State and Local

SEAFOODNEWS.COM by Michael Ramsingh — October 10, 2014 — Alaska's snow crab fishing quota for the 2014-15 fishing season, which starts up next week, was raised 25 percent from last season's total or by nearly 14 million pounds.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced this season's total Bering Sea snow crab quota at 67.95 million pounds. The catch will be allocated between the IFQ holders and CDQ groups. 61.155 million pounds will go to IFQ, with the remaining 6.795 million pounds given to the CDQ groups.

Fishermen will commence the fishing season at noon Alaska time on October 15. The fishery will remain open through May 15, 2015 in the Eastern subdistrict and through May 31, 2015 in the Western subdistrict.

This marks the third Alaskan crab fishery to see this season's allowable harvest bumped up significantly. The state's red king crab quota was raised 16 percent to 9.986 million pounds. Meanwhile the Tanner or Bairdi crab catch will be the highest since 1993 at 15.1 million pounds.

This story originally appeared on Seafood.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

October 9, 2014 — When seafood lovers think Virginia, they think oysters and blue crabs — two iconic species of the Chesapeake Bay.

But when it comes to seafood revenue, neither the oyster nor the blue crab is the cash cow that the little sea scallop represents for the commonwealth.

In fact, sea scallops — which aren't even fished in Virginia waters — account for the lion's share of the total value of Virginia landings, outpacing other species by millions of dollars every year.

"It's kind of the silent fishery in Virginia," said marine biologist David Rudders at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) in Gloucester Point. "You ride down the road and you see crab pots next to a river or creek. You see a lot of evidence of oysters. But scallops — you would never know they're there."

But they are there, by the billions, lying on the deep ocean floor. And when it comes to Virginia fisheries, they're pearls of great value.

Last year, sea scallops brought in $32.6 million at dockside, compared to $24.2 million for the blue crabs that constitute the state's second-most valuable fishery. Landing figures come from the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC).

It's not that sea scallops are harvested in more massive numbers. In fact, Virginia watermen hauled in 18 million pounds of blue crabs last year, six times more than the 3 million pounds of scallop meat.

Read the full story from the Daily Press

October 9, 2014 — Dominic Nicastro, 64, a father of three and grandfather of five, was a lifelong fisherman when fishing vessels numbered into the hundreds and landed millions of pounds of fish here daily.

Jay VanDerpool, 47, a father of two, continues to make his living from the sea as a Rockport lobsterman.

Three Giacalone brothers run a seafood business at Fisherman’s Wharf on the Inner Harbor.

These men are among the 154 faces portrayed in 71 photographs featured in the new exhibition”Portraits of a Working Waterfront” at the Cape Ann Museum. The show was designed to illustrate the maritime web of relationships that exist in Gloucester, the nation’s oldest seaport. Generations of Cape Ann families have made their living with jobs connected to the ocean and the aquatic chain of jobs continues to evolve into the 21st century as the fishing industry responds to ever-changing government regulations and the resulting economic fallout. 

The portraits represent the fishermen who work offshore and those who work at the businesses onshore, as well as their wives, children and a host of others in between whose livelihood depends on the fishermen’s success at sea. Although fishing tends to be a male-dominated industry, several women are front and center, including Viking Gustafson of the Gloucester Marine Railways, and Ann Molloy of the family-run Neptune’s Harvest, a fish fertilizer producer.  

The show opens Saturday at the museum, which went beyond its usual parameters to reach out to a segment of the community who may not see themselves aligned with the city’s cultural anchor.

Read the full story from The Gloucester Daily Times

Read more about the exhibition at the Cape Ann Museum

October 8, 2014 — Thanks to a program in conjunction with the Chatham-based Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen's Alliance on selected days the Pantry is able to provide needy families with fresh locally caught and frozen Cape Cod fish, in this case, bluefish direct from the fisherman.

Redfish, bluefish it certainly is a new fish – for clients of The Family Pantry of Cape Cod.

Thanks to a program in conjunction with the Chatham-based Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance on selected days the Pantry is able to provide needy families with fresh locally caught and frozen Cape Cod fish, in this case, bluefish direct from the fisherman.

Tom Smith of Orleans has been fishing for bluefish for 35 years. Pomatonus salatrix has kept him in good stead all that time.

“I have a permit to use a net,” he explained. “We circle around a school of fish and make noise and scare them into the net then haul them back right away so all the fish come back alive. Then we head back home.”

Read the full story from the Cape Cod Day

 

October 7, 2014 — The longtime president and driving force behind the Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives Association will serve as the keynote speaker at the annual Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce Women in Business luncheon at the Gloucester House this Thursday.

Angela Sanfilippo, who has played a lead role in advocating for the fishing industry and waterfront businesses, and who also serves as executive director of the fishermen’s partnership, an organization that assists fishermen and other workers in getting access to health insurance and in providing safety programs, will address the Chamber gathering at Thursday’s program, which runs from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Read the full story from the Gloucester Daily Times

 

October 7, 2014 — The agency was uncomfortable with the number of interactions fishing boats were having with endangered sea turtles since September.

It's the height of commercial flounder season along the North Carolina Coast, but gillnet fishing boats have been banned from heading out. That's because a large number of sea turtles are still swimming in those areas.

The North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries has temporarily closed areas in four Northeastern sounds and southern coastal waters to the fisheries. The agency was uncomfortable with the number of interactions fishing boats were having with endangered sea turtles since September.

The state’s incidental take permit allows a limited number of interactions with sea turtles in various areas. If an area reaches that limit, the fishery is shut down for the rest of the season. (The season runs September through August.)

Marine Fisheries Division closed the waters preemptively, to prevent those limits being reached.

Read the full story from North Carolina Public Radio WUNC

 

October 3, 2014 — State and federal wildlife officials are resorting to installing giant water chillers in some of California's fish hatcheries, as drought, over-allocation of water and climate change all combine this year to make temperatures too warm for some baby salmon and other fish to survive.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service workers installed the coolers at the Livingston Stone National Fish Hatchery at the foot of northern California's Shasta Dam this summer when water temperatures hit the mid-60s – too tepid for the half-million winter-run baby salmon growing there, said Scott Hamelberg, a federal hatchery manager.

The winter-run salmon are endangered, and the coolers lower the water temperature to a more livable 60 degrees, he said.

The big water coolers are a first for the federal hatchery, necessitated by warmer-than-normal water in California's third year of drought.

At the American River hatchery east of Sacramento, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife also are installing giant coolers to bring down water temperatures for the hatchery's young salmon and trout, hatchery manager Gary Novak said.

Certain endangered species of trout at that fishery "don't really tolerate the heat too well," Novak said.

Smaller coolers in tanks are cooling various other fish rescued by wildlife officials after California's drought dried up their home stretch of rivers and streams entirely.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the New Jersey Herald

October 5, 2014 — There’s nothing quite like the smell of rotting whale flesh to make sure your olfactory senses are working properly.

A group of volunteers excavating the remains of a whale Saturday worked in muddy, smelly conditions on Mowry Beach in Lubec and planned to resume their efforts on Sunday.

The group, mostly college students, was digging up the bones of a 54-foot finback whale that was stranded on the beach in 1994 and buried at the site. Organizers of the project want to recover the bones, clean them and reassemble the skeleton to display it in Lubec.

The group “probably will not finish” its work this weekend, according to Rhonda Welcome, one of the organizers of the effort. She added that the leaders behind the effort will “regroup and talk.”

Rosemary Seton, a research associate and marine mammal stranding coordinator with the College of the Atlantic’s marine mammal research group, Allied Whale, and Gayle Kraus, a professor of marine ecology at the University of Maine at Machias, were overseeing the work.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

October 6, 2014 — A blue lobster caught off Pine Point last month grabbed headlines for being a one in 2 million find.

But the breed that appeared nearly as rare, in fact, was the person who caught it: a 14-year-old girl named Meghan LaPlante.

Females make up a small minority of Maine lobster fishermen. Just 4 percent of the state’s 5,171 commercial lobster licenses are held by women, a number that has remained steady for about a decade, according to the Maine Department of Marine Resources. But the license numbers do not include female sternmen, nor do they include women on the waiting list for licenses.

And female fishermen say the numbers don’t reflect the growth they’ve witnessed.

“I’ve seen a tremendous increase in the number of women on the water,” said Genevieve Kurilec McDonald, a Stonington-based lobsterman and member of Maine’s Lobster Advisory Council. Appointed in June, she is the first female to sit on the board.

“I think it’s great. It’s not just a man’s world anymore.”

McDonald grew up sailing, and as a kid wanted to be a marine biologist. About 10 years ago, a friend of the family needed a sternman, “so I jumped on board and never looked back,” she said. She got her commercial fishing license four years ago, and recently bought her second boat, Hello Darlin’ II. “I love being on the water. I feel good at the end of the day.”

Tired of ill-fitting fishing jackets and pants made for men, McDonald reached out last year to other female commercial fishermen in the hopes of making a case for a line of women’s gear. She launched a Chix Who Fish group on Facebook, and received more than 500 photos of female commercial fishermen from all over the world.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

October 3, 2014 — The following was released by the New Bedford Working Waterfront Festival:

The 2014 Working Waterfront Festival (September 27 & 28) featured a variety of competitions throughout the weekend. Participants competed in whaleboat and survival suit races; a tug boat muster; net mending, splicing, link squeezing, and scallop shucking contest; and a Seafood Throwdown. Each event showcased a variety of industry skills, engaging the public in learning about different aspects of the fishing industry.
 
The Buzzard’s Bay Rowing Club hosted whaleboat races on Saturday morning starting at 8:00.  Tropicans won “Best Dressed” and “Most Theatrical” while Shiverin’ Timbers were deemed “Most Enthusiastic”.  Complete race results are attached.
 
Area tugs converged on the harbor Saturday afternoon for the annual tugboat muster organized by Charlie Mitchell captain of the Tug Jaguar and emceed by his brother Bob of R. A. Mitchell Company.  While not a formal contest, tugs of all sizes showed their skill and strength with demonstrations of hawser tossing, turning, and pushing.
 
Rodney Avila and Ted Williams of Hercules SLR US presented safety demos including a life raft deployment and man overboard drill, as well as a survival suit race to give visitors a sense of the dangers of commercial fishing and the safety protocol that fishermen practice to remain safe at sea.
 
On Saturday groundfishing skills were highlighted with a net mending competition emceed by net designer Tor Bendiksen of Reidar’s Manufacturing and a rope splicing contest emceed by Barbara Merry of Marlinspike Artist.  Winners of the net mending competition were Meghan Lapp, Geoffrey Hatfield and Sarah Fortin while Kevin Curole of Grand Isle, LA won the splicing contest.
 
On Sunday scallopers took center stage with back to back link squeezing (emceed by Mathieu Lemieux of Blue Fleet Welding) and shucking (emceed by Richie Canastra of BASE) competitions.  Results of the shucking contest were as follows: Jonathan Hynd of the F/V Act IV took first place, Sergey Yuminov of the F/V Julie G took 2nd place and Justin Lawrence of the F/V Sea Ranger, Harvester and Patience took 3rd place. 
 
Contest prizes were provided by Latti and Anderson LLP, Hercules SLR US Inc., Slave of the Sea, Marlinspike Artist, and Buzzard’s Bay Rowing Club, and the Working Waterfront Festival.
 
Sunday culminated with a Seafood Throwdown pitting the Port of New Bedford against thePort of Gloucester. In keeping with this year’s fishing family theme, our Throwdown chefs were home cooks from fishing families. With whiting as the surprise seafood ingredient, Vera Carvalho who works at Smithwick and Mariner’s Insurance Agency created a soup with an “explosion of flavor” to edge out her competition, Nina Groppo of Gloucester Fisherman’s Wives Association. The Seafood Throwdown is a collaboration between the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance and the Working Waterfront Festival.
 
The Working Waterfront Festival is a project of the Community Economic Development Center of Southeastern MA, a non-profit organization. The FREE festival, a family friendly, educational celebration of New England's commercial fishing industry, features live maritime and ethnic music, fishermen's contests, fresh seafood, vessel tours, films, author readings, cooking demonstrations, kid's activities and more.  It all takes place on working piers and waterfront parks in New Bedford, MA, America's #1 fishing port, on the last full weekend in September.  Navigate to us at www.workingwaterfrontfestival.org.

MEDIA CONTACT: Laura Orleans, Director, 508-993-8894, info@workingwaterfrontfestival.org