Daily Archives: March 22, 2023
Crab harvesters take protest inside St. John’s hotel as price-setting meetings continue
Newfoundland and Labrador’s crab fishermen resumed their protest Wednesday, calling for a quota increase and changes to the federal government’s fisheries management. Dozens of harvesters descended on a Fisheries and Oceans Canada office in the east end of St. John’s early Wednesday morning, with some using their vehicles to block traffic from coming in or out. Some used symbols of the fishery to protest, like a crab pot placed on the building’s flagpole. Fisherman Jason Sullivan said he and his colleagues are calling for changes to the precautionary approach framework that separates the inshore fishery of Zone 3L from the offshore fishery. >click to read< 16:44
TSB investigation into fatal sinking of F/V Chief William Saulis recommends improved safety procedure awareness
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada recommends inspections of commercial fishing vessels verify that required written safety procedures are available to crews and that they are knowledgeable of these procedures. The recommendation to the Department of Transport was issued Wednesday as part of the investigation into the fatal 2020 sinking of the scallop boat F/V Chief William Saulis near Digby, resulting in the death of one crew member. Five crew members are still classified as missing. On Dec. 15, 2020, shortly after midnight, the Chief William Saulis, with six crew members onboard, departed Chignecto Bay, N.B., to return to port in Digby. At about 5:50 a.m., the vessel’s emergency position-indicating radio beacon activated about 12 nautical miles off the coast of Digby. >click to read< 14:37
Herring fishery to go on two-hour notice Thursday
The Sitka Sound Sac Roe herring fishery will go on two-hour notice on Thursday morning (3-23-23). That means at any time after that, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game can announce a fishery opening with two hours warning. Last year, the guideline harvest level for the fishery was 45,000 tons, but fishermen only caught around 25,000. That was still the highest harvest on record. The guideline harvest level for this year’s fishery is set at 30,000 tons. >click to read< 13:58
Congressman Clay Higgins reintroduces legislation to combat foreign seafood dumping
Louisiana Congressman Clay Higgins is taking new steps to help the Louisiana Shrimping Industry’s fight against imported shrimp. For years, the Louisiana shrimping industry has been over run by cheaper imported products from different countries. In an effort to combat this, Congressman Higgins is looking to propose legislation that would make seafood being brought into the country meet all the legal standards of our country before being distributed. Congressman Higgins has reintroduced The Imported Seafood Safety Standards Act in order to tackle the issue of foreign dumping taking over the seafood market in our country. >click to read< 13:25
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 35′ Duffy Lobster Boat, 330HP John Deere, 4′ Aluminum Stern Extension
To review specifications, information, and 42 photos’, >click here<, To see all the boats in this series >click here< 11:55
Edgartown Extends Cape Pogue Scallop Season
Following a banner year for Island bay scallops, the town of Edgartown has opted to extend commercial bay scallop season in Cape Pogue an extra two weeks until April 14. “We’re seeing the best bay scallop season we’ve seen in all my and the fishermen’s 25 years’ experience,” shellfish constable Rob Morrison told the select board on Monday. The commercial season for bay scallop fishing typically begins November 1 and ends March 31. Earlier this year, bay scallop fishermen struggled to take advantage of the plentiful yield as scallop prices plunged to almost half their normal rate. >click to read< 10:57
In Depth: Mississippi Has Invested Millions of Dollars to Save Its Oysters. They’re Disappearing Anyway.
By 2015, it was clear that Mississippi oysters were in crisis. Then-Gov. Phil Bryant convened an oyster council to come up with solutions. “This is the soybean of the sea,” Bryant said at a community gathering in 2015 at which he unveiled the council’s report. “We’re going to make sure everyone enjoys it.” The council set a goal of producing 1 million sacks of oysters a year by 2025. But almost a decade later, that goal is nowhere in sight: In a region that helped pioneer the oyster industry, only 457 sacks were harvested in 2022, none of them from the public reefs that the state had worked to restore. “They’re just wasting money,” said Keath Ladner, a former oyster fisherman whose family was in the seafood business for three generations. “And the fishermen know this.” Video, Photos, >click to read< 09:37
Boats likely stuck ‘in the middle of nowhere’ for several days after storm
A boat that broke free and ran aground during a storm that left thousands without power could take up to two weeks to salvage, a harbourmaster says. The storm that battered the South Island on Tuesday whipped boats from their moorings and caused some damage to the power networks managed by PowerNet in Southland, leaving hundreds of customers without power overnight. On Wednesday afternoon, a 14-metre-long private boat bearing the name Liane could be seen half-submerged in the mudflats of Pourakino River in the Jacobs River Estuary, in front of the Aparima Restaurant and Bar. He said it was one of two boats that sank as a result of the storm. Photos, >click to read< 08:52
P.E.I. company adding seal meat to produce ‘Cadillac’ of baits
Bait Masters started producing bait sausages in its $1.4-million facility in Nine Mile Creek in April 2021, using a mix of fish, fish oil and other organic matter in a biodegradable casing. Now the recipe is changing. “Part of that decision came from fishermen who requested it, and part of it came from the abundance of seal, and needing to find a use for… the product,” said co-owner Mark Prevost. “So far, I think seal would probably be one of the higher end as far as quality goes, with oil and fat. I would consider it the Cadillac of all the baits that we’ve tried to make. Photos, >click to read< 07:47
