Daily Archives: June 15, 2021
First Nations, commercial, and recreational fishers join forces to save Fraser River fish.
The Lower Fraser Collaborative Table , with membership from 23 First Nations of the Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance, recreational fishing groups, and commercial reps from the Area E Harvest Commercial, united to help both Fraser salmon runs, as well as non-salmon species. Working together to set up the collaborative table for the past three years, the members say top priorities include: conservation, sustainable access for harvesting, and better communication. Darrel McEachern, a life-long commercial fisherman, said he is “optimistic and enthused” by the creation of LFCT and “honoured” to represent commercial fishermen on the Fraser. >click to read< 17:55
Opinion: As seafarers, we’ve been thrown overboard by the NZ Government
Your shift starts at midnight. It finishes at midday. You’ve done this before. This is the 68th day straight, or is it the 69th day? Who knows? They all begin to blur together at this point. You try calling home to your loved ones, get about five minutes into the chat you’ve so desperately needed, before the connection is lost mid-sentence. You’re on a container ship, or a fishing trawler, or a support vessel for oil and gas platforms. Working alongside the same people, eating the same food, day in day out. You stay focused, you have to – one mistake can spell disaster. Lives can be lost. You don’t complain, because you’re needed. It’s your job. If you don’t do the work, who will? >click to read< By Nathan Schumacher
Offshore Wind Farms: Who determines energy policy in North Carolina?
Are offshore wind farms a job creating investment that makes North Carolina’s energy portfolio more environmentally friendly? That is debatable, but, more important, who gets to make the call one way or another? Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson doesn’t think it should be the left up to one partisan politician, and so, when >Gov. Roy Cooper signed an executive order last week< committing the state to pursuing such a strategy, Robinson wasted no time in clapping back that the policy – and the process – were suspect. “With this Executive Order, Governor Cooper attempts to commit North 
Carolina to a future dependent upon unreliable, outrageously expensive, environmentally suspect, and socially irresponsible offshore wind power. This idea is not the economic gold-mine the Cooper administration would have us believe. >click to read< 13:05
Maine: Pogie fishing season gets underway
Russell Libby turned to his crew at CBS Lobster and Bait on Union Wharf on Monday afternoon, telling them another boat was due in five minutes. Libby also told them it was close to sinking. That turned out to be an exaggeration but not by much. Before long, a small fishing boat came chugging around the corner. The Deja Vu II was so loaded with pogies, the open transom was several inches underwater. The crew was jubilant. “That’s the most I’ve had on there in 20 years,” said Capt. Dan Harriman of Cape Elizabeth. Dozens of plastic barrels stood stacked on the vessel’s deck. What little open space remained was awash in fish. The crew stood ankle-deep in them. Even the engine compartment was full of pogies.”We’ve got some down forward — we really do,” crewman Corey Doughty shouted up to the dockworkers. >click to read< , or here! 11:21
Deteriorating pastures?
A significant drop in Pacific Ocean salmon harvests last year is driving new questions as to whether the ocean has reached its salmon carrying capacity. The discussion comes at a time when sockeye returns to Alaska’s nationally recognized Copper River are again struggling. The North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC) at the end of May reported that 2020 commercial salmon harvests hit a low not seen in almost four decades. Respected Canadian fisheries scientist Dick Beamish, one of the world’s top authorities on Pacific salmon, “There is no doubt that declining trends in the commercial catch result from decreasing coastal ocean carrying capacity,” he wrote. He also attached a copy of a presentation he was invited to deliver to the Canadian Federal Committee on Fisheries. >click to read< 10:22
The Maine Lobster boat races are back on this year
After Coronavirus cut about half of the races out the Maine Lobster Boat Racing schedule last year, the annual tradition is back in full swing for 2021. The races kicked off this weekend in Boothbay and will arrive in Bass Harbor on June 27. “It’s really a classic Maine tradition,” said Colyn Rich, a Tremont lobsterman who organized the local race. “If you haven’t had the chance to see it, you have to come see it.” Rich, who’s been racing since he was a child, said fishermen love to compete and see who can earn the bragging rights for the fastest boats. >click to read< 09:29
Disaster in Sri Lanka: Fishing community affected by MV X-Press Pearl shipwreck to receive Rs. 5000 allowance
Gampaha District Secretary Sunil Jayalath stated that an allowance of Rs. 5000 will be given to 9883 fishing families who lost their livelihood due to the incident of the MV X-Press Pearl from June 15 onward. As a consequence of the shipwreck, 7753 fishing families have directly lost their income and 2130 families who were engaged in occupations such as drying fish and fish netting have lost their income. The numbers of people affected, are staggering. >click to read< 08:29
