Daily Archives: August 27, 2019
U.S. ratifies The Agreement to Prevent Unregulated High Seas Fisheries in the Central Arctic Ocean
The United States has become the fourth jurisdiction after Canada, the European Union and Russia to ratify a landmark international agreement that aims to prevent unregulated commercial fishery in the high seas of the Central Arctic Ocean, officials at the State Department announced Tuesday. The Agreement to Prevent Unregulated High Seas Fisheries in the Central Arctic Ocean, which was signed in Ilulissat, Greenland last October, includes the so-called Arctic Five – Canada, Norway, Russia, Denmark (Greenland and the Faroe Islands), the U.S. – as well as the major fishing nations – Iceland, Japan, South Korea, China and the EU. >click to read< 17:56
Video: Coast Guard medevacs fishing vessel master 104 miles west of Ft. Myers
A Coast Guard crew medevaced a man experiencing abdominal pains Tuesday 104 miles offshore of Ft. Myers, Florida. Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg command center watchstanders were notified by the commercial fishing vessel, F/V Solo, that the master of the boat had been in pain for more than 12 hours. Coast Guard watchstanders launched an Air Station Clearwater MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew who hoisted the man from vessel and transported to Tampa General Hospital, where the man was transferred to medical personnel. >click to read< 15:19
Mass. Environmental Police Seize 384 Pounds of Black Sea Bass in Harwich
On Saturday, August 24, 2019, an Officer on patrol in the vicinity of Wychmere Harbor in Harwich observed an individual loading fish pots into the rear of a pickup truck. Further inspection found the individual, who was commercially permitted, to be in possession of 384 pounds of black sea bass on a closed commercial fishing day. The entire catch was seized and the individual was criminally summonsed for failure to display catch, landing black sea bass on a closed commercial day, and over the limit possession of black sea bass. >click to read< 13:57
Fishermen aren’t entitled to Deepwater Horizon settlement after failure to comply with order
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has affirmed that several menhaden fishermen were not entitled to a settlement agreement involving Deepwater Horizon litigation. On appeal, the menhaden (used for bait and feed) fishermen argued they were improperly denied damage awards, but appeals court agreed they were not entitled to settlement funds because they did not timely comply with a pretrial order identified as PTO 60. >click to read< 12:59
Crew abandons ship safely to Survitec Liferaft when vessel erupts in flames
Two fishermen whose boat caught fire off the coast of Land’s End, UK, successfully evacuated into a Survitec liferaft and from there were taken ashore by Falmouth Coastguard. The pair activated the Survitec Seasava liferaft and abandoned Ocean Harvest, when it caught fire. Ocean Harvest was equipped with a SOLAS-approved Seasava Pro-ISO liferaft, which was developed for smaller vessels with limited deck space and is required to be serviced at three-year intervals. >click to read< 12:04
Limited fish passage through landslide obstruction on Fraser River
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the provincial government and local First Nations set up a team to lead the response to the slide near Big Bar, north of Lillooet, after it was discovered in late June. The team says in a news release Monday that fish counting data shows some chinook salmon have been able to swim past the slide using the channels the team has created with large rock manipulation and blasting. It says as of last Tuesday, a rough estimate of 6,700 salmon have passed through the slide on their own. >click to read< 11:19
Next Round of Right Whale Meetings On Hold – Revised Schedule Will be Sent When Available
Dear Lobster Industry Member, Last week, DMR sent a notice that the Lobster Zone Council meetings scheduled for the current week had been postponed. At this time, DMR is advising the industry that the entire schedule of meetings is currently on hold. The Commissioner regrets the delays but wants to ensure that we develop a proposal for submission to NMFS that reflects a thorough review of all data. Please be assured that we will share with you an updated meeting schedule when it becomes available. >click to read< 10:09
CT offshore wind may face some rough seas
The state and its offshore-wind-loving neighbors all face a year-end expiration of a federal tax credit that helps finance these projects – the first major attempts in the U.S. But in Connecticut some problems – including at least one self-inflicted one – could mean forgoing that money.,, One part of that balancing act involves the fishing industry, which seems to have driven the delay after the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), a division of NOAA, refused to sign off on the Vineyard Wind environmental impact statement. Indeed, the fishing industry is among the few cheering the government’s protracted analysis of the plan.,,, >click to read< 09:48
Like chasing unicorns?!! – Ropeless traps not easy for crabbers testing them in whale-protection effort
New Brunswick snow crab fishermen have been testing a ropeless trap system to reduce the use of fishing rope, which has been blamed in some of the deaths of endangered North Atlantic right whales. “The main problem with the ropeless gear … is that it was given way too much credit for what it can, at this time, achieve for the snow crab fishery,” Robert Haché, director general of the Acadian Crabbers Association, said in an interview.,, The ropeless traps, developed by California-based Desert Star System, are already used by fishermen in New Zealand and Australia. >click to read< 08:18
