Daily Archives: April 7, 2025
Amid protests, quota cuts, and tariff threats, panel set to rule on snow crab prices
Amid quota cuts, protests, a court challenge and the constant uncertainty of a mercurial U.S. president, parties for both sides of the lucrative Newfoundland and Labrador snow crab fishery have submitted their price recommendations. Now, they wait. In a social media post on Sunday, the Fish Food and Allied Workers union said the price setting panel hearing on snow crab began that morning. The union is asking the panel for a starting price of $4.97 per pound this season. In the same post, the union said the Association of Seafood Producers is asking the panel for a starting price of $4.50 per pound. “Everyone hears about $5, $6, even $7 crab, so nobody is terribly thrilled at the idea of $4.97, and even less thrilled at the idea of $4.50,” said Ray Critch, a negotiator and policy manager for the FFAW. Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 15:04
Little interest in future of fishermen’s association
A planned first meeting of the Guernsey Fishermen’s Association since 2022 will not be going ahead due to a lack of interest. The industry has shrunk in recent years and an over-abundance of octopus has been blamed for a sharp decline in crabs and lobsters. The association’s vice-president Dougal Lane had said he had hoped to hold an emergency meeting of the association last month. It would have been the first since its last chairman, Barry Paint, a former States deputy, died in July 2022. However, he said that after making enquiries with members he had not gone ahead due to a lack of interest. ‘The older ones who might have come along are talking about decommissioning and the younger ones aren’t interested,’ he said. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 14:01
NCFA WEEKLY UPDATE FOR April 07, 2025
The Northern and Southern Advisory Committees (ACs) will meet this week (Finfish AC meets next week) to discuss and take public comment on Amendment 4 to the Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The only action item in this amendment is whether to expedite the quota allocation shift to 50/50 recreational/commercial in 2025 instead of following the plan to shift allocation in 2026 as outlined in Amendment 3.,, Regulations implementing terminal gear requirements in the Pelagic Longline Take Reduction Plan (PLTRP) contained in 50 CFR 229.36(d), became effective January 1, 2025. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 11:18
Kiwi fishers turn crayfish waste into dolphin-safe rig bait
The need to keep dolphins safe has motivated a group of New Plymouth commercial fishermen to invent a new type of bait from waste products. Fishers Keith Mawson from Egmont Seafoods and Rob Ansley from Ocean Pearl Fisheries, have worked with Massey University scientist Jerome Chua to develop a sausage-like bait. The Fiordland Lobster Company supplied the “sea sausage” ingredient made from 100% crayfish waste. “The sausages are the solution to a tricky problem in the west coast North Island fishery,” says Mawson. Rob Ansley had been looking at how to continue to catch rig – an excellent fish in fish and chips. Traditionally fishers use trawling or set net to catch rig. But this form of fishing has had to move away from rig habitats to protect dolphins, including Maui dolphin. That meant the area’s whole commercial rig fishery was at risk. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:19
‘Lied to and cheated’: Fishing industry’s sense of betrayal during Brexit debate
Fishing did not quite return to its pre-Brexit poster boy status in parliament recently, but certainly featured above its weight as MPs debated a motion for the UK to seek a return to membership of the European Union. The debate, prompted by a recent petition to parliament that exceeded the 100,000-signature threshold required to trigger such debates, came as opinion polls show an increase in support for a trade deal, or a return to membership of the EU. Fifty-five percent of British people surveyed in the latest YouGov poll were in favour of a return to EU membership, with just 11% saying that Brexit had been a success. Whilst the debate ranged over a wide number of issues, coastal MPs from all parties made the point that Brexit had badly let down the fishing industry – though for some speakers this was caused by Brexit itself, with others blaming the subsequent TCA. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:50
Louisiana shrimpers commend new tariffs, express optimism
Local shrimpers are hopeful the new tariffs on imported shrimp will bolster the domestic shrimp industry. “We’ve had to get more active and have to go to Baton Rouge or have to go to Washington, D.C. That kind of thing or something that really never happened from our level before,” said Cheri Blanchard with the Southern Shrimp Alliance. Blanchard has witnessed a shift in the local shrimping business over the years. She explains that more than 90% of shrimp consumed in the United States is imported from countries like India, Indonesia and Ecuador, driving down prices and crushing U.S. shrimp owners’ businesses. Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:36
