Daily Archives: September 20, 2024
Infrastructure funding from 2018 winter freeze will finally get to shrimpers soon
2018 was a bad year for Lowcountry shrimping, a winter freeze wiped out most of the white shrimp in the Charleston harbor. Six years later, $1 million in grant money for shrimp fishery infrastructure will soon, finally be making its way to those who need it. But not everyone was able to qualify. “The funds are awarded by NOAA,” said Chris McDonough, the program coordinator for the Shrimp Disaster Relief Program. “When they’re awarded, typically we have to go through a grant approval process for us to get the money. It takes some time.” The program was put in place in 2018, but between the slow wheels of government and the pandemic, the first phase wasn’t paid out until last year. Video, photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:28
Enforcement patrols return as frustration over poaching boils over
Enforcement patrols have returned to a stretch of the Bay of Fundy that local fishermen had said was left wide open to illegal fishing, including by foreign vessels. That’s after frustration over poaching had boiled over, grabbing headlines, finding its way onto the floor of Parliament, and resulting in local fishers threatening to “take matters into their own hands” this upcoming lobster season in the absence of federal enforcement. The Fundy North Fishermen’s Association says DFO has now deployed enforcement resources in an area known as Lobster Fishing Area 36 that stretches along New Brunswick’s Bay of Fundy coast from Alma to the American border. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:54
FISHERMEN OPPOSE INDUSTRIALISATION OF OUR OCEANS
“The New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association (NEFSA) remains steadfast in its opposition to the industrialisation of our oceans, despite the shrinking of the original proposed lease area. The final eight lease areas encompass a total of 827,886 acres in the Gulf of Maine and pose an existential threat to all marine species, habitat, and to the livelihoods of current and future generations of sustainable fishermen upon whom their communities rely on for survival. The six lase areas in the southern Gulf of Maine comprise a Great Wall of Windmills that threaten mariners and the marine environment. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:33
