Daily Archives: February 26, 2023
Halibut treaty marked new era in Canadian independence
On March 10, the 2023 wild Pacific halibut fishing season opens. Fishers licensed accordingly will be able to harvest the white-fleshed groundfish from Bering Strait to California until early December. That there is a halibut season at all on this coast is due to an agreement signed a century ago between the U.S. and Canada. The 1923 Convention between Canada and the United States of America for the Preservation of the Pacific Halibut Fishery of the Northern Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea, also known as the Halibut Treaty of 1923, is the first environmental treaty designed to conserve ocean stocks of a fish. It is also the first treaty the Canadian government negotiated and signed independently. >click to read< 12:43
Vietnamese favor Canadian lobsters, snow crabs
Vietnam spent US$65 million importing Canadian seafood, mainly lobsters and snow cabs last year, doubling 2021 imports and trebling 2020. Among Southeast Asian countries, Vietnam was Canadian’s biggest seafood importer, Steve Craig, Minister of the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, said at a recent business networking event in HCMC. Although Vietnam is the world’s fourth largest seafood exporter with an annual turnover of $11 billion, it is still a fertile ground for Canadian products, he said, noting that Vietnamese are among the world’s top seafood consumers. >click to read< 11:47
Editorial: State orders will harm salmon fisheries
During recent droughts, low river flows and warm water have proved to be a lethal combination for salmon and other fish in the Sacramento River and its tributaries. State waivers of water quality regulations in six of the past 10 years didn’t help beleaguered fisheries. January’s drenching rains dramatically improved river conditions across the state, raising hopes for winter run chinook salmon. But the storms also generated a cascade of complaints about water being “wasted.” In other words, storm runoff flowed through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and into the Pacific Ocean. Gov. Gavin Newsom responded by suspending environmental regulations so more water is available this summer for Central Valley agriculture, a decision affirmed last week by the state Water Resources Control Board. >click to read< 09:56
NOAA and BOEM; Ignorance is Bliss. By Jim Lovgren
For about twenty years the Natural Resources Defense Council [NRDC] engaged the US Navy in a legal battle over the effects of the Navy’s use of Mid Frequency Sonar in training exercises and its impact on marine mammals and other creatures, with one case even reaching the US Supreme court. While there are many different aspects of NRDC’s legal actions, the results of the litigation have produced an enormous amount of scientific data and research regarding the effects of underwater sound on marine creatures, with an emphasis on Sonar and marine mammals. They forced the Navy to admit that their use of sonar had resulted in the unintentional mass strandings of many different marine Mammals in a dozen different instances around the world, primarily involving Beaked whales, that are classified as being low to mid frequency cetaceans. >click to read< 08:48
German vessel’s skipper lands in court on fishing charges
The skipper of a German-registered fishing trawler is due to appear at Cork Circuit Criminal Court this week to face 25 charges of breaches of fishing regulations off the West Cork coast. Ramon Manuel Nova Martinez (57) of Corosopalmeira, Riberia, La Coruna, Spain appeared at a special sitting of Bandon District Court on Monday after his vessel Ortegal Tres, was detained by Irish authorities. Mr Martinez was charged with 17 offences for allowing his fishing nets exceed the soak time of 72 hours in respect of static gear, while he was also charged with four offences for failing to accurately record soak times as well as four charges of failing to record the depth of the catch. >click to read< 07:43
