Monthly Archives: December 2019
Video: Millions in investment creating a boom in New Bedford Harbor
Millions of dollars are being invested in New Bedford Harbor and the result is expected to be hundreds of jobs. The port is already experiencing a boom.,, “We’re seeing double digit increases in commercial fishing vessels. “If we’re going to continue to grow as a commercial fishing port, we do need to get more dockage. Video, >click to read< 08:48
Huh! Town Dock was meeting spot for man arrested on terrorism charge
A West Haven man who was led to believe he could travel from the Town Dock en route to Turkey to fight for ISIS was arrested by the FBI on Sunday afternoon. The man, Khalil Elshazly, 22, was taken into custody by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force at the Town Dock in Stonington Borough, according to federal court documents.,, Elshazly was arrested after arriving at the Town Dock to meet a supposed fishing captain who would provide him with transportation, officials said. He was taken into custody without incident. >click to read< 07:49
Scallop season is underway
The scallop fishing season got underway in eastern Maine earlier this month and is already making news. In the waters between eastern Penobscot Bay and Cobscook Bay, the season for the handful of licensed scallop divers began Nov. 18 but the draggers couldn’t go to work until Dec. 2. In Cobscook Bay, the season for draggers also began Dec. 2 but divers had to wait until Dec. 5 to brave the chilly, turbulent waters way Downeast. >click to read< 20:14
British fishing industry left unhappy by ‘difficult’ 50% cut to North Sea cod quota
Fishers say cod is moving northward due to warming waters, but the EU hasn’t taken this into account. The British fishing industry has criticised an agreement between Norway and the EU that will see the North Sea cod quota in 2020 cut by a half.,, “We think it’s warming waters and climate change. The general feeling on the ground is the cod is going north. What you’re seeing is an abundance of hake. “We’re switching to hake to make ends meet, but we can’t take too much because traditionally the fish has been around France and Spain, so they have the quota. >click to read< 18:26
Merkley, Wyden, Pacific Coast Members Announce Major Win for Trawlers in Year-End Spending Bill
Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley, joined by Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), and Kamala Harris (D-CA), and U.S. Representatives Peter DeFazio (D-OR-4), Greg Walden (R-OR-2), Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA-3), Kurt Schrader (D-OR-5), Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR-1), and Jared Huffman (D-CA-2), today announced a major, bipartisan victory for West Coast trawlers in the 2020 spending bill that Congress is expected to pass this week. The language proposed by Merkley and supported by the other West Coast Senators and Representatives would forgive more than $10 million in accrued loan interest that was forced onto the West Coast groundfishing fleet because of mismanagement by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). >click to read< 16:49
As the marine mammal takes a bite out of the fishing industry, A modest proposal for hunting sea otters
Phil Doherty doesn’t think sea otters are cute. Sure, he can see why tourists might get a kick out of watching the fuzzy critters reclining in waves with clams on their bellies, fixing to chow down. But to Doherty, co-director of the Southeast Alaska Regional Dive Fisheries Association and the commercial fisherman he represents, those cuddly otters are eating their bottom line. >click to read< 15:07
Federal grant giving ice-making equipment to Marshfield, Newburyport and Chatham fishing fleets
The USDA recently awarded $480,000 to the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, which will use the grant, in part, to purchase ice making equipment for three hand-selected communities, including Marshfield. Harbormaster Mike Dimeo said the GMRI reached out to him last year to check the town’s interest, which he had an easy answer for. “This is something Marshfield has been talking about for a few years now with the fishermen,” he said. “It’s a great thing.” Newburyport and Chatham will also benefit from new equipment. Currently, commercial fishermen truck in ice,.. >click to read< 12:38
Exposure to pile driving noise associated with construction of docks, piers, offshore wind farms, cause squid to exhibit strong alarm behaviors
“This study is the first to report behavioral effects of pile driving noise on any cephalopod, a group including squid, cuttlefish, and octopuses,” says lead author Ian Jones, a student in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology-Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program in Oceanography. Jones and his colleagues in the Sensory Ecology and Bioacoustics Lab at WHOI exposed longfin squid (Doryteuthis pealeii) to pile driving sounds originally recorded near the construction site of the Block Island Wind Farm in Rhode Island. >click to read< 11:52
Maine Lobstermen Skeptical Of Proposal To Tie ‘Whale-Safe’ Seafood Label To Use Of New Fishing Gear. They should be.
A movement is emerging among conservation groups to create a “whale-safe” seal of approval for lobster caught with new types of gear designed to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales. But it could be a tough sell in Maine, where some say the iconic fishery is already sustainable.,, “That’s really important, that fishermen willing to test this gear, and certainly those fishermen fishing with ropeless gear should be rewarded,” says Erica Fuller, a lawyer at the Conservation Law Foundation, one of several organizations suing the federal government for stronger protections of the roughly 400 North Atlantic right whales remaining on the planet. >click to read< 10:36
‘If they put in that mine, it would really crush the economy we have’: Proposed Alaskan mine threatens salmon, environmentalists say
Some residents of Haines, Alaska, are refusing to participate in public consultations about a proposed mine near the community. B.C.-based Constantine Metal Resources wants public input for its Palmer project. ,,, “We have a nice little town here, and it’s got a pretty solid diversified economy and if they put in that mine, it would really crush the economy we have,” said Rafe McGuire, a commercial fisherman in Haines. >click to read< 08:51
P.E.I. Fishermen’s Association hopes N.S. rejects Northern Pulp effluent plan
The federal government’s decision not to carry out an environmental assessment on the Northern Pulp mill is a “setback,” says the P.E.I. Fishermen’s Association. Now the final word on the mill’s future is in the hands of Nova Scotia Environment Minister Gordon Wilson. He’s scheduled to release his environmental assessment decision on the Pictou County pulp mill’s controversial plan for a new effluent treatment facility at 11 a.m. Tuesday. >click to read< 07:55
Fishing companies fined $1M for dumping oil into New Bedford harbor
“Let me make myself clear — it is not enough to come in here and plead guilty and then go out and say, ‘the government is big and strong and we had to do this as a cost of doing business,’” federal Judge William Young told owner Barry Cohen at U.S. District Court. “These are crimes — they were meant by Congress to be crimes.” Sea Harvest Inc. and Fishing Vessel Enterprises, Inc., the operators and owners of the two commercial fishing boats, respectively, which spilled the oil, pleaded guilty to two counts of violating the Clean Water Act, which criminalizes oil spills in U.S. waters and shorelines. >click to read< 07:06
DOJ: F/V Owner & Operator Fined $1 mln– >click to read< 12/18/2019 11:35
Resident orcas’ appetite likely reason for decline of big Chinook salmon
“We have two protected species, resident killer whales and Chinook salmon, and we are trying to increase abundances of both—yet they are interacting as predator and prey,” said lead author Jan Ohlberger, a research scientist at the UW School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences. “Killer whales don’t show a lot of interest in Chinook until they reach a certain size, and then they focus intensely on those individuals.”>click to read< 19:02
The Best North Queensland seafood available for Christmas
Fishers are encouraging families to include wild caught Australian seafood in their festive feast in a bid to prop up the industry amid regulatory green-tape.,,, “There is that much pressure on the fishing industry, that for some the future is looking pretty bleak,” Mr Dansie said. “The biggest things is that if people want to have real Australian seafood they need to keep buying and supporting us.” >click to read< Support your fishing industry! 15:34
NOAA Closes Nantucket Lightship and Closed Area I Closure Areas to Gillnet Gear
In compliance with a recent Federal District Court Order, NOAA Fisheries is implementing a closure of the Nantucket Lightship and Closed Area I Groundfish Closure Areas for gillnet gear only. This rule is effective tomorrow. All gillnetters must remove their gillnet gear from these areas as soon as possible, consistent with safe vessel operations. Background,,, >click to read< 13:59
Video: Portrush RNLI battles treacherous conditions in 15-hour fishermen rescue
Lifeboat crews from Northern Ireland battled treacherous conditions in the rescue operation of five fishermen who got into difficulty off the Donegal coast. The five men who had been fishing for crab got into difficulty when the boat lost power and encountered steering difficulties while violent waves smashed the wheelhouse windows in, around 20 miles north of Fanad Head. Video, >click to read< 12:35
Harvey Mackay: How to spot a liar
According to a new biography, a man who became infamous for deception got his start at a young age. As a high-school sophomore, this young man was assigned to present a book report to his class. Because he never got around to reading anything, he stood up in the classroom and proceeded to tell his classmates about “Hunting and Fishing” by Peter Gunn, a book that didn’t exist. When the teacher asked him to show her the book, the student calmly replied that he couldn’t because he’d already returned it to the library. The young student was Bernard Madoff, who later in life became notorious for his Ponzi scheme that bilked investors out of billions of dollars. >click to read< 10:58
S.D. tunaboat captain discovered Galapagos ‘Garden of Eden’ tragedy 85 years ago
If someone aboard the local tunaboat Santo Amaro hadn’t been curious, the bizarre finale of the Galapagos islands’ modern Eden might not have been learned for years. The Santo Amaro was back yesterday, loaded with fish and bringing an account of the startling events which followed the discovery of two mummified corpses on Marchena island’s barren shore on the afternoon of Nov. 17. The ghastly discovery by the Santo Amaro’s people apparently had no ill effect on their luck, for the clipper had a catch well in excess of 100 tons of prime fish when she went up to the Van Camp plant to unload. >click to read< 09:47
Nova Scotia communities await decision on contentious pulp mill pipeline
Allan MacCarthy, a fisherman based in Pictou County, said fishermen remain convinced the effluent would pose a threat to lobster, crab, herring and other species in the strait over time. His protests landed him in court last year when a temporary injunction was imposed ordering him to stop blocking survey activities by the company. “Until the minister announces it (the decision), there’s not much we can do. >click to read< 08:04
The little known United States and Canadian border war
For the past 116 years, a disputed passageway off the Alaskan coast has spurred a war between the two neighbouring countries. Though the US and Canada have the longest undefended border in the world, Dixon Entrance is one of four long-running border disputes between the friendly neighbours. The roots of the quarrel date back to the 18th Century; a time when the colonising stakeholders in the Alaskan Panhandle region (the narrow strip of mountains, fjords and channel islands bordering modern British Columbia) were England and Russia, followed by the US. >click to read< 17:37
Dungeness crab fleet readies for opener as weather hampers season start for some
A monthlong delay in the opening of the Dungeness season will conclude this weekend, allowing the commercial fleet to get out on the water and start pulling in traps on Sunday.,,, many small-boat captains in the North Bay plan to wait even longer for ocean conditions to calm, so it’s safer to deploy their heavy fishing equipment. “It’s day by day,” veteran Bodega Bay fisherman Tony Anello said. 17 Photos, >click to read< 15:20
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for December 13, 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 to read< 14:43
Leaving the CFP ‘more urgent’ than ever
Leaving the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is ‘more urgent now than ever’, according to an isles fishing representative. Simon Collins, head of Shetland Fishermen’s Association (SFA), has reacted strongly to the news that there will be a 50% cut in North Sea cod quotas next year. The agreement between Norway and the EU follows three rounds of fisheries talks in Brussels,,, >click to read< 13:09
Enjoying seafood is a Pensacola tradition, but how did it begin?
Since harvesting creatures with fins and shells has long been with us it may make a bit of sense to periodically look at some highlights, ventures that seemingly evade the printed pages. One such story made local news print in the 1840s. It was in that decade that a number of venturesome fishermen out of New England believed that they had overcome one of their seasonal problems. Wintertime angling in the stormy Atlantic was hazardous, and often bitter cold, thus a few crews began to experiment, trading information they’d received about how plentiful snapper and grouper were in the Gulf. >click to read< 11:47
We posted marine monument article that wasn’t exactly true, and we need to set the record straight.
Its not that the article wasn’t exactly true, but the date on the article wasn’t exactly correct, It was an AP dated 12/14/2019! When someone in a discussion thread brought up she thought it was fake, we decided to re-read the article, just to be sure, and this morning the link, nor the site we found it at are not online. It was troubling, because we strive to deliver accurate information. >click to read< 09:22
10-year-old raises over KSh 339k for charity that helped find his lost fisherman dad
When his father went missing overboard from a fishing boat in April 2016, Keiran was hopeful the coast guards and a team of volunteers would find him. However, the 10-year-old’s hopes were dashed after hours turned into days, weeks and eventually months before his father Craig Reid’s body was found. He then decided to raise thousands of pounds for the charity that had teamed up with the coast guards to look for Reid >click to read< 07:18
Video: Coast Guard medevacs injured Canadian fisherman 50 miles off Washington coast
Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound in Seattle received the medevac request from the captain of the 110-foot fishing vessel Ocean Pearl at about 1 p.m. The watchstanders then directed the launch of the aircrew. The aircrew arrived on scene at 2:14 p.m. and conducted the hoist. The aircrew transferred patient care to EMS at 3:23 p.m. >click to read< 06:54
Fishery groups sue to get rid of Obama‘s New England ocean monument
We posted an article that wasn’t true, and we need to set the record straight – >click to read< 09:19
A coalition of commercial fishing groups filed a lawsuit on Tuesday to challenge the creation of a national monument off the coast of New England. President Barack Obama created the monument in September using executive authority under the Antiquities Act. The monument is called the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, and it is made up of nearly 5,000 square miles of underwater canyons and mountains. >click to read< 17:37
20 Strange But True Things About Deadliest Catch
Deadliest Catch is one of the most popular shows on reality television right now. The premise for this catchy hit seems pretty straight forward. Groups of the toughest men and women travel north to brave the freezing waters of the Bering Sea in order to bring home hauls of king crab, queen crab, and snow crab. Check out these twenty strange but true facts that we could not have guessed take place on our favorite fishing reality show, Deadliest Catch. Photos, >click to read< 14:33
Two parts: 20 years ago the Supreme Court ruled on Mi’kmaq fishing rights, so what has changed?
Early on a warm morning in mid-August, Marilyn-Leigh Francis eyes the Coast Guard boat at the wharf in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. Word around the wharf is that the DFO officers will be hauling up any lobster traps that aren’t tagged for the Mi’kmaw food fishery season that’s underway. For the last four years, Francis has harvested lobster, outside of the rules set by the DFO. No licence. No tags. She writes her name and Treaty 1752 on her buoys. Francis walks up to one of the DFO officers, introduces herself, and asks, “I was just wondering if you guys were seizing gear today?” The officer says he doesn’t know. But for the rest of summer and into the early fall, the DFO was busy seizing traps. 2 Videos, click to read and watch, >Part 1<, and >Part 2< 12:07
