Daily Archives: September 12, 2019
Salmon collapse hitting workers hard
Don Sananin has loved the sea and fishing since he started in the industry as a 17-year-old.,,,But after more than 50 years working as a commercial fisherman, the Burnaby man hasn’t seen a salmon season as grim as this year’s. Sananin, 70, who holds a licence for the area that includes the Fraser River to the west coast of Vancouver Island, hasn’t been out on the water yet. “There hasn’t been an opening,” he said. “The sockeye is the worst it’s ever been since the 1890s.”,,, “The impacts are on fishermen, plant workers, net menders, and reduction plant workers, from Lax Kw’alaams [in northern B.C.] all the way down to White Rock and all the places in between.” >click to read< 17:21
Does Pew win the Forage fish war for the enviro’s? Final Opportunity to Comment on Herring Protections
“After 10 years of debate, the New England Fishery Management Council has finally accepted the proposals favored by Cape communities and what would keep midwater trawls off our coast year round. It will have benefits for all our commercial and recreational fisheries and the nearshore ecosystem,” said John Pappalardo, chief executive officer of the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance. The protections were vetted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and were recently published on the Federal Register for final comment. “This is it,” said Pappalardo. >click to read< 15:55
“We’re gonna bomb your bleeping ships”, You understand me? – Coast Guard seeks tips for threatening radio broadcast
The Coast Guard is seeking information regarding a person making threats and hoax calls on marine band radio off the gulf coast of Florida. Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg command center received the latest threat on Aug. 13, 2019 via VHF channel 22A. In this call, the male caller makes threats against the Coast Guard personnel, aircrafts and vessels. The broadcast sounds like the same person who has made other radio broadcasts that start with MAYDAY three times and then talks about, “scrambling all jets we are under nuclear attack.” >click to read, listen< 13:43
Starkist Hit With $100M Fine in Seafood Price-Fixing Scheme
Starkist must pay a $100 million criminal fine for conspiring to fix packaged seafood prices, a federal judge ruled Wednesday, despite arguments it could bankrupt the company or cause its employees to lose jobs. “I think it’s in the interest of the economy not to bankrupt Starkist, but the court has the leverage to extend the payments out,”,, Starkist general counsel and senior vice president Robert Scott Meece said the company has about 100 employees at its Pittsburgh headquarters and 2,100 working at a factory in American Samoa. “These employees have had this hanging over their heads for a long time,” >click to read< 12:00
Whale entanglments are down on the West Coast. The reason for the reduction is in question.
According to the NOAA, as of Aug. 23, the National Marine Fisheries Service reported 17 confirmed whale entanglements in 2019, compared to 40 for the same period a year prior.,,, The reason for the sharp reduction in entanglements is in question.,,, Pieter Folkens, a permitted whale disentangler for NOAA, said the Center for Biological Diversity’s claim of victory is premature. He said shortening the crab fishing season had little influence on the number of entanglements this year. >click to read< 11:01
Little is clear in assault trial stemming from Ecum Secum lobster boat ramming
Jesse Aprey is having a hard time convincing anyone he beat up Blair Fleet. “What if I suggest to you that given the lack of detail you have provided about the assault that it was Austin Chambers and Tanya Chambers that told you to go to the RCMP station (and turn yourself in),”,,, Asprey isn’t charged with the May 14, 2018 assault of Blair Fleet in his Ecum Secum yard over a lobster fishing feud. Austin Chambers and his son Terrance are. >click to read< 09:41
Chief Engineer tells court of alleged knife attack in Highland Harbour
Andres Grana, from Spain, said he was asleep on board the Brisca when he was woken up and told of the alleged trouble between the skipper Adolfo Pego-Brion and the first mate Marcial Antonio Torres. He rushed from his cabin shortly before midnight on August 20 last year to find the two men grappling with each other in the wheelhouse of the 89ft longliner.,,, “When I went up (to the wheelhouse), I saw there was blood on the floor. The chief mate was grabbing the captain.” >click to read< 08:51
Sockeye harvest breaks all-time top 5; pinks picking up
The 2019 salmon season has seen plenty of fish return to the state, but far from evenly across regions. As of Sept. 10, commercial fishermen across Alaska have landed 198.4 million salmon of all five species, about 8 percent less than the preseason forecast of 213.2 million. Most of that shortfall is in pink and chum salmon, which haven’t delivered on their forecasts so far, but a surplus of sockeye salmon helped make up for some of that gap. Statewide, commercial fishermen have landed more than 55.1 million sockeye, about 9 percent more than last year and 5 million more than the preseason forecast. >click to read< 07:40
