Daily Archives: March 27, 2025
Back to the pricing board: Panel to hear submissions on NL snow crab pricing while union requests slight delay to season starting
After a busy week away from the negotiating table, the focus of the Newfoundland and Labrador snow crab season will shift to a hearing before the province’s Standing Fish Price Setting Panel on Saturday, March 29. Despite hopes to avoid having to resort to the panel to determine the minimum price for crab again this season, the union representing the province’s inshore fish harvesters and plant workers and the organization representing fish processing companies were unable to reach enough common ground for a new collective agreement. That means both sides will present their respective submissions to the panel, which will decide who has the most reasonable offer for pricing crab landings this coming season. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 15:41
Shreveport restaurants found misleading diners with imported shrimp
A new report has cast a harsh spotlight on Shreveport’s restaurant scene, revealing that more than half of sampled eateries are misleading customers about the origin of their shrimp. Genetic testing conducted earlier this month found that 58% of the 24 sampled restaurants falsely advertised or implied that their shrimp were wild-caught from the Gulf of Mexico, when in fact they were serving farm-raised imports. The investigation, commissioned by the Louisiana Shrimp Task Force and carried out by SEAD Consulting, uncovered the highest mislabeling rate in the state to date. Six restaurants went a step further, explicitly labeling their dishes as “Gulf shrimp” despite serving foreign-sourced seafood. “This is not just about a menu mistake. This is food fraud,” said John Williams, executive director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance. “Consumers believe they’re supporting local fishermen and eating a premium, domestic product. Instead, they’re being served something entirely different — often at the same price.” more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 13:45
North Carolina’s Deadliest Inlet
On a sunny day in late January, the commercial fishermen hanging around Etheridge Seafood in Wanchese shared their inlet horror stories.
In March 2024, two fishermen and a dog set out south from Virginia Beach on a 35-foot Scopinich boat. Both were seasoned mariners—one of them, Charlie Griffin, even starred in Wicked Tuna, a reality television show about daring bluefin anglers. That day, Griffin and his friend, Chad Dunn, had been hired to deliver a boat to Manteo, on the northern tip of Roanoke Island. To reach the island from the open Atlantic, sailors must navigate through Oregon Inlet, a 3-mile-wide stretch of sea that separates Pea Island from Bodie Island on the Outer Banks. Oregon Inlet is infamous for its treacherous waters, and that night, changing tides had made it much rougher than the open sea. But Griffin had been navigating it since he was 9 years old. He grew up in Wanchese, a fishing village on the south side of Roanoke Island and had piloted everything from skiffs to 60-footers through the inlet. So, when Griffin and his dog, Leila, failed to show up that night, his family in Wanchese didn’t worry at first. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 11:48
Lobsterman Michael Joseph “Skip” Alessi of Saugus, Mass. has passed away
It is with deepest sorrow and heavy hearts that we announce the unexpected and abrupt passing of Michael Joseph “Skip” Alessi, age 60, of Saugus. He was born in Lynn at Union Hospital on June 7, 1964, to the late Joseph and Barbara Alessi. Michael grew up in Nahant and was an avid sportsman. Upon graduating High School, he turned down a full football scholarship to Connecticut College and thumbed home to follow his true passion of lobstering. Michael was a revered lobsterman, going out when others said the seas were too dangerous and on more than one occasion was told he thought like a lobster. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:31
P.E.I. snow crab fishers to start 2025 season grappling with reduced quota, trade concerns
Snow crab fishers on Prince Edward Island are preparing to start their fishing season next week facing a 33 per cent reduction in the amount they’re allowed to catch. The reduction is based on recommendations from scientists with the federal Department of Oceans and Fisheries, who have expressed concerns about the health of snow crab stocks. The stocks tend to rise and fall on a 10-year cycle, and the crab population is now at a below-average mark. “We’re kind of on a downhill swing here,” said Carter Hutt, president of the P.E.I. Snow Crab Association. The quota reduction for the 2025 fishing season comes as P.E.I.’s seafood industries are wondering about the impacts of U.S., and Chinese tariffs on one of the province’s major exports. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:01
COMMENTARY: It’s time for collaborative management of North Carolina fisheries
After two weeks of fisheries meetings and numerous comments from stakeholders, it’s clear that our current system of fisheries management leaves much to be desired. Since the General Assembly passed legislation in 2010 requiring overfishing to be ended in two years, or less, and sustainable harvest to be achieved within 10 years (with management that has at least a 50% probability of success), we have seen nothing but declining harvest limits across every fishery. This law – pushed by the Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) and then DMF Director Louis Daniel – has made North Carolina the most restrictive state in the Nation when it comes to fisheries management. Even California has less restrictive mandates! more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:17
The cost of Maine scallops
If you’ve got a yen for succulent, right-off-the-boat Maine sea scallops, now is the time to get them. Most consumers can’t get scallops that really are “right off the boat” unless they live in the Midcoast or Downeast and, perhaps, know a fisherman. For those with the opportunity, it’s well worth a drive down to the harbor to buy a gallon or two of freshly shucked scallops when the boats come back from fishing. Even if they’re not right off the boat, good, fresh scallops are readily available, if expensive. In Portland, the waterfront Harbor Fish Market was recently offering fresh “dayboat” scallops at $32.99 per pound for “mediums”—a mix of 10-20 per pound—and $38.99 for “jumbos” all weighing in at fewer than a dozen per pound. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:23
