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February 2011 MAINE COASTAL NEWS Page 11. Commercial Fishing News


Study Says Growing Hypoxic Zones Reduce Habitat for Billfish and Tuna Billfish and tuna, important commercial and recreational fish species, may be more vulnerable to fishing pressure because of shrinking habitat according to a new study published by scientists from NOAA, the Bill- fish Foundation, and the University of Mi- ami. An expanding zone of low oxygen, known as a hypoxic zone, in the Atlantic Ocean is encroaching on these species’ pre- ferred oxygen-abundant habitat, forcing them into shallower waters where they are more likely to be caught. Higher catch rates from these areas may give the false appear- ance of more abundant fish stocks. While hypoxic zones occur naturally in many areas of the world’s tropical and equatorial oceans, scientists are concerned because these zones are expanding and occurring closer to the sea surface, and are expected to continue to grow as sea temperatures rise. Senator Snowe Says New Law Will Enhance Management of New England’s Historic Groundfish Industry


WASHINGTON, D.C. – The International Fisheries Clarification Act, introduced by Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine), Rank- ing Member of the Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard, in December of 2009, was signed into law today and will allow regulators to manage fish stocks shared by U.S. and Canadian fisher- men in a more sustainable fashion. “For too long, our fishery managers


MISCELLANEOUS COMMERCIAL FISHING NEWS


have been placed at a competitive disadvan- tage in negotiating catch limits with their Canadian counterparts because of an errone- ous interpretation of the law,” said Senator Snowe. “With the enrollment of this legisla- tion into law, I expect the National Marine Fisheries Service and the New England Fish- ery Management Council to act swiftly to reopen negotiations with Canada and de- velop new catch limits under this agreement that will level the playing field for the hard- working members of the New England groundfish industry beginning with the next fishing year which starts in May 2011.” The Magnuson-Stevens Act, which provides legislative underpinning for nearly all U.S. fishery management measures, per- mits fisheries managed under “international agreements” to have rebuilding periods that extend beyond the 10-year timeline that do- mestic stocks are subject to. However, the U.S. Department of State has stated the bilat- eral “understanding” between the U.S. and Canada fails to meet the criteria to be consid- ered an “international agreement.” This rul- ing has hindered U.S. negotiations with Canada, as the 10-year timeline does not exist in Canadian law. Although Canada manages its stocks to maintain a rebuilding trajectory, their catch limits often far exceed those in the United States.


Biomedical Companies Pledge Over $100,000 for Horseshoe Crab Survey Arlington, VA – The biomedical companies Lonza Walkersville, Inc., Associates of Cape


Cod, Inc., and Charles River Laboratory have together pledged over $100,000 to support the Horseshoe Crab Trawl Survey for 2011. The survey, which has been administered by Virginia Tech since 2002, is the only survey designed to sample the horseshoe crab population in coastal waters. Its data are a critical component of the coastwide stock assessment and the new Adaptive Resource Management (ARM) framework, both of which were endorsed through an indepen- dent peer review in 2009. The ARM frame- work includes modeling that links manage- ment of horseshoe crab harvest to multispecies objectives, particularly red knot shorebird recovery. It was developed jointly by the Commission, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Geological Survey in recog- nition of the importance of horseshoe crab eggs to several shorebird species in the Dela- ware Bay Region.


Generally supported by congression- ally-directed funds in the past, the survey would have been shut down without the generosity of the biomedical companies, who depend upon a healthy population of horse- shoe crabs to provide vital toxin-detecting products for the medical industry. To garner support for the survey, the Commission had reached out to various stakeholders groups that have an expressed interest in shorebird conservation and horseshoe crab manage- ment (National Audubon Society, New Jer- sey Audubon Society, Delaware Riverkeeper, American Littoral Society, and


Defenders of Wildlife). The biomedical in- dustry was the first to respond. Support is still being sought to fund the remainder of the 2011 survey, as well as the long-term continu- ance of the survey.


Horseshoe crabs play an important role on many levels – their blood is used to pro- duce Limulus Amoebocyte Lysate, an impor- tant tool for detecting contaminated medical devices and drugs; their eggs are consumed by hundreds of thousands of migratory shorebirds as they complete their northward migration to the Arctic; and the crabs them- selves are harvested by fishermen to be used as bait for whelk and eel fisheries. The Com- mission and the states manage horseshoe crabs through the Interstate Fishery Man- agement Plan for Horseshoe Crabs (adopted in 1998) and subsequent addenda. The com- mercial bait fishery is controlled through state quotas, male-only harvest, and closed seasons.


NOAA Will Work With Six Identified Nations to Address Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing


Six previously identified nations take corrective action


NOAA submitted a report to Congress identifying six nations – Colombia, Ecuador, Italy, Panama, Portugal, and Venezuela – whose fishing vessels engaged in illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing in 2009 and/or 2010.


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MAINE BOATBUILDER'S SHOW 18, 19 and 20 March 2011


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Adirondack Guideboat Airhead Products


American Schooner Assoc. Antique Tools and More Areys Pond Boat Yard Artisan Boatworks Atlantic Boat Company Atlas Metal Sales Back Cove Yachts


BAD Dust Containment Systems Ballentine's Boat Shop Bass Products, LLC Bath Industrial Sales Bay of Maine Boats Bay Sailing Beetle, Inc.


Beta Marine US Ltd Bete Fleming, Inc.


Block Island Maritime Funding Boats & Harbors Boatwise Bomon Inc. Bristol Bronze Brooklin Boat Yard BRP US Inc.


Bruce Schwab Rigging & Systems Brunswick Cushion Company Cape Cod Shipbuilding Cape Rosier Boat Shop Chase Leavitt Co. Classic Boat


Classic Boat Shop Clean Marine Clinton B. Chase Coastal Canvas LLC Compass Project


Cranberry Island Boatyard Custom Float Services CW Hood Yachts


2010 Exhibitors


East Coast Yacht Sales Eastsail Yachts Edson Corporation Ellis Boat Co. Inc. ePaint Company


Epifanes North America Inc. ES Bohndell Co. Inc. Euro Marine Trading Fleet Sheets Fortune Inc. French & Webb General Marine Graham Gear


Great Island Boat Yard Grey Barn Boatworks Guillemot Kayaks


Gulf of Maine Yacht Sales Hallett Canvas and Sails Hamilton Jet Drives Hamilton Marine Inc. Handy Boat Hansen Marine Harbor Sales Co. Hayn Enterprises Henri Lloyd NA Heritage Panelgraphics Hewes & Company Hunt Yachts I2Systems Imtra Corp.


International Chromium Co. International Yacht Restoration


Island Cow Ice Cream J & J Marine Inc.


John Deere Marine/Bell Power John Williams Boat Co. Jonesport Shipyard Kittery Point Yacht Yard Kohler Generators Landing Boat Supply Langer Enterprises Langley Photography LeBlanc Bros. Boatbuilder Lowell’s Boat Shop Lyman Morse Boatbuilding Mack Boring & Parts Mahone Bay Boatworks Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors Maine Chapter, MS Society Maine Coastal News


Maine Island Trail Association Maine Maritime Academy Maine Sailing Adventures Maine Yacht Center Maine's First Ship Marine Learning Center Maritime Marine Marlinspike


Marshall Marine Corp. Martin Walter Company Inc. MJM Yachts


Mobile Marine Canvas Mobile Electrical Services Morris Yachts


Mudd Knives Nanni Diesel Nantucket Bag


Nautilus Marine Fabrication Navtronics


New England Bow Thruster New England Propeller Nichols Boatbuilder LLC Noreast Marine Systems Norseboat Limited North Brooklin Boats


Nova Scotia Boatbuilders Assoc. Nuteak New England Ocean Link


Ocean Navigator Ocean Options Inc. Ocean Pursuits, LLC Padebco Custom Yachts Paul E. Luke, Inc. Pemaquid Marine Pettit Paint


Pheonix Resins DBA Mas Epoxies Pleasant Bay Boat & Spar Co. Points East


Portland Head Sail & Power Portland Yacht Services Pulsifer Hampton PYI Inc.


R & W Traditional Rigging Redd’s Pond Boatworks Retro Marine


Robinhood Marine Center Presented by Portland Yacht Services - (207) 774-1067


Rockcoast Boatworks Rosborough Boats Ltd. Ross Bros.


Roth Boat Builders Rumery’s Boatyard Ryder Boats


S. E. Newman & Sons Sabre Corporation SailMaine


Samoset Boatworks Sawyer & Whitten marine Sea Tech, Inc. Seal Cove Boatyard Shaw and Tenney Six River Marine


Smithwick & Mariners Insurance Soundings Magazine South Shore Boat Works Southport Island Marine Stagepoint Boats LLC Stur-Dee Boat Co.


Teakdecking Systems, Inc. Tern Boatworks The Boat School


The Evolution Company Inc. The Landing School Van de Stradt Timber Variprop


VECO-North America Victron Energy


Waterman Marine Corp. West Bay Boats West System Inc. Westergard Boat Wilbur Yachts Women Under Sail WoodenBoat Publications Yachting Solutions Yankee Marina


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