Daily Archives: May 27, 2022
‘It’s the big guys that want it’: New Bedford scallopers leery of leasing proposal
“A typical full-time [Limited Access] scallop vessel harvests its annual scallop allocation in approximately 70 days, leaving vessels inactive and tied to the dock more than 80 percent of the year,” the organization wrote in a July 2020 letter to the NEFMC. “The only growth option is to buy another permit, which means buying another vessel. “Although one vessel could easily harvest the allocation of two LA permits, the fleet has no flexibility to do so,” it continues. “In the absence of a leasing program, smaller, independent owner/operators are not able to grow their operations in reasonable increments.” But to Manuel Vieira, owner and captain of The Guidance, arguments revolving around flexibility were merely pretty words. “They say there will be flexibility because that’s what they think the [council] wants to hear,” Vieira said in Portuguese. “But it won’t pan out well for the little guy.”Video, >click to read< 15:39
Labrador Shrimp Company Partnership Brings 70 EPIRBS to Harvesters
Seventy commercial fishing enterprises in southern Labrador between L’Anse au Clair and Cartwright will receive an EPIRB. This is made possible through a living memorial to two young harvesters who lost their lives while fishing on the F/V Island Lady on September 17, 2021. Marc Russell, aged 25 from Mary’s Harbour, and Joey Jenkins, aged 30 from Lodge Bay, failed to return home to their community and were never found. The Labrador 
Shrimp Company is spear-heading the project in collaboration with the Newfoundland and Labrador Fish Harvesting Safety Association (NL-FHSA), Fish Harvesters’ Resource Centre (FRC), Professional Fish Harvesters Certification Board (PFHCB), and the Fish Food and Allied Workers Union (FFAW-Unifor). >click to read the press release< 13:52
Fisheries minister defends rare decision to overturn board on new crab licences
The chair of Newfoundland and Labrador’s Fish Processing Licensing Board is speaking out after Fisheries Minister Derrick Bragg overruled the board and denied coveted crab licences for plants in two communities. Reg Anstey said the board’s recommendations on snow crab licences were made over more than a year of research and meetings with scientists in the fishery, adding the independent board’s mandate is to assess the entire industry without a political lens. The board had recommended that four processing plants receive snow crab licences — St. Mary’s Bay Fisheries, Dandy Dan’s in Argentia, Bay Roberts Seafoods and HSF Ocean Products in O’Donnells. However, Bragg only approved crab licences for two of the plants, in St. Mary’s and in Argentia. >click to read< 12:37
Broad right whale regulations decried by Massachusetts lobster industry
Lobster industry representatives and conservationists are pondering regulations aimed at protecting right whales, which continue to hamper Massachusetts fishermen causing months of lost income. Since 2015, lobstermen have had to work around area restrictions prohibiting fishing in gillnet fisheries during the time right whales are often present. So far, the Bay State has reduced its risk to right whales by 92% through a suite of measures including closures, weak rope, line diameter restrictions and trawling up, Casoni said. >click to read< 11:11
Details Needed about Cameras on Vessels Announcement – Cameras hailed, with caveat
In response to Minister David Parker’s announcement on 25 May about the national roll-out of cameras on commercial inshore fishing vessels, Seafood New Zealand (SNZ) Chief Executive Jeremy Helson says the most important questions still remain unanswered. “We now know a couple more details, and it is good to see progress, but we are still very much in the dark about the important things. >click to read<
Fishing cameras hailed, with caveat – While environmental protection organisations have welcomed the Government’s imminent introduction of cameras on commercial inshore fishing vessels, Port Chalmers fishermen are not convinced it is viable. Oceans and Fisheries Minister David Parker said up to 300 inshore fishing vessels would be fitted with the technology by the end of 2024, providing independent, accurate information about fishing activity and better evidence for decision-making. >click to read< 08:50
Collins Blocks Expedited Confirmation of NOAA Nominee
In a continuation of her advocacy on behalf of Maine’s lobster industry that has been unfairly targeted by NOAA’s burdensome right whale rule, U.S. Senator Susan Collins rejected a unanimous consent request to confirm a top NOAA official. Senator Collins’ decision to block Jainey Kumar Bavishi to be Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere comes in response to the agency’s refusal to modify its unworkable Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan (ALWTRP) that has harmed Maine’s hardworking lobstermen and women. >click to read the press release< 08:49
Georgia: For first time in 20 years, Thunderbolt revives Blessing of the Fleet
It’s been decades since the Town of Thunderbolt hosted its Blessing of the Fleet festival, a three-day affair that paid homage to the city’s shrimping history. Shrimping and fishing boats would fill the marsh-lined river, waiting to be blessed by the Catholic bishop before heading out to sea. For more than 20 years, the town, including Thomas who served as mayor in the early 2000s, had tried to bring some semblance of the ritual back, but it never quite gathered enough momentum. This year, after a two-month sprint of preparation and planning, Thunderbolt is reviving the Blessing of the Fleet. >click to read< 08:24
