Daily Archives: March 22, 2025
Some regions see large cuts to snow crab quotas, while total catch rises
Some areas of Newfoundland and Labrador’s snow crab fishery have seen major reductions, despite the total allowable catch as a whole going up 9 per cent. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans released their annual quota Saturday morning, but protesters were already demonstrating Friday in Grand Falls-Windsor against anticipated cuts in division 3K. Those cuts did arrive. 3K is the hardest hit, losing almost a quarter of last year’s total allowable catch at 7,643 tonnes, down from 9,998 tonnes in 2024. The FFAW is already anticipating a difficult season due to tariffs in the U.S., the single largest buyer of N.L. snow crab. In a release, the union said the cuts were “wholly unacceptable to fish harvesters, as they are fundamentally misaligned with the ecological realities of the region.” more, >> CLICK TO READ<< 16:31
Tributes to heroic Northumberland fisherman who saved 127 lives at sea and was honoured by Queen
Tributes have been paid to a Northumberland RNLI member who was directly involved in saving more than 120 lives at sea. Rodney Burge, born and bred in Amble, started off his maritime career very early and actually lied about his age to get into the Royal Navy at 15. Mr. Burge left the Royal Navy in 1969 and returned to his hometown, where he signed up for the volunteer lifeboat crew alongside his day job as a fisherman. In 1992 he was appointed Coxswain and served until his retirement at the age of 55 in 1999. Queen Elizabeth II presented Mr Burge with an MBE for service to safety at sea in 1998, and in 2023, he was given a vellum by the RNLI at Amble. It was said that he was directly responsible for saving 127 lives at sea over his time with the charity. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 13:35
Fishing tug sinks at Howdenvale dock
Another tugboat has sunk while tied up at a government dock on the Lake Huron side of the Bruce Peninsula, most recently earlier this month at Howdenvale. The Canadian Coast Guard said Friday in an emailed response to questions that it received a report on March 10 that “Keep the Change,” a 30-foot fishing tug, was sinking at the harbour and diesel was released into the water. The vessel owner and Chippewas of Nawash Fisheries Assessment Program staff deployed an absorbent boom and pads. The Coast Guard also deployed a containment boom around the vessel to limit the spread of pollution, the email said. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:40
Louisiana Crawfish Festival vendor sells Chinese mudbugs without required signage
A food vendor at the Louisiana Crawfish Festival in St. Bernard Parish has served Chinese-sourced crustaceans and failed to disclose it as required under state law, organizers have confirmed. WVUE-TV Fox 8 reports organizers were made aware of the infraction when an attendee sent them pictures of a vendor using packages of foreign crawfish. Louisiana law requires fair food vendors, restaurants, seafood markets, grocers and other retailers to display signs that detail the origin of any foreign crawfish they sell. Crawfish Festival secretary Cisco Gonzales Jr. confirmed to Fox 8 that the visitor told organizers the vendor had no such signage. Video, links, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:54
Metal inputs from offshore wind farms could pose environmental, economic and human health risks
Large offshore wind turbines are made primarily of steel. When exposed to salt water, steel corrodes over time, leading to structural damage. To prevent this, offshore wind farm developers use corrosion protection systems. One of the most common methods involves attaching sacrificial anodes to the turbines. These metal blocks, mainly composed of aluminium, zinc and indium, dissolve into the seawater to protect the steel structure. The research team at the University of Portsmouth set out to quantify how much metal is being released from corrosion protection systems used in European offshore wind farms. Their findings suggest that the accumulation of these metals in the ocean could have long-term consequences for marine ecosystems, with particular concern over the potential to enter food chains. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:40
As the elver season opens, a First Nation is pushing back hard against DFO
In the coming weeks, Matthew Cope will anchor his cone-shaped fyke net along a river, and as the overnight hours creep by and the ocean tide comes in, he will catch tiny but highly lucrative juvenile eels. He will do so, however, without authorization from the Department of Fisheries, asserting that as a Mi’kmaw harvester, he has a treaty right to fish for the young eels, known as elvers, even outside of federal regulations. He expects to be stopped, and even arrested by fisheries officers, as he was last year during an elver seizure at a transport facility in Dartmouth, N.S. Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:40
