Daily Archives: February 26, 2024
Want to own the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation?
The federal government is asking for anyone “interested in ownership and governance of” the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation to get in touch. The FFMC is currently a Crown corporation. In the NWT, the FFMC has the sole right to acquire fish and sell it elsewhere in Canada and globally, meaning it holds a monopoly on fish exports from the territory. The federal government has previously announced plans to overhaul the corporation due in part to concerns from fishers that FFMC has not always acted in their best interests or secured the best prices. A 2021 review recommended turning FFMC into a corporation run by the fishers it represents. more, >>click to read<< 16:31
Lifelong Commercial Fisherman Jason Libby of the Saint George Peninsula, has passed away
Jason Libby, a lifelong resident of the St. George Peninsula, died in his sleep at home, on Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024. Jason graduated from Georges Valley High School in Thomaston in 1992, where he played soccer, was the class clown and made his mark on all those around him. He started his lifelong commercial fishing career while still in school, fishing for scallops, shrimp, and groundfish with his father, Glen, and uncle, Gary, on the family fishing boats out of Port Clyde. Later, Jason also spent time fishing on boats out of Gloucester and New Bedford, Mass. as captain, mate and crew. He fished with his uncle Wayne, brother Justin, longtime captain Stephen Sukeforth, and on many other boats with dorymates who loved and respected Jason. Jason enjoyed spending his free time with his children and grandchild, going out of his way to ensure they were cared for and loved. more, >>click to read<< 13:45
Data show fewer baby lobsters but fishermen say ‘eggers’ abound
Lobstermen and the agency that oversees them, the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR), sparred a little over state data on lobster populations that lobstermen said does not reflect what they see when fishing, when the Zone B Lobster Council met Feb. 21 at the Mount Desert Island High School library. The DMR estimates the number of baby lobsters, called “year of young,” through trawl and ventless trap surveys to project future adult populations and manage the fishery — and to adhere to interstate fishery rules from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), an interstate board managing fisheries for 15 states, including Maine. 3 Photos, more, >>click to read<< 12:45
State fisheries advisory committees to review issue paper on trawling closures to protect submerged aquatic vegetation
A controversial proposal that could lead to shrimp trawling area closures to protect submerged aquatic vegetation took a step toward future consideration by the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission last week. The commission, policy-making arm of the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries, voted during its quarterly business meeting in New Bern to refer an issue paper pertaining to the concept to its northern, southern and shellfish/crustacean advisory committees to get input from the public. Glenn Skinner, executive director of the N.C. Fisheries Association, a Morehead City-based trade and lobbying group for commercial watermen, said he and his members are concerned, in part because the state has already permanently or seasonally closed more than 1.2 million acres of estuarine waters to shrimp trawling. more, >>click to read<< 10:18
Lillian’s dream of honouring Evans Head fishing industry comes true
Lillian Colless had her dream come true when a monument to the fishermen of Evans Head was unveiled yesterday, Saturday, February 24 as part of a Fishermen’s Reunion weekend. The monument honours the fishing industry – in the 1950s there were 70 trawlers fishing out of Evans Head. Lillian has been a volunteer at the Evans Head Living Museum for 22 years and has been working towards and waiting for the day that Evans Head had its own fishing monument. The Sydney Fish Market contributed $10,000 towards the statue with Lillian and the museum raising the rest. The stone statue stands tall at more than 2metres high and faces where the first Fishermen’s Co-op was built in 1946. Photos, more, >>click to read<< 09:17
Massachusetts: Lawmakers call for answers in wake of Blue Harvest Fisheries bankruptcy sale
Questions continue to surround the bankruptcy and sale of Blue Harvest Fisheries, the largest groundfish operation in New England, including its impact on the New Bedford fishing industry. The New Bedford company filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in September 2023. For U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) and Edward Markey (D-Mass) and Rep. William Keating (D-Mass) it’s part of a pattern, and they are seeking answers from Bregal Partners, a Dutch-owned private equity firm, and Blue Harvest’s majority equity holder that owned 89.5 percent of the company. more, >>click to read<< 08:05
Nova Scotia seafood sector far exceeds targets set a decade ago
Federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay was roasted by opponents last week when he posted a photo on X (formerly Twitter) of himself eating a lobster in Malaysia while on a trade mission in the Indo-Pacific. The P.E.I. politician was denounced as tone deaf and out of touch with average Canadians, but overseas trade missions are one reason Nova Scotia seafood exports have exceeded goals set for the industry 10 years ago in the Ivany report — a blueprint for expanding the province’s economy. Veteran seafood analyst Peter Norsworthy, while not weighing in on the optics of the MacAulay image, said seafood exports from Nova Scotia to China have grown from $25 million in 2007 to $666 million in 2021, with almost all of that growth in lobster. Photos, more, >>click to read<< 06:31
