Updated Reports Available on Fishery and Port Impacts Associated with Offshore Wind Development Along the U.S. Atlantic Coast
NOAA Fisheries updated and expanded existing analyses and reports to help the public better understand the impacts of offshore wind development on commercial and recreational fisheries along the U.S. Atlantic Coast. The new reports build upon the previously developed analyses, but now include updated data and additional analysis on impacts to ports and cumulative impacts from all Greater Atlantic offshore wind lease areas combined. We added 2022 fishery data to both commercial and party/charter impact summaries for each lease area and, for some approved projects, finalized export cable corridors, as reported by BOEM’s GIS website. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 17:53
Plymouth Trawler Agents tells fishing fleet it will cease trading
Plymouth’s long-standing fish auctioneer is to cease trading this month after 29 years. Sutton Harbour-based Plymouth Trawler Agents Ltd has written to Plymouth’s fishing fleet to say its final auction will be on May 17. Owners and skippers are being urged to find other markets for their catch now. In a letter signed by company secretary Alison Pessell on behalf of the firm’s board, she said: “It is with regret and sadness that the directors of Plymouth Trawler Agents Ltd announce the company will cease trading on Friday, May 17. Our final auction, weather permitting, will be on May 17 after which you will receive your final settling in the usual fashion. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 12:03
Spring Shrimp Season to Open May 16 in Louisiana Inshore Waters
Today, May 2, 2024, the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission set the opening date within state inshore waters based on information provided by Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) biologists and public comments. The Commission action sets the opening date of the spring inshore shrimp season as follows: All Louisiana inshore waters from the Mississippi/Louisiana state line westward to the Louisiana/Texas state line will open at 6 a.m. on Thursday, May 16, 2024. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< Click here for a map detailing this opening. 10:54
Midcoast man again charged with violating Maine’s baby eel fishing laws
A Waldoboro man who nine years ago was convicted of tax evasion and underreporting hundreds of thousands of dollars in eel fishing income has been charged again with violating Maine’s elver fishing laws. Paul J. Griffin Jr., 52, has been charged with selling juvenile eels, also known as elvers or glass eels, for cash, which is a violation of laws implemented in 2013. Despite the recent charges against Griffin and a handful of others, Maine has had a relatively low number of similar violations for the past decade. It’s been a different story across the border in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, where an alleged spree of elver poaching prompted Canada to shut down the fishery this spring. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:46
The fishing boat tragedy that rocked a community
Nine fishermen left Peterhead on the boat Quiet Waters in March 1954. None of them came home. The boat sank and their deaths devastated their families and shocked the north-east fishing community. Among those on board was my grandfather Billy Buchan, who was 29 when he died. My mum was just a baby when she lost him. On the 70th anniversary of the tragedy she was given flowers, evidence that our community still remembers an event which shook my town and left that little girl without her dad. Fishing trawler Quiet Waters was only a few months old when she left Peterhead, bound for North Sea herring grounds nearly 200 miles (322km) away. Photos, more, >>click to read<< 07:40
A Little Faith in Shrimp
Faith Family Shrimp, located in Chauvin, Louisiana, offers a unique glimpse into the world of shrimp fishing and processing. Owned by Chad and Angela Portier, this family-operated business at 8167 Redfish Street showcases the journey of Louisiana wild-caught shrimp from their commercial fishing vessels to the consumer’s table. They emphasize the finest quality of shrimp, underscoring their commitment to the local seafood industry. For National Shrimp Day (May 10), visitors can engage in the various activities offered by Faith Family Shrimp, such as guided tours which explain the drying process of shrimp and other insights into the industry. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:01
The Bodega Bay Fisherman’s Festival has honored local fishing community for 50 years
The Bodega Bay Fisherman’s Festival, happening May 4-5, will continue a 50-year tradition of honoring local fishers and the history of the county’s coastal fishing village. Bodega Bay’s annual festival, part community fundraiser, part celebration of the start of salmon fishing season, began in 1973 as a revival of a 1950s-era fete called “Discovery Day.” According to the Rancho Bodega Historical Society, the people of Bodega Bay started the Discovery Day Festival in 1958 to raise money for the town’s new volunteer firehouse. The event, originally held in October, honored the memory of Lt. Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra, the Spanish naval officer and explorer of the Pacific Northwest who the town of Bodega Bay is named for. At the first Discovery Day celebration, a boat parade around the inner harbor was led by Eddie, Steve and William Smith, members of the local Miwok Smith family who began Bodega Bay’s commercial fishing industry in the 1920s. 54 photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 18:39
Letter to the Editor | Linda Pitcher’s ‘The Fleet’ created a lasting impact on Gig Harbor Fishermen
When Linda Pitcher arrived in Gig Harbor a few years ago, she brought with her a PhD in anthropology from Berkley. She stumbled upon our small community and its rich history of fishing, eventually becoming a volunteer at the History Museum. That’s where I first met her, sharing anecdotes about my family’s deep-rooted connection to commercial fishing. My grandfathers were among the early crew members at the turn of the 20th century. Then my Dad’s father made his mark, purchasing his first boat, the San Marco, and later partnering in the Mermaid II. Linda spent several years meticulously piecing together information on all the commercial fishing boats that operated out of Gig Harbor. It was a daunting task, and she enlisted the help of Lita Dawn Stanton (Ancich).by Ken Malich, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 15:47
Scallop Research Set-Aside Program to Support 14 New Projects; Several 2024 Announcements Include Multi-Year Awards
The Atlantic Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program will support 14 new projects that were selected from the 2024 RSA solicitation. Several awards will support multi-year research, including a four-year regional survey effort. The set-aside harvest is expected to generate $22 million in revenue. Of that total, $5 million will fund the targeted research and $17 million will compensate industry partners who harvest the set-aside scallops. To determine the award amounts, the price of sea scallops was projected to average $14 per pound of meats. Charts, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 12:38
What Canada can learn from Maine’s approach to the lucrative baby eel fishery
Authorities in Maine say they have figured out how to regulate a fishery that is so out of control in Canada, the federal government has shut it down this year — the third shutdown in five years — putting 1,100 people out of work. Baby eels, also known as elvers or glass eels, are generally fished in rivers and streams in Maine, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and a handful of Caribbean islands. They’re shipped live to Asia, where they’re grown to maturity and eaten — the dish is so popular it led to overfishing in Japan and Europe, leaving seafood wholesalers looking to Canada. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:07
Man Of Fortune: Beloved Fisherman to Receive Memorial Statue at Shem Creek
When dawn breaks on Shem Creek, there will soon be a glimmer on the water like never before. Atop the boardwalk that connects both sides of the creek will stand a bronze, life-size statue of a man who is now remembered as a Lowcountry legend. His name is Captain Wayne Magwood and soon his legacy will forever be enshrined as a testament to the role he played in preserving the area’s rich maritime history. Magwood’s life, career and family lineage have revolved around Shem Creek for the past century. In 1930, his father’s cousin, Captain William Magwood, was the first fisherman to bring ocean shrimp into Mount Pleasant and laid the foundation for the commercial industry to be built at Shem Creek. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:55
A Renewed Focus on Fresh Fish
Dock to Dish, a restaurant-supported fishery cooperative founded in Montauk in 2012, has new owners and a renewed focus on getting fresh-from-the-boat seafood directly into the kitchens of restaurants across the East End and the New York area. And the fact that most of the owners are also fishermen doesn’t hurt. The six fishing families who own Inlet Seafood in Montauk took over Dock to Dish in November along with K.C. Boyle, who is overseeing day-to-day operations. “The idea is just like the previous iteration of Dock to Dish: Work to source the best ingredients on earth,” Mr. Boyle said Friday while making deliveries in New York City. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:53
State backs lobstermen in urging regulators to reevaluate changes to minimum size
The rules, which are set to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2025, will increase the minimum size from 3 1/4 inches to 3 5/16 inches, on the gauges that lobstermen use to measure lobsters and determine whether they are allowed to harvest them. A second increase would take effect two years later, bringing the minimum to 3 3/8 inches. The rules also affect the vents in traps that allow undersized lobsters to escape. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission says it is making the changes to preserve the long-term future of the lobster population in the Gulf of Maine, which federal data show has sharply dropped. Lobstermen also question the accuracy of the federal data – saying that it was corrected over a small and abnormal time frame that doesn’t indicate the reality of population trends. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:23
Breaking: Dominion Energy Atlantic Coast Offshore Wind Project Delayed by Lawsuit Seeking to Protect Endangered Right Whale
An order by a federal judge on Monday delayed the start of “pile driving” construction for a massive wind project off the Atlantic Coast by Dominion Energy. Judge Loren L. AliKhan convened an expedited status conference hearing in response to a coalition of three public interest groups—The Heartland Institute, the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), and the National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC)—suing Dominion and the Biden administration, claiming they have not done the legally required research to determine the project won’t harm the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 14:33
The federal government is assuming management of salmon fishing in parts of Alaska’s Cook Inlet
Commercial and recreational salmon fishing in the federal waters of Cook Inlet will resume this summer, but under new management by the federal government, according to a rule made final this week. Until now, the state had managed salmon fisheries in both state and federal waters of the inlet. But the switch in management was ordered by federal courts, as a result of litigation stretching back a decade. The United Cook Inlet Drift Association, or UCIDA, which is made up of commercial salmon fishers, sued the federal government in 2013 for failing to develop a salmon harvest management plan for the federal waters of the inlet. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 13:11
Southside fishers hope first haul bodes well for season
Monday’s first haul of the lobster season for south side fishers brought calm conditions on the water, with preliminary prices ranging anywhere from $7.50 to $8 a pound for canners and $8.25 to $9 for markets. Harvesters in Lobster Fishing Area 26A set their traps on Saturday after the season was delayed by a day. Setting day for the north side, LFA 24, was initially on Monday but was delayed by at least two days. DFO had a call on Tuesday but the weather was still uncertain. PEI Fishermen’s Association president Bobby Jenkins, who sails out of Annandale, said catches on Monday seemed to be on par with 2023 or maybe a little better, depending on the harbour. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 11:02
Newfoundland fisherman says police broke his leg during protest that delayed budget
Richard Martin is spending this year’s fishing season on land after he says a Royal Newfoundland Constabulary officer broke his left leg in three places during a protest last month that shut down the provincial legislature. The 52-year-old fisherman had just seen two officers on horseback approaching fish harvesters demonstrating outside the legislature on the morning of March 20, the day Newfoundland and Labrador’s Liberal government was expected to deliver its annual budget. Martin doesn’t like horses — he was kicked by one as a child, he said in an interview Tuesday — and he was moving to edge of the crowd to get away. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:50
Lobsterman Eric Joseph Roggero of Newport, Rhode Island, has passed away
The family of Eric sadly announces his passing on April 20th in the loving care of Laura Blackwell and hospice. In lieu of donations his family requests you get your routine cancer screenings. By the time Eric graduated from Rogers he was already working on a career in the fishing industry. Luckily he had some great mentors including two grandfathers and two lobsterman brothers who helped him along the way. He was a natural on the bay and later on his own boat. The Donna Marie was his pride and joy. His family thanks the Newport fishing community for their very generous support during his illness. They mourn his loss with us. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:36
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 44’x16′ Novi Dragger/Scalloper, Cummins 855 Diesel
To review specifications, information, and 21 photos’, >click here<, To see all the boats in this series, >click here< 07:00
Fishermen call for a delay to upcoming lobster size rules
Congressman Jared Golden is calling on fishery regulators to delay upcoming rules that will change the minimum catch sizes for lobster in certain parts of Maine. Officials have said the changes are necessary after they observed a troubling decline in the juvenile lobster population over a three-year period. The new management measures are intended to allow sublegal lobsters to reproduce before being harvested. But some Maine fishermen are questioning that data, and on Tuesday, many turned out at a meeting of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to express their concerns. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 05:50
Kirkella aims to take Flemish Cap quota in one trip
The UK’s last remaining distant waters trawler, the 81-metre Kirkella operated by UK Fisheries, is fishing on Flemish Cap, providing a British presence on these fishing grounds for the first time since 2916 – when the previous vessel to carry the same name worked there. Kirkella’s skipper Sigurbjörn Sigurðsson hopes to complete the trip on the grounds 300 nautical miles south of Newfoundland by the end of May. He and Kirkella’s mainly British crew are hoping to take their 1090-tonne NAFO cod quota before heading back to Svalbard. More, >>CLICK TO READ<< 19:50
Farmed and caught: Virginia seafood is thriving
Seafood is a $1 billion-a-year industry in Virginia. Some Virginia seafood like oysters and trout are farmed. Some, like drum, flounder, scallops, crabs and clams are caught or harvested. Many Virginia restaurants depend on the local bounty. The Clam Shack is located in Nassawaddox and specializes in local seafood. In addition to oysters, MacGarvey says crabs are also a top seller. Ray Twiford is a commercial fisherman and restaurant owner near Chincoteague. “I wouldn’t trade it for a desk job,” said Twiford. He spends long days on the job. His mornings start on the water when he nets fish or harvests other seafood. He then processes and keeps it refrigerated. He then sells his catch at a seafood market he operates, or at his restaurant Ray’s Shanty. Fish that were swimming in the morning are often on a plate that night. Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 17:06
NCFA SPECIAL UPDATE! April 30, 2024, TURF WAR CONTINUES WITH WILDLIFE RESOURCES COMMISSION
The Wildlife Resources Commission, or WRC, has requested rules to change the parameters of what comes under their jurisdiction vs Marine Fisheries. We need you to send an email as outlined below to the two addresses at the Rules Review Commission. It needs to be done today or by noon tomorrow, please! There is no need to go into detail, just a letter of objection as outlined below. However, if you want the rationale just call me or Glenn or send us a note. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 14:31
SEA-NL advises Ottawa to increase northern cod harvest, but not to lift ’92 moratorium
April 30th, 2024 – Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) has called on Ottawa to increase the 2024 northern cod harvest, but under a continued inshore stewardship fishery that bans offshore factory-freezer trawlers. “Lifting the moratorium and restarting a full-fledged commercial fishery for northern cod will open the gates to offshore draggers, foreign and domestic, which the stock is not ready for,” says SEA-NL President Bruce Layman, a Carbonear-based inshore fisherman. The debate on whether to lift the moratorium and restart a commercial fishery has picked up since last fall when DFO introduced a new assessment model that elevated the stock’s scientific status to “cautious” from the “critical” zone. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 13:02
Alaska lawmakers, residents ask feds to limit how much salmon industrial trawlers catch
U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, Alaskan Natives, and family-owned fisheries are looking for a sea change in the fishing rights battle between local fishermen and industrial trawling fishing operations after a federal council recently denied a tribe-approved reduction in chum salmon catches. In western Alaska, local communities are facing a significant decline in salmon populations. The cause of this decline remains a subject of intense debate between industry leaders, subsistence communities, conservation scientists, and local fishermen. Residents point to the Seattle-based trawler fleets in the Bering Sea fishing for pollock but unintentionally catching thousands of chum salmon as bycatch instead. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 11:31
Storms Hammer Fishing Industry
Fishing opportunities have been reduced by major storms, according to one of the leading Irish fish producer organisations. “Eleven major storms since January first,” says Aodh O Donnell, Chief Executive of the Irish Fish Producers Organisation. This has left many of them unable to fish their monthly quotas in full and they lose these quotas as a result.” The offshore prawn fishery is one of the worst hit as the weather has caused havoc for fishermen this spring, says the IFPO. “Climate change is a further hammer blow to a struggling industry poorly understood by the general public and the political classes.” more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:24
A call for the price of shrimp to rise as St. Helena Island’s boats head to sea
The future is uncertain for shrimpers in coastal South Carolina, but you wouldn’t know that from the bright, buoyant crowd that gathered Saturday at the Gay Fish Company. Attendees rang in the start of the 2024 season with cowbells and noisemakers, sending off a fleet of shrimp trawlers into the Harbour River as their nets waved like sails in the gentle morning breeze. Owned by a family of veterans spanning three generations, the Gay Fish Company on St. Helena Island held its inaugural “Blessing of the Fleet” Saturday morning. Typically involving a local pastor praying over captains for a safe and bountiful season, the practice has been a staple in fishing communities for centuries. But as fisheries up and down the coast grapple with industry shakeups from overseas, the ceremony takes on a new sort of significance. Photos, Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:29
Maine’s wharf owners scramble to repair what they can before lobstering season starts
Contractors are hard to come by amid the mounting demand for work to repair damage from the set of January storms that battered the coast of Maine. Now, as lobstering season begins, many on the working waterfront are patching their own wharves, hoping they can hold out until the real work can be done. Chris Hole was busy at work on a sunny Friday morning, taking apart his commercial fishing wharf like a game of Jenga. After pulling up the surface wooden slats, Hole used a fork lift to lower large wooden beams down to the deck. Josh Saxton, Hole’s right-hand man, would then slip between the large gaps in the deck to put the support beams in place. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:43
Useless unless worn
Great efforts have been made by all to produce meaningful, practical projects and help develop wearable floatation equipment in conjunction with fishermen and the manufacturers of floatation equipment, according to RNLI fishing safety manager Frankie Horne. He said that this has led to some real improvements in Personal Floatation Device (PFD) products. ‘As the saying goes, Useless Unless Worn, and it’s so true. We can talk about how things were done in the past, but as they say, the past is where things were done differently. Unfortunately, this attitude is why we keep seeing preventable fatalities in the fishing industry. In fact, some of the most vulnerable fishing activities have the worst PFD wear rate,’ he said. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 19:01
Scientist, legislators voice opposition to fisheries procedures
A scientist and two legislators joined the state commercial fishing lobby in state commercial fishing lobby the procedure planned by the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission for possible changes in regulation of the summer flounder harvest. The fishery, which brought $4.8 million in dockside value to N.C. fishermen last year, is the top commercial fin fish in the state. The North Carolina Fisheries Association held a Monday morning press conference at Union Point Park in New Bern to challenge the use of a supplement approach to the management plan for the flounder. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 14:21
