiana for more than 14 years. New federal estimates put the leak rate at the Taylor Energy Co. well at 10,500 gallons to 29,000 gallons of oil per day. That’s five to 13 times larger than government’s estimate from just a year ago, and would rank the Taylor Energy leak as one of the largest and longest-running oil spills in North America. >click to read<18:36
N.L. crab fishers taken aback by DFO’s latest details on crab data
Alfred Fitzpatrick says it seems the opinions of fish harvesters aren’t carrying much weight with the science branch of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) as of late. “We always thought we had a pretty good relationship with DFO Science – when it come to crab anyways, cod is another story,” said the Garnish-based fishermen, who represents harvesters from the Burin Peninsula in crab fishing areas 10 and 11 on the Fish, Food and Allied Workers (FFAW-Unifor) union’s inshore council. “It seems like now it’s changing. It’s not a good working relationship, not as good anyway, I’ll say.” >click to read<16:10
Final harvest numbers in hand, halibut commission set for meeting
All of Alaska’s Pacific halibut fisheries stayed within their quota limits this year, but not all individual sectors within the fishery areas did. The final regular landings update for 2018 from the International Pacific Halibut Commission, issued Nov. 15, outlines the final data available before the first interim meeting of the commission. Overall, all Pacific halibut fisheries for Canada and the U.S. harvested about 26.5 million pounds of halibut, or about 95 percent of the total limit of 27.9 million pounds. >click to read<15:15
New Bedford Port Authority to become fisheries rep to offshore wind
The New Bedford Port Authority has reached an agreement with all offshore wind developers operating in the Massachusetts/Rhode Island market to serve as the designated Fisheries Representative of the commercial fishing industry to each of the development companies, according to a news release. Under federal guidelines issued by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management offshore wind developers must establish a fisheries representative to be the fishing community’s primary point of contact for communicating project-related concerns to the developer. >click to read<14:13
Fishermen’s blockade prevents survey ship from getting out of Pictou Harbour
In a showdown in Pictou Harbour Monday morning, a fleet of fishing boats forced a survey vessel back to port. Close to 30 fishing boats surrounded a small survey vessel tied to the wharf in Pictou and the attempt to survey the area for Northern Pulp’s new pipeline might be shutting down for several days. “They made it out to the mouth of the harbour,” said fisherman Darryl Bowen.“We were all just sitting there. They couldn’t get through, so they just turned around and came back in.” (Thank God someone has some fight left in them!) >Video, click to read<
Donnie Carlson found his niche on Swan’s Island
Many people in the lobster industry see fishing as a birthright. They fish because their father fished, and maybe his father before him. Donnie Carlson started on that familiar path, but took an unexpected turn 30-plus years ago. As a boy, Carlson, a life-long resident of Swan’s Island, worked as sternman for his father during lobster and scallop season. Unlike most island boys, though, he suffered from terrible motion sickness. While he loved working outdoors, he decided early on he wouldn’t have a career on the water. >click to read<10:41
Local fishermen approved to trawl commercially off coast of Virginia Beach
If you head to a restaurant in Virginia Beach, you might just find freshly caught Virginia shrimp on the menu. That’s thanks to an experimental fishing permit given to two local fishermen. Deputy Chief of Fisheries Management for the Virginia Marine Resources Commission Patrick Geer said in recent years, they have seen waters along the East Coast starting to warm. That, in combination with a few other factors, has caused an increase in larvae to settle in our area, meaning more shrimp are surviving in our waters. >click to read<10:10
Vessel Incident Discharge Act – Commercial Fleet Gets Relief on Vessel Ballast Water Issue
US Coast Guard legislation that passed the US Senate Nov. 14, will relieve commercial fishing vessel owners and operators from federal and state regulations for ballast water and other incidental discharges.,, The provisions provides a permanent exemption on incidental vessel discharge for all commercial fishing vessels and commercial vessels under 79 feet in length. Without this exemption, small vessel operators and fishermen would be forced to obtain Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) permits for even the most basic activity, including vessel deck runoff, hosing out their fish holds, and other minor discharges. >click to read<09:27
The Frightful Cost of Virginia Offshore Wind
On November 6, Virginia’s State Corporation Commission (SCC) regulatory agency approved a project to construct wind turbines near Virginia Beach. The plan calls for construction of turbines 27 miles off the coast,,, The project, named Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW), will be the first offshore wind project in the mid-Atlantic.,, The wholesale price for electricity in Virginia is about 3 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh).,,The electricity produced from the two offshore turbines will receive 78 cents per kWh, or a staggering 26 times the wholesale price. >click to read<21:36
Maine scallop fishery, a conservation success story, to start for the winter
The state’s rebuilt fishery for scallops, which runs from November to April, is getting started for the winter in the coming days. Many in the state’s seafood industry consider Maine scallops a conservation success story, as the fishery collapsed in the mid-2000s and slowly rebuilt to the point where fishermen last year collected the highest total since 1997. >click to read<18:45
Washington state asks lawmakers for $90 million to improve habitat for orcas, salmon
If approved, a $90 million budget request to the state legislature could aggressively tackle what’s needed to help Puget Sound’s southern resident orcas survive. A request on Monday by Hilary Franz, the state’s Commissioner of Public Lands, would increases the money already being spent on restoring habitats for salmon, removing barriers that inhibit the fish from reaching their spawning ground, researching ocean acidification, and removing rundown vessels on waterways, according to an emailed statement from the state’s Department of Natural Resources. >click to read<
One king salmon worth more than a barrel of oil to AK fishermen; Updates for 2018/19
Salmon stakeholders are still crunching the numbers from the 2018 season, which up front has two distinctions: it ranks as one of the most valuable on record to fishermen at nearly $596 million, and at just over 114 million salmon, it’s one of the smallest harvests in 34 years. A breakdown by the McDowell Group shows the sockeye harvest was the second most valuable in 26 years; the chum catch was the third most valuable since 1975. Audio report, >click to read<17:06
Video Release – Coast Guard conducts long-range medevac near St. Paul, Alaska
A Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew medevaced a man from a commercial fishing vessel approximately 100 miles north of St. Paul, Alaska, Sunday. The crew hoisted and transported a 63-year-old crew member from the 147-foot Blue Attu to awaiting Guardian emergency flight services personnel in St. Paul for further care and transport to Anchorage. He was reported to be in stable condition at the time of transfer. Video, >click to read<13:20
Alder Point man sentenced for damaging fishing boat
A 33-year-old Alder Point man has been sentenced in connection with an assault and damage to a fishing boat. Kenneth Anthony LeBlanc was sentenced on charges of assault, mischief under $5,000 (he was initially charged with mischief over $5,000), uttering a threat and two counts of breaching court orders. The offences are alleged to have occurred between May and June 2017 in Alder Point. He was charged after a fishing boat was damaged at the Alder Point wharf. Video tape evidence showed LeBlanc throwing rocks at a window on the boat and later of LeBlanc damaging an exhaust stack along with the vessel’s mast, which contained an electronic system. Repairs to the vessel totalled $3,436.66. >click to read<
