Daily Archives: October 11, 2024
After tough salmon season, Lower Cook Inlet fishermen say it will be a struggle to stay afloat
Alaska’s salmon season is largely over. However, commercial fishermen on the southern Kenai Peninsula are reflecting on a year marked by declining catches and higher costs. That includes first-year tender captain Theodore “Teddy” Handley, who took on the role of running his own vessel, the Julia Starr, this season. As a tender captain, he collects fish from fishing boats and delivers them to processing plants. Handley said the sheer pink salmon volume typically boosts the late-season harvest “Even though you’re paid maybe a sixth of what you get for sockeyes per pound, just the volume more that shows up in a pink run is how a lot of the fishermen make their money, and that’s how a lot of the canneries make their money too,” Handley said. Homer’s fishing community comprises generations of families who harvest salmon, halibut and other species from the waters of Lower Cook Inlet. The city is also made up of people and businesses that rely on the commercial fishing industry for income. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 17:40
N.S. minister hopes changes to fish buyer, processor licences will help curb illegal activity
The Nova Scotia government is introducing new licence conditions for fish buyers and processors that officials hope will help crack down on illegal fishing. Kent Smith, the province’s fisheries minister, detailed the changes in a letter that accompanied a package sent to licence holders earlier this month. Changes include moving to two-year terms and aligning processor licences with Canadian Food Inspection Agency requirements. Processors will also be required to report the source location of fish and fish products entering the facility and the location of sales at both the provincial and country level. But the biggest changes focus on Nova Scotia’s king crustacean, lobster. Lobster buyers will be required to provide the locations and details pertaining to all holding and handling facilities they own, lease or use. Licence holders will only be allowed to store and/or handle their lobsters at facilities listed on their buyer’s licence. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 12:15
Alaska’s seafood industry lost $1.8 billion last year, NOAA report says
A variety of market forces combined with fishery collapses occurring in a rapidly changing environment caused Alaska’s seafood industry to lose $1.8 billion from 2022 to 2023, a new federal report said. The array of economic and environmental challenges has devastated one of Alaska’s main industries, said the report, issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. And the losses extend beyond economics, casting doubt on prospects for the future, the report said. The losses also extend beyond Alaska. Nationwide, Alaska’s seafood industry woes caused the loss from 2022 to 2023 of more than 38,000 jobs and a $4.3 billion decline in total U.S. output, the report said. There was also a loss of $269 million in combined state and local tax revenues, the report said. The states most affected beyond Alaska were those on the West Coast. The report breaks down the dollar losses. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:14
A day in the life of 18-year-old fisherman Mat Price
When it comes to a typical day’s crabbing, it’s the buzz of the alarm clock that quickens Mat’s pulse. “I wake up at around 6am, ready to get to John’s house for 6.30am. He lives about a minute and a half away from the boat, so I’ll jump in his van, and we’ll head down to the cove.” Cadgwith’s small New Holland tractor is in high demand by the beach-launched fleet. “The first job is to get the tractor – if it’s not already in use. We’ll then go to the cold room and load the rays and gurnards which we use for crab bait. Sometimes, if the boats are close together, we get the tractor right up to the side of the boat and can load all the bait and the other equipment up.” With everything loaded, it’s then a case of getting launched. “If someone at the cove hasn’t gone yet, they’ll push us out with the tractor. The tractor has a rubber roller on the front of it which is pushed up to the bow. The tractor then drives forward, pushing the vessel backwards out into the water until you’re floating. However, if nobody is there to push the boat out, then I’ll have to put my waders on…”Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:32
Did New Bedford police tell a fisherman to take down his ‘anti-windmill’ flag?
According to local scalloper Russell Isabel, captain of the F/V Prowess, the Prowess started showing signs of an engine problem in the area of the New Bedford-Fairhaven Bridge on Tuesday, leading to a decision to dock nearby at New Bedford’s North Terminal. The fact that his vessel was displaying an “anti-windmill” flag at the time was purely coincidental, Isabel says. “I didn’t know anything about a ribbon-cutting meeting going on or any of that,” Isabel said, noting he also had no knowledge of the protest going on just outside of the event near the street. As the crew docked, authorities noticed the flag flying off the stern of F/V Prowess, leading to a verbal conflict with NBPD members, Isabel said. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:50
