State and Local

October 17, 2013 — A new report indicates that more and more non-residents hold commercial fishing permits in Alaska. Limited entry permits are needed to fish in 65 commercial fisheries in Alaska and there are 79-different kinds of permits that cover different gear types. Currently there are over 16.5-thousand permits issued in Alaska.

The new report shows that between 1975 and 2012 there have been over 38.5-thousand permit transfers in Alaska and just over 84-percent of permits have changed hands at least once. CFEC notes that on average 8.4-percent of all permits change hands each year. A closer look at the data for last year shows that just over 1-thousand permits were transferred out of the over 13.4-thousand permits that are transferable. When the limited entry permits were first issued, Alaska residents received just over 81-percent of the permits, which totaled about 13.5-thousand. 8.2-thoussand of those permits were issued to local fishermen who lived in areas classified as rural. 3.6-thousand permits were initially issued to local fishermen who lived in an area of Alaska classified as urban. Non-resident fishermen received just over 3-thousand permits. That means that 18.5-percent were given to non-Alaska residents

Read the full story from KDLG

October 24, 2013 — For the fourth year in a row  —  and with the fastest time ever since modern regulations began in 2005  —  California’s squid-fishing fleet (pictured) hit its annual limit early, with the more than 100 permitted boats landing about 118,000 tons of the slimy species known as Doryteuthis opalescens by October 18, nearly six months before the season ends on March 31, 2014.

Much of that haul came from boats working the Channel Islands and Gaviota Coast with bright lights at night, when it’s easiest to snag the squid as they spawn near the shoreline. From there, the Southern California boats deliver their loads to processing centers in Ventura, Port Hueneme, and San Pedro, which then freeze the squid and ship most of them to China. Together with the squid fishers up north in the Monterey Bay, the industry rakes in about $70 million annually.

Read the full story from the Santa Barbara Independent

ANACORTES, Wash. — October 24, 2013 — U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell visited boat manufacturer Dakota Creek Industries on Thursday afternoon for a tour and to watch construction on a vessel that could change the fishing industry.

Although construction has been slow going on the new 191-foot longline fishing vessel for Seattle-based Blue North Fisheries, the visit did allow Cantwell to see manufacturing workers on the job site, a healthy side effect of legislation passed in 2010 that changed the way Alaskan freezer longline fisheries operate.

"I feel like we're moving forward with the right strategy (for fisheries) and the right vessels," said Cantwell, D-Wash. "And it's going to help the local economy. There's a lot of manufacturing jobs, a lot of hard hats out there working on this project."

Dakota Creek Vice President Mike Nelson said when the project is fully underway, it will represent about 100 on-site positions.

The $36 million F/V Blue North is the third vessel commissioned in Pacific Northwest shipyards designed to take full advantage of the legislation.

Read the full story from The Columbian

October 25, 2013 — The appropriation to fund a state Division of Marine Fisheries plan to halt further collapse of the Bay State commercial fishing industry remains in the supplemental budget bill on its way to Gov. Deval Patrick for his approval.

Following the lead of the state Senate, the Massachusetts House on Thursday retained the $50,000 appropriation and Patrick now has 10 calendar days to act on the budget.

The appropriation, while modest, represents what’s seen as an important step in the long-awaited action by the state to develop a systematic approach for halting the escalating erosion of the state’s commercial fishing industry.

Read the full story from the Gloucester Daily Times

October 25, 2013 — On the anniversary of the devastating (and costly) hurricane, we’re still learning of the superstorm's lasting impact on the communities left in its wake. Here are the striking recovery stories of three New York City-based entrepreneurs whose companies were devastated by Sandy:

One year after Hurricane Sandy ravaged the Northeast, countless homes and businesses are still recovering.

After several days — and for some, several months — without power, heat and water, many business owners needed to face yet another hurdle: dealing with insurance companies to get their operations back up and running. And though some have fared better than others, their pain and losses are no less diminished.

On the anniversary of the devastating (and costly) hurricane, we’re still learning of the superstorm's lasting impact on the communities left in its wake. Here are the striking recovery stories of three New York City-based entrepreneurs whose companies were devastated by Sandy:

The Lobster Place

Ian MacGregor is the CEO of The Lobster Place, a seafood supply company with a storefront in Manhattan's tony Chelsea Market. The operation is the largest seafood market in the northeast, with a wholesale operation in the Bronx that caters to hundreds of fine restaurants, hotels and caterers in the metropolitan area. Sandy hit both operations in different ways.

Its retail storefront in Chelsea Market didn’t have storm-related damage to the structure itself, but was closed for about 10 days thanks it its location, which was effectively on lock down while the power and transit systems went down after the storm. Without electricity, MacGregor says about $100,000 worth of perishable inventory spoiled. Plus, people weren't shopping.

And while The Lobster Place's warehouse uptown also didn't suffer a direct hit from the storm, it might as well have been shut down, as it couldn't supply many of its clients, area restaurants and hotels shuttered by the storm. In total, The Lobster Place’s losses mounted to about $250,000. The insurance company paid out only a fraction of this loss, forcing MacGregor to reevaluate the future of his businesses.

Read the full story from Entrepreneur

October 25, 2013 — A year ago this week, Hurricane Sandy slammed into the Mid-Atlantic, and while much of the evidence has been razed and removed from the gleamingly rebuilt towns all along the eastern shore, along the western shore it’s like Sandy never left.

A smiling Gov. Chris Christie leaned across a broad blue banner imprinted with the words, “New Jersey, Stronger Than the Storm” and cut the ribbon on a brand new boardwalk in Belmar.

“The biggest reason that I want to come and open these boardwalks,” he told the crowd in May, “is because I want New Jersey, the region and the country to know that New Jersey has come back.”

A hundred miles to the southwest, on the other side of the state, Mike Coombs crouched in the palomino-gold meadow grass. It was not going to be a good day for farming. His back ached from the shift in temperature. A brisk breeze from the west had turned east and would be bringing moisture in off the Delaware Bay, and a wet “medda,” as Mike called it in the faintly Southern twang of this part of New Jersey, meant he wouldn’t be cutting hay anytime soon.

Three thousand acres of salt hay, and all but 500 were thrashed and drowned by last October’s hurricane. The surge from the Delaware Bay pushed mountains of water up the estuary’s tributaries, slashed levees, smashed through sand berms and flooded meadow and marsh; it tore through homes and businesses and shifted so much sand it clogged rivers, creeks and streams.

A year ago this week, Hurricane Sandy slammed into the Mid-Atlantic, and while much of the evidence has been razed and removed from the gleamingly rebuilt towns all along the eastern shore, along the western shore it’s like Sandy never left.

In the aftermath of the worst natural disaster in state history, two New Jerseys were left behind. The people of one coast reached for recovery. They were lauded for their stoutness, touted by politicians for their fortitude and inundated with gifts and money by a sympathetic public and a responsive state government. Shops, restaurants and summer rental agencies all along the Atlantic shore looked to rebound — millions of tourists, after all, depended on them. So did a large part of New Jersey’s economy.

Those on the other side of the state, on the western shore, lurched into winter, stumbled into spring and dragged themselves through summer largely out of sight and out of mind. Cumberland County, the second-poorest county in New Jersey, was declared a disaster area after the hurricane, but was not named one of the nine counties eligible to receive the bulk of $1.8 billion in federal aid.

Trenton listens, but nothing gets done. That’s what they’re saying in Down Jersey, as the people here refer to this part of the state. Stronger NJ revitalization money?

Read the full story from The Star-Ledger

October 24, 2013 — New York wants to see summer flounder managed on a regional basis.

Capt. Anthony DiLernia, a voting member of the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC) maintains there are two problems with the conservation equivalency or state-by-state management system currently in place. Under that system, individual states set size, season and bag limits for it’s quota of summer flounder.

DiLernia says the system is an “enforcement nightmare.” Some bodies of water often have two sets of regulations, such as Raritan Bay, shared with New York and New Jersey, or Delaware Bay, shared by Delaware and New Jersey. “There’s a conflict in regulations and it’s difficult to enforce,” DiLernia said.

The second issue pertains to the Magnuson Stevens Act. The act defines a fishery by its location and distribution. In 1997, when the coastwide equivalency system was set up, the epicenter of the summer flounder population, according to the data used at the time, was between Delaware and New Jersey.

Now, says DiLernia, the fishery has changed, with the bulk of the summer flounder concentrated between New Jersey and New York.

“The fishery is different. You can’t keep using a state-by-state system that was established with 1997 and 1998 data to manage a 2014 fishery,” said DiLernia.

Read the full story from MyCentralJersey

October 25, 2013 — The following was released by Fishing Partnership Support Services:

Fishing Partnership and Heath Care for All are coming to your community to talk about Health Insurance – what is new and what you can do next to enroll in a health plan. We will be available to answer questions you have during and after the presentation.

November 4th at 6:00pm – Massachusetts Fishermen's Partnership Office, 114 McArthur Blvd, New Bedford, MA

November 12th at 5:30pm – Chatham Community Center, 702 Main St, Chatham, MA November 13th at both 10:00am and 6:00pm – Radisson Hotel Plymouth Harbor,180 Water Street, Plymouth, MA

November 18th at 6:00pm – Massachusetts Fishermen's Partnership, Office, 114 McArthur Blvd, New Bedford, MA

November 21st at 6:00pm – Gloucester Sawyer Free Library, 2 Dale Ave, Gloucester, MA 01930

Our Fishing Partnership Certified Application Counselors are all from fishing families too—we know the fishing community, we know health insurance, and we can help you find the right health plan for you and your family.

View a PDF version of the announcement

For more information go to fishingpartnership.org or call 1-888-282-8816

 

October 16, 2013 — Alaska’s 2013 Salmon harvest will be one for the record books and the Southeast harvest was more valuable than that of any other part in the state.

Matt Lichtenstein has more on the overall catch and value for the region:

Listen to the audio from KFSK

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — October 24, 2013 — The struggling oyster industry in Apalachicola could be getting some help from the federal government.

Three weeks after filing a lawsuit against Georgia in the U.S. Supreme Court, Governor Rick Scott has requested an Economic Injury Declaration for Franklin County as a result of impacts to the region’s commercial oyster fishery.

Fish and Wildlife Conservation Officials say fresh water from Lake Lanier and the Chattahoochee River in Atlanta isn't making it downstream to the Apalachicola River. That means higher salt levels in Apalachicola Bay and less oysters.

“I appreciate Governor Scott’s tireless efforts to strengthen Franklin County’s economy, specifically its once-thriving oyster industry,” said Congressman Steve Southerland. “An Economic Injury Declaration through the (U.S. Small Business Administration) would be a critical step forward for local small businesses that are struggling to survive.”

Read the full story and watch the video from WJHG