Monthly Archives: August 2019
Gerald Podschies: Angry Brixham trawler skipper calls for MP to ‘stand down and force a by-election’
I voted for you in the last general election,,, As you know, 54% of your constituents who voted in the referendum voted for Brexit. Not one kind of Brexit or another, just Brexit. Nothing more nothing less.,, In my 40 plus years as a fisherman, I have struggled under the jackboot of the CFP [Common Fisheries Policy]. Had to stand by as more and more European boats were granted access to our waters and decimated our fisheries whilst we had to go elsewhere. Watched as once thriving fishing ports we visited fell into decline and British boats were decommissioned, cut up for scrap or burnt. Powerful writing, Captain. >click to read< 09:26
Have you caught a Pacific pink salmon in England? The Environment Agency would love to hear from you!
Up until recently, catching a Pacific pink salmon was as rare as netting a red herring. However in 2017 unprecedented numbers of this species were reported within inshore coastal waters and rivers in Scotland and England. In Scotland, pink salmon were found to have spawned successfully,,, Seven pink salmon were subsequently recorded by anglers in or close to English rivers.,,, Owing to the two year life cycle of this species, 2019 will be the first year that we can expect to see these fish return in numbers. >click to read< 08:41
P.E.I. company testing new bait for lobster and crab fishery
Bait Masters Inc. is testing the new product in the fall crab and lobster fishery on P.E.I. “The new bait is a mix of fish and other organic matters in a biodegradable casing,” said Wally MacPhee, co-owner of the company. “It reduces the amount of pelagic fish used in the bait process. We’re hoping to reduce it by 50 percent per piece so it would be a help with sustainability.” Mackerel and herring, the traditional bait used by the lobster fishery on P.E.I., has become increasingly more expensive and difficult for Island fishermen to find. >click to read< 07:39
The ‘Codfather’ was a seafood kingpin, until fake Russian mobsters took him down.
Though he estimated his net worth at $10 million to $25 million, he still walked the creaky, bait-scented wharves in flannel shirts and worn jeans every day, barking out commands and alternating between foul-mouthed English and rapid-fire Portuguese as he chain-smoked Winston cigarettes and monitored the day’s catch. That all changed in 2016, when federal authorities revealed that Carlos Rafael was at the center of a sprawling criminal investigation involving fake Russian mobsters, fraudulent haddock and duffel bags of cash. >click to read< 14:37
A page of stories about the case, like this one, “F… me – that would be some bad luck!” — Carlos Rafael : Excerpts from “The Case” – >click to read<
These folks need a hand. Help get F/V Miss Addie back going. Please help if you can.
This morning we woke up to the worst thing … Randy shrimp boat sunk this is his only source of income and we need to get the boat up and running before fall shrimp … Miss Addie shrimp boat resurrection. Hard working family needs help rescuing shrimping boat. Main source of income, just trying to survive. Any help would be greatly appreciated. >click to read< please help if you can. Fundraiser by Brittany Mitchum 12:34
200 pounds of shrimp stolen from boat in Cameron Parish
A Hackberry man is under arrest after 200 pounds of shrimp were stolen from a boat in Cameron Parish, authorities said. Cameron Parish Sheriff Ron Johnson said in a news release that the theft was reported on Friday. Joseph Keith Portie Jr., 27, has been arrested on one count of possession of stolen things. Bond is set at $1,500. Johnson said some of the shrimp have been recovered. The investigation is ongoing and more arrests are possible. >click to read< 12:03
6 to 9 p.m. tonight in Gloucester at GARFO headquarters, Forum focuses on whale protection rules
The eight-community traveling road show to gather public comment on new protections for the imperiled North Atlantic right whales hits the city Tuesday evening and is expected to draw a big crowd at NOAA’s Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office in Blackburn Industrial Park. The Gloucester session, set to run from 6 to 9 p.m. at the GARFO headquarters at 55 Great Republic Drive, is the seventh of the eight scoping meetings and the first of two in Massachusetts.The other is scheduled for the next night in Bourne. >click to read< 11:35
Major restrictions imposed on Isle of Man queen scallop fishing
Fishing for the shellfish – which is a key income generator for Manx fishermen – has been restricted to one area off the east coast,.. The move follows a 40% reduction in the volume of scallops that can be caught. An annual survey showed stocks were at their lowest since 1993, although that figure was disputed by fishermen. >click to read< 11:16
Salmon cannon could restore the population in the Upper Columbia
A so-called salmon cannon could restore salmon populations in parts of the upper Columbia river that have not seen the fish in 90 years.The salmon cannon is actually a fish-propelling system made by a Seattle company called Whooshh Innovations, which uses a series of tubes and computers to gently detour the salmon around dams, “In truth, the fish aren’t shot anywhere. The fish actually swim in on their own, and they are then sorted into a tube that’s misted inside so it’s very slick and air pressure gently movies them up and over the dam,” >click to read<10:16
2 views on Vineyard Wind delay
In the letter below to two Trump cabinet secretaries, Markey, Kennedy, and others adopt a far more moderate stance, imploring two cabinet secretaries to find a way for fishing and offshore wind to coexist in “mixed-use regions offshore.” Meanwhile, the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance, which represents fishing interests, applauded the Trump administration for slowing the process down and gathering more data. >click to read<
The latest spill: fuel valve to blame for power outage on Hibernia oil platform
A low fuel supply to the equipment that keeps the electricity on is being blamed for causing the power outage that resulted in an estimated 2,200 litres of oil spilling into the Atlantic Ocean from the Hibernia platform over the weekend — just 48 hours after production at the site resumed following an earlier spill. The latest spill happened when the power went out on the oil production platform, prompting the sprinkler system to activate. >click to read< 08:19
Enviros sue Trump Administration for Failing to Protect Endangered West Coast Orcas
Conservation groups sued the Trump administration today for ignoring a legal petition to protect critically endangered Southern Resident killer whales in the heart of their Salish Sea habitat. Today’s lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court in Washington by the Center for Biological Diversity and Orca Relief Citizens’ Alliance (ORCA), follows news that three more of these starving orcas are presumed dead, dropping their population to just 73. >click to read< 18:12
Carlos Rafael Has Been Banned From Fishing Forever! ‘Codfather’ Civil Case Settlement
The federal government says it has settled its civil case against a fishing magnate known as The Codfather, saying he will never be allowed to return to U.S. fisheries. Carlos Rafael, based out of New Bedford, Massachusetts, was sentenced to prison for shirking fishing quotas and smuggling profits overseas. >click to read< 13:59
Carlos Rafael to be banned from fishing, pay $3 million – The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said it settled with Rafael and his fishing captains on Monday.,,, Under the terms of the settlement, Rafael is required to: >click to read<
The Carlos stories leading to this moment in New England Commercial Fishing History – >click here<
LETTER: Fish harvesters, plantworkers are stronger together
This letter is a response to Ryan Cleary’s letter “Single union can’t represent all sides of fishery” >click here<. Uniting workers in the fishing industry through a single union has delivered significant benefits to both fish harvesters and plant workers in the 50-year history of FFAW-Unifor and its predecessor unions. The only groups who do not support strong unions are the fishing companies we negotiate with, and Ryan Cleary and his group FISH-NL. by Keith Sullivan >click to read< 13:01
FISH-NL supports calls for independent offshore environmental authority; FFAW-Unifor must come clean with oil industry funding
The Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador (FISH-NL) supports calls for an independent authority to oversee the environment in the province’s offshore oil and gas industry. “There is growing evidence that the industry regulator, the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board, is unable to protect the environment,” says Ryan Cleary, President of FISH-NL. “Between seismic blasting and offshore spills, it’s full-speed ahead for the petroleum industry — the commercial fishery and marine environment be damned.” >click to read< 11:22
Massachusetts Lobstermen Test Ropeless Fishing Gear to Save Right Whales
Researchers say conservationists and the fishing industry must work together to save the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale. Only about 400 of these whales are left living in the wild, and scientists say human activity is to blame. Proposed federal regulations,,, But these measures drastically reduce the number of lines lobstermen are allowed to have in the water. That’s why Massachusetts lobstermen are eager to try new technology that would enable them to set their traps without a vertical line. Patrick Ramage is director of marine conservation for the International Fund for Animal Welfare.,,, >click to read<10:33
Ropeless Fishing Gear Could Aid Maine’s Lobster Industry, Endangered Whales – >click to read<
Historic Alaska heatwave is killing off thousands of salmon
Unusually warm temperatures across Alaska this summer has led to die-offs of unspawned chum, sockeye and pink salmon, with the warm waters acting as a “thermal block,” basically a wall of heat salmon don’t swim past, delaying upriver migration.,,, “Cook Inletkeeper has been tracking stream temperatures in non-glacial systems across the Cook Inlet watershed since 2002. But this is a first – we’ve never seen stream temperatures above 76 degrees Fahrenheit,” wrote Mauger. “Physiologically, the fish can’t get oxygen moving through their bellies,”,,, >click to read< 09:46
UPDATED: News Media Bungled Vineyard Wind Ocean Turbine Reporting – Vineyard Wind decision delayed until December 2020
In the past ten years, journalism has seen a sudden shift and the overwhelming urge to promote one ideology over another. The majority of news outlets have decided to back commercial wind turbines on land and sea as their contribution to the environment. When you read stories about the Vineyard ocean wind project you have to look for what was left out of the story not what is in the story.,,, Pictures in the print media over the past month show a small fishing boat near an ocean wind turbine saying that less than a mile apart leaves the fishing industry plenty of room to continue their industry. What the media is leaving out is two ESPs, Electric Service Platforms,,, cables exposed,,, >click to read< 08:59
Sources: Vineyard Wind decision delayed until December 2020 – >click to read<
Commercial fisherman Ross Miller, 90, still building prawn trawlers despite concerns about industry’s future
Building a commercial prawn trawler at the age of 90 as the fishing industry undergoes change in New South Wales would be viewed as the ultimate in optimism. Ross Miller has fished for decades around Coffs Harbour on the mid-north coast after starting in Sydney in his early teens in a career which has included building and running ferries as well as fishing boats. He has lost count of how many boats he has built, although the latest venture is the ninth to bear the name Kirra. >click to read< 08:22
Erie man last commercial fisherman in Monroe County
It hasn’t been an easy summer for Dave Blair. The Erie native — who has long been the only continuously active commercial fisherman in Monroe County — says he was way off of his typical catch rates this year due to the higher-than-normal water levels of Lake Erie. Blair also blamed the runoff from area farms, which he says contributed to a bad spawn. “We did alright with certain species, but our main species of carp and buffalo we didn’t do nothing on them,” Blair said. This is just the latest hurdle Blair has had to overcome. >click to read< 15:07
Husky to resume full production at White Rose after November 2018 oil spill
Husky Energy announced Friday it will restart production at its White Rose field from its two drill centres that were still shut after an oil spill in November 2018. Three other White Rose drill centres resumed production earlier this year. Husky will undertake “an orderly restart” of the North Amethyst and South White Rose Extension drill centres, and “expects to reach full rates by early next week,”,,, >click to read< 12:06
Opinion: Why Bonneville can’t save salmon
The Northwest is not winning the battle to save wild salmon and steelhead in the Columbia River. Although most of the 12 listed salmonid stocks in the basin demonstrated a weak upward trend for a couple decades, that progress has stalled. Total returns of salmon and steelhead passing Bonneville Dam last year slipped to the second-lowest level in the past 18 years, and spring Chinook returns were 60 percent of the 10-year average. by Tom Karier >click to read<10:34
Oil in the Water: Hibernia power outage results in oil spill, response equipment deployed
The Hibernia Management and Development Company (HMDC) confirmed the platform lost power, causing water sprinkler systems to activate. The sprinklers caused the waste containment drain system, which contained water and some oil, to overflow onto the platform and into the ocean, the company said in a statement. HMDC estimated about 150 litres of oil spilled, based on the sheen observed. >click to read< 09:44
Marine Mammal Protection Act: Incidental Harassment Authorization Regulatory “Takes” – Take a Close Look
An IHA is a legal and enforceable document presenting the terms and conditions with which a company must adhere in order to protect wildlife. In this case, the draft IHA was for Vineyard Wind, the wind energy company ready to start construction on an 800 MW offshore wind farm in the Atlantic, covering about 675 square kilometers, starting 14 miles from the coastline of Martha’s Vineyard.,,, An IHA is required by the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) because, obviously, a huge project like this has impacts and it’s likely that “take” of marine mammals will occur during construction. >click to read< 08:26
NOAA Seeks Nominations for Scientific Review Groups under the Marine Mammal Protection Act
NOAA Fisheries will publish a Federal Register Notice on Monday, August 19, 2019, soliciting nominations to three independent marine mammal scientific review groups (SRG). We would like your assistance to identify qualified candidates. The three independent regional SRGs, covering Alaska, the Atlantic (including the Gulf of Mexico), and the Pacific (including Hawaii), were established under section 117(d) of the Marine Mammal Protection Act to provide advice on a range of marine mammal science and management issues. >click to read< 16:27
Greenland, the new US Alaska? Trump mocked, as Some Canadians Say “We Should Outbid Him!”
Greenland, the new US Alaska? – The United States’ interest in Greenland is not new. In 1867, secretary of state William Seward, then of the Andrew Johnson administration, showed interest in purchasing Greenland and Iceland from Denmark. >click to read< Trump Wants to Buy Greenland? We Should Outbid Him! – from the article, What would we get if we did obtain Greenland? It would certainly complete our set of Arctic islands. We would possess over two million square kilometres of land, almost all of it covered by an ice sheet with a volume of 2.8 million cubic kilometres. >click to read< 15:40
Prince William Sound Pink salmon fishery back in business
Pink salmon commercial harvests are still below forecasts, but even with no prospect of rain predicted so far until Aug. 22, the catch in Prince William Sound rose from 17.6 million to 22.2 million within the past week. Preliminary harvest figures posted by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game showed that 22,904,000 pinks comprised the bulk of the overall Prince William Sound harvest as of Aug. 14. The rest of the overall catch to date of 30.5 million fish in the Sound’s commercial harvest includes 5,026,000 chum, 2,526,000 sockeyes, 18,000 Chinook and 15,000 coho salmon. >click to read< 13:13
Lobster catch ‘slow’, cold spring may be to blame
Fishermen say lobster landings in July were noticeably less than in recent years and that so far, the catch hasn’t improved a lot in August. Fishermen and scientists are putting much of the blame on the cold weather in the spring that lasted almost to the end of June, saying that coastal water temperatures on the bottom, where the lobsters live, have been slow to warm up to make the lobsters active. Video, >click to read< 11:57
‘Mackerel wars’ Scottish fishermen at risk as Iceland & Greenland plot to target UK stocks
Scottish fishermen face an uncertain future after greedy decision makers in Iceland and Greenland announced they would dramatically increase they amount of mackerel they intend to catch.,,, The clash has been dubbed “mackerel wars” by a senior British MEP, who is chairman of the European Parliament’s fisheries committee. Liberal Democrat Chris Davies said: “Partnership is essential if shared fish stocks are to be managed sustainably. Iceland’s actions are greedy and irresponsible. >click to read< 11:16
New Brunswick: Previously entangled right whale spotted free of gear
A North Atlantic right whale that was seen entangled in fishing gear in late June has now been spotted swimming free of any gear, according to Fisheries and Oceans Canada. The whale was partially disentangled on July 16 by the Campobello Whale Rescue Team,,, The whale was swimming off the coast of Miscou Island on New Brunswick’s northeastern shore, according to a tweet from the department posted on Friday. >click to read< 10:29
