Use of Propeller Clams as Lobster Bait Growing in Atlantic Canada
With rising prices and issues with sustainability in the shellfish bait market, alternative bait is on the minds of many and propeller clams may present an effective solution to fish harvesters’ bait-based woes.
Right now, propeller clams are a popular food item in Asia, which is where Nova Scotia-based Clearwater Seafoods sells most of its product. Given the issues Atlantic Canada is having with bait right now, the people at Clearwater saw an opportunity to expand the propeller clam ...
U.S. Company Providing Ropeless Gear Options for Fishermen
Above: Puget Buoy CEO Dylan Diefendorf (left) and COO Evan Kim showcasing a Puget Buoy product.
photos submitted by Dylan Diefendorf
Seattle-based Puget Buoy is trying to bring cost-effective, fast, durable and compact ropeless fishing tech to the commercial fishery.
As one of many different sorts of ropeless fishing gear appearing on the market, Puget Buoy’s goals align with their contemporaries — in the age of fisheries closures due to whale safety, ropeless technologies ...
2023 Right Whale Regulations Released
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) has released its 2023 fisheries regulations to protect the endangered North Atlantic right whale from entanglements in gear.
The hotspots for closure protocols are the Bay of Fundy, the Roseway and Grand Manan Basins and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. In these zones, any right whale that is detected — whether acoustically or visually — will result in a 15-day closure for all non-tended fixed gear within 2,000 square kilometres of the detection.
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Snow Crab Stalemate – Price Dispute Shuts Down Valuable N.L. Fishery
A price of $2.20 per pound for snow crab is not sitting well with Newfoundland and Labrador fish harvesters, with the majority showing a willingness to sit this crab season out if prices don’t change.
Harvesters are saying that fishing at $2.20 is unaffordable. This attitude towards the current economic climate was made abundantly clear at a recent rally held at the Confederation Building, Newfoundland’s seat of government, by the Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union (FFAW).
The ...
Some Positive News for Capelin, But Stock Still in Critical Zone
Capelin stocks in Newfoundland and Labrador have improved since 2021, but are nowhere near where they need to be.
While delivering its latest technical briefing on capelin stocks, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) announced a new limit reference point (LRP) for capelin stocks, indicating their biomass needs to be over 640 kilotonnes (kt). This LRP is based on cod stocks and how much available capelin they would need to sustain a healthy population.
“We’re considering ...
SFA 4 Makes a Strong Showing in 2022, But DFO Lacks a Full Picture
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans’ (DFO) Northern shrimp stock assessment for 2022 was only able to focus on shrimp fishing area (SFA) 4, but found the stocks there to be healthy.
“DFO has focused its effort on the comparative fishing. That was necessary to ensure continuity of the time series, so there was no survey for SFA 5 and 6,” said Northern shrimp lead Nicolas Le Corre.
Within SFA 4, the shrimp was deemed to be in the “healthy zone” in the precautionary approach ...
When Mother Nature Turns Up the Volume – SAR Veterans Recount Search and Rescue Stories
From rescues in hurricane-force winds, to man-overboard situations, Sergeant Norm Penny and Captain Steve MacFadgen have spent thousands of hours performing search and rescue (SAR) at sea and have their fair share of stories to tell and advice to share.
Penny joined the military in 1993 and served multiple tours overseas, after which he came across his first SAR technician at the Canadian Forces Leadership and Recruit School in 2000.
“I didn’t know what that person was, so I inquired ...
OSSC: Preparing for the Unexpected at Sea
The Offshore Safety and Survival Centre (OSSC), located in Foxtrap, Newfoundland and Labrador, offers a variety of safety and emergency response courses for industries like offshore oil and gas, marine transportation as well as fishing.
The OSSC was established after the Ocean Ranger disaster, where 84 crew members lost their lives after the offshore oil platform sank in 1982 off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. Research by the Canadian Royal Commission found that the crew lacked proper ...
Collaborating and Educating With Fish Safe NS
Linda Corkum, Fish Safe NS’s newest Executive Director, recently shared her priorities for the organization in 2023.
Fish Safe NS is a safety organization with a mission “To inspire a strong safety culture for the N.S. seafood industry through collaboration, education and promotion.”
Coming into her new job, she had to think about how to best collaborate, educate and promote safety in the industry.
“I was trying to kick off the new year, if you will, with thinking about the ...
Safety Training for Fish Harvesters, by Fish Harvesters
As part of a five-year action plan, the Newfoundland and Labrador Fish Harvesting Safety Association (NL-FHSA) is rolling out safety designate training for fish harvesters.
“One of the things when we developed our strategic plan was fishing vessel safety designate training,” said NL-FHSA Executive Director Brenda Greenslade.
“The training has been approved and we’re in the process of making it available to harvesters. So, the first thing we have to do is test it because it’s ...
