Daily Archives: June 3, 2021
RI Coastal Resources Management Council backs South Fork Offshore Wind Farm, fishermen object
The vote by the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council in favor of the wind farm was made over the objections of fishermen, who argued that a mitigation package agreed to with developers Ørsted and Eversource would fall well short of adequately compensating them for losses caused by the installation and operation of the project’s 12 turbines. Certification that the wind farm is consistent with state coastal policies also came despite concerns raised by Save The Bay and others about the council’s permitting process for the wind farm, which would be built in an area called Cox Ledge in Rhode Island Sound that is home to a rich diversity of fish, including species of tuna and Atlantic cod. >click to read< 16:29
Vessel owner ordered to pay €170k ($206,193) to release trawler
Today skipper of the Punta Candieira, Vicente Meitin Sanjuan, appeared before Midleton District Court. State solicitor John Brosnan said charges were being brought under Sections 8 and 10 of the Sea Fisheries and Maritime Jurisdiction Act, 2006. The charges include unlawful fishing and being on board a vessel, which had unlawfully entered the waters of the State. He said a bond of €200,000 should be paid by the owners to release the vessel as there was valuable gear and a significant catch of hake on board. >click to read< 15:35
Whales Are Shrinking. Scientists Blame Commercial Fishing Gear
The findings, published today in the journal Current Biology, reveal that when fully grown, a North Atlantic right whale born today would be expected to be about one meter shorter than a whale born in 1980. The stunted growth of the whales coincides with an increasing rate of entanglements. A 2012 study from the New England Aquarium revealed,,, Researchers acknowledge that entanglements do not explain all of the reduced growth. Other factors might be climate change, collisions and noise from ships, and the shifting availability of tiny crustaceans called copepods, their primary food source. >click to read< 13:30
Australian lobsters back on the Chinese menu as ‘grey trade’ fires up again
Australian lobster fishermen shut out of mainland China appear to be selling millions of dollars’ worth of crayfish to the once-booming market via unofficial “grey channels”, trade experts say. Commercial fishers across the country were left reeling in November when China appeared to impose an unofficial ban on Australian lobster exports that had been worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The suspension effectively stopped the trade with China, which had been buying more than 90 per cent of lobsters exported from Australia. >click to read< 11:48
Fire it up! Can Lobsters Get High? A team of scientists tested one restaurateur’s theory
A team of scientists at the University of California San Diego have written a paper in pre-print (meaning the work has not been published or peer reviewed yet), which looks at the effects of THC, the main compound in cannabis that gets you high, on lobsters. The scientists devoted their research hours to these questions in response to a 2018 media storm, started by restaurateur Charlotte Gill. At the time, Gill, owner of Charlotte’s Legendary Lobster Pound in Southwest Harbor, Maine, wanted to find a way to cook her lobsters more humanely. So can lobsters get high? >click to read< 10:52
Seafood favorite? Division of Elections launches mock election to help Alaskans learn how to vote confusing ballot in 2022
With Alaska’s new Ballot Measure 2 having passed in November, confusion reigns about how the elections will be conducted in 2022. Ask the average Alaskan who voted for Ballot Measure 2, and you’ll get a mangled description of how it actually works. But the Alaska Division of Elections has set up an easy-to-use mock election that can help Alaskans better understand how they’ll be voting in the primary, and then how they’ll vote in November, 2022. The commenters there are not impressed! >click to read< 09:28
Spanish trawler captain to appear in Cork court
A Spanish fishing captain is due to appear before a court in County Cork this morning on charges relating to alleged breaches of fishing regulations. The Irish Naval vessel LÉ Róisín detained the Punta Candieira 95 nautical miles off the Cork coast on Monday. The vessel is from Galicia in Spain and using the long line fishing method to catch hake. The Naval Service said that the arrest, the fifth this year,,, >click to read< 08:34
08:00 – Commercial Shrimp Season is Now Open in South Carolina!
The bright lights of shrimp trawlers have been visible against the offshore horizon each night this week, which can only mean one thing, shrimp season is about to open in full in South Carolina. Commercial shrimp trawling will open in all legal South Carolina waters at 8 a.m. on Thursday. Georgia officials have not yet set an opening date for trawling season in their state waters. “After a slightly cooler start to spring, things now look pretty normal for this time of year,” >click to read< 07: 50
