Daily Archives: April 17, 2023
Not Backing Down: Harvesters Hold Strong After St. John’s Rally
St. Johns, NL. – Close to a thousand people gathered today in St. John’s in front of the Confederation Building, calling for action to save the province’s snow crab fishery. The Union that represents over 14,000 people in the province, including all 10,000 professional fish harvesters and some 3,000 processing workers, says that it’s the government’s responsibility to protect the people who rely on the fishery, and ensure processing companies operate in a manner that benefits the people of our province. “Nearly 800 people showed, many of whom got up in the middle of the night to drive or catch a bus to get here today. They did it because the fishery matters, they matter, and they’re tired of being ignored,” Photos, >click to read< 17:51
Catch size a hot topic at Zone B meeting
A declining stock, looming federal rules to protect right whales and the court fights against them, how required gear and reporting changes will be paid for — Zone B lobstermen had a lot of industry news to talk about April 12 at Mount Desert Island High School. Discussion centered mainly on newly proposed minimum (and maximum) legal catch sizes to bolster the lobster stock. “I’ve heard at all council meetings, it’s not if you act, it’s when you act,” said Patrick Keliher, commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources. “It’s almost like no one is taking into account what we’re seeing,” Zone B Council Vice Chairman James Hanscom said. “As an industry, we’re handling a lot of lobsters.” Several lobstermen and council members at the meeting had attended a March ASMFC meeting in Ellsworth and were familiar with proposed management measures that would increase the minimum legal size for landed lobster. >click to read< 16:20
Our fishing industry is sustainable, so why are we intent on trashing it?
Irelands decision to join the EU 50 years ago was, from a fishing industry perspective, a poisoned chalice. Half a century later, Britain’s decision to leave that very same institution, and the resultant decommissioning deal for fishers, will mean a further loss of quotas, as well as widespread job losses on land and sea, too. The latest ‘deal’, according to John Nolan, chairman of the Castletownbere Fishermen’s Co-operative, will cost more than money. ‘It could,’ he said, ‘mean the loss of our soul.’ With the approval deadline for decommissioning in its final throes, John described the latest quota cutbacks, and scrappage deal, as something that is ‘eating away at our hearts and taking away our hope.’ Photos, >click to read< 13:53
Whale Slaughter Sees 500,000 Americans Demand End to Offshore Wind Power Onslaught
Half-a-million Americans are furious at the offshore wind industry for killing the last members of endangered whale species in droves with absolute impunity, thanks to the government-backed licenses that allow them to (quite lawfully) kill an unlimited number of whales, porpoises and dolphins – aka the ‘Incidental Harassment Authorization’. Hundreds of thousands of civic-minded folk are justifiably incensed at the entirely unnecessary carnage – the inevitable byproduct of an utterly meaningless power source – heavily subsidised and entirely weather-dependent and, therefore, incapable of delivering power as and when we need it. >click to read< 11:45
Former SNP MSP quits party over plan to ban fishing that could ‘devastate’ coastal communities
Angus MacDonald, who served at Holyrood for a decade before stepping down in 2021, is the latest figure to criticise the introduction of highly protected marine areas (HPMAs). The Scottish Government has committed to designating at least 10 per cent of the country’s coastline as highly protected in an effort to boost ecosystems. Commercial and recreational fishing would be banned in the zones as well as the harvesting of seaweed. MacDonald, who lives on the isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, believes the law would be devastating to the economy of coastal communities. >click to read< 10:16
UPDATED: With their season on hold, fishermen protest low price of crab on the steps of the N.L. legislature
With the price of snow crab less than one-third of what it was a year ago, Newfoundland and Labrador’s fishermen are rallying on the steps of the provincial legislature Monday morning to demand government action on the province’s most lucrative fishery. Members of the Fish, Food & Allied Workers union say they can’t afford to fish crab at the $2.20 per pound set earlier this month. Fishing season is open, but harvesters are keeping their boats docked in the hopes of getting a higher price. >click to read< with live stream feed.
Judge throws out lawsuit accusing Alaska of mismanaging Yukon, Kuskokwim salmon fisheries
A Superior Court judge in Bethel has dismissed a lawsuit accusing state officials of unconstitutionally mismanaging Yukon River and Kuskokwim River salmon fisheries, leading to a crisis on those rivers. Judge Nathaniel Peters, an appointee of Gov. Bill Walker, said in a 16-page ruling on Thursday that plaintiff Eric Forrer failed “to identify any specific policy or action on the part of the Board (of Fisheries) or Commissioner (of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game) that could in any way be viewed as a violation of the sustained yield principle.” >click to read< 08:16
