Daily Archives: August 1, 2022
Syria’s last traditional boat-makers keep ancient craft afloat
Khaled Bahlawan hammers nails into a traditional wooden boat he built by hand, toiling under the scorching sun on Syria’s Mediterranean coast to preserve a disappearing ancient skill. “We are the last family that makes wooden ships and boats in Syria,” said the 39-year-old on the shores of Arwad Island, near the city of Tartus. “This is the legacy of our ancestors… We are fighting to preserve it every day”. Located about three kilometres (less than two miles) off the coast, Arwad is Syria’s only inhabited island and a haven of peace in a country torn by 11 years of war. Hundreds of workers, residents and visitors commute to and from there every day in wooden boats, mostly built by the Bahlawan family. >click to read< To see a complete photo gallery, >click here to view< 16:14
Norton Sound crab fishery bounces back with record year following fishing hiatus
The 2022 commercial crabbing season had the best harvest since 2017, according to the Alaska Department of Fish & Game. And when adjusted for inflation, ADF&G said this season’s ex-vessel value reached levels that haven’t been seen since the late 1970s and early ’80s, when the commercial fishery started in the Norton Sound. One contributing factor was the record price paid by Norton Sound Seafood Products, or NSSP, for red king crab this summer. NSSP paid $12 per pound for regional crabbers, and with a total harvest of 291,553 pounds, this summer season was considered the best crabbing the region has seen in years. >click to read< 14:27
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for 08/01/2022
If you’re a regular reader of the NCFA’s weekly newsletter, you’ve seen many articles lately pointing out the dis-information being distributed by the Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) of North Carolina. Unfortunately, they make it very easy to find a new subject to write about each week, so in fact, I bet almost anyone can do it. Even you! So, that said, let’s see if our readers have learned anything over the last couple of months. I challenge everyone who reads this to go to the CCA NC website, click on “Advocacy” and read the following position papers. >click to read<, To read all the updates >click here<, for older updates listed as NCFA >click here< 12:56
Stonington, Connecticut celebrates 69th annual Blessing of the Fleet
A procession of commercial fishing vessels head out through Stonington Harbor as visitors look on from the Fisherman’s Memorial at the Stonington Town Docks on Sunday afternoon, July 31. The event is a yearly rite of passage and an integral part of the Annual St. Mary’s Church Blessing of the Fleet event, now in its 69th year. >click to view 19 photos< 10:09
Privatizing the sea: How private corps stole the sea from the commons
Since 1945, when the US unilaterally asserted ownership of the continental shelf and parts of the high seas around its shores, much of the ‘blue commons’ has been converted into private property. In 1982, UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) endorsed the biggest enclosure in history, granting countries exclusive economic zones (EEZs) that extended 200 nautical miles from their coastlines. This set in train procedures and institutional mechanisms that have expanded privatisation and financialisation to all parts of the marine economy. It also cemented neocolonialism, granting ex-imperial countries such as the US, France and the UK millions of square miles around lands far from their shores — their so-called ‘overseas territories’. >click to read< 09:18
Landing undersized lobsters costs fisherman thousands of pounds
A 77-year-old fisherman from Port Erin has been fined £10,000 for landing undersized lobsters. David Graham Quillin, who owns the vessel ‘Our Lads’, admitted having caught 17 lobsters which were under the legal limit in size. Overall, he had caught 189 lobsters but 17 were found to be under the 18mm legal size. The prosecutor added that the offence may have been down to Quillin’s eyesight and that his son was measuring the lobsters since the incident. The court heard that Quillin, who lives at Bradda, has no previous convictions. >click to read< 08:00
