Daily Archives: July 11, 2023
Alaska Fish and Game announces closure of Chinook salmon commercial troll fishery at 11:59 p.m., Wednesday, July 12, 2023
The commercial troll fishery will close to the retention of Chinook salmon at 11:59 p.m., Wednesday, July 12, 2023. The current target harvest for the first Chinook salmon retention period of 77,100 Chinook salmon is expected to be reached by this time. All Chinook salmon must be offloaded prior to operating troll gear for other salmon species, according to the Fish and Game announcement. All processors and trollers are required to submit fish tickets to the department within seven days of landing. A freezer catcher–processor (FAS) that retains coho salmon onboard after the Chinook salmon fishery closure must,,, >click to read< 20:53
Boat work: Do it right or risk ‘big ol’ can of worms’
Under a high July sun, shipwright Rachel Kuhn sanded the mahogany hull of a 1967 Chris-Craft next to Westport commercial fisherman Chris Cain, who was busy re-painting the bottom of his 46-foot Gulf Craft ahead of the albacore tuna season, now only days away. Nearby, Brian Cutting worked to replace the propeller on his 50-foot vessel, the F/V Cutting Edge, a necessary step before the commercial fisherman can return to sea to catch halibut. It was a typical early-summer day in one of Washington’s busiest boatyards, one of the few remaining year-round haul-out facilities on the Washington coast that cater to hundreds of commercial and recreational boaters each year. 13 photos, >click to read< 17:55
Failure of Doubler-Plated Hull Likely Cause of Sinking of Fishing Vessel
The failure of the doubler-plated hull under the engine room likely caused the flooding and sinking of a fishing vessel near Gloucester, Massachusetts last year, the National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday. The fishing vessel Grace Marie was transiting to fishing grounds on July 8, 2022, when the engine room began flooding. The seven-person crew was unable to remove the water with the vessel’s bilge pumping system. The crew abandoned the vessel in a life raft and was rescued by a Good Samaritan vessel. The vessel eventually sank and was a total loss valued at $650,000. No injuries were reported. >click to read< 16:00
Stonington Lobster Boat Races results
Racing on the Stonington Harbor course on July 9. The big winner was Jeremy Beal’s Maria’s Nightmare II out of Jonesport, which crossed the finish line first in two of the biggest race classes. >click to read the results< 13:01
Texas shrimpers call for tariffs on cheaper Asian imports
Just days before the start of Gulf shrimp season, harvesters from all along the Texas coast are calling for government action to help them weather a storm of high fuel prices and cheaper foreign imports. More than 100 people who make a living on Gulf shrimp gathered Monday afternoon at the Doyle Convention Center to draw attention to forces they say threaten to sink their industry. Boat owners, dock owners, boat captains and deckhands huddled under a banner with six small U.S. flags to sign in and record their fears in hopes the notes would eventually reach the eyes of the U.S. Congress. Photos. >click to read< 11:41
What Happened to California’s Salmon Season This Year?
This spring, fisheries’ managers closed the commercial and recreational salmon season off the coast of California, owing to cratering fish populations, for the first time since 2009. Every one of the few fish left from the generation of Chinook salmon currently swimming in the ocean are needed to return to their natal streams and spawn, managers decided. On the Capitol steps, Bates, Jackson-Reed and other tribal leaders and environmental activists charged that officials, and the Newsom administration in particular, are failing the people and species that benefit from the Sacramento River system by appeasing wealthy farms and other big water users. >click to read< 10:31
Claims that seals are endangering the livelihoods of local fishermen
The seals are not native to this area but have bred and formed a substantial colony beneath the cliffs at Fairlight, where they are often sighted. Fishermen believe the seals have established themselves after being released back into the sea by the RSPCA centre at Mallydams at Fairlight, which has a seal treatment area including a pool. Paul Stanley and his partner Lucy Phillips fish from the small boat ‘Christine’ RX11. There’s a huge colony of forty to fifty under the cliffs at Fairlight. They are not a native species to this area, and they are doing massive damage to the fish stock, and to fishermen’s livelihood. If something like this happened on land, such as a dog let loose attacking sheep, it would be shot.” Photos. >click to read< 09:24
DFO says it has enough resources to monitor Indigenous lobster fishing in Nova Scotia
Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) says its enforcement branch will be on the water and adequately equipped to monitor compliance of First Nations lobster fisheries this summer. The pledge follows the chaotic fishery for baby eels this spring where there was widespread illegal activity by some Indigenous and non-Indigenous harvesters. DFO shut down the legal elver fishery, affecting both commercial licence holders and Indigenous groups with fishing plans approved by the department. But “poaching”, as federal Fisheries Minister Joyce Murray called it, continued. “I want to clarify they are two very different fisheries,” Maritimes region director of conservation and protection Tim Kerr told reporters Monday in a briefing on Indigenous rights-based lobster fisheries. >click to read< 08:35
Pacific Seafood Controls the Dungeness Crab Market, but Small Fishermen Are Fighting Back
After a blockbuster 2022 crabbing season that saw an on-time, December 1 start date and record prices for fishermen, this year’s crab season didn’t kick off until mid-January after three regulatory delays. When the season did begin, crabbers were offered as little as $2 per pound for their catch, a price that left many struggling to pay staff and buy fuel and bait. Those conditions have squeezed the small businesses that make up the West Coast crabbing industry and act as the backbone for small towns up and down the shoreline. But this year appears to have brought boom times for one company in particular—Pacific Seafood. >click to read< 07:40
