Daily Archives: January 26, 2021
Washington Dungeness Crab season delays put fishermen in a pinch
Continuing delays caused by the marine toxin domoic acid have brought critical Southwest Washington commercial fishing ports to a standstill since December. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife currently expects an opening as early as Feb. 15. Meanwhile, the delays are forcing fishermen to go weeks without income while bills continue to pile up,,,, “I’ve been here for almost two months. It’s not good financially. It’s a lot of added stress. I’m at a point where I have to make a decision. Do I still stick around and keep losing money or am I going to go home? It’s going to make me go through a divorce.” photos, >click to read< 16:32
New restrictions on commercial fishing amount to ‘extortion’
In a scathing letter, several Michigan legislators urged the state Department of Natural Resources to renew all commercial fishing licenses and permits from 2020. That’s after the DNR announced new restrictions that close the fishery for part of the year and limit the depth where fishers can catch whitefish to 80 feet. “The whole industry is out of business at that 80 feet,” Dennis VanLandschoot, of VanLandschoot & Sons Fish Market in Munising,,, These changes would not affect tribal fishers, whose fishing rights are guaranteed under federal treaty. >click to read< 14:25
A Raw Deal for UK Fishermen – Out of the potential winners and losers of Brexit, no one actually wins
Exporters and inshore fishers in particular are bearing the brunt whilst also leaving the biggest UK fish market looking like a ghost town. Brexit was sold to the public by politicians and parts of the fishing industry as a‘sea of opportunity’; a message that captured the media narrative. There were promises of thousands of tonnes of additional quota, exclusive access to the 6 – 12nm territorial seas, and the taking back control of the 12 – 200nm limit while excluding EU vessels unless they fished on UK terms. Beyond that, fishers were told trade would not be impacted and the EU market they so heavily rely on would still be available on the same terms. As recent events have shown, this hasn’t happened and the government’s broken commitments are exposed. >click to read< 11:47
Richard “Max” Strahan ‘Man in Final Legal Effort to Protect Whales
Strahan seeks a court order to prevent the state from licensing vertical buoy ropes and to make Massachusetts revoke all existing licenses. The ropes connect traps and pots under water to buoys on the surface so lobstermen can more easily find their catch.,,, Strahan distinctly remembers his first case, Strahan v. Coxe, which he frequently cites. The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts said in that 1996 opinion that gillnets and lobster gear have harmed endangered whales “and are likely to continue doing so.”(But he never mentioned ship strikes!) >click to read< 10:12
Wife of St. Lawrence fisherman killed at sea in May says recovery system ‘badly broken’
A lobby group demanding improved search and rescue oversight in Newfoundland and Labrador wants a say in the newly-launched provincial inquiry on the matter,,, Concerned Citizens for Search and Rescue, led by Merv Wiseman and founded in August, wants to shape the terms of reference for the inquiry into ground search and rescue services, launched Jan. 14 nine years after the death of its catalyst, Burton Winters. “There’s no oversight for search and rescue,” said Wiseman at a press conference Monday. The group also wants official standing at that inquiry, Melissa Mayo-Norman lost her husband, Scott, last year when a four-man crew was lost on a fishing vessel off St. Lawrence. She sat beside Wiseman and voiced her support for the group’s efforts. >click to read< 08:42
