Monthly Archives: April 2021
NOAA Report: Pacific waters off the West Coast show improved productivity – Cooler temps created a robust environment
Ocean waters off the West Coast showed signs of improved productivity in 2020 after several years of warm water and poor fisheries conditions, The higher productivity seen in 2020 comes after a period of poorer conditions in the Pacific Ocean off the West Coast. “The previous five years, starting in early 2014, were very warm. We were seeing conditions that were not good for the fisheries,” said Toby Garfield, a researcher with NOAA and co-editor of the report. “We’ve had some tough times in the last few years,” said Tracy. “For a lot of species, the cold water regime is favorable, so that’s encouraging.” >click to read< 11:27
Stewart Pearson, The Lobster Man
With the weight of over 300 years of family history heaped on his shoulders, things looked grim last year at the start of lockdown, but Stewart was determined not to see his family fishing business fold on his watch. Stewart recalled that his grandfather was still fishing right up to the year before he died.,, He learned his craft working alongside his father on their boat, called Windward. He said, “when lockdown happened we couldn’t sell our lobsters to the usual merchants so I decided to start my business, The Lobster Man. “I’m sure my dad and granddad would be very happy with what we are doing now. >click to read< 09:50
California Fishermen are worried about the commercial salmon season
The commercial salmon season typically starts on May 1, but the season’s start for the coastal area of California is expected to be delayed due to low salmon numbers. Instead of having a wide-open season from May to September, there will likely be only one to two weeks each month for fishing, with expectations for a late June start for the Bay Area, according to Kandice Morgenstern, an environmental scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife Ocean Salmon Project. “It’s very personal, and it hits home. Don’t put your eggs all in that basket,” Half Moon Bay fisherman Don Marshall said. >click to read< 08:54
Search suspended for missing fisherman off coast of Nova Scotia
The search for a missing fisher who had been aboard a boat that capsized and sank off the west coast of Cape Breton was suspended indefinitely on Sunday night, hours after a First Nation reported that two of the vessel’s crew members had died. The decision to suspend the operation was made “based on the results of the search over the last 25 hours,” a tweet from the Halifax Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre reads. >click to read< 07:50
1 dead, another presumed dead after fishing boat capsizes off Cape Breton
Four crew members from the Tyhawk fishing vessel were rescued from the water Saturday evening and taken to hospital. But one, identified by community members as Seth Monahan, died. The vessel’s captain, Craig Sock, is missing and presumed dead after an unsuccessful overnight search. 
The Tyhawk belongs to the Elsipogtog First Nation in New Brunswick, according to band councillor Ruth Levi. She said Monahan was originally from nearby Metepenagiag, N.B., and had been living in Elsipogtog for many years. He had two young children, she said. Levi described Sock as a “gentle soul” who loved hockey. He was known as “Jumbo” to his friends. >click to read< 20:42
Florida Spiny lobster season ends
Bill Kelly says the spiny lobster fishery is like real estate. “Location is everything,” said Kelly, executive director of the Florida Keys Fishermen’s Association. “We’re seeing a significant season, a good season for spiny lobster and stone crab harvest in the Upper Keys and [mainland] South Florida. We’re also seeing that in the extreme Lower Keys and down into the Marquesas and the Tortugas.” The lockdowns in China early during the pandemic didn’t help the industry either. Kelly said China buys about 80% of the live spiny lobsters, and they pay top dollar. >click to read< 11:39
Births rates up among North Atlantic Right Whales
North Atlantic right whales gave birth over the winter in greater numbers than scientists have seen since 2015, an encouraging sign for researchers who became alarmed three years ago when the critically endangered species produced no known offspring at all. Survey teams spotted 17 newborn right whale calves swimming with their mothers offshore between Florida and North Carolina from December through March. One of those calves soon died after being hit a boat, a reminder of the high death rate for right whales that experts fear is outpacing births. >click to read< 08:58
Shipwreck lodged on Marin coast probed for pollution threat remains in place
Nearly a month after a 90-foot fishing boat ran aground on the Marin coast, the wreckage remains in place while specialists assess the risk of environmental damage. A team of marine engineers and safety experts has been enlisted to determine how much fuel is aboard the American Challenger, which drifted to shore on March 6. So far, the contractors have evaluated 13 of the 17 tanks onboard, but progress was halted when the ship shifted, making work conditions unsafe,,, >click to read< 08:08
4 crew members found, Search ongoing for missing fisherman off the coast of Cape Breton
A search is ongoing in the waters off the coast of Cape Breton for one of five people from the Tyhawk fishing vessel, A CH149 Cormorant helicopter and a CH130 Hercules aircraft, along with two Coast Guard ships, were sent to search for the missing vessel, which was believed to be about 30 kilometres west of Chéticamp, N.S., according to Owens. Owens said a local vessel was in the area and found four of the people who had been on boat holding onto the hull of the capsized vessel. Ruth Levi said the boat and its crew left waters near the community early on Saturday to fish snow crab off Chéticamp. >click to read< 07:16
UPDATE: Search ongoing – The two helicopters have since been grounded and one coast guard ship departed the area due to deteriorating weather conditions. Owens said freezing rain and low cloud cover is making for poor visibility. >click to read< 10:20
Crab fishing season off to early start on the Acadian Peninsula
New Brunswick’s snow crab fishers have begun their season. At the wharf in Shippagan, boats prepared to take to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence late Friday despite frigid temperatures and the presence of ice in some places. The season officially began at midnight. For Capt. Renald Guignard, it marked the continuation of a family tradition. The Acadian Peninsula received help from icebreakers from the Canadian Coast Guard and contracted boats to allow access to the waters before endangered North Atlantic right whales arrive. >click to read< 17:30
Rescue operation off Castletownbere coast brought seven crewmen ashore from sinking fishing trawler
The dramatic rescue of seven crew members from the Ellie Adhamh fishing trawler last Saturday evening off the coast of Castletownbere in stormy conditions was the culmination of what was a prolonged and protracted two-day operation involving multiple rescue agencies. The Wexford-based fishing trawler lost power last Friday morning, 70 miles west of Bantry Bay in sea conditions of eight metres with wind gusting up to 4 knots. Marine water pumps and a handheld VHF radio were also transferred by the R115 to the fishing trawler on Saturday morning as it was taking in a lot of water. However, with sea conditions beginning to deteriorate in the later afternoon and with the vessel beginning to list, they made the decision to evacuate the crew. >click to read< 16:25
North Coast crabbers line up against bill mandating ropeless gear, AB 534
A coalition of crab industry associations across California has issued a letter opposing a state Assembly bill mandating all fishing fleets switch to ropeless fishing gear by 2025. The coalition of the state’s major fishing industry groups sent the letter opposing Assembly Bill 534, or the Whale Entanglement Prevention Act, this week to its author Assemblyman Rob Bonta (D-Oakland) and the Assembly’s Water and Parks Committee members who will vote on the legislation. The Crescent City-based California Coast Crab Association sent the letter, also signed by Humboldt Fishermen’s Marketing Association President Harrison Ibach. >click to read< 11:35
Tension over stocks – 3Ps Cod fishery closure ‘not going to happen on my watch,’
Fish harvesters rallied in Clarenville on Wednesday, voicing their fears that the federal government may shut down the cod fishery along Newfoundland’s south coast, a move the local member of Parliament says he won’t support. Dozens of members from the Fish, Food & Allied Workers union protested on the doorstep of the office of Liberal MP for Bonavista-Burin-Trinity, Churence Rogers, filling the parking lot with signs and the air with strong words about the fate of the fishing grounds 3Ps. Fish harvester Brian Careen said he’s spent most of his life fishing in the area, and told the crowd he feared it will be taken away by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. >click to read< 10:58
Supreme Court – Oystermen bemoan ‘disgraceful’ water wars decision
Shannon Hartsfield, a fourth-generation oysterman, fears debilitating drought in years to come after the Supreme Court yesterday found that Florida failed to show Georgia is cutting off south-flowing water. Hartsfield’s livelihood is in Apalachicola Bay, an estuary and lagoon along the Florida Panhandle that once hosted up to 400 bustling fishing boats. It is now closed to allow wild oyster reefs to regenerate after suffering through historically dry conditions in recent years that have slowed the inflows feeding the bay. Hartsfield, head of the Franklin County Seafood Workers Association, claims Georgia is also to blame for not allowing fresh water to flow down two rivers, past Atlanta’s suburbs and to the Gulf of Mexico. The Supreme Court disagreed. >click to read< 09:35
Harbormaster amends lawsuit – Mayor, admins accused of free speech, civil rights violations
Gloucester Harbormaster T.J. Ciarametaro’s attorneys have amended his lawsuit against Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken, members of her administration and the city, broadening the counts under which Ciarametaro seeks damages and providing more detail on some of his more explosive charges of a hostile workplace. The initial complaint, filed Feb. 9 in Essex Superior Court in Lawrence, charged that Romeo Theken and members of her administration harassed Ciarametaro and created a hostile work environment as retaliation for the harbormaster serving as a plaintiffs’ expert witness in a lawsuit involving the 2015 sinking of the fishing vessel F.V. Orin C. >click to read< 08:33
Lobsterman: A day in the life
“Let Her Go” is oversized for Frenchtown’s small harbor, so Ledee bases her in Red Hook, where his day begins in darkness. Rising at 3 a.m., he packs hard-boiled eggs for breakfast, curried chicken for lunch and a cooler of drinks for himself and his mate, 19-year-old Kyle LaPlace. Lobsters and fish support him and his brother Gregory, who co-owns the business, as well as the men who crew with him, build the fish traps, survey and repair the boat and provide dock space. It’s a complete microeconomy. “Fishing has been good to me,” Ledee says. 18 photos, >click to read< 07:50
Fishing trawlers, a no-show submarine and mutiny: the full story of a historic drug haul
This failed drug importation was the third of five smuggling attempts by the ambitious NSW-based syndicate over two years. Only on the fifth attempt did they succeed in bringing drugs to Australia. But the victory was short-lived, as a massive police operation culminated with mass arrests and a 500-kilogram cocaine haul seized when it was brought into the Hawkesbury River on Christmas Day 2016. The end result was 18 related convictions, with combined prison sentences of 250 years. After the final sentence was handed down last week, the full story, starting with the beginnings of the syndicate back in mid-2014, can be told at last. The dramatic saga involved mutiny at sea, a mysterious “submarine”, the French Navy and a cast of colourful characters. >click to read< 21:32
Fishermen, DMR: New North Atlantic Right Whale regulations could cripple lobster industry
The proposal, released in late December 2020, includes measures like regional gear marking, breakaway rope, extra traps per trawl line and restrictions on certain fishing areas. But it is the emphasis placed on ropeless fishing traps that has officials at the Maine Department of Marine Resources most concerned. In its Biological Opinion regarding right whales and the fishing industry, NMFS identifies ropeless fishing as a solution, among others, to reduce whale entanglements that cause death or serious injury. DMR argues that ropeless gear is largely under-researched and unaffordable. DMR used EdgeTech traps to estimate cost increases associated with converting to ropeless fishing,,, An EdgeTech fishing unit costs $3,750, >click to read< 19:36
U.S. Supreme Court Rules Against Florida In Water Fight
After years of legal battling, the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously rejected a lawsuit in which Florida argued Georgia has used too much water in a river system shared by the states. The 12-page ruling dismissed the lawsuit that Florida filed in 2013 after the oyster fishery collapsed in Franklin County’s Apalachicola Bay. Florida contended that Georgia drew too much water in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint river system, which starts in northern Georgia and ends in Apalachicola Bay, and that more water should be directed to Florida. >click to read< >Supreme Court Ruling< 17:15
Fisherman’s Friend: Calls for memorial to Lancashire philanthropist Doreen Lofthouse
Calls have been made for a memorial to honour Fisherman’s Friend tycoon Doreen Lofthouse in her hometown in Fleetwood. The businesswoman, who grew the cough sweets from a small firm into a global brand, died aged 91 on Wednesday. Since her death, many have called for a permanent 
tribute to the Lancashire philanthropist, whose generosity had helped “transform Fleetwood”. Fisherman’s Friend lozenges were originally developed by pharmacist James Lofthouse in 1865 to relieve various respiratory problems commonly suffered by fishermen. >click to read< 12:33
“DFO operates in denial of Reality”- Scientist says seal predation not having a significant impact on spawning cod stocks
Instead, Karen Dwyer, weighing in on the contentious debate over the health of cod stocks, said Thursday that environmental factors and a limited supply of the cod’s primary food source — capelin — are more to blame.,, Trinity Bay fisherman Keith Smith said DFO continues to downplay the impact of seal predation on cod. “It’s like DFO operate in denial of reality,” Smith said. “Fishing mortality is at an all-time low while natural mortality, likely led by the growing seal population that consumes vast amounts of both capelin and cod, remains high,”,,, >click to read< 11:04
New Bedford Port Authority Probed by Feds Over Grant Application
A federal grant application submitted by the New Bedford Port Authority is the subject of an investigation by the U.S. Commerce Department’s Office of the Inspector General. The probe was initiated in October of 2020, according to Port Authority General Counsel Blair S. Bailey. Bailey did not say if the investigation is continuing, or what findings, if any were rendered by the OIG. Another source confirmed that the probe is ongoing. >click to read< 09:37
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for April 02, 2021
Legislative updates, Bill updates, Calendar, >Click here to read the Weekly Update<, to read all the updates >click here<, for older updates listed as NCFA >click here<09:01
