Commercial Fisheries News is the Northeast’s commercial fishing industry newspaper. Published monthly, CFN provides the latest waterfront news along with coverage of the state and federal rules and regulations affecting the harvest of all the region’s major species. Regular features include lobster and fish market reports, a safety column, new boats, the enforcement report, and the popular and effective Classifieds.
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Fishermen, scientists expand search for young-of-year SNE lobsters
NARRAGANSETT, RI – Twenty one years after the first suction survey sampling in Rhode Island’s Narragansett Bay of post-larval lobster settlers, known as young-of-year (YOY), Rick Wahle returned in 2011 and 2012 to resample the bay’s Southern New England nursery grounds. Despite including additional sites recommended by industry, the results were disappointing. “It was rather …
ME scallopers question area closures
HALLOWELL, ME – Roughly 45 fishermen crowded into a room here on Feb. 12 for a meeting of the Maine Department of Marine Resource’s (DMR) Scallop Advisory Council to voice their opinions on whether or not additional restrictions were necessary for the remainder of this year’s scallop season. Maine’s 2012-2013 scallop season is offering fishermen …
Shrimp 2013: Low landings discourage fleet
WEST BOOTHBAY HARBOR, ME – As the month of February was drawing to a close, shrimp fishermen in Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts were still plugging along, trying to salvage what they could from the extremely slow-going and disappointing 2013 season. Shrimp were hard to come by in general, and storm after storm kept boats …
SNE/MA winter flounder: A 2013 ‘bright spot’
PORTSMOUTH, NH – Framework Adjustment 50 to the federal groundfish plan contains a new, industry-supported approach for dealing with Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic (SNE/MA) winter flounder. On Jan. 30, the New England Fishery Management Council unanimously approved four motions related to this stock. First, it adopted a new 10-year rebuilding program. Second, it endorsed an acceptable …
Cod quotas slashed to ‘unviable’ levels
PORTSMOUTH, NH – The groundfish industry has suffered through far more than its fair share of turbulent chapters over the past two decades – everything from the painful introduction of limited entry in Amendment 5 to the loss of friends who couldn’t see their way through the fleet’s steady downsizing, to the almost anarchy-like uprising …
NOAA Fisheries Navigator – March 2013
Insert to the March 2013 Commercial Fisheries News Contents: More Opportunities to Sustainably Harvest Swordfish Promosed Increased Quota Allows for a Directed Butterfish Fishery Collaborative Survey to Gather Black Sea Bass Assessment Data Networks Work to Cut Squid Fishery Bycatch Harbor Porpoise Closure Reminder Maine Forum Workshop: Avoiding Gear Conflicts in Newly Reopened Areas Cash …
End of an era: Viking leaves Martha’s Vineyard
MENEMSHA, MA – With the sale of Viking, a 40′ fishing boat that has plied the waters off Martha’s Vineyard for three generations, the island’s oncevibrant fleet of small wooden draggers is now on the brink of extinction. Craig Coutinho of Vineyard Haven sold the vessel in December after fishing aboard her for nearly 50 …
NE council scales back scallop access-area trips, possession limits for 2013 in Framework 24
NEWPORT, RI – Scallopers will be making fewer access-area trips during the 2013 fishing year but will receive roughly the same number of open-area days-at-sea. During its Nov. 13-15 meeting here, the New England Fishery Management Council finalized Framework Adjustment 24 to the federal scallop plan, which includes fishery specifications, general category measures, and other …
Hundreds turn out for meetings on Maine lobster industry’s future
YARMOUTH, ME – Large crowds of lobster industry people flocked to meetings in January for what the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) billed as “an open and honest discussion of issues that currently affect the industry.” The DMR scheduled a total of 16 meetings from York to Machias. At press time in mid-January, roughly …
Dogfish research reveals migration surprises
SOUTH KINGSTON, RI – It’s been a long-held belief that spiny dogfish migrate south for the winter and return to New England each spring, so much so that the federal dogfish fishery management plan has long allocated quota based on seasons. However, two recent research studies funded by the Kingston-based Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation (CFRF) …
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