Daily Archives: April 5, 2025
Illegal Elver Poaching Must End
Rick Perkins, Conservative Candidate for South Shore-St. Margarets, and Clifford Small, Conservative Candidate for Central Newfoundland, issued the following statement today regarding the illegal poaching of the elver fishery: “The return of elvers in the rivers of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick has attracted a surge of poachers who descend upon Nova Scotia’s 300 rivers each night, trespassing on private land to illegally harvest. Unregulated fishing not only threatens the safety of residents due to the armed poachers but also jeopardizes scientific research and conservation efforts crucial for maintaining a healthy environment and ensuring the sustainability of this species. The unchecked actions of these poachers could lead to the collapse of the entire eel population. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 15:02
COMMENT: Dismiss the ‘let’s ban it’ mindset
Sadly, we live in censorious times, when tolerance for differing viewpoints, activities, words even, is sometimes non-existent. You can be ostracized, cancelled, or subject to a raid by several police officers at the crack of dawn, depending on what you’ve done or said. Now I’m not suggesting for a moment that the Scottish government ever thought of an early-morning swoop by Scotland’s finest on the offices of Shetland Fishermen’s Association. But the recent revelation that, prior to a meeting with us and our members, First Minister John Swinney was told by his minders to avoid using the phrase “spatial squeeze” demonstrates that the “let’s ban it” mindset swirls around the corridors of St Andrew’s House like a miasma on a cold, still Edinburgh night. Do they compare notes with the anti-fishing environmental lobbyists? By Daniel Lawson. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:01
As other industries bristle, Louisiana shrimpers voice support for tariffs
Louisiana shrimpers have spent years trying to keep their industry afloat amid a flood of cheap imported shrimp. They think the sweeping new tariffs announced this week could help, though they are still pushing for a more permanent solution. “If you break down you can’t even afford to put your boat back out, that’s how serious it is,” said Acy Cooper, President of the Louisiana Shrimp Association. In his decades as a commercial shrimper, he has seen the price of local shrimp plummet. “Last year, we had more closures and lower prices than we’ve ever had before,” he said. While leaders of other industries worry about the impact of the tariffs announced by President Trump this week, he expects them to help shrimpers like him compete in U.S. markets. Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:03
Inspired by great-grandfathers near death, scholarship winner hopes to make life safer for fishermen
Ben Collings-Mackay says he knows how he’s going to spend the $45,000 he received for the prestigious Frank H. Sobey scholarship. Collings-Mackay, a fourth-year business student at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, N.S., and a fourth-generation lobster fisherman, is one of eight recipients this year of the scholarship for Atlantic Canadian business students. He has a business focused on creating a lifejacket for commercial fishermen that is less cumbersome than traditional ones. The lifejacket would inflate automatically when someone hits the water and would have a GPS feature that sends out pings to nearby boats and emergency services detailing the overboard person’s location, said Collings-Mackay. A strobe light on the jacket would also help make it easier to locate the person. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:31
