Daily Archives: September 17, 2021
Seine season brings ‘bright light’ to struggling fleet
In a year when the fishery was shut down for 16 days, inflicting economic pain on gillnetters, the seine season proved a bright light overall for commercial salmon harvesters, “Many of us were nervous after the 2019 drought and uncertainties with what that meant for returns in 2021,” “It’s heartbreaking to see our community continue to struggle, to know it’s impacting families, our city’s fish tax revenue, and ultimately the city and school budget.” >click to read< 20:09
DFO returns patrol boats back to the wharf in Meteghan
After a confusing week for both commercial and aboriginal fishers DFO’s patrol vessels have returned to the wharf in Meteghan. After stories on the move ran in The Chronicle Herald and Globe and Mail, the boats were returned on Sunday. Both commercial and First Nations fishers are glad they are back, though for different reasons. Chief Mike Sack said Friday they wanted a federal presence to prevent a repeat of the violence Sipekne’katik’s fishermen were subject to last fall. Commercial fishermen, meanwhile, want DFO to prevent what they allege is a large scale commercial fishery happening outside their season under the guise of a food, social and ceremonial fishery. “There’s a treaty right but where does it end and where does it begin,” said Nathan Cooke, a buyer who owns Atlantic Canada Seafoods. >click to read< 17:26
DMR briefs legislature on impact of NOAA’s new lobstering rules, options for appeal
On September 14, the Maine Legislature’s Committee on Marine Resources met and discussed the impact new rules recently released by the NOAA will have on Maine’s lobster industry, as well as the state’s legal options for appealing the rules.,, The new rules not only close nearly 1,000 square miles to lobstering between October and January, a time of year when lobster prices are at their highest, but changes the kind of gear lobstermen can use. Also discussed were threats to the right whale posed by Canada. As Keliher pointed out, the NMFS’ biological opinion noted that even if Maine is 
100% successful in taking steps to protect right whales, whales will continue to go extinct if they continue to be hurt in Canada. Keliher also stated that he has had conversations with the head of> NOAA, Richard W. Spinrad, Ph.D < who hasn’t yet had a meeting with the Canadian government, but has agreed to raise the issue of including state representatives in Canadian affairs. Keliher also said NOAA’s head considers these conversations to be a government-to-government issue. He stated he disagrees and continues to press the issue. >click to read< 15:51
Published Today: New Regulations for Northeast Lobster and Jonah Crab Trap/Pot Fishery
Changes to Seasonal Restricted Areas Begin October 18, 2021; All Other Changes Effective May 1, 2022. The final rule to Amend the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan to Reduce Risk of Serious Injury and Mortality to North Atlantic Right Whales Caused by Entanglement in Northeast Crab and Lobster Trap/Pot Fisheries announced on August 31 published in the Federal Register this morning. Some measures within the rule go into effect 30 days after today’s publication. The changes to seasonal restricted areas to allow fishing without persistent buoy lines will go into effect on October 18, 2021. In addition, there are changes to restricted areas below: >click to read<14:35
Photo’s! Hoopers Island boat docking competition to benefit Hoopers Island Volunteer Fire Company
The Hoopers Island Boat Docking went off without hitch, and with a lot of hitches as boat captains competed in the annual fundraising competition. The competition to benefit the Hoopers Island Volunteer Fire Company was held on Sunday, Sept. 12, at the P.L. Jones Boatyard in Fishing Creek. Ryan Kastel in Kastel Bros. came in first in the small boats category, Will Watkins took first in medium boats in No Smoke and John Ashton placed first in large boat in Miss Julie. Derrick Hoy and his crew on Crusher took the teams category, and Ashton and Hoy won the shootouts for over 36 foot and under 36 foot boats respectively. 8 photos, >Click to read< 13:26
‘A reckless approach to regulation’ – Aquaculture critic presses for answers after another salmon die-off
More than 90,000 salmon being farmed in an open-net aquaculture pen on Newfoundland’s south coast died over the weekend, the Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture announced in a media release Saturday. The event occurred at a site known as “the gorge,” which is operated by Mowi’s Marine Harvest Atlantic Canada, and was caused by “sudden low dissolved oxygen levels.” The dead fish have been removed from the site. The release said mitigation measures, including deeper nets and aeration equipment, “improved survivability” during the die-off. Friday’s die-off was only the latest in a series of mortality events on Mowi-owned aquaculture farms, White noted. >click to read< 12:40
SAFMC votes to allow rock shrimp harvest adjacent to Oculina coral reefs
Commercial rock shrimpers are one step closer to being allowed to fish on the Oculina coral reef bank that’s been protected from their bottom-raking trawler nets since 2014. The SAFMC Friday morning voted 12-1 to reopen 22 square miles of ocean bottom off Florida’s central Atlantic coast, ending a process that began seven years ago. The decision needs more approvals to be final. Dismayed environmentalists said the measure will allow the destruction of Oculina coral, also known as ivory tree coral, a deep water, slow growing live coral that provides essential habitat to many fish and marine organisms, including the targeted shrimp. >click to read< 12:09
Selling Whale Poop
The stone is waxy, gritty, and leaves on the skin a trace of oily resin not unlike cannabidiol. Its smell, which so many have labelled “indescribable,” is an olfactory kaleidoscope: tobacco, wood, damp leaves, live animals. It smells like the sea, which is where it comes from, and shit, which is what it is. It seems absurd that people have been shot at, run over and threatened by a territorial mob known as the Beach Mafia… for this. Ambergris. One of the world’s most mysterious substances, these hardened little lumps of bodily fluid have been misidentified over the centuries as everything from meteorites to mushrooms, dragon spit to fish liver.,, In reality, the precious stones are a digestive byproduct of one of the largest animals on Earth. And to the right buyer, namely, someone who knows the right people in the luxury perfume industry, they’re worth a small fortune Video, >click to read< 10:33
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for September 17, 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< 08:48 
