Tag Archives: Letter
Letter to Prime Minister Trudeau and Minister Lebouthillier Re: Northern Cod
Dear Prime Minister Trudeau and Minister Lebouthillier, We write today on a serious matter needing your attention. On behalf of 320,000 workers across the country, including more than 14,000 members of the Fish, Food and Allied Workers (FFAW) Union in Newfoundland and Labrador, we are calling on you to reverse a recent decision with respect to the northern cod moratorium. The decision to end the moratorium and grant access to corporate offshore interests flies in the face of what was committed by your government and decades of past fisheries management practice. We also are concerned with the impact this will have on a fishery that is still recovering. Your government must uphold its 2015 commitment to allocate the first 115,000 tonnes of northern cod quota to inshore harvesters and Indigenous groups and immediately reinstate the Northern cod stewardship fishery under the same conditions as 2023. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:53
Letter: No. 1 Concern Is Offshore Wind Impact on Ocean
I am the fourth generation of residents, homeowners, business owners and taxpayers on Long Beach Island, as well as the granddaughter of a commercial fisherman and scalloper out of Barnegat Light. I take offense when someone says I have a case of the NIMBYs (Not In My Back Yard). This is the country’s entire coastal backyard. I am not opposed to “green” energy or for fossil fuels. I am against the destruction of our ocean. Period. The amount of resources the world receives from the ocean is immeasurable. I am not concerned with the view or real estate, tourism and the rest. Of course, all of that will be colossally impacted. My main concern is with the destruction of one of the world’s most precious resources, our ocean. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:43
Letter: Lawsuit wrongly accuses salmon trollers
In the fall and winter, you can find me in Eastern Washington, working on building a new 50-foot salmon troller. Every year when June 20th comes, I trek north to my second home, southeast Alaska. From July to September, I can be found commercial fishing on a 40-foot salmon troller out of Sitka, Alaska. I’m not the only one who migrates every summer to southeast Alaska to make my living; other residents in Eastern Washington also head to Alaska to participate in this iconic salmon fishery. This summer is different though. Hundreds of other fishermen and I are left not knowing if we’ll have an income this year due to Wild Fish Conservancy’s attack on small-boat family fishermen through its misguided lawsuit,,, >click to read and comment<14:47
No wonder communities are worried
Thank you for your report on fishing industry concerns over the potential loss of fishing grounds to offshore wind developments, which gives rise to several questions: Mr Newcombe of the Orion project boldly demands the equivalent of 67 Viking Energy (VE) wind farms (30GW) be installed on fishing grounds around Shetland so that he can produce humongous amounts of hydrogen at Sullom Voe. Throw in the SNP-Greens’ forthcoming ‘highly-protected marine areas’ (HPMAs) and is it any wonder Shetland’s biggest industry and the communities dependent on it are worried? Is it appropriate to impose development on such a scale on a small, island community that has no control over the planning of it? Does the SIC accept the implied destruction of the fishing grounds, effectively, forever, as a direct result? >click to read< 08:41
Few benefits seen from close-to-shore wind turbines
It’s beyond offensive for Gov. Phil Murphy to dismiss as “disinformation” the concerns of many of his constituents about a possible connection between wind energy survey work and the almost weekly occurrence of dead whales floating onto the Jersey Shore. Here are some things the governor has repeatedly failed to address: The planned wind farms, particularly those off of Long Beach Island, will have structures up to 1,000 feet tall, and will be close enough to land to be visible from beaches. For the Atlantic Shore project, they will be as few as 9 miles offshore. These hundreds of turbines proposed for three installations could bring devastating results to the state’s commercial fishing and tourism industries. >click to read< 09:19
Forgotten industries – Auctioning off enormous areas of precious fishing grounds to offshore wind farm developers
At a time when Scottish fishing communities are still trying to come to terms with the regulations they face after the Westminster Government’s adoption of a Brexit deal,,, The Scottish Government appear to be intent on heaping more pressure on the Scottish fishing communities, as they are presently auctioning off enormous areas of precious fishing grounds to wind farm developers and are creating massive Marine Protected Areas, that prohibits fishing activities. This will concentrate the fishing effort in other areas, putting more pressure on the available fish stocks in what fishing grounds are left. By William Polson, Whalsay, Shetland. >click to read< 18:12
An open letter to the Alaska commercial fishing fleets from Matt Alward, President, United Fishermen of Alaska
Our industry and communities are facing an unprecedented challenge in the COVID-19 pandemic. With the 2020 salmon season nearly here, we must all take extra precautions to ensure the health and safety of our crews, and the communities we work within. Fishing during the COVID-19 pandemic will not be “business as usual,” and we must all commit to a high standard of caution and personal responsibility.,, To help you through that process, we have put together a summary of what is required. This is not a complete list, however, and should not substitute your own reading and understanding of the document. There are three elements of the mandate: planning, documentation/reporting, and compliance. >click to read< 12:54
Coronavirus: Letter from 200+ US seafood industry stakeholders to Trump Administration
March 24, 2020, Dear President Trump. We write as participants in America’s seafood supply chain, a critical component of the country’s domestic food infrastructure and one of the major economic drivers in our country’s coastal communities and states. Empty restaurants, cafes, and dining halls are a visible reminder of the ongoing, unprecedented public health efforts to blunt the spread of COVID-19. The livelihoods of the chefs, cooks, servers, and other staff are obvious and direct casualties of those government efforts. The economic disruption caused by forced restaurant closures and active encouragement for Americans to “shelter in place,” however, extend far beyond the food service sector. >click to read< 19:37
Fish farms not worth damage they’ll do
I have lived in Tiverton my whole life. I am a lobster fisher. I am very concerned about the effect that fish pens proposed by Cermaq will have on St. Mary’s Bay. I have environmental, economic and community concerns. I have been told approximately 25 acres of prime lobster bottom is being taken away from us by each of these salmon pens. We don’t have a groundfish fishery anymore. Lobsters are what sustain our way of life. These pens are proposed to go where I have always caught the majority of my lobster, and that could displace me from my job, by Sheldon Dixon, >click to read< 11:10
Letter: Shaheen stands by fishermen
Commercial fisherman up and down the coast are fortune to have Jeanne Shaheen on our side. When you take into consideration that her home port is New Hampshire, a small fishing state, you ask why does she come out fighting. I tell you why she cares — after a fisherman from her state took the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to court and lost regarding paying for monitoring, she came out swinging to help him and others. >click to read< 09:09
Gov. Cooper leads bipartisan effort to oppose East Coast seismic testing, offshore drilling
Following last month’s announcement that the Trump Administration authorized airgun use in waters off the East Coast, Governor Roy Cooper and a group of bipartisan governors urged Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to prohibit harmful seismic testing and offshore drilling in the Atlantic Ocean. “As the governors of states on the Atlantic seaboard, we write >click to read letter< to reiterate our strong opposition to seismic airgun surveys and oil and gas drilling off our coasts,”,, Along with Cooper, the letter was signed by Governor Charlie Baker of Massachusetts; Governor John Carney of Delaware; Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York; Governor Larry Hogan of Maryland; Governor Dannel Malloy of Connecticut; Governor Henry McMaster of South Carolina; Governor Phil Murphy of New Jersey; Governor Ralph Northam of Virginia; and Governor Gina Raimondo of Rhode Island. >click to read<15:44
Misguided Opposition to Wind Farm? The rambling random notions of an unhinged crack pot.
As we face multiple global ecological crises, magnified by climate change, it is puzzling, even frightening, to see opposition to one of the major and already functioning forms of renewable energy, especially from the marine resources community. One would think that this community was completely ignorant of the proven threats of oil tankers to our fisheries and estuaries, or of the overfishing of food fish, or the destruction of coastal estuaries, the fish breeding grounds, for condominiums, hotels, resorts and other incompatible uses, or the polluting runoff from farms, sewers, cesspools and industry. The commercial fishing community has long sat on the sidelines as environmentalists fought the good fight to preserve ocean life.,, >click to read<10:19
Letter: Stop digging a graveyard for our fisheries
Our fishing industry in Newfoundland and Labrador is in shambles, and yet politicians and decision-makers are blind to the fish bones pilling up in the graveyard, and with it, our prime industry, economy and our communities. Either that, or they simply do not care or have a handle on this industry they are responsible for managing and growing. Are they aware or concerned about the rapid expansion of the Canadian factory freezer trawler operations off our coasts while our groundfishery recovery is stalled and shrimp and crab fisheries in decline? >click here to read< 11:05
LETTER: Need thorough, unbiased environmental study
I’d like to address publically, the situation in Pictou County involving Northern Pulp and the subsequent closure of Boat Harbor by 2020 with regards to the ‘replacement’ treatment plan which ultimately includes a pipeline for the treated effluent to be discharged into the Northumberland Strait which is part of the Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence.,,, It should also be noted that the new home of the end of the purposed pipeline is the heart of LFA 26. (Lobster Fishing Areas – there are 41 LFA’s in Canada, of them, LFA 26 as a whole is amongst the highest producers in tonnage of annual lobsters landed). I’m highlighting lobster as this is the main source of revenue for the 1000 plus fishers that fish this zone commercially. John Collins, Alma Road click here to read the story 18:48
Prince Rupert Sends Letter to Fisheries Minister On Importance of Processing Fish At Home
Councillor Joy Thorkelson presented a motion to council to have the letter ask for better policies to ensure Canadian fish caught at home is processed at home instead of somewhere overseas. “An example is pink salmon is being frozen and sent to China, Vietnam, or the Philippines for processing. We’re buying it back in Canada when it’s processed in Asia. Those are our jobs. Those are Canadian jobs, those are good union jobs that support this community. We used to have 750 people working; this year had about 135 people working processing fish.” click here to read the story 22:59
Letter: We must work together to preserve fishery, industry – Richard Beal, Gloucester
When I started fishing, everywhere you went you could see boats. They were of all types and sizes, domestic and foreign. There were no regulations. The only limitation on you was how hard you could physically work. It was a free-for-all, the Wild West revisited. Now I go fishing days and often don’t see another commercial fishing boat. It’s been my generation of fishermen that has bridged the gap from what was to what is. From an unregulated, volume-based industry to one that is highly regulated and quality oriented. I believe there has been more changes in my lifetime than in all of the industries prior history. click here to read the letter 09:48
Maine congressional delegation asks forfeited groundfish permits be redistributed through Northeast
Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King and Reps. Chellie Pingree and Bruce Poliquin sent a letter Monday to U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross asking that the 13 groundfish permits forfeited by Carlos Rafael — a New Bedford fisherman who has pleaded guilty to 28 federal counts of tax evasion, falsifying fishing quotas and conspiracy — be redistributed to fishermen throughout the Northeast, not only New Bedford. In their letter, the Maine congressional delegation said that groundfish permits embody a shared resource and, as such, should be returned to groundfish fishermen in “a fair and uniform manner.” click here to read the story 08:53
California and Oregon Governors request Salmon Disaster Assistance
With the West Coasts salmon fisheries in crisis, on Thursday California Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. and Oregon Gov. Kate Brown sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross requesting declaration of a catastrophic regional fishery disaster and commercial fishery failure for salmon in their states. Officials report that there has been an unprecedented collapse in the salmon population in California and Oregon. Tribal allocations are at an all-time low, and the proposed closures and minimal open salmon fishing seasons will have significant negative impacts on thousands of West Coast residents. The declaration the governors are seeking begins the process for requesting federal aid to assist commercial salmon anglers and salmon-dependent business who continue to suffer from declining salmon populations. Click here to read the story, and read the governors letter 09:38
Perfectly good fisheries data being ignored – Harvey Jarvis, concerned citizen
DFO is currently under fire, from several different fronts, about recent science stock assessment estimates and the subsequent management decisions. Someone not familiar with the science assessment process might believe the federal Fisheries minister’s recent announcement to conduct cod assessments every year is way of addressing current deficiencies. It is not! Conducting full, peer-reviewed, annual assessments used to be a normal occurrence until Ottawa gutted DFO science and management at the regional level. Those annual assessments failed to prevent the cod moratorium in 1992. Simply reverting to an annual assessment process will in no way address current deficiencies. Critical to the assessment process is the mathematical model that computes biomass. Critical inputs to that model are survey indices and commercial catch. If the model is flawed or if critical inputs are not included, the assessment results will be flawed. click here to read the letter 09:37
Letter: No apologies for my stand on the seal hunt, Capt. Wilfred Bartlett, retired
This letter is in response to Renee Gosse’s letter in The Telegram on Jan. 9 (“Let’s stick to the facts about the seal hunt”), stating that my previous letter on the seal hunt was inflammatory and emotional. For that, I do not apologize. This is an industry that I have been involved in all my life, a very important industry for Newfoundland and Labrador. The language I used could be used by a Sunday school teacher compared to the language used by the anti-sealing groups over the years, such as “barbarians”, “murderers”, etc. Gosse stated that there was a time when the seal hunt was an economically important industry in this province, and would still be; the trouble is, people like her have destroyed the markets worldwide and certain groups run campaigns of lies and deception. Read the letter here 09:33
Letter: Fish harvesters deserve better – Jim Radford, St. John’s
Fish harvesters: are they entrepreneurs, employees or employers? They belong to the Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union (FFAW), which looks to me like an employees union. Now they want to form their own new union; that puzzles me because the title “union” has been captured by governments and organized groups of employees to act in negotiations between employees and employers. Why does it matter if they call FISH-NL a union, or something different? I think it is a matter of focus. Back to the first question, are they entrepreneurs? As a retired entrepreneur, I have always thought that an entrepreneur is a person or entity that has investment at risk for entrepreneurial gain. That is the bedrock of a free enterprise system. Great letter. Read the rest here 11:38
Congress Members Ask Commerce Secretary to Stop Summer Flounder Quota Cuts
Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) and a bipartisan group from the New Jersey Congressional delegation sent a letter to U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker asking her to prevent rulemaking that would reduce the summer flounder quotas for recreational and commercial fishing from going into effect. The letter asks the Secretary to direct NOAA Fisheries to reexamine its methodologies and conduct a new benchmark summer flounder assessment before making any decision to reduce summer flounder quotas. Under the rule, the summer flounder Acceptable Biological Catch (ABC) would be reduced 29% in 2017 and 16% in 2018. The recreational and commercial limits would both be reduced by approximately 30% in 2017 and 16% in 2018. Senators Robert Menendez and Cory Booker and Congressmen Frank LoBiondo (NJ-02) and Tom MacArthur (NJ-03), joined Pallone in the letter. Read the rest here 09:12
Maryland: Commissioners ask state to roll back rockfish limit
A former waterman, Fithian described the proposed reduction of the bag limit as a direct attack on commercial fishing. Fithian said after reading the letter at the commissioners meeting that he recently saw a rockfish cut open to reveal a large number of immature crabs in its stomach.,, might be partly responsible for recent downturns in the crab population. Read the rest here 09:35
Poor Joe. Bought Poached Oyster from a thief – Oyster farmers stew over Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O’Keefe’s letter
Victims of last summer’s oyster thefts that cost local shellfish farmers thousands in lost business and damaged equipment want a Sandwich business owner who accepted the stolen goods to lose his permits to sell fish. And some are outraged that wrote a letter that they say appears to advocate for the perpetrator rather than his victims. Read more here Sundays post here 08:45
Letter: Welcome fishing aid no long-term answer – Sam Parisi, Gloucester
Thanks to Congressman John Tierney, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, state Sen. Bruce Tarr, Mayor Carolyn Kirk and others, we finally sent a strong message to Congress conveying that our fishermen need help. Now, let’s just see to it that these funds go to those who need it most — our fishermen. Read more@GDT 01:41
Letter: Time for some fishing ‘civil disobedience’ – Stuart Diamond, Rockport, Ma (thank you, Stuart)
Here is a quote from Thoreau’s essay called “Civil Disobedience” which was originally titled “Resistance to Civil Government”: From the letter – The Gloucester fishermen are being tyrannized by John Bullard and the NOAA, robbed of their noble vocation by a bunch of bureaucratic bandicoots and losing their boats, homes and dignity as hard-working Americans. more@GDT 08:06
Letter: Time for fishermen to stand united – Sam Frontiero, Gloucester, Ma
It saddens me and makes me angry after reading the quotes from Joe Orlando and Christine Sherman in the Times (Page 1, Wednesday, July 31). I have sent numerous letters to Obama and even his wife. Who knows if they even see them. But Michelle sent back totallly disregarding what I wrote, sending a generic response and a website to see all the good their administration has done. I thought he would make a change and to listen to him talk about jobs, makes me puke. And I voted for him. continued@GDT
Letter: Fight further takeover of our fishing grounds – Jim Tarantino Gloucester, Ma.
It’s pretty simple: The Gloucester fisherman are being moved off the fishing grounds because there are more profitable harvests from the ocean. The big corporations own everything: our farmland, our government, the media, and now they’re taking the planet’s biggest asset — the ocean. The Northeast Regional Ocean Council (NROC) recently held a poorly advertised public forum (there wasn’t one Gloucester fisherman there!) to seek public comment on ocean planning. continued@gloucesterdailytimes
To the Editor: Why can’t fishermen earn a living? by Sam Parisi Gloucester
What will it take to have our government help or even allow our fishermen to earn a living? Read more
