State and Local

Saving Seafood has compiled a brief slideshow of Governor Patrick's recent visit to New Bedford.

[click here to view now]

 

 

 

 

 

Maine is receiving a $173,250 grant aimed at protecting salmon habitat.

That's according to U.S. Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, who say the funds are coming from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund.

The grant will allow the state's Marine Resources Department to begin phasing in a habitat conservation plan for salmon. The money will allow the department to begin working with private landowners, conservation groups and others to acquire and protect habitat for the federally endangered fish.

Read the complete story from the Maine Public Broadcasting Network.

 

 

 

 

 

The Fisheries Survival Fund (FSF) has issued the following statement regarding Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick's visit to New Bedford on Friday, April 9.

Washington, D.C. – April 12, 2010 — The Fisheries Survival Fund (FSF) praised Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick for his strong support of scallop fishermen and their families. Governor Patrick was honored by FSF and the scallop community on Friday, April 9 in New Bedford, where he and members of his administration were joined by local elected officials, including New Bedford Mayor Scott Lang, to participate also in a roundtable discussion with scallopers.

 “We are deeply pleased and thankful that Governor Patrick was able to visit with scallop fishermen and their families,” said John Murray, scallop boat owner and chair of the Fisheries Survival Fund. “Because of his leadership and dedicated efforts, the future looks much better for the Atlantic sea scallop fishery.”

 “Scalloping, like the fishing industry as a whole, is vital to Massachusetts – it supports countless families and communities across our Commonwealth,” said Governor Patrick. “I will continue to stand up for the people who make their livelihoods at sea.”

 In January, as a result of efforts by Governor Patrick and others, the New England Fishery Management Council decided to reconsider its decision to restrict fishing opportunities for the Atlantic sea scallop fishery in 2010. The reversal spared fishermen and fishing communities, such as New Bedford and others like it from Maine to North Carolina, from well over well over $100 million in losses.

 The Governor began the visit by hearing from representatives of the scallop community and local elected officials, including New Bedford Mayor Scott Lang, about the importance of the Council’s reversal decision, and the opportunities and challenges facing the scallop fishery in the future. Afterward, he joined the fishermen and officials for a close-up view of recent fishing gear advances and underwater video equipment led by gear technologist and researcher Ron Smolowitz of the Coonamessett Farm Foundation.

The gear included a chain mat and scallop dredge designed to reduce the potential for harm to sea turtles and incidental catch of other fish species, while the underwater camera equipment is designed to monitor scallop stocks and better understand and map the seafloor habitat more generally. The gear refinements were largely designed through the efforts of Smolowitz, an FSF consultant. The video equipment was designed by the University of Massachusetts School for Marine Science and Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and is operated with the assistance of the scallop fishing industry.

The Fisheries Survival Fund (FSF) is the largest national organization dedicated to protecting and strengthening the nation’s Atlantic sea scallop fishery.

 

 

 

 

 

NEW BEDFORD — It was not that long ago that scallop fishermen were staring down regulations that would have slashed their operations significantly.

Available ocean fishing days were reduced from 38 to 29. About 8 million pounds of scallops would be lost, causing a direct $41 million hit on the industry and an economic ripple effect of about $100 million.

Some fishermen, said Herman Bruce, who fished out of New Bedford for 40 years, were looking at a quarter of their income being gouged.

Thanks to a reversal regarding fishing regulations, those things did not happen.

Read the complete story at The South Coast Today [subscription site]

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While most folks were shoveling snow, anglers, and their representatives, plowed through the halls of Congress in Washington, D.C. and state government offices in Trenton working to get a better deal for the state's recreational fishermen.

Weary of increasingly restrictive regulations and harmful management decisions based on faulty data, fishermen's groups worked together to push back against policies seemingly aimed at getting them off the water.

Among the issues fishermen face are inflexible stock rebuilding deadlines imposed by the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the unprecedented federal closure of the black sea bass fishery last October, the institution of a federal salt water registry, commercial pots on artificial reefs, catch shares and tougher regulations on favorite species.

Read the complete story at The APP.

 

 

 

 

 

NEW BEDFORD, Mass.—Scallopers in New Bedford honored Gov. Deval Patrick at a luncheon Friday for his efforts in supporting area fishermen in regulation talks.

Scallop boat owners and fishermen in New Bedford, and all of New England, are locked in a battle with regulators.  Currently, scallopers are allowed to fish only 42 days a year.

“Our days at sea were reduced by 40 percent by the New England Fisheries Management Council in December.  The governor got right on the phone and he talked to the chair of the council and set up a meeting,“ said John Murray, scallop boat owner.

A year ago, the governor talked with scallopers and learned of their situation.  He then made a successful argument to the council.

Read the complete story at WJAR 10.

 

 

 

 

 

Shad may have saved George Washington's army – and countless other European settlers – from starvation, but the bony fish's reputation has declined so precipitously in recent decades that organizers of an annual shad festival in North Carolina are unabashed about excluding it from their festivities.

"We do have fish, but we don't have shad," Grifton Shad Festival secretary Janet Haseley says cheerfully. "We used to have herring, but now we fry commercially raised catfish."

Shad do make a cameo appearance at the 40-year-old festival, which returns to Pitt County this month: In addition to dozens of events punning on shad's name – including Shad-O and a 5K "Spring Shad Run" – the event schedule features a frozen shad toss. "We freeze shad for tossing, and, afterward, we bury them for fertilizer," Haseley says. "Some of the animal people were kind of upset about it, but we think that's a pretty responsible way to do it."

Read the complete story at Slash Food.

 

 

 

 

 

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick will visit New Bedford on Friday, April 9 at 2:15 pm to talk with members of the industry and tour a scalloping vessel.

Industry members are welcome to attend.

The starting location for the event will be the docks  behind the Waterfront Grille, 36 Homers Wharf, New Bedford.

 

 

 

 

 

The Northeast Fisheries Summit was held at the New Bedford Whaling Museum in New Bedford, Massachusetts on Monday, March 8, 2010.

The meeting was co- sponsored by the City of New Bedford, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, and the Massachusetts Marine Fisheries Institute (MFI). The Summit was intended to restore a foundation of trust between NOAA and the fishing industry through dialogue focused on the shared objectives of sustainable fish stocks and the economic viability of fishing communities. The principles of equity, fairness, conservation, preservation of jobs, income, fishing communities and families, minimization of waste, and flexibility in management can only be realized through a collaborative approach to management.

Three panels facilitated discussion. The issues selected were (1) catch shares and sectors, (2) scallops and scallop bycatch, and (3) amending the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA).

Read the Northeast Fisheries Summit Summary Report.

 

 

 

 

 

Bradley Styron wants folks to know that his vote against federal measures to regulate weakfish fishing in North Carolina was not about personal interest but political principals.

The NC Marine Fisheries Committee (MFC) has voted to go out of compliance with federal rules designed to protect dwindling weakfish stocks. Some recreational fishing advocates have claimed that Styron, who owns Quality Seafood in Cedar Island, was among several MFC members who voted to disobey the feds due to personal financial gain.

Styron says his vote has nothing to do with money for himself, however.

“The reason I made that vote was because I am tired of the federal government telling North Carolina what to do,” said Styron. “We are being taken advantage of. Back in 1994 we made a big concession to address the weakfish stock problems and our state gave up in excess of 300,000 miles of fishing grounds that were closed to fly nets. But instead of getting better, the situation has only gotten worse.”

Read the complete story at The Examiner.