Insert to the June 2014 Commercial Fisheries News (Click Page to Download)
Category: 2014
FISH-SAFE: Overboard! How will you get back in your boat?
Finally, it is spring. The air is noticeably warmer and soon the water will be warmer too, but not warm enough that you would want to spend a lot of time in it waiting for rescue should you go overboard. The injury epidemiologists might bring out Haddon’s matrix at this point. This tool can be …
SAFE-BOAT SMART BOAT: Abandoning ship – A step-by-step approach
Even for the most self-sufficient fishing vessel, the possibility of a disabling mishap at sea due to a storm, grounding, collision, mechanical failure, or some other cause is a fact of nautical life. Your safety and that of your crew depends on your ability to plan for and manage the problems you come against in …
EDITORIAL – Butterfish: An assessment success story
The latest butterfish stock assessment is a game changer, not just for the long-finned (Loligo) squid fishery, which has been stymied by a butterfish bycatch cap, but for the way some stock assessments could be conducted in the future. Published in late March, the assessment found that no overfishing was occurring. In fact, scientists then …
New England council proposes new/altered closed areas to protect habitat, spawning fish
DANVERS, MA – Who among us can’t see Closed Area II or the Western Gulf of Maine Closure Area in our sleep? The age-old, familiar boundaries of these and New England’s other closed areas – some of which have been in place for two decades now – are deeply embedded in our understanding of the …
Gulf of Maine habitat, spawning, research areas
DANVERS, MA – The New England Fishery Management Council’s habitat alternatives for the Gulf of Maine cover three distinct subregions – Eastern, Central, and Western – and include three options each for spawning area closures and Dedicated Habitat Research Areas (DHRAs). Here are the habitat management alternatives: • Eastern Gulf of Maine – The council …
Georges Bank habitat proposals vary widely in scope, economic impact
DANVERS, MA – There’s a lot of money at stake on Georges Bank, so scallopers, surf clammers, offshore groundfish fishermen, and lobstermen are starting to pay especially close attention to the eight vastly different habitat management alternatives being proposed by the New England Fishery Management Council for this critically important subregion. Two of the alternatives …
Gear restrictions, modifications proposed for GSC/Southern NE
DANVERS, MA – The Great South Channel/Southern New England (GSC/SNE) area may become home to a couple of new habitat management areas depending on which way the New England Fishery Management Council decides to go in its omnibus essential fish habitat amendment following public hearings later this summer. The council is proposing six alternatives for …
Momentum builds for Maine Lobstering Union
JONESPORT, ME – The fledgling Maine Lobstering Union (MLU) has hit a number of significant milestones since a Vinalhaven sternman named Magnus Lane got the idea to investigate unionizing nearly two years ago. Frustrated when prices hit rock bottom and a local dealer refused to take any more lobsters, the story goes that Lane made …
Guest Column – Disaster aid distribution raises tough questions
by David Pierce Disaster aid is the talk of the waterfront and within the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF), too. And why wouldn’t it be? Many groundfish fishermen have been hit hard by very low groundfish catch limits, individual allocations small enough to fill a teacup, and just a plain lack of fish. Lack …
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