August 9, 2013 — A man who is well known to commercial fishery stakeholders across the state of Alaska has been chosen to head a research institution within the University of Alaska system.
KDLG’s Mike Mason has the story.
VIDEO: Maine Lobstermen Union holds inaugural meeting
BANGOR, Maine — August 11, 2013 — Lobster fisherman from up and down the coast met in Bangor today for the first ever Maine Lobsterman Union local 207 meeting. The inaugural meeting brought around 100 members together to create their bylaws and elect officials as they begin a fight for fairness.
"The problem is why we're not getting our money is no one wants to give it to us from the top board down they're keeping all the money for themselves and we need to take it back from them we're the ones who catch the lobster we should be able to control the price," said Maine Lobstermen Union President Rocky Alley.
Rocky Alley says the price of lobsters is down to half of what it was eight years ago.
"Granted we didn't land as many lobsters as now at that time as we do now but we're still only getting $2.20 a pound," said Alley.
And that's the biggest issue that the Maine Lobstermen Union plans to take care of. And that will take getting all fisherman on the same page.
"And that's a hard thing to do. The length of the whole coast get all the fisherman together to settle on the same subjects," said Alley.
Sunday about 100 members filled a room at the Ramada Inn to create their bylaws and elect their officials. It was the inaugural meeting for local 207 as they look to begin the road to fair pay.
Read the full story and watch the video at Portland WCSH 6 News
LOUISIANA: Higher Prices could Mark the Start of Shrimp Season
August 9, 2013 — Shrimpers in Louisiana are gearing up for Shrimp season that's set to start Monday.
But shrimpers say major prices changes are in store. Industry experts are estimating as much as one dollar per pound higher than last season.
Problems with shrimp overseas have reduced the amount of shrimp being imported. It's created a lower supply of shrimp in the U.S., and made what's caught even more valuable.
"I always said that our shrimp would be gold, worth gold, if those ponds, something happened to those ponds and they quit shipping that shrimp here…that our shrimp was going to be what the people wanted," owner of Granger Seafood Albert Granger said, who's been a shrimper for over 25 years.
Shrimpers are hoping that higher prices this year will make business better than ever. They also want customers to be aware of the overall higher prices this season.
CHICAGO TRIBUNE: Plastic microbeads are polluting our water
August 11, 2013 — For years we've been freaking out about the Asian carp making their way up the Illinois River while another insidious scourge was invading our fresh water supply. Who knew the Great Lakes were being threatened by exfoliating facial scrubs?
Plastic microbeads — some of them fractions of a millimeter long — have been found in water samples from lakes Superior, Huron and Erie. The California researchers who collected them plan to troll lakes Michigan and Ontario next.
The beads are abrasive particles found in everything from toothpaste to liquid hand soaps to industrial cleaners. Lather up, and they provide an invigorating scrub that unclogs pores, removes dead cells and reveals a sparkling new you.
But the beads don't dissolve. They're designed to wash down the drain — after which they make their way into the water treatment system and eventually to our lakes or oceans, where they remain for who knows how long. Worse, they absorb and retain chemical contaminants.
Fish and other water creatures ingest them, either because they look like food or because they're so small they just get sucked in with the plankton or whatever else is for lunch. The pellets — and the contaminants — get passed up the food chain until they land on our plates disguised as pecan-crusted walleye.
Read the full editorial at the Chicago Tribune
NEFMC Dolphin/Wahoo Public Hearing August 15, 2013
August 15, 2013 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:
Reminder of Public Hearing. Also see the summary of new dealer reporting requirements that will be addressed at the hearing.
Public Hearing: Amendment 5 to the Dolphin Wahoo FMP, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., August 15, 2013
Location: Radisson Airport Hotel, 2081 Post Road, Warwick, RI 02886; phone 401/739-3000.
Subject: This amendment would revise the Allowable Biological Catches (ABCs), Annual Catch Limits (ACLs), Accountability Measures (AMs)
and Annual Catch Targets (ACTs) for Dolphin and Wahoo that were implemented through an Comprehensive ACL Amendment. Additionally,
the amendment would revise the management framework in the Dolphin/Wahoo FMP as well as commercial trip limits for Dolphin.
Background: Please click the link for the public hearing document and additional information
http://www.safmc.net/Meetings/PublicHearingsandScopingMeetings/tabid/737/Default.aspx.
Written Comments: Written comments may be directed to Bob Mahood, Executive Director, SAFMC (see address below)
or via email to: DWAmend5Comments@safmc.net. Comments will be accepted until 5 p.m. on August 18, 2013.
Address: South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, 4055 Faber Place Drive, Suite 201, N. Charleston, SC 29405.
For More Information: Kim Iverson, Public Information Officer, SAFMC; phone 843/571-4366 or toll free 866/SAFMC-10; FAX 843/769-4520;
or email kim.iverson@safmc.net.
Read the summary of the dealer reporting requirements
Lobster shell disease that has plagued southern New England creeps northward into Maine
August 11, 2013 — PORTLAND, Maine — A shell disease that has plagued the southern New England lobster industry for years by making lobsters unsightly and in some cases unmarketable appears to be creeping northward to the lobster-rich grounds off the coast of Maine.
The number of lobsters suffering from shell disease remains tiny in Maine — only three out of every 1,000 lobsters sampled last year had the disease. But scientists and lobstermen are concerned because the prevalence grew fivefold from 2010 to 2012.
The disease, which is not harmful to humans, first became noticeable in southern New England waters in the 1990s. About one in every three or four lobsters caught in waters off southern Massachusetts and Rhode Island in recent years has been diseased.
Carl Wilson, the state lobster biologist with the Department of Marine Resources, said people should be concerned — but not alarmed — by the numbers. People who look only at the percentage increase could get spooked and say, “Oh, my god, that’s a huge increase,” he said.
“But it’s not, considering all the sampling we have and all the caveats of our sampling design,” Wilson said. “But it’s something we are watching.”
Lobster is one of the most important fisheries in Maine and New England, valued at more than $400 million to fishermen and hundreds of millions more to coastal communities.
Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Washington Post
Maine fisheries scientist honored for work
PORTLAND, Maine — The Atlantic States Marine Fishery Comission (ASMFC) has given its annual Award of Excellence in the area of scientific, technical and advisory contributions to Maggie Hunter, a scientist with the Maine Department of Marine Resources. The award was presented last week at a commission meeting in Alexandria, Va.
Hunter was lauded for her work on the commission’s shrimp technical committee and for her years with DMR analyzing shrimp, herring, sea urchins, groundfish and other marine species.
Read the full story by the Associated Press at The Boston Globe
Fallout follows after herring protection rejected
August 11, 2013 — A plan to protect the important Atlantic herring from what many believe is its biggest threat has been shelved indefinitely after years of work devising it — and even after winning support from the very vessels being targeted.
Last month, federal regulators at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration rejected a measure that would have required independent catch observers aboard every trip taken by mid-water trawlers, which can scoop herring out of sea hundreds of thousands of pounds at a time.
Critics believed the observers would find that the vessels dump large amounts of herring and often inadvertently catch and kill critical marine species, such as cod or haddock. But trawler owners said the observers would vindicate them.
The New England Fishery Management Council approved the beefed-up observer coverage in June 2012. But federal regulators disapproved it last month. John Bullard, the Northeast’s top federal fishing regulator, said that it amounted to an unfunded mandate and that the council should have known that before it voted.
‘‘We don’t have that money,’’ Bullard said. ‘‘It’s like requiring us to do something that we can’t do.’’
It’s a lot of fuss over a fish that’s no more than a foot long, sells for about 15 cents a pound and is caught mainly as bait for more coveted species, such as lobster.
Read the full story by Jay Lindsay of the Associated Press at The Boston Globe
Due to overexploitation, Spain’s fishing quotas are cut for 2013
August 9, 2013 — The European Commission (EC) reported that about 800 tonnes are to be reduced from the fishing quotas of the Spanish fleet in 2013 to compensate for overfishing in 2012. The cuts will specifically affect hake fishing.
This announcement responds to the annual performance of deductions that allows Brussels to control the damage caused to the stocks that were overfished in the previous year and ensure the sustainable exploitation of resources.
Spain was the Member State that overfished species the most last year: a total of 17.
The European Commission (EC) also provided fishing quota cuts for the fleets of Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Greece, Ireland, France, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, the UK and Romania.
The resources exploited by the Spanish fleet that are most seriously affected by the measure are hake, with a cut of 475.87 tonnes, and black scabbardfish, with 115.05 tonnes less, according to the official list of quota deductions for 2013.
In addition, there are deductions for greater forkbeard (56.44 tonnes), saithe (27.70 tonnes), tusk (28.55 tonnes), haddock (21.87 tonnes), Norway lobster (25.15 tonnes), deep-sea sharks (11.79 tonnes) and blue marlin (10.28 tonnes).
Warm-water Southern fish moving into New England waters
August 10, 2013 — The steady, ominous rise of ocean temperatures is bringing fish species more common off the Carolina coast and Florida into local waters, scientists and observers said.
Mike Thomas, owner of M&D Bait and Tackle in Wareham for almost three decades, said: "I've seen cobia. I know of three in 28 years of business and I already know of four this year. We had a couple of bonefish this year, a couple of kingfish."
Also showing up with increased frequency are red drum, Atlantic croaker, inshore lizardfish and jack crevalle.
"These are all pretty much southern fish," Thomas said. "They just hitch a ride on the Gulf Stream and come up."
And they're likely to keep coming, in greater numbers and joined by other subtropical species.
"We have a trawl survey every spring and fall and southern species are more and more common all the time," Armstrong said. "They're finding their preferred temperature. They're cold-blooded so they really depend on hanging out where the temperature is optimal for growth."
As the subtropical fish follow warmer water north, species formerly common to southern New England are also heading north and to deeper water, seeking cooler temperatures.
"Cape Cod forms a barrier for a lot of fish," said Kevin Blinkoff, executive editor of On the Water, a magazine for northeastern fishermen. "It's been the northernmost limit for a lot of species. In recent years, though, there are fish such as black sea bass and scup and, to a lesser degree, fluke that were thought of as a more southern New England fish that are appearing in Boston Harbor and along the North Shore."
Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times