Daily Archives: May 3, 2025
Shelter Island bayman: Lower mooring rates for commercial fishermen
Commercial fisherman Bert Waife challenged the Town Board to take a second look at mooring rates that it raised with no exceptions for those whose living comes from surrounding waters. At a recent meeting, the Town Board approved waiving parking fees for visitors to the Island who will be coming in September to participate in a sunfish regatta. Why are you waiving fees for non-residents for the regatta, but failing to lower mooring rates lower mooring rates? Mr. Waife asked. The visitors are not residents and don’t pay taxes on Shelter Island, he said.Mr. Waife said he made the request to the Town Board to revisit mooring fees a couple of months ago but has had no response. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 13:00
Press Release – U.S. Coast Guard Proposes Changes to Aids to Navigation in the Northeast
BOSTON – The U.S. Coast Guard is seeking public input on proposed aids to navigation (AtoN) changes in the northeast, April 30, 2025. The Coast Guard is proposing to discontinue some buoys as one of several efforts to advance a modern approach to physical aids to navigation. The current buoy constellation predates global navigation satellite systems, electronic navigation charts and electronic charting systems (ECS), which are widely used by today’s mariners. This long term effort is designed to determine the most sustainable navigational risk reduction tools to support and complement mariners, ECS and smartphone navigation apps that are more widely available and affordable. Regardless of technological advances, a robust physical aid to navigation network will always complement electronic systems. Links, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:42
Bills aimed at rescuing ailing Alaska seafood industry face tough budget challenges
Alaska’s seafood industry, squeezed by depressed fish prices and increased costs, is in a crisis. Also in a crisis is the Alaska state budget, with both investment income and oil revenues in sharp decline. That presents a dilemma for lawmakers trying to find ways to help the beleaguered seafood industry. What can they do to boost the industry’s fortunes at a time when they are staring down a big budget deficit? Some bills are pending in the Legislature that aim to aid fishers, the industry and the communities that depend on seafood harvests. Those include bills responding directly to recommendations made by a legislative task force that worked for several months prior to the session’s start. As to which bills are likely to pass this year and which might have to wait until 2026, one task force member had a succinct answer. “The ones that don’t cost money,” Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka,,, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:52
Maine Sea Grant funding restored
Federal funding for Maine Sea Grant has been restored. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration informed the University of Maine on Monday that it was reinstating all $4.5 million in federal funding it had previously cut from Maine Sea Grant. The 20-person program provides technical and research support to the state’s fisheries and coastal economies. “The groundswell of support for Maine Sea Grant and the stories that have surfaced about its incredible impact on our state’s working waterfronts have been extraordinary and effective,” UMaine President Joan Ferrini-Mundy said in a prepared statement Friday. NOAA did not respond Friday to emails or phone calls asking why it had reversed its earlier decision. more, >>LICK TO READ<< 07:51
Union Workers Urge Menhaden Regulators to Reject Environmental Misinformation and Protect Coastal Jobs
The six shop stewards representing union fishermen members of United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 400 are calling on the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to protect working Virginia watermen and rely on science, not pressure from environmental and sportfishing advocacy groups, in their decisions next week. The call comes in a letter signed by the shop stewards to the Commission’s Menhaden Management Board, as the Commission will debate proposals that could threaten fishing jobs and communities. The Menhaden Fisheries Coalition (MFC) supports these union fishermen, who work for MFC member Ocean Harvesters and whose livelihoods depend on the health of the menhaden fishery. Links, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:54
