Daily Archives: January 9, 2024
Massachusetts lobstermen drop lawsuit against California aquarium that told people to stop eating lobster
The Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association has ended its fight against a California aquarium that says people shouldn’t buy and eat lobster because of the risks the fishery poses on the endangered North Atlantic right whale. A federal judge in the Northern District of California on Monday dismissed a class action lawsuit that four Bay State lobstermen filed last March against the Monterey Bay Aquarium after the two sides agreed to end the months-long dispute with prejudice. Monterey Bay in September 2022 gave the American lobster a “red rating” on its Seafood Watch, recommending consumers to avoid the species caught by trap from the Gulf of Maine, Southern New England and Georges Bank stocks. more, >>click to read<< 19:32
50-year-old man presumed missing after boat found in channel in SLC
Rescue officials continue searching for a 50-year-old fisherman, who last was seen Monday night launching a small boat from Stan Blum Boat Ramp, according to the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office and a family member Tuesday. About 3 a.m. Tuesday a boater contacted 911 after finding an unoccupied Carolina Skiff in the channel near the Riverside Marina, the agency stated on social media. The marina is in the 2300 block of Old Dixie Highway north of downtown Fort Pierce. The missing man was identified as Brian Ronshausen, 50, of Fort Pierce. “He’s a commercial fisherman. He has a license. He’s been doing it his whole life, fishing,” said his mother, Trulee Snell, 68, of Okeechobee. “He fishes in the evenings because that’s the best time.” Photos, more, >>click to read<< 17:46
Bristol Bay Fishermen Celebrate Supreme Court Decision to Reject Alaska v. EPA
Monday, the United States Supreme Court announced their decision to reject the State of Alaska’s challenge of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Water Act veto of the proposed Pebble Mine. Commercial fishermen joined Bristol Bay Tribes and a majority of Alaskans in asking EPA to act to veto Pebble Mine over a decade ago. This protective action, finalized in January of 2023, ensured that Bristol Bay’s irreplaceable salmon runs – which sustain the people, culture as well as the foundation of a commercial fishing industry that generates more than $2 billion annually in economic output and supports more than 15,000 jobs – are not impacted by irresponsible open pit mining. more, >>click to read<< 14:05
Catch of the Night
The American eel’s lifestyle is as elusive as it gets. No one has seen one mate in the Sargasso Sea, the eel’s birthplace. However, we know that after hatching, eels begin their journey to land by following the Antilles Current and Gulf Stream toward the mouths of North American rivers. Elvers (juvenile specimens also known as glass eels) then venture inland, mature, and later return to the ocean to mate, with the entire process ranging from a few months to a few years in duration. The unfortunate truth is that eel populations worldwide are rapidly declining. They have faced overfishing since the 1970s, resulting in poaching regulations in most of the world. Today, just two US states award eel fishing licenses: South Carolina and Maine. Because South Carolina only allows traps for fully grown eels, Maine has become the heart of the elver issue. more, >>click to read<< By Phil Avilov10:31
BOEM Aims to Control Offshore Wind Developments’ Risk to Right Whales
In advance of future offshore wind development in the New York Bight, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is preparing a region-wide environmental impact statement, paving the way for faster federal permitting of each individual project down the road. If built out, the future projects would mean the installation of about 1,100 turbines, 22 offshore substations and 1,600 miles of subsea cable. Without mitigation, BOEM expects the development of six offshore wind farms would have a “major” impact on right whales because of the noise from pile driving, blasting of unexploded ordnance, entanglement in abandoned gear and vessel strikes. North Atlantic right whales are so endangered that each individual death has a substantial impact, and additional losses cannot be absorbed – so BOEM wants to control the risk. more, >>click to read<< 09:15
Fishermen rescued off Cork coast in freezing temperatures and high winds
Three men have been rescued off the East Cork coast after their boat was in danger of washing up against rocks. The 11m boat they were on had been disabled 2.5 miles off Power Head at around 2am on Tuesday. Temperatures were freezing and a bitter north-easterly wind — force 5-6 — created a two-metre swell. Ballycotton RNLI received the request to launch at 2.15am and was told there was a risk of the vessel being washed up against the rocks. The crew boarded The Austin Lidbury all-weather lifeboat and headed west towards Power Head. more, >>click to read<< 07:46
Crab Fishermen on Strike
Commercial Dungeness crab season is allowed locally as of midnight on January 5th. However, we are seeing no crab gear in the water. Local Dungeness crab fishermen are holding out for better pay after they say they’ve been offered an unacceptable amount per pound. The buyers are not offering a price that we’re okay with,” says Jake McMaster, Captain of the Fishing Vessel Captain Banjo. “They offered $3. We countered with $3.50 on the 1st of January, and we have not had a response to that price negotiation.” McMasters says they were getting this price over a decade ago, “$3 a pound– 2012, 2013, ten years ago. Meanwhile, Dungeness crab fishermen in Oregon are getting more than $3 a pound for their crabs. more, >>click to read<< 06:46
