October 30, 2009 - Fishermen from across New England are gathering today in Gloucester to protest against new policies that are making their lives difficult. The fishermen say that the new system of sector management unfairly allocates the amount of fish that can be caught and will wipe out the small boat fleet. They are demonstrating in front of the federal fisheries office with approval from the Gloucester PD and federal authorities. Here's more from the Gloucester Daily Times.

October 14, 2009 - Ask any fishermen in Chatham about the spiny dogfish and you'll receive a stream of invective against creatures that are compared to locusts and rats. The dog fish wreck nets and eat more valuable species such as cod and haddock. They're considered an endangered species and severe limits are placed on catching them. Last May an unprecedented alliance of commercial, recreational and party/charter boat fishermen and associated businesses formed Fishermen Organized for Rational Dogfish Management (FORDM) to deal with them. FORDM has requested assistance from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in dealing with what they call an out-of-balance species that is depleting other Northeast and Mid-Atlantic fisheries. The dogfish dispute has prompted regulators to do a fresh assessment of the stock and how it's measured. This coming January the National Marine Fisheries Service will reconsider the status of the dogfish. In the late 1990s, the dogfish population fell to critically low levels as fishermen targeted females in an effort to reduce the population. Regulators say that while the stock is now stronger and more abundant near shore, where fishermen see them, it is not so strong offshore and remains vulnerable. Scientists project declines in coming years because males outnumber the slow-maturing, unproductive females. Here's more from Jay Lindsay of the AP.

Octover 1, 2009 - AP reports that Chatham fisherman Robert Eldridge has been fined $500 for violating the Endangered Species Act by freeing a humpback whale that was entangled in his fishing gear. Prosecutors said the 40-year-old Eldridge should have called licensed rescuers instead of freeing the whale himself. The fine came after Eldridge, who was facing a possible sentence of 1 year in jail and a $100,000 fine, reached a plea agreement with federal prosecutors. The whale swam away unharmed.

September 9, 2009 - Matinicus Island, Maine, lies 20 miles from the mainland outside of Penobscot Bay. The island is the farthest offshore of Maine's 15 year-round island communities. During the winter barely two dozen people live here and the ferry only comes once a month. Local lobstermen have feuded for generations over who can set traps, and where. In the prime areas over 20,000 traps are set each year and there isn't room for any more. To protect their fishing grounds, Matinicus lobstermen have been known to cut trap lines, circle their boats menacingly around unwelcome vessels and fire warning blasts from shotguns. This year's low lobster prices created more tension than usual.

Alan Miller, from nearby Wheeler's Bay, felt entitled to set traps around the island because he married into a family of lifelong residents. Some locals felt differently. Tensions rose and on the morning of July 20th there was an altercation over the cutting of trap lines between Miller's father-in-law, Vance Bunker and Chris Young, the son of a lifelong friend of Bunker's. Bunker sprayed Young with pepper spray. On the docks later that afternoon guns were drawn and Bunker ended up shooting Young in the neck. Young survived.

Matinicus lobstermen have asked the state to create an official Matinicus fishing zone where outsiders would be barred from setting traps — similar to zones off two other Maine islands, Monhegan and Swan's. Maybe that would cool things off. Here's the full story at MSNBC.com


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