Daily Archives: May 22, 2023
Haddock stock decline prompts catch limits
A low New England haddock stock has prompted regulators to cut the fishing quota of one of the region’s most popular fish. A staple in fish and chips and for fish burgers and home cooks, the amount available from the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank for 2023 will be more than 80 percent less than the previous year. Prices are relatively high for shoppers, too, with Hannaford, Shaw’s and local fish dealers asking anywhere from $11.99 to $14.99 per pound this month for wild caught Gulf of Maine haddock. Haddock is “subject to overfishing” in the Gulf of Maine while the Georges Bank stock is not, according to NOAA Fisheries. >click to read< 19:02
Farmers and Fishermen: In the Sweat of Their Brow
I tried to put my finger on the pulse of the world in order to understand what ties these farmers to their land and these fishermen to the sea. I went wherever life erupts: to a pasture where a farmer slowly prods his cattle along, into the shade of a stable… 3PM. I embark for the first time on board of the trawler Alcyon 2. Cézembre and Samy are mending the fish nets, while Thierry begins to maneuver. The anchor is raised. The lights of the port fade away little by little. In the cabin, Samy is brewing 
coffee. The down comforters are laid out for the night. 3AM. The sound of metal clanking under the chains. Samy and Cézembre take a few seconds to slip on their fishing gear before heading back to the stern. Back on land, at the La Vallée café in Quintin. The oldest of the farmers is leaning against the counter, a scarf pulled over his head. He is a regular. This is the local watering hole. The morning light timidly pierces the mist. Photos, >click to read< 17:54
Transparency and Taking Control of the Merchants that Controlled our Family Since John Cabot
Just to be transparent and clear on my motives. My only goal is to cap our new boat at the 3 licences its allowed over the next 8 years so my kids have the same right as John and Jane Dos got in the larger fleet. I was forced out of the program in 2008 but I persevered and stayed fishing anyway and now I am a certified Fishing Master that paid for it out of my own pocket rather than depending on government funding to do it. That don’t make me less of a Professional Fish Harvester or less of a Fishing Master. >click to read the rest< by Ryan Everard (Certified Fishing Master)
Shrimpers and Crabbers Get Paid to Collect Abandoned Traps, Saving Wildlife from Derelict Fishing Hazards
Fishermen in Mississippi are getting paid to collect derelict crab traps, saving wildlife from getting caught in them. A bounty of $5 is offered for every abandoned trap collected, and in just three years the program, launched by Mississippi Commercial Fisheries United, a nonprofit fishermen’s organization, has collected over 3,000 such traps. This is perfect for fishermen looking to supply the Gulf Coast with delicious seafood, but what happens when the traps are abandoned or become lost? Their lethal trapping power remains and carries on indiscriminately, a phenomenon known as ghost fishing. >click to read< 12:29
Offshore wind moves forward amid calls for marine life studies
The offshore wind sector is taking shape every day in New Jersey while calls continue for a pause in activity to learn more about whether any of the work is connected to whale and dolphin deaths along the state’s beaches. “Today’s actions by NJDEP represent significant milestones and critical steps that are needed to advance the state’s first offshore wind project and bring clean, reliable energy and the associated economic benefits to the region,” said Maddy Urbish, Ørsted’s head of government affairs and market strategy, New Jersey. Ocean Wind 1 still needs additional state and local approvals, as well as clearance from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, before construction can begin. So far, the work has centered on ocean floor mapping using sonar technology. Those calling for the pause point to this work as a potential link, saying that the sonar can disorient marine life. >click to read< 11:31
Stock assessments show Maritime lobster population strong, fishery sustainable
Adam Cook is a DFO biologist who tracks lobster populations along the Scotian Shelf and Bay of Fundy, waters that support nearly 3,000 commercial licence holders in 12 lobster fishing areas (LFAs). Cook and his colleagues recently posted stock assessments for 2022. He said all LFAs in the Maritimes are in a healthy zone for stock status. “Which suggests there’s still enough lobster to not raise any sort of conservation concerns. The commercial biomass is doing quite well,” Cook said. It’s the same story in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence, although DFO’s stock assessments for five fishings area in that region have not been posted. >click to read< 10:17
Starlink helps locate sunken treasure in Washington waters worth millions
Nearly 150 years ago, the SS Pacific and the S/V Orpheus collided off the coast of Cape Flattery in Washington state. While the Orpheus was able to ready lifeboats and make necessary repairs, the SS Pacific was not so fortunate, sinking into the late-night waters killing all but two of its estimated, 325 passengers. To this day, the incident remains one of the deadliest maritime disasters in Pacific Northwest history. Jeff Hummel and Matt McCauley first met while attending a high school in Mercer Island in 1979. In conversation, Hummel brought up a sunken airplane he knew about, which his father witnessed crash in Lake Washington while working at the Boeing plant in Renton. Photos, >click to read< 09:32
Saving The Whales. The Fight Against Offshore Wind Farms.
As nine European countries sign a declaration to turn the North Sea into a huge industrial wind farm zone, they have effectively committed to wiping out wildlife on a monstrous scale; a mass, indiscriminate, destruction of life forms that have survived for millennia. A shocking opinion? Yes, but also a real possibility – and one thing is very certain, this is nothing to do with ‘green’ energy, ‘net zero’ or climate change. This is everything to do with greed and folly, a lethal combination. Whale Deaths And Wind Farms – An Obvious Connection >click to read< 08:45
HMPAs: Ross Greer put in his place by furious fishermen over ‘contemptuous’ marine ban tweet
Ross Greer made a “contemptuous comment” about the impact of fishing bans on coastal areas amid the ongoing backlash against the proposed Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs). “The fisherman in the North Sea of the 1830s could catch one ton of halibut a day. Now the annual halibut take of the North Sea is two tons.” Fifth generation fisherman Kenneth MacNab said: “You know absolutely nothing about fishing or stocks but your welcome to come out anytime you wish just to let you see what actual work is and what fishermen have to do to support their communities to put it into perspective HPMAs will be 10 times worse than Brexit ever was.” >click to read< 07:49
