National Fisherman articles from May 2008

National Fisherman archives from May 2008

May 2008--this month's highlights.(The hail)
May 1, 2008... Here are three things that matter to the fishing industry, when it comes to the regulations by which fishermen operate: what we have, what we think we should have, and what we get. Often, the journey from point A to point C requires...

Health insurance, our safety net.(VIEWS from Alaska)
May 1, 2008... When starting out as young fishermen, we worry about catching fish, making boat payments, and having enough money left to feed ourselves and our families for the off-season. Back when I started in 1964, we had health care provided by the...

Landings data go just so far.(Editor's log)(Editorial)
May 1, 2008... How come we haven't seen this one in the New York Times? A study released in mid-February by the National Academy of Sciences finds that the use of fishery landings data "can lead to faulty interpretations about the condition of fishery...

Matters of allocation.(Washington lookout)
May 1, 2008... In most places, battles between commercial and recreational sectors trace back to the deep recesses of history. But with the exception of the recent detente in the Atlantic summer flounder fishery, where these forces have made common cause in...

50 years ago.(Fishing Back When)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... At a meeting to discuss their tactics in facing federal anti-trust charges, the Maine Lobstermen's Association members vote to fight, and will collaborate with their communities to raise the necessary $2,000 to $3,000. The 2,300 members and...

10 years ago.(Fishing Back When)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... Rerigging your boat to reap the benefits of another fishery is a great way to stock the larder. However, the U.S. Coast guard has growing concerns about the stability of boats under 79 feet long. Federal regulations spell out stability...

30 years ago.(Fishing Back When)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Now that winter's only a recent memory, it's time to search for scup. Bill Mackintosh handles the brailer on the Sakonnet, R.I.-based H.N. Wilcox. From the wheelhouse, Louis Waite watches porgies spill over the deck....

British Columbia author pays tribute to professional mariners in salty collection.(Fo'c'sle library)(Stories of the Working Waterfront)(Brief article)(Book review)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Tales from the Gallery Stories of the Working Waterfront By Doreen Armitage Harbor Publishing, 2007 Hardcover, 2008 pp., $39.95 www.harbourpublishing.com The working waterfronts along the...

Mystic Seaport Museum photography illustrates 100 years of American women.(Fo'c'sle library)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] On Land and On Sea A Century of Women in the Rosenfeld Collection By Margaret L. Andersen Rosenfeld Mystic Seaport, 2007 Hardcover, 176 pp., $50 www.mysticseaport.org Sure, flowers...

Keep it in the family.(From Another Perspective)
May 1, 2008... Ever get the idea that the commercial fishing industry isn't doing as well politically as it could be doing? I sure do. And while it might be a function of my overly pessimistic nature, I doubt it--and I doubt that anyone reading this will see...

Rockfish get privatized.(Dock talk)
May 1, 2008... Early this year, the Alaska Groundfish Data Bank, based in Kodiak, put out a press release on the Central Gulf of Alaska Rockfish Pilot Program. This program was successful in slowing the fishery down, but at the expense of excluding most...

Letting go.(Consequences)
May 1, 2008... From U.S. Coast Guard reports A vessel casualty can occur quickly and at any time. The circumstances leading to a casualty are not always easy to identify, nor can they always be predicted. The task is knowing how to react in a given...

A fisherman's view of climate change.(From the town landing)
May 1, 2008... The annual Maine Fishermen's Forum is an extraordinary cultural event. Every year in early March at the Samoset Resort in Rockport more than a thousand fishermen, scientists, managers, regulators, state and federal politicians, and every...

New England scalloper wants a vote on permits.(Mail buoy)(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2008... The following is excerpted from a letter to Patricia Kurkul, regional administrator of the NMFS Northeast Regional Office. I'm a 30-year third-generation commercial fisherman, and I think about Amendment 11 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop...

Cap'n Sane says ...(Mail buoy)(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2008... We here at the Cove are getting reservations f'summer raft-ups.They come in through Amos up at the store, who has a new finger rotary phone n'charges us 10 cents a word written down. Reservations is somethin' new at the Cove. About the only...

Will Alaska's halibut charter industry fall flat?(Mail buoy)(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2008... After more than 14 years of learning about our halibut charter industry here in Alaska, after 14 years of strong debate between charter companies, after 14 years of attending and volunteering to be part of the North Pacific Fishery Management...

Pleased to meet you.(Mail buoy)(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2008... As you may have already learned, I have been appointed acting assistant administrator for NOAA Fisheries. I am excited to have this opportunity and look forward to meeting with many of you on this issues our industry faces. I know many of...

Lahaina, revisited.(In search of the simple life)
May 1, 2008... I'm still in Lahaina, Hawaii, (if not in fact, in spirit) pondering what it was like here when the harbor was filled with whaling ships--in 1846, host to 429 of them, from places like New Bedford, New London, Nantucket, Fairhaven, Newport,...

Crew's quick response to fire saves 106 in Bering Sea: more than a dozen vessels and the Coast Guard respond to calls from the Pacific Glacier.(ALASKA and PACIFIC)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Quick reaction, training, help from other fishing vessels and the U.S. Guard are being credited for saving the lives of all 106 crew members aboard the 253-foot Pacific Glacier in the Bering Sea in February. The...

Pebble Fund dangles $5m over Bristol Bay watershed: group vows to sustain fisheries, economy.(ALASKA and PACIFIC)
May 1, 2008... Alaska's Pebble Mine controversy took a new twist in February with the announcement of the Pebble Fund for Sustainable Bristol Bay Fisheries and Communities, an independent grant-wielding body that would pledge $5 million toward sustaining...

Salmon industry reps talk 'zero fishing' in meetings: craft management proposals for council.
May 1, 2008... The term "zero fishing" was an oftheard refrain at salmon industry meetings in Oregon and California during the first week of March. Sport and commercial groups met with state fishery managers to craft options to propose to the Pacific Fishery...

NOAA unveils FishWatch to promote seafood literacy: agency hopes online consumer tool will aid in discussions of seafood safety, sustainability.(NATION/WORLD)
May 1, 2008... Mindful of the ongoing discussions about seafood safety and sustainability, NOAA in February unveiled its FishWatch Web site in the name of "ocean and seafood literacy" as agency spokeswoman Susan Buchanan put it. Buchanan, who organized a...

Smelter proposal troubles Newfoundland fishermen: bay's currents to disperse treated effluent.(NATION/WORLD)
May 1, 2008... Newfoundland fishermen are worried about plans to construct a nickel smelting plant at Long Harbor on Placentia Bay--and with good reason, accord ing to Earle McCurdy, president of the Fish, Food and Allied Workers union. [ILLUSTRATION...

Where we live: Galveston, Texas.(HOME PORT)
May 1, 2008... THE TOWN Population: 58,000 Fleet size: Roughly 65 to 75 vessels between two marinas, depending on the season TOP LANDINGS IN 2006 By value Shrimp--8.92 million pounds worth $20.21 million [ILLUSTRATION...

N.J. horseshoe crabbers pursue a males-only harvest: environmental groups petition for endangered species protection of migratory shorebird.(ATLANTIC)
May 1, 2008... Despite a two-year ban on horseshoe crabbing in New Jersey, shorebird researchers say the red knot population is still declining. Fishermen answer that they can no longer be the cause. After the New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council narrowly...

Automn Gale: Salmon troller/Dungeness crabber, San Francisco.(BOAT OF THE MONTH)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "This is my third boat and my final boat in my career," says the Autumn Gale's owner Larry Collins, a longtime crab and salmon fisherman in the San Francisco Bay area. "I had wooden boats for 20 years. Now I have...

Maryland dredging ban closes out bay clammers: bill proposes compensation for boats, gear.
May 1, 2008... A bill passed by the Maryland General Assembly to ban hydraulic clam dredging will go into effect in October. For as long as anyone can remember there has been winter clam dredging in Maryland's coastal bays. Though only a handful of...

Terry Pardee: Haines, Alaska.(SNAPSHOT: WHO WE ARE)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] When Terry Pardee of Haines, Alaska, approaches the docks with the 34-foot Dabchick after a trip to the Dungeness crabbing grounds, it's not unusual to see customers already lined up. Pardee, 61, began selling...

Maine lobster stakeholders target new, green markets: consider Marine Stewardship assessment.(Around the coasts)(Marine Stewardship Council)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... Maine's lobster industry should explore new ways of capitalizing on its signature shellfish, according to Dane Somers, executive director of the Maine Lobster Promotion Council. Speaking on Feb. 29 at a Maine Fishermen's Forum seminar on...

Alabama fishermen lobby against second gillnet assault: ban proponents consider compromise of a five-year study followed by a possible buyout.(GULF/SOUTH ATLANTIC)
May 1, 2008... Alabama fishermen are taking their fight to keep gillnets for mullet and mackerel down to the wire, lobbying lawmakers in Montgomery and mulling suggestions for compromise they view as distasteful but possibly necessary. "This part of...

Island baked crab: Irene and James "Ooker" Eskridge Jr. Tangier Island, Va.(GALLEY WATCH: AT-SEA CUISINE)(Virginia)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Chesapeake Bay's island fishing communities re under a lot of pressure. On Tangier Island, waterman James "Ooker" Eskridge Jr. works a cycle of scraping and potting, shipping soft-shell crabs to metro markets,...

Late-coming dogfish leave N.C. out of Atlantic quota: fishermen draw straws to supply dealers.
May 1, 2008... Hatteras Island, N.C., fish dealer Tilman Gray bought spiny dogfish just four days this winter before the 6 million pound Atlantic Coast quota was filled and the fishery closed. Gray says he lined up a limited market in New Bedford, Mass.,...

Western Pacific.(COUNCIL UPDATES: News from the regional management councils)(Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council convened its Scientific and Statistical Committee in Honolulu in March to discuss management of fisheries in federal waters of the U.S. Pacific islands and hoped to make recommendations to...

New England.(COUNCIL UPDATES: News from the regional management councils)(New England Fishery Management Council)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... The Groundfish Oversight Committee of the New England Fishery Management Council was to meet in Portland, Maine, in late March to continue development of Amendment 16 to the Northeast Multispecies (groundfish) Fishery Management Plan. The...

Pacific.(COUNCIL UPDATES: News from the regional management councils)(Report of the Pacific Fishery Management Council's Salmon Technical Team)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... The Pacific Fishery Management Council has released its preseason stock abundance analysis for this year's ocean salmon fisheries. The report, prepared by the Salmon Technical Team, is intended to document and help guide salmon fishery...

Mid Atlantic.(COUNCIL UPDATES: News from the regional management councils)(Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council has decided to expand membership on its Scientific and Statistical Committee from 12 to up to 20 members. The council also incorporated new operating procedures that will have the SSC provide...

Gulf of Mexico.(COUNCIL UPDATES: News from the regional management councils)
May 1, 2008... The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council in March was conducting a series of public hearings to solicit comments on Draft Amendment 30B to the Reef Fish Fishery Management Plan. Amendment 30B contains several important management...

North Pacific.(COUNCIL UPDATES: News from the regional management councils)
May 1, 2008... The Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands Crab Advisory Committee of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council met in Anchorage to discuss: * crew proposals and alternatives to those proposals; * data issues: * community protections; ...

South Atlantic.(COUNCIL UPDATES: News from the regional management councils)(South Atlantic Fisheries Management Council)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... A North Carolina congressional candidate wants the South Atlantic Fisheries Management Council to adopt state-by-state quotas in the king mackerel fishery. "King mackerel is in an important fishery in our state." the candidate, Marshall...

Caribbean.(COUNCIL UPDATES: News from the regional management councils)(Caribbean Fishery Management Council)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... In accordance with a fishery management plan developed by the Caribbean Fishery Management Council, a seasonal prohibition on fishing for or possession of red, black, tiger, yellowfin, and yellowedge grouper in Caribbean federal waters remains...

Louisiana crabbers enjoy abundance, but drought taking toll in N. Carolina.(GULF/SOUTH ATLANTIC: BLUE CRAB)
May 1, 2008... Louisiana is back--although in truth, it never really went away. Following a relatively modest landings dip in 2005 stemming from the disruptions of Hurricane Katrina, calendar year 2006 produced the most hard crab since 1987. Final...

Aspirin sales and bait prices to soar as tough year likely in fractious fishery.(NORTHEAST: HERRING)
May 1, 2008... Area closures and spot shortages boosted bait prices in 2007 by 30 percent or more for Gulf of Maine lobstermen compared to 2006, and the industry is braced for more of the same as New England continues battling over its contentious herring...

Global whitefish shortage is expected to keep prices, production high in '08:.(NORTH PACIFIC: P-COD)
May 1, 2008... The Pacific cod harvest volumes and ex-vessel prices went for a fantastic ride last year, and given the global shortage of whitefish, the trend should continue through 2008. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game manages the parallel state...

Harvest limit drops despite evidence of fleet eyes; more research called for.(PACIFIC: SARDINES)
May 1, 2008... The sardine fishery's northern and southern sectors are finding some common ground. A sort of equilibrium has settled most issues and the sectors are working together to obtain better scientific evidence to better manage the fishery. And...

National fisherman's 2008 Highliners.(Cover story)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... We've never sat down and tried to come up with a creed for National, Fisherman Highliners, but something along the order of "whatever it takes" or perhaps, "rising to the occasion," might fill the bill. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The...

Seeing safety as a virtue: Rodney Avila, New Bedford, Mass.
May 1, 2008... Knowing what he does now, Rodney Avila looks back on his 48 years in the fishing industry and realizes just how lucky he's been. "I always bought the best equipment I could. But I didn't know how to use it," says Avila, 64, a central...

Fighting' cultural catastrophe': Tilman Gray, Avon, N.C.(North Carolina)
May 1, 2008... Tilman Gray, 48, is a Hatterasman, and that sets him apart on introduction. Avon, N.C., where Gray founded Avon Seafood 18 years ago, where he and his wife, Bonnie, have raised their four children, and where he docks his boat, Miss Jessica...

Reaching out in polarized era: Craig Pendleton, Saco, Maine.
May 1, 2008... It was 1995, the battle between fishermen and environmentalists had joined, when Craig Pendleton was beckoned by what he thought was the dark side: a Boston lawyer with the Conservation Law Foundation. "Peter Shelley called me like six...

Restoring the future: the founder of Maryland's Coastal Heritage Alliance preserves venerable wooden boats and keeps them working.(Wooden boat rescue)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In the spring of 2006 a small miracle saved my wooden Bristol Bay gillnetter. It needed a new engine at a cost of $25,000, which is about the value of the boat. Since it leaked like a sieve and the stern corner...

Give ice the slip! A number of coatings, some old, some new, can help thwart icing.(Boat & Gear: Winter survival)
May 1, 2008... On Jan. 7, 2007, the Hunter, a 56-foot longliner out of Cordova, Alaska, sank. It was the middle of the winter in Shelikof Strait. Temperatures were below zero, winds 40 to 60 mph, seas running 10 to 15 feet and the boat was making ice. ...

Suppliers.
May 1, 2008... 21st Century Coatings Chevy Chase, Md. www.fpu-coatings.com Product: WC-1 (ICE) Ameron International Protective Coatings Brea, Calif. www.ppg.com Product: PSX- 700 Dow Chemical Co. Midland, Mich....

Boats & radios: our annual look at innovations that have changed fishing.(Boats & Gear: Hall of fame)
May 1, 2008... There's a grace to the eastern-rigged trawlers and draggers that the boxy stern trawler will never match, but it's not just for their looks that we're featuring two rigs. And although radio frequencies swollen with traffic can be an...

Total rebuild: a crabber written off by the insurance company finds new life in the pollock fleet.(Boats & Gear: Boatbuilding)(Nordick Viking)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] On one otherwise ordinary day last summer, John Myers' clock radio awoke him to the news that a fishing boat had run aground in Alaska. Not a big story, in the scheme of things, but as it happens, Myers is a naval...

Museum saves Maine dragger, rebuilt icon to launch in May.(NORTHEAST)
May 1, 2008... Many of New England's wooden eastern-rigged draggers have ended up on a mud bank where they slowly rotted away or were hoisted out of the water, chain-sawed up and then burned. But not the Roann, a 60-foot eastern-rigged dragger, designed by...

New Wash. yard starts strong; Fred Wahl scales back repairs.(WEST)(Washington)
May 1, 2008... It seems like Bellingham, Wash., has never lacked for boatshops, and a few months ago it got a new one when Tom Day started TommyCraft. His first boat is a 31' 6" x 11' aluminum salmon bowpicker for a Cordova, Alaska, Copper River fisherman....

Skiffs cut fuel and repair bills; Va. builder has God on his side.(SOUTH)(Carolina Skiff of Waycross, Georgia and Francis Haynie of Northumberland County, Virginia)
May 1, 2008... Many commercial fishermen are exchanging their larger inboard-powered boats for smaller, shallow-draft boats with outboards to work closer to shore, and reduce fuel and maintenance costs. One builder they are going to is Carolina Skiff of...

Dual line cutter takes rope out of prop: serrated edges are helping Piranha sell itself.(Product roundup)(Piranha Dual Line Cutter of the R.E. Thomas Marine Hardware in Hancock, Maine)
May 1, 2008... If fuel and bait prices, sometimes lousy weather and a shrinking catch rate aren't enough for a lobsterman to worry about, throw in the possibility of getting the prop tangled up with pot warp. Once pot warp spools up on a prop shaft, it...

Ice maker promises the quick chill: "Silk Soft" ice adheres to fish completely, company says; models will fit all size vessels.(Product roundup)(STG Multi-Ice Sytems)
May 1, 2008... Tom Wegman was standing on a dock in Iceland, talking to a fisherman who admitted that he had been reluctant to put the ice machine on the small boat he and his brother operated. "Now," he told Wegman, "I won't leave port without it. It's...

Viking life-saving equipment's latest life raft is designed for inshore boats.(At a glance)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] VIKING LIFE-SAVING EQUIPMENT's latest life raft is designed for inshore boats. The RESCYOU COASTAL life raft comes in a smaller than usual, high-gloss fiberglass container or water-resistant valise. The life raft has...

Grabbitt tool company has come up with a tool that should make securing tarps a lot easier.(At a glance)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] GRABBITT TOOL COMPANY has come up with a tool that should make securing tarps a lot easier. The two-piece GRABBITT can be attached any place on a tarp. Place the "dog bone" piece where you want to grab the tarp and...

Llebroc industries' newest helm seat is the Atlantis Helm Chair, with corrosion-resistant aluminum and Ultraleather--a simulated leather material --for the seat.(At a glance)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] LLEBROC INDUSTRIES' newest helm seat is the ATLANTIS HELM CHAIR, with corrosion-resistant aluminum and Ultraleather--a simulated leather material --for the seat. There is a range of vertical and horizontal...

Marivion just introduced a product for wiring a boat trailer to a vehicle that should free you up from having to worry about dangling wires and complicated electrical work.(At a glance)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] MARIVION just introduced a product for wiring a boat trailer to a vehicle that should free you up from having to worry about dangling wires and complicated electrical work. The COILED TRAILER CORD has a special coil...

QUICK's new water heaters, the B3 Nautic Boiler series are constructed from 1.5-mm-gauge 316 stainless steel and welded with argon shielding gas, making them highly resistant to corrosion.(At a glance)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] QUICK's new water heaters, the WpmeNAUTIC BOILER series are constructed from 1.5-mm-gauge 316 stainless steel and welded with argon shielding gas, making them highly resistant to corrosion. High-density polyurethane...

Sea-Fire Marine's recently released Heat Sensor System comes with a display to warn boat operators of high engine room temperatures.(At a glance)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] SEA-FIRE MARINE's recently released HEAT SENSOR SYSTEM comes with a display to warn boat operators of high engine room temperatures. There are two models. One is mounted on the extinguishing cylinder and is set for...

Bulletin board.(At a glance)(seafood industry conferences, festivals and exposition)(Brief article)(Calendar)
May 1, 2008... APRIL 22-24 European Seafood Exposition/Seafood Processing Europe Parc des Expositions, Brussels, Belgium www.euroseafood.com More than 1,600 exhibitors from 87 countries convene in Brussels for these events, which offer...

Boeing subsidiary Jeppeson Marine announced in March the promotion of Shepard Tucker to senior manager, Sales and Marketing, for North American light marine products.(ON THE MOVE)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Boeing subsidiary JEPPESON MARINE announced in March the promotion of SHEPARD TUCKER to senior manager, Sales and Marketing, for North American light marine products. Shepard's team will be based in Portland, Ore.,...

Northern Lights.(COMPANY NEWS)(acquisition of Rich Beers Marine)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... Seattle-based NORTHERN LIGHTS recently announced their acquisition of RICH BEERS MARINE of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. With the acquisition comes the company's Technicold brand of air conditioning and refrigeration systems. Rich Beers has...

Central Coast Women for Fisheries.(COMPANY NEWS)
May 1, 2008... The Scholarship Committee of the CENTRAL COAST WOMEN FOR FISHERIES has announced another $40,000 to fund the FISHING HERITAGE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM. To qualify, applicants must be either a descendant of a licensed California commercial fisherman,...

Bellingham, Wash.(Last set)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A cool November morning finds Joe Wilson of Bellingham, Wash., a crewman on the Dungeness crabber LaurieAnn, painting buoys. Wilson has been fishing Alaska salmon for 25 years and Dungeness for about eight years.