Daily Archives: June 7, 2019
June 7, 2019 – Small Mesh Trawl Squid Fishery Season Extension
The Director of the Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) has declared an extension to the season when trawlers may fish with small mesh for squid in certain waters under the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth that are south and west of Cape Cod (Declaration Notice and Permit Conditions). Trawlers may continue to fish within the small mesh squid trawl exempted area, as described at 322 CMR 4.06(1),,, >click to read<21:53
New regulation for Maine fishermen might ease tension in ‘grey zone’
Melanie Sonnenberg, the general manager of the Grand Manan Fishermen’s Association, said there’s been some tension between fishermen in the zone because American fishermen are worried Canadian fishermen are stealing lobsters from their traps at night. Canadian fisherman can check their traps after dark, but American fishermen aren’t regulated to do so. Until now. New legislation in Maine will now allow American fishermen to check their traps at night. >Audio report, click to read<20:03
Menhaden Mural and Otis Smith Plaque Unveiled in Lewes
Art and history come together on a new mural dedicated to and inspired by the fishing industry and a former mayor. On March 25th, Damon Pla began working to capture the history of Lewes’ Menhaden Fishing Industry in a mural on the side of the Beacon Motel. About 8 weeks and many rain showers later and he’s ready to share it with the town. ,,,, “The Menhaden Fishing Industry was part of Lewes’ history in the 1900s,” he explains. “It also charts the history of the owner of the fishing industry, who was Otis Smith.” Smith was the town’s Mayor for 18 years. >click to read<19:08
Scotland warns Ireland it will force fishing boats to leave Rockall waters
The Scottish government has warned Ireland it will send its fisheries patrol vessels to force Irish fishing boats to leave a 12-mile zone around Rockall, the tiny disputed island 260 miles west of the Co Donegal coast. In a formal letter of notice, the Scottish external affairs minister Fiona Hyslop has warned the Irish Government that it will deploy its vessels to protect Scottish fishing rights around Rockall. The Government here, which contests the Scottish claim on Rockall and also the claim of exclusive fishing rights, has condemned the move but on Thursday the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries Michael Creed briefed fishing industry representatives about the impending Scottish action. >click to read<18:08
Capsized ocean rescue vessel leaves three dead in French storm
Three rescuers from the French ocean rescue service died Friday when their vessel capsized in rough seas as a giant storm pummelled the country’s Atlantic coast. Three of them died while four managed to swim to shore, the statement added.,,, The captain of the fishing boat is also missing, and officials said he probably had crew members on board as well. “So far we haven’t been able to find the fishing boat. We’ve found fragments of the boat and an empty lifeboat,” the regional maritime authority told AFP. >click to read<17:02
Maine Voices: Nordic Aquafarms isn’t acting like a good neighbor to Belfast residents
Its continual changes of plan and apparent misrepresentation of its land rights should raise questions among regulators.,,, For instance, As time went on, the company dropped and changed one after another of the plans that had made it sound like a clean and responsible business for our community. The company’s effluent pipe, it turned out, would be dumping 7.7 million gallons a day of warm (59 to 64.4 degrees Fahrenheit) wastewater in the bay – more than neighboring Bayside is authorized to dump in a year. This water, containing 1,484 pounds of nitrogen per day, as well as another 400 pounds of suspended solids and other chemicals, would be discharged through a pipe that has been shortened by over a third and will be many miles away from any “deep ocean currents.” >click to read<15:47
So This Pipe Is Just Spewing Blood And Fish Guts Into The Open Water – >Video, click to read<
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for June 7, 2019
From Our Executive Director- Glenn Skinner – At the special MFC meeting held June 6 the Marine Fisheries Commission approved their preferred management options for Amendment 2 to the Southern Flounder FMP. The preferred management measures chosen would: >Click here to read the Weekly Update<, to read all the updates >click here<, for older updates listed as NCFA >click here< 13:17
Connecticut’s last commercial seaport — Stonington — shines in Mystic shadow
It’s a hodgepodge of a parade for sure, but one that holds the same significance year after year in this Connecticut fishing village. Upon completing their lap around the square, the pirates, pipers and hot rods, along with the spectators, move en masse the short distance to the Town Dock for the annual Blessing of the Fleet.,,, The blessing and its reason for being, too, have evolved. What once was a way of life for this little village has literally sailed out to sea. “We don’t have enough fish coming through the door,” said Mike Gambardella, whose family owns one of the last packing facilities and wholesale fish houses in Connecticut. >click to read<12:34
Lobstermen tell regulators: Give us fewer buoy lines, but let us fish them how we want
Brian Tripp, a Sedgwick lobsterman, urged Maine to adopt a buoy line tagging system to help reduce the number of lines that link a fisherman’s buoys to his traps by 50 percent, which is what federal regulators say it will take to protect the endangered right whale from deadly entanglements. Under current state law, most Maine fishermen have a right to fish up to 800 of these surface-to-seabed lines. To meet the federal risk reduction goal, Maine can issue each fisherman 400 buoy line tags, Tripp said – half the number they are allowed to have now. Fishermen could live with that if they had the freedom to fish those 400 buoy lines how they want, he said. >click to read<11:21
Copper River harvest hits 429,630 fish and rising
That sixth opener was the charm, “a very welcome relief for this fleet,” said drift gillnet harvester John Renner. “It appears to be a larger run than predicted,” said Renner, in a phone call from his Cordova home on Wednesday, June 5, in the wake of the 36-hour opener of the 2019 Copper River commercial salmon season, which ended at 7 p.m. the previous evening. “The fish are also large and healthy, indicating a larger component of older fish,” Renner said. “They are spread out across the flats offshore and onshore. “ >click to read<10:56
North Pacific fish council enters Pebble debate, over state’s objections
The state of Alaska believes the North Pacific Fishery Management Council is overstepping its bounds, by weighing in on the Pebble Mine Project in Bristol Bay. A proposed comment letter drafted by the Council prompted a strong reaction from the state, during the Council’s June meeting in Sitka. During its Sitka meeting Wednesday morning (6-5-19), the Council reviewed a letter it planned to send to the Army Corps of Engineers commenting on the draft environmental impact statement — or DEIS — of the Pebble Mine. >Audio clip, click to read<08:54
Its not Lob-ter, Jeremy. Its Lob-stah. – Jeremy Roenick provides shenanigans while lobster boating
In the latest edition of “Where in the World is Jeremy Roenick?” (not an actual title … yet?), we get some fun video footage of JR “hunting” for lobster in Boston before Game 5 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final. Roenick has a fun time with Captain Fred Penney of Two Buoys Lobster Tour. If you’re familiar with JR’s antics with locals, you’ll know that shenanigans will be had, and JR does not disappoint. >Video, click to read< 08:14
