Daily Archives: December 26, 2024
Environmentalists Outraged Over Hochul’s Horseshoe Crab Bill Veto
Environmentalists are outraged over Gov. Kathy Hochul’s recent decision to veto the Horseshoe Crab Protection Act, which prohibits the taking of horseshoe crabs from New York waters. The legislation would have allowed the populations to recover and ensured the survival of the important species, advocated said. In her veto message, Hochul wrote: “This bill would prohibit the taking of horseshoe crabs for commercial or biomedical purposes and also extend the authority of the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to manage crabs.” Also, Hochul said: “This bill could have unintended consequences on the management of other species such as whelk and eel and could harm the commercial fishing industry and impair advancements in the biomedical field. While this bill is well-intentioned, the management of marine species is better left to the experts at DEC.” Links, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 14:31
Volunteer Commercial Vessels Sought for Northern Shrimp Trawling and Trapping Research Sampling
The New Hampshire Fish (NHFG) and Game Department and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) are seeking one shrimp-trawling vessel and captain and one shrimp-trapping vessel and captain to participate in a winter sampling research program for northern shrimp in early 2025. This program will not receive funding from ASMFC or participating states, and participation in the program will be entirely self-funded by industry participants. The selected vessel(s) will be allowed to land and sell northern shrimp, subject to daily catch limits and a total of 26.5 metric tons region-wide research set-aside (RSA) limit. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 12:04
‘Hollow words won’t protect Scottish fishing, industry chief warns
Offshore wind farms in the North Sea and the prime minister’s ambitions to “reset” relations between the UK and European Union are major dangers for the sector, they say. And they want politicians in Edinburgh, London and further afield to “radically rethink” their approach to the sector. Scottish Fishermen’s Federation (SFF) chief executive Elspeth Macdonald outlined these concerns in her new year message to ministers and civil servants “across the UK and beyond”. She said a widespread sense of crisis had spawned a bout of “initiative-itis” by the Scottish and UK governments. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:49
Industry withholding data on one of Canada’s largest fisheries, advocates say
Advocates and scientists are raising concerns with the availability of data on one of Canada’s largest fisheries, as the Department of Fisheries and Oceans DFO is waiting on industry to provide data on the herring fishery in southwest Nova Scotia and the Bay of Fundy. For decades, herring stock has been declining and has been in the critical zone since 2018. In July, DFO reduced the total allowable catch to 16,000 tonnes per season, from 21,000, fixing the quota at the reduced level until 2027. Since then, advocates say the Herring Science Council — an industry body that, through an agreement with DFO, gathers the data that’s the only source of scientific information on the fishery — has not provided to the department the information it has collected. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:12
New law targets ‘ghost fishing’ by old gear. How discarded traps and nets are harmful
Abandoned fishing gear has posed problems for authorities wishing to clear it from state waters and shorelines for decades, but new legislation is aimed at making that task easier. An amendment by state Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, to an existing statute will speed the process of removing the environmentally harmful debris. “Left unchecked, abandoned fishing gear poses several threats to our marine environment and ecosystems,” Tarr stated in a press release. One of the problems it creates, he said, is “ghost fishing.” Tarr said ghost fishing increases species mortality without any harvest benefit. He added derelict gear also presents a major risk for entanglement for right whales and other species, clutters and pollutes the ocean floor, and presents ongoing problems for coastal communities that deal with this form of pollution when it washes ashore. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:07
