Tag Archives: Seafood harvesters
Maine seafood harvesters are taking on an unexpected new hobby
Lobstermen repeatedly haul unwieldy traps, oyster farmers bend over to pull up hulking cages and scallopers hunch over to shuck their prized shellfish at sea. Harvesting seafood for a living can exact a stiff toll on the lower back. The industry has long had a reputation for a “rub some dirt on it” mentality when it comes to these and other daily aches and pains, but a new program aims to introduce fishermen to yoga to keep them on their feet and out on the water. >click to read< 12:26
Gloucester: Open Door, fishing vessel win food security grants
The Open Door and a Gloucester fishing company will share in $5.9 million in state grants to help ensure a secure food supply chain for Massachusetts residents,,, The Open Door, which operates food pantries in Gloucester and Ipswich and other food delivery services, received $201,073,,, Also, the Russo Fishing Co., which operates the F/V Miss Trish, received $95,000 to develop an automated fish-gutting and conveyor system on the deck of the vessel to reduce the amount of time its catch remains on deck. The award to the Russo Fishing Co. is one of eight to seafood harvesters, producers and processors, as well as aquaculture operations throughout the state. The inclusion of fishing industry elements among the grant awards was a key point of emphasis, according to state Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester. >click to read< 16:10
Catch share threat is back
As we enter 2017, the biggest threat to commercial and recreational fishermen in the South Atlantic is back: private ownership of the snapper-grouper fishery through a catch share program. Fishery stakeholders have year after year overwhelmingly rejected any form of catch shares. Most recently, 97 percent of the comments on the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s long-range snapper-grouper management plan opposed catch shares — a plan the council promised would be “stakeholder-driven.” Yet, SAFMC Vice Chair Charlie Phillips has revealed that he, SAFMC member Chris Conklin and former SAFMC member Jack Cox, all commercial snapper-grouper fleet owners and dealers, are leading an effort to get a voluntary “pilot” catch share program in place this year using an “Exempted Fishing Permit,” which is a back door way to avoid the normal fishery regulation approval process. In a recent article in the Charleston, SC Post & Courier, Vice Chair Phillips touts that the permit would “allow them to catch all year.” The article also reveals that the Seafood Harvesters of America, which has been funded with over $300,000 from the radical Environmental Defense Fund, is supporting the EFP application. The Seafood Harvesters represent some of the biggest catch share owners in the nation. Read the post here 11:06
All hands on deck for Alaska plan to solve marine worker shortage
With our massive land endowment and bragging rights as the largest state in the nation, it’s easy to lose sight of an important fact – Alaska is a maritime state.,, The waters off Alaska’s shores produce more than 60 percent of the nation’s seafood harvest. Read more here 09:32
