Tag Archives: foreign competition
Would you quit your job for $110,000? This California swordfisherman said no
Fisherman Gary Burke eyed all that’s left of a fleet that once helped satisfy America’s insatiable appetite for swordfish: four old vessels with splotches of rust showing through peeling paint. Decades ago, there were more than 100 such ships in Santa Barbara alone, towing mile-long drift gill nets in choppy seas far beyond the breakwater. Today, there are perhaps a dozen in the entire United States, and they will probably soon be removed from service. “We’ve been whittled down by regulations and old age,” Burke grumbled as he climbed aboard the 50-foot vessel Tytan, which has been his private domain for 35 years. >click to read< 08:39
FISHY BUSINESS: A personal look at Scituate fishing
I have been writing Fishy Business about the commercial fishing industry and other maritime topics for a number of years and until now have never referred to myself. This column is different because our commercial fishing industry in Scituate is on the cusp of extinction; which is very personal to me. In this case, “commercial fishing” is referring to the finfish (or groundfish) fleet and the few boats that drag for shellfish. For now, the lobster fleet is doing well, but those businesses face their own perils to be discussed another time.,, There are many factors that are leading to the end of commercial fishing in Scituate and in many other small ports. By Christian Putnam >click to read<09:43
Threatened Catch
It’s the Sunday after Thanksgiving. And in case you’re tired of turkey, we have a helping of shrimp and a few questions. You may not think much about how the seafood gets to your plate.But the question of who’s catching it and where is at the center of a global controversy. To understand why, we head south to the Louisiana bayou. It’s where an industry that survived Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil spill is finding itself threatened with extinction by foreign competition. These fishermen could be Shrimpers Lost… and theirs could be a lesson for us all. Today we’re going shrimping in Venice, Louisiana. Acy Cooper is our guide. Sharyl Attkisson: How important is the shrimping business to your personally? Acy Cooper: It’s everything to me. You know, my family does it. My dad’s 80 years old, he still fishes. And my two boys has entered the business, and my daughter she married a fisherman. Louisiana’s shrimp industry has been a family affair for more than a century. Video, read the rest here 16:04
