Daily Archives: July 1, 2022
Maine lobster industry may receive nearly $14 million in federal aid
U.S. Reps. Jared Golden and Chellie Pingree, both Democrats from Maine, helped secure the funding and pledged to keep advocating for the fishery. In a statement, Golden called the regulations misguided, indefensible and economically damaging. “NOAA has been unable to prove that these regulations will work, but lobstermen are still being forced to pick up the tab,” he said. “It’s just wrong.” Virginia Olsen, director of the Maine Lobstering Union, said the money will help keep fishermen in business as they “work to right the wrongs” of the new regulations. Patrice McCarron, executive director of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, agreed. >click to read< 19:58
The cod delusion – A moratorium on cod fishing that was supposed to last two years has now lasted 30.
Three decades on, the latest DFO science still puts Atlantic cod in the critical zone. “I hope politicians and bureaucrats in Ottawa have learned something, because I’ve learned something: the moratorium was the biggest catastrophe ever heaped on the people in this province, ever. Nothing has been as bad as this,” says Captain Saunders, an 80-year-old Inuk. Seated in the wheelhouse of his longliner, docked in Pinsent’s Arm in late September 2021, Saunders speaks with the authority of someone with six decades of fishing experience, backed by centuries of hindsight. “Newfoundland and Labrador people fished for 500 years and didn’t damage the stocks. What Canada done was an atrocity in my opinion. It ruined a way of life. It ruined culture. All the stages, stage heads, they’re all falling apart, they’re all deteriorated — that’s the government did that.” >click to read< 17:40
Your favourite takeaway could set you back following green-energy expansion
Fish and chip fans fear the future of their favourite takeaway, as widening offshore wind farms will soon be constructed in precious fishing territory. Fishermen across the country have criticised the Prime Minister’s plans to increase the number of wind turbines in the sea, meaning over half of their legal fishing territory could be lost by 2050. A damning report outlined in the Spatial Squeeze in Fisheries report indicated how 56 percent of Scottish waters could become prohibited for fishing boats. The Prime Minister’s plans would see fish go uncaught, leaving restaurants no choice but to rely on importing. One chip shop in Kent recently shut down as its owner refused to charge £14 per person for a portion of Britain’s most famous dish. >click to read< 15:27
Bluefin Benefit Battle competition to help families in Maine battling cancer
The Bluefin Benefit Battle will gather fishermen in Maine while raising money for an important cause: families battling cancer. The event is a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. “The goal is to raise as much money as we can for Maine families battling cancer. Mitchell Napolitano and his wife Lexi, an ICU nurse, came up with the idea. He has been fishing for tuna for over two decades and has participated in all of Maine’s tuna tournaments since he was a kid. “I figured with the connections that my wife and I have, between her being an ICU nurse at Maine Med and the deep roots that we have in the commercial fishing industry, I figured we could do a good deed and give back a little bit to the community by giving back to families in need in Maine,” Napolitano said. photos, video, >click to read< 14:42
‘They want to turn the ocean into an aquarium’
I overheard those words a few years ago from a commercial fisherman in Barnegat Light. It seems it’s slowly happening. Your grandchildren might not ever know the idea of fishing off the Jersey Shore if NOAA gets its way. The NOAA is holding public hearings on whether to declare the Hudson Canyon a National Marine Sanctuary. The hearings will be held this summer. Now, who will show up in greater numbers will be interesting. You have commercial fisherman, most of whom are local men and women who have done this work for generations. The other crowd that will be heard are the activists and environmental groups who will plead their case that we need to save this precious resource. by Dennis Malloy >click to read< 11:54
Northern Peninsula Shrimp Fleet Facing Crisis
The 4R shrimp fleet met in Hawke’s Bay today to discuss the assault on inshore owner-operators by the Association of Seafood (ASP) and their member companies, and the complete lack of support from provincial departments responsible. The 4R fleet on the northern peninsula are in a unique, troubling circumstance – they have no access to other species and the viability of their enterprise is dependent solely on shrimp. Without a price based on fair market values, harvesters will be unable to breakeven this year and many will face bankruptcy,” explains Keith Sullivan, FFAW-Unifor President. “Companies have attempted to manipulate the collective bargaining process with most fisheries this year. Working together like a cartel, they are attempting to erode solidarity by putting harvesters in a very desperate situation. >click to read< 09:57
PWS harvest soars above 9M fish, statewide catch exceeds 16M salmon
Commercial harvesters in the Prince William Sound region delivered upwards of 371,340 salmon through Tuesday, June 28, while the statewide preliminary harvest exceeded 16 million fish, including deliveries in Bristol Bay, Cook Inlet, Kodiak and the Alaska Peninsula. Harvests reached almost 8% above year-to-date 2021 (2020 for pinks), led by strong sockeye harvests in the Alaska Peninsula and Bristol Bay regions, according to Sam Friedman, who is producing the McKinley Research Group weekly in-season reports on behalf of the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute. For Prince William Sound, harvests and the weights of salmon harvested remained below the 10-year average, according to Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologist Jeremy Botz, in Cordova. >click to read< 09:06
Coast Guard searching for a missing fisherman off the coast of Massachusetts
There is an active search underway off the Massachusetts coast Friday morning for a missing fisherman. The search is focused on a line between Nomans Island, which is just south of Martha’s Vineyard, and New Bedford. The Coast Guard says a crewmember from the fishing vessel F/V Susan Rose was last seen on board the boat at around midnight, and that the crew then realized he was no longer on the vessel at around 1:30 a.m. >click to read< , and >click here< 07:07
Coast Guard searches for man who went overboard off coast of Massachusetts – The U.S. Coast Guard Northeast said Friday that they are searching for a man who went overboard off the coast of Massachusetts. Fairhaven Harbormaster Timothy Cox said the active search started just after 2 a.m. on the track line between Noman’s Island and New Bedford. The vessel arrived in New Bedford at about 8 a.m. >click to read< 11:02
