Daily Archives: November 14, 2019
Regulators Take Action to Stem Striped Bass Decline
Responding to the precipitous drop in the Atlantic striped bass population, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) has mandated an 18 per cent cut in commercial and recreational harvest quotas for 2020.,,, The new addendum limits recreational fishermen to one striped bass per day,,, Mr. McKiernan said he doesn’t believe that pressure from commercial fishermen, who are limited to 15 fish per day, a 34-inch minimum and two fishing days a week, plays a major role in the plummeting population. >click to read< 18:52
Plymouth-based Manomet Inc. tests hard-shell clams for replenishing Gulf of Maine fisheries
When Maine’s shellfish farmers had questions, they turned to Manomet Inc. for answers. The environmental science organization in Plymouth is helping the industry find solutions to predation problems plaguing soft-shell clams in coastal waters along the Gulf of Maine. Marissa McMahan, director of the Fisheries Division at Manomet, is working on a pilot program that may lead to the introduction of quahogs, a hardshell variety that is more resistant to predators, to deal with the changing conditions to the north. Photo’s, >click to read< 14:36
2019 PWS salmon harvest worth nearly $115 M, Statewide, 206.9 million fish brought in $657.6 M
Preliminary harvest figures compiled by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game put the value of the statewide commercial catch of 206.9 million salmon at $657.6 million, including $114.9 million for the 57.8 million fish caught in Prince William Sound. State biologists estimated the Prince William Sound harvest to include 18,399 Chinooks, averaging 18.42 pounds each, garnering fishermen an average,,, >click to read< 13:58
Pacific Fishery Management Council meeting November 14-20, 2019 in Costa Mesa, CA.
The Pacific Fishery Management Council and its advisory bodies will meet November 14-20, 2019 at the following location: Hilton Orange County/Costa Mesa 3050 Bristol Street Costa Mesa, CA 92626 Phone: 714-540-7000. Briefing Book >click here< Listen to the meeting on the internet, >click to connect<More info, >click here< 13:25
At the Ropeless Consortium’s second annual meeting
Scientists, fishermen and policy makers met on Wednesday in Maine to discuss this issue at the Ropeless Consortium’s second annual meeting. The North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium will continue the discussion of right whale conservation at their annual meeting Thursday and Friday.,,, “We here at the aquarium have been working hard on looking at reducing rope strengths and trying to get rope-less fishing as an option to reduce risk,” said Amy Knowlton, a Ropeless Consortium board member and senior scientist at the New England Aquarium. >click to read< 10:35
SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund Commits $900,000 to Protect Critically Endangered North Atlantic Right Whales – The announcement was made by Dr. Michael Moore of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, during yesterday’s 2019 Ropeless Consortium meeting, >click to read<
Trawl Survey Results Show Northern Bering Sea In Flux
Norton Sound Red King Crab are moving, Arctic cod numbers have dropped significantly, and Pacific cod are continuing to increase as the Northern Bering Sea ecosystem undergoes drastic change. That’s all according to preliminary results from NOAA Fisheries’ trawl survey this summer in the Northern Bering Sea (NBS). Audio, >click to read< 09:50
Arctic crab invasion reaches new shores
Before 1960, the fishermen that sailed in the Barents Sea knew little about crabs. Then, developments unfolded that ultimately altered marine life on the far northern sea bottom. In fall 1960, Soviet marine biologist Yuri Orlov successfully moved nine female king crabs from Vladivostok to Murmansk. In the following ten years, another 3,000 crabs were moved the Kola Bay. Then, thousand more in the 1970s.,, According to the retired marine researcher, the king crab will continue to spread, and could ultimately reach as far south as the UK, and then even the Gibraltar. >click to read< 09:21
In the Great Lakes’ most productive fishing grounds, algae-fueled dead zones are eroding livelihoods
From his lakefront dock in Crystal Rock, 70 miles west of Cleveland, Dean Koch still gleefully reminisces on his career as a commercial fisherman in the heyday. At his first industry meeting in Sandusky in the late 1960s, fishing moguls booked the entire Holiday Inn and filled all the rooms. Back then, fishermen set hundreds of miles of gill nets and thousands of trap nets in Lake Erie.,, Now, Koch, 70, says, the number of fishermen who hold commercial licenses could sit around the small round table in his garage. >click to read< 08:22
Charting new waters aboard the Nellie Row
There will be an all-female crew aboard the Nellie Row when the LFA 33 lobster fishery opens this fall. “They want the opportunity and its hard to get the opportunity when you’re a woman,” says Captain Gail Atkinson, who along with her partner Kath Moore are going into their fifth season at the helm of the Nellie Row. Joining Moore on deck this season will be fellow sea salts Annie Featherstone and Sophie Mantel. Both have experience on the water in the tall ship world, said Atkinson, but not on fishing boats. “I don’t know if they can do it or not. I don’t know if they know whether they can but I want them to have a chance,” said Atkinson. >click to read< 06:46
