Tag Archives: economic-disaster
The Dead Zone – Nothing Here Gets Out Alive
With an easy drawl, Dean Blanchard, the owner of Dean Blanchard Seafood in the barrier-island town of Grand Isle, Louisiana, makes an understated observation: “There’s a reason they call it a dead zone. When the dead zone comes, everything’s dead. We can’t catch dead stuff. We’re in the live stuff business.” What Blanchard is talking about is the Gulf of Mexico “dead zone,” an enormous area in which, every spring, an overgrowth of algae and other vegetation absorbs dissolved oxygen from the water and kills all animal life. “This year,” Blanchard says, “we had shrimp jumping on the beach, committing suicide, trying to get out of the water because there’s no oxygen.” The result is an economic disaster. To find live shrimp, fishers have to ply their boats as far as fifty miles from shore. “With the price of fuel, you don’t want to go too far,” Blanchard says. His company’s annual haul has declined from twelve million pounds of shrimp a year to under five million. He used to employ sixty workers—now he’s down to thirty. >click to read< 11:49
UK Fishermen – Storm Surges and Wind Farms – Economic Disaster
The government fund will allow people who make their living from the sea to receive up to £5,000 to replace lost or damaged fishing gear including crab and lobster pots. It comes as the Fishermen’s Mission also launched a nationwide appeal for emergency funds to aid people in coastal communities who have been unable to land any catches, as a result of the severe storms. Cromer crab fisherman John Lee, chairman of the North Norfolk Fisheries Local Action Group, said the major issues facing fishermen were offshore wind farms and the possibility of creating a Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ) off the north Norfolk coast. Read more here 07:40
Fishing stakeholders’ focus shifts from rules to survival
Paul J. Diodati knew he was venturing into something of a maelstrom when he traveled to Gloucester on Monday night to listen to the concerns of local fishermen and stakeholders, while offering some fashion of a state of the state fisheries assessment at the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries offices on Emerson Avenue. Read more@gdt 02:58
Status quo tightens squeeze on fishermen
Just six weeks into the new fishing year, Gloucester and other New England fishermen and their federal regulators share a common belief that the very existence of the fishery is in peril, yet both sides remain entrenched in their feelings regarding how to deal with the crisis the federal Department of Commerce acknowledges is an “economic disaster.” continued @ Gloucester Daily Times
Fish consumers may not notice cuts that are hurting New England’s fishermen
Associated Press – To the 79-year-old, the decline of the industry has stolen jobs, community spirit and opportunity. And it’s not over, Gilson said. This month , New England’s fishermen again saw a cut to the number of fish they can catch, this time so deep that the historic industry’s existence is threatened from Rhode Island to Maine,,, continued
In depth article: Climate Change Impacts Ripple Through Fishing Industry While Ocean Science Lags Behind
Huffington Post – With a limberness that defies his 69 years, Frank Mirarchi heaves himself over the edge of a concrete wharf and steps out onto a slack, downward sloping dock line bouncing 20 feet above the lapping waters near Scituate, Mass. continued
Editorial: Feds must hold Commerce to law on fishery aid
Disappointing, embarrassing, offensive — all of those words can be applied to the fact that White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett largely ignored Gov. Deval Patrick’s call for executive action to overturn the dire NOAA limit cuts now threatening the Northeast groundfishery. continued
Gov. gets deaf ear from White House on fisheries as Valerie Jarrett, a senior advisor to President Obama Dummies Up!
Valerie Jarrett, a senior advisor to President Obama, has declined to explain why the White House turned a deaf ear to the pleas of Gov. Deval Patrick for relief from what Patrick told her were “impending drastic cuts” in landings allowed the groundfishing fleet concentrated in his state. continued
BULLARD, SHELLEY, and COD: or Fish Being and Nothingness – Featured Writer Dick Grachek
“Returning Our New England Fisheries to Profitability”: “You’re doin’ a great job, Brownie” aka, Janie, Johnny, Petey. You should be proud. Mission Accomplished?
In her resignation email Lubchenco made the gravity-defying claim that she had made “notable progress” in “ending overfishing, rebuilding depleted stocks, and returning fishing to profitability”; but soon after, John Bullard “In an interview at the Times, Bullard said the telling figure was that the fleet caught only 54 percent of the allowed catch in 2012, and reasoned from that statistic that there is a dearth of inshore cod, a situation that warrants serious action to reverse.” Richard Gaines March 8, 2013 Gloucester Daily Times, “NOAA head explains stock stand”
Peter Shelley of Conservation Law Foundation explains the Cod Dilemma in a wormy little video he so humorously named “For Cod’s Sake”…..continued
Can the small family-owned boats survive or will the remaining fishermen wind up as sharecroppers for someone else’s fleet?
continued
NOAA report ignores ‘disaster’
Without acknowledging the socio-economic disaster that has befallen the Northeast groundfishery, endangering the scale of the nation’s oldest fishery and the viability of small ports like Gloucester, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Thursday released its annual status of the stocks 2012 — proclaiming “significant continued progress to “end overfishing and rebuild fish stocks.” continued
“Today,NOAA has responded to a declared disaster by creating a crisis.” NOAA sticks to cuts in fish limits
“Want to buy a boat?” said Orlando, who fishes from the 70-foot vessel Padre Pio. “I put it up for sale. I have no choice.” “Rather than take the true advice of the New England Fisheries Management Council, the New England states and Congress and go forward with a second Interim Rule, NOAA instead to chose deliver a ‘death’ sentence to an industry, a way of life, and local economies and communities up and down the New England coast,” Ferrante wrote in an email. “I cannot say that I am surprised, but today, we dig in and fight harder.” Damned RIGHT! continued
‘Take the ‘no’ out of NOAA,’ rally speakers urge
It was Attorney General Martha Coakley, a leading advocate for the fishing industry along with Gov. Deval Patrick who put it directly to NOAA’s Gloucester-based Northeast regional administrator while addressing the roughly 300 fishermen present as well.
“I hope, Mr. Bullard,” she said, speaking beneath a big canvas tent, “that you can take the ‘no’ out of NOAA.” continued
Empty nets in Louisiana three years after the spill
Yscloskey, Louisiana (CNN) – At least he’s got some company. There’s not much else going on at his dock these days. There used to be two or three people working with him; now he’s alone. The catch that’s coming in is light, particularly for crabs. “Guys running five or six hundred traps are coming in with two to three boxes, if that,” said Stander, 26. Out on the water, the chains clatter along the railing of George Barisich’s boat as he and his deckhand haul dredges full of oysters onto the deck. continued
Gloucester fishing community seeks relief from catch limits – Gloucester’s historic industry. Uncertain future
A few weeks ago, second-generation commercial fisherman B.G. Brown almost gave up. He had learned how much fish he can legally catch in the coming year. The numbers were shockingly low. “I was ready to throw in the towel,” Brown told a crowd of about 40 local business people, political leaders, concerned community members, and fellow fishermen that gathered last week to discuss the uncertain future of Gloucester’s historic industry. continued
As grim fishing year approaches, New England’s fishing fleet tries to deal with new catch limits – “What are people doing to help the industry?”
BOSTON – Deep cuts in catch limits will hit New England’s fishing fleet in less than three weeks, and there’s little hint any real relief is coming. But regulators and fishermen are still seeking ways to lessen a blow fishermen warn will finish them off. As time grows short, Gloucester’s Al Cottone said he and his fellow fishermen seem to be facing the future in a sort of “state of shock.” “Everyone’s in denial. They still think, you know, someone’s going to come in on their white horse and save us,” he said. “No one knows what they’re going to do,” he said. “Nobody.” continued
60 Massachusetts Lawmakers urge Governor Patrick to seek fishing aid from Obama, his personal friend from their Chicago days
A group of more than 60 state lawmakers, including many with districts far from the sea, asked Gov. Deval Patrick Thursday to appeal directly to President Obama, his personal friend from their Chicago days, to grant emergency relief from impending cutbacks in commercial fishery landings widely feared to render the commercial fishing industry “non-viable.”President Obama has kept a stony silence in the face of the growing crisis once he appointed Lubchenco to administer the nation’s oceans and fisheries. And he failed to respond to requests for her dismissal from Reps. Barney Frank, John Tierney, Walter Jones and Sen. Scott Brown. Frank, now retired, and Tierney, whose district includes Gloucester, are Democrats. Jones, who represents the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and Brown, defeated last November by Democrat Elizabeth Warren, are Republicans. continued
Warren hears from local fishermen about industry ‘under attack’
Wicked Local -“They want to get rid of the little guys, the people that know how to nurture the resource, the people who do not care about getting rich,” Welch, a Scituate fisherman, said. “We just want to provide for our families, and we want to work, and we want to employ people.” continued
Lawmakers push to ease fish limits
Citing widespread evidence of an abundance of important commercial in shore fish stocks — and a scientific study that found flaws in the modeling methods used by the government to set catch limits — a contingent of state lawmakers led by Senate President Therese Murray is urging NOAA’s top fisheries official to delay dire cuts planned for May 1 and allow the fleet reasonable access to stocks while new studies are conducted into the vitality of the Gulf of Maine ecosystem. continued
Massachusetts Lawmakers press NOAA to ‘suspend’ May 1 quota cuts
Citing widespread evidence of an abundance of important commercial in shore fish stocks and a scientific study that found flaws in the modeling methods used by the government to set catch limits, a contingent of state lawmakers led by Senate President Therese Murray are urging NOAA’s top fisheries official to allow the fleet reasonable access to stocks while new studies are conducted into the vitality of the Gulf of Maine ecosystem. continued
Feds officially propose cuts in NE fish catch
Editorial: Influx of cod must spark feds to delay limit cuts
But the influx of cod must be seen as bad news by those esteemed NOAA “scientists” and officials who, with the help of their closely-related environmental nonprofit spin doctors, have poured countless PR dollars and effort into spreading the false word that, indeed, the cod stocks are so diminished — especially from the Gulf of Maine — that we need to cut those fishermen’s 2013 quota by a job- and industry-killing 77 percent. continue reading
Fishermen weigh options, risks as dire limits near – Faces of fishing’s ‘disaster’
The desperation shows on their faces and in the risks they’re taking to keep their mom-and-pop businesses on a lifeline. If pulse fishing hadn’t occurred, our sector would have been able to catch our quota,” said Burgess. “It’s a tremendous oversight to let the big boats work in shore,” said Ed Smith, captain of the 40 foot Claudia Marie. “And it wasn’t as if (NOAA) weren’t told” what was going on. Read more
Editorial: Cape Pond Ice’s plight shows impact of fishery losses – Gloucester Daily Times
The Cape Pond Ice case shows once and for all that this economic disaster is not “just” about fishing. It’s about the entire city’s economy – and a rogue agency of our own federal
government should not be allowed to bring it down. Read more
My View: Science, sense needed in fishing’s ‘human crisis’ – Scott W. Lang
The human crisis in the groundfishing industry is a real crisis. It is not contrived, it is not looming, it is not a threat, it is here.
Jesus Christ! Not Cape Pond Ice. Cape Pond Ice on the block
Scott Memhard cited the decision by NOAA against allowing the industry a second year of relief via interim catch levels as forcing his hand. The first year of interim limits held the reduction in Gulf of Maine cod to only 22 percent but without the same for the 2013 fishing year beginning May 1, landings will be compressed by 77 percent. And with $1 million in debt coming due, Memhard said he has little choice. Read more
Lubchenco leaves NOAA, ‘disaster’ behind
Jane Lubchenco’s provocative tenure as NOAA administrator ended Thursday, three years, 11 months and nine days after it began, with the groundfishery she promised to save in an apparent death spiral – Read more here
John Bullard – No guarantees that fish stocks will come back
The big question is: Why has this happened? Over the years, quotas have been gradually reduced, but still the fish aren’t coming back as expected. It isn’t simply a case of overfishing. There are environmental forces at play such as
predation from recovered populations of dogfish and seals, changes in ocean water temperature and increases in ocean acidity. So, while it may not be totally on the fishermen’s shoulders, it will be the fishermen who will have to pay the price. Read more
Liz Warren declines to accept Barney Frank’s proposal to press President Obama for relief for the fishing industry
“Senator Warren appreciated the opportunity to meet with fishermen, family members, local small business owners, and advocates earlier this week in Gloucester and New Bedford to talk about the future of the New England fishing industry,” said Bruno Freitas, a senior advisor to Warren who, for many years, served as Frank’s fisheries advisor. “It’s clear that the rules that are in place are not working for fishermen or their families. ”Senator Warren will use the tools she has available to provide them the help they need,” Freitas’ statement continued. “She has worked closely with Congressman Frank on this and other issues, and she will continue developing a strategy to most effectively assist Massachusetts fishermen.” Read more
Video of Richard Burgess, “the entire fishery between the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank, whether it’s big boats or small boats, will be entirely put out of business.” Burgess concluded the segment with a renewed call for fishery disater relief for the region. “We’d like to see President Obama step in and help this Northeast region with disaster relief immediately, because we’ve got mennow that have not had paychecks in months,” he said. Watch video
