Saving Seafood

State and Local

NEW YORK: New fishing regulation questioned

May 26, 2015 — Turns out it was all a misunderstanding. Sort of.

The new fishing regulation that makes it seemingly illegal to so much as take a photo of an out-of-season, out-of-water fish was questioned a couple of weeks ago by Syracuse Post-Standard outdoors writer Dave Figura.

The new regulation, which took effect April 1, is listed on page 52 in the new DEC fishing guide that comes with a fishing license:

“A person may not fish for a species (even if immediately released) during the closed season for that species on a given water. Fish caught during the closed season must be unhooked and released immediately. They may not be handled for any other purpose, including taking a picture.

“Such action can result in a ticket from an environmental conservation officer and a resulting penalty of a fine of up to $250, and/or 15 days in jail.”

DEC spokeswoman Lori Severino was quoted in Figura’s column: “It’s a ticketable offense. It’s all because of the social media thing and people posing with the fish for pictures. They often spend too much time dilly-dallying and don’t return the fish immediately to the water. This was designed to protect the fish species.”

Read the full story at Press and Sun-Bulletin

 

Fishermen’s service honors those lost at sea

New Bedford, Mass. — May 26, 2015 — When the Carpenter family gathered on the waterfront Monday morning to pose for a group photo after the annual Fishermen’s Memorial Service hosted by the New Bedford Port Society, it took a few minutes to get everyone positioned.

There were a lot of people to fit in the frame.

At least 15 immediate and extended family members of late fisherman Joseph F. Carpenter Jr., traveled from various parts of Massachusetts and Rhode Island to attend Monday morning’s service on Pier 3, as they said they do every year.

This year, though, marked 20 years since Carpenter’s death in September 1995, when he was aboard a boat named Rapture. Cheryl, one of his five sisters, said Monday that Carpenter got tangled in a line, and indicated the weather was rough.

The family didn’t talk very much about the exact circumstances of his death. Instead, they enjoyed their time together and shared the opportunity to remember Carpenter, whose name was one of more than 300 read under sunny skies Monday by the Hon. Armand Fernandes and Pat Hunt of the Port Society.

 

 

Read the full story at New Bedford Daily Times

 

NEW JERSEY: Crawfish Fest features new acts, new food

May 24, 2015 — It’s that time of year again: The crawfish are coming to New Jersey.

The 26th annual Michael Arnone’s Crawfish Fest kicks off Friday, May 29, at the Sussex County Fairgrounds in Frankford.

“It’s always a good time,” Arnone said on Friday. “The forecast is great. It’s going to be cloudy. We need the clouds. Some people say you need the sun; not really. It’s going to be 75 degrees. It’s nice drinking weather. Nice eating weather and nice dancing weather.”

Arnone spent Friday afternoon at Hayek’s Market in Newton giving out samples of the jambalaya that is served at the annual festival.

The three-day festival will feature 24 musical acts on four stages.

Read the full story from the New Jersey Herald

Politicians ask Rutgers to cancel ocean blasting tests off New Jersey’s Long Beach Island

May 22, 2015 — SHIP BOTTOM, N.J. (AP) — The New Jersey Senate president and a congressman representing the Jersey shore are asking Rutgers University to cancel planned research that involves blasting the ocean floor with sound waves.

Senate President Steve Sweeney and U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. wrote to Rutgers President Robert Barchi on Friday, saying the testing will harm or kill marine animals, including turtles, dolphins and whales, and will harm New Jersey’s crucial tourism industry.

The research is scheduled to start in June off Long Beach Island and comes after an aborted attempt to do the tests last summer that wound up in court.

Rutgers, the University of Texas and the National Science Foundation want to do research on sediments deposited on the ocean floor to study climate change. The plan is to complete a 3-D map of part of the ocean floor by studying the result of changing global sea levels, dating back 60 million years. The data may offer clues as to what could happen as the ocean rises.

But opponents say it also could be a precursor to drilling for oil and gas off New Jersey’s coast, which is not allowed.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at U.S. News and World Report

 

Photo show chronicles 40 years of fishing in Gloucester, Mass.

May 21, 2015 — When Nubar Alexanian started visiting Gloucester in 1971 as a young man of 21, the harbor bustled with fishing vessels that hauled in millions of pounds a fish a day. He captured the hive of activity among the Gloucester-based fleet from onshore and on extended trips offshore.

The Worcester-born photographer soon made the nation’s oldest seaport his home, immersing himself into the cornucopia of Gloucester life and landscape.

Spanning more than 40 years, his vast collection of images is part of the new exhibition “When The Fish Came First,” which opens May 28 at the Cultural Center at Rocky Neck in Gloucester. Some of these photographs have never been publicly exhibited.

“We hope you will join us for this rare view of Gloucester’s fishing culture in a time of change and through the lens of a master photographer,” said Karen Ristuben, president of the Rocky Neck Art Colony. “This is a watershed one-person exhibition that should not be missed. It is the most comprehensive contemporary document of commercial fishing in New England before its steep decline.”

The show includes a series of color photographs originally published in GEO magazine in 1981 and never before exhibited. In the 1970s, Alexanian accompanied the Brancaleone family of Gloucester on four ten-day trips to Georges Bank aboard the Joseph & Lucia II over the course of 18 months.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

 

 

Massachusetts Fisherman Repairs Lobster Vessel with 40K MassDevelopment Loan

May 21, 2015 — The following was released by MassDevelopment:

MassDevelopment has provided a $40,000 loan to Timothy G. O’Keefe, who will use proceeds to upgrade and repair the “Lorio,” O’Keefe’s 45-foot commercial lobster vessel. Repairs to the vessel will include structural fixes; the purchase and installation of larger fuel and lobster tanks; and the addition of a new deck.

“Massachusetts’ seafood industry is integral to our local culture and economy,” said Marty Jones, MassDevelopment President and CEO. “MassDevelopment is pleased to support Timothy G. O’Keefe as he repairs his lobster vessel so he can get back working – and feeding the Commonwealth.”

The loan came from MassDevelopment’s Gloucester Revolving Loan Fund (GRLF), which provides real estate and equipment loans to businesses, particularly fishing vessels and seafood-related ones, in Gloucester, Rockport, Essex, and Manchester-by-the-Sea. O’Keefe, who has fished for lobster for 18 years, has received three prior GRLF loans.

“MassDevelopment has been great to work with and has supported me through the various stages of my business development for a number of years,” said Timothy G. O’Keefe. “They have excellent programs specifically geared towards small business needs.  They were more competitive with better financing options, compared to programs offered at other banks.”

MassDevelopment, the state’s finance and development agency, works with businesses, nonprofits, financial institutions, and communities to stimulate economic growth across the Commonwealth. During FY2014, MassDevelopment financed or managed 314 projects generating investment of more than $2.9 billion in the Massachusetts economy. These projects are projected to create more than 6,300 jobs and build or rehabilitate more than 1,600 residential units.

 

Are poisonous jellyfish still off the Jersey Shore?

May 20, 2015 — With Memorial Day weekend fast approaching, The Weather Channel is warning about this specific breed of jellyfish. National Geographic says Box Jellyfish produce a venom considered to be “among the most deadly in the world.”

The jellyfish was spotted off the coast of Point Pleasant last October,  according to Point Pleasant First Aid and Emergency Squad Captain Jerry Meany. Meany posted video of them on the Barnegat Bay Island, NJ Facebook page, but they have not been seen since. “Being tropical they can’t survive in our Jersey water temps,” explains Meany. “They seemed to die off when the water chilled.”  He says we won’t know until June if they will return.

Read the full story from New Jersey 101.5

NEW YORK: New rules for catch size and limits proposed to reduce black sea bass harvest

May 20, 2015 —  New restrictions designed to reduce harvest of black sea bass in N.Y. waters have been proposed by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

The proposed changes include a one-inch increase in the minimum size, from 13 to 14 inches, and an increase in the possession limit during the months of November and December only, from eight to 10 fish. The current eight-fish possession limit will be retained from July 15 through October 31. The open fishing season will remain July 15 through December 31 with a minimum size limit of 14 inches during the entire open season.

Weaknesses in the current stock assessment caused federal scientists to exercise extreme caution when recommending annual harvest limits, the DEC said in a press release. As a result, for the third year in a row, New York, along with other states in the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s northern region (Massachusetts-New Jersey), must take steps to reduce the black sea bass harvest despite an apparent abundance of fish, the DEC said. A new stock assessment by the ASMFC in 2016 will be more robust and provide the basis for relief in 2017, according to regulators.

Read the full story here

 

NORTH CAROLINA: Commercial catches are up for the first time in four years

May 19, 2015 — North Carolina’s commercial fishing harvest increased by 23 percent in 2014, boosted by higher landings of blue crabs, spiny dogfish and summer flounder.

Commercial fishermen sold 61.7 million pounds of fish and shellfish to North Carolina dealers last year, according to the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries’ Commercial Trip Ticket Program. It was the first year commercial landings rose since 2010, an upward tick in a long declining trend since the late 1990s.

The estimated dockside value of the commercial harvest climbed 19 percent in 2014 to $93.8 million, continuing an increasing trend since 2011.

Recreational fishermen harvested approximately 9.6 million fish weighing about 9 million pounds in 2014, a 25 percent decrease in pounds from 2013, according to the division’s Coastal Angling Program. It is 29 percent lower than the average of recreational landings from 2010 to 2013.

Read the full story at the Outer Banks Voice

 

 

Massachusetts hatchery aims for harvest of 6 million oysters

May 19, 2015 — Hannah Pearson works in a small, windowless room that resembles a super-villain’s secret lab. Rows of cylindrical tanks, each about 7 feet tall, contain brightly colored liquids in green, yellow, and orange. If it was a Hollywood set, the next mutant nemesis of Iron Man or Spiderman might burst forth at any moment.

But this is the hatchery at Island Creek Oyster Farm in Duxbury, so the only thing growing in those giant test tubes is algae. Pearson, a marine biologist and the hatchery manager, monitors each of the 18 tanks closely. Algae feeds the farm’s baby oysters — no bigger than grains of sand at this stage — and is one of the first keys to a business that expects to harvest and sell about 6 million oysters this year.

“Every single one has a different nutritional value,” Pearson said of the algae varieties in her charge. “I make a combination every day so the oysters have a variety of nutrients in their diet.”

Read the full story at the Boston Globe