Tag Archives: habitat
A Rebuttal to a Recent Commentary: Alaska trawl fisheries are vital and under attack by those using myths
This campaign to ban trawling – a sustainable fishing method responsible for a substantial majority of fishery landings in the Alaska Region and nationally – poses a direct threat to Alaska’s coastal economy, seafood sector and way of life. If you enjoy wild seafood – fish sandwiches or shrimp; fish sticks or scallops; fish tacos or rockfish – you are enjoying seafood caught by “trawl” or “dredge” fishing gears that touch the seafloor. It’s true that these fishing methods, like every farm, aquaculture facility and fishing operation on the planet, impact the environment. But, what’s also true is that the impacts of trawl fishing in Alaska are continually monitored to ensure long-term ecosystem health. The recent commentary authored for the Alaska Beacon by Heather Sauyaq Jean Gordon and David Bayes is the latest effort to demonize sustainable trawl fisheries. Like other attacks on our sector, the commentary comes from a vocal few that play fast and loose with the facts. By Sam Wright, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 11:43
Cape fishermen push for action on habitat protection
Part of managing fisheries is identifying and protecting that habitat. But the ocean is a big place and a difficult environment to do analysis. Politically, it’s also fractious terrain as fishermen worry about the balance between conservation and being shut out of traditional and productive fishing grounds. And so, it took 14 years for the New England Fishery Management to craft regulations protecting fish habitat, passing Omnibus Habitat Amendment 2 in June of 2015. But after over two years of review by the council and the National Marine Fisheries Service, it still hasn’t been implemented,,, click here to read the story 11:19
New England Fishery Management Council asks NOAA to suspend monitoring
The commercial fishing industry won two big battles at the bruising New England Fishery Management Council meetings this week, the first on habitat and the final on the council’s vote to seek emergency measures to suspend the bulk of at-sea monitoring of groundfish boats for the remainder of the 2015 fishing season.“The science center doesn’t have the money and the industry doesn’t have the money. But that doesn’t mean we can just get rid of monitoring. We need the monitoring for accountability and suspending it is just not good policy.” John Bullard Read the rest here 09:25
It’s all about the habitat – River-herring restoration booming
Millions of dollars in federal, state and private money have created a small boom in state-of-the-art, fishway construction projects on many Rhode Island rivers and streams. Fish ladders are being put in, dams are coming down. And on the coast, in the port of Galilee in Narragansett, fishermen are working with scientists in new ways to come up with river-herring-avoidance programs. Read more @pbn.com 09:02
