Daily Archives: May 6, 2024
Fear, legacy and the Alaska seafood industry
My journey began from a deep-rooted fear — the fear of watching a livelihood, passed through generations of commercial fishermen, slip through my fingers. Three decades ago, I was a young Copper River fisherman caught in the middle of a market crash. Farmed salmon had just entered the U.S., tanking prices for wild Alaska salmon. As a young commercial fisherman, fiercely proud of the salmon I caught, this shift turned my world upside down. At that moment, I made a pivotal decision — band with three other fishermen, three other fishermen, and wage a battle for the premium markets I felt Alaska salmon rightfully deserved. Spoiler alert: It’s been three decades, and we’re still fighting every day to compete. With experience, I’ve learned that my competition extends beyond other seafood; it’s beef, poultry and other proteins that occupy the “center of the plate.” In the face of market crises, conflicts, recessions, political turmoil and economic challenges, the burden I bear today mirrors the weight I carried in my 20s, but the challenges are now bigger and more complex. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 21:41
‘The lobster looks good,’ North Shore harvester says after first trap hauled
Fishing crews on P.E.I.’s North Shore landed their first catch of the season on Monday, six days later than planned. And so far so good, said Stephen Ramsay, who fishes out of North Rustico. “The lobster looks good,” he said. “Nice shiny stuff around, hard shell, looks good.”It’ll be a few more days, however, before he and other North Shore crews know what they’ll be paid for it. Ramsay said the prices he’s heard have been “all over the map” so far. Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 19:28
NOAA Breaks Ground on a New Marine Operations Center Facility in Newport, Rhode Island funded by President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda
Today, the Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new facility on Naval Station Newport in Rhode Island that will serve as the future home of the NOAA Marine Operations Center-Atlantic. In December, the NOAA Marine Operations Center-Atlantic, on behalf of NOAA, awarded $146,778,932 to Skanska USA to build the new NOAA facility. The design and construction of the facility is funded in part by the Inflation Reduction Act, the largest climate investment in history, as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. The facility will include a pier to accommodate four large vessels, a floating dock for smaller vessels, space for vessel repairs and parking, and a building to be used for shoreside support and as a warehouse. Construction is anticipated to be completed in 2027. This project will operate under a Project Labor Agreement, consistent with EO 14063, issued by President Biden. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 15:39
Newbuild Joins Galicia’s Coastal Fleet
Galicia’s small-scale fleet is one of the oldest in Europe and the tendency year after year is to take out old units. There’s a continuous decline of this sector throughout Spain and few dare to take the step to build a new boat. However, there are still some brave ones – and Astilleros Polymade has just delivered F/V Novo Coralto its young owner. Although it is not yet at sea, the vessel is already attracting the attention of many fishermen and interested visitors to the port of Vigo. This is not so much because of its size, as it has small dimensions, but because this is a recent newbuild – something that, unfortunately, has become unusual. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 13:21
75th annual Blessing of the Fleet: The last for some shrimpers
Archbishop Thomas Rodi led the town in prayer for safety and fruition over the waters in Bayou La Batre. After the prayer, the Archbishop, the Blessing of the Fleet Queens, and Father Micheal Long Vu boarded a boat. Father Vu dropped a blessed wreath into the water to honor the souls who were lost at sea. However, despite the yearly tradition, shrimpers say the blessings are not going very far. “We’re all probably going to have a little cry it’s our last year doing it and we will probably not be going to be able to do it again,” Haleigh Keith lamented. For the past 20 years, Haleigh and Peyton have gone shrimping with their grandfather on the family’s shrimping boat called “God’s Blessing’s”. However, that boat is going on sale at the end of the season. Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 11:41
Warming waters in Casco Bay are driving herring farther from shore
The Gulf of Maine is warming three times faster than the average global ocean, driving some cold-water species like Atlantic herring, the preferred lobster bait — farther away from its shoreline spawning habitat earlier than usual and attracting species from warmer southern waters, including blue crab and black sea bass, a new survey found. The warmth is stressing some of Maine’s keystone fisheries, according to the Gulf of Maine Research Institute’s report on the Casco Bay ecosystem released recently. The report is the first time the institute took a longer, 10-year look at the pace of environmental changes and their effects on ecosystems close to shore. It found that warming waters related to climate change, along with human activities, ocean acidification and harmful algal blooms, are causing different behaviors in species that could hinder their ability to reproduce and thrive. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:52
NCFA Weekly Update for May 6, 2024
Last week’s newsletter got quite a bit of attention, prompting several folks to reach out to me directly in regard to the constitutional “right” to hunt and fish seen below. You’ll also notice that the purpose of the Right to Hunt and Fish Constitutional Amendments is to prevent hunting and fishing from being banned, not to elevate one citizen’s right to fish over that of another. Legislative updates, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:55
Lorient fisherman has confidence in the future of fishing
The acquisition of a larger and more comfortable netter represents an upgrade for Lorient fisherman Christophe Audo, as he also plans to take a step back from fishing. The 23-metre, 8-metre beam Santa Anna Maria was built on the other side of the bay at the Bernard shipyard in Locmiquélic in 2004 and by acquiring this vessel as a replacement for the 17-metre, 1997-built Anna Mamm Mari, this is a step up to a way of operating that offers more opportunities. It’s an investment of approximately €2 million. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:41
