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 …
Category: March ’14
FISH SAFE – Winch safety study identifies emergency shutoffs
In the January 2014 CFN, we discussed the hazards associated with winch level-winding operations on trawlers based on our ongoing Northeast Drum Winch Safety Improvement Study. This time, we’ll look at what we have learned about drum winch emergency shutoffs. To recap, we collected data for the study on 54 vessels from Gloucester, New Bedford, …
EDITORIAL – Safety matters: Time for a quick review
Taking up the theme of fishing vessel safety can be a hazardous thing to do in a CFN editorial since it entails walking that fine line between helpfully calling readers’ attention to a fundamentally important topic and alienating them with nagging. However, this month’s “Along the Coast” column features a particularly pointed example of the …
ASMFC to address Area 1A spawning provisions in herring amendment
ALEXANDRIA, VA – Gulf of Maine herring fishermen who have been frustrated in recent years by problematic spawning closures in Area 1A soon will have a chance to discuss how those closures could be improved to better protect ripe and running fish. During its Feb. 4 meeting here, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) …
Invasive green crabs destroying shellfish resources, intertidal habitat
I admit it. I was a skeptic. How could one little critter cause so much devastation – and apparently overnight? Not surprisingly, the warning bell being sounded by harvesters was warranted. I was converted the minute I saw with my own eyes evidence of the green crab’s destructive powers in Freeport, ME in August of 2013. …
Maine DMR to hold coastwide lobster meetings in March
HALLOWELL, ME – Over the last year, Pat Keliher, commissioner of the Department of Marine Resources (DMR), has held many meetings with the lobster industry on a range of issues as part of his commitment to bring information to the industry and have a dialogue about potential changes. That process will continue in March when …
UMaine seeks second DOE grant to build pilot wind farm off Monhegan
ORONO, ME – In February, the Maine Aqua Ventus I (MAV-I) team submitted its proposal for a demonstration-scale offshore wind farm to the US Department of Energy (DOE) in the second qualifying round for $46.5 million in funding. If successful, the grant will go towards designing, deploying, and monitoring two six-megawatt wind turbines at the …
LMR – Chinese New Year provides lobster sales uptick
January and February used to be the slowest months in the year for the lobster marketplace, back before US and Canadian exporters began selling to China. But no more. This year they sold every large lobster they could buy to the Chinese for that nation’s week-long New Year and Spring Festival celebrations in late Jaunary. …