Daily Archives: May 27, 2021
Coast Guard halts illegal use of “paper captains” in WA-based tuna fishing operation
Since 2019, Coast Guard personnel, working collaboratively with CBP and NOAA agents, detected eight separate “paper captain” violations operating in the Pacific Northwest. Paper captain is a term applied to an individual listed on documents as a U.S.-flagged vessel’s captain but in actuality serves as a deckhand or in a similar lower‐level capacity. Thus far, one Washington-based fishing fleet has paid $9,150 in civil penalties and has been cited for $140,000 in additional penalties still pending adjudication. >click to read< 17:54
SC shrimp season opens with a brighter outlook – “One of the restaurants said its like July Fourth every day,”
“Over the past several years we’ve seen a lot of larger shrimp offshore that are probably coming down from up north, just because of the range expansion of (white) shrimp.” There’s hope that this season will see a comeback for the industry that sells these shrimp, in part because measures to combat coronavirus in 2020 severely restricted restaurant dining and dampened demand for local product. Last year, Cindy Tarvin of Tarvin Seafood, based on Shem Creek, told The Post and Courier that restaurant orders had dropped to between one-quarter and one-third of normal. This year, she said, sales have bounced back dramatically as diners have rushed back to restaurants. “One of the restaurants said its like July Fourth every day,” she >click to read< 16:21
N.S. Mi’kmaq to start season with scaled-down plans, RCMP makes statement on Moderate Livelihood Fishery
A Mi’kmaq community is scaling down plans for a lobster harvest in southwestern Nova Scotia next week, after Ottawa threatened to pull traps that aren’t licensed by the Fisheries Department. Sipekne’katik Chief Mike Sack told reporters today that instead of pursuing a “moderate livelihood” fishery with up to 50 traps per boat, Indigenous fishers will begin the season by pursuing a food, social and ceremonial fishery. >click to read< , RCMP Make Statement On Upcoming Moderate Livelihood Fishery – RCMP say they will ensure a coordinated, appropriate and measured approach, if required. Resources will be deployed based on operational needs. >click to read< 14:46
NOAA Fisheries Releases Final “Batched” Biological Opinion & North Atlantic Right Whale Conservation Framework
NOAA Fisheries released its Endangered Species Act (ESA) section 7 Biological Opinion on the authorization of eight federal fisheries management plans under the MSA two interstate fishery management plans under the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act, and the implementation of the New England Fishery Management Council’s Omnibus Essential Fish Habitat Amendment 2. We also released the North Atlantic Right Whale Conservation Framework for Federal Fisheries in the Greater Atlantic Region (Conservation Framework). NOAA Fisheries has evaluated the effects of the authorization of the fisheries, as modified by the Conservation Framework, on endangered and threatened species. The 10 fisheries included in the Opinion are: >click to read< 12:22
DFO: Lobster Science Partnership Roundtable with Indigenous partners, commercial fishing reps, and researchers
Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, the Honourable Bernadette Jordan, announced the launch of the Lobster Science Partnership Roundtable. On June 15th, Fisheries and Oceans Canada scientists, Indigenous partners, commercial fishing representatives, and other key researchers will come together to discuss their most important research questions and priorities, with the shared goal of increasing our knowledge around lobster stocks. >click to read< 11:22
A study suggests farmed fish is the source of a virus spread among wild salmon as they migrate past
Evidence shows a debilitating virus found in British Columbia salmon was transferred from Atlantic fish farms, which then spread from Pacific aquaculture operations into wild fish, says a study published Wednesday. The researchers used genome sequencing to trace the piscine orthoreovirus, or PRV, that they say was first introduced to B.C. waters from Norway about 30 years ago at the start of open-net pen aquaculture in the province. The study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Science Advances, says the evidence now suggests the virus is continuously spread between farmed and wild Pacific salmon as they migrate past the farms. >click to read< 10:25
Wedgeport Boats’ sales buoyant
Wedgeport Boats, a builder of commercial fishing boats in Yarmouth County, is thriving during the pandemic due to a surge in demand for recreational boats and the rental of space in one of its buildings. “There’s definitely been an increase on the recreational side of almost 100 per cent,” says Wedgeport general manager Fraser Challoner. Such boats are usually a small part of Wedgeport’s total sales and still are. But the boatyard’s doubling of those sales in the past year has definitely helped it stay afloat. >click to read< 09:30
Flotilla arrives in Cork City to deliver fishing industry warning – sail into Cork harbour to protest EU fisheries policy
About 60 fishing vessels assembled off Roches Point in Cork Harbour this morning to travel together in a flotilla up the River Lee and have no arrived in the Port of Cork at the heart of the city. The Irish South & West Fish Producers Organisation (ISWFPO) said thousands of jobs will be lost unless action is taken by the Government. “As a consequence of a series of draconian measures introduced by Government and the EU Commission, targeted against 
those working in the Irish fishing industry, Irish fishermen claim they will lose millions of euro of earnings if we are not given a fair share of the fish that swim in our waters,” it said in a statement. >click to read< Flotilla of trawlers and boats sail into Cork harbour to protest EU fisheries policy >click to read< 08:39
