Category: July ’13

FISH SAFE – Follow mariner’s ‘three rules’ to avoid storms

Filed under FISH SAFE, July '13, Safety

by Ann Backus – Early in June, Andrea, the first tropical storm of the season, slammed into Florida and then proceeded up the East Coast into New England. She won’t be the last. Hurricane season is now in full swing. Regardless of what the weather is when you leave port, be prepared to deal with …

Guest Column – Wind farm planning: How to be heard

Filed under Guest Column, July '13, Offshore Wind Energy

Many fishermen are asking what they can do to preserve fishing opportunities in the wake of ocean wind energy development. The answer is threefold: be aware of what is being proposed in your area; know what governmental body is in charge; and engage early and often in the regulatory processes. Multiple state and federal entities …

SW Boatworks – F/V Seasmoke – July 2013

Filed under Boats, July '13

Seasmoke owner Nick Lunt said he had no complaints with his old boat – a Wayne Beal 36 – except he simply “wanted more room. With the Calvin Beal 38 I gained deck space and was able to have a split wheelhouse without crowding things.” Lunt reported an 18-knot cruise at 1800 rpm, which he said …

Announcing Best of Season Photo Contest

Filed under July '13, Lobster Boat Races

Lobster Boat Racing 2013 Photo Contest 1st Prize – $250 2nd Prize – $100 3rd Prize – $50 send us your best 2013 race photos – enter as many as 3 photos per race then vote for your favorites, send a link to your friends and family to vote for your photos Voting will …

Bluefin mania: Fish come on strong nearshore

Filed under Bluefin, July '13, Tuna

HARWICH, MA – Even before the June 1 start of the 2013 bluefin tuna season, fishermen, including a whole pack of newcomers, were raring to go, fired up by reports of fish sighted from Maine to Massachusetts. Sure enough, the season started off with a bang. The fish were close to shore, just a few …

First-ever offshore wind energy lease sale scheduled for July 31

Filed under Business News, Government Agencies, July '13, Offshore Wind Energy

WASHINGTON, DC – The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will conduct the first-ever Outer Continental Shelf competitive lease sale for renewable energy developers on July 31. The agency will offer to the highest bidders a total of 164,750 acres of ocean bottom within the Rhode Island/Massachusetts wind energy area (WEA) located 9.2 nautical …

Menhaden quotas in place for 2013

Filed under July '13, Menhaden

1% set-aside for NE ‘episodic’ events ALEXANDRIA, VA – Atlantic menhaden are prized by lobstermen in New England as a reliable bait alternative to herring. But few people probably ever imaged that these oily little fish – commonly called pogies – would become as strictly regulated as almost every other species in the Northeast. …

Lobster Market Report – July 2013

Filed under Business News, July '13, Lobster

Canadian catches swamp market; prices suffer “There are too many lobsters being caught,” a Boston dealer said of the June lobster market. “It happens every spring.” A Massachusetts exporter agreed, saying of Canadian landings, “It is a glut and it is increasing.” A Maine buyer said Cape Breton, the Magdalene Islands, Newfoundland, Eastern Nova Scotia, …

Maine elver fishery divides ASMFC; board postpones action to August

Filed under Bait, July '13

Maine elver fishery divides ASMFC; board postpones action to August ALEXANDRIA, VA – Faced with two opposing points of view for how to handle Maine’s lucrative elver fishery – shut it down completely or let it continue under “status quo” with better monitoring – the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) American Eel Management Board …