Daily Archives: May 8, 2021
EU accused of ‘land grab’ by fishermen as they increase use of ‘destructive’ fly-shooting boats in UK waters
The EU has been accused of a “land grab” by fishing groups as it has drastically increased the amount of “fly-shooting” boats in UK waters. Fly-shooting is a controversial fishing method in which multiple nets are used to encircle and capture entire shoals of fish, and heavy ropes drag across the ocean floor, displacing whatever is underneath. There were originally just a handful of fly-shooters in our waters, but now there are 75 high-powered boats using the method all across UK waters to scoop up bass and mullet. >click to read< 20:51
A “heavy mental impact” – Tasmania’s rock lobster industry suffers in trade war
Beijing cancelled the China Australia strategic economic dialogue this week, effectively ending trade relations between the two countries. For Tasmania’s rock lobster fishers this trade war is real and destroying their livelihoods and businesses in less than 12 months. Lobster fisher Kane Ebel said there was a “heavy mental impact” to the trade war. “When you get out of bed in the morning and you’ve got big debts on your boat and your house and effectively can’t go to work, it’s got to take a toll,” he told Sky News. >click to watch< 18:48
Stuck in a Dead End: Jersey fishermen give away lobsters after France bans them from selling in French ports
Fishermen at St Helier Port, which was blockaded by French rivals this week, said they had been left in a vicious cycle due to the dispute. France issued a legal notice to British fishermen last night that they were no longer welcome into French ports after one Jersey boat was threatened with violence and turned back. Fisherman Wayne Auger, 46, said: ‘Nobody really knows how this is going to end. ‘The French want to fish on our waters and had this amnesty from our government after Brexit. ‘But we can pay sums like £60,000 for a licence and they pay nothing to fish alongside us. ‘Many of us are running out of bait for the lobster pots and won’t be fishing because we can’t sell the fish to France and the local need isn’t that big.’ photos, >click to read< 14:15
Retailers post prices for Copper River salmon
As commercial harvesters brace for the famed Copper River salmon fishery set to open in mid-May, with indications of a declining run, they’re hoping for the best, forecasts notwithstanding, and aficionados of the oil-rich fish are lining up to order. “It is that time of year when the phone is ringing off the hook for the Copper River season,” said Hilary Branyik at Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle.,, 60° North Seafoods in Cordova has not set its Alaska retail price yet, but for its sales through Sena Sea Seafoods in Washington state the preorder price is $54 a pound for sockeye fillets and $68 a pound for king fillets. >click to read< 12:38
“It was really fun, I was excited.” 7-year-old Trent Collins skipped school to continue the lobster fishing family tradition!
Trent Collins may only be seven years old, but he knew he was ready to be part of his grandfather’s lobster fishing crew this week when the season opened. The Grade 2 Bathurst student has grown up going out on “Pa Daley’s” boat, Daley Catch, but Tuesday was different. It was the first time he went out on the boat with his grandfather, Keith Daley, and the crew without his parents. Daley, 63, remembers going out lobster fishing with his father and grandfather when he was five or six years old. He loved it, and his father bought him his own lobster licence when he was just 13. >photos, click to read< 10:37
Jersey’s historic fishing fleet is missing out on thousands of pounds each week and eventually will collapse
Michael Michieli, owner of L’Ecume II, said that there were now only a small number of Jersey vessels going to sea as the local market was too small to support them. His comments came after harbours in La Manche, which includes the crucial Granville and Carteret ports, were formally closed to Island fishermen. The government says it is raising the issue with the European Commission. The closure happened just a day after a high-profile blockade of the Harbour involving around 70 boats from across Brittany and Normandy, as tensions grow over the issuing of licences allowing European boats access to Jersey waters as part of a post-Brexit trade deal. >click to read< 09:42
‘Some will call it a day’, warns East Neuk prawn fisherman as Coronavirus and Brexit impact bites
It was presented as a “sea of opportunity” that would lead to post-Brexit Britain becoming an independent coastal state and a chance to “take back control” of our fishing waters. But when eighth generation East Neuk fisherman Graham Gourlay reflects on the combined double whammy of Coronavirus and Brexit on his industry, he says that “without a doubt” some prawn fishermen will sell-up unless market conditions dramatically improve soon.,, In depth article, photos, >click to read<08:46
