State and Local

January 12, 2014 — The Conservation Commission ratified enforcement orders against four vessels Tuesday, mandating that the boat captains cease and desist from fishing up to 40 feet offshore, which is within the town's jurisdiction. The fishermen have also been ordered to submit plans to repair the area they are accused of damaging. These plans must be approved by the Conservation Commission, said Dennis Minsky, commission chairman.

But as of Wednesday morning, at least one of the boats, the 70-foot Tom Slaughter, of Gloucester, was out there again dredging clams, McKinsey said.

The fishermen don’t have to obey the local regulation because the state Division of Marine Fisheries, which has jurisdiction over fishing, allows it, said Monte Rome, owner of the Tom Slaughter.

"Provincetown has no authority," he said. "The enforcement orders are paper tigers. There is nothing to them."

The state looked at this issue back in 2007 and after conducting studies of the area, the Division of Marine Fisheries Director Paul Diodati wrote to the Conservation Commission to say, in fact, the area off Herring Cove is suitable for hydraulic dredging.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

January 12, 2015 — Stubbornness isn’t typically looked at as a virtuous character trait, but in regards to Portland’s working waterfront, it might be the saving grace for what remains of the local lobstering and fishing industries.

As new restaurants continue to open up and luxury condos continue to be built all over the old wharves that this city was built on, rising rent costs and an ever-decreasing fleet of local fishing boats have forced more and more of the traditional marine based tenants from the waterfront.

Thanks in large part to the Waterfront Protection Ordinance, which was passed in the 80′s despite a strong campaign mounted under the idea that it would “destroy business”, the remnants of what was once a thriving fishing fleet still exist in Portland, but it’s fair to say that the WPO’s overall effect has been merely to discourage non-marine uses on the waterfront, rather than guaranteeing the preservation of the fishing and lobstering industries there.

Barring a purchase by the city or state of the wharves- an idea that Portland’s Deputy Harbor Master, Lance Hannah thinks, “isn’t crazy, but would probably never get approved by the tax payers”- the people who truly control the fate of the working waterfront are the wharf owners themselves.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

January 9, 2015 — In the hands of artist Jeffrey Marshall, the twisted flotsam of a historic seaport becomes works of art. Marshall’s creations have caught the attention of Cape Ann Museum, which will present “Knots,” a selection of grease pencil drawings and oil paintings by the artist who now calls Gloucester home. The series will be on view in the museum’s lobby next Thursday, Jan. 15, through March 15.

Raised in Manhattan, Marshall left the city to attend Cornell University in Ithica, N.Y.,where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts ibn painting in 1991. He earned a Master of Fine Arts in painting and printmaking in 2000 from the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston. Marshall also worked for seven years in New Orleans’ public school, as part of Teach For America.

Gloucester appeared on his radar after he viewed photographs from a friend who visited during St. Peter’s Fiesta. But it was the coastal scenes that drew the artist to visit Cape Ann.

“I came up here and fell in love with it,” said Marshall, who at one point lived in Somerville and kept a studio in Magnolia. “I came to paint along the coast. I was missing the rocks and the ocean. It was the landscape I was interested in.”

Read the full story from the Gloucester Daily Times

 

January 7, 2015 — While nothing has been decided yet, New Jersey is inching closer to size and bag limits for striped bass for the 2015 season.

On Thursday, the New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council will meet to decide on a number options designed to reduced the striped bass harvest by 25 percent. The reduction was mandated by the approval of Draft Addendum IV to the interstate fishery management plant for striped bass.

Following the public comment period, which concluded at the end of September, the ASMFC's Striped Bass Management Board reviewed all comments and finalized options.

The options to be decided upon include the original nine choices outlined under Option B in the original Draft Addendum document, plus two that have been formulated by the New Jersey Bureau of Marine Fisheries.

Read the full story from the Asbury Park Press

 

BOSTON — January 7, 2015 — The state will receive $8.3 million in a second round of funding by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to support Massachusetts ground fishermen following the 2014 federal disaster declaration, the Patrick Administration announced today.

These funds are a portion of the $75 million allocated by U.S. Congress as part of its Fiscal Year 2014 budget to help with six fishery disasters around the country, of which Massachusetts received $14.6 million.

The Division of Marine Fisheries will use this funding to provide assistance to a broader population affected by the fisheries disaster to address the ripple effects felt throughout the state's fishing communities, according to a release from the governor's office.

Read the full story from the New Bedford Standard-Times

 

January 6, 2015 — A public hearing is being held Tuesday night in Brewer about a fishery management plan for New England waters. The New England Fishery Management Council is working on a habitat management plan for federal waters from Maine to Rhode Island.

Fishery analyst Michelle Bachman said the proposed amendment is designed to ensure specific areas aren't being overfished, while minimizing harm to the fishery and improving protection for groundfish.

"This action is potentially changing where people can fish, so it would not change the total annual limit for cod or for shrimp. We are not changing those kinds of limits," she said.

But some fishermen are concerned about what their future holds. Fisherman Gary Libby said if officials force him to fish in other areas, there is no question that it will impact how much he catches.

Read the full story at WCSH

January 5, 2015 — On New Year's Day, Jason and Hunter Davis started off the year by landing a 785-pound bluefin tuna off Morehead City, North Carolina. Wendy Davis, proud wife and mother, said that it didn't stop there.

"They went out the next morning and after 12 minutes of lines out, they hooked and landed another a 683-pound bluefin tuna," she said.

Read the full story from Sport Fishing Magazine

January 5, 2015 — While nothing has been decided yet, New Jersey is inching closer to size and bag limits for striped bass for the 2015 season.

On Thursday, the New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council will meet to decide on a number options designed to reduced the striped bass harvest by 25 percent. The reduction was mandated by the approval of Draft Addendum IV to the interstate fishery management plant for striped bass.

Following the public comment period, which concluded at the end of September, the ASMFC's Striped Bass Management Board reviewed all comments and finalized options.

The options to be decided upon include the original nine choices outlined under Option B in the original Draft Addendum document, plus two that have been formulated by the New Jersey Bureau of Marine Fisheries.

Those two options include one bass from 29 to 36 inches with another fish over 36 inches; and one bass from 28 to 42 inches with another fish over 42 inches.

Read the full story from the Asbury Park Press

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — January 6, 2015 — Maine will host two public hearings this week about a long-anticipated fishery management plan for New England waters.

The New England Fishery Management Council is working on a habitat management plan for federal waters from Maine to Rhode Island and is considering many options to balance conservation with commercial fishing interests.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at CBS Springfield

January 4, 2015 — If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to eat shellfish at Cook’s Lobster House, better get cracking.

The iconic Maine seafood restaurant in Harpswell closes for the season Sunday, and while the restaurant promises to open again in spring for its 60th year, the business is being sold.

The restaurant and real estate are on the market for $1.79 million, according to the website of Malone Commercial Brokers in Portland. The sale includes a 5,320-square-foot, single-story wood frame building on 1.37 acres, the listing says. The restaurant seats 190 people and includes a large commercial kitchen, two dining rooms, a bar and lounge, a gift shop and outside deck that seats an additional 50. The decor is decidedly Maine-centric: knotty pine, lobster traps and lots of nautical memorabilia.

And then there are those views. Generations of Mainers have journeyed down the peninsula and over the historic Cribstone Bridge to feast on lobster while enjoying views of Merriconeag Sound and Garrison Cove, and of lobstermen bringing in their daily catch.

For at least the past three years, the restaurant’s fans have included Jackie and Terry Tiner of Belgrade, who make an annual pilgrimage to Cook’s to celebrate their wedding anniversary. They always order the Point Shore Dinner, which includes a lobster, steamers, corn on the cob and potato. If anything changes, Jackie Tiner said, they would miss it.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald