Daily Archives: February 9, 2019
County commercial fishermen get $460K in hurricane relief
The first round of state hurricane relief funds for commercial fishermen has been released, with Carteret County watermen receiving the most checks out of all the coastal counties. Gov. Roy Cooper’s office issued a press release Feb. 1 announcing that the first round of checks from the $11.6 million Hurricane Florence Commercial Fishing Assistance Program have been issued from the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Marine Fisheries. As of Feb. 1, the state has cut 664 checks, totaling $3.2 million to help compensate ,,, >click to read<22:56
Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative Executive Director Matt Jacobson To Step Down
Today, Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative (MLMC) Executive Director Matt Jacobson informed the organization’s board of directors that heExecutive Director Matt Jacobson effective Monday, February 25, 2019. “On behalf of the entire board, we want to thank Matt for his dedicated service in this role over the past five years,” said Frank Gotwals, MLMC board chairman and fisherman based in Stonington, ME. >click to read<19:17
Record Lobster Production Defies Alarmist Climate Scare
Marine fisheries data show New England lobstermen are benefiting from a new golden age of lobster, thanks in large part to a warming Earth. Yet Democrats in Congress and even lobster lobbyists asserted in House climate hearings earlier in February that global warming is causing a lobster apocalypse. Thankfully, facts and scientific evidence can help us put this latest global warming scare to rest. On February 7, Democrats in the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife held hearings with the purpose of raising concern about global warming. >click to read<14:33
Subcommittee Hearing: Healthy Oceans and Healthy Economies: The State of Our Oceans In the 21st Century – Video, >click to watch<
Ottawa: Ruling that prevents corporate takeover of inshore fishery upheld
In a decision released Friday, the Federal Appeal Court sided with a 2017 Federal Court decision that upheld Ottawa’s right to prevent the corporate takeover of inshore fisheries in Atlantic Canada and Quebec. At issue are controlling agreements used by companies to get around longstanding policies that local fishermen control inshore licences and the profits that come from them. The ruling revolves around the case of Labrador fisherman Kirby Elson, who entered a controlling agreement in 2003 with Quinlan Brothers Ltd. and Labrador Sea Products Inc. that gave the companies total control over every aspect of a licence — even in death. >click to read<
Matt Becker: From Maverick’s to Commercial Fishing and Back
Matt Becker doesn’t remember his first wave. He grew up at the beach with a surfing family in Santa Barbara. Dad taught him to surf as soon as he could swim. Did Junior Lifeguards, water polo, competed in NSSA events — “a typical Southern California beach rat kid,” he laughs.,,, But even if you’re living in a truck, you still need money to eat. Enter commercial fishing. “I took a job up there on a 70-foot crab fishing boat out of Half Moon Bay for a couple years,” said Becker.” >click to read,<11:55
