Daily Archives: October 15, 2020
Canada’s courts and governments have themselves to blame for the lobster fishery dispute
Imagine the reaction you’d have if you, a Canadian worker, in any field, were told by the courts and the government that you could earn only a “moderate livelihood.” Imagine that on top of this, you’re told that there is no definition of “moderate livelihood”, that it’ll be worked out over time. Your howls of protest would be loud and intense, and rightly so. Yet this is precisely what happened for the Mi’kmaq and Maliseet in Eastern Canada when the Supreme Court of Canada made its 1999 decision in the case of R. v. Marshall, ruling that the First Nations had a treaty right to fish for commercial purposes, but with a “moderate livelihood” restriction on that right. The Marshall ruling,,, >click to read< 16:12
Brexit: Thank-you note from 1666 could save Flemish fisheries
The United Kingdom is due to leave the EU at the end of this year, and unless a deal can be agreed before then, all of the existing rules governing trade relations between the two sides fall away. Among the issues forming a barrier to agreement is fisheries. The UK is unwilling to give way on fisheries policy, and wants to exclude all foreign boats from British waters. That would be the death-blow for the Belgian fishing industry,,, But help could be at hand, in the form of a document signed and sealed by Charles II in 1666. >click to read< 15:18
Portland Fish Exchange seeks a bailout – If it closes, it could be the death knell for the groundfish industry in the state
The Portland Fish Exchange, the city-operated fish auction, is losing about $30,000 a month and is asking another city agency to help bail it out through the middle of next year. The daily auction, where fishermen sell their catch to buyers from seafood wholesalers and processors, has cut losses somewhat over the past few years and has made slight adjustments to cut expenses, said Tom Valleau, chairman of the Fish Exchange board. But fish landings plummeted this summer, mostly likely the because of disruptions caused by the pandemic, and the losses accelerated, Valleau said. >click to read< 10:59
Large Scale Fin-Fish and Aquatic Farms Could Hamper Maine Aquaculture Industry
As proposed, the Nordic Aquafarms project would raise more than 72 million pounds of salmon annually on its 56–acre campus in Belfast, Maine. The site would utilize about 5,200 gallons of water per minute, a combination of both saltwater taken from the nearby Gulf of Maine and freshwater obtained from groundwater wells, city-owned aquifers and reservoirs. The permit application indicates the facility would discharge more than 7 million gallons of filtered wastewater into the Belfast Bay each day. It’s that last figure that concerns many local residents. Marsden Brewer is a commercial fisherman and scallop farmer who also serves as president of the Maine Aquaculture Co-op. Brewer was one of more than a dozen fishermen and fish farmers who spoke out against the Nordic project at a statewide hearing this spring. “After years of misuse, we’re finally starting to see a lot of good things happening in this bay,” Brewer says. >click to read< 09:56
Russians jet in to save New Zealand’s beleaguered deep-sea fishing industry
Hundreds of Russian and Ukrainian seamen will fly into Christchurch in the coming weeks to save the country’s beleaguered deep-sea fishing industry, which has been haemorrhaging cash and is on the brink of mass layoffs. About 440 fishermen will arrive on two flights chartered by fishing companies – the first of which touches down from Moscow via Singapore on Friday. New Zealand’s deep-sea fishing industry, largely reliant on overseas workers, has been crippled by Covid travel restrictions that have left operators unable to crew their boats, costing tens of millions of dollars.>click to read< 09:21
Bering Sea Crab harvests set: Kings still in decline, snow and Tanner see bump
Commercial fishermen will be allowed to harvest a total of 45 million pounds of snow crab from the Bering Sea waters this year, with 4.5 million of that set aside for Community Development Quota groups and the rest for individual fishing quota, or IFQ, holders. That’s about 34 percent larger than the limit last season, which was also an increase over the previous year. Bering Sea Crabbers Association Executive Director Jamie Goen said that’s good news for the fleet. However, members of the fleet also think that TAC could have been a lot higher had the National Marine Fisheries Service been able to conduct its regular surveys. >click to read< 08:29
