Daily Archives: August 31, 2019
DFO closes part of Bay Fundy to fishing after right whale sightings
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans closed parts of the Bay of Fundy to fixed-gear fishing Thursday after several North Atlantic right whale sightings east off Grand Manan. The closure will be in effect until further notice, the DFO said in a news release. All fishing gear had to be removed from the area by Aug. 29 at 5 p.m. Closures are in place for at least 15 days after a right whale is spotted in a particular area. >click to read< 18:45
Rescuers hold safety practice at offshore wind farm.
Offshore rescuers are sharpening their skills at and near the Block Island Wind Farm,,, But a Rhode Island commercial fishing group has said practicing on five turbines, all in a row, can’t be considered a real test for what is expected to be hundreds of wind turbines in grid patterns offshore south of Massachusetts and Rhode Island in the coming decade. “It’s not really a farm,” said Richard Fuka of the Rhode Island Fishermens Alliance. The U.S. Coast Guard has completed a case study on the Jan. 1 sinking of the F/V Mistress 3 or 4 miles from the Block Island wind farm to determine if the presence of the five turbines had any impact on the agency’s search and rescue operation. >click to read< 18:09
Mystery: One-time “Shark Capital of the World” Cape Town, South Africa has lost all of its “man-eating” Great Whites!
I’ve been so busy keeping up with the heaps and heaps of Great White sharks turning my once bucolic North County, San Diego paradise into a blood-curdling hell that I’ve not kept up with one-time “Shark Capital of the World” Cape Town, South Africa. The man-eating beasts were a constant threat for Afrikaans-speaking locals. Attacks were not uncommon and neither were deaths. Extremely scary but waters once teeming with ghastly teeth and rolled-back eyes are now peaceful. No Great White has been spotted in over eighteen months. >click to read< 14:57
Proposal would kill more sea lions to protect fish
More than 1,100 sea lions could be killed annually along a stretch of the Columbia River on the Oregon-Washington border to boost faltering populations of salmon and steelhead, federal officials said Friday. The National Marine Fisheries Service said it’s taking public comments through Oct. 29 on the plan requested by Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Native American tribes. The agency says billions of dollars on habitat restoration, fish passage at dams and other efforts have been spent in the three states in the last several decades to save 13 species of Columbia Basin salmon and steelhead protected under the Endangered Species Act. >click to read< 13:43
Hurricane Dorian Update: Hurricane Warning is in effect for Northwestern Bahamas excluding Andros Island
At 1100 AM EDT (1500 UTC), the distinct eye of Hurricane Dorian was located near latitude 26.0 North, longitude 73.4 West. Dorian is moving toward the west near 8 mph (13 km/h) and a slower westward motion should continue into early next week. On this track, the core of Dorian should move over the Atlantic well north of the southeastern and central Bahamas today, be near or over the northwestern Bahamas on Sunday, and move near the Florida east coast late Monday through Tuesday. >click to read< 11:11
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for Aug 30 , 2019
Legislative updates, Bill updates, Calendar, >Click here to read the Weekly Update<, to read all the updates >click here<, for older updates listed as NCFA >click here< 10:10
Despite Strong Harvest To The South, Commercial Salmon Season Slow In Calif. Klamath Management Zone
“Fisheries have been stronger in the Morro Bay, Avila and San Francisco areas, although we don’t know for certain why that is,” said CDFW environmental scientist Kandice Morgenstern. “We can be speculative in that fish will tend to go where ocean conditions and prey abundance is better, so it’s likely that environmental conditions are better on that section of coast.”,,, The rebound comes after three years of low catches that resulted from poor ocean conditions and the state’s five-year drought >click to read< 09:22
MLA Withdraws from TRT April 2019 Agreement Due to “serious data flaws”
On August 30, the Maine Lobstermen’s Association (MLA) sent a letter to Chris Oliver, head of NOAA Fisheries, withdrawing support for the April 2019 Take Reduction Team (TRT) agreement due to serious flaws in the data presented to the TRT and in the agreement process. The TRT agreement calls for Maine lobstermen to reduce its risk to right whales by 60%. “Following the TRT meeting, MLA undertook a careful review of data available from NMFS, due to unresolved concerns with the timeliness and accuracy of information provided to TRT members,” said Patrice McCarron, MLA executive director. >click to read< 08:34
Vineyard Wind to conduct (voluntary) radar survey without Coast Guard
“Vineyard Wind is preparing to undertake a survey of [Massachusetts] fishing vessel owners (voluntary) to ascertain differences in radar system use,” Farmelant emailed. “This effort is expected to help inform the project team’s responses to assertions/concerns aired by fishing representatives about wind turbine generators possibly affecting their onboard radar systems.” Asked if the U.S. Coast Guard was associated with the survey, Farmelant said it isn’t at present. >click to read<08:13
