Monthly Archives: July 2019
Fishermen volunteer to become 2nd right whale rescue team
Ferron is one of three crab fishermen who volunteered to form a new rescue team based in Shippagan. He, Martin Noël and Rémi Guignard have been training since last winter. The objective is to eventually have a boat to respond quickly to disentanglement calls in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.,,, Jean Lanteigne, director of the Regional Acadian Federation of Professional Fishermen, said the Campobello Whale Rescue team first approached the fishermen to see if anyone was interested in volunteering. Fifteen fishermen showed up for the information session, but three had the time to commit to the training schedule. >click to read< 17:18
The 2020-2021 Scallop RSA Competition is underway; the Project Proposal Deadline is September 20th!
The federal competition for 2020-2021 awards through the Scallop Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program is now open. The deadline for submitting full proposals is Friday, September 20, 2019 at 5 p.m. The New England Fishery Management Council established the Scallop RSA Program under the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan. The Council sets research priorities for this program, while the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS/NOAA Fisheries) administers the RSA competition, oversees award projects, and monitors set-aside harvest activities through the Northeast Fisheries Science Center and Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office (GARFO). >click to read< 16:27
Connecticut – The 66th Annual Blessing Of The Fleet Is Coming To Stonington Borough Sunday
The 66th annual Blessing of the Fleet will take place beginning at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, July 28, at St. Mary Church in Stonington Borough to honor and remember those who have died at sea on our local commercial fishing fleet, as well as to honor and bless the vessels–along with their captains, owners, crews and families–that will go out to sea in the year ahead. >click to read< 15:15
California coasts recovering, but more marine heatwaves like ‘The Blob’ expected
The effects of the marine heatwave off the California coast from 2014 to 2016, better known as The Blob, that led to a decrease in Chinook salmon and virtually shut down the Dungeness crab industry are finally starting to wear off.,,, “It wasn’t about (a lack of) abundance,” said Noah Oppenheim, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations. “It was about destabilized ecosystems.” >click to read< 10:50
7-foot mako shark tagged off Texas reappears off North Carolina’s Outer Banks
A 7-foot-5-inch-long mako shark tagged last year off Texas appeared Wednesday morning off North Carolina’s Outer Banks. His tracker pinged at 7:48 a.m. in the waters off Hatteras, a popular tourist area on the Cape Hatteras National Seashore,,, The shark has traveled more than 14,400 miles in 16 months, at times at speeds of up to 100 miles a day, researchers say.,,, “He’s the first mako we’ve tracked out of the Gulf of Mexico and into the Atlantic,” the organization tweeted. >click to read< 10:20
Bristol Bay sockeye harvest blowing away forecast once again
Bristol Bay is approaching the record for sockeye salmon harvest once again. As of July 21, fishermen in Bristol Bay’s five districts had harvested just more than 42 million salmon. More than 41.5 million of those were sockeye, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game; that’s already more than the 41.3 million sockeye harvested in 2018, the second-largest harvest on record. The largest harvest on record, which occurred in 1995, still stands at 44.2 million sockeye. >click to read< 09:40
Right whale discussion must not be trapped in political posturing
The state’s recent decision to buck the federal government, and to pursue its own assessment of the risk to right whales from lobster trap lines in the water, is warranted. Science, not politics, needs to guide this effort.,,, We’ve seen on the West Coast how legal pressure from environmental groups can close entire fisheries early, as it did for California crab this year. That does not mean Maine should roll over on the proposed federal regulations without science demonstrating that new regulations would be commensurate with the actual risk to whales posed by trap lines in Maine waters. >click to read< 08:28
101 lost snow crab traps, 9 km of rope removed from gulf to protect right whales
Federal fishery officers and Canadian Coast Guard crews have removed 101 lost snow crab traps and more than nine kilometres of associated rope from the Gulf of St. Lawrence as part of ongoing efforts to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales. The so-called ghost gear,,, Ropeless gear holds hope, Earlier this week, during a stop in Dieppe to discuss whale protection efforts, Jonathan Wilkinson,,, “But certainly from a fisheries perspective we see that as a very, very interesting way to address and separate the issues of fishing versus the whales.” >click to read< 21:36
U.S. Sen. Kennedy calls for permanent safety net for fishing industry
U.S. Sen. John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican, is calling for a permanent taxpayer-supported safety net for the fishing industry. The Commercial Fishing and Aquaculture Protection Act of 2019, introduced by U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Mississippi, does not carry an explicit price tag. Kennedy’s statement in support of the bill compares the proposal to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s “well-established” disaster programs for farmers.,,, Under the proposed amendment to the Magnuson-Stevens Act, potential federal relief would be available when revenue associated with commercial fishing or farm-raised fish production,,, >click to read<17:40
Fishing boat beaches while captain snoozes
A commercial fishing boat grounded early Friday morning near the East Chop Beach Club after the captain reportedly fell asleep at the helm. “That was a sight — a big fishing boat like that on the beach,” Oak Bluff Fire Chief John Rose said. Rose said the captain, whom the U.S. Coast Guard later identified as Sam Berreira, set his autopilot and dozed off. Oak Bluffs Police and U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Nicole Groll separately identified the vessel as the Mary Emmalene. >click to read< 16:53
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 75’ Blount Steel Scalloper $275,000 LAGC Permit with Scallop Quota Available
To view specifications, information and 34 photos >click here< To see all the boats in this series, >click here<14:44
Wasted – Our global food system discards 46 million tonnes of fish each year. Why?
From the moment a fisher lands a fish to the moment that fish lands on your plate, 27 percent of it will disappear.,,,It may surprise you, then, to learn that the Seafood Expo North America in Boston, Massachusetts, the largest gathering of the seafood industry in North America, does not stink. Not really. It smells of cleaned carpet and newly printed brochures and freshly scrubbed businesspeople, of men in ironed shirts and women with flat-ironed hair.,,, Around 22,000 people come from 50 countries to buy, sell, and market every consumable marine product imaginable. >click to read< 13:36
The Killers – Could B.C.’s chinook-loving orcas adapt to a new food source? It’s not unthinkable
Killer whales around the world have adapted to feeding on just about everything else that swims in the ocean, including halibut from the deep sea, seals and sea lions from the rocky shoreline, baby whales from their mothers’ sides and even the livers of great white sharks. The urgent question now is whether the southern residents could adjust to the disappearing chinook, expand their palates and open up their menu options. Lance Barrett-Lennard, director of the marine mammal research program at the Vancouver Aquarium, said it would be difficult — but not impossible. >click to read< 11:21
Seismic air guns found to harm balance organ in rock lobsters
A team of researchers with the University of Tasmania and Curtin University has found that seismic air guns used for oil and gas exploration can damage a sensory organ in rock lobsters called the statocyst, which provides balance and orientation. In their paper published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the group describes tests they conducted with lobsters in their lab and what they found. >click to read< 11:02
VOTE THEM OUT! Mass. delegation pushing to advance Vineyard Wind
Members of Congress have become involved in trying to move Vineyard Wind forward, a top Baker administration official said Tuesday, as lobbying intensifies to advance what state officials hope will be the nation’s first commercial-scale offshore wind project. Energy and Environmental Affairs Undersecretary Patrick Woodcock told members of the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center Board Tuesday about the involvement of members of Congress since the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management indicated it would not decide on a key project approval this month, as anticipated. >click to read< 10:37
Captain admits throwing illegally caught fish overboard in NC
A fishing captain has pleaded guilty to throwing away fish in North Carolina to prevent the Coast Guard from seizing it. Federal prosecutors said Tuesday that 51-year-old William Juel, of Little River, South Carolina, pleaded guilty to disposing of illegally caught fish in North Carolina. Authorities say the Coast Guard approached his boat, the Island Runner, and boarded it in November 2017. >click to read< 09:54
Entangled Whale Prompts Criticism Of Gill Nets
The small whale that was freed from a commercial fishing net after becoming entangled off Sagaponack last week has prompted community concern about the safety of the type of fishing nets it had encountered. “Whales and dolphins get caught in these nets all the time,” said George Mittendorf, a Wainscott resident and amateur sporting fisherman. (expert witness?) >click to read< 09:28
Massachusetts: Lobster bill survives budget deal
The legislation to allow the in-state sale, transport and processing of unfrozen, shell-on lobster parts — a persistent, years-long campaign by state Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr — has survived the Massachusetts Legislature’s conference committee and is contained in the $43.1 billion budget awaiting Baker’s approval or veto.,,,Tarr stated that up to 80% of lobsters landed in Massachusetts are transported out of state for processing at facilities in Maine and Canada — only to see them return here as value-added products for retail and restaurant consumers. >click to read< 08:51
More needs to be done to identify travel paths of North Atlantic right whales, scientist says
The Canadian and U.S. governments need to know exactly where North Atlantic right whales are travelling to better protect them, a whale researcher says. “There have been whales in locations that the Canadian government may not have known about, at least early enough, ” said Charles (Stormy) Mayo, director of the North Atlantic Right Whale Ecology program at the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown, Mass. “It’s a very thorny problem and the more that Canada can do, the better off we are.” >click to read< 20:29
EU bans cod fishing in Baltic Sea
The EU announced Tuesday an immediate ban on fishing cod, the staple of Britain’s fish and chips, in most of the Baltic Sea in response to an impending stock collapse. Alerted by scientists, the European Commission, which oversees the management of fish stocks in European waters, warned of ‘a rapid decline’ in cod stock ‘if no action is taken’. ‘We must act urgently to rebuild the stock, both in the interests of fish stocks and fishermen,’ said European Fisheries Commissioner Karmenu Vella in a statement. >click to read< 18:30:
What It’s Like Fishing for Lobster as a Woman
It’s 5 a.m. and Krista Tripp is loading her 36-foot boat, preparing to head out on the waters off of Spruce Head, Maine. She’ll spend roughly the next 12 hours on the boat, working either by herself or with a stern(wo)man to bait traps, measure lobsters, pull up buoys, hauling anywhere from 200 to 300 lobsters in the day, which she’ll sell at the local wharf.,,, A third-generation fisherman, she grew up going out on her dad’s boat, watching the crew work from the time she was a little girl. >click to read< 17:01
P.E.I. Fisherman lost at sea off Naufrage to be remembered this weekend
Friends and family of Jordan Hicken will gather this weekend to remember the 23-year-old fisherman who was lost at sea May 21. Hicken went overboard while fishing off of Naufrage, off the North Shore of eastern P.E.I. He was from Montague and was fishing with his father, Trevor Hicken. His family said he was an experienced fisherman who has fished for several years, including in Nova Scotia. >click to read< 16:10
2019 shrimp season is worst Pass Christian seafood dealer has seen in more than 40 years
Jeremy Forte’s family seafood business has never seen a shrimp season as bad as this year. Not only are they seeing the affects of the Bonnet Carré on the ecosystem, but the algae warnings for seafood has been detrimental to their business. Video, >click to watch< 14:18
New bill would pay Coast fisherman for losses after Bonnet Carré opening, algae bloom – >click to read<
Humpy catch hits 7.4M
Humpy harvests in Prince William Sound jumped from 3.4 million to 7.4 million, as the overall wild salmon harvest for the Sound rose to over 14 million fish. Along with the growing pink salmon harvests, area processors have received 4,386,000 chum, 2,120,000 sockeye, 18,000 Chinook and about 1,000 cohos through July 16, according to the latest preliminary Alaska commercial salmon harvest report updated daily during the season by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. It’s been a good season for setnetters and drift gillnetters, according to Jeremy Botz, gillnet area management biologist at Cordova with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. >click to read< 13:19
Commercial Fisherman Sentenced in Federal Court for Assault with Intent to Murder
Christopher Shane Dreiling was sentenced in federal court on two counts of assault with intent to murder within the special maritime jurisdiction of the United States. Dreiling received a thirty year prison sentence, consisting of fifteen years on each count of assault to run consecutive to each other. At trial, a jury found that at dusk on August 20, 2017, Dreiling attacked the captain and another crew member of the Billy B. a commercial fishing vessel. After stabbing both victims multiple times with a fillet knife, Dreiling forced the victims off the boat and into the Gulf of Mexico >click to read< Original December 5, 2018 post, >click to read< 12:22
P.E.I. lobster fishing industry looking at replacements for traditional bait
A Tignish lobster fisherman says he would welcome new bait sources for the fishery “as long as it is environmentally-friendly.” Kenneth LeClair,,, was commenting on news that a Canadian fish broker was recently granted permission to bring in blackbelly rosefish from Uruguay to use as bait for the lobster fishery in Maine. The company, New Brunswick-based Cooke Aquaculture, is still awaiting Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s decision on whether it can also market the bait in Atlantic Canada.,,, Meanwhile, a P.E.I. startup company, Bait Masters Inc., is in the research and development phase of testing the potential for an all-natural bait made of fish products and fish oils. >click to read< 11:35
The Hibernia spill – Regulator fumes as Hibernia shutdown costs N.L. $2.5M a day in deferred revenue
Hibernia ceased operations Wednesday after accidentally releasing an estimated 12,000 litres of oil into the Atlantic Ocean from a storage cell containing a combination of crude oil and water.,,, The Hibernia spill comes eight months after an estimated 250,000 litres of oil leaked from a faulty connector in the sprawling network of cables beneath the SeaRose production vessel in the White Rose oil field. >click to read< 10:52
Lobstermen from Machias to Boothbay Harbor hold rally in Stonington about federal moves to limit trap lines
Lobstermen gathered on the Stonington Commercial Fish Pier to draw greater attention to the issues facing the survival of their industry and the livelihoods of coastal Maine communities. Julie Eaton, who fishes for lobster, said at the outset of the rally: “NOAA [The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration] knows that not one Right Whale has been proven to have been entangled in Maine rope in many years and the new proposed regulations would only cause extreme danger to our lobstermen. >click to read< 09:56
Offshore Wind: Cuomo’s incredible wind-power pander
Flanked by former veep and climate-crusader Al Gore, Gov. Andrew Cuomo last week signed a wide-ranging “climate-action” bill. He also announced that New Yorkers would subsidize construction of more than 200 wind turbines off New York City and Long Island — one of the biggest efforts of its kind in the United States — all in the name of reducing the state’s carbon emissions to “net zero” in about 30 years. Amid what he described as the “chaos of political pandering and hyperbole” surrounding the issue of climate change, Cuomo portrayed his plan as grounded in “facts, data and evidence.” >click to read<09:14
New England Fishery Management Council Update, meetings lined up between now and mid-September
July 22, 2019 The New England Fishery Management Council has a number of meetings lined up between now and mid-September. Here’s a rundown of what’s currently posted on the Council’s calendar, along with a few highlights of related activities. One item, ENFORCEMENT: The Enforcement Committee and Enforcement Advisory Panel (AP) will be meeting jointly to discuss the enforcement aspects of a number of groundfish actions, including Monitoring Amendment 23 and the Groundfish Catch Share Program Review. The joint meeting will be held on Thursday, July 25 in Portsmouth, NH. >click to read<08:10
