Daily Archives: June 4, 2019
La. crabbers, fishers ask for federal aid amid spillway openings
The Louisiana Crab Task Force met Tuesday (June 4) in Chalmette to discuss the issues facing the commercial crabbing industry as a result of the spillway openings. The group motioned to work with other seafood industry task forces to write a joint letter requesting federal help. Dozens of fishermen attended the meeting, voicing their concerns about how the opening of the Bonnet Carre Spillway is affecting their livelihoods. A spokesperson with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries said they have been monitoring the water quality and reports of fish kills. >click to read<21:43
Charter boat captain arrested, accused of getting drunk, firing handgun, refusing to return passengers to shore
A charter boat captain was arrested on Sunday, accused of getting intoxicated on his boat, firing a handgun and refusing to return his passengers to shore. Shortly after midnight on June 2, Sarasota Police and the U.S. Coast Guard responded to 2 Marina Plaza in Sarasota after receiving calls from passengers aboard a charter ship saying the captain, 36-year-old Mark Bailey, was intoxicated, had fired off rounds from a handgun and was refusing to bring them to shore. >click to read<20:26
Police: Sarasota boat passengers held captive by drunken, armed captain – >click to read, photos!<
Chasing Demons: 75 Years On, D-Day Haunts, Drives Its Vets
They are back, some for the first time since war stole their innocence 75 years ago on Normandy’s D-Day beaches. They are back on battlefields where the World War II veterans saw friends killed, took lives themselves, were scarred physically and mentally and helped change the course of history. Given the painful memories, given their unfamiliarity with the country they liberated, given the difficulty of traveling abroad, why are Americans and veterans from other Allied nations in their 90s coming back for this week’s anniversary of the June 6, 1944, invasion of Normandy?,, Here, in their own words, >click to read< 17:45
Human Population Growth Threatens Endangered Whales
The Puget Sound area surrounding the Salish Sea is expected to be home to almost 6 million more people by 2050, which would add between 33 and 150 square miles of paved area, according to the Washington Department of Commerce. “Population growth is the top challenge for conserving habitat,” Jeff Davis, assistant director of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s habitat program, said Monday at the Southern Resident Killer Whale Task Force meeting. Governor Jay Inslee convened the task force last year, asking it to provide recommendations to prevent the endangered whales’ extinction.>click to read<14:30
Zeldin: The tide must turn for New York fishermen
In a district nearly completely surrounded by water, our waterways are our way of life, supporting tens of billion of dollars in economic activity per year. For our local recreational and commercial fishermen, it is how they make a living and provide for their families, but year after year the livelihood of our community’s anglers has suffered. New York anglers have been put at a great disadvantage, suffering at the hands of lower quotas and allocations than neighboring states. That means when two boats are fishing next to each other, one may be allowed to catch up to double the amount of the other because it is landing the fish in New Jersey or Connecticut instead of New York. >click to read<13:56
Lobster prices – ‘There is a problem with the whole system and it has to be addressed’
The group that markets P.E.I. lobster says this year’s price is good, but could be better. The Lobster Fishers of P.E.I. Marketing Board says fishermen are getting a bit more than last year — between $5 and $5.75 for canner lobsters which are smaller and $6 to $6.75 for larger markets, said the group’s chair and fisherman Charlie MacGeoghegan. He said fishermen in Nova Scotia are getting more for their lobster. “If you take 2018 versus 2017 it was over a dollar a pound in the difference between Nova Scotia and here, so that’s, on last year’s catch that’s $38 million.” >click to read<12:55
Meetings Begin On New Lobster Gear Rules To Protect Right Whales
Maine lobstermen will meet with state marine resources officials in Trenton Tuesday evening to consider coming regulations that could force the industry to reduce by half the amount of fixed-gear trap rope placed in the ocean.,, Kristan Porter, president of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, says it’s a difficult but attainable goal, whether through reducing actual per-boat trap numbers or by sinking more traps per line in the water.,,, Tonight’s meeting of the Lobster Zone B Council starts at 6 p.m. at the Trenton Elementary School. The Department of Marine Resources has scheduled such meetings in each of the state’s seven lobster zones over the course of this month. >click to read<12:21
Drink Up! 25 cups of coffee a day are as safe for your heart as 1 cup, new study says
Coffee lovers now have scientific evidence that it’s safe for your heart to have as much as 25 cups a day, according to a new study. Coffee fans have been getting mixed messages about their favorite drink for years, including previous studies that suggest coffee is bad for your heart.,,, But a new study from Queen Mary University of London and the British Heart Association says the opposite. The study found that drinking five or more cups a day was no worse for the arteries than drinking less than a cup; the study also found that even those who drink up to 25 cups a day >click to read<11:53
Nature Conservancy president resigns in wake of sexual harassment probe
Nature Conservancy President Brian McPeek resigned Friday, just days after the group completed an investigation into sexual harassment and workplace misconduct at the world’s largest environmental organization. The news came two days after POLITICO first reported on the internal investigation at the group, which reported $1.3 billion in revenues last year and has long drawn support from both Democrats and Republicans. Its board of directors includes former Republican Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and former Obama administration Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, and its executives include former Obama White House climate adviser Heather Zichal. >click to read<11:06
It takes an army and a lot of peeling to dish up this church’s seal flipper dinner
The cooks behind the massively popular seal flipper dinners at Wesley United Church in downtown St. John’s are proof that you don’t have to love what you do, in order to do it well. “I don’t like flippers. Nope.… But I’ve been cooking them for over 20 years,” says Phoebe Sheppard, chair of the Fall Fair Committee at the church, which organizes three annual seal flipper dinner fundraisers at the church.,,, “You’ve got nine million seals out there, so what a great economic opportunity to hunt more,” >click to read<09:31
NOAA is trying to encourage more observers to report sexual harassment
In the commercial fishing industry, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration workers, known as observers, jump onboard hundreds of vessels each year to make sure fishermen are following federal regulations, but many of the women who perform these duties say they experience sexual harassment. NOAA is trying to encourage more female observers to report those instances, even if they seem insignificant. >click to read<08:08
