Daily Archives: November 7, 2022
Summit or same-old, jury out on DFO’s latest move on seals: SEA-NL
Nov. 7th, 2022 – Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador will be represented at this week’s Seal Summit in St. John’s and is eager to learn whether the event will lead to clear objectives and an action plan. “DFO Minister Joyce Murray took a monumental step earlier this year by acknowledging seals eat fish, and skippers now want to hear what Ottawa is prepared to do about it?” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director. “The next two days will reveal whether the federal government will put words to actions, and we’re going in with a positive attitude,” added Cleary, who will attend the summit with board member Merv Wiseman. >click to read the press release< 15:39
Latest LNG Powered Pelagic Catcher
Designed by Salt Ship Design, F/V Sunny Lady follows Libas, built for Lie Gruppen at the same yard as the first fishing vessels to run on LNG as fuel. Cemre has another such innovative vessel under construction, the Skipsteknisk-designed Selvåg Senior, which has been launched for outfitting – cementing Cemre’s reputation for building highly sophisticated fishing vessels. F/V Sunny Lady – the name is a historical one for owners Teige Rederi and came from a merchant vessel that was once part of the family company – is arranged for pelagic trawling and purse seining. Photos, >click to read< 14:46
Federal Government Hosting Seal Summit in St. John’s
The federal government is hosting a Seal Summit in St. John’s this week to discuss product development and market innovation with various stakeholders. Seal populations off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador have exploded with many in the fishing industry pointing to seal predation as one of the factors hindering cod recovery. As of last week, the location of the two-day summit still had not been released to media. >click to read< 12:08
Maine lobster group backs new speed limit on ships to protect whales
A proposal to expand speed limits along the East Coast might have little impact on vessels off Maine and is not directly linked to two lawsuits over pending federal regulations for the state’s lobster fishery. Still, the groups involved in that litigation recently weighed in on the speeding proposal, which is part of broader efforts to save right whales from extinction. The Maine Lobstermen’s Association and four conservation groups supported the stricter limits but took issue with other aspects of the rules and reiterated the priorities that have driven their court battles. >click to read< 09:31
Did climate change really kill billions of snow crabs in Alaska?
In October 2022, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced that the lucrative snow crab fishery in the Bering Sea would close for the first time, following a population decline of 80% between 2018 and 2022. While fisheries managers and biologists say climate change is to blame for the species’ retreat, some fishers and crab experts suggest that trawling bycatch and other fishing activity may have played a role in the snow crab’s decline. The fishery’s closure has amplified a chorus of concerns about Alaska’s trawling industry and the knowledge gaps around its potential impact on fisheries. The disappearance of billions snow crabs from the Bering Sea has captivated the world’s attention since Alaska shut down the fishery for the first time in October 2022. But where exactly did these snow crabs go? And what caused them to vanish so quickly? >click to read< 08:02
