Daily Archives: August 8, 2023
Fishermen’s Alliance Highlights Offshore Wind Threat to Haddock, Lobster Fisheries in Gulf of Maine
An alliance of groups representing New England’s fishermen is highlighting scientific research that suggests offshore wind development could have “population-scale effects” on key fish and crustacean species in the Gulf of Maine, including electromagnetism-induced deformities in lobsters. The New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association (NEFSA) on Monday released an “Offshore Wind Research Summary” summarizing the existing scientific research on the environmental impact of offshore wind power development. The scientific evidence, they believe, shows that offshore wind development would have unpredictable and potentially harmful consequences for key marine species, such as lobster and haddock. >click to read< 17:37
William R. Miller: Why don’t we restore commercial fishing in Erie?
There are two kinds of jobs, those that “create wealth” by bringing money into the region from outside the region and those jobs that “circulate wealth” within the region. Fish we take from the lake, crops that we grow, minerals that we extract from the ground, products that we manufacture, retirees we convince to live here, services provided to outside individuals and organizations, and tourists who we attract, all create wealth for the region. Each wealth-creation job typically supports about three wealth-circulating job in the region. We’ll focus here on one potential source for wealth-creating jobs. In 1890, Erie was the largest, in tonnage, freshwater fishing port in the entire world. Today, my understanding is that Erie is down to one commercial fisherman and the Canadian Great Lakes fishing industry is now about a $1 billion industry. What happened? >click to read< 15:45
Contessi Launches Fresher Trawler for Rawson
The Contessi shipyard in Mar del Plata launched at the beginning of August a new coastal fresher trawler built to fish from the port of Rawson for Argentine red shrimp. Nuevo Anave is the latest of a proven series of boats, with 17 trawlers of the same design already operating along the coast of Argentina. ‘This is a classic design by our shipyard. When we look at the landings of Argentine red shrimp over the last year, we see four of this design of trawler among the top five catchers on the list,’ said yard director Domingo Contessi. Raúl Matías Cereseto one of the owners of fishing vessel Nuevo Anave, confirmed that it was precisely for this reason that he and his associate decided to order a boat of this design. There are around ten boats of that pattern operating in Rawson and we already knew that it had great efficiency. We saw how our colleagues had positive results concerning stability and performance,’ he said. Photos, >click to read< 13:53
Bristol Bay fleets call for greater price transparency
There’s a multi-decade precedent for Bristol Bay salmon processors to wait until the season is underway to announce what they’re willing to pay. Peter Pan shook up the industry in 2021 and 2022 by announcing a base price at the start of the season, but this year waited until mid-July, along with other processors in the region. Captain Konrad Schaad, of the Fishing Vessel Skua, says this model hurts fishers. “The producer gets paid what’s left over. We produce the fish and then it gets processed and sold and everything and everybody gets their cut, and then the morsels that are leftover, they give to us. There should be a fixed cost for what we produce here,” he said. In Bristol Bay, commercial fishing crews fish on what’s called an ‘open ticket. >click to read< 12:53
The EU and UK reach three agreements on fisheries management
The EU-UK Specialised Committee on Fisheries (SCF) reached three agreements for better fisheries management between the EU and UK. The agreements include a mechanism for voluntary transfers of fishing opportunities between the EU and UK, common guidelines for notifying management measures to the other party, improvements to the management of four shared stocks (lemon sole, witch, turbot and brill). Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevičius, said: “These agreements demonstrate that the EU and UK can work effectively together under the framework of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement. These agreements will improve the sustainable management of our shared fishing stocks and support both our fleets. It demonstrates the success of our work together to normalise our new fisheries relationship and sets a strong basis for continued cooperation on shared management challenges.” >click to read< 10:42
Commercial Fisherman Fredrick (Fred) Reno Italo Arnoldi of Morro Bay, has passed away
Fred left on his Eternal Hunting and Fishing Trip in the early morning hours on June 27, 2023, passing peacefully in his home in Morro Bay, with his wife Diane and his sister Janice by his side. Fred was born January 3, 1951 raised in Santa Barbara where he attended Lincoln Elementary School, La Cumbre Junior High School, and Santa Barbara High School 1970. He left Santa Barbara to become a commercial fisherman up until his last day on earth. He fished salmon in Alaska and the South Seas. Fred seined in San Pedro, and fished herring in San Francisco. Fred owned several vessels including Drifter, Halcyon, Roselena Marie, H2O K-9 and Amakua. A Celebration of Life will be held August 19 from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM at the Veteran’s Memorial Building, 209 Surf Street, Morro Bay. All are invited. >click to read< 09:51
Local Spotlight: Craig Pendleton
Ever since he was a nine-year-old boy standing on a dock in Camp Ellis, Craig Pendleton has been constantly scanning the horizon, looking for the next opportunity that lies ahead. Pendleton began his career in commercial fishing when he was just nine years old, working on his uncle’s lobster boat during the summer. By the time he was 12, he was earning more money during the summer than his mother earned from her year-round job as a clerk at Percy’s Pharmacy. From his start as a kid working on a lobster boat, Pendleton eventually became a respected source of information and the proverbial go-to-guy for people like Senator Olympia Snowe, Governor John Baldacci and Senator Angus King when it came time to talk about maritime and commercial fishing issues. >click to read< 08:45
Federal Appeals Court upholds ruling for shrimp trawlers in Clean Water Act dispute
The 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a lower court decision favoring shrimp trawlers in a dispute tied to the Clean Water Act. A three-judge appellate panel agreed unanimously with the dismissal of legal complaints against the trawlers. “Fisheries Reform Group alleges that shrimp trawlers operating in North Carolina’s Pamlico Sound are violating the Clean Water Act by engaging in two types of unpermitted activity: throwing bycatch overboard and disturbing sediment with their trawl nets. But these activities do not violate the Clean Water Act,” wrote Appeals Court Judge Julius Richardson. The seven named defendants in the case are commercial shrimpers in Pamlico Sound. They harvest shrimp by dragging trawl nets along the ocean’s floor. >click to read< 07:58
Perplexing Comments by Coughlin, Scutari on offshore wind surprise many involved in industry
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