HYANNIS, MA – Georges Bank is littered with scallops. Biomass there is extremely high, and the enormous 2013 year class promises to fuel the fishery for several years to come. Just not in 2015. “There are a lot of scallops out there, but they’re still pretty small – not a lot of meat on these …
Category: 2014
Health insurance open enrollment starts Nov. 15
GLOUCESTER, MA – Open enrollment for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) starts Nov. 15 and runs through Feb. 15, 2015. Signing up means getting health care coverage and avoiding tax penalties, too. As part of the ACA, trained and certified “navigators” offer free assistance with the application process and provide information on the …
MAINE BOAT SCENE
Modified REPCO honors Pinkham’s father BEALS ISLAND, ME – You’re never going to find another REPCO like lobsterman Veril “Suki” Pinkham’s. To be clear, you shouldn’t have a problem finding a REPCO 37, which is what Suki Pinkham’s Sea Monster was when it first hit the water back in 1976. During the 1970s, a …
EDITORIAL – Weigh in on the future of fluke management
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) have launched an ambitious joint effort to fully assess and revamp their summer flounder management strategies in response to a number of factors, including changes in the distribution and center of fluke biomass, “possibly related to the effects of stock rebuilding and/or …
CFRF: 10 years of fishermen-driven research
KINGSTON, RI – In 2004, the Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation (CFRF) started out with a handful of fishermen and not a lot of funding. But it also began with the premise that people in the fishing industry needed to begin doing their own research. Partnering at first with University of Rhode Island Sea Grant’s Laura …
Scallopers use electronic reporting to collect ‘real-time’ catch data
EAST FALMOUTH, MA – Fifteen scallop vessels are now using a simple computer software program to collect and transmit “real-time” scallop catch and yellowtail flounder bycatch information back to shore. The information is aggregated daily by a second software program and is automatically transmitted back to participating boats in the form of color-coded maps that …
South Boston to lose historic fishermen’s chapel
SOUTH BOSTON, MA – As ever-changing rules and regulations challenge the bread-and-butter end of the commercial fishing industry, something else is threatening the heart and soul of its very way of life – the steady demise of heritage, history, home, and a sense of place. A prime example of this loss is the planned destruction …
Massachusetts requests exemptions from new vertical line rule to protect whales
BOSTON, MA – Concerns for the safety and economic health of its fishermen have prompted the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) to file a request with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) for exemptions and modifications to new whale protection measures announced in June. DMF put together the request following extensive discussions with lobstermen …
LMR – Stepped up processor demand drives lobster price
The September lobster market was crazy busy, frustrating, and at the same time just so-so. Canadian and US processors were crazy busy bidding on and trying to fill huge contracts for frozen lobster tails and meat. Their high level of interest in shedders was driving up the boat price, a move welcomed by fishermen who …