Bristol Bay Fisheries Report: July 3, 2024
The baywide catch yesterday was 860,000, with over half of those fish coming from the Nushagak district. Egegik daily catch numbers more than doubled, with big average drift deliveries. Test fishery crews out at Port Moller report another day of increased catch indices, and say with those numbers, a larger and later run is more likely. An electrical fire damaged one of three spiral freezers aboard the Hannah on Sunday, June 30 2024. That’s Northline Seafood’s new floating processor, which is anchored in Bristol Bay’s Nushagak district this salmon season. The vessel is currently operating at a reduced capacity, although other processors are taking on some of Northline’s fleet. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:14
O’Regan Rejects FFAW’s Calls to Reverse Commercial Cod Fishery
The union is demanding that Ottawa reverse its decision and maintain a stewardship fishery for cod, citing what they believe could be the detrimental impacts of foreign draggers now having access to the stock. O’Regan says once the stock goes from the critical to the cautious zone, and enough fishing has happened that it is essentially a commercial fishery, there are certain obligations that kick in. He says the cod quota can’t be increased to the point where it crosses certain lines and then say ‘nothing to see here.’ O’Regan says that the NAFO agreements are binding, and if people want an increase to the quota there are obligations they have to keep. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:24
NJ record lobster caught by Ocean County diver July 4; no one will ever beat that record
While you’re sitting around the grill this July 4 holiday, raise a glass to William Sharp, who caught the mother of all New Jersey lobsters on this day in 2003. He was diving on the sunken remains of the Almirante, an old banana boat that everyone knows as the “flour wreck,” which is a story unto itself. The 378-foot freighter belonged to the United Fruit Co. and was steaming from New York City to Colon, Panama, with a full cargo hold. It was under one of those twisted, steel plates that Sharp, a retired Navy shipyard worker, had his standoff with what would turn out to be a New Jersey state record lobster. With the water cloudy with floating sand particles, Sharp won his tug of water and surfaced with the biggest lobster ever caught by a diver in New Jersey waters since the state started keeping records. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:41
Copper River/PWS catch exceeds 1M salmon
Commercial salmon harvests for the Copper River and the rest of Prince William Sound have now exceeded one million fish, including an estimated 959,946 sockeyes, in a season where retail prices continue to vary from $37.95 to $12.99 a pound. As more commercial fisheries opened statewide, Copper River, Bering River and Coghill district harvesters embarked June 24 on 36-hour commercial drift gillnet openers, and the Eshamy district began a 24-hour fishery. Commercial harvesters in the Unakwik, Montague and Southwestern districts were also fishing. As of late Monday, June 24, the salmon harvest in Prince William Sound stood at 973,000 sockeyes, 549,000 chum, 6,000 Chinook, and 1,000 pinks. Cook Inlet anglers had 42,000 sockeyes, and Bristol Bay districts — which are just getting started — had delivered 228,000 reds, bringing the Central Region total to 1.8 million fish, including 1.2 million sockeyes, 549,000 chum, 6,000 Chinooks, and 1,000 humpies. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 19:12
Folkestone Trawler Race cancelled for 2024 after attracting 10,000 people to town’s harbour
An annual water festival celebrating a town’s fishing industry has been cancelled following “safety” fears caused by a lack of funding. Organizers have confirmed Folkestone’s Trawler Race will not go ahead this summer which sees the town’s fishermen take to the sea and race around the harbour. However, organiser Cath Mison has announced this year’s gala will not feature as planned. “We have made the decision to save what funds we have already and apply to other funding avenues so we can put on a spectacular event for the Trawler Race’s 50th Anniversary in 2025. “It has been a difficult decision, but we can not deliver this year’s event effectively and safely. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 12:32
Southeast Texas shrimpers have chance to voice concerns about ‘shrimp dumping’
Southeast Texas shrimpers are fighting to protect their livelihoods amid shrimp dumping. Shrimp dumping involves the heavy import of foreign shrimp that gets “dumped” into the American market. Now, the United States International Trade Commission wants shrimpers to fill out a questionnaire and document their struggles. On Tuesday, a meeting was held at the International Seafarer Center in Port Arthur. It was filled with dozens of shrimpers eager to learn about what is happening with their fight against foreign shrimp import dumping. At Tuesday’s meeting, fishermen listened to legislative updates about a petition they submitted last year to the Department of Commerce and the International Trade Commission about shrimp dumping being investigated. Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:28
Spectre of draggers returning to cod fishery drives FFAW to call to reinstate moratorium
Newfoundland and Labrador’s fisheries union is calling on the federal government to revert its decision to end the moratorium on cod fishing and reinstate a stewardship fishery, a week after the federal Liberal government called the move “a historic milestone.” Greg Pretty, president of the Fish, Food and Allied Workers union (FFAW), told reporters in a press conference on Tuesday — the 32nd anniversary of the 1992 cod moratorium — there’s real concern that everything done over the last 32 years to rebuild the stock will be undone if offshore draggers, both Canadian and international, are allowed to fish cod in Newfoundland and Labrador waters again. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:38
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 40′ Novi Scalloper/Permits, John Deere Diesel
To review specifications, information, and 4 photos’, >click here< To see all the boats in this series, >click here< 06: 05How the Supreme Court rescued my NJ fishing firm that bureaucrats almost sank
The Supreme Court just sided with my New Jersey-based, family-owned fishing business, and may have even saved it. That’s the reality of the court’s June 28 decision in a case called Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, which overturned the “Chevron doctrine” that gave unchecked power to federal bureaucrats. Yet the media reaction hasn’t focused on what the ruling means for regular people and job creators like me. The pundits say that Washington, DC, will descend into chaos because the justices stopped unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats from deciding for themselves what’s “reasonable” under federal law. But as I can attest, that power quickly leads to abuse. The Supreme Court has protected the American people from regulators run amok, and from a Congress that won’t do its job. I was one of the small business owners who sued the federal government in this case. By Wayne Reichle, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 21:20
Feds say “damn the whales” in the Gulf of Maine
Biden’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) proposes to build a huge amount of floating offshore wind in the Gulf of Maine. As required by law, it has published for public comment a draft Environmental Assessment of the area designated for this monster project. But insanely, there is no assessment of the project, just of the area without the project. I am not making this up. This place is properly called the Wind Energy Area (WEA) because that is where the wind energy will come from. BOEM says they plan to issue eight leases initially with a monster development potential of 15,000 MW. Given that 15 MW is the biggest turbine available that amounts to 1,000 or more huge turbines. A second phase might add another thousand of so. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 12:29
Newfoundland and Labrador Harvesters Call for Reestablishment of Northern Cod Stewardship Fishery
St. John’s, NL – On the 32nd Anniversary of the historic Northern cod moratorium, fish harvesters in Newfoundland and Labrador are calling for an immediate return of the Northern Cod Stewardship Fishery, following an announcement from the federal government earlier this week that they plan to return the important species to commercial status and allow offshore draggers to access the stock. “As a province, we are demanding the federal government return our important northern cod resource back to a stewardship fishery and ensure the species is protected as it continues to rebuild,” says FFAW-Unifor President Greg Pretty. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:03
Maine leaders split on environmental regulation ruling by US Supreme Court
By a vote of 6-3, the Supreme Court overturned the Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council ruling from 1984. Governor Janet Mills shared concerns that this decision could impact how federal agencies protect the health and safety of Americans. Maine House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham, also a lobster fisherman, says this could help in their fight against federal fishing regulations. “This really opens up a whole new avenue for people that feel like they’ve been hurt by the government to challenge that,” Faulkingham said. 5 photos, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:08
The Vietnamese Impact on Jefferson Parish’s Seafood Industry
For centuries, the Port of New Orleans has been the entry point for immigrants arriving in the country. Many of those immigrants took jobs in local industries, like fishing. Perhaps no other immigrant community has contributed more to the fishing industry in Louisiana than Vietnamese Americans. Among the more recent ethnic groups to settle in the state, many came as refugees, fleeing their war-torn homeland after the fall of Saigon in 1975. For many newcomers, the fishing industry was an easy transition. They simply had to adapt their knowledge of fishing in Vietnam’s swamps and coastlines to those of Louisiana. Today, almost two-thirds of Southeast Louisiana’s commercial shrimping fleets are made up of Vietnamese Americans. Their contributions didn’t stop at simply being laborers, though. Vietnamese immigrants also brought with them their recipes and cooking techniques, infusing them with traditional Southeast Louisiana cuisine. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:50
‘I’m a fisherman and lifelong Tory who voted Brexit. I won’t vote for them again’
Fisherman James Stephen has been at sea for more than 40 years. Based in Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, which is home to the largest fishing port in Europe, he voted for Brexit in 2016 in the hope it would give his community a greater share of fishing in UK waters. But eight years on, he feels he was sold a “pack of lies” and says it has cost the Conservatives his vote at the general election. “I would say that 99 per cent of the fishing industry would have voted for Brexit in the hope that we could get back control of our waters, rightfully get our share of [fishing] quota which was given away when we joined the EU,” says Mr Stephen. “I hoped, by voting for Brexit, we could undo some of the unjust that was done to the industry then. But for me, it’s been a total disaster. Nothing we were promised materialised.” Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:40
Minister to assess damage after 5 fishing boats destroyed by fire in Quebec’s Magdalen Islands
Federal fisheries minister Diane Lebouthillier was scheduled to visit the Magdalen Islands’ Grande-Entrée wharf Monday after five fishing boats were destroyed by a fire. The fire broke out one of the vessels Sunday morning and then spread to four others in the harbour. All but one of the boats sank, spilling an estimated 18 and 220 litres of hydrocarbons into the waters, according to the Canadian Coast Guard. Diane Lebouthillier, who is the MP for the area and is Canada’s Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, is set to arrive in the Port of Grande-Entrée Monday afternoon to assess the damage. She will be accompanied by Mayor Antonin Valiquette, who is also president of the Communauté maritime des Îles-de-la-Madeleine, and Cédric Arseneau, area director for the Magdalen Islands at Fisheries and Oceans Canada. video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 16:47
P.E.I. student who’s worked on lobster boats seeking patent for new lifejacket
Ben Collings-MacKay is in fourth year at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia but hails from Montague in eastern P.E.I.. He has been spending most of his summers out on the Gulf of St. Lawrence, fishing lobster. But he is also the founder of CM Marine Safety Equipment, which in mid-June was awarded top prize for northern Nova Scotia in the annual Spark Nova Scotia competition meant “to activate early-stage innovation in rural parts of Nova Scotia.” Collings-MacKay knows first-hand the challenges fishermen face having to wear both an approved lifejacket or personal flotation device and the kind of protective gear that can keep them warm and dry as they handle heavy traps and nets in a physically demanding job. Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 13:24
In a proud and troubled UK town, voters wonder whether their election choice will make a difference
“At the last election, I voted Conservative because Johnson promised our waters back, and lied through his teeth,” said Stan Rennie, a fisherman who has caught lobster off Hartlepool for five decades but says he can scarcely scrape a living anymore. “Because we’re the northeast, I don’t think the government even knows we exist,” he said. “We’re the forgotten land.” A proud, rugged town jutting into the North Sea 250 miles (400 kilometers) north of London, Hartlepool is scarred by industrial decline. The shipyards and steelworks that once employed thousands are long gone. The fishing fleet has been shrinking for years. In a 2016 referendum, Hartlepool voted heavily to leave the European Union, persuaded by Johnson and other Brexit-backers that quitting the bloc would let the U.K. control immigration and free up billions in cash for struggling communities. photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:56
Seiner goes aground in Anita Bay; all five crew rescued
Coast Guard Sector Southeast got a call Tuesday, shortly before 10 a.m., that the Petersburg-based seiner the F/V Pamela Rae was taking on water in Anita Bay, located on Etolin Island near Wrangell. The call came from the F/V Confidence, relaying a call from their sister fishing vessel F/V Barbara which was on the scene and providing Samaritan support, said U.S. Coast Guard spokesperson Lt. Matt Naylor. The Pamela Rae was taking on water fast and was rolling over. It had five people on board. All of them safely made it off the vessel. A Wrangell Ranger District Forest Service vessel heard the radio and headed to the area right away. more, >> CLICK TO READ<< 09:50
‘It hasn’t been crab salad weather’ – fisherman
Crabs from Cromer, in Norfolk, have long featured on the menus at high-end restaurants, and tourists head to the town to sample the local delicacy. But one specialist supplier – Jonas Seafoods – has had to reduce the amount of crab it takes in, blaming a double whammy of the bad weather combined with the rise in the cost of living. “It hasn’t been crab salad weather,” said John Davies, a fisherman and fishmonger. “The economy is struggling, we are luxury food item, and the cost of living has a knock-on effect, so prices are going up everywhere,” he added. “There’s just not been the volume of people about.” more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:49
An Optimist’s view: Death of the Chevron Deference
My name is David Goethel. I am a 55 year plus commercial fisherman, research biologist and former fishery manager. As author of Endangered Species/Chronicles of A new England Fisherman I discuss these topics and a lawsuit I filed in 2015 with the legal group Cause of Action over the legal concept known as Chevron Deference. Most people believe Congress writes laws, the Executive Branch carries out those laws and the Judicial Branch interprets and clarifies whether aspects of those laws are Constitutional and correctly applied. It turns out under a doctrine called “Chevron Deference” the regulatory bureaucracy can deem a law unclear or ambiguous and create any regulation the agency decides it needs to carry out its bureaucratic function. Until this past Friday, the courts gave deference to the regulators as the “recognized experts” even though no proof is required and no test for ambiguity is applied. The Supreme Court overturned Chevron Friday saying they had “placed a tombstone on its grave”. Fishermen, including me, had sued saying that unelected regulators should not have this vast power over our lives. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 20:18
Fire destroys 5 fishing boats in Magdalen Islands, Quebec.
Five fishing boats were completely destroyed in a fire at the Magdalen Islands’ Grande-Entrée wharf Sunday morning. The fire department received a call around 4:20 a.m. about burning boats at the Magdalen Islands’ largest fishermen wharf. The fires were under control as of 7:30 a.m., though three boats sank, two others were burned to a crisp and others suffered minor damage, said Antonin Valiquette, the mayor of the Magdalen Islands. No one was injured. Valiquette says all evidence points to the fire being accidental. It appears to have started in one boat and been pushed onto other boats by the wind. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 13:23
Fishermen Who Were Forced to Pay $700 Per Day to Government-Mandated Observers on Their Boats Get Big News from SCOTUS
Members of the 18th-century British Parliament, unelected by American colonists, tried to take money from those colonists without their consent. Hence, the American Revolution ensued. On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a 40-year-old ruling that had allowed unelected federal regulators, acting the part of the British Parliament, to commit such travesties of justice as requiring fishermen to pay for government-mandated regulators on their boats — a requirement that, according to CBS, could cost the fishermen more than $700 per day. The true magnitude of Friday’s ruling, however, involved far more than fishing boats. In fact, it struck at the heart of American progressivism by eviscerating the insidious claim that federal “experts” know best. In so doing, it took one small-but-crucial step towards dismantling the permanent federal state that actually governs in Washington, D.C. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 11:18
Louisiana Inshore Shrimp Season to Close July 1 in State Inside Waters
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries announced the 2024 spring inshore shrimp season will close at 6 p.m. on Monday, July 1, 2024, in all state inside waters from the Mississippi/Louisiana state line westward to the Louisiana/Texas state line. The open waters of Breton and Chandeleur Sounds as bounded by the double-rig line described in R.S. 56:495.1(A)2 and all state outside waters seaward of the Inside/Outside Shrimp Line, as described in LAC 76:VII.370 will remain open to shrimping until further notice. more>>CLICK TO READ<< 09:07
Concerns about overfishing resurface despite new monument off Cape Cod
Located 130 miles off Cape Cod, the area spans more than 3 million acres and is part of the Biden Administration’s plan to conserve at least 30 percent of U.S. lands and waters by 2030. Officially called the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument. Debate over how to manage this vast marine environment has been ongoing. Former President Donald Trump lifted restrictions on commercial fishing in the monument area in 2020. The Biden administration reestablished protections one year later, in a move praised by environmental groups and condemned by fishermen, who said it would put more people out of work. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:30
Gliders: Scientists add more underwater robots to monitor North Atlantic right whales
In the race to protect the endangered species, researchers are bringing in more underwater robots—unmanned vehicles known as gliders that slowly patrol the Gulf of St. Lawrence, passively listening for whales. Gliders can stay at sea for months, move far offshore and work in all types of weather. They’re equipped with underwater microphones that scientists use to track the animals. The team added a third glider to its fleet this summer, expanding its ability to monitor whales’ whereabouts by sea and air. It’s collaborative effort involving researchers from University of New Brunswick, Ocean Tracking Network, Transport Canada and Woods Hole Oceanographic. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 19:37
Virginia Moves To End 16-Year Ban On Dredging For Crabs During Winter
Virginia’s fishery managers have lifted the longstanding ban on dredging for blue crabs during the winter in the Chesapeake Bay, a seismic policy shift that drew strong criticism from their Maryland counterparts and conservationists. The Virginia Marine Resources Commission voted 5–4 on June 25 to repeal the 16-year prohibition on winter dredging. The board is expected to reconvene in September to consider staff recommendations on how to implement the fishery. The new season could open as early as this December. The board’s action came after the VMRC’s Crab Management Advisory Committee, which is mostly made up of industry members, voted 10–2 in favor of reopening the winter season. After that May 29 vote, the agency received 186 public comments on the proposal — all in opposition. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 16:12
Opinion: The Fisheries Act is crucial to speed disaster relief to American fisheries
By the time NOAA and OMB finally approve and allocate disaster relief, small businesses and fisheries are already devastated and, in some cases, may have already been forced to close shop. This self-induced, slow-moving bureaucratic process is unacceptable. Overall, the Fishes Act expedites the deployment of federal fishery disaster relief by cutting unnecessary red tape and enacting a 30-day decision requirement for the Office of Management and Budget to either deny or approve a state’s spending plan. What we hope to do with this bill is to throw American fisheries and coastal communities a life raft to stay afloat post-disaster. U.S. fisheries support millions of jobs and bring in billions of dollars to the broader U.S. economy each year. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:17
How a seagoing mentorship program trains ‘greenhorns’ and changes lives
As a student at Vermont’s Middlebury College, Lea LeGardeur loved being on the water. Which proved an asset for LeGardeur, who, after teaching geography at Middlebury, decided to commercial fish in Alaska. LeGardeur’s break came when she discovered the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association, or ALFA, based in the small fishing town of Sitka, Alaska. The organization had an extensive record of fighting foreign fishing, trawling and depletion of resources. ALFA had recently secured a grant to fund its Crew Training Program, or CTP. The program was the brainchild of Karl Jordan, who suggested the concept to his father, Eric, shortly after Eric’s wife, Sarah, announced her decision to retire from fishing. Jordan père went on to propose the concept to Linda Behnken, the executive director at ALFA. Photos, Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:50
DFO warns Canadian fishers about participating in French halibut fishery
On Friday, Fisheries and Oceans Canada issued a statement saying it has requested formal consultations under the Proces-Verbal to reach an agreement related to quota allocation. The government describes Proces-Verbal as “a treaty that has allowed Canada and France/Saint Pierre and Miquelon to cooperate on the management of fish stocks that are present in our two domestic fishing waters.” The move follows word that a French-flagged ship recently landed 30 tonnes of halibut in Saint Pierre and Miquelon that is believed to be destined for the United States via the Port of Halifax. The fish was caught outside Canada’s 200-mile limit off Newfoundland and Labrador in an area known as the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization Regulatory Area, according to industry sources. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:46
