FISHERY: More bad news for cod fishery

New cod data shaking New England fishing industry

Image via Wikipedia(AP) BOSTON — A new look at the health of one of New England's most storied fish stocks is troubling the industry, with some saying the findings have got to be wrong.

Just three years ago, a federal study showed the Gulf of Maine cod was healthy and headed toward recovery.

Now preliminary data suggest the valuable species is in dismal shape and won't rebuild within the time set by federal law. In a worst-case scenario, that could mean a broad fishery shutdown to protect the cod. But that step would be drastic and a long ways away.

More ... http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505245_162-57331266/new-cod-data-shaking-new-england-fishing-industry/

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CONSERVATION: Wolf Fish deserve protection in the Bay of Fundy too!

The following concerns being expressed for the lower Gulf of Maine apply equally here in the Bay of Fundy.

New research on the Atlantic wolffish, a depleted species that needs our help

By Talking Fish on August 11, 2011

In the deep ocean waters off New England’s coast lives one of our region’s most unique fish species: the Atlantic wolffish. While these fish may look threatening, and indeed they use their canine-like teeth (hence the name “wolffish”) to crush whole clams, scallops, sea urchins and crabs, Atlantic wolffish are themselves under threat from commercial fishing practices and modern fishing gear, which have decimated wolffish populations and destroyed the underwater habitat they call home.

According to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), over 1,200 metric tons of wolffish were caught in 1983. In 2009, the last year for which data is available, U.S. landings declined 97 percent to only 31.6 metric tons. Although wolffish are not targeted commercially, they are caught unintentionally in nets as bycatch, and they are also threatened by destructive modern fishing practices, such as trawling and dredging, that destroy the seafloor. Because wolffish live on the rocky seafloor and depend on its diverse features to hunt for prey and protect their young, the impact of trawling and dredging on these habitats can significantly limit the fish’s reproductive success and survival.


U.S. Landings of the Atlantic woflfish have declined dramatically over the past 25 years.

In 2008, concerned about the decline in Atlantic wolffish populations, the Conservation Law Foundation petitioned NMFS to list the fish under the Endangered Species Act. Although in 2004 the federal government designated the Atlantic wolffish as a Species of Concern, in 2009, NMFS declined CLF’s petition to list the wolffish as endangered, claiming that such protection was not warranted at this time. The New England Fishery Management Council has implemented a total ban on the

ECONOMICS: It's the environment Stupid!

How to get it through their stupid heads. The environment IS economics! The battle over LNG in the International Quoddy Region would see the loss of thousands of jobs based on the environment with UNDER 100 jobs being created and the loss of over a quarter of a billion dollars in annual income with virtually no dollars staying in the region. Not to mention that the environment is the foundation of all life including us. Stupid or what!

Art

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Letters to the editor March 12, 2011

By Andrew Catalina, BDN Staff

Posted March 11, 2011, at 8:33 p.m.

Investment delayed

I was shocked and saddened to read of Gov. LePage’s proposal to zone three million acres of Maine’s irreplaceable North Woods for development. My family has vacationed in the state since the 1930s and owned property here for most of this time.  As a result of the governor’s actions, we have unfortunately placed our future plans on hold, including a major new investment in the state.

These are difficult economic times, but this is exactly the wrong approach to solving them. Maine has one defining characteristic that sets it apart from most of the East Coast — its quality of life. This is the Maine “brand” that supports a $10 billion tourism industry and is a major draw for new businesses. How can a proposal that  detracts from the current economic base, hurts our ability to attract progressive growth businesses (and their high paying jobs), and permanently destroys the very definition of Maine be a step forward? Are strip malls and condos the vision we all share for Maine’s future? I think not.

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Will the Bay of Fundy feel the Bumble Bee's Sting Too?

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State plans aid for cannery workers
Federal limit on herring catch cited as main reason for closing plant

By Rich Hewitt
BDN Staff

GOULDSBORO, Maine — A state Rapid Response Team could be on-site as early as next week to begin the process of assisting workers who will be idled when the Bumble Bee Foods cannery closes in two months.

Officials from the Maine Department of Labor are working with company officials to get the process started, according to department spokesman Adam Fisher.

“We’re shooting for next week,” Fisher said Thursday. “We’re looking to start the conversation with workers about their next steps.”

Bumble Bee announced on Wednesday that it plans to close the plant on April 18, ending a century-old tradition in the community and in the country. The former Stinson Seafood plant is the last sardine cannery in the United States. An estimated 128 people are expected to lose their jobs when the facility is shuttered.


Read the entire article here: http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/137227.html?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=7be8fca4a0-RSS_MORNINGUPDATE_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_source=BDN+News+Updates

FISHERIES - Herring missing in Bay of Fundy - Down the Toilet?

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Comment: We guess at everything that influences the arrival of "our" fish, including the weather, overfishing, near-shore pollution,  aquaculture, plastic pollution, global warming, radioactivity, or the "whales/seals are eating them". Not many years ago, there used to be weirs from one end of the Bay to the other. Not today! The fact is that we have changed the Bay of Fundy measurably since 1964. We know about many of the things that influence negative changes in fish behaviour. But ... we never do anything about them as we continue to spew crap into our water by river and air and head "down the toilet" as it where.

Have a meeting!!



Art

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Thursday, August 20, 2009 | 2:28 PM AT

CBC News

 

Fishermen are worried that herring weirs in the Bay of Fundy are empty this season.

(CBC)Fishermen in Charlotte County are wondering why the Bay of Fundy herring catch is significantly down this season and they're worried about the impact of the lack of fish on the local economy.

During August, the most important month of the year for the herring industry, weirs along the Fundy coast are catching fewer fish.

Tony Hooper, the vice-president of resourcing at the Connors Bros. Ltd., buys fish for the world's largest sardine factory, which is in Blacks Harbour. He said the company will get by this season but says this year's poor catch is worrying.

"I've been here for 33 years and this is only the second year we've had to struggle for fish in August," Hooper said.

"So I'd be lying if I told you I wasn't concerned. I'm very concerned and most of the people in the plant are concerned."

About 400 fishermen rely on the New Brunswick weirs.

No one knows exactly why the herring aren't swimming into nets, but most blame this summer's bleak weather.

Delma Doucette, a captain of the seiner Margaret Elizabeth, has fished herring in the region for decades. He said he thinks the fish are still in the area but they are just swimming too deep to be caught. "We've been at the scientists to find out why the fish are at the bottom nowadays instead of at the surface but nobody's come up with an answer yet," Doucette said.

Read the entire article and the "interesting" comments here: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2009/08/20/nb-missing-herring-149.html#socialcomments

Have we placed the Bay of Fundy's Spiny Dogfish on the growing list of endangered species?

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Marine Biologist Awarded $237,000 NOAA Grant To Research Contentious Issue Of Spiny Dogfish Stock  - Underwatertimes.com News Service August 19, 2009 20:46 EST

BIDDEFORD, Maine -- University of New England marine biologist James Sulikowski, Ph.D., has placed himself in the middle of a contentious debate between conservationists and the commericial fishing industry over the health of the spiny dogfish stock.

Sulikowski, assistant professor, Department of Marine Sciences, has been awarded a $237,000 grant from the NOAA Saltonstall-Kennedy Grant Program to use satellite tags to examine the behavior of spiny dogfish in the Northwest Atlantic. The research will try to determine the habitat, depth and movement patterns of the spiny dogfish to better understand the inconsistencies in data collected by federal agencies and the commercial fishing industry.

The status of the spiny dogfish, Squalus acanthias, stock in the northwest Atlantic Ocean has become a volatile issue. Distributed from Labrador to Florida, this species was once considered to be the most abundant shark throughout this geographic range.

However, with the decline of traditional groundfish resources in the last 15 years, an increase in directed fishing for spiny dogfish resulted in a nearly ten-fold increase in U.S. landings from 1987-1996, reducing the stock below survival threshold levels.

The Debate Based on this reported decline, conservation groups are suggesting the species should be protected while commercial fishing interests say that spiny dogfish are abundant in northeastern U.S. waters.

Read the entire article here: http://www.underwatertimes.com/news.php?article_id=35269804107


Photo Credit: wikipedia.com

Abolish the Legislation that prevents Alewife from spawning in St. Croix - IJC

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Blocking alewife spawning in the St. Croix may have been the seminal event in destroying the 10 million dollar plus fishery in the St. Croix River Estuary. This move by the International Joint Commission is vital to the restoration of this Canadian Heritage River.

Art

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Fish blockade between N.B., Maine faces stormier waters
By Randy Boswell , Canwest News ServiceJuly 25, 2009

 

 

A watery, 185-kilometre stretch of the U.S.-Canada border between Maine and New Brunswick has become an international battleground over the fate of the alewife, a hand-sized fish that has been blocked from migrating up the St. Croix River since 1995 under an order from Maine's legislature aimed at protecting the state's sport-fishing industry.
While fishing guides along the St. Croix have long blamed alewives for devouring juvenile smallmouth bass and other fish favoured by anglers, U.S. and Canadian scientists - including experts with Maine's own fisheries department - have found no evidence to support the claim.
Now, in an unprecedented step into controversial waters, the Ottawa-based International Joint Commission - the Canada-U.S. agency that oversees boundary rivers and lakes between the two countries - has strongly urged Maine Gov. John Baldacci to reopen the entire St. Croix system to the alewife or face tougher measures from the bi-national body.

Pointing to a recent report by the IJC's own St. Croix River watershed board and the results of a heated public meeting in New Brunswick last month, the commission's Canadian co-chair Herb Gray and his American counterpart Irene Brooks sent a letter to Baldacci on July 10 pressing him to reopen the main alewife fish ladder at the Grand Falls dam along the U.S. side of the river.
"Your administration's leadership is needed to help restore the ecological integrity of the St. Croix system," they wrote.

See entire article here:  http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/Fish+blockade+between+Maine+faces+stormier+waters/1829053/story.html

Image Credit and Copyright: Art MacKay

Bay of Fundy Reflections on Campobello

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Photo Credit: Joyce Morrell