Daily Archives: April 8, 2019
Behind the Scenes with Wicked Tuna
The men on the dock were the tuna boat captains who head the cast of the upcoming eighth season of the National Geographic channel’s reality show Wicked Tuna, airing this year. They had spent the summer fishing—and filming—and had plans to ply the waters throughout the fall, but for the moment they were fulfilling the responsibilities of their other job: TV star. “We’re just fishermen who got a shot at doing something really cool,” says T.J. Ott, who captains the Hot Tuna on and off the show, which has developed a cult following. >click to read<21:27
Annapolis Royal mayor says tidal turbine shutdown won’t hurt town’s coffers
Last week the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans ordered NSP to shut down the iconic electrical power generating station after a review of data, especially in relation to reported fish kills over the past three decades. “From the very beginning the Town of Annapolis Royal has reached out to Fisheries and Oceans to get updates on where the review and the monitoring was,,, SHUT DOWN – He said what the community is learning is that a lot of those reports never found their way to the people who should have been taking that into consideration all these years. >click to read<20:06
Pacific Fishery Management Council meeting April 9-16 in Rohnert Park, California
The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) and its advisory bodies will meet April 9-16, 2019 in Rohnert Park, California, at DoubleTree by Hilton Sonoma, One Doubletree Drive, Rohnert Park, CA 94928 Agenda and Meeting Notice, >click to read< Listen to the April 2019 meeting live <click to listen< www.pcouncil.org 17:28
Are scalloping’s days numbered on Nantucket?
Nantucket bay scalloping is a dying profession, town shellfish constable J.C. Johnson said this week, just days after commercial scalloping season came to a close. Fishermen brought in 13,000 bushels of scallops last season. That number was down by 10,000 bushels this year to around 3,000, making the season’s harvest one of the lowest ever, Johnson said. Along with the decreased harvest size, the fleet itself is aging, with only a handful of young scallopers now fishing. “We have a couple younger guys going out, but your veteran guys, Bill Spencer, Herkey Stojak, all those guys who have been scalloping for years are almost done, so what’s going to happen if you don’t have their kids following suit?” he asked. “Guys that scallop to the end are your veterans, your die-hards, guys who are out there. That’s their business,” he said. >click to read<15:49
WA lawmakers pass on whale-watching ban aimed at helping orcas
Washington legislators came into their 2019 session brimming with proposals to help rescue Puget Sound’s imperiled orcas. But now they have dropped one of the most important — and controversial — ideas: a three-year moratorium on commercial whale watching. Lawmakers denied Gov. Jay Inslee’s attempt to force commercial whale-watching boats to keep extra distance from three pods of orcas that summer in the waters of Puget Sound and the Salish Sea between Washington and Canada. In doing so, they rejected a key recommendation supported by the majority of nearly 50 researchers, state and tribal officials and others who served on the Southern Resident Orca Task Force. >click to read<14:10
Fight or fold: FISH-NL on the brink
The Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador (FISH-NL) says it will close at the end of April if inshore harvesters don’t step up to pay membership fees. Of the more than 500 inshore harvesters who agreed to pay membership fees last year, only about 300 have done so leaving FISH-NL short of being able to continue on and launch another membership drive, and file another application with the labour relations board to be certified to represent the province’s inshore fishermen. >click to read<13:20
Opinion – Modernizing the Fisheries Act long overdue
Here we are in 2019 waiting for the passing of Bill C-68, a bill to amend the Fisheries Act. Wow! The oldest piece of legislation since confederation is being modernized, thus advancing social economics, Indigenous rights and protecting the environment where fish live and reside. This is a tremendous piece of work and although some (in the mining and farming industries) do not support the bill, it needs to proceed. >click to read<11:33
April 8 – 1950: Eight fishermen drown in sight of Lightship Pollock Rip
On this day in 1950, a fishing boat with eight men aboard sank with no survivors off Chatham after its crew struggled for hours to remain afloat in a howling gale.”The William Landry, a 63-foot scallop dragger out of New Bedford, was smashed to pieces by pounding seas while struggling toward a lightship stationed at Pollock Rip in Nantucket Sound,” the Associated Press reported. >click to read<10:00
Canadian Coast Guard struggling
Reduced search-and-rescue coverage, ferry-service disruptions, cancelled resupply runs to Arctic and coastal communities and nearly $2 million in lost navigational buoys. Those are among the real safety, social and commercial impacts that communities across the country are starting to feel as the Canadian Coast Guard’s fleet gets older, according to new documents obtained by The Canadian Press. And the problems are expected to get worse: the documents warn that more than a third of the coast guard’s 26 large vessels have exceeded their expected lifespans and many won’t survive until replacements arrive. >click to read<09:21
