Monthly Archives: August 2019
Here in Kentucky, sport fishing is gone. Kentucky, Tennessee in fight against Asian carp
Here in Kentucky, sport fishing is gone. The groups that historically flocked to the lakes for vacation have dwindled. On Aug. 1, the Kentucky Department of Natural Resources, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and Tennessee Valley Authority met at the lock and dam to put on a demonstration to show the vast number of carp congregating. It was the second such demonstration that week. The groups took electrofishing boats onto the lake to stun the fish. One of the four species of Asian carp, silver carp, leap when frightened. The other three largely stay under the surface. Video. photo’s >click to read<14:00
Maine’s lobster industry needs your help
A little over a week ago, we saw more than a thousand lobstermen flood the Stonington commercial pier. Almost the entire Maine delegation attended in person to demonstrate its support for lobstermen who are being unfairly targeted around the issue of right whale entanglement. Also speaking and demonstrating their support were Maine Governor Janet Mills, State Senate President Troy Jackson and several other state elected officials. by Julie Eaton >click to read< 12:10
ODFW using grant to track whales on Oregon Coast, reduce fishing gear entanglements
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife received a $278,856 federal grant Friday to help fund its program to improve environmental conditions for whales off the Oregon Coast by reducing the risk of whales entangled in fishing gear. The Funded Species Recovery grant, awarded by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, was announced Aug. 9, by U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, both Oregon representatives. >click to read< 10:32
Coast Guard rescues 25 fishermen and 12 Coast Guardsmen as boarded vessel capsizes and sinks
The U.S. Coast Guard rescued 25 fishing boat crewmen and 12 Coast Guardsmen after the fishing boat they were aboard capsized and sank approximately 336 nautical miles southeast of Clipperton Island in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, Wednesday. Coast Guardsmen were conducting a routine boarding of the 160-foot Ecuadorian fishing vessel Marujita when it began listing and became unsafe to remain aboard. Photo’s, >click to read< 08:55
Vineyard Wind Delay could be fatal; developer said it needed approval by end of August
IN A DECISION that could derail Vineyard Wind, federal regulators on Friday put their review of the project on hold temporarily while they seek to better understand the cumulative impact of the many wind farm projects being proposed along the eastern seaboard. A spokeswoman for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management issued a statement saying the agency is expanding its draft environmental impact statement on the Vineyard Wind project to include a cumulative analysis of wind farm projects on the drawing board. >click to read< 19:24
Fishermen concerned discharge from large pipe is hurting crab fishing
A longtime crab fisherman in Cameron Parish is raising concerns about a water discharge he says is killing his livelihood. The State Department of Environmental quality is investigating. Seventy-two-year old Teddy Broussard of Grand Chenier would normally be crab fishing on a day like this, but he says discharge into a canal which empties into the Mermentau River has ruined the spot where he fishes.,,“Basically, my livelihood at this moment is, it’s pretty much 85% destroyed >click to read< 17:52
Extreme makeover!
It’s been a 10-month grind, but Captain Justin Johnson and the crew of the Toledo trawl vessel Pegasus have a formidable machine for taking on not just a half million pounds of Pacific whiting at a shot but also the frigid conditions of a January Bering Sea. Thousands of tons of steel went into the project at the Toledo Boat Yard. >click to read< 14:34
Newport: Two fishing vessels collide near the mouth of the jaws Monday evening – no injuries – photos, August 20, 2014, The F/V Blue Horizon and the F/V Pegasus,,, >click to read<
New Bedford, Massachusetts fishing company, managers, vessel captain to pay in civil penalties
New Bedford, Massachusetts-based Vila Nova do Corvo II, Inc., company managers Carlos Rafael and Stephanie Rafael DeMello, and vessel captain Carlos Pereira agreed to pay a total of $511,000 in civil penalties and to perform vessel improvements. This was to ensure compliance measures to resolve federal Clean Water Act claims stemming from oily bilge discharges from the commercial fishing vessel Vila Nova do Corvo II, a related discharge of fuel oil filters, and violations of pollution control regulations. The United States filed the complaint in this action in April 2019 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. >click to read< 13:00
FISH-NL to hold news conference Monday on membership drive
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, Aug. 9th, 2019, The Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador (FISH-NL) has scheduled a news conference for Monday, Aug. 12, regarding its 2019 membership drive. The conference will be held at 11 a.m. at FISH-NL’s office, located at 5 Job St. in downtown St. John’s. All media are invited to attend. Contact: Ryan Cleary 682 4862
Prince Edward Island: With no size increase, fishermen optimistic of good catch rates
Prince Edward Island fall lobster fishermen set out from ports from Tignish to Victoria on Thursday morning as their fall season officially got underway at 6 a.m The fishery takes in the western half of the Northumberland Strait and also involves mainland fishermen from Chatham, N.B., to Amherst, N.S. Video, >click to read< 11:29
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for August 09, 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< From Our Executive Director – Glenn Skinner, The NCFA will be hold a meeting Thursday, August 15 from 3-6pm at the Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott located at 2090 W.15th Street, Washington, NC to discuss the proposed changes to the Southern Flounder FMP.,,, This issue is very important and we encourage everyone involved in the Flounder fishery to attend 11:04
Coast Guard Cutter Forward assists disabled vessel 149 miles off Cape Henry, Virginia
The Coast Guard assisted two people aboard a 67-foot commercial fishing vessel 149 miles east of Cape Henry, Thursday. Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Hampton Roads received the initial call Wednesday afternoon from the vessel, F.V Hope and Sydney, who stated its engine was excessively burning oil and would not be able to make it back to shore. >click to read<
‘It’s gonna kill this community’: A tiny Alaska town and others in the state brace as governor guts budget
The little fishing town of Cordova, perched next to the Copper River Delta in Prince William Sound, is no stranger to the cycles of catastrophe, hardship and recovery. But residents say Alaska’s current budget crisis, which has pitted a Republican governor and his red pen against legislators — and inspired a bipartisan recall campaign — is unlike any threat they’ve ever faced. Cordovans are especially worried about cuts to the ferry system, their highway to the outside world.,, “This is a dismantling of our state: economically, emotionally, morally,” said Rep. Louise Stutes, a Republican who represents parts of south-central Alaska, including Cordova. “It’s unreal. It’s just stinking unreal.” >click to read< 10:15
Legislative Update: Amended budget is just a start for ferry service – By Rep. Louise Stutes – >click to read<
NY spending $2M to study offshore wind impact on waterways, fishing
New York State said Thursday it will spend more than $2 million for five studies to examine ways to reduce offshore wind farms’ impact on marine environments and commercial fishing.,,, Bonnie Brady, executive director of the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, offered tepid applause for the state’s decision to award the study grants. “It’s great that we’ve gotten some funding but there’s a ticking time bomb once these turbines hit the water,” Brady said. “The monitoring and research should have started long ago, so we are playing catch-up to try to get data we need to make sure we do no harm.”Said Brady, “Being an environmentalist means you do no harm, but everyone is throwing that out the window”, >click to read< 08:57
European utility sees big opportunity in U.S. offshore wind – One of Europe’s largest utilities intends to become a player in the U.S. offshore wind industry, as it sees the Northeast as the biggest opportunity in the worldwide market. >click to read<
Stanley Larsen – By Birth and by Choice, a Lifetime at Sea
At 4:30 a.m. Menemsha Harbor is glassy and the only sounds are the hum of Menemsha Fish House’s vibrating refrigerators and the early-morning summer bird opera. The Little Lady slices through the flat water, heading out for a morning of dragging. Stanley Larsen in his boat Four Kids is not far behind. He just has to sort out a few things with the engine first.,,, It’s a late start. Stanley usually likes to get going at around 3:30 a.m. “Then I can go further offshore and do longer drags,” he explains adjusting his baseball cap. “I like a two-hour drag. Closer, I can only do 20 or 30 minutes and then I’m in the mud.” >click to read< 19:50
How this pastor is helping a small, tight-knit community grieve after 3 deaths
When pastor Russell Austin left the funeral for Minnie Bishop of Port de Grave earlier this week, he learned that the community’s sadness was only just beginning. Austin received a call that told him Carl Petten had died in a car accident just a few days shy of his 56th birthday. Evelyn Petten, 68, no relation, died suddenly in her husband’s arms around the same time. “Wherever you go, whoever you run into, it’s the first topic of conversation,” said Austin. The three deaths have rocked the Conception Bay North community,,, >click to read< 18:29
Coroner concludes fisherman’s death involving trawl door was ‘unfortunate accident’ that was ‘preventable’
A verdict of accidental death was recorded after a 51-year-old fisherman on board a vessel in West Cork lost his life following an accident involving a trawler door. Olounfumi Eugene McCauley, who was originally from Sierra Leone but was living in Gran Canaria, passed away from injuries he incurred following an accident on the Novo Alborada fishing vessel in Castletownbere in West on June 24, 2018.,,, A lifting operation was in place to bring a trawler door on to the vessel. However, Mr Barry said the trawler door fell into the sea pulling on the combined rope causing it to move at “lightning speed”. Mr McCauley was hit in the process. >click to read< 16:49
Cost-Effective ‘Renewable’ Energy Is Like Unobtanium: A Fictional Construct
We must continue diversifying our energy supply, that means increasing our output of solar, wind, geothermal, hydro- and ocean-based energy,,, Blah, blah, blah. Anyone who works in real energies will probably know a different story.,,, energy expert, Mark P. Mills, describing the vast quantity of non-renewable, not-even-recyclable waste that nifty green energy baubles such as wind-farm turbines generate,,, “Renewable energy” is a misnomer. Wind and solar machines and batteries are built from nonrenewable materials. And they wear out. Old equipment must be decommissioned, generating millions of tons of waste.,,, Building one wind turbine requires 900 tons of steel, 2,500 tons of concrete and 45 tons of nonrecyclable plastic. >click to read< 14:57
‘Disgusting and embarrassing’: Sunken shrimp boat spurs call for changes in Port Royal
Only the top of the shrimp boat’s pilothouse was visible Wednesday morning from the Port Royal dock where the 60-foot vessel had floated abandoned for months. The shrimp boat sank Tuesday, sending fuel into Battery Creek and calling attention to the other rotting, junk-laden and abandoned boats amassed at the town-owned dock. “If those folks owe us money or they’re not shrimping, they don’t need to be here,” Willis said. “This is supposed to be a working shrimping dock.” Video, >click to read< 13:03
New York fishes for information in offshore wind research
NYSERDA President and CEO Alicia Barton said: “As New York becomes the national epicentre for the US offshore wind industry, we continue to undertake evidence-based environmental and commercial fishing related research to help us advance offshore wind development in a way that is sensitive to the environment, ocean and the economy.,,, The state intends to use evidence-based environmental and commercial fishing related research to help advance offshore wind development. In other words, bend over! >click to read<12:34
New York picks five projects to advance responsible development of offshore wind – The selected projects include, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) with the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA) and others, Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA), Biodiversity Research Institute, Ecology and Environment, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Approximately $2 million was made available as part of this competitive solicitation for projects in one of five categories: >click to read<
“55th annual Winter Harbor Lobster Festival” – Lobster boats will race at Winter Harbor
The 55th annual Winter Harbor Lobster Festival, Saturday,,, With two special twists, this year’s Winter Harbor Lobster Boat Races should attract a large and enthusiastic fleet. First, the post-race prize at this year’s drawing among competing racers is a spanking new 35-foot Mitchell Cove lobster boat hull. Second, but probably more of a draw, this year’s races will honor Keith Young, who was instrumental in organizing and running the Winter Harbor Lobster Boat Races for 40 years,,, >click to read< 11:58
‘Try UK crab boats for a year if you want to save house deposit’
Michael Mackenzie says you can make big money and combine saving with your OE if you get a job on the crab boats working in the UK. Mckenzie says he worked on a crabbing boat for just under two years back in the early 2000s and his old captain has been in touch looking for Kiwis to work on the boats. “He was talking about how it is hard to get crew and wished there were more Kiwis as we are hard workers and have a good work ethic.” >click to read<
Salmon moved to B.C. hatchery as Fraser River landslide work continues
After airlifting thousands of fish above a landslide in B.C.’s Fraser Canyon, fisheries biologists have begun capturing members of threatened salmon runs to raise their offspring in a hatchery. In a pilot program that began on the long weekend, B.C. and federal experts captured and identified 177 Early Stuart sockeye, which begin and end their life cycle on the Stuart Lake system near Fort St. James in northwestern B.C. The captured fish have been taken to a Fisheries and Oceans Canada salmon research lab at Cultus Lake near Chilliwack for egg and sperm extraction and hatching. >click to read< 09:40
D.C. Circuit gears up for busy environmental docket – Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association v. Ross,
A federal appeals court in Washington is starting to fill in its fall argument calendar and is already set to handle several major cases involving energy infrastructure, air pollution and environmental rollbacks from the Trump administration.,,, Marine monument — Oct. 22, In Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association v. Ross, D.C. Circuit judges will review the Obama-era designation of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument. The lobstermen and other challengers say the former administration overreached when it outlawed energy development and most commercial fishing in the protected area off the New England coast. They lost their case in lower court last year and swiftly appealed >click to read< 08:39
“LML 144” – Sailboat secures past to present with Homer to Bristol Bay trip
Standing tall among the thousands of visitors at last weekend’s Salmonfest was a 29-foot long wooden vessel with a 9-foot beam, a 25-foot mast, and a plaque identifying it as “LML 144.”,,, Accompanying it were Tim Troll of Dillingham and Dave Seaman and Kate Mitchell, both of Homer, organizers of “Sailing Back to the Bay.” The vessel is set to take off and then follow a route that has linked Homer and Bristol Bay for decades. It will sail west, across Cook Inlet to Williamsport, be portaged 26 miles to Iliamna Lake, sail the length of the lake with stops at villages along the way, navigate the Kvichak River, and then proceed on Bristol Bay to the community of Naknek, arriving an estimated two weeks later, in time for Naknek’s “Fishtival.” Total distance of the journey: more than 200 miles. Photo’s >click to read< 22:02
Transported in ship ballast, Invasive crab poses threat to coastal ecosystem
Alaska normally welcomes European tourists. One traveler who’s been officially banned, however, is the European green crab, an invasive species with the potential to overrun coastal ecosystems. The green crab has already colonized Washington and parts of British Columbia, and conservationists want to delay its arrival in Alaska for as long as possible. The green crab lacks predators outside its original habitat,,, >click to read< 20:35
New England/Mid Atlantic: Public Scoping Meetings for Modifications to the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan
We will be conducting eight scoping meetings this month in anticipation of preparing a Draft Environmental Impact Statement for modifications to the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan. We are requesting comments on management options particularly including information about operational challenges, time, and costs required to modify gear by changing configurations such as traps per trawl to reduce endline numbers, installing new line or sleeves and by expanding gear marking requirements. Thursday, August 8, 2019 – Narragansett, RI, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., Monday, August 12, 2019 – Machias, ME, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. >click to read< 19:37
LePage talks to White House about controversy over lobstermen restrictions
Former Gov. Paul LePage continues to be involved with the debate over proposed new regulations on Maine lobstermen, designed to protect right whales. Several weeks ago, Gov. LePage sent a letter to President Donald Trump, opposing those new restrictions and saying they are an “overreach” by the government because Maine fishermen aren’t harming the whales. Now the former governor’s political organization says LePage had a phone conversation on the issue today with what it calls “senior White House officials.” >click to read< 18:27
Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission supports requesting $24.5 million operating budget in 2020
It was the first meeting for two new members, Molly Linville and James R. Anderson, who joined five other commission members to approve the department’s request to seek $24.5 million in increased operating funds, plus $26 million in capital funds, during the 2020 state legislative supplemental session.,,, The commission also approved a request of $6.5 million in new, ongoing funding to address emergent needs: Better monitoring of salmon in Puget Sound, the Nisqually River, and Skagit River to provide fishing opportunities; Removing sea lions feeding on Columbia River salmon; Meeting existing Columbia River commitments for commercial fishing and salmon recovery objectives, >click to read< 16:27
FISH & MEN: A film on the High Cost of Cheap Fish
We hope the fishing families and pioneers featured in this film will inspire a movement,,, For centuries, cod fed the world and helped build a nation. Nowhere was that more so than in Gloucester, Massachusetts – America’s oldest fishing port. But, today all that has changed… From California to Maine, small fishing communities struggle to survive. The iconic American fisherman is in a perfect storm of foreign competition, erratic regulations and rising costs. Trailer, photo’s, of some of the best people on the planet. Please support this effort. >click to read< 14:51
