Monthly Archives: April 2019
As wind giants set sights on NY, fishermen demand a role
As global wind-energy interests set their sights on more than a dozen offshore U.S. energy area’s, two longtime British fishermen who act as go-betweens to the offshore wind industry and the fishing community advised Long Island fishermen to stay vigilant and demand a seat at the table when waters are divvied up. Two dozen Long Island fishermen gathered in Montauk Monday to hear how two veterans of Europe’s maturing offshore wind industry worked to bring their industry into discussions on siting projects in waters that have traditionally been their workplace. It hasn’t been easy, and successes have come only recently, they said. >click to read<16:46
Bill C-60: Reviewing the Fisheries Act – B.C. North Coast residents to Ottawa: ‘We can’t make a living fishing’
Lax Kw’alaams Band Mayor John Helin called for more consultation as he painted a grim picture,,,“In my community we have a fleet of 70-80 gillnetters that can’t make a living,,, Prince Rupert resident, Chelsey Ellis,,, Ellis grew up on the East Coast, where she’s seen the benefits of the owner-operator policy for fish harvesters. In her statement, she said this is not the same in British Columbia, where there has been a steady increase of licenses and quota being transferred from fishermen and away from coastal communities.>click to read<15:44
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 87.7 Steel Shrimper/Longliner/Scalloper Cat 3412
Specifications, information and 22 photos >click here< To see all the boats in this series, >click here< This vessel has big power and a big reduction at 720 HP with 7:1 gear. She pulls hard, great 2 dredge scallop boat. 12:07
Swordfish season could re-open later this year
A sudden end to the “Swordfish Season” for Hawaii long-liners, but not because the fish stock is running low. Instead, it is because of run-ins with another ocean creature. “This year the swordfish industry is closed, it closed about two weeks ago,” stated Eric Kingma the Executive Director for the Hawaii long line Association. But those boat had to suddenly shutdown because of 17 loggerhead turtles, which are an endangered species. Video, >click to read<11:13
Man charged with illegal lobster fishing in Greenwich, Stamford
A 72-year-old Stamford lobsterman has been arrested on hundreds of charges of illegally fishing from 94 lobster traps in the waters of Stamford and Greenwich at the end of last year. Eugene Karbowski, of Cedar Heights Drive, has been charged by the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection with 94 counts of fishing untagged lobster parts,,, After his arraignment Tuesday before Judge Bruce Hudock at the Stamford courthouse, Karbowski’s defense attorney Bruce Koffsky said his client has been a lobsterman for decades, back when someone could make a living doing it. Koffsky said.,,, The great lobster die-off in the west end of Long Island Sound in 1997 has thrown the industry into a tailspin and reduced the number of lobstermen in the area from 311 in 1998 to 76 in 2016. >click to read<
Your Thoughts? New rule would turn back clock for US fishing industry
A Proposed Rule – Shipping Act, Merchant Marine, and Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) Provisions; Fishing Vessel, Fishing Facility and Individual Fishing Quota Lending Program – >click to read< In the second half of the 20th century, the U.S. fishing industry was plagued by too many boats chasing too few fish. Overfishing was rampant, profits for fishermen were low and the federal government fueled the flames by subsidizing the construction of new fishing vessels with taxpayer dollars. By the mid-1990s,,,, Now the Trump administration wants to forget all of those hard lessons learned and begin subsidizing new fishing vessel construction again in a rule proposed last November that could be finalized any day. >click to read<09:11
At Humboldt County Board of Supervisors – Blindsided Crabbers Congregate
As the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors meeting got underway at its normal 9 a.m. start time, there was still a line of people extending out the front door,,, local crab fishermen who had shown up in force to support a resolution aimed at saving the local fishery from “devastating economic harm,” The threat comes in the form of a recent CBD – PCFFA settlement,,, “We were blindsided by this ruling,” said crab fisherman Zach Rotwein of Trinidad.,,, Pacific Choice Seafoods General Manager Rick Harris said his company recently made a $1.2 million investment,,, “This is a travesty and a disaster for the community,” said crab fisherman Patrick Davis, who owns two fishing boats and employs “eight or nine guys.” >click to read<22:49
Commercial fishing isn’t the main threat to habitat
A recent letter wondered why Gov. Inslee would allow gillnetters on the Columbia River. The fact is, in the environment in which orcas struggle to survive commercial fishers are the easiest element to manage.,,, Gillnetters catch limited numbers of salmon. But land developers and homeowners can destroy an entire salmon run permanently. The pesticides, fertilizers, weed killers, moss removers, and deck waterproofing folks liberally use around the house and yard are absolute fish killers. Personal care products, pain medications, antidepressants and other popular pharmaceuticals are either disposed of or excreted into our sewage systems and flushed into the Salish Sea and Columbia River. >click to read< by Arthur Lynch, Bainbridge Island
Gautier firefighters battling boat fire and possible fuel leak
For the past 3 hours, firefighters with the Gautier Fire Department have been working to put out a fire on a shrimp boat at Pitalo’s Marine in Gautier Tuesday afternoon. The fire started around 11 a.m. on The Noah, which is in dry dock at the marine yard. Dept. Chief Derek McCoy said firefighters are having trouble putting the fire out because of the close quarters of the boat. Vid clip, photo’s, >click to read<19:09
‘Atrocious’: 250 Dungeness crabs dumped beside highway in Northern B.C.
A massive dump of dead crabs along a main northern highway has triggered a major investigation. The 250 male Dungeness crabs were found rotting beside a Highway 16 rest stop, west of Smithers, B.C., last week. Officials believe it’s linked to ongoing illegal seafood sales along B.C.’s North Coast. “I’ve never had an investigation like that, with a bunch of crab dumped,” said B.C. Conservation Service Officer Flint Knibbs. >click to read<14:50
Paq’tnkek Mi’kmaw Nation mourns 2 young men after fishing boat capsized
Two men from the Paq’tnkek Mi’kmaw Nation have died and a woman was rescued and taken to hospital after their fishing boat capsized Monday afternoon in the waters off Nova Scotia’s Antigonish County, according to RCMP. They had been out in an oyster fishing boat in rough waters near Bayfield when someone called 911 around 3 p.m. The three people were employed by Paq’tnkekMi’kmaw Nation for oyster fishing. All of them were wearing personal floatation devices, the RCMP said in a statement. The two men were identified as Ozzy Clair and Niko Clair. >click to read<14:14
High-Stakes Hunt for Crab: ‘Deadliest Catch’ Returns for Milestone Season 15
Discovery’s Deadliest Catch welcomes you to Dutch Harbor, Alaska, for its 15th season on Tuesday, April 9. New to the fleet is the cutthroat, no-nonsense Captain Steve “Harley” Davidson with the 148-foot-long Southern Wind. The boat is the second-largest in the fleet, behind only Captain Keith Colburn’s boat The Wizard. Harley, who has captained the Southern Wind for 15 years, doesn’t make friends easily — including Captain Keith, who considers Harley as enemy No. 1. >click to read<13:24
Fishing vessel sinks, leaving fishermen stranded 90-miles off Naples
Three Pinellas County men floating in a raft were rescued by the Coast Guard early Monday morning. The three-man crew left from Fort Myers Beach last Wednesday. They were 90-miles off the coast of Naples, about five days into a two-week-long fishing trip when their boat started taking on water. The first mate said it was terrifying. Working on a 32-foot fishing boat named Miss Saturia, Kyle Haskins said they didn’t have time to react. >click to read<12:45
Always Top Quality! Your Seafreeze Ltd. Price Sheet for April 2019 Has Arrived!
Contact our sales team today @ 401 295 2585 or 800 732 273 T review the complete price list from Seafreeze Ltd., >Click here< – We are Direct to the Source-We are Fishermen-We are Seafreeze Ltd! >Click here< to visit our website!12:07
Fishy Business | New Patagonia Film ‘Artifishal’ Highlights Devastating Impact Of Fish Farms
Salmon’s delicious, isn’t it? Laid out on a bed of rice, with a drizzling of teriyaki sauce over the top, yeah it’s making you drool just thinking about it. But, and we hate to be a buzzkill on you like this, have you ever stopped to consider where your salmon’s coming from? Or for that matter, where loads of that tasty-looking fish you see in your supermarket originates? These are the questions that sit at the very heart of Patagonia‘s new film ‘Artifishal’. Produced by the Patagonia founder, and big-cheese, Yvon Chouinard himself, the documentary looks to address wild fish, wild rivers, and the habitat destruction that’s come as a result of fish farms and fish hatcheries. Video trailer, >click to read<11:34
Fierce competition for fewer blue mussels as big fishermen squeeze out rivals
Last week, the fisheries minister, Eva Kjer Hansen, was called upon to explain a practice that seems to have been going on for some time that allows a handful of ‘fish barons’ privileged access to a number of Danish mussel beds.
For ten years or more fishermen on the east coast of Jutland have been asking permission to fish for mussels in the Great Belt, but have always been refused.,,, At the same time, the authorities have permitted some of the country’s largest mussel fishermen to catch mussels several months on the trot in selected areas as part of its so-called ‘research fishing’, reports Berlingske. >click to read<10:30
U.S. Senator Collins ‘misinformed’ on Canadian lobster fishery
Canadian lobster fishermen are challenging the “misinformed” remarks of a U.S. senator. Susan Collins, a Republican senator from Maine, has accused them of undermining conservation efforts by Maine lobster fishermen in a disputed “grey zone” between the two countries.,,, Collins incorrectly claimed Canadian fishermen are allowed to catch egg-bearing female lobsters that are notched and tossed back by Mainers.,,, The claim rankles New Brunswick lobster fisherman Brian Guptill, president of the Grand Manan Fishermen’s Association. He said it is untrue. >click to read<09:01
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
Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council meeting in Avalon, NJ April 8-11, 2019
The public is invited to attend the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s meeting to be held at Icona Avalon Resort, 7849 Dune Dr, Avalon, NJ 08202, Telephone: 609-368-5155 , Briefing Materials & Agenda Overview Agenda >click here< Attend Meeting with Adobe Connect >click here< To Listen Live!! 21:28
Boat owner responds to Port of Astoria lawsuit
A boat owner being sued by the Port of Astoria for abandoning his vessel shot back recently,,,,The Port sued Nick Mathias, a California resident and owner of the Coastwise, claiming he fell behind on moorage before sending a letter in September notifying the agency he would be abandoning the vessel. Mathias claims the Port in 2014 was charging him $2,000 annually for moorage fees, raising it to $3,000 the next year, $9,600 the third year and finally $37,000. The Port has closed all access to the East Mooring Basin causeway because of a rotting substructure, leaving a dwindling group of boat owners to reach their vessels by skiff. >click to read<18:53
Seal Fishery Set to Open Tuesday
The seal fishery opens this Tuesday. The fishery will open for longliners, small boats and speed boats on the front and in the Gulf, as well as personal use. DFO has tagged 12 harp seal beaters in the Gulf of St. Lawrence with satellite linked time-depth recorders to track the movement of young seals and determine how they respond to climate change. Harvesters are being asked not to take those tagged seals. The tag is clearly visible and fixed on the animal’s shoulders with an antenna extending over the head. >click to read<15:53
Our View: New NOAA administrator right to emphasize collaboration
Mike Pentony took over as the regional administrator for NOAA’s Northeast fisheries division about a year ago and he’s received good marks from some quarters of the local fishing industry since that time.Pentony, an engineer and environmental manager by education, has worked in the North Atlantic fishery for most of his adult life. First as a policy analyst for the New England Fishery Management Council and later for 12 years as a team supervisor in NOAA’s sustainable fisheries division. As assistant regional administrator since 2014, Pentony oversaw 14 fisheries management plans for 42 species valued at nearly $1.6 billion annually. >click to read<15:41
