Daily Archives: November 25, 2021
My Friend’s Stage IV Cancer Diagnosis Showed His Remarkable Strength
Tom Hoxsie, captain of the fishing vessel North Star, sat cross-legged beside a woodstove in his toolshed. It was late February in coastal Rhode Island, gray inside and out,,, The last phase of his life had begun in pain and misjudgment. Tom was used to discomfort; his hands were a mass of calluses and scars; he labored in an industry of endless punctures, cuts, and strains, where the mentality is to wrap a wound in electrical tape and get back to it.,, This meant cancer crept up on a man with high tolerances for hardship and pain. He had had a chronic cough since at least early 2018, But that summer, he delayed getting a chest X-ray because, in the inshore fishing business around here, the warmer months are when a commercial fishing operation makes much of its money. “We were working,”,,, >click to read< 15:41
Focus is on safety as lobster season opening nears in southwestern NS
Wharves are full of lobster fishing gear waiting to be loaded aboard the more than 1,600 vessels in Lobster Fishing Areas 33 and 34, which will head to sea on dumping day to set their gear. The season is scheduled to open on Nov. 29 in both LFAs, but an early two-day weather window flexibility agreement granted to the industry this year by DFO would allow for the season to open as early as Nov. 27 if the forecast is calling for strong winds on Monday. Saturday, Nov. 27 has already been called as a no-go due to the weather. The next conference call to discuss the weather is set for Friday morning, Nov. 25. >click to read< 11:52
NOAA orders lobster fishing gear out of offshore zone
After a month-long court battle, an appeals court upheld the closure on November 16 U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, a Maine Democrat, said that the annual closure from October 1 to January 31 sets a dangerous precedent. It “will give federal agencies a green light to pursue regulatory actions that could devastate communities without any regard for whether or not those efforts are grounded in facts and data,” he said in a statement. “It’s regulations like this one that make people distrust government. Instead of looking out for hardworking people, our government cares more about appeasing deep-pocketed environmental groups that can litigate our lobster fishery out of existence,” Golden said. >click to read< 09:19
Bering Sea fishermen press NPFMC on halibut bycatch
After years of deliberations, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council is inching toward a decision on whether to tie halibut bycatch limits in the Bering Sea to abundance indices. The action, known formally as Bering Sea-Aleutian Islands halibut abundance-based management, or ABM, is intended to reduce bycatch of halibut in the Bering Sea by the Amendment 80 trawl fleet when the fish stocks are lower. The Amendment 80 fleet is a group of catcher-processor vessels that are allocated a portion of groundfish harvest. Each year, the fleet is bound to a hard limit on how many halibut they can take as bycatch, known as the prohibited species catch, or PSC limit. >click to read< 08:34
