Daily Archives: February 19, 2020
Australia: Senate inquiry on impacts of seismic testing starts in Hobart
An inquiry into the impact of seismic testing in Australian waters has heard there is little scientific research into the effects it has on marine life and commercial fisheries. A Senate committee conducting the inquiry held its first hearing on Hobart on Wednesday. The state’s fishing industry has claimed that 24,000 tonnes of scallops, with a retail value of more than $70 million, were killed in 2010 after seismic testing was conducted in the Bass Strait. John Hammond, from the Scallop Fishermen’s Association of Tasmania, said an area north-west of Flinders Island used to provide an enormous bounty of scallops for fishers, but had been barren since 2010. >click to read< 22:49
21 Oct 2016, Scallop deaths linked to seismic surveys being carried out on seabed, Tasmanian report finds – >click to read<
Wrangell fisherman dies at sea near Nemo Point
A veteran fisherman from Wrangell has been found dead aboard his fishing boat 12 miles south of town. Authorities ID’d the deceased as 53-year-old Randall Ferdinand, a professional salmon troller. His body was recovered aboard his boat, the Chase River, which had run aground. Wrangell Search and Rescue chief Tim Buness says 12 members of his crew responded Sunday to a report of a vessel in apparent distress. “A local trapper was going by and observed it, that a boat was partially submerged >click to read< 18:36
Family Fishermen Challenge Illegal, Industry-Killing At-Sea Monitoring Rule from Department of Commerce
Cause of Action Institute (“CoA Institute”) today filed a lawsuit on behalf of a group of New Jersey family fishermen to block a new regulation that would force them to pay for third-party “at-sea monitors.” The industry-killing rule—which was designed by the New England Fishery Management Council and promulgated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and U.S. Department of Commerce—will require certain boats in the Atlantic herring fishery to carry “at-sea monitors” and at their own cost. >click to read< 14:40
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 48 x 20 Dixon Lobster/Tuna/Longliner, 750HP Volvo, 20 kw Northern Lights
To see specifications, information and 15 photos >click here< To see all the boats in this series, >click here<14:08
Fish processors brace for reductions after Board of Fish decisions
Over the past two weeks the Alaska Board of Fisheries has adopted changes to fishing regulations and management plans in Upper Cook Inlet that aim to put more fish into the Kenai River and streams and the MatSu valley. The plans the board passed to increase both sockeye and king salmon escapement goals in the Kenai River came with restrictions for setnet fishermen, and the plan to allow more fish to the MatSu valley took away an area traditionally fished by the drift gillnet fleet. >click to read<
Some Enviros Disappointed With Newsom – seemed reluctant to help protect rivers and fisheries if actions anger agricultural interests.
“He’s a complete disappointment on water policy, and it appears he’s in the pocket of Westlands Water District and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California,” Stokely said. “At the rate he’s going, he’s likely going to be responsible for the extinction of several species of salmon in California.” Another environmental advocate, the California program director for Defenders of Wildlife Kim Delfino, said she was cautiously optimistic about Newsom’s environmental stance until two weeks ago, when he announced a plan to allow water users to voluntarily cut back on their own water use — a plan that she and others warn will fail to meet the ecological needs of rivers. >click to read< 11:59
US-China Trade Deal: US lobster dealers anxious to resume business with China
Hugh Reynolds, a lobster dealer from Stonington, Maine, was excited to learn that the China-US phase-one economic and trade deal came into effect on Feb 14. According to the deal, China promises to purchase more agricultural products from the United States, and lobster is highlighted in the sector.,, Annie Tselikis, executive director of the Maine Lobster Dealers’ Association, said China accounted for 15 percent to 20 percent of the export value of US lobsters at the time. >click to read< 09:43
U.S. seafood exports dry up while cheap Russian crab is undercutting local industry
Fishermen in Alaska claim they have been caught up in Russia’s counter-sanctions, with Moscow’s ban on western food imports blocking sales to one of their key markets while allowing cheap Russian seafood to flood into the U.S. Russian seafood exports to the U.S. have jumped 69% since 2013 — the year before Russia blocked most imports of agricultural products from the U.S. and the EU in a tit-for-tat response to sanctions levelled against Russia after it annexed Crimea. >click to read< 08:11
