AMHERST, Mass. — September 2, 2014 — The new school year at the University of Massachusetts has started with a record-setting feast.
More than 3,000 traditional New England clambake dinners were served on the Amherst campus on Monday.
Chefs prepared more than 3,000 lobsters, 6,000 little neck clams, 3,000 steamers, more than 6,000 ears of corn and 1,500 pounds of potatoes for students and staff.
Read the full story from U.S. News & World Report
SEAFOODNEWS.COM — September 2, 2014 — California lawmakers have voted on a piece of legislation that will make it illegal for vendors to knowlingly sell or offer to sell wholesale or retail seafood without properly labeling the common name of the fish or shellfish.
The bill, which will now go to state Governor Jerry Brown for final approval, also makes it illegal to mislabel seafood as farmed or wild caught, along with misrepresenting an item's country of origin.
On Friday, the Calif. State Senate gave final legislative approval to Senate Bill 1138, originally proposed by Senator Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima).
"SB 1138 addresses the growing problem of seafood mislabeling by making sure that seafood is labeled accurately. Mislabeled seafood threatens public health, honest businesses and imperils the sustainability of sea life in the Pacific Ocean and oceans around the world,” said Sen. Padilla. “My bill will ensure that seafood is labeled accurately,” added Padilla.
A violation would be punishable by $1,000 fine and up to a year in jail. The bill is modeled after similar legislation approved in the state of Washington.
“The seafood we buy at the grocery store should be what the label says. The seafood we order at our favorite restaurant should be the seafood we are served,” said Senator Padilla. “To protect our health, oceans, and economy, it is essential that seafood be accurately labeled,” said Padilla. “Honesty is always the best policy,” added Padilla.
Joe Cappuccio, President of Del Mar Seafoods, one of the largest commercial fishing operations in the United States and founded and located in California said, “In order to ensure imported seafood is treated the same as exported sea food, Del Mar Seafood’s is supportive of requiring consistent seafood labeling requirements for both foreign and domestic entities. Lack of labeling requirements on imported seafood creates an uneven playing field for California companies.”
This story originally appeared on Seafood.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.
September 1, 2014 — If there is anything commercial fishermen in Maine have learned over the past several years, it is that things aren’t the way they used to be.
Scallop catches are creeping back up as prices have hit an all-time high. Elver prices have come down a bit but remain historically high after shooting into the stratosphere — along with statewide landings totals — in the past two years. Urchin landings, however, continue to slide while the populations of cod and northern shrimp in the Gulf of Maine have sunk to their lowest levels on record.
But nothing touches the upheaval Maine’s lobster fishery, by far the biggest in the state, has experienced. Warm water during the past couple of years disrupted the fishery’s patterns, forcing prices down while landings totals have soared.
This year seems to be different in a way many in the lobster industry say is familiar and is a welcome change of pace. Lobsters have been shedding and growing larger shells later this year than in 2012 and 2013, which has meant the resulting increase in landings has not occurred as early as it did in the past two summers.
Though the statewide catch total so far may be comparatively low, demand has been good, which means the prices have been better this season. Many lobster fishermen were getting less than $2 per pound for soft-shell lobsters last summer, not including a year-end bonus many receive from their dealers. This year, the price at the dock generally has been higher by a dollar or even two.
“The price is better,” lobsterman Cary Carver, 44, of Beals, said Thursday.
Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News
PORTLAND, Maine — August 29, 2014 — Maine fishery officials on Friday proposed regulations to manage black sea bass, a species that is increasing in abundance in the state’s waters.
The regulations would govern recreational and commercial fishing of the species, said Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher. He called black sea bass a ‘‘new commercially viable species’’ for the state.
Commercial fishermen would face a quota of 10,850 pounds of black sea bass in 2014. The proposed regulations also include a daily catch limit of ten fish for recreational fishermen. The method of fishing for recreational and commercial is to be hook-and-line.
Scientists say black sea bass are increasing in Maine’s waters because of accelerated water temperature increase over the past ten years. Water temperature in the Gulf of Maine has increased about a half degree per year since 2004, according to scientists at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute.
Read the full story from the Associated Press at Boston.com
August 29, 2014 — The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries took a major step Thursday toward curtailing the sale of over-limit red drum by commercial netters when Executive Director Louis Daniel issued a proclamation that takes effect Sept. 1 when the 2014-15 netting season opens. The proclamation said the daily amount of “by-catch” red drum that can be sold will drop from 10 to seven fish, and netters must sell their reds at the same time and place as they sell targeted species such as bluefish, flounder, mullet and spotted seatrout.
A recently appointed member of the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission, Sammy Corbett III of Hubert, who is a fish dealer, played a pivotal role in getting the new regulations adopted.
“He’s very knowledgeable,” said Joe Shute, an Atlantic Beach guide and tackle-shop owner who is on the Commission. “He’s been on many advisory committees and takes a very sensible approach.”
In the past, regulations didn’t stop commercial netters from selling their daily allowance of red drum at one fish dealer and then traveling to a different dealer to sell another 10 fish. Regulations permitted netters to sell no more than 10 “by-catch” reds, but those drum — no matter their numbers — couldn’t exceed the total weight of flounder, mullet, spotted seatrout or other species sold.
Read the full story at North Carolina Sportsman
August 29, 2014 — Cleaner waters affect the bottom of the food chain allowing plankton to flourish closer to shore. That in turn provides a food source for small bait fish like menhaden. And whales like nothing more than to scoop a school of menhaden into their mouths for lunch.
While it hasn’t become Cape Cod just yet, the number of whale sightings around New Jersey has increased substantially this year, suggesting that the state’s coastal waters are now clean enough to sustain humpbacks, finbacks and other species during their feeding season.
Since April, dozens of whales have been spotted from Sandy Hook to Cape May chasing down schools of small fish sometimes within a mile of New Jersey’s shoreline.
“They seem to be staying in the same area all season long, which is something we haven’t really seen before,” said Amy Bergeron, a marine biologist with the Cape May Whale Watch and Research Center, which runs tours along New Jersey’s southern coast. “Some are not even a mile out. We know they come here for the food, and you’re seeing huge batches of bait fish close to the shore.”
As of last week, the Cape May center had 37 whale sightings, compared with 15 through October last year. And Gotham Whale Watch, a group of “citizen scientists” who catalog marine mammals in New York and as far south as Monmouth County, has reported 57 whale sightings so far up from 43 in 2013.
Read the full story at The Record
August 29, 2014 — Cleaner waters affect the bottom of the food chain allowing plankton to flourish closer to shore. That in turn provides a food source for small bait fish like menhaden. And whales like nothing more than to scoop a school of menhaden into their mouths for lunch.
While it hasn’t become Cape Cod just yet, the number of whale sightings around New Jersey has increased substantially this year, suggesting that the state’s coastal waters are now clean enough to sustain humpbacks, finbacks and other species during their feeding season.
Since April, dozens of whales have been spotted from Sandy Hook to Cape May chasing down schools of small fish sometimes within a mile of New Jersey’s shoreline.
“They seem to be staying in the same area all season long, which is something we haven’t really seen before,” said Amy Bergeron, a marine biologist with the Cape May Whale Watch and Research Center, which runs tours along New Jersey’s southern coast. “Some are not even a mile out. We know they come here for the food, and you’re seeing huge batches of bait fish close to the shore.”
As of last week, the Cape May center had 37 whale sightings, compared with 15 through October last year. And Gotham Whale Watch, a group of “citizen scientists” who catalog marine mammals in New York and as far south as Monmouth County, has reported 57 whale sightings so far up from 43 in 2013.
Read the full story at The Record
NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — August 29, 2014 — Many fear the rich tradition of "inter-generational fishing" — the once-common trend of fishermen spawning fishermen from their offspring — is nearing the point of extinction.
The trials and tribulations of contemporary commercial fishermen are well known in seaports throughout New England, but while their futures appear bleak in the eyes of some, there are others who dispute that notion.
Competition from foreign fleets, perceived depletion of fish stocks, environmental concerns and government regulations head the list of major issues confronted by fishermen everywhere in the world today and perhaps dampen the enthusiasm for fishing as a career.
Many fear the rich tradition of "inter-generational fishing" — the once-common trend of fishermen spawning fishermen from their offspring — is nearing the point of extinction.
That is the sentiment of Tom Williams of Point Judith, R.I., who has been fishing commercially since 1967. Williams is today a self-described "shore captain" who owns two commercial fishing craft — operated by his two college-educated sons — out of Point Judith and Stonington, Conn.
"I can't remember conditions for fishermen being this bad," Williams said. "Until attitudes about the fishing industry change, I think we're doomed to failure. I don't see how this industry can survive."
Williams said his family business focuses on harvesting groundfish off the shores of Rhode Island and Connecticut and his sons have worked full-time for him for more than two decades. He is an unabashed critic of regulations proposed by environmentalists and enacted by the federal government restricting catches by commercial fishermen to allow fishing stocks to recover.
"There are plenty of fish in the ocean today," Williams said. "There were times in the past when the resource was abused, but we saw the errors of our ways and worked with the government to correct them. However, the government has gone too far in not letting us catch what we can catch."
Read the full story from the New Bedford Standard-Times
August 29, 2014 — State attorney general candidate Maura Healey is pledging that, if elected, she would not hesitate to initiate legal action against NOAA if it doesn’t employ a “balanced regulatory approach and proven scientific methods” when calculating stock assessments and catch limits, or fails to consider the economic impact of its actions on fishing communities.
Healey’s pledge is one element of a five-point plan to support the fishing industry and fishing communities released Thursday in advance of the Sept. 9 Democratic primary in which she is opposed by state Sen. Warren Tolman.
In that regard, Healey’s plan closely mirrors Coakley’s rationale for the failed lawsuit Massachusetts filed against NOAA in May 2013 in U.S. District Court.
That suit, which charged NOAA failed to utilize the best science available for stock assessments when instituting drastic cuts to groundfish catch limits and failed to consider the adverse economic implications of its decisions, was thrown out by U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns in April.
Stearns’ summary judgment on behalf of NOAA said Massachusetts and New Hampshire, which joined the suit as an intervening plaintiff, failed to make a convincing case in any of their challenges to the methodology and accuracy of the science employed to develop stock assessments.
Healey said Thursday that the deadline for any appeal of the ruling has passed, but that she would re-assess the merits of renewing a legal challenge against NOAA’s policies if she is elected to office.
Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times
August 29, 2014 — Disaster funds are being processed for the 2011-12 fisheries disaster, according to NOAA Fisheries.
The U.S. Congress approved the $21 million as part of the the Fiscal Year 2013 federal budget to relieving the commercial fishery failure on the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers, and in Cook Inlet. “We will work with the State of Alaska, tribal interests, and affected communities to develop spend plans quickly to ensure timely allocation of these funds,” said NOAA Fisheries Alaska Regional Administrator Jim Balsiger.
Funding recipients will have broad latitude to determine the best use of the funds to meet the unique needs of local businesses and communities.
Read the full story from The Tundra Drums