Daily Archives: February 20, 2021
Is politics getting in the way of rebuilding a sustainable fishery in Newfoundland?
The sentinel program, created after the cod moratorium in 1992 to monitor fish populations, is run exclusively by the Fish Food & Allied Workers, the powerful union that represents around 15,000 fishermen, fish plant employees and other workers in the province. DFO relies on data from the sentinel fishery to help assess fish stocks, and has paid the union millions to run the program. “The FFAW and the DFO are cheating the fishermen out of a resource that belongs to the people of Newfoundland,” said Jason Bateman, a former enforcement officer with DFO. Ryan Cleary, a former member of Parliament for St. John’s-Mount Pearl and an outspoken critic of the FFAW, said the union has found a way to prosper since the collapse of cod by integrating itself into fisheries management, acting almost as a regulator, while becoming a vocal industry voice that contradicts science. >click to read< 17:55
Pescado fishing boat which sank off Cornwall ‘was hit by submarine in cover-up’
Thirty years ago, a Plymouth-registered beam trawler left port for what was supposed to be a routine fishing trip. After having heard nothing from the Pescado since it departed, on February 25, 1991, a search began for the ship on March 5. The wreck of the Pescado was eventually found 13 miles off Dodman Point on the south coast of Cornwall. The official line remains from the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) in 1998: the boat tilted, flooded and sank as a result of inexperienced crew and faulty equipment. But the ship’s owner, Alan Ayres, who passed away on June 22, 2020, aged 81, had for decades insisted that a collision with a British Navy submarine caused it to sink, and that there has been a cover-up. photos, >click to read< 13:30
N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission is reopening the Shrimp Fishery Management Plan Advisory Committee appointment process
The commission seeks a cross-section of applicants representing the various commercial and recreational shrimp fisheries, scientists with expertise in the areas of habitat or bycatch and gear innovation, especially with trawls and bycatch reduction devices, as well as individuals interested in shrimp fishing issues. Certain fisheries stakeholder groups were found to be underrepresented in the original applicant pool, specifically those who fish with large trawlers and those who fish in the Pamlico Sound. Adviser applications >available online here< or at Division of Marine Fisheries’ offices or by calling 252-808-8022 or 800-682-2632. >click to read< 11:28
P.E.I. lobster fishermen want exemption from new gear rule aimed at protecting whales
Island lobster fishermen should be be exempt from using gear designed to break free in the event of a whale entanglement, according to the P.E.I. Fishermen’s Association (PEIFA). The PEIFA wrote a letter to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) to request lobster fishermen be exempt from new rules, which are expected to become mandatory by the end of 2022. The group says sighting data shows the endangered North Atlantic right whale is rarely in P.E.I. lobster fishing grounds. >click to read< 10:46
Fishermen call on Macron to halt Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm, threaten “unprecedented confrontations”
French fishermen have called on President Emmanuel Macron to cancel the 496MW Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm, threatening “unprecedented confrontations” if their demands are not met. The fishermen oppose the project as they say it will damage the marine environment, especially scallops, and the fishing industry. “The State must have the ambition to cancel this project,” Alain Coudray, president of the Côtes-d’Armor departmental fisheries committee, said in an open letter to the president,,, “It is not yet too late to prevent unprecedented confrontations from emerging in the bay of Saint-Brieuc,” >click to read< 09:26
America’s largest scallop company sues New Bedford over waterfront expansion
Roy Enoksen and his business partner own the largest scallop fleet in the world. Their 27 fishing vessels bring more than 80,000 pounds of seafood into New Bedford each day, employing more than 400 captains, fishermen and support staff. But a construction project planned by the city’s port authority would cut off water access at one of Enoksen’s boat maintenance facilities. A lawsuit filed by Enoksen last month has blown the lid off a simmering conflict between New Bedford and one of the largest employers along its waterfront. >click to read< 08:40
U.S. Coast Guard Inquiry of F/V Scandies Rose sinking begins in Seattle on Monday
A two-week federal inquiry into the fatal sinking of the F/V Scandies Rose, lost on New Year’s Eve 2019 west of Kodiak Island, will open on Monday in Seattle. The U.S. Coast Guard and partner agencies will hold a virtual formal hearing to consider evidence related to the sinking of the Dutch Harbor-based fishing vessel until March 5. The 130-foot crab boat sank near Sutwik Island, Alaska around 10 p.m. on Dec. 31, 2019 with seven crew members aboard. Two fishermen were rescued wearing gumby survival suits in a life raft, but five others were never found. >click to read< 07:50 To ensure public access and participation, the hearing will be streamed live each day at click> https://livestream.com/uscginvestigations,