Monthly Archives: January 2020
Canada’s high-stakes herring fishery gamble
This year, in response to an expected low herring return in the Strait of Georgia, Fisheries and Oceans drafted a plan to keep the harvest level at 20 per cent, the same level as when herring are abundant. Evidence over the past couple of years shows herring populations have fallen rapidly due to natural variation, which means precaution is required. The current assessment suggests there’s a one-in-four chance the stock will fall below the point when no fishing is permitted. Leading fisheries management agencies around the world have implemented rules for these types of scenarios to rein in the risk. Beginning this year, Fisheries and Oceans Canada must strive to do the same. >click to read< 15:50
UK Offshore Wind Farms Are Paid Millions Per Day Not To Run Turbines
Last week, millions of pounds in “constraint payments” were paid to wind energy farms to not run their turbines. Over £12 million was handed out to wind farms in the United Kingdom last week, following a major outage in a powerline that transported energy from Scottish wind farms to England. The handouts will be tacked onto consumers’ energy bills throughout the country.,, The firms cartels were paid between 25 and 80 percent more than they would have earned were the turbines actually running,,, >click to read< 10:28
Washington Legislature’s sneaky bill considers salmon the 4th branch of government
Senate Bill 5130 purports to be about raising revenue to remove state fish barriers. The bill writers maintain that this would help save the salmon, which in turn helps save the orcas. It sounds good, right? But then you go down a ways in this bill and learn that they want to raise the money by charging an excise tax on every real estate sale — thousands of dollars when you sell your home. Alright, but it’s for the good of the salmon, isn’t it? Read down a little further. It will go toward helping the salmon, right? Wrong. Here is how it will be spent: >click to read< 08:44
Why Offshore Wind Farms off the Coast of New England When Hydro Power is Available from Canada?
Hydro-Québec has more electricity than residents of that province can use. It built four new large dams over the last 11 years, leaving it with an unexpected supply of excess electricity it must sell to avoid the dams becoming white elephants. “We have both new supply of electricity, and the demand in Quebec for the last 10 years mostly remained stable,” “There’s a lot of water in Hydro-Québec’s reservoirs.” Going to America? >click to read< 07:37
Huge crowd! 1,800+ People voice concerns at Ocean City offshore wind turbine meeting
On Saturday, hundreds of homeowners, residents, and Ocean City visitors packed into the Ocean City Convention Center to make their voices heard about 800-foot offshore wind turbines potentially being built along the resort town’s shoreline.,, The turbines , which would be installed by two companies, U.S. Wind and Orsted, would bring renewable energy to the resort town. But that’s a cost that some aren’t willing to pay. >click to read< Ocean City offshore wind: what you need to know from public hearing – >click to read< Huge crowd has their say over wind farms off Maryland and Delaware – >click to read< 12:41
Federal Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan visits B.C. slide site, says it’s her ‘top priority’
Federal Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan visited the site of a massive landslide in British Columbia’s Fraser River ,, She says the disaster at Big Bar, northwest of Kamloops, is her top priority and has been a key issue for the government since it was discovered in June because it threatens crucial salmon runs.,, “We recognize how important it is to get this work done,” she says in an interview Saturday, >click to read< 10:30
Commercial fishing concerns over marine protected areas, seek solutions through consultations
Bruce Turris, Brian Mose, Grant Dovey and Mike Atkins, who call themselves the ‘Marine Planning Team’ (MPT), is working on behalf of commercial fishermen in B.C.’s Northern Shelf Bioregion, and believe the input of fishermen is crucial to making sure the marine protected areas — which would either be off-limits to commercial fishing or see catch numbers greatly reduced — balance conservation with the needs of the fishing industry. >click to read<09:28
The Big Dig! Newfoundland digs out from record setting blizzard
Federal government approves N.L.’s request for assistance, including army mobilization, following blizzard – Video, information, >click to read<08:32
Some crazy stuff! From snow forts to beat poems, here’s how Newfoundlanders weathered the storm – videos, photo’s >click to read<
No Action! Seal problem still not being dealt with
Here we go again DFO sciences saying the cod stocks are still declining and they blamed everything under the sun for the reason of the decline except the real reason which are the seals. The seals are not only putting the cod stocks in danger but also the Atlantic salmon stocks, the crab stocks and the saltwater trout stocks etc. Neil Smith, >click to read< 17:44
US elected officials discuss Canadian crab embargo
In a letter to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, a member of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet, four elected officials from Maine stand up for their state’s lobster fishing industry. They argue that measures to protect the North Atlantic right whale imposed on American fishermen for several years have saved the species from extinction, but also increased its population. However, they add, the mortality of right whales “directly related” to commercial shipping and fishing activities in Canadian waters “continues to increase”. A total of 12 right whales died in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in 2017 and at least 9 in 2019, out of a population of around 400 individuals. >click to read<14:13
Des élus américains évoquent un embargo sur le crabe canadien – >click to read<
Most likely Carnival Cruise Lines is responsible for 18+ Right Whale deaths in the past 3 year, at which rate they would soon be extinct. – >click to read<
Dirty Wind. When public business is done behind closed doors
That’s exactly what was going on last winter, when the Connecticut Port Authority, we now know, was hatching a grand plan, in secret, to drastically remake the historic port of New London, filling in seven acres of the river between the two existing piers, one a stone 19th Century structure on the National Register of Historic Places. The extensive $93 million project, to be done at the behest of Danish wind power giant Orsted and Connecticut utility Eversource, with the state contributing $35 million, would potentially close the port to traditional cargo for the better part of a generation. >click to read< 11:56
Fishermen clash over fishing rights across the Maritimes, tensions are running high
Canada’s highest court has refused to hear a Mi’kmaw fisherman’s appeal to have legal costs covered in a lawsuit against Ottawa – a potentially groundbreaking case seeking to define treaty fishing rights. The case comes as clashes between non-Indigenous and Indigenous fishermen intensify across the Maritimes. Observers warn the simmering tensions could lead to violence if the “moderate livelihood” fishery described in Donald Marshall Jr. case two decades ago is not clarified. “By not dealing with it, the government is responsible for continued conflict in the fishery.” >click to read< 08:55
New Hampshire: Lobstermen lament coming whale entanglement regulations
Seacoast lobstermen weighed in on the proposal at a meeting Thursday night in Portsmouth with the state Department of Fish and Game. They’re still skeptical that their fishery poses enough of a threat to the whales to merit new regulations. And they want more details and input on the new, more easily breakable lines or gear they’ll have to use to keep whales from being entangled. >click to read< 07:10
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for January 17, 2020
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< 21:36
Matt Becker, One of the Most Gifted Fisherman-Surfers You’ll Ever Meet
He’s young, gifted in riding big waves, and he’s in tune with the ways of the world. Mostly because he’s spent his early adult life as a fisherman, taking to the family business he learned from his father growing up in Santa Barbara. In fact, he’s probably one of the best professional surfers who also doubles as a professional fisherman in the world today. He might be the only one. “When I was young I was thinking I wasn’t going to be a fisherman, but I got older and met all these interesting people.” Video, and a great interview! >click to read< 19:59
The U.S.- China trade agreement will slow Canadian lobster sales to China
Even though a new U.S.-China trade agreement does not eliminate heavy Chinese tariffs, the deal will result in a loss of Canadian seafood sales to China,,, Canadian live lobster exports to China, mostly from Nova Scotia, soared after China slapped retaliatory tariffs of 35 per cent on U.S. lobsters. U.S. lobster exports tanked while Canadian sales jumped,,, The new trade deal does not lower those tariffs. But China has pledged to buy $32 billion worth of American agricultural products over the next two years, including lobster and other seafood products. >click to read< 17:38
Fish sticks generate greenhouse gas emissions
Researchers have found that transforming ‘Alaskan pollock’ into fish sticks, imitation crab and fish fillets generates nearly twice the greenhouse gas emissions produced by fishing itself. Post-catch processing generates nearly twice the emissions produced by fishing itself, which is typically where the analysis of the climate impact of seafood ends, according to the findings, published in the journal Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene. >click to read< 15:29
Atlantic Salmon fish farm in Florida aims to take over US market
Atlantic Sapphire, the Norwegian indoor salmon fish farm, might have gotten its start in 2010, but the company is heading into the new decade with ambitious goals in the American fish market. Once completed, Atlantic Sapphire aims to produce 100,000 tons of salmon by 2026 and then increase production to 242,000 tons by 2031,, If successful, Atlantic Sapphire would output half of the nation’s current salmon consumption, which falls in line with the National Fisheries Institute’s prediction that Americans will increase their salmon intake. >click to read< 12:30
Rockfish closure another blow to Southeast fleet
Southeast Alaska fishermen won’t get to target yelloweye rockfish in 2020, and that’s another notch in tightening belt for the area fleet. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced the full-year closure on Dec. 31, spanning both the commercial and recreational sectors. Targeted fishing for all nonpelagic rockfish, which includes species like yelloweye, quillback, tiger and china rockfish, will be closed across the region due to declining populations of the fish. >click to read< 11:00
Schumer Votes No On USMCA Trade Deal Because It Doesn’t Include Climate Change
The Senate passed the deal by a margin of 89-10. The USMCA‘s supporters say the bipartisan trade agreement could help America’s farmers, ranchers, businesses and workers. “Despite the fact that it includes very good labor provisions, I am voting against USMCA because it does not address climate change, the greatest threat facing the planet,” the New York senator said in a press statement addressing his vote. ” … the USMCA falls far too short.” >click to read< 09:46
‘Fearless’ member of the RNLI awarded for heroic rescue of six fishermen
A fearless member of an Irish RNLI lifeboat crew who defied horrific sea conditions to save six fishermen on a sinking trawler has been awarded the first gallantry medal to be presented in Ireland for over a decade. The entire Castletownbere RNLI lifeboat crew will now be honoured for their heroism during the successful rescue of the stricken trawler, Clodagh O, on October 10 2018. It represents the first gallantry medal presented to an Irish RNLI crew member in a decade. >click to read< 08:54
Drunken assault at sea leads to a federal prison sentence for a Winchester Bay man
39-year old Brandon Vanderploeg was sentenced Thursday to 18 months behind bars and two year of supervised patrol for assaulting his then-girlfriend about a fishing vessel in August of 2018. According to court documents, on August 16, 2018, members of the U.S. Coast Guard were dispatched to a situation at sea involving the report of a woman who had been assaulted by her boyfriend onboard a commercial fishing vessel. >click to read< 07:39
‘We don’t want fish farms here,’ says St. Marys Bay lobster fisherman
Some people who live and work on St. Marys Bay in Digby County, N.S., want their local leaders to send a strong message to an aquaculture company that’s eyeing the area for salmon farming. “It’s just a no-brainer. No, we don’t want fish farms here,” lobster fisherman Ritchie Crocker told CBC’s Information Morning during an interview from his boat on Tuesday morning. The Digby County location is one of five spots the international seafood company has been granted options to explore by the provincial government. >click to read< 20:57
F/V Sea Angels: Grounded fishing vessel near Browns Inlet, refloated and towed off the beach
The Coast Guard received a report of the fishing vessel Sea Angels being towed off the beach by the fishing vessel Lady Deborah during high tide Wednesday evening. The vessel was towed to Jarrett Bay Boatworks in Beaufort, North Carolina, where it has been dry docked for inspection and repairs. >click to read< 15:57
F/V Pappy’s Pride: Unified command suspends search for two missing fishermen after vessel collision near Galveston, Texas
The unified command has suspended the search Thursday for two missing fishermen from the 81-foot fishing vessel Pappy’s Pride that capsized after a collision near the Galveston Jetties in Galveston, Texas. Responders searched more than 49 square miles over the past three days. “It is never an easy decision to suspend a search,” said Cmdr. Jordan Baldueza,,, >click to read< 15:23
Herrera Beutler calls sea lion bill critical to preserving salmon habitat
For Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Battle Ground, the package marks her latest attempt in a series of incremental efforts aimed at boosting salmon runs without resorting to such drastic measures as breaching Columbia or Snake River dams. The congresswoman is a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee. “Now that my sea lion bill has been signed into law, I am working with members from both political parties to take the next critical step: protect salmon habitat and increase hatchery production,” Herrera Beutler said in a media release. >click to read< 12:44
Meanwhile, in Ireland, Call for a seal cull in Killala Bay – >click to read<
Pulp mill shutdown not what P.E.I. fishermen were seeking
The president of the Prince Edward Island Fishermen’s Association says the industry really wasn’t looking to have Pictou County’s Northern Pulp shut down its pulp mill. Bobby Jenkins says industry wanted the pulp mill to come up with an alternate plan to the one that would pipe effluent into the Northumberland Strait. >click to read< 11:40
Firefighters respond to boat fire at Port Dock 7
The Newport Fire Department responded to a report of a boat fire on Yaquina Bay at around 1:45 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 10. The boat, identified as the F/V Nile II, was moored at Port Dock 7. Cub Barrus, a crew member aboard the F/V Misty, which is docked next to the Nile II, said, “We were just sitting here waiting to offload, and I said to my captain, ‘Is that smoke?’ So we called the harbormaster, got him on the case. They got it put out pretty fast.” >click to read< 09:58
3 crab fishermen survive harrowing capsize off Oregon coast
Three men were in good condition early Wednesday after being cut from inside the hull of a capsized crab boat off the Oregon coast. Their harrowing rescue was caught on video the night before. The 38-foot Pacific Miner was flipped upside-down by large waves,, Rescuers could not see the men inside the capsized boat and given the ship’s condition, rescuers searched for bodies in the water for more than an hour before a firefighter checked the boat itself. He heard survivors pounding on the hull from the inside, said Rob Gensorek,,, Video, >click to read< 08:55
Ropeless Fishing Gear: Scottish tests of ‘whale-friendly’ fishing creels
Fishing gear designed to protect whales from entanglement is being trialled off Scotland’s coast. Whales can become caught in rope that runs between shellfish creels on the seabed to a buoy on the surface. The new “ropeless creels” have this main line in a container along with a buoy and these are lowered to the seabed with the creels. >click to read< 08:10
