Daily Archives: February 14, 2019
Cushing fishing boat captain gets 4 years for causing deaths of 2 crewmen
Christopher A. Hutchinson, 30, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Portland by Judge D. Brock Hornby for two counts of seaman’s manslaughter. The bodies of 27-year-old Tom Hammond and 15-year-old Tyler Sawyer were never found. Hutchinson was the captain of the lobster boat No Limits, which sank near Matinicus Island in a storm on Nov. 1, 2014. He purchased 20, 30-milligram oxycodone pills from two separate drug dealers, smoked marijuana with Sawyer’s father, and drank a rum and coke at a Rockland restaurant on Halloween 2014, court documents say. He then departed for a fishing trip at 1 a.m. from Linda Bean’s dock in Tenants Harbor. Rain was beginning to fall, and the forecast called for a gale. >click to read<22:59
Investigating How Atlantic Sea Scallop Larvae Move Through A Fishery
A recent collaborative study from researchers at Rutgers University, Old Dominion University, University of Southern Mississippi, and NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center shows that scallop offspring – also known as larvae – can move among regions of the fishery, even though the fishery itself spans a huge area of the ocean off the east coast of the US. Scallops and other bivalves like oysters, clams, and mussels produce microscopic, free-swimming larvae. These larvae can, in some cases, traverse great distances,,, >click to read<21:19
Dutch trawler industry furious as Brussels votes to ban pulse fishing
Dutch fishermen have reacted furiously to Brussels’ decision to phase out pulse fishing, a form of trawling using electric currents.‘Lies and emotion have beaten science,’ fishermen’s organisations said after the vote. ‘The European Council, the European Commission and the European parliament have been misled by the lies and emotional campaign fought by French environmental organisation Bloom.’In total, 42 Dutch trawlers will have to stop pulse fishing this year and 42 can continue until 2021. The agreement also states that six trawlers can continue to use the technique for research purposes.,, >click to read<20:42
Tussling for tuna: Costa Rican fishermen want more access to a local tuna
Robert Nunes is a commercial fisherman who actively defends his peers in Costa Rica’s commercial fishing industry. He volunteers a lot of his time with Mauricio Gonzalez, director of the Camera de Palangreros (or the chamber of longliners) traveling the country lobbying for fisherman’s rights. Longlining is a type of fishing that boats set miles of hooks across the ocean and is not selective in what type of fish takes the bait placed on a hook. This has caused grief among many different groups who support, sharks, marlin, and sailfish that some people consider bycatch to a longline boat. The longline sector does not consider these species bycatch as the total catch is utilized and nothing gets wasted.>click to read<18:50
Alternative Youth Activities students get a lesson in hard work from a fishing boat captain
Students with Alternative Youth Activities took a trip down to the Charleston Marina on Wednesday afternoon to learn how a commercial slime eel fishing boat operates. The eel fishing vessel the AYA students toured was the Molly Ann, captained by Leandro Patricelli. Patricelli shared his story of hard work and perseverance with the at-risk youth. He and his family emigrated to the U.S. from Sicily when he was eight years old. At the age of 14, Patricelli dropped out of high school and lied about his age to get a job on a fishing boat. >click to read<16:55
Complaints about ‘chalky’ halibut draw attention from international commission
After years of hearing concerns from fishermen about the prevalence of “chalky” Pacific halibut, the International Pacific Halibut Commission is planning to gather information for an investigation into it. Chalky halibut are fish that, when cut open, have a stiff, chalk-textured flesh as opposed to the normal pale and tender flesh. Chalky meat is not dangerous to humans but is not desirable and thus costs the fishermen at the dock. Dr. Josep Planas, who heads up biological research for the IPHC, noted plans to gather information about chalky halibut from stakeholders,, >click to read<16:07
Two N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission Committees are accepting proposals
The N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission Commercial Resource Fund Committee and the Funding Committee for the N.C. Commercial Fishing Resource Fund are accepting proposals for the 2018-19 funding cycle from the N.C. Commercial Fishing Resource Fund. Proposals submitted for this funding cycle must fall under one of two programmatic areas: Economic Impact Study – Public Relations Campaign – >click to read<12:34
CoA Institute Sends Letter to Secretary Ross Requesting Public Confirmation of Controversial Fishery Regulation
The importance of an open and transparent government is rooted in the federal government’s ability to choose winners and losers, create barriers to economic freedom, and limit personal liberties. Family-owned fishing firms in New England recently had their economic freedom put at-risk when it was revealed that the government had secretly approved a proposal to impose new, and statutorily unauthorized, costs on their fishing operations. That’s why Cause of Action Institute (CoA Institute) sent a letter to U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross yesterday, criticizing his office’s lack of transparency and inadequate analysis surrounding the controversial fishery management regulations. >click to read< 10:46
