State and Local

November 10, 2014 — The following was released by the office of Massachusetts State Senator Bruce Tarr:

“The emergency and interim measures announced today by NOAA Fisheries will be severely damaging to a groundfishery that is already struggling to survive on a day-to-day basis. That groundfishery certainly depends on healthy cod stocks, but it also depends on New England’s fishing families and fishing infrastructure, particularly the inshore fleet, being able to carry on against the overwhelming threats posed by the measures released today.
 
We don’t have a moment to waste to protect our commercial fishing industry and now is the time for anyone who cares about the industry to rise up and defend it with bold and decisive actions, including but not limited to:
 
An unprecedented scientific collaborative research effort to determine what the actual condition of the cod stock is with the real, engaged partnership of fishermen who stand to lose their livelihood from today’s announced measures. That effort must determine why the many strict measures that have been undertaken to date haven’t worked, and why the tremendous hardships that have been sustained because of them haven’t produced a healthy cod stock.
 
– Immediate measures to preserve and protect New England’s domestic fishing infrastructure, including vessels and shoreside facilities.
 
– Financial assistance for those who depend on groundfishing for their income.
 
Given the severity and immediacy of these emergency actions, NOAA, the New England federal legislative delegation, and its counterparts in state government can’t afford to wait for them to do damage, we all need to move forward now to develop and implement a plan to mitigate that damage before it’s too late.

View a PDF of the release here

November 7, 2014 — According to the state Department of Environmental Conservation, commercial fishermen were harvesting an average of 300,000 pounds of scallop meat annually between 1966 and 1984, contributing to over $4 million a year to the state economy.

During that time, the Peconic Estuary accounted for 25 percent of all bay scallops harvested in the United States, according to The Nature Conservancy.

The abundance of fresh shellfish supported nearly 100 pop-up scallop shops, which dotted roadways across the East End, longtime bayman Charlie Harvey, 74 of Greenport, recalled.

Mr. Harvey still makes a living off nearby bay waters.

“My father ran a big scallop shop down at the end of Sixth Street in Greenport. Boats could come right into the bulkhead,” he said. “There sure was a lot of people doing it … and back in them days we sailed, we didn’t use power [boats]. You had to depend on the wind.”

But the summers from 1985 to 1987, and again in 1995, brought change, as a harmful overgrowth of algae known as “brown tide” choked Peconic Bay waters of oxygen, killing the shellfish and eelgrass that were unable to escape it.

“[Brown tide] hit so heavy you couldn’t even see through it,” Mr. Harvey said. “When I pulled them out of the water, all the scallops had died.

“I can remember my father going out on opening day and coming in with just three-quarters of a bushel of scallops. And that was a whole day’s work.”

Read the full story at the Suffolk Times

November 10, 2014 — Between endless phone calls and Winston cigarettes, Carlos Rafael fumed as he recounted the call early in October: The fisheries disaster relief headed his way would be just half the amount he was originally told was his.

For the don of the North Atlantic groundfishing industry, it was the second time in six years he said he was cheated out of federal funds. But where he let it slide the first time, this time Rafael said he’s out for justice.

“I don’t care if I spend $1 million to get the $617,000,” he said. “I’ll still be out $300,000, but I will prove a point. (The Division of Marine Fisheries) will never do this again to nobody.”

In May it was announced that Massachusetts would receive $14.5 million in relief to be distributed as the state saw fit. The first of three aid “buckets” went out on the basis of permits: anyone whose permit caught at least 5,000 pounds of fish during the qualifying years would get $32,500 per permit, with no limit on how much any individual could receive.

The Northeast Seafood Coalition cast its weight against imposing a cap on the aid money. Jim Kendall of New Bedford Seafood Consulting said he raised the question of whether there would be caps, but he never called for them outright.

Read the full story from the New Bedford Standard-Times

 

November 11, 2014 — Alaska claimed the nation’s top three fishing ports for seafood catches last year, and wild salmon landings — 95 percent from Alaska — topped one billion pounds, an all-time record and a 70 percent increase from 2012.

That’s according to the annual “Fisheries of the U.S.” report for 2013, just released by NOAA Fisheries.

Dutch Harbor topped the list for landings for the 17th year running with 753 million pounds of fish crossing the docks last year, valued at nearly $200 million. The Aleutian Islands region ranked second for landings, thanks to the big Trident plant at Akutan; Kodiak ranked third for both seafood landings and value.

For the 14th year in a row, New Bedford, Mass., had the highest valued catch at $380 million. That’s due mostly to pricey sea scallops, which accounted for more than 80 percent of New Bedford’s 130 million pound landings.

In all, 14 Alaska ports made the top 50 list: the Alaska Peninsula (8), Cordova (9), Ketchikan (10), Sitka (15), Petersburg (16), Seward (20), Naknek (21), Valdez (24), Bristol Bay (26), Kenai (38) and Juneau (41). Most ports showed huge increases in fish landings and values, meaning a nice return in local and state tax dollars.

Overall, fishermen were paid less for their catches. The average dock price for salmon (all species) was 67 cents per pound, down a nickel from 2012. For halibut, the average price of $3.89 was a drop of 58 cents. (All but 76,000 pounds of the nation’s halibut came from the Pacific fishery.) The average king crab price of $5.37 per pound was a decrease of 18 cents.

Read the full story from The Alaska Journal of Commerce

GLOUCESTER, Mass. — November 6, 2014 — Fishermen, a number of area restaurants, chefs, and artists will join former New England Patriot defensive lineman Jarvis Green and hundreds of patrons at a benefit called Rock the Boat — a Somerville fund-raiser set for tonight and aimed at celebrating the Gloucester-based Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance’s approach toward marine conservation and sustainability.

The evening will spotlight tastings created by area restaurants using seafood caught by family fishermen — along with live music, chef demos, a fisheries and ocean-focused art exhibit, a raffle, and a silent auction.

NAMA organizer Niaz Dorry said the musicians “rocking the boat” at the event will include Cape Ann-based folk rock singer-songwriter Chelsea Berry, currently touring with Livingston Taylor, and the Bob Marley tribute reggae band, Hope Road, whose lead singer is a commercial fisherman.

The benefit also features Green, who was not only a two-time Super Bowl Champion with the Patriots, but is also a chef and co-owner of New Orleans ShrimpHouse.  The restaurant offers wild caught Gulf of Mexico shrimp, caught using sustainable practices, Dorry said. And Green recently joined a group called ROCKs – Reaching Out to Cook with Kids – as a board member for the organization.

Read the full story from The Gloucester Daily Times

November 7, 2014 — Sig Hansen, captain of the fishing vessel Northwestern, featured in the television series "Deadliest Catch," told ABC News that folks in Alaskan waters are bracing themselves for what Typhoon Nuri may bring, including 50-foot waves.

The storm may hit the Aleutian Island chain in Alaska as early as Friday. Hansen has been fishing King Crab, northeast of Dutch Harbor in the Bering Sea, about 300 miles away.

"Right now, the weather's decent. We've been watching the weather reports, and so that's what's got us kind of skittish," he said. "We've had other reports coming in, which are very strange, like 25-knot winds with 30-plus foot [waves]. It's just very uncommon, so you know something's coming. It's just a warning sign for now. We're just on pins and needles here."

 Read the full story and watch the video at ABC News

 

October 31, 2014 — Blame the essence of how memories are formed — not Charlie Baker — for the mistaken details surrounding the Republican gubernatorial hopeful’s tearful story about a New Bedford fisherman during Tuesday’s debate.

Baker and his Democratic opponent Martha Coakley were asked about the last time they cried. Baker spoke about a conversation he had with a New Bedford fisherman who had pressured his two sons into becoming fishermen, forcing them to give up football scholarships to college. Baker paused several times during the speech, tears welling in his eyes.

That story, Baker would later admit, comes from a 2009 meeting with fisherman in New Bedford. He first told the story during his 2010 bid for governor, and it has been a favorite on this campaign trail ever since.

In the days since that touching moment, reporters haven’t been able to locate or identify the fisherman who supposedly told the tale. The Boston Globe couldn’t locate the family. Neither could the New Bedford Standard-Times.

That’s because, as Baker admitted on Thursday, the story could be slightly untrue.

“There may be a detail or two that I got wrong,” he told The Boston Globe, “but obviously the image and the message from him has stayed with me for a very long time.”

Read the full story from The Boston Globe

November 5, 2014 — Federal regulators are canceling the commercial fishing season for shrimp in the Gulf of Maine for a second straight year, citing a population collapse blamed partly on rising ocean temperatures.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Northern Shrimp Section voted Wednesday in Portland to cancel the upcoming winter season. Regulators say the region’s population of northern shrimp fell dramatically from 2011 to 2013.

Regulators voted to set aside the entire shrimp quota of 25 metric tons for research, according to Marin Hawk, the commission’s management coordinator for the species.

Twenty-five metric tons is a minuscule amount of shrimp compared with landings of recent years. In 2010, which recorded the largest shrimp catch since 1996, fishermen landed 5,566 metric tons of shrimp, valued at $6.6 million. By 2012, the shrimp catch had plummeted to 2,185 metric tons with a value of $4.6 million.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

November 4, 2014 — Alaska's minimum wage initiative flew mostly under the radar this fall, overshadowed by high-profile Congressional races. But ballot measure three proposes a big change to state's minimum wage structure — increasing it by two dollars over the next two years, to $9.75 an hour. After that, it would be adjusted for inflation.

In Unalaska, at least 83 percent of voters supported that plan. The seafood industry — which is the biggest source of minimum wage jobs in Unalaska — didn't expect anything less.

Leading up to the election, they were already considering ways to scale back their workforce.

"We'll have people who, as they retire out of the industry, we just won't replace them," says Alyeska Seafoods plant manager Don Goodfellow. "Machinery will take over a lot of those jobs."

Eventually, Goodfellow thinks up to 30 percent of Unalaska's processing workers could be automated. He says the seafood business is well overdue to make that kind of change.

Read the full story at KUCB

November 3, 2014 — At last week’s 73rd annual meeting of the The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, the Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board approved Addendum IV which established new fishing mortality reference points as recommended by the 2013 benchmark stock assessment.

Under the addendum coastal states will be required to implement a 25 percent harvest reduction from 2013 levels, which was labeled Option B in the draft. All states will craft regulations prior to the start of the regulations the 2015 season to meet the reduction.

While each state will be able to develop their own plans to meet the target, a one-fish limit at 28 inches or 32 inches appeared to garner the most favor at three public hearings on the addendum held in New Jersey in September. Nine separate alternatives were listed under Option B in the addendum to achieve the goal and they can be reviewed at www.asmfc.org under Public Input.

The Commission’s Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Management Board also initiated the development of Draft Addendum XXVI to the Summer Flounder Fishery Management Plan.

Read the full story at the Asbury Park Press