Category: September ’14

ASMFC, MAFMC to hold joint meetings on new fluke quota management ideas

WASHINGTON, DC – The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) are working together to develop a “Comprehensive Summer Flounder Management Amendment.” Together, they are planning to hold at least 10 public comment sessions this fall to gather input on a scoping document that will outline potential changes to existing …

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FISH-SAFE: Be sure your EPIRB is registered biennially

When you purchase an EPIRB, you can’t miss the instructions about how to register it with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Satellite and Information Service, but we sometimes forget that we have to re-register each EPIRB every two years. When mine came due, I received a notice from NOAA, and that was handy …

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Fraun Martin: A life of love and laughter

Even when you know it’s coming, the news hurts.  The CFN family got word on Aug. 1 that Fraun Cragg Martin had left this world, nearly three years after receiving a stunning terminal cancer diagnosis.  And though we knew the end was near, it was – and still is – hard to accept that this …

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ASMFC considers new FMP for Jonah, rock crabs

ALEXANDRIA, VA – Fishermen will have a chance to speak out in September about whether or not the harvest of Jonah and rock crabs should be regulated and, if so, how. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) is proposing to develop a brand new fishery management plan (FMP) for Cancer crabs, which include both …

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Butterfish plentiful: Mid-Atlantic council green lights 22,530-mt directed fishery

FREEHOLD, NJ – At its June 10-12 meeting, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council approved specifications for the butterfish fishery that will increase allowable landings by more than 500% for the 2015-2017 fishing years and allow for the re-establishment of a substantial directed fishery. The specifications, which were in line with those recommended by the council’s …

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Kelly S latest scalloper to join Starvish fleet

NEW BEDFORD, MA – Launched last year, the Kelly S is life-long fisherman Ray Starvish’s sixth new boat and likely the last he will personally commission for his fleet. The 95-footer is identical to Starvish’s Defiant, which was launched in 2002.  Why the new-build now?  Starvish explained that there were three reasons:  He knew his …

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Pioneering yellowtail video surveys show promise for more accurate fish counts

Building on more than a decade of experience conducting video surveys for Atlantic sea scallops, researchers at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST) are now bringing this innovative survey technique to a new frontier.   Since the spring of 2013, with considerable help from industry, the SMAST team has …

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Lobster stock ‘indicators’ provide preview

ALEXANDRIA, VA – Scientists conducting the 2014 “benchmark” stock assessment for American lobsters have given the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) a “preview” of the general condition of the resource based on a set of telltale stock “indicators.” The assessment itself, which involves computer models and a thorough analysis of landings, survey, biological, environmental, …

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Arthur Hancock, 78, still loves the challenge

FALL RIVER, MA – Arthur Hancock owns four Buick Roadmaster station wagons.  He’s owned 10 of them over the years, but currently only has four in his possession – some of them for parts.  We’re rolling through the streets of Fall River in one of them, the nearly 18-foot-long wagon cruising like a big-bellied trawler …

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GUEST COLUMN – Reject distractions; fix catch shares now

by Brett Tolley Three years ago, I sat among a group of fishermen testifying before the New England Fishery Management Council that the new catch share program was not working and needed to be fixed.  The fleet was consolidating, access was becoming unaffordable to owner-operators, and inshore fishing areas were coming under increased pressure.  Several …

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