Daily Archives: December 13, 2023
Sonoma County snags disaster relief designation for salmon fishery devastation
“Small businesses in Sonoma County that rely on salmon fishing for their livelihood were devastated when the fishery was shut down,” said county Supervisor Lynda Hopkins, whose district encompasses the Sonoma Coast. Hopkins added the business loans are intended “to help them recover. The SBA also lists other, bordering counties, with the presumption that those “may have suffered economic injury as well.” These include Napa, Marin, Solano, Mendocino and Lake. “We have lost 80% of our fleets in the last 40 years,” said Glen Spain, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, which manages about a dozen fishing groups. He defined California’s $45 million fishing industry as being especially hard hit with state Fish and Wildlife’s permits dropping from 7,744 in 1980 to 1,006 this year. “These loans are trying to keep people intact as much as possible,” Spain said. photos, more, >>click to read<< 14:38
Caring Community: Newport Fishermen’s Wives seeking donations
Dear Community Partner, The Newport Fishermen’s Wives is a non-profit organization of fishermen’s wives, mothers, daughters, and friends, supporting a strong sense of community helping to further the causes of industry, safety, seafood education, and family support. Through the support of our community partners, we are able to provide a number programs to our fishing community such as an Emergency Fund (for local fishing tragedies) and funeral support, Fishermen’s Memorial Sanctuary, Holiday Outreach for fishing families, scholarship funds and the Blessing of the Fleet community lunch and boat parade. more, >>click to read<< 12: 06
Two men accused of killing Portland fisherman 15 years ago
Portland police announced Tuesday that Shane Hall, 36, and Khang Tran, 30, were indicted on murder charges in the death of Frank A. Williams III, a 37-year-old fisherman. “We hope this helps (Williams’) family find closure knowing that someone will be held accountable for his death,” Portland interim Assistant Chief Robert Martin said at a news conference Tuesday. He offered few details on what led to the indictments. Williams was stabbed near Kennedy Park just before 2 a.m. on Aug. 16, 2008, by three men police said he knew. He left behind a 1-year-old daughter and 14-year-old son. Williams died at Maine Medical Center from multiple stab wounds. more, >>click to read<< 10:26
American Shrimp Processors Association Welcomes House China Select Committee’s Bipartisan Trade Enforcement Recommendations
On December 12, 2023, the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party adopted a bipartisan report with scores of policy recommendations to reset the terms of the U.S. economic relationship with China and help domestic producers compete in the face of China’s non-market practices. The American Shrimp Processors Association (ASPA) welcomed the recommendations focused on strengthening the enforcement of U.S. trade remedy laws as a key component of this strategy. “American shrimp processors and harvesters have been fighting China’s unfair trade practices for nearly twenty years,” said ASPA President Trey Pearson. “The domestic shrimp industry is made up of small, family-owned businesses, and we need our trade remedy laws to be strengthened and vigorously enforced for us to have a chance to compete with foreign producers and exporters supported by the Government of China.” more, >>click to read<< 09:46
‘Anarchy will reign’ if Indigenous fishing rights in Maritimes aren’t settled, says former DFO official
A former senior Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) official says clarity on Indigenous fishing rights in the Maritimes is needed from the department and the courts or “anarchy will reign.” “The frustrations can be mitigated by clearly communicating the rules, having an orderly and regulated fishery, and then providing an adequate monitoring and compliance presence to effectively implement the rules. While that sounds simple, it is not. And while patience is required, action is also required before the situation explodes or stocks are harmed,” Morley Knight told the parliamentary standing committee on Fisheries and Oceans in Ottawa on Monday. The committee is examining illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing. more, >>click to read<< 08:34
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 35′ Crow Point Lobster Boat (Duffy)
To review specifications, information, and 25 photos’,>click here<, To see all the boats in this series, >click here< – 07:28
For Sale
In the wake of a November warning that the entire industry is in trouble because of global market conditions, Trident Tuesday announced that it was launching a “comprehensive restructuring initiative” that called for “streamlining” and modernizing its 49th state operations. Or, in other words, it is trying to offload a third of its 12 processing operations, including one of the biggest. Industry insiders had been forecasting significant changes in one of the state’s main industries since processors paid high prices for a record run of Bristol Bay sockeye in 2022 only to be left holding the bag as both demand and prices dropped. But major downsizing by Trident, which has long promoted itself as “Anchored in Alaska,” still caught many by surprise. more, >>click to read<< 06:27
