Monthly Archives: June 2019
Report: Fish passage above the Columbia’s biggest dam can be done
It’s been nearly 80 years since salmon and steelhead made it past Chief Joseph and Grand Coulee dams in Washington’s Upper Columbia Basin.,, A team of researchers presented their findings on Tuesday to the Northwest Power and Conservation Council. In short, they said, salmon can survive in the upper reaches of the Columbia Basin, and fish passage needs to happen at the two dams. For several years biologists have looked into scenarios for salmon above the dams — if there was enough habitat available, if pathogens and predators wouldn’t cause too much damage, if there were even ways to get the fish around the concrete structures. >click to read<09:11
Labrador fleet wants separate quota for northern cod – FFAW and FISH-NL do not support
Fishers from the 2J fleets partnered with the Labrador Fishermen’s Union Shrimp Company to make the proposal. In 2018, a 9,500-tonne limit was placed on the northern cod stewardship fishery for fishing zones 2J3KL.,,, Dwight Russell, a Mary’s Harbour fisherman, is chair of the 2J fishers. He told The Northern Pen the fleet is just looking for a fair share.,, Russell says he doesn’t believe the 2J cod fishing fleet, historically, has been given much opportunity to grow. He says if they could get a higher share of the total Northern cod quota, it would allow the industry to grow in the region. >click to read>08:34
Coast Guard offering free dockside examinations through June 17
Representatives from the U.S. Coast Guard are in Dillingham through June 17 offering free dockside examinations for commercial boats, By getting an examination before heading out for the season, fishermen can make sure that their boats will easily pass inspection if they get boarded by the Coast Guard at sea. Coast Guard examiners say boat requirements vary based on how far out the vessel will be traveling. But in general they will be looking for safety gear — such as immersion suits and flares — and checking that those items are not expired. >click to read<08:08
Conservationists raise alarm over wild fish killed inside B.C. salmon farms
A conservation charity said it’s concerned by what it calls a “growing trend” of wild fish killed by the salmon farming industry on British Columbia’s coast. Stan Proboszcz, Watershed Watch Salmon Society, said nine times as many wild fish were reported inside open-net pen farms in 2017 compared with 2011.,, The society estimates that about 13.2 million wild fish may be held in B.C.’s 65 salmon farms at any given time, and an additional 653 tonnes of wild fish may be hanging around outside the farms because they’re attracted by things like food and lights.,,, “The farms are known to be amplifiers of pathogens, parasites and viruses. Are these things being spread to wild fish?” >click to read<20:47
ACLU Alleges Coast Guard Detained and Abused Fishermen
One night in the fall of 2017, four Jamaican fishermen set out into the Caribbean from the village of Half Moon Bay. As a lawsuit filed today describes it, their quest for tuna and snapper was supposed to last about two days. Then they disappeared. Five weeks later, those men—Robert Dexter Weir, Patrick Wayne Ferguson, Luther Fian Patterson, and David Roderick Williams—reemerged in Miami, covered in burns and blisters, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. United States Coast Guard officers had snatched them off their boat on suspicion of marijuana smuggling, then held them at sea for more than a month, shuffling them among various vessels en route to the U.S. to face trial, alleges the ACLU, which is suing the Coast Guard on the men’s behalf. >click to read<18:47 Weir v. U.S. – Complaint – >click to read<
Cook Inlet fishermen celebrate ‘Return of the Reds’ with hope for 2019
Cook Inlet fishermen are looking forward to their salmon season with high hopes that the sockeye will arrive in better numbers than last year. On June 11, fishermen and processors grilled up some of the first Cook Inlet salmon of the year at the Pacific Star processing plant in Kenai, gathering to build excitement for the coming season. The plant is now receiving salmon from the west side of Cook Inlet, while the fishermen in the drift gillnet and east side set gillnet fleets gear up for their first expected openings in the coming weeks. >click to read<15:24
Leatherback sea turtles likely to go extinct under Trump administration policy, lawsuit argues
Leatherback sea turtles are likely to be “effectively extinct within 20 years” if two new federal permits for fishing off the coast of California go into effect, environmental groups claim in a new lawsuit. In April, the Trump administration granted new two-year “exempted fishing permits” to two California-based vessels in what are currently protected waters.,,, National Marine Fisheries Service,,, the federal agency said the permits “are not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of any listed species or result in the destruction or adverse modification of critical habitat.” The longline fishing will have to halt immediately if “one mortality of a leatherback sea turtle is observed.>click to read<14:03
Get revved up! It’s lobster boat racing season!
There’s gonna be a lot of wake goin’ on this weekend with the start of the 34th lobster boat racing season Saturday, June 15 at 10 a.m. with the Charles Begin Memorial Races right here in Boothbay Harbor. Sign up begins at 9 a.m. Racing fee: $25. Categories include gas classes based on length and cubic inches, diesel classes based on horsepower and length, a wooden boat race, gas and diesel free-for-alls, and four races just for Boothbay region boats. >click to read<11:32
Mark your calendar for the 2019 Maine Lobster Boat Races! – 2019 Maine Lobster Boat Races Schedule – >click to read<
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 47′ Steel Stern Trawler, CAT 3406B, With State, Federal Permits
Specifications, information and 7 photos >click here< To see all the boats in this series, >click here<10:56
Fire destroys storage building at Braun Seafood in Cutchogue
A fire erupted at around 3 a.m. in a rear storage building at Braun Seafood Co. in Cutchogue Wednesday. Firefighters from departments across the North Fork were continuing to pump water on it as of 6 a.m. Braun Seafood owner Ken Homan said the fire destroyed a portion of a building that houses a large freezer for seafood storage. By 6 a.m. the roof of the building had completely collapsed. Cody Homan, the owner’s son, said the freezer is where the company keeps “so much of what we sell all summer.” >click to read>09:41
Our View: Lobster gear changes not yet warranted
A plan to drastically reduce the amount of fishing line in the waters off Maine has lobstermen up and down the coast worried about their future. It is pitting small inshore operators against those who haul in deeper waters. And there’s little evidence it will work. The plan is part of an effort by federal regulators to save the North Atlantic right whale,,,, The National Marine Fisheries Service estimates that fishing rope kills or seriously injures five to nine right whales a year,,, But none of the deaths has been tied conclusively to Maine lobster gear. >click to read<09:20
Big brawl in Little Harbour over lobster fishing grounds
The Eastern Shore’s lobster fishery has once again been marred by violence. On Saturday afternoon RCMP responded to a brawl in Little Harbour stemming from a longstanding dispute between two families over lobster fishing grounds. “The dispute resulted in two men going to the home of another man to confront him,” reads the RCMP account of the fight. “Two more men arrived, and a physical altercation ensued, with some of the parties involved using weapons, including a wrench, a golf club, and a baseball bat.” Video, >click to read<08:48
Groundfishermen not hooked by monitoring alternatives
For more than two years, the New England Fishery Management Council has worked on an intricate groundfish monitoring amendment that could have wide-scale economic and regulatory consequences for groundfishermen. It has been a thorny, winding path that involves a host of groundfish committees, plan development teams and assorted staff within the far-flung fisheries regulatory landscape. Now a group of groundfishermen are weighing in. And they are not pleased. >click to read<07:53
Exhibition to showcase Selsey’s 1,000-year-old fishing industry
“The Selsey Fishery is the heart of the town and I hope that people will be inspired to support the fishermen and women to help make sure that this important industry continues to thrive. We’d like to thank the National Lottery Heritage Fund for their support of this important project.” Sea’s the Day: The Story of the Selsey Fishery showcases the important role the Selsey Fishery plays, and highlights the need to make sure this vital industry thrives in the future. Video, >click to read<19:40
For Fishermen, Wind Farm Debate Contains A Dose Of Inevitability
Discussions of the wind farm among its most dead-set opponents, commercial fishermen, has turned decidedly in recent months, from stopping the project entirely to, instead, identifying ways to limit the negative impacts it wind farm could have—and that was even before the official public input phase of the construction and operations plan had begun. Fishermen from Rhode Island recently inked a compensation agreement with Vineyard Wind,,, The developers of the South Fork Wind Farm have yet to offer any sort of a similar package to fishermen locally, “The only place that doesn’t have any say in the project is New York,” said Bonnie Brady of the Long Island Commercial Fishermen’s Association. “You tell me—what’s wrong with this picture?” >click to read<17:54
Atlantic Herring: Council Approves Framework 6, 2019-2021 Specs included, Revised Overfishing Definition
The New England Fishery Management Council has approved Framework Adjustment 6 to the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan (FMP), which contains 2019-2021 specifications for the fishery and a new overfishing definition for herring that is more consistent with the 2018 benchmark stock assessment. The Council took several stepsduring its April meeting that helped guide the development of Framework 6. Here at its June meeting in So. Portland, ME, the Council made three additional decisions to complete the package: >click to read<15:34
Letter: More awareness needed of fish farms
To the editor: I went to the screening of “Lobster Wars” that occurred at the Cape Ann Museum on June 4. In the panel discussion after the movie, Larry Stepenuck was the only one who brought up the devastating effects and disturbances on the lobstermen and fishermen by the fish farms. These polluting enterprises and associated infrastructure take out huge chunks of the ocean that the fishermen and lobsermen could otherwise fish in (both vertically and horizontally). What’s left is getting slimmer all the time. Here, NOAA wants the lobstermen to develop ropeless lobster traps in order to protect the right whales. Meanwhile, NOAA and the Army Corps of Engineers turned around last year and awarded one of the Saltonstall-Kennedy grants to the development of a fish farm in the Critical Zone. A must read by Sue Waller, Rockport. >click to read<14:13
60-Day Notice of Intent to Sue NOAA under the Endangered Species Act Regarding Sea Grant’s Funding of Offshore Aquaculture Projects – >click to read<
60-Day Notice of Intent to Sue NOAA under the Endangered Species Act Regarding Sea Grant’s Funding of Offshore Aquaculture Projects
Dear Secretary Ross, et al.: Friends of the Earth (“FOE”) and Center for Food Safety (“CFS”) hereby notify you of violations of the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”), 16 U.S.C. §§ 1531-1544, in connection with Project 107-NH-Chapman (“Project”), an offshore aquaculture project proposed by the University of New Hampshire and funded by a grant from the National Sea Grant College Program’s (“Sea Grant”) 2018 Ocean, Coastal, and Great Lakes National Aquaculture Initiative. The Project calls for the construction and deployment of an Aquafort system approximately 12 kilometers offshore in a depth of 52 meters of water. The Aquafort system consists of a floating >click to read<13:39
Coast Guard to Conduct Dockside Fishing Vessel Exams for Bristol Bay
The Coast Guard will offer courtesy dockside examinations of commercial fishing vessels in Bristol Bay in anticipation of the 2019 Bristol Bay salmon fishery season. The Coast Guard anticipates sending examiners to the following locations for public outreach and to encourage dockside exam participation: King Salmon: June 6-21, Dillingham: June 10-20, Egegik: June 13-18.,,, In 2018, several fishermen died after falling overboard. None of them were wearing life jackets. The Coast Guard continues to strongly recommend that all fishermen wear life jackets when on the deck of any vessel.
Vessel operators are reminded,,, >click to read<12:25
Perfect port an elusive goal for East Coast offshore wind
“Developers have studied all the ports up and down the East Coast several times now. What we’re really looking for is large areas, good capacities, no bridges and deep drafts. And if someone has that, please come forward,” said Christer af Geijerstam, president of Equinor Wind US, which holds leases for offshore wind development off the coasts of Massachusetts and New York. “The problem is that it’s hard to find places that tick all of those boxes.”,,, At least part of the East Coast supply chain will meet the water in Massachusetts, where public dollars financed a port facility in New Bedford tucked away in a walled-in harbor that is already crowded with a scallop fleet that has made it the wealthiest fishing port in the country. >click to read< 11:44
Troon fishing boat crashes into giant crude oil tanker near Ayr bay
A fishing boat smashed into a giant crude oil tanker 16 times its size. The incident happened less than an hour before dawn. For days the 899-foot tanker Decathlon has been at anchor in Ayr Bay. It is so big it can be seen from miles inland. But Troon-based fishing boat Progress smashed right into it. The damage was so extensive that the trawler had to tie up at Troon awaiting work at a boatyard.,,, Progress is skippered by Keith Wilson, who lives in Barassie. He failed to comment when approached by the Ayrshire Post to explain how it could happen. His wife Carolyn, a director of the family fishing firm, said: “He is still dealing with things at the moment. “I think I had better leave any comment to him, >click to read<11:01
The Jubilee: Mobile Bay’s Summer Seafood Phenomenon
He can try to tell it to you, tell how Mobile Bay goes calm and slick just before dawn, how the tide pushes in beneath a gentle easterly breeze that just smells different—like salt. He can tell how the mixing salt water from the Gulf of Mexico and fresh water from the Mobile-Tensaw Delta to the north just fracture somehow in that great, warm, stagnant pool and a heavier, saltier layer, low in oxygen, sinks to the bottom of the bay.,,, “I grew up with an old man—we called him ‘The Duke’—and he taught me a lot of what I know about the brackish water and the nature of fish,,, >click to read<10:10
Concern in Chignik, as escapement gets off to a slow start
Staff with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game began counting sockeye salmon on June 1. So far, the numbers haven’t been promising – as of today the department had counted a total of 3,374 fish. “That’s a little slow for here. There have been years when we get off to a slow start and have a decent year. But following a year like 2018, everyone’s concerned,” said Dawn Wilburn, an area management biologist with ADF&G. She says Chignik’s run failed to develop as predicted in 2018. Only 539,825 reds returned, and there were no commercial fishing openers. >click to read<09:12
Westerly councilors united in opposition to kelp farm, citing location, hazards
United in a belief that an area in the waters just off Napatree Point is the wrong location for a proposed kelp farm, the Town Council voted unanimously Monday to communicate their opposition to the project to state regulators. Opponents said the farm would foul the view, pose navigational hazards, threaten wildlife and make the area less productive for commercial fishermen. >click to read<08:10
Used and Abused: How Much Can the Oceans Take? – Joseph MacAndrew wants a kelp farm. His plan, however, is facing ample opposition, from academic, business, Napatree Point, and Watch Hill interests. This article showcases the nitrogen and phosphorous pollution, Plastic pollution, dumping metal inyo the oceans, oil drilling, but, not a word on wind farms. >click to read<
‘A major punch in the gut’: Midwest rains projected to create Gulf dead zone
As rain deluged the Midwest this spring, commercial fisherman Ryan Bradley knew it was only a matter of time before the disaster reached him. All that water falling on all that fertilizer-enriched farmland would soon wend its way through streams and rivers into Bradley’s fishing grounds in the Gulf of Mexico, off the Mississippi coast. The nutrient excess would cause tiny algae to burst into bloom, then die, sink, and decompose on the ocean floor. That process would suck all the oxygen from the water, turning it toxic. Fish would suffocate, or flee, leaving Bradley and his fellow fishermen with nothing to harvest. >click to read<21:12
Wespac: Fisheries Management Council Needs To Be Fully Investigated
It’s time for a deep look into how the council is operating, particularly how it has been spending millions of dollars in grants and contracts. Secretive funds and wasteful projects. Conflicts of interest and political favoritism. Limited oversight and stonewalling administrators. Civil Beat’s recent three-part series “Reeling It In,” which helps lift the heavy lid on the murky operations of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, raises as many questions as it answers about a vital government agency that has swayed from its core mission. (Do they warrant investigation? Do other Councils?) >click to read<19:03
New England Fishery Management Council meeting June 11-13, 2019 in So. Portland, ME
The New England Fishery Management Council will be meeting at DoubleTree by Hilton, So. Portland, ME. June 11-13, 2019. To read the final agenda, >click here< Register for webinar >click here< to listen live. 16:23
Sixty-Something: Participating In This Year’s Montauk Blessing Of The Fleet
Every late spring, for the last sixty years, there has been a pure Montauk tradition called the Blessing of the Fleet. It is both a memorial for lost local fisherman and boaters and the celebration on a new fishing season and a blessing from the almighty that it be a safe one. There are five representatives from different religious sects who pray and bless the commercial and charter boat fleet of Montauk as they circle the boat with the clergymen in the harbor. It is quite an emotional and colorful ordeal. >click to read<15:43
New Zealand: Lack of interest in commercial fishing jobs threatens our fresh fish and chips
One of New Zealand’s few licensed fish processors and exporters says it is in dire need of more fish and fishermen. Egmont Seafoods, based in New Plymouth, say if things don’t change there won’t be fresh seafood readily available for New Zealanders or for export overseas. It’s the start of the week and although there are fish on the shelves for customers to buy, Egmont Seafoods has no fish to process and won’t until Wednesday.,,, “There’s an opportunity to take advantage of the fish stock we’ve got on our back doorstep but it’s difficult to do that when you don’t have the people who want to get involved.” >click to read<12:55
Workers Compensation Board after fishermen to wear PFDs
Starting Monday, the Workers Compensation Board of P.E.I. will be heading to wharves across the Island to ensure fishermen are wearing personal flotation devices. The visits are part of an education and compliance initiative the WCB started last year. “The fishing industry is a dangerous industry,” said Danny Miller, director of occupational health and safety. “We’ve been focusing on the education, and the recent fatalities on P.E.I. have further reminded us that there’s more work to do.” Four people died in commercial fishing accidents last year in P.E.I. waters. >click to read<10:51
