day : 01/09/2015 18 results

Internationally Renowned Fisheries Scientist Retires — Sort Of

Dr. George Rose is one of the world’s leading authorities on codfish. Born in St. John’s, Newfoundland 67 years ago, Rose never had a family connection to the sea; his father was a geologist, but somehow George knew at a young age that ultimately he would wind up working in the marine world. “It must have been the salt sea air in St. John’s,” he laughs. That salty air must have had a powerful impact because his family had moved to Ottawa by the time young George started ...

Back in the Water: Fall Lobster Season on P.E.I. Gets Underway

As the waning days of July start to roll around on P.E.I., fishermen in Lobster Fishing Area 25 start to make their presence known. The trucks loaded with traps start appearing on Island roads, the buzz around the coffee shops and corner stores starts to turn to speculation about prices and the minutia of the season and captains start their last minute checks on their vessels. But as the calendar started to move closer and closer to that Aug 10 start date, there was something else top of ...

Fishing Industry Votes Could Be Scarce for the Tories

The writ has been dropped and we’re in for a federal election in October after way too many days of U.S. election-type hype, liberally sprinkled with character assassinations. The knives are sharpened and as Winston Churchill is reputed to have said during the gloomy days of World War II, “the truth is so important that it has to be protected by lies and more lies.” It definitely applies to elections in this country. It’s hard to imagine a more regressive government than the ...

Clearwater Unveils Latest Addition to Clam Fleet

Clearwater Seafoods recently welcomed the Belle Carnell into its fleet of clam vessels in St. John’s. “The Belle Carnell represents the single-largest vessel investment in Clearwater’s history and is a testament to our dedication to the fishery, the region and sustainable seafood excellence,” said Ian Smith, CEO, Clearwater Seafoods. “This vessel will positively impact the economy across Atlantic Canada, creating 70 new well-paying, year-round jobs in our fleet and grow our 52-week ...

Cod — Building the Future

In recent columns, I have been discussing what the increasing abundance of cod is likely to mean for our capture fishery. Last month, I asked the question, “Are we rebuilding the past or building the future?” I ended by suggesting we have to build an industry based on cod that has a reasonable chance of being successful —competitive in international markets, economically viable, capable of attracting people and investment, providing good incomes to participants, and ensuring the ...

Yarmouth Lobster Pound Holds Up to a Million Pounds of Live Product

It is improbable many Yarmouthians know what takes place in a rather plain, aluminum-sided, large single-level building located a few hundred yards from the IMO Foods processing plant on Water Street. There are no signs on the building and the only hint of what’s inside is the presence of a Garbo semi-trailer which seems perpetually parked on the property. Garbo is an American company and a major distributor of lobster and what is held inside this building, during the first few weeks of ...

Seven Times an Oyster Shucking Champion

For 51 weeks of the year, Tyne Valley is a quiet hamlet in western Prince Edward Island with a population of little over 200 people. But it’s a different story for that one other week, July 29 to Aug 2. That week is the Tyne Valley Oyster Festival, established in 1964 — it is full of music, parties, community fun and thousands upon thousands of oysters. These folks are serious about their shellfish, so much so that every year they crown a Canadian Oyster Shucking Champion. The ...

Much Work to Be Done Before Return of Commercial Cod Fishery: Critical Planning Stages Cannot Be Politically Driven, Says Well-Known N.L. Fisherman

Tom Best has no qualms in stating the cod have certainly returned to Newfoundland waters. However, with the apparent bounce back of the groundfish stock, the well-known Petty Harbour fisherman is asking the question on everyone’s mind, now what? Best said he has been working with Department of Fisheries (DFO) scientists for the last eight years on a cod tagging and monitoring program, where fish are tracked by transmitters and hydrophones and is seeing some impressive results. “T...

Industry Organizations Rally Against Gulf of St. Lawrence Petroleum Development

This letter was addressed to the following federal cabinet ministers: Greg Rickford, Minister of Natural Resources Gail Shea, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of the Environment As fisheries representatives active in all parts of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, we are writing to inform you that we will oppose any petroleum development in the Gulf of St. Lawrence without prior consultation and a thorough understanding of the impacts to our seafood industry. Given ...

A Future Commercial Cod Fishery Should Not Take Place During Summer Months

I would like to provide some comments about two well-written and thought-provoking articles that appeared in the August issue of The Navigator Magazine. The articles were entitled Prominent Cod Scientist Labels Stock Recovery as “Remarkable” and Cod — Building the Future. The first article featured Dr. George Rose and was a question and answer between the cod scientist and Navigator Managing Editor Kerry Hann. The second was a column written by Bob Verge, the Managing Director of the ...