State and Local Archives - Page 658 of 895

New Hampshire fishermen see no shortage of lobsters

August 28, 2015 — If lobsters are running scared from warmer southern New England waters, local lobstermen aren’t experiencing a similar shortage.

According to Red Perkins, manager at Seabrook’s Yankee Fisherman’s Cooperative, lobsters are in good supply this year, although not as abundant as a few years ago.

“We’re not noticing a shortage here,” Perkins said yesterday. “Last year we had a realistic lobster harvest and this year is the same as last year. A couple of years ago it was a very good year. It’s not strange for quantities to vary over the years.”

Salisbury Ring’s Island resident and amateur lobsterman, Jerry Klima said he had heard the rumors and read the reports that claim warmer waters in places like Long Island Sound are causing lobsters to head north, seeking colder climes. Recently, he spoke with a veteran fisherman who said he’s hauling up fewer lobsters in his traps by as much as a third.

“But (we) just went out and caught a lot of lobsters,” Klima said. “Supply varies from year to year.”

Read the full story at the Daily News of Newburyport

Scallops rebounding in Tampa Bay, count shows

August 26, 2015 — People are jumping into the waters north of here and hauling out scallops by the thousands this time of year, but the environmental group Tampa Bay Watch is rejoicing at a far smaller found number closer to home — just 233 of them.

It was a scientific undertaking by selected volunteers off Boca Ciega and Fort DeSoto that turned up the local scallops Saturday, rather than hungry snorkelers looking for their next meal from the Pasco-Hernando county line north during the Gulf harvest that runs through Sept. 24.

But 233 is nearly double the 112 found in local waters during last year’s Great Bay Scallop Search and represents an upward trend line that has local scallop watchers celebrating. Just five were counted in 2011.

Both Tampa Bay Watch and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission describe scallop populations as an indicator of water quality because of the shellfish’s sensitivity to pollution and their ability to filter and clean the water of nuisance species like phytoplankton.

Scallop numbers can be an indicator that something’s going on at a bigger level, and extreme changes mean the local population might collapse, said Sarah Stephenson, a scientist at the state’s Fish and Wildlife Research Institute.

Read the full story at The Suncoast News

The Good and Bad of Climate Change in Maine- Fishing Impacts

August 25, 2015 — “If ocean temperatures go up 5 degrees, I might actually swim in it,” proclaimed Tom Doak, executive director of the Small Woodland Owners Association of Maine.

I’d need at least 20 degrees, I responded. But Tom was making an important point about climate change: It’s not all bad.

Yes, there will be no skiing in Maine, but waterskiers will enjoy a long season. Farmers will have longer growing seasons, although some current crops won’t do well. As we plan for these climate changes, it’s important to include the benefits along with the bad impacts.

The June conference on Maine’s Economy & Climate Change, organized by Alan Caron and Envision Maine, was both fascinating and troubling. Last week, I told you a bit about the conference, and today I will focus on the three dozen people who spoke briefly, from 10 minutes to 1 minute.

“Eat Hake, not Haddock.” That must be our new slogan, said Andy Pershing of the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. Fish species are changing in the Gulf of Maine, he said, and hake eat cod. We’d like to eat cod too. But first, we must eat hake. And the real question is this: Will tourists eat hake? Just for the hake of it?

Read the full story at CentralMaine.com

Virginia: Menhaden pilot retires, lets NASA crash his plane for science

August 23, 2015 — Bill Corbett spent decades flying his trusty Cessna 172 every workday out of Newport News and up and down the coast, searching out Atlantic menhaden for the commercial fishery.

A professional fish-spotter before retiring last year, Corbett and his aircraft flew together through storms and turbulence. Twice they almost went down in flames. Once, the little four-seater got struck by lightning.

“That airplane and I rode through some nasty stuff together,” Corbett, 63, said Thursday from his home in Poquoson. “And it held together for me. … It was a loyal machine for me, keeping me alive.”

Next Wednesday, their bond will break — literally — when Corbett watches his old Cessna swing and drop tail first from the big gantry at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton and crash to the ground.

The plane is scheduled to become the third and final crash test article for a study on emergency locator transmitters, or ELTs — the beacons that transmit a crash location to search-and-rescue crews when a plane goes down.

Read the full story at the Daily Press

New Jersey: Boat found near crash site

August 25, 2015 — State police have located a sunken vessel in the Sandy Hook Channel near where a fishing trawler was reported missing. Divers are investigating Wednesday.

The Coast Guard watchstanders received word that a 40-foot steel fishing trawler called El Jefe started taking on water at 4:30 p.m. and then sank in the Sandy Hook Channel, officials said.

The Coast Guard, the NYPD, the FDNY, and the New Jersey State Police all sent boat crews to search for the boat and its crew. NYPD helicopters also searched for the vessel.

Read the full story at Fox 5: New York

Massachusetts: How Gloucester won lion’s share of fishing aid

August 25, 2015 — All things considered, it could not have gone much better.

The small working group assembled by Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken in February was tasked with helping identify and contact city waterfront businesses that might be eligible to receive some of the $750,000 in federal funds set aside to help Massachusetts shoreside businesses damaged by the ongoing groundfish disaster.

The committee identified 15 Gloucester businesses willing to go through the application process. All 15 were qualified by the state Division of Marine Fisheries to receive financial aid, with 13 maxing out at $26,786, and two of the businesses receiving $16,071.

Collectively, the 15 Gloucester fishing-related businesses — companies that sell fishermen everything from fuel to ice, from fishing slicks and gear to accounting services — received $380,360.

It was the greatest number of businesses from any single fishing community to receive the assistance, as well as the largest amount of money (50.7 percent of the total $750,000) sent to any of the Bay State’s groundfishing ports to help shoreside, fishing-related businesses.

By comparison, consider New Bedford. The historic whaling city on the state’s southeast coast — and now, thanks to its burgeoning scallop fleet, the state’s most lucrative port — had 10 of its shoreside businesses collectively receive $246,430.

Boston, Salem and South Dennis each had one business qualify for the financial assistance that was earmarked for shoreside businesses from the $8.3 million contained in the second phase, or Bin 2, of the federal disaster relief. Scituate had two.

There was, it seemed, a true recognition on the part of state officials at the Division of Marine Fisheries, as well as other fishing stakeholders throughout the state, that Gloucester — on the water and off — still sits at the very epicenter of the groundfish fishing disaster.

“We were thrilled with the result,” city Chief Administrative Officer Jim Destino said. “We thought if we could get $370,000 of the $750,000, that would have been fabulous. I don’t think we really believed we would get anything above that.”

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

New Jersey: Coast Guard launches search for sunken fishing boat in Sandy Hook Channel

August 26, 2015 — STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The U.S. Coast Guard and other agencies were searching for a fishing boat that reportedly capsized off the coast of New Jersey on Tuesday evening, authorities said.

A witness notified the Coast Guard Sector New York command center that a 40-foot steel fishing trawler known as “El Jefe” had begun taking on water at around 4:30 p.m. in the Sandy Hook Channel and sunk shortly after, according to a statement issued by the Coast Guard.

Read the full story at Silive.com

Gloucester Schooner Festival – Welcomes Navy and Schooner Columbia

August 25, 2015 — The following was released by the Gloucester Schooner Festival:

The story line of this year’s 31^st annual Gloucester Schooner Festival, which runs from September 4^th to September 6^th, is all about Essex built and Essex inspired schooners. And the arrival of the 610’ USS Fort McHenry, but we’ll get to that.

The signature or attraction schooner at this year’s Festival is the replica Columbia. The original Columbia was a 141’ classic Gloucester Fishing Schooner built at the historic A.D. Story shipyard of Essex, Massachusetts in 1923. That fall, the Columbia, designed for speed, challenged the Bluenose, Canada’s legendary schooner in the International Fishermen’s Cup Races in Halifax. Nearly winning the title, the Columbia was narrowly defeated by the Bluenose and was one of the few American schooners to provide a challenge to Bluenose. (The other being the Gertrude Thebaud which beat the Bluenose in the Lipton Cup in 1930. The trophy is on display at Maritime Gloucester.). The replica Columbia was built by Brian D’Isernia at his boat yard, Eastern Shipbuilding Group, in Panama City, Florida. The Schooner is currently sailing to Sable Island, where the vessel was lost with all hands in a gale on August 24, 1927. Following a memorial service at sea, the Columbia will make the return trip to Gloucester that never occurred. The Columbia is slated to arrive in Gloucester on the morning of Thursday, August 27, 2015, in advance of the Schooner Festival. “This is such a great story,” says Schooner Committee Chair, Daisy Nell Collinson. “We hope the public will come out in great numbers to welcome the Columbia and, over the weekend, celebrate the great history of schooners from Essex and Gloucester.”

This year’s schooner race on Sunday, September 6^th, includes three of the remaining five Essex-built working schooners. The schooners Adventure (1926), Lettie G. Howard (1893), and the Roseway (1925) will all be racing this year. The Highlander Sea (1924) will be resting comfortably at the Gloucester Marine Railways as it enviously observes its wooden peers (pun intended) as they compete for the Esperanto Cup. Of the remaining “intact” Essex-Built Schooners, only the Ernestina-Morrissey will be missing from this austere group. The Massachusetts owned schooner is being rebuilt in the state of Maine. Joining their elders will be the schooners Thomas Lannon, Ardelle and the Fame, all built over the last 20 years by 11^th generation boat builder Harold Burnham at his boat yard in Essex.

The Schooner Festival will also feature a major attraction vessel — the USS Fort McHenry (LSD-43), which is a Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship of the United States Navy. She was named for Fort McHenry, in Baltimore, Maryland, the 1814 defense of which inspired The Star-Spangled Banner. This 610’ vessel is actively deployed around the world for combat and humanitarian purposes. It carries as many as 22 officers and 391 enlisted sailors. The ship will be available for public tours on Friday afternoon, Saturday and Sunday. “The City of Gloucester is honored to have the USS Fort McHenry in our historic harbor,” says Gloucester Mayor Sefatia Romeo-Theken. “We hope the community and weekend visitors take this opportunity to board the ship and honor the great men and women serving our country.” For more information about this Navy vessel, go to http://www.fort-mchenry.navy.mil/.

On Saturday, September 5th Maritime Gloucester will host its annual Heritage Day celebration from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. The event is free to the public. Over 25 artisans, food vendors and community organizations will be set up on Schooner Way and down Webster Pier with demos, family activities & more! Children’s storytelling and songs with Daisy Nell. Chick & Ellen will be performing their country blues and folk tunes. Maritime Gloucester exhibits will be open with 1/2 price admission throughout the day. Schooner Adventure will offer free deck tours and Schooner Ardelle will be offering one-hour sales for a discounted fee. For a complete list of the Gloucester Schooner Festival schedule, go to http://gloucesterschoonerfestival.net/?page_id=23

Lead sponsors of the Festival include: the City of Gloucester, First Ipswich Bank, Market Basket and Institution for Savings. For a full list of sponsors, go to the Festival’s website. The Festival raises much needed funds from the community by offering Schooner Festival raffle in addition to corporate support. Please purchase raffle tickets (available at Maritime Gloucester) or during Maritime Heritage Day. These funds directly support efforts to put kids on the water.

North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for August 24, 2015

August 24, 2015 — JERRY’S UPDATE

Jerry’s comments will be sent separately later this week.

SOUTHERN FLOUNDER SUPPLEMENT VOTE POSTPONED

The Marine Fisheries Commission did not vote on the proposed supplement to the southern flounder plan at its business meeting last week as expected. More information will be posted as it becomes available.

MAFMC AUGUST MEETING REPORT

ASMFC FINDS DELAWARE OUT OF COMPLIANCE WITH AMERICAN EEL PLAN

The ASMFC has found the state of Delaware out of compliance with the mandatory management measures contained in Addendum III to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for American Eel. The commission has notified the secretaries of Commerce and the Interior of its finding. This action was taken pursuant to the provisions of the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act of 1993. For more information see the news release.

NMFS MAINTAINS CURRENT BLUEFIN TUNA COMMERCIAL LIMIT

The National Marine Fisheries Service maintains the current Atlantic bluefin tuna general category (commercial handgear) daily retention limit of four large medium or giant bluefin (i.e., 73″ or greater) per vessel per day/trip for Sept. 1 through Dec. 31, 2015. This adjustment is intended to provide a reasonable opportunity to harvest the U.S. bluefin tuna quota without exceeding it, while maintaining an equitable distribution of fishing opportunities; help achieve optimum yield in the fishery; and collect a broad range of data for stock monitoring purposes. For more information see the news release.

REGULATION AND RULE CHANGES:

-South Atlantic Gag and Wreckfish Catch Limits Change Effective Sept. 11

-Atlantic Mackerel Slippage Consequences Measures Effective Sept. 11

-USCG Mandatory Dockside Inspections Required Effective Oct. 15

DEADLINES:

Aug. 26 – Green Sea Turtles ESA Uplisting Comments

Aug. 31 at 5 p.m. – Snapper-Grouper Regulatory Amendment 36 Comments

Sept. 1 – SAFMC Snapper-Grouper Draft Vision Blueprint Comments

Sept. 4 – Cape Fear River Restoration Scoping Document Comments

Sept. 10 – NMFS Updated Draft Acoustic Guidelines Comments

Sept. 14 – NMFS Generic Amendment to Snapper-Grouper, Golden Crab and Dolphin-Wahoo FMPs Comments

Sept. 17 – 2016 Commercial Atlantic Shark Season Comments

Sept. 21 at 5 p.m. – 2016-2018 Atlantic Herring Research Set Aside Applications

Oct. 2 – MFC Proposed Rules Comments

MEETINGS:

If you are aware of ANY meetings that should be of interest to commercial fishing that is not on this list, please contact us so we can include it here.

Aug. 31-Sept.1 – ASMFC Menhaden Ecosystem Management Workshop

Sept. 9 at 6 p.m. – MFC Rules Public Hearing, DMF Central District Office, 5285 Hwy 70 W, Morehead City

Sept. 9-10 – Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Advisory Panel Meeting, Sheraton Silver Spring Hotel, 8777 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring, MD and via webinar

PROCLAMATIONS:

COMMERCIAL AND RECREATIONAL SHARK HARVEST

CRAB TRAWLING AND TAKING SHRIMP WITH NETS (OPENING CAPE FEAR RIVER)

SNAPPER-GROUPER COMPLEX – RECREATIONAL PURPOSES (HOGFISH)

Massachusetts: Oars and Flowers: Gloucester Remembers Lost Fishermen

August 25, 2015 — There were tears — there always are — as the flowers were thrown on the water, recognizing Gloucester’s many losses to the sea.

There were Carol Figurido, Vincie Curcurum and Josie Russo, Gloucester women who lost loved ones to the ocean deep. They were just three among the many who attended Gloucester’s annual Fishermen’s Memorial Service held Saturday evening at the Fishermen’s Memorial on Stacy Memorial.

Figurido spoke of her grandfather — and the 5,383 other Gloucestermen whose names grace the Fishermen’s Memorial Cenotaph — at the ceremony. She came to know Thomas Isaac Moulton through relatives and family history. A ship’s cook, Moulton, 48, and five other Gloucestermen went down with the fishing vessel Mary E. O’Hara in 1941, before Figurido was born.

Vincie Curcuru lost her brother, John Orlando, 59, when the fishing vessel Patriot went down on Jan 3, 2009. He was crewing for his son-in-law.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times