Daily Archives: May 8, 2025
N.L. seafood producer hopeful for new markets at world’s largest trade event in Spain
The world’s largest seafood expo is drawing to a close in Barcelona, and one Newfoundland and Labrador seafood producer is optimistic he’ll walk away with new customers. Labrador Gem Seafoods president Danny Dumaresque is working the floor at the Global Seafood Marketplace. He says the expo has gotten off to a strong start. Dumaresque says the expo has five venues filled with companies from across Europe, Asia and the U.S. “Canada has a prominent presence here,” he said. “It’s a major event for the Canadian delegation.” The Newfoundland and Labrador government also has a booth there. Dumaresque says he had his eye on this event since U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January. The expanding global trade war kicked off soon after. While Canadian seafood was not tariffed, uncertainty was felt throughout the sector for months. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 16:33
The Swansea fishing boat skipper ‘at the heart’ of £100m cocaine smuggling operation
A Swansea trawler skipper was “at the heart” of a £100million cocaine smuggling operation, a court has heard. Jon Williams was at the helm of the Lily Lola fishing boat when it was intercepted off the coast of Cornwall carrying more than a tonne of high-purity coke from south America. Asleep in a chair next to him was fellow Swansea man Patrick Godfrey. Williams and Godfrey along with two other men – Michael Kelly and Jake Marchant – had just fished more than 1,000 one-kilo blocks of cocaine out of the sea which had been dumped at an agreed rendezvous point by members of an international organised crime group. But unbeknown to the four men on the craft, the National Crime Agency had had them in their sights for several months. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 14:02
DON’T TAKE THE BAIT: FFAW CRITICIZES DFO MACKEREL PLAN, CALLS FOR REOPENING OF COMMERICAL FISHERY
The Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union (FFAW-Unifor), representing over 13,000 inshore fish harvesters and plant workers in Newfoundland and Labrador, is urging the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) to establish a modest directed commercial mackerel fishery for the 2025 season. The Union has expressed strong concerns that the current 470-tonne personal-use bait fishery, announced for Atlantic Canada and Quebec yesterday evening, fails to meet the needs of Newfoundland and Labrador’s harvesters and coastal communities. FFAW-Unifor President Dwan Street emphasizes the critical need for a commercial fishery, stating, “The bait mackerel fishery is useless to the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Our harvesters have a long history of a fully monitored, high-quality directed fishery that supported livelihoods and provided top-tier product, especially in the fall. A small commercial fishery is not just necessary—it’s essential to sustain our rural communities and ensure the economic viability of our inshore fishery.” more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 11:54
A lobster fisher from Wellfleet talks about changes in the sea
For decades in the Gulf of Maine, Damien Parkington has seen lobsters follow the same migration pattern in the spring and early summer, coming in from deeper waters to find a more shallow spot to release their eggs. “The first migration of lobsters is generally egg-bearing females that are searching habitat to go lay their eggs,” he explained. “So the habitat is gonna be a certain type of water, it’s gonna have a certain temperature, it’s going to have a certainty salinity, and they like a certain sandy, gravelly bottom to do that. And they actually kind of nest up and they’ll hang out and fan their eggs, and when everything agrees, they’ll release them.” For as long as Damien can remember, female lobsters have been migrating in to do this at Stellwagen Bank — a sort of underwater shelf or plateau about 25 miles east of Boston and 5 miles north of Provincetown. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:28
US House Dems say NOAA cuts will harm weather forecasting, fisheries, Navy operations
The agency’s climate and oceanic research supports the U.S. Navy’s operations and even the commercial fishing industry – described during the forum as having “a love-hate relationship” with the agency – depends on NOAA to open and close fisheries, the lawmakers and experts said. The group of Democrats, who met without involvement of the committee’s Republican majority, said the cuts would hurt a wide range of Americans who depend on the agency’s data collection and rulemaking. Magaziner was the one who called the commercial fishing industry’s connection with NOAA “a love-hate relationship,” but he and witnesses noted that the agency oversees the most basic functions the industry needs to operate. Sarah Schumann, a fisherman with operations in Rhode Island and Alaska, criticized President Joe Biden’s administration for allying too strongly with offshore wind developers, but said the new administration’s actions were also detrimental to the industry. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:24
Work halted on huge windfarm in North Sea amid rising costs
Energy giant Orsted has said it is stopping work on one of the UK’s biggest upcoming offshore wind projects, in a blow to the Government’s clean energy plans. The world’s largest offshore wind developer said it will halt its Hornsea 4 project, a massive, planned wind farm in the North Sea that could have powered more than one million homes. Orsted said the project had suffered rising supply chain costs, higher interest rates and increasing risk of not finishing the project on time. It said the problems had “increased the execution risk and deteriorated the value creation of the project”. Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:50
