Daily Archives: June 6, 2019
Mississippi Gulf Coast fishermen struggling as flooding disaster wipes out marine life
The Mississippi Gulf Coast is now bearing the effects of the record rain and snowmelt that has caused major flooding throughout the Midwest this year. The influx of water that has drained into the Mississippi River and is now being diverted into the gulf coast has wreaked havoc on marine life and Mississippi’s commercial fishing industry. >Video, click to read<17:37
Judge finds Shinnecock tribe member guilty of illegal fishing
A Southampton Town judge on Wednesday found a Shinnecock Indian Nation member guilty of a single count of failing to have the proper state license to fish for baby eels but found him not guilty on two other counts. In acquitting former tribal trustee David Taobi Silva of the primary charges of possessing 247 baby eels beyond allowable limits, Town Court Justice Gary Weber found the search and seizure of Silva’s catch by state Department of Environmental officers “was not proven to be constitutional.” He was found guilty of failing to have a marine commercial food fishing license and the use of a fyke fishing net in the harvest of eels. >click to read<16:36
Canada’s Second New Offshore Fisheries Science Vessel Launched
Canada’s second of three new Offshore Fisheries Science Vessels (OFSV) was launched on June 5. The Canadian Coast Guard vessel was built by Seaspan’s North Vancouver Shipyards under the National Shipbuilding Strategy. The OFSVs are the first class of ships to be built by Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards as part of the non-combat package under the National Shipbuilding Strategy. They will support science and research activities undertaken by Fisheries and Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard. >click to read<15:50
D-Day: June 6, 1944
Inside General Eisenhower’s Sleepless Night Ahead of the D-Day Invasion – >click to read< On June 6, 1944, 150,000 Allied soliders arrived on the beaches of Normandy, France for the largest seaborn invasion in world history. “D-Day,” as it’s now referred, was a major tactical victory against the Nazis in Europe during World War II, and it is remembered as one of the most courageous operations in the history of international warfare.In photos: Nations mark the 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion ->click here to review< >click to read/view<14:42
Pink salmon disaster relief grant delayed to July 1
Dear Friends and Neighbors, I wanted to keep everyone in the loop regarding the follow-up to my pink salmon disaster relief update in last Friday’s paper. As I write this, it is Wednesday morning, June 5. It was anticipated that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) might release grant funding to the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission (PSMFC) for distribution by this past Saturday. I reached out to Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s office on Monday to see if, in fact, that had occurred. The Senator’s office had contacted NOAA at the start-of-business on Monday and, disappointingly, the federal agency again failed to act by the June 1 deadline. >click to read<12:57
Keliher gives fishermen homework on whale rules
“Feel free to yell at me,” Patrick Keliher, commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR), told a packed gym at the Trenton Elementary School Tuesday. “But it’s the federal government that’s driving the bus here.” Keliher was in Trenton for the first in a series of meetings with lobstermen up and down the coast to discuss specific ways for the lobster fishery to meet targets established in April by the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team (TRT), which works under the authority of the Marine Mammal Protection Act. >click to read<11:51
Sores, lesions: Early fish kill in Neuse worries those who use the river
State environmental crews are investigating a disturbing fish kill in the Neuse River. They’re trying to figure out why numerous schools of menhaden are breaking out in sores and dying in the river near New Bern.,,, The images are grotesque. Fish in the Neuse River swimming around with their insides hanging out.,, In a nutshell, the river is in very poor health and declining and continuing to decline,” said JoAnn Burkholder,,, Hans Paerl, said he believes pollution stirred up by Hurricane Florence could be the culprit now. And Paerl warns that water quality could deteriorate all summer if the weather is hot and dry. Scientists blame nutrient pollution from urban runoff, large industrial farms and waste water treatment plants. >click to read<11:25
Organizations threaten NOAA with lawsuit over industrial ocean fish farm funding
Friends of the Earth and Center for Food Safety today formally accused the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of violating the Endangered Species Act. The groups sent a letter to NOAA notifying them of their intent to sue over NOAA’s Sea Grant program which has funded an industrial ocean fish farm in violation of federal law. In October 2018, Sea Grant awarded a federal grant to a floating factory farm for non-native Steelhead trout off the coast of New Hampshire. According to a limited number of records gathered pursuant to a Freedom of Information Act request, these funds were provided without fulfillment of Endangered Species Act mandates. >click to read<10:55
NOAA accused over funding for industrial ocean fish farm – >click to read<
Dead right whale had survived ship strike, entanglements, is first death in Canadian waters in 2019
The dead north Atlantic right whale drifting off Quebec’s Gaspé coast had a history of entanglements and was struck by a ship, said officials with the New England Aquarium. The young whale was sighted Tuesday during an aerial surveillance flight by researchers from the U.S.-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It’s first dead whale in Canadian waters in 2019.,,, On Wednesday, all efforts were deployed to locate the whale’s body, with planes flying over the Gulf of Saint Lawrence all day. >click to read<10:12
‘War on Carp’ – U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell’s message is help is on the way
McConnell said the focus of the interested parties is catching the Asian carp, marketing the fish and reducing the population so they no longer threaten bass fishing and tourism.,,, Marshall County Commissioner Kevin Spraggs, spearheading the Marshall County War on Asian Carp Working Group, said overall the information presented during the hour-long meeting was “very promising.” “I’m very, very encouraged today. We have the right people, the right experts working on it and there’s talk of subsidies to help get more commercial fishermen involved and Senator McConnell is aggressively working on funding,” he said. >click to read<
Coast Guard rescues 3 from damaged fishing vessel near Sabine Pass, Texas
Sector Houston-Galveston watchstanders received a report from the owner of a 74-foot commercial shrimping vessel that three fishermen were in need of assistance after their vessel was struck by a possible tornado. The fishermen activated their emergency position indicating radio beacon and abandoned ship to a liferaft. >click to read<08:12
