See two (2) fishing industry videos from the Gloucester Daily Times.
A Life at Sea, A Life at Risk: Elusive bunker fish makes high-tech gadgets useless
Richard Degener of The Press of Atlantic City writes a week-long series on the fishing industry.
Bunker is a high-volume, low-price fishery. In 2008, Cape May port landed more than 30 million pounds of bunker, also known as menhaden, worth just $1.9 million. By comparison, the port landed 8.2 million pounds of scallops worth $56 million.
Still, catching enough bunker can mean a daily paycheck of several hundred dollars to each crewman during the 20-week season.
“I think we’re getting 8 cents a pound and the dock takes one cent of that. You also have to pay the boat and plane expenses and the taxes,” Genovese says of the bunker catch.
In an age when some captains rely on high-tech electronic equipment to find fish and push-button gear to catch it, bunkering is a throwback to another era.
It’s a tricky operation. Each man knows his job and the crew uses a series of whistles, grunts, head nods and one-word commands to communicate. The rings on the bottom of the net have to be pulled tight quickly or the fish can be lost. The men have to control the net while using a scoop, called a dip net, to transfer the fish from the net to the Shakari.
Lumbruno brought the technique here from Gloucester, Mass., years ago when bunker grew scarce in New England. Now other local fishermen use it, too. Lumbruno’s crew includes his father and brother, along with several cousins from the Genovese family and Tarr, who also came down from Gloucester.
Abandoned at the wharf?
North Atlantic Fish Co. recently got a surprise, unwrapped Christmas gift with a pair of towering stabilizers — or "sissy sticks" — delivered to its leased dock next to the Felicia Oil Co. Wharf down the Fort.
The gift, which could become a headache for North Atlantic, probably also represents another man's American dream gone kaput — thanks to Northeast coastal federal fishing regulations that only seem to become crazier — and more industry-destructive — every month.
"It just happened," said Jim Stewart Sr., North Atlantic's operational manager, who looked out his office window one day and found himself alarmingly asking, "Is that boat tied to the end of the wharf?"
It sure was — an approximately 87-foot (77-foot waterline length) single-dredge scalloper named the Nha Trang!
N.E. Council’s Economics Questioned; Mass. GOP Governor Candidate – Guests: Ariel Collis and Charlie Baker
Each week, on WBSM in New Bedford, Massachusetts, Bob Vanasse of Saving Seafood joins host Phil Paleologos to discuss issues related to the fisheries with news-making guests.
Ariel Collis, an economist with Georgetown Economic Services, discusses his firm's analysis of the New England Council's economic assessment of the various options pertaining to scallops that were considered at the November council meeting. Georgetown Economic Services looked at the long-term economic benefits projected for each alternative and determined that the long-term benefit calculations do not adequately take into account the uncertainty associated with the assumptions that underlie their projections.
Also joining Phil and Bob is Charlie Baker, a Republican Candidate for Governor of Massachusetts, who discusses his views on issues facing fisheries, and what his approach to fishery issues would be as governor.
With engine running again, lobster boat to head back to sea
With barely 36 hours in Provincetown to clean out the motor after a harrowing breakdown and a marathon Coast Guard tow from Georges Bank, a 77-foot, Gloucester-based, offshore lobster boat will headed back out today to haul traps while holiday prices are favorably high.
The owner of the Michael & Kristen, Charles Raymond of Beverly said yesterday "by a miracle," the motor started up yesterday afternoon.
Raymond told the Times the Michael & Kristen will depart Provincetown sometime today, steam for a day to the "canyon," a deep ravine in Georges, about 200 miles from Nantucket, haul traps for a day and return on Wednesday, the day before Christmas Eve.
That schedule, Raymond said, would allow the captain Ron Davis, 43, of Rochester, N.H., and the crew of five — possibly with one replacement for a lobsterman arrested on outstanding warrants — to enjoy the holiday on dry land.
Alaska 2010 pollock catch limits lowest in 32 years
Federal fisheries managers have set the allowable catch for pollock at 813,000 metric tons for 2010, the lowest in 32 years for the multi-million dollar fishery.
The limit reflected the maximum recommendation made by scientists earlier this year, based on historical low numbers of spawning pollock in the Bering Sea.
The action came Dec. 12 during the December meeting of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council in Anchorage.
Alaska pollock is commonly used in imitation crabmeat and also is a primary ingredient in fish sticks and many fast food restaurant fish sandwiches.
Fishermen feed the hungry, fill the pantry
Hatteras Island watermen leveraged some of their landings last week to raise $2,940 and truck loads of non-perishable food items and personal care products for the Hatteras Island Food Pantry and for Hatteras Meals, Inc.
Commercial fishermen and charter boat captains donated fish for a Dec. 8 seafood dinner fundraiser organized by Hatteras Connection, a community-based development project dedicated to the vision of a diversified local economy strengthened by commercial and charter boat fishing.
"The idea for the fundraiser originated in the fishing community, but quickly drew support from a cross-section of the island's population," said Sharon Peele Kennedy, a Buxton resident who helped organize the event at the Hatteras Village Civic Center.
Read The Outer Banks Sentinel story in full
‘Catch shares’ a growing concept in fisheries management
"Catch shares" likely will grow as a primary management tool for commercial fisheries — but the concept may not prove workable for the recreational sector, federal fishery managers say.
Catch shares now used in 13 U.S. fisheries affect only commercial harvesters, Jane Lubchenco, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said in a Dec. 10 briefing.
"Most catch-share programs are focused on the commercial sector," Lubchenco said in the conference-call session. "We don’t have any recreational fisheries using this type of management."
Typically, a commercial fishery closes completely when the season ends or when the annual quota of fish is taken.
National fishermen’s protest set for Feb. 24
The date of a national demonstration by fishing interests in Washington, D.C., has been set for Wednesday, Feb. 24.
Originally scheduled for Feb. 17, the announcement ofthe changed date was made Monday by the Conservation Cooperative ofGulf Fishermen, one of the organizers of the event.
CCGF spokesman Capt. Bob Zales said the change was made because Feb. 17 was discovered to fall during a congressional recess.
The protest has drawn national interest. Along withZales' organization, the Recreational Fishing Alliance, an umbrellagroup representing states' recreational fishing organizations, UnitedBoatsmen of New York and New Jersey as well as the organizers of thecommercial fishermen's protest held in Gloucester in October at theregional offices of the National Marine Fisheries Service are expectedto attend.
Marine Conservation Alliance Backs Council Decision to Reduce Pollock Catch During Downturn
The Marine Conservation Alliance (MCA), a coalition of harvesters, processors and communities involved in the Alaska groundfish and crab fisheries, renewed its support today for scientifically set catch limits, even though it means a reduction in the Bering Sea pollock catch limit for the upcoming year.
The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) is set to adopt Acceptable Biological Catch (ABC) and Total Allowable Catch (TAC) levels for 2010 for Bering Sea pollock slightly below levels set for 2009. The Council action continues the NPFMC’s long tradition of following the advice of its science advisors.
On Monday, the Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) recommended an ABC of 813,000 metric tons, down from 815,000 in 2009.
“This was not unexpected. The responsible course of action is to follow our scientists’ recommendation to reduce harvests in accordance with the model and the precautionary factors built into the model,” said MCA executive director David Benton. “This has been the way we’ve done business in Alaska for over 30 years with the result that there are no overfished stocks.”
In November, the Council’s Bering Sea Aleutian Islands Plan Team scientists reviewed the status of Bering Sea pollock. They recommended an Acceptable Biological Catch of 813,000 metric tons of pollock in 2010, slightly down from 2009’s levels.
After reviewing the data, the SSC unanimously supported the recommendation of 813,000 mt for 2010.
“We’ve known this downturn was coming because a large age class of fish that dominated the population was getting older.” Benton said. “It’s a bit of a disappointment, because last year the scientists were projecting that pollock might increase in 2010. We just have to stay the course, stick to the science, and ensure long term conservation of the stock.”
Bering Sea pollock is one of the world’s largest fisheries and accounts for a third of all fish harvested in the U.S. Such fluctuations in the catch are not unusual. Pollock catch limits were held below 1 million tons from 1977 to 1983. More recently, the catch limit dropped to 980,000 tons in 1999 after which the stocks rebounded and produced record catches of almost 1.5 million tons from 2002 to 2006.
Based in Juneau, the Marine Conservation Alliance is a coalition of seafood processors, fishermen, coastal communities and support industries involved in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska groundfish and crab fisheries. The MCA promotes science-based conservation measures to ensure sustainable fisheries in Alaska. For more information, visit www.marineconservationalliance.org.
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