Category: April ’14

SAFE-BOAT SMART BOAT: Abandoning ship – A step-by-step approach

Even for the most self-sufficient fishing vessel, the possibility of a disabling mishap at sea due to a storm, grounding, collision, mechanical failure, or some other cause is a fact of nautical life.  Your safety and that of your crew depends on your ability to plan for and manage the problems you come against in …

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EDITORIAL – Planning the future of Maine’s lobster fishery

Given the fundamental importance of lobstering to the livelihoods of thousands of people, fishing communities, and the economy of the state of Maine, it makes sense that everyone involved wants to do all they can to safeguard the fishery’s future. Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) Commissioner Pat Keliher is now attempting to muster that …

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NMFS transfers excess yellowtail from scallop to groundfish fishery

GLOUCESTER, MA – The groundfish fishery got a bit of a boost on Feb. 20 when the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) transferred a portion of the scallop fishery’s unused 2013 yellowtail flounder allocation to the groundfish fishery. The 2013 scallop fishing year ended Feb. 28, but the groundfish year runs through April 30, so …

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Scallopers hold steady on ‘lean’ course for 2014

PORTSMOUTH, NH – Scallopers should be able to land roughly the same amount of product this year as last, but they’ll be harvesting a larger percentage of the catch in open areas rather than access areas. The New England Fishery Management Council agreed to this strategy on Jan. 29 when it finalized Framework Adjustment 25 …

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DMR asks Maine lobster industry to step up and deal with latent effort

ROCKPORT, ME – Two sessions focused on the future of the state’s lobster fishery drew standing-room-only crowds at the Maine Fishermen’s Forum on Feb. 28 and March 1. Over the forum weekend, the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) released preliminary state statistics that showed another year of exceptional lobster landings.  At 125,953,876 pounds, 2013 …

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Maine’s 2013 lobster fishery tops charts but abundance varies by zone

HALLOWELL, ME – Calling it “the state’s most lucrative fishery,” the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) announced in early March that the 2013 harvest of American lobsters resulted in yet “another year of record landings and value.” Accompanied by the usual caveat that all of its figures were still “preliminary,” the DMR said 2013 …

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NOAA FISHERIES NAVIGATOR – APRIL 2014

Insert to the April 2014 Commercial Fisheries News (Click Page to Download)

Fishermen’s Energy: In it for the long haul

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ – When Fishermen’s Energy goes before the US Department of Energy (DOE) in April to present its proposal for a $46.7 million grant, it will be “shovel ready,” as the saying goes.  Unlike other demonstration-scale wind farms proposed in state waters, the company’s Atlantic City wind farm project has all required state and federal …

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GUEST COLUMN – Brits visit New England ports, urge US fishermen to prepare for wind farm development

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council convened an Offshore Wind Best Management Practices Workshop Feb. 5-6 in Baltimore, MD with the goal of identifying standards for wind energy developers to follow in avoiding conflicts with commercial and recreational fisheries. More than 40 council members, council advisers, and interested parties participated.  The event, which was sponsored by …

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