Daily Archives: September 1, 2020
Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw lobster harvester to file an injunction against DFO for seizing traps
“I’m going to get (my lawyer) to file an injunction on my behalf preventing the DFO from violating my rights until they get this moderate livelihood stuff settled,” Matthew Cope, 34, said. Cope, who is from the Millbrook First Nation, said he left the wharf in Digby, N.S. on Aug. 29 to check on his lobster traps when he saw DFO officers aboard the Canadian Coast Guard Vessel, The Earl Grey, seizing 60 of his traps. “We had ten trawls of fifteen each. They took six of them. We caught them in the middle of taking our trawls so I stood up beside them and I said, ‘What are you guys doing?’” Cope explained. “I have a pre-existing inherited treaty right for fishing and I have a right to do so unhindered,” he said. >click to read< 21:46
Quiet seafood truck protest: DFO urged to crack down on illegal out of season lobster fishing
The owner of a seafood company that has trucks parked at the DFO detachment declined an interview and wouldn’t comment about the protest or who organized it. Asked why the trucks are there the company owner simply said, “DFO knows.” The trucks were first parked at the DFO detachment on Aug. 27, the same day hundreds of commercial lobster fishermen protested outside of federal Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan’s office in Bridgewater demanding DFO provide enforcement. As they have in previous summers, fishermen have been raising concerns over what they say is out-of-season commercial lobster harvesting taking place. They say commercial activity is happening under the guise of the First Nations fishery and accuse some fishers of abusing the intent of that fishery. photos, >click to read< 20:38
North Carolina Fisheries Association is working on relief efforts for victims of Hurricane Laura in the Gulf
Doug Cross of Pamlico Packing and Meade Amory are working on accumulating seafood and other items that will be trucked to Amory Seafood in Virginia and Evans Seafood in Washington NC. Thanks to NCFA Board member Ross Butler, a semi from True North Seafood will pick up the items and transport it to Louisiana. >click to read< 17:49
Coast Guard assists sinking fishing boat off Key West
Coast Guard rescue crews assisted a 73-foot commercial fishing boat after it started taking on water about 46 miles northwest of Key West. The F/V Kayden Nicole’s emergency positioning indicating radio beacon alerted Coast Guard watchstanders that the three person crew was in distress. Station Key West’s 45-foot Response Boat crew arrived on scene and transferred a F/V Kayden Nicole to the fishing crew. >click to read< 13:53
Fraser River sockeye fishery could be shut down for years
Fraser River sockeye, once the bread-and-butter of the commercial sector, appear to be collapsing for real this time. In 2009, low returns were described as a collapse, but the next year, Fraser River sockeye staged a major comeback, with 28 million fish returning, followed by 19 million in 2014. The Pacific Salmon Commission (PSC) estimates that only 283,000 sockeye may return to the Fraser River this year – a fraction of the 941,000 in a pre-season forecast, and only one-quarter of what is needed to meet this year’s escapement target. >click to read< 10:18
Southeast Alaska pink salmon catch could be lowest in 44 years
Two years ago the commercial catch of pink salmon in Southeast Alaska hit its lowest level in more than four decades. This year’s catch will be even lower. Andy Piston is the department’s pink and chum salmon project leader for Southeast. He said the catch by late August had topped six million fish and is expected to finish around seven million pinks by the end of the season. “It looks like it’s going to come in a little below the 2018 parent year harvest which was about 8.1 million and that’ll be, it’ll be one of the lowest harvests since the mid-1970s. >click to read< 09:36
The Coast Guard has launched ‘Operation Bubba Gump’. No, seriously!
Besides an awesome name and a tribute to one of the finest fictional soldiers to ever serve, Operation Bubba Gump is a joint state and federal effort to protect and enforce fishing regulations in the waters off of South Carolina and Georgia that the service kicked off last week. Nine different Coast Guard units partnered with South Carolina and Georgia’s Departments of Natural Resources, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and the NOAA Office of Law Enforcement to patrol both state and federal waterways, according to a Coast Guard release. >click to read< 08:49
Nutrient Pollution and Algae Blooms: Pollution Has Cost Florida Millions, and the Bill Keeps Rising
Amid a historic fish kill in Biscayne Bay, the public’s eyes are on some of the causes of the dire situation plaguing our waters: nutrient pollution and algal blooms. Nitrogen and phosphorous from fertilizers and sewage-treatment plans across the state are supercharging the growth of toxic algae that makes the water undrinkable and depletes it of oxygen. Cleaning up that algae hasn’t been cheap. Over the past decade, the State of Florida has spent at least $20 million cleaning up and preventing algal blooms in its major bodies of water, according to a recent study by the nonprofit Environmental Working Group (EWG). >click to read< 08:00
Trade minister says she’ll keep eye on U.S. probe of Canadian lobster industry
The Canadian industry gained most of the Chinese market that the Americans lost after China slapped a 35 per cent tariff on U.S. lobster exports. Canada also saw its lobster exports grow in Europe after it signed the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, or CETA, with the European Union, giving it a tariff advantage over its U.S. competitors. The Trump administration, however, has recently signed an agreement with China that removes the 35 per cent tariff. And a separate deal with Europe also removed tariffs on American lobsters that had provided the Canadian industry an advantage. Executive Director Geoff Irvine (Lobster Council of Canada) said Monday the lobster industries of Canada and the United States are now back on an even playing field. >click to read< 07:17
