Other News

February 1, 2012 –Watch and listen to Don Cuddy, a reporter for the New Bedford Standard Times, speak about the week he spent  aboard the fishing vessel Sea Escape.

View the slideshow at the New Bedford Standard Times

 

 

 

 

January 26, 2013 — Fishermen from Gloucester and Alaska fish drastically different areas during different times of the year, but one thing is for certain: They’re all in the same boat when it comes to defending and protecting an industry under siege from many sides.

That was one of the messages echoed Friday when Katherine Carscallen, captain of the fishing vessel Sea Hawk based out of Dillingham, Alaska, met with Gloucester fishermen and supporters of the commercial fishermen at a get-together organized by Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives Association President Angela Sanfilippo.

Carscallen, a 27-year-old native of Dillingham, represents numerous commercial fisheries throughout Alaska and worked together with the GFWA and local fishermen.

On Thursday, Carscallen was joined by Sanfilippo — who also serves as president and executive director of the Massachusetts Fishermen’s Partnership — and local fishermen meeting with Congressman John Tierney in Carscallen’s effort to gain support for the growing concern of a proposed mine that would threaten the Bristol Bay and surrounding salmon runs in Alaska.

Carscallen said Bristol Bay is responsible for about 60 percent of the world’s sockeye salmon production, an industry that generates roughly $500 million annually and represents about 12,000 jobs. But the pebble mine, proposed by Northern Dynasty Minerals and Anglo American, would sit near Iliama Lake and numerous rivers, creeks and wetlands that are popular spots for salmon vessels if constructed.

The mine would produce copper, gold and other minerals. While there are other mines in the state, Carscallen said, Pebble mine would be several times the size of any other mine; the effects would be disastrous to Alaska’s salmon fisheries.

She said that while the federal Environmental Protection Agency and fishermen do not typically work well together, this is an issue on which both parties can agree.

 

Read the full story in the Gloucester Times 

 

 

 

The following was released by the Atlantic Coastal Cooperative Statistics Program:

ARLINGTON, Va. — January 24, 2013 — The Atlantic Coastal Cooperative Statistics Program (ACCSP) has brought together fishermen, dealers, and fisheries managers to evaluate electronic reporting on the Atlantic coast. The first part of this project is a survey to collect attitudes and opinions from Atlantic coast fishermen and dealers about the current state of electronic reporting.

John Carmichael, with the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council and Project Leader, explains "Fishermen and data managers both appear to have strong opinions on electronic reporting programs, so this project was begun to describe those opinions and better understand their basis. Information from this survey will be critical to addressing the concerns of the end users as future electronic reporting programs are considered. A great aspect of the project is how scientists and fishery representatives are working together. For example, the questions asked in the survey, and how they are worded, were largely determined by the fisheries representatives. This gives a bit of a different, and I think appropriate, tone to the survey than other efforts fishermen may have encountered."

The survey is titled, "Improving Our Understanding of Atlantic Coast Fisheries Electronic Reporting" and can be filled out at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ACCSP_ereporting. This project will be collecting information from the survey link or paper copies until May 31, 2013. If you do not have access to a computer, you can receive a paper copy of the survey by calling 703.842.0782 or by contacting any of the regional fishery councils or most state fisheries agencies along the Atlantic coast.

The second phase of the project will be a workshop in Fall of 2013 reviewing this survey information, as well as other surveys and papers on the subject of fisheries electronic reporting. Overall goals of the project include 1) creating recommendations on current electronic reporting programs and approaches, 2) identifying frequently asked questions on electronic reporting systems, 3) evaluating the real costs and benefits electronic reporting systems, as well as 4) improving outreach and public understanding of electronic reporting systems. The final product will be a report released in the Spring of 2014. 

 

 

January 23, 2013 — The following was released by the New Bedford Ocean Explorium.

NEW BEDFORD, MA — The Ocean Explorium's Global Voice Science on a Sphere® Evening Series continues on Wednesday, February 6, with John Bullard, the Northeast Regional Administrator for NOAA Fisheries, who will discuss "The Changing Fisheries".

Mr. Bullard will provide a thought-provoking and engaging presentation on the changing state of fishery resources in the northeast, and the challenges being faced by fishermen and fishery managers to preserve both fish and fishermen, since each is essential to historic fishing communities like New Bedford.

Mr. Bullard was Mayor of New Bedford from 1986 until 1992.  He went to Washington in 1993 and served for five years as head of NOAA's Office of Sustainable Development and Intergovernmental Affairs.   Most recently, Mr. Bullard was president of the Sea Education Association in Woods Hole.

Doors will open at 6:00 pm for Science on a Sphere® presentations, highlighting such factors as ocean circulation patterns and ocean acidification, which impact various fisheries.  Mr. Bullard's talk will begin at 6:30 pm. Global Voice admission is $5 for members, $10 for non-members, $8 for seniors and $3 for children.

Continue the conversation with our speaker immediately following the talk in the private dining room at Cork Wine and Tapas Bar, 90 Front Street.  Cork will offer a special menu of foods and beverages, including special pricing, exclusively for Global Voice attendees on February 6.

Every Wednesday in March, the Girls Interested in Real Life Science (GIRLS) speaker series returns, featuring talks by inspiring women who have achieved success in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math.

The Ocean Explorium is located at 174 Union Street in downtown New Bedford and is handicap accessible via the rear entrance.  Visit the Ocean Explorium website, www.oceanexplorium.org, or call 508.994.5400 for program schedules, directions or other information. 

 

 

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — January 23, 2013 — Shrimp fishermen are casting their nets with the start of New England’s shrimp-fishing season.

The season got under way Wednesday, but isn’t expected to last long with a quota of only 1.4 million pounds, down sharply from last year’s catch of 5.3 million pounds.

Net fishermen this winter have a quota of 1.2 million pounds and can fish only two days a week.

Trap fishermen can begin pulling their shrimp traps on Feb. 5. They have a quota of 200,000 pounds.

 

Read the full story from the AP at the Boston Globe

 

January 21, 2013 — Salmon are going vegetarian. The favourite fish of the European and US consumer has long been known as a committed carnivore, fed by farmers on processed fish. But a confluence of economics, markets, and environmental factors is transforming the $11bn-a-year farmed salmon industry – and forcing a radical change of diet.

The price of fishmeal has surged to a record high because of a dramatic decline in the number of anchovies harvested off the coast of Latin America, their main feeding ground, partly due to rising sea temperatures.

It hit an all-time high of $2,190 a tonne last month, according to the International Monetary Fund, after Peru, a leading exporter of the commodity, slashed the commercial fishing quota of anchovies 70 per cent in the last three months.
The effort to replace proteins from fish with plants, such as soyabean and sunflower seeds started about 20 years ago, but has accelerated recently as fishmeal prices have risen sharply. They have risen 60 per cent from a year ago and almost 3.5 times in a decade.

 

Read the full story in the Financial Times 

 

 

 

 

January 17, 2013 — When you go to the beach you don't expect to find hundreds of dead fish covering the shore.

Pat Hawkins was heading out to the beach on Pawleys Island, South Carolina Tuesday morning to enjoy the weather, but when she saw the sea of dead Menhaden fish she was in shock.

Pawleys Island isn't the first place this week to see the dead Menhaden fish on their shores.

DeBordieu Beach had the same issue the day before, according to Chief Michael Fanning of the Pawleys Island Police Department.

Events like this happen from time to time, last year an influx of Star Fish were found on the same beaches, Fanning said.

Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) and Department of Natural Resources (DNR) visited the area Tuesday and took water samples. No results were available at this time, but experts think a lack of oxygen caused the dead Menhaden to wash ashore.

 

Read the full story on NBC News

 

 

 

 

ELLSWORTH, Maine — January 10, 2013 — Anybody familiar with the commercial fishing industry, especially Maine’s iconic lobster fishery, will know that it doesn’t fit into a typical 9-to-5 schedule.

So it most likely will not come as a surprise to most Mainers to learn that, when producers and television crews from Headline News set out last summer to profile “individuals and communities who have found inventive and surprising ways to address today’s challenges by applying the lessons of American pioneers,” that offshore island fishermen and their families would be featured on the show.

The new show is called “American Journey” and is being hosted by Ty Pennington, former host of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” on ABC. The first episode of the half-hour show, which features the Maine lobstermen, is set to air on HLN at 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 12, and will air again at the same time the following day, Sunday, Jan. 13.

The aim of the show, according to HLN officials, is to highlight the “resourcefulness and resilience” in the lives of Americans whose work ethic is more about lifestyle than it is about putting in an eight-hour shift for his or her boss.

“With programs like this, and our new daily program ‘Making It in America,’ HLN is deepening and broadening its coverage of news stories that really hit home for our national audience,” Scot Safon, executive vice president and general manager of HLN, said in a prepared statement.

Other upcoming episodes include profiles of a modern-day collective commune and of Delta blues culture, according to show officials.

Last summer, television crews came to Hancock County to meet and ride along with a couple of lobster fishermen to talk to them about what they do and why they do it.

Robert Howell, a senior producer for HLN, wrote Thursday in an email that the cable network was interested in the lobster fishery because, in an unusual combination, lobstermen have been having a tough time financially even though catches have hit record highs and the resource appears to be healthy.

 

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

 

 

January 10, 2012 — More “monstah” fish tales will hit television screens across the country Sunday night when the Gloucester-based reality series “Wicked Tuna” launches its second season, following six fishing vessels’ fight to bring back the largest bluefin.

“Wicked Tuna,” which critics called “wicked authentic,” follows the spirited fishermen from Gloucester as they crisscross the frigid North Atlantic.

The National Geographic Channel series hooked viewers around the globe its first season, going into 440 million homes in 171 countries and in 38 languages.

The series depicts the lucrative nature of the bluefin tuna business and the fierce rivalry among the fishermen, some whose livelihood depends on their success at sea. In an avocation as old as the ancient disciples, the cameras capture the battle of man versus fish as they fight to reel in the giant tuna, some of which can weigh in at more than 1,000 pounds and sell on the Japanese sushi market for as much as $20,000.

The sea hunters capture their prey the old-fashioned way — with rod and reel or harpoon, often ending in almost hand-to-hand combat with the fish. The cameras catch both the thrill of the hunt and the despair when a fish worth thousands of dollars swims away.

Dave Carraro, captain of the FV-Tuna.com, said the second season promises a lot more action. Both he and Capt. Dave Marciano of Hard Merchandise have traveled from coast to coast as the National Geographic Channel promotes the new season. They attended the Television Critics Association event in Los Angeles last week and in New York City on Wednesday, where their images are illuminated on a gigantic billboard in Times Square.

“In the 10 episodes last year, 24 fish went for sale and for season two there are 55 fish that get pulled and another 40 fish that get lost or they’re short,” said Carraro, who led the fleet in catches and revenue last season. “Tuna fishing is a tough business, and you have to remain competitive — I’ll do whatever it takes to stay on top.”

 

Read the full story in the Gloucester Times 

 

 

 

 

January 3, 2012 — This year's drought delivered a pricey punch to US aquaculture, the business of raising fish like bass and catfish for food. Worldwide, aquaculture has grown into a $119 billion industry, but the lack of water and high temperatures in 2012 hurt many U.S. fish farmers who were already struggling to compete on a global scale.

At Osage Catfisheries, about one mile off the highway in rural, central Missouri, there are dozens of rectangular ponds with rounded corners. Some of them are empty, some have water, but not one is completely full.

Co-owner Steve Kahrs dons a pair of shorts on an unusually warm December day and surveys his ponds. Today, the water is fairly still with a few ripples from the warm breeze. He stands in front of one pond filled with catfish about eight to 12 inches long and points to the dirty rings circling up a white PVC pipe for about a foot before it becomes white again.

"They're out of the water a ways," he says. "Our average depth is still about five feet. But we're a good 10 or 12 inches down of where we'd keep it."

Down the highway a few miles, Kahrs' office can be found in a small house next to two tiny ponds where his father first started raising fish about 60 years ago. Scattered about the property are sinks and large tubs filled with catfish, bluegill and paddlefish. Kahrs says this year, the drought proved to be tough on the family business — one that sorely depends on water.

 

Read the full story here