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CHICAGO (AP) — They call this place the Back of the Yards, a neighborhood in the middle of the city once filled with acres and acres of stockyards.

In their heyday, those stockyards gave Chicago a reputation as the world's meat-packing capital — but also as an environmental and health horror brought to life in the stark images of Upton Sinclair's novel "The Jungle."

A few remnants of that industry remain here today. But the stockyards are long gone, replaced by an industrial park and a mindset that, from now on, Chicago will try to move past those images.

Now, you will find a jungle of a very different kind here.

View the video from The Gloucester Daily Times

Read the Associated Press article

 

 

 

 

 

The following was released by the American Bluefin Tuna Association:

SALEM, New Hampshire — April 2, 2012 – National Geographic's new 10-part series, "Wicked Tuna" premiered last night. It follows the format of the successful Discovery series, "Deadliest Catch" with one big difference. "Wicked Tuna" brings to light a fishery that few Americans are aware of.

Most Americans have heard of the so-called "plight" of the bluefin tuna. The producers of "Wicked Tuna" suggest instead that the health of bluefin populations are a complex issue. For example, few Americans are aware that in certain parts of the world, in the Mediterranean Sea in particular, bluefin have been overfished by large, factory-style industrial vessels of 200-300 ft in length, but not here in the U.S. As early as the 1970's Congress created the 200-mile limit law (now called Magnuson-Stevens Act) and negotiated international treaties for highly migratory fish such as giant bluefin. Consequently, large industrial fishing of bluefin was eventually phased out in the U.S. What was left were the small, independently-owned boats seen in "Wicked Tuna".

"One critically important piece of news that comes out of "Wicked Tuna" that will come as a big surprise for most Americans is the fact that our commercial bluefin fishery here in the U.S., referred to locally as the General and Harpoon Fisheries, is an Artisanal fishery. This fleet of small boats are only allowed to use handgear methods for fishing: rod and reel or harpoon. They can only catch one fish at a time and are limited to catching a maximum of 3 fish per day," says Rich Ruais, Executive Director of the American Bluefin Tuna Association, an organization that exclusively represents U.S. tuna fishermen in the Atlantic.

Beginning in the 1970's, U.S. fishermen and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) wanted strong, self-imposed conservation methods to ensure that U.S. bluefin fishing led the world in sustainable fishing practices. NOAA long ago issued regulations, permanently making this commercial fishery an Artisanal fishery. U.S. tuna fishermen want their fishery to remain an Artisanal fishery in perpetuity. The fishermen wish to maintain this fishery as a small fleet of family-owned and operated vessels of approximately 30-42 ft in length. Artisanal fisheries are virtually incapable of causing the damage to a fishery that can easily be done by industrial fishing methods like those used in the Mediterranean Sea.

Ruais comments further, "Americans should be proud that they have an Artisanal fishery for bluefin because it sets an example for other industrialized countries who do not fish sustainably. If those countries want to protect their bluefin populations, they need to radically scale back those large, corporate-owned industrial fishing vessels from their fishery that are capable of catching 500 or more bluefin at a time. These big vessels are the ones that create all the problems for bluefin."

"Our small boats, under longstanding conservation regulations, cannot possibly do any damage to the Atlantic bluefin. As one of the captains in "Wicked Tuna" accurately stated, our bluefin fishery in the U.S. is the most highly regulated bluefin fishery in the world. Our fishermen are required to adhere to the lowest maximum number of fish that can be retained daily and the highest minimum retainable size of 73 inches. This is unprecedented and unmatched worldwide."

Last May, after spending a year, countless tax dollars and involving a great many marine scientists and fishery management experts, NOAA concluded a huge study proving that bluefin were not endangered or threatened. Earlier this year, Canadian scientists, based on their own separate comprehensive study, also agreed with the U.S. and went further to note that quotas in the west Atlantic could be safely raised. Nonetheless, quotas have been maintained at extra-precautionary lower levels.

A few environmental organizations would like Americans to think that US bluefin are "imperiled", but, given NOAA's and Canada's latest scientific studies, all those Americans who in the past were given false and incomplete information to sign petitions saying that they won't eat Atlantic bluefin can now go back to eating Atlantic bluefin tuna sustainably caught by U.S. fishermen.

Although "Wicked Tuna" tends to dramatize the interactions between the fishermen, the dialog is colorful, the fierce competition is typical of Gloucestermen, and the action footage is real. The act of catching bluefin tuna by handgear requires great fishing skill, a high level of seamanship ability and human strength.

The airing of "Wicked Tuna" is the first time ever that the American public will have a glimpse into the little-known world of these hardworking New England fishermen and it explains very well how they do what they do. Ruais concludes, "In 'Wicked Tuna', much is made of how much the fish is worth but, in reality, fishermen receive, on average, about $9.00 per lb. for their bluefin catch, which is less than what sea scallop or Alaskan king crab fishermen are often paid for their catch."

 

 

 

 

 

April 5, 2012 – Most people in North Carolina have never seen an Atlantic sturgeon. Once common along the coast, the fish became so rare that to preserve the remaining population the state more than 20 years ago made it illegal to possess one.

Starting Friday, though, the full weight of the U.S. government will get behind the protection of what remains of this ancient fish whose ancestors swam among dinosaurs.

Once prized for its roe to make caviar, the Atlantic sturgeon will go on the federal Endangered Species List that day, not only in North Carolina, but also in the Delaware and Hudson rivers, the Chesapeake Bay and the rest of the South Atlantic Ocean.

Read the complete story from The Outer Banks Voice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

March 31, 2012 – Fisherman Dave Carraro was “not shocked” that he was approached by producers of “Wicked Tuna,” a reality show on the North Shore city’s bluefin tuna fishing industry. It premieres tomorrow at 10 p.m. on National Geographic Channel.

“I can’t believe they hadn’t gotten to us yet,” said Carraro, 46. “They make a TV show for everything else.”

Unlike the last time Gloucester was in the spotlight — in the 2010 Lifetime movie “Pregnancy Pact” — “Wicked Tuna” producers hope to cast the town in a wicked awesome way, showing its fishermen’s hard-working attitude in a heavily regulated industry.

Read the complete story from The Boston Herald.

 

 

 

 

 

 

March 29, 2012 – A troupe of Gloucester fishermen changed out of their fishing attire for a red-carpet preview screening Tuesday night for the new National Geographic reality TV series "Wicked Tuna," which premieres Sunday.

The fishermen and their families and friends, along with the press corps and state and local representatives, gathered at Boston's Wilbur Theater for the screening and after party.

For the next 10 weeks, the National Geographic channel will give an inside look at bluefin tuna fishing out of Gloucester Harbor featuring both the thrill of the hunt as well as despair over the one that got away. The show debuts Sunday at 10 p.m.

Read the complete story from The Gloucester Times.

 

 

 

 

 

While the unusual early return of blueback herring and alewives to the coastal rivers and streams is making news this month, there’s another aquatic migrant that deserves our attention—one whose journey from sea to freshwater and back is no less remarkable than that of the aforementioned river herring.

TOM RICHARDSON: I had never seen elvers in the flesh until I was checking out a local herring run in late March and I noticed some in the freshwater pond above dam. Maybe I had never really looked for them, but the more I looked, the more elvers I saw. Every minute or so, one of the 3”-long, flagellate-like animals would wriggle through in the tea-colored water, occasionally scooting in to hide among the mossy vegetation that grew on the rocks.

I returned the next day, intent on capturing a few of the critters with a dipnet. This proved difficult, however, as elvers turn out to be very fast and very slippery. This should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with adult American eels—perhaps the slimiest creatures on earth next to hagfish.

See the video from YouTube at Boating Local.

 

 

 

 

 

 

March 27, 2012 – A Peabody native and a Salem resident for 35 years, Monte is featured in a new series on the National Geographic Channel called "Wicked Tuna." The first episode airs Sunday, April 1, at 10 p.m.

For 10 episodes, along with four other fishermen from Beverly and Gloucester, all of whom fish out of Gloucester Harbor, Monte will be shown in search of lucrative bluefins.

The full cast of "Wicked Tuna" includes Tuna.com (Dave Carraro, Sandro Maniaci, Paul Hebert), Bounty Hunter (Donna Monte, Scott Ferriero, Bill Monte), Odysea (Ralph Wilkins, "Pirate" Kit Vallee), the Christina crew (Scott Prentiss, Kevin Leonowert, Blair Denman), and Hard Merchandise (Jason Muenzner, Dave Marciano).

Bluefin tuna, depending on the quality, fetches top dollar in the sushi market, especially in Japan, but "we are aware that bluefin are not endangered," said program executive Michael Cascio, and "we are aware the fish costs about $9 a pound."

According to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimates, the bluefin population in the western Atlantic is between 21 percent and 29 percent of what it was in 1970.

Read the full article at the Gloucester Times.

March 22, 2012 – There’s nothing contrived about “Wicked Tuna,’’ a new reality show that follows several fishermen out of Gloucester who spend a season chasing one of the ocean’s largest and fastest fish: the bluefin tuna.

The 10-part series premieres at 10 p.m. April 1 on the National Geographic Channel.

While the format is similar to Discovery Channel’s “Deadliest Catch,’’ which follows fishermen chasing Alaskan king crab in the Bering Sea, the pace of “Wicked Tuna’’ is slower, allowing the viewer to grasp the range of emotions fishermen experience.

The viewer gets a glimpse of the small talk that fills a boat, including use of local slang – it’s wicked this, wicked that – as crew members go about their routine in the silence of the open seas.

Read the complete story from The Boston Globe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, in partnership with NOAA's Marine Debris Program and Covanta Energy Corporation, is announcing the availability of grant funding to provide capacity and incentives to address old, abandoned or derelict fishing gear. More information on the Fishing for Energy partnership can be found at www.nfwf.org/fishingforenergy

The grants fund will entertain a wide variety of proposal topics for the prevention and removal of unwanted derelict fishing gear from the marine environment. Priorities for funding for the 2012 call include:

         At sea derelict fishing gear removal

        Gear density assessment; and/or,

        Economic and resource impact assessment.

The partners have roughly $500,000 in funds available for projects in 2012. Proposals requesting less than $10,000 or over $250,000 will not be considered.

More information on priorities and eligibility can be found in the RFP at www.nfwf.org/fishingforenergy

Pre-proposals are due May 1st, 2012 and a pre-proposal webinar will be held on March 28th to discuss this year's priorities for funding. You can register for this webinar through: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/154149864.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Associated Fisheries of Maine thanks U.S. Senators Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and John Kerry (D-MA) for their continued support for fishing businesses and fishing communities by introducing the “Fisheries Investment and Regulatory Relief Act of 2012”.

Maggie Raymond, Executive Director of Associated Fisheries of Maine said, “This legislation will allow the regional fishery management councils to put a sharp focus on the most critical research and investment priorities of the fisheries they manage. If enacted, this legislation would ensure that each fishery management council receives the funding necessary for its specific stock assessment, catch accounting, capacity reduction, and cooperative research needs.

“It is our understanding that this legislation directs that duties levied on the import of seafood from other countries to be used to support the research and investment needs of U.S. fisheries, and that is a win-win situation” said Terry Alexander, President of Associated Fisheries of Maine. “And as a side note, this legislation is a good example of why it is so unfortunate that Olympia Snowe will be retiring from the Senate”.

 For more information contact:
Maggie Raymond, Executive Director
Associated Fisheries of Maine
207-384-4854
maggieraymond@comcast.net

 

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