Daily Archives: April 22, 2022

Going nuclear: Alaska is a big target for small reactors

Representatives from Westinghouse’s nuclear division have been traveling to Alaska in recent months and talking with key decision-makers in the state about their eVinci micro-reactor, which they insist utilizes a design that makes it a totally safe, economically viable alternative to the diesel-powered generators relied upon across the vast majority of Alaska. Developed to fit in four transportable modules easily moved by truck, railcar or barge, the five-megawatt micro-reactor system requires about an acre, in line with the footprint of a diesel powerhouse and fuel tanks it is meant to replace, according to company representatives. In addition to the five-megawatt electrical generation capacity, the eVinci can also provide sufficient heat to support a small district heating loop as well, Westinghouse Senior Advance Reactor Commercialization Director Mike Valore said in an interview. >click to read< 13:01

DMF resuming onboard observer program for estuarine gill net fishing May 1

The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries announced Thursday, April 20 it will resume onboard observations of estuarine gill net fisheries beginning May 1. Onboard observations will be the primary method of observing the fisheries, with limited use of alternative platform observations primarily conducted by Marine Patrol officers. “The decision to resume onboard observations as the primary observation method is based on improved COVID-19 indicators,” Fishermen are reminded that an estuarine gill net permit is required to use anchored gill nets, both large-mesh and small-mesh, in estuarine waters for either commercial or recreational fishing. One of the conditions of the EGNP is to allow division staff to observe gill net operations. >click to read< 11:35

Mackerel fishery closed, but inshore fleet still wants their licenses

Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) is calling on Fisheries and Oceans to continue issuing mackerel licenses to existing license holders in the inshore fleet even though the fishery is closed. “Owner-operators want to know their mackerel licenses are safe and will be there for them when the fishery reopens,” says Ryan Cleary, Executive Director of SEA-NL. “Many of them do not trust DFO, there’s no other way to put it.” “A mackerel license represents a major investment of many thousands of dollars — not just for the license itself — but in terms of the fishing enterprise and gear, and owner-operators want to keep their licenses even if it is just for the privilege of not fishing them.” >click to read< 10:13

Minister Ignores Established Precautionary Approach for Shrimp – Slashes Quotas in Struggling Fishery

Minister Joyce Murray’s decision today to slash quotas in the Gulf of St. Lawrence shrimp fishery is a significant blow for harvesters and plant workers who have already experienced drastic cuts over the last number of years. A cut of nearly 20 per cent in Shrimp Fishing Area (SFA) 8 in the Gulf of St. Lawrence is contrary to the recently established Precautionary Approach (PA), showing Minister Murray’s lack of commitment to collaborative fisheries management. >click to read< 08:58

The hunt for B.C.’s most notorious fisherman

Every year, officers in the DFO’s Pacific region collar a handful of serious rulebreakers, some more brazen than others. Scott Steer is in a class of his own, the most prolific poacher on the West Coast. He’s been busted for illegally catching just about every type of fish in the north Pacific: halibut, ling cod, sablefish, crab, prawns and more, amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of quality catch over the years. He has been fined repeatedly, and when that didn’t work, the courts began throwing him in jail, while simultaneously slapping him with an escalating series of fishing prohibitions. When Sanderson’s crew nabbed him that night in Vancouver, Steer was already banned from so much as setting foot in a fishing boat until 2038. Big story, >click to read< 08:03

Offshore wind farm company, Ocean City fishermen at odds again

At question now is whether US Wind went back on its agreement with conch fishermen. “We told US Wind in January that we needed their ‘Area D’ (survey area) to be able to go conching in April. Ben Cooper from US Wind assured us that it would be available the whole month of April for us,” said Ocean City fisherman Jimmy Hahn. “I spent $60,000 in conch bait to go conching this spring. On March 25, they sent us an email that says, ‘Oh, by the way we’re going to start a brand new survey (there). “They’ve got 24 square miles of bottom they could be surveying and I’ve got a little teeny tiny area where my pots are. They still wiped out six of the pots that I found,,, >click to read< 07:17