Daily Archives: October 23, 2019
Commercial Fishermen for Bristol Bay thanks House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for looking into flawed Pebble Mine permitting process
This morning in Washington D.C., the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure hosted an oversight hearing to look into critical issues surrounding the permitting process for the proposed Pebble Mine. Commercial Fishermen for Bristol Bay wishes to thank committee Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and Chairwoman Grace F. Napolitano (D-CA), co-chairs of the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment for shining a light on Pebble’s deeply flawed and rushed permitting process. >click to read< 22:04
Mysterious Lobster Deaths In Cape Cod Raise Climate Change Concern
Last month, lobstermen in Cape Cod Bay hauled up something disturbing. In one section of the bay, all of their traps were full of dead lobsters. Research biologists went to work trying to solve the mystery, and what they found suggests we may see more of this as the climate changes. But what was killing everything in the traps? “I don’t think any of us have heard reports of that before, at least not like that, where we had multiple fishermen all calling the same day, saying something’s going on,” said Steve Wilcox, one of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries’ biologists assigned to the case. >click to read< 19:28
Who Are the “Experts” on Climate Change?
We live in complicated times, immersed in a society of incessant, loud, conflicting voices. Nowhere is this more true than in the discussion of the impact of carbon dioxide on the planet, oceans, better known as “climate change.”,,, So who are the “Experts” that we should listen to? For starters it’s important to understand that “Experts” is not a homogeneous collection of people. You can divide Experts into just two very different subgroups: “Real Experts” and “So-Called Experts.” So-Called Experts are like doctors on TV: actors who wear a white coat. They look and sound like the real thing — but clearly they are not. How do we tell the Real Experts from the Imitations? >click to read< 16:26
Efforts underway to streamline fisheries disaster relief
With an increasing number of fisheries disaster requests coming from all over the United States, members of Congress and the federal government are looking for ways to improve the relief process.,, Summer 2018 brought disappointing results for many fishermen across Alaska,,, The slow process isn’t unique to Alaska. ways to improve the relief process, introduced Senate Bill 2346 by Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., in July, seeks to speed up that process, in part by expediting relief funds being disbursed to fishermen. It also seeks to add avenues for relief for non-commercial fishermen, including charter operators. >click to read< 15:00
Rough and Plenty: A Memorial, Raymond A Rogers
As a Nova Scotia commercial fisher in the early 1990s, Raymond A. Rogers experienced the collapse of Canada’s East Coast fishery first-hand. During that difficult, painful, and confusing time, Rogers noticed a lone gravestone across the road from his home in Shelburne County, Nova Scotia. It was the gravestone of Donald McDonald,,, The encounter with McDonald’s gravestone inspired Rogers to explore the parallel processes of dispossession and how local communities are decimated by the imposition of new ways of life.,, Similarly, as small-scale artisanal participants in an increasingly industrialized fishery, the inshore fishers were eventually seen as inconsequential and inefficient, and when the fish stocks began to collapse, and there was a consensus that there were “too many boats chasing too few fish,” it was the inshore quotas that were cut. This forced the artisanal fishers out of the industry. The privatization of fish quota became an industry-funded down-sizing strategy that rewarded those with the deepest pockets. >click to read< 13:28
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 57′ DMR Scalloper, 350HP Cummins, 12 KW Genset
Specifications, information and 26 photos >click here< Vessel is in good condition. Vessel has had extensive work done in past 2 years. To see all the boats in this series, >click here< 12:42
The ups and downs of being a Tasmanian lobster man
Lobster man Brendan “Squizzy” Taylor happily admits to loving his job, but the overheads are huge, and when he’s under the financial hammer and his pots start coming up empty – or are full of lobster killed or disfigured by octopus – it’s not a lot of fun. But at least Taylor gets to enjoy grilling up some fresh octopus for himself, right? “No,” he says, without a trace of his usual humour. “I hate ’em.,, “I remember leaving school, jumping on a cray boat, going around the west coast for seven or eight days,” he says. “I was seasick for three days non-stop, had to work 18 hours a day and I remember thinking, ‘I can’t do this. This is way too hard. I can’t do it physically or mentally.’ >photo’s, >click to read< 11:15
Crew Safe! Irish fishing boat ‘at risk’ after running aground
An Irish-registered herring boat is at considerable risk after running aground on rocks at Ardglass, County Down. The five crew of the Dillon Owen, from County Cork, were rescued and are unharmed after it got into difficulties at 05:00 BST on Wednesday. An effort to refloat the vessel failed due to poor weather, according to the owners of Ardglass Harbour. Photos, >click to read< 10:20
Commercial and conservationist interests competing fiercely for space on increasingly crowded seas
A conference Tuesday at New Jersey’s Monmouth University brought together industry and environmental groups, who agreed that communication and coordination are essential to sharing the ocean. “Ocean activity is on the rise, and it’s exponential,” said Timothy Gallaudet, deputy administration of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and a retired rear admiral with the Navy. “There has been 400 percent growth in ocean activity over the last 25 years.” >click to read< This is my footnote. If you are in the fishing industry, you are being marginalized, sold out. You better figure out who’s on your side, fast, or simply be eliminated. 09:13
What to watch for as Pebble Mine permitting process picks up, with link to live hearing @10:00
As the timeline shortens, developments are picking up at a rapid pace. Wednesday morning, seven witnesses are scheduled to testify before the U.S. House Transportation Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment. Aside from Pebble Partnership CEO Tom Collier, all other witnesses have been critical of the proposed project. Thursday is the deadline for the EPA to notify the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers whether it believes the proposed mine will have a “substantial and unacceptable impact on aquatic resources of national importance.” >click to read< 08:05
The Pebble Mine Project: Process and Potential Impacts, hearing starts at 10:00 today, >click to listen in<
