January 2017 MAINE COASTAL NEWS Page 11. Commercial Fishing News
From the Director - Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
D. E. L. A. F D
to all! As I write this report, it is the week before Christmas, with a lot going on in the world and the fi shery. I am inclined to want to spread a little “Good will to all” for the season and wish it would continue the entire year…we can hope, right? Perhaps now is the time to share my sto-
ry with you that I have been wanting to share for years. I guess I have the fl oor now…I am pretty quiet at meetings unless I have something constructive to say, otherwise I take it all in. Most of the time, I am taking notes, which suits me fi ne. So here is my little story: For years, there was a story section
in the National Fisheries Magazine called Cap’n Perc Sane that was written by our friend and fellow fi sherman, Mike Brown.
It was a fun article much like Brian Robbins “Bearin’s” articles in the Commercial Fish- eries News. Cap’n Perc Sane had characters such as
Shorty Gage who was also a rig. What a lot of people don’t know is they were real people that were fashioned around Saturday Cove, in Northport, Maine. The book is available and called Saturday Cove by Cap’n Perc Sane. I knew Cap’n Perc Sane due to going to school with his daughters and my family was truly connected with his from lobstering and “tow boating.” Well, Shorty Gage was a very special friend of Mike’s and mine. He was better known as Dick Elwell, who fi shed most of his life right out of Saturday Cove. He also took Mike under his wing and taught him all of his traditional ways of fi shing. Dick also was a night watchman at Stinson Canning Company in Belfast for years. One
Salty Oceans Can Forecast Rain At this week’s American Geophysical
Union meeting, a team of researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) presented their latest research fi nd- ings on the long-range predictions of rainfall on land. Their method is based on ocean salinity rather than sea surface temperatures, which has been the standard for decades. Using this method, a research team led
by Ray Schmitt, a physical oceanographer at WHOI, was able to successfully predict the extreme rainfall event that fl ooded states throughout the Midwest in the summer of 2015. The results of the study will be pub- lished in a paper currently in review. Researchers analyzed more than 60
years of global ocean salinity and terrestrial rainfall data and found that year-to-year variations in salinity, or saltiness, in certain parts of the ocean can be used to make accu- rate predictions of seasonal rainfall on land, often thousand of miles away. “When we started analyzing the re-
cords, we found these ‘teleconnections’ be- tween regions of ocean salinity and certain regions of higher precipitation on land,” he explains.
Schmitt and his colleagues fi rst found
evidence of a clear link between higher sea surface salinity levels in the North Atlantic Ocean and increased rainfall on land in the African Sahel—the area between the Sahara Desert and the savannah across Central Af- rica. The results were published in the May 6, 2016 issue of Science Advances. Schmitt and his colleagues also found
that high springtime salinity in the western North Atlantic correlates with high summer rainfall in the U.S. Midwest. Those results were published in the May 1, 2016 issue of the Journal of Climate. “We can use patterns of salinity vari-
ations to predict rain a season in advance because there is about a three-month delay
between the high ocean salinity patterns and the resulting rainfall on land. Also, low springtime salinity is a good predictor of summer drought in the Midwest.” Schmitt says. Their analysis uses sophisticated “ma- chine learning” techniques to identify and rank the best climate variables for rainfall predictions and salinity proves to be the most reliable for many areas. Now the research team, which includes
Laifang Li, a former postdoctoral researcher in Schmitt’s lab, presently at Duke Universi- ty, Tianjia Liu of Columbia University, and WHOI colleague Caroline Ummenhofer, is presenting the latest updates on this exciting new technique. The research team found that by in-
cluding salinity signals from around the globe rather than just the North Atlantic they can make even more accurate predictions and develop rainfall predictions for other regions, including the U.S. Southwest. Finding the Salty Signals
The salinity, or saltiness, of seawater
depends largely on how much moisture is pulled into the air as winds sweep over the ocean. Each year, 100,000 cubic miles of water evaporates from the surface of the ocean, which is enough to fl ood the entire continental U.S. up to a depth of 180 feet. About 90 percent of the moisture falls back into the ocean as precipitation, while the rest is carried over land where it eventually becomes rainfall.
When rain falls over the ocean, the sea
surface becomes less salty. At the same time, evaporation makes the sea surface saltier by removing fresh water to the atmosphere. Thus, if a region gets saltier than normal it means that there will be more rain in some other part of the Earth. Similarly, a fresher than normal salinity indicates that the ocean
Continued on Page 22.
JOHANSON BOATWORKS Full Service Yacht Yard
P. O. Box 88 Belfast, Maine 04915 –
dassatt711@yahoo.com Month: September – 2015 - 2016 – “Working together”
Name: _____________________________________ Address: _________________________________ Town/city: __________________ Zip: ________
Phone number:___________________E-mail address___________________ Type of membership:
( ) Lobsterman/stern man ($100) yearly
( ) Lobsterman – age 70 & over ($50) ( ) Student ($56) yearly ( ) Business associate ($113) yearly ( ) Avid supporter ($132) yearly ( ) Friend of DELA ($100)
( ) I wish to support DELA’s legal fund _____________
( ) I wish to support DELA’s Scholarship Fund____________ We also take Master Card and Visa
Card _ _ _ _ - _ _ _ _- _ _ _ _- _ _ _ _ Expiration date _ _/_ _ Security code _ _ _
Card holder’s name (print) _______________________________________________ Card Holder’s signature___________________________________________________
Rockland, Maine • 207-596-7060
info@jboatworks.com •
jboatworks.com
*Downeast Lobstermen’s Association is a qualified tax exempt organization under section 501 ( c ) (6) of the Internal Revenue Code
License no. ___________
of his better stories was teasing the tourists when they came down to the “Cove.” He always had sardines from the factory, and when he was baiting bags, he had an open can out of site and would commence to eat a few when people were watching…gross them right out! This would give him that twinkle in his eye and a very dry smile and a wink for those of us that knew what he was doing. In November of 2000, Dick had devel-
oped lung cancer and spent the rest of his time in the Hospice Unit at Waldo County General Hospital in Belfast. He was so brave about it and continued to tell us stories and teach us along the way. Mike and I didn’t miss a day in November stopping by to see him (except for one). We wanted to spend as much time as we could with him for as long as possible. Dick talked Mike through the November hunting season and wanted him to get his deer and bring him a picture. He did! Dick was so pleased. So was Mike! One of the most important things that Dick kept asking us to promise him, was to continue where he left off and teach the next generation the fi shery so it wouldn‘t be lost. This was his last wish and request for us, and we don’t believe in breaking promises. We missed the next to the last day of November, because he was quite sick and we thought he would pass with his family present. Mike told him we’d be back, although we didn’t know if we’d see him again or not. The next day, the last day of November, we checked with the hospital to see if he was still with
us, and by our surprise, he was! We rushed to the hospital, took his hand and made our promise to him one more time. He peace- fully crossed the bar with Mike, myself and Barry Crawford holding his hands. The rest of our story is our history…rest in peace, Shorty Gage. I always felt he was waiting for us to come back. So this is my story. You see, this isn’t “just a job” for us…..
our entire family and association is very special to us. We need to believe in the next generation even if we need to apply a little discipline now and then. I feel this story needs to be told right now, with all of the confl ict that has been going on with the zones. The Maine Legislative Session is about to begin with bills coming up that are not going to be easy ones to settle or com- promise with. We are ready to go to Augusta to represent our membership and the entire fi shery, but we need all of the support that we can “muster.” Please remember, the more voices that help, the stronger we become. We need your support for all of our sakes. Looking at the future, “who is going to take our place?” Have a Happy and Healthy New Year and a Safe Season in 2017! If you’d like to contact us and are
interested in joining D.E.L.A. we are at
downeastlobstermen.org and my contact is
dassatt711@yahoo.com. Our phone contact is 207 338-1406 or 207 322-1924. Every voice counts! See you at the 2017 Maine Fishermen’s
Forum, Sheila
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