Monthly Archives: May 2019
Volunteer force in search for fisherman expected to grow over weekend
The official search for a P.E.I. fisherman who went overboard off the North Shore was scaled back Friday but RCMP still saw a strong turnout of community volunteers. Jordan Hicken was lost while fishing out of Naufrage Harbour early Tuesday morning. The rescue effort was called off Tuesday evening and RCMP took it over as a missing person case.”They have actually had a chance to get two dives into the area [Friday] morning without success.” The dive team suspended its search until further notice around 5 p.m.>click to read<19:37
Fisherman suffering a heart attack refused to be airlifted from trawler twice! They got him.
An Irish Coast Guard helicopter was sent to meet a fishing trawler three times before they could eventually airlift a seriously ill crew member to hospital. The fisherman suffered a heart attack on board a French fishing vessel off the Clare coast but refused twice to be airlifted to hospital. The drama began at around 4.30pm yesterday when the Irish Coast Guard was requested to assist the captain of a 98-foot French fishing vessel who had reported that a crew member had suffered a heart attack. >click to read<16:10
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for May 24, 2019
A Word from Our Executive Director – Glenn Skinner, At their May Business meeting, the Marine Fisheries Commission voted to send draft Amendment 2 (to the Southern Flounder FMP) as presented by the Division to the Advisory Committee and out for public comment with the addition of data pertaining to a partial moratorium. The Division recommended using seasonal closures to reduce the recreational and commercial harvest of Southern Flounder by 62% in year one and 72% in year 2 of Amendment 2. >Click here to read the Weekly Update<, to read all the updates >click here<, for older updates listed as NCFA >click here<14:35
Ottawa commits $100 million toward cleaning up toxic mess at Boat Harbour
The federal government has pledged to spend $100 million to help clean up the Boat Harbour effluent lagoons — long considered one of Nova Scotia’s most polluted sites. The sprawling lagoons, which are near the Pictou Landing First Nation in northern Nova Scotia, are contaminated with millions of litres of treated waste water from the nearby Northern Pulp paper mill. >click to read<13:10
Atlantic Canada mackerel quota cut by 20 per cent – Move will reduce a key source of bait
Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans is cutting the Atlantic mackerel quota by 20 per cent in 2019, after a recent assessment concluded the stock remains in the “critical zone.” The quota cut will reduce a key source of bait in the region’s lucrative lobster fishery. In a notice sent to industry, the department said the region-wide total allowable catch will drop from 10,000 tonnes to 8,000 tonnes. >click to read<12:20
Saving the Small Fishing Industry, One Permit at a Time
Mr. Hopkins has the Island’s lone sea scalloping permit, a million-dollar commercial fisherman’s license the trust purchased and now leases to Mr. Hopkins. The trust works as a permit bank, buying pricey fishing licenses, lobster tags, and other permits so they can lease them to independent fishermen on the Island at less than market price. In a wide-ranging interview with the Gazette this week, trust president John Keene and executive director Dr. Shelley Edmundson discussed the work of the organization and its efforts to maintain an economically viable, independent fishing community on the Island. >click to read<11:44
Two years after CETA took effect, fisheries minister says Tory exemptions devalued the industry
In 2013, negotiations between Canada and the European Union over the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, or CETA, included talks on how Newfoundland and Labrador might be compensated for losses once the deal was implemented. The provincial PC government of the time insisted on a $400-million compensation program, noted Byrne. “I can certainly understand why they’d take that position,” Byrne said. But that fund never materialized, >click to read<10:56
NOAA admin defends budget in House oversight hearing
The House Subcommittee on Water, Oceans and Wildlife met to discuss the administration’s fiscal year 2020 budgets for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The California Democrat (Huffman) said the Trump administration’s proposed budget shows the president “does not value oceans, wildlife or the communities that depend on healthy ecosystems.” (rolls eyes) McClintock, R-Calif., indeed did say the proposed cuts in the budget were not only the proper way to go, but should go further in consolidating perceived overlaps between NOAA and USFWS and cutting away more spending programs. >Video, starts @17:45 click to read<10:09
Let’s set the record straight for Brannon Finny – “From the beginning I have been totally honest,,,”
We posted a story titled “Fishing boat captain fined for polluting Alaska waters” which was published by KTUU. Sadly their story wasn’t accurate, and the report later included a response from Brannon Finny explaining her recollections, and actions. They deserve to be read. You can read them by >clicking the link<, or in the comment section of the original post. Thank you Rick McNamara!09:29
Fishing boat captain fined for polluting Alaska waters
A fishing boat captain who dumped sandblast waste into southeast Alaska waters was ordered to pay $10,000 and perform 40 hours of community service. Federal prosecutors say 32-year-old Brannon Finney of Bellingham, Washington, dumped waste to avoid a $1,460 disposal fee. U.S. Magistrate Judge Matthew Scoble on Wednesday also ordered 18 months of probation for Finney and a public apology. >click to read<18:50
Search for missing fisherman ‘a needle in a haystack’ say P.E.I. RCMP
RCMP and P.E.I. Ground Search and Rescue wrapped up its search for the day for Jordan Hicken late Thursday afternoon with no sign of the missing P.E.I. fisherman. Hicken went overboard from his fishing boat off Naufrage, on the Island’s North Shore, early Tuesday morning. RCMP Staff Sgt. Howard Fitzpatrick said search and rescue teams are done for the day Thursday, and they are still figuring out how to proceed. >click to read<16:58
Rock lobster industry rejects new WA deal that would increase supply for local consumers
The draft agreement was struck in February after the Government was forced to back down on its previous plan to take control of more than 17 per cent of the industry. But despite three months of negotiations the Government and the Western Rock Lobster Council (WRLC) could not agree on a mechanism to deliver up to 315 tonnes of additional lobster for the WA market. Two proposals to deliver the additional domestic supplies were developed by the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development and the WRLC, the Government said. ‘Government has destroyed all goodwill’: Nahan >click to read<15:21
New York’s Prized Sea Scallop Faces Off Against Offshore Wind
Developers pushing to install massive wind turbines in the waters off New York and New Jersey have run into a delicate yet mighty foe: the Atlantic sea scallop.,,, “It’s an insane amount of ocean to occupy, and it will leave a trail of destruction,” said Bonnie Brady, executive director of the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association. >click to read<14:19
Our coastal communities are drowning, largely thanks to tradable quotas and licences.
British Columbia’s coastal communities, long dependent on fishing for their livelihoods, are in serious trouble: population down, youth retention down, incomes down, investment down, infrastructure down, health and well-being down. It’s now almost impossible for young people to enter the fishery because of the high cost of purchasing or leasing the Individual Transferable Quotas (ITQs) attached to most fishing licences. ITQs are permits to catch a certain quantity of fish, and can be freely traded or leased. Coastal communities that used to have dozens of fishermen now may have a handful at best. The boatbuilding, repair, and gear supply businesses are likewise disappearing. How did this happen to our once prosperous coast? East Coast, best coast?>click to read<12:32
The Jacob Pike
The Jacob Pike will be 70 years old this year, just like me. Happy birthday to us. But, unlike me, Robbie Begin, Linc Simmons and a crew headed by Tony Finnocchiaro, the Jacob Pike can be reconstructed. I’m afraid it would take more than a few new planks to help my career! The Jacob Pike is one of a batch of similarly designed vessels that have worked the Northeast coasts over the years. The wooden sardine carrier was built for Moses Bernard Pike of Lubec. Mr. Pike owned the Holmes Packing Company in Eastport. >click to read<11:50
Louisiana Bill Would Require Shrimp and Crawfish Country Of Origin Labeling on Restaurant Menus
Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) requirements at 7 CFR Part 60 and 7 CFR Part 65require retailers to notify their customers of the country of origin of covered commodities,,, House Bill No. 335 would require Louisiana restaurants to label menus with the origins of shrimp and crawfish. The proposed law would require all restaurants that use a menu as a standard business practice and sell cooked or prepared crawfish or shrimp that originate outside of the U.S. to display on all menus the country of origin in letters no smaller than one-half inch in size, in English, immediately adjacent to the menu listing of the seafood item being sold. >click to read<10:13
How an invasive species or pig hide could solve Maine’s lobster bait crisis
Gulf of Maine lobstermen are casting around far and wide for new kinds of bait now that federal regulators have cut herring quotas by 70 percent. Possible solutions range from the mass importation of a nuisance fish from the Midwest, to manufactured baits, to pig hides. Fisheries managers estimate a 50-million pound “herring gap” in Maine over the next year. To help close it, they are turning to colleagues in Illinois. >click to read<09:33
From Carp to Pig-Hide: Bait Shortage Means Change for Lobsters’ Diet – (a lot more information in this article) >click to read<
Search for missing fisherman will be weather-dependent Thursday
RCMP say the extent of the search Thursday for missing fisherman Jordan Hicken will depend on the weather. Hicken, 22, from Montague, went overboard while fishing off Naufrage early Tuesday morning on his father’s boat the Plum Crazy, RCMP said. Poor conditions limited Wednesday’s search to the shorelines. Weather improved later in the day and had raised hopes of getting back on the water Thursday but RCMP say that decision will be made once conditions are known. >click to read<20:41
Ottawa to offer ice compensation to iced-in fishermen in N.L., Quebec
The federal government announced Wednesday it will provide emergency financial assistance to fish harvesters kept ashore by severe ice conditions in areas of Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec. Up to $5 million in funding is being set aside for payments to eligible applicants who fish out of ports in the most ice-affected areas.,, The release notes that eligible applicants must be fish harvesters who had established and exhausted an Employment Insurance (EI) fishing benefits claim based on their fishing activity in 2018, who are not receiving or eligible for any EI benefits, and who fish out of ports in the identified ice-affected areas. >click to read<20:00
No monument changes planned, but up to Trump
U.S. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said Wednesday he has no plans for additional changes to national monuments,,, Bonnie Brady, executive director of the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, said its disappointing the administration won’t enact the recommendation to allow commercial fishing at the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts monument off the New England coastline. That would reverse what she considers an unfair designation by President Barack Obama in 2016.,,,”It’s unfortunate that the secretary is unwilling to do anything at this time because these areas are extremely important for the domestic commercial fishing industry,” Brady said. “They are very fertile fishing grounds.”Zinke also recommended allowing commercial fishing at the Pacific Remote Islands National Monument in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii and at the Rose Atoll National Monument in the Pacific Ocean near American Samoa. >click to read<19:11
Doherty: Pharmaceuticals are poisoning NJ’s water supply, putting families at risk. We must act now.
In response to reports demonstrating that the water supply is awash with pharmaceutical pollutants, Senator Michael Doherty (R-Warren, Hunterdon, Somerset) is renewing his call for action on legislation,,, The United States EPA, in a conjunction with Riverkeeper and Cornell University, have confirmed that the Hudson River is heavily-polluted by commonly-prescribed pharmaceuticals such as anti-depressants, blood pressure, and cholesterol medications.“If we don’t act now, generations of children could suffer from serious health problems, all because they drank contaminated water. Our commercial fishing industry could also collapse, delivering a huge blow to the economy. By refusing to address pharmaceutical pollution now, we are literally putting New Jersey’s future in jeopardy.” S-1653, would establish the “New Jersey Water Supply and Pharmaceutical Product Study Commission. >click to read<18:22
A shrimping standoff
The shrimp season officially opened off the Oregon coast on April 1, but local shrimp boats are still sitting idle at the docks because of a failure of the shrimpers and processing plants to come to terms on price. It’s not an unusual situation for local fisheries to become stalled over the price paid for the catch, but the reality is that it’s tough for all concerned — local fishermen, workers at fish plants that are sitting idle and owners of the fish plants themselves. Nobody makes money while the boats remain at the docks. To make matters worse, boats from out of the area,,, >click to read<16:42
Land Based In Name Only? Belfast lobstermen fear Nordic Aquafarms’ discharge pipes will harm fishery
Some Belfast lobster fishermen told the local Harbor Advisory Committee that they were concerned that dredging for installation of Nordic Aquafarms’ discharge and intake pipes along submerged lands could release mercury in the ocean sediment and pose a hazard to navigation. “The fishermen have concerns,” advisory committee member Dan Miller told the council. The committee doesn’t have any purview over Nordic Aquafarms’ proposal, he noted. “Our place is to ask you to make sure those concerns are in some way addressed by the appropriate agency.” >click to read<15:10
FISH-NL against proposals to grant Labrador harvesters 25% of northern cod quota; calls on FFAW-Unifor to reveal its stand
The Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador (FISH-NL) is against proposals that could see 25 per cent of the northern cod quota allocated to harvesters from Labrador and processed there. “No one group or organization should be entitled to a percentage of the overall total allowable catch,” says Ryan Cleary, President of FISH-NL. “The inshore harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador as a whole must be the principle beneficiary of adjacent fish stocks.” >click to read<11:14
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 38′ Duffy Tuna/Charter/Lobster, 655HP, Northern Lights 7.5 KW auxiliary
Specifications, information and 14 photos >click here< To see all the boats in this series, >click here<10:44
The partners of Santaska have agreed to sale the cannery on the Egegik River in Alaska
FD Financial, Corp., part owner of Santaska, Inc., announces today that the Alaska cannery, Santaska, is on the block. It’s for sale. “We have had this valuable piece of property on the Egegik River in Alaska of some years now, and it’s time to move on.” Reluctantly, Rudy De La Garza CEO of FD Financial continues, “This was once one of the biggest salmon canneries in Alaska. The dream was to rebuild and open the cannery but,,, >click to read< >link to photo’s< 10:11
Fisherman search Wednesday will focus on the shore
With the Joint Rescue Centre handing over the search for P.E.I. fisherman Jordan Hicken to RCMP, the search Wednesday is expected to be focused on land. Hicken, a 23-year-old from Montague, went overboard while fishing off Naufrage early Tuesday morning. The coast guard had vessels on the water along with two aircraft, and as many as 60 local boats were involved in the search. The search was called off about 8 p.m. RCMP are taking it over as a missing person case. >click to read< 08:52
New York’s energy policy depends on an impossible fantasy
Last Wednesday, the Cuomo administration blocked construction of the proposed Northeast Supply Enhancement project, a 24-mile gas pipeline that would run from New Jersey across New York Bay to near the Rockaways.,, was cheered by environmental groups,..Wind-energy projects, too, are facing fierce opposition.,,, What about offshore? Cuomo wants 9,000 megawatts of offshore wind installed in New York waters by 2035. But the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association and other fishing groups are adamantly opposed,,,In short, renewables can’t replace natural gas. >click to read<20:58
Rep. Zeldin Blasts NY’s ASMFC Delegates for Failure to Deliver for NY Fishermen
Today, Congressman Lee Zeldin (R, NY-1) blasted New York’s delegates to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) following the conclusion of this month’s spring meeting, during which no progress was made in rectifying New York’s already inequitable quotas for species across the board, including Black Sea Bass, Striped Bass and Fluke. >click to read<19:10
Luciano: Could Asian carp help a desperate Maine lobster market?
Officials in Illinois and Maine hope to soon announce a breakthrough that in both states could help solve aquatic challenges and boost economics. The news could especially bring a boon to central Illinois. In Illinois, invasive Asian carp choke the Illinois River. In Maine, the lobster industry faces a crisis for a sudden lack of lobster bait. If all goes well, commercial fishers in Illinois soon could be harvesting and shipping tons of Asian carp to Maine. >click to read<
