Last US sardine cans being packed in Maine
 

Last US sardine cans being packed in Maine - Yahoo! News


How's that "Hope and change" working for ya?

From the article, it seems like this is a process that started a long time ago. Demand has steadily been decreasing. "Hope and change" had nothing to do with it. American Capitalism was the demise of the industry. Sardines are nasty anyway.

"Even without the quota cuts, the plant was under pressure from shrinking consumer demand, increased foreign competition — primarily from China and Thailand — and thin margins and low prices on the retail market."

"Sardine consumption began falling decades ago, he said, after canned tuna came on the market and Americans' tastes changed. The closing of the last U.S. cannery is the end of an era, he said."

"We recognize the American public turns their noses up at sardines," Sutton said. "It may be a challenge and it may be insurmountable, but our motto is 'It's not your grandfather's sardine.'"

I don't think capitalism had much to do with the demise. Changing tastes and over seas comp. were the causes. I just could not resist the Hope and change jab...more jobs lost in a region that really can't afford it. I bet the packing plants in china and taiwan stay in business...How do they do it???health care, minium wage, retirement...hmmm)

Reasons and politics aside, there is nothing like a sardine and onion sandwich on rye toast when you are offshore fishing.:)

I love sardines..:drool:...straight up or on a cracker

Reasons and politics aside, there is nothing like a sardine and onion sandwich on rye toast when you are offshore fishing.:)[/QUOTE]


Talk about an acquired taste.
How much scope do you gotta chase that bad boy down with ?

I think I'll open a can right now. One of the best things you can eat. I'm going to Maine next week to film one of the healthiest herring runs on the east coast. The runs up there are improving while our runs are not doing well at all.

Thats because the mainers V-notch the females

I tried once... couldn't even take a bite. Power to you guys that eat them right out of the can.

When I was in the Navy we always had some smart ass sailor that would microwave sardines and smell up half the ship during the midwatch. I couldn't get by the odor to try them.

DZ

Sorry bout that :rotf2: , I never nuked em, but sardines in mustard sauce or smoked oysters were a favorite of mine when the seas picked up. I miss seeing the clear bags filled with bug juice puke. ...

If smoked oysters is high on your yummy food list, you should never eat higher than Taco Bell. Your palate wouldn't know the difference. Save your money for new plugs and cheap booze.:buds:

I wonder how the buggy whip industry is doing? :devil2:

-spence

Maine sardines taste a lot better than the imports. Grew up on them an still love em. Shame the poleticians don't make free traders go by the agreement to improve standards in free trade countries. Drove our sardine industry out of the market as they couldn't compete with giant netters that didn't have to go by American fishery rules.MMMMMM No limits,no health care,no vacations,no OSHA,very little pay,no workers comp,no sick time an on an on. I wonder when they're gonna start worrying about our economy instead of everyone elses on the planet.Who gives a damn if theirs no work in China. The schmucks don't import hardly anything from here no how. Sorry but it's a sore point as every day another freind tells me they got laid off as their job has gone over seas. Ron

Road trip, I'll bring the beer and crackers..

Ick
 

Did I ever mention the time my buddy whipped out a can of sardines and a bag of pork rinds with a Mountain Dew chaser while we driving to a different trout stream?

I almost hurled...
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

You guys don't know what you're missing........

Yes we do !

They were put out of business ....
 

because the fishing regulations diminished their catch by 50 PER CENT. I got this first hand from one of the employees.

Our poleticians spend more time making rules that put our businesses out of business than they do trying to make things better and create more jobs. All for the benefit of foreign jobs to build economies elsewhere. I wonder how much they get paid to keep working for these foreign governments cause they sure as hell aren't doing a damn thing for our country anymore.Time to vote the whole bunch out of office and start from scratch.we need people working for us and not lining their own pockets at our countries expense.

You sound like my father! :rotf2:

Hi Jim, after watching the damage economically that they've done to my state over the last 4 years and are doing to the rest of our country well time to kick them out and get people in office that care about our country and not the so called world economy.Between giving people that don't/won't work so many give aways and freerides that they have a better life style than those of us that work and making most business have to jump through so many hoops that they're going out of business up here whole sale.We have so many business goin under up here that it's crazy and the rules just keep coming but no he;p to get more jobs in place. If things don't change soon Maine and a lot of other states have had it.The sardine plant is just one of many goin under up here right now. Ron

Or maybe because they work on slim margins and, as stated by one of the people in the article, Americans aren't buying sardines any more.

Every one in America works on slim margins now. A shame when all it takes is a change in a law or a limit to put an American business under.Especially when the foreign competition doesn't have to go by the same rules.Free trade is supposed to mean fair trade also.Thats why I try my best to only buy American.Nice thing now is that it's catching on and there're actually site to find American made product.I'd rather pay a higher price and keep someone working than higher taxes to pay someones Welfare and free medical.At least money spent on American products gets spent in America to keep the economy going. Ron

Just coming up from the basement, sharpening the tines on the pitchfork.
Enjoy your Birkenstocks while you can my Liberal comrades.
The next Revolution draws nigh.
:fence:

I like Beach Cliff sardines. Looks like King Oscar's will now be in the shopping cart.

I didn't realize that sardine forks were once part of a "full" set of silverware. Antique sardine forks are expensive collectibles. Hmm

Boo Hoo Hoo...Here is some information to think about.

The reason the atlantic herring quota was reduced this year is that in the five years prior the atlantic herring fleet has failed to harvest the quota. Instead of berate the us government, national marine fisheries service and new england fisheries management council we might just send them all a thank you note for reducing a quota on a very important forage fish that it looks like might be in some trouble. See many op eds from last fall.

Another point we might want to understand is that the atlantic herring fleet that supplied this plant is our old friends the midwater trawl and pair trawl fleet. Yep...the industrial trawlers that catch and dump or mix and sell 1-3 million pounds of river herring by catch is the same poor industry being referred to in this article.

Now do not get me wrong, there is no debate that the closing of this plant is a tragedy to the workers...however...the traditional small boat herring fleet in maine might have considered this outcome when they on multiple occasions have stood in the corner of the mid water fleet that has now done real damage to their coastal community.

I also want to point out that the lack of herring for this plant is very confusing to me when I consider that over the last three years the "industry", including boats and dealers has been fined over 1.1 million for being caught mis reporting over 43million (with a m) pounds of unreported catch.

I further find it a bit suprising that Bumble Bee has not even menitioned the maine lobster industry at all. The maine lobster industry buys every last boat load of low qualtiy herring so why would the industrial fleet care about handling food quality herring. Yep...this plant is being lowballed by not by China, but by the lobster industry.

Just a few Things that make you go....hmmmm

You still miss the point Pat. The rules we put on our fisheries are not the ones that tje foreighn fleet go by which is none. Our poleticians know this and put no sanctions on them and still allow them to be sold in our markets even though the treaty they signed says that if the don't meet the same rules and restrictions as our fisheries and industries that they will be penalized to even the playing feild IE. Import Tariffs.Many industries make bad business choices but it doesn't mean that the competition should be allowed an unfair advantage by being given plitical passes on the agreements they sign into with us.As far as comparing sardines to herring well sardines are fished for in the northern waters not by pair trawlers. a 4 in fish won't stay in a net thats made to keep 7 in fish.I worked on a sardine boat one summer as a kid. we went north to fish not south.
In our zealousness we should be carefull not to again make the mistake that because someone is a freind of so to speak an enemy that they are our enamy also. This problen is a large political one where agreements are made for personal profit that hurt our economy as a whole. When the tariffs where in place many of these businesses flourished very well as the small guy had a chance .
Think about this your a fly fisherman. 20 yrs ago most of the flies we used were tied right here in America by 1000;s of small time at home flt tiers. Umpqua feather Marchants stepped into the picture and started buying up all the top quality materials and having their flies tied in Laos,Thialand and several other countries and then selling them on the American market for a small fraction of what it cost us to tie them let alone sell them. Those tiers get paid pennies a fly and work in sweat shop enviorments. The very thing that the agreements made by our government were suposed to stop and be made better and on par.Sanctions were supposed to be put in place but weren't for political and personal gains by our poeticians.I know this cause I'm one of the many fly tiers that used to tie 4 to 5 thousand flys a yr to sell. LL Bean,Cabelas,Bass Pro, Gander Mountain and most of our tackle shops buy from Umpqua efefectively shutting American tiers almost completely out of the market.
Same problem just another vinue.My cost for tying a fly is more than Umpque sells them for here. HHHHHMMMMM and the problem must be me and all the other tiers like me.We expected our government to look out for our interest being American citizens ist.Not the foreign economy .
As far as the lobster industry goes well like all lobter boats everywhere the spoiled and ruined fish end up in the bait bags used to be red fish till people found out it taste good now herring ,mackeral and whatever else is on hand is used. But again instead of dealing with the poleticians lets keep throwing spears at each other so no one works together to fix the problem.The poleticians. Haven't we learned enough with the bull crap with the health care debates to see the real problem. They need to work for us not the world economy. Period.

Oh by the way these sardines I'm eating now with mustard sauce an garlic bread toasted are some sweet. MMMMMM

MMMMEEEEEOOOOOWWWWW!!!!!!:yak4:

Sorry already told my cat I ain;t sharin them LOL

Ronnie,

I agree the us trade rules make no sense but that has NOTHING to do with the claim this plant is closing because of reduced herring regulations.

The herring (sardines are atlantic herring) regs wer cut back because the quota has not been filled (read...overfishing) and there is no getting around that.

The MWT fleet has recently supplied that plant and its a fact.

As far as being a zealot...you bet your ass...the america industrial herring fleet has damaged all of our fishing communities. They are screwing up our forage/bait and in few years when the science shows how this lack of herring is part of the reason less stripers are migrating to Maine you might start paying attention.

FYI...I work with reps from the small local fishing fleet in Port Clyde and others from all over Maine. We would all love to see some Maine recs come to any one of the many herring hearings in Portland.

Our sardines are going the way of our economy and country......CHINA!!!

Well Pat the sad part is that the foreign fleets are still there catching those same fish we try to protect and our poleticians give them the green light to do so while our boats have quotas and limited seasons. It's like me releasing fish up here so the comercials down there can catch them. So far I have 8 American Litoral tags from nice fish I landed and tagged returned by part time comercials. So much for my catch n release.
We need to deal with the whole problem not just our fishermen. The international boats do way more damage than ours cause they have no rules and all the exceptions like the 7 meter rule that alows small boats to catch all they want. They then go back to their 1000 ft plus mother ship to unload. Like those damn Russian factory ships that were off the coast of Maine in the 80's.The problem is that we tell our fishermen to go by the rules but oooppps we do nothing about their competition.Yup we need strong rules and enforcement but those fish don't just swim in our coastal waters.The enforcement can't just be on our fishermen, it has to be on all.
As far as making meetings well it would be a nice thing but having to work makes it very hard especially when they keep screwin with our pay to give more to those that don't won't work.Many of us can only do them up here where they;re held at night so workin people can make them. The poleticians had to be reminded up here they work for us not the other way around.
I agree it's good to be zealous about these things but we need to deal with the whole problem otherwise it gets like the striped bass. Complain about the comercial rod n reelers then the next day go to New Jearsy or Verginia and go out on a charter boat and catch striped bass in the EEZ an lie about it.Make nice pics till they tell you that you need to throw them overboard cause that speed boat comin your way is the marine police. The whole pic needs to be fixed including these back room treaties the take away from our fishermen no mater who they are for the foreign fishing fleets.
As far as the plant goes well it's done so more jobs are too. Still won't stop the importing of herring caight by foreign comercial boats within eye sight of our own fisherman.
But keep fighting we all do our part hopefully something changes for the good soon or it will all be moot.

Well you...
 

will have to find a new "boogie man" because the Sardine Cannery is gone now.

basenjib....The sardine cannery is not in any way part the problem...that cannery is important and it is just the latest victim of the american industrial commercial fleet. The boogie many...sheeet...IF you would like tog et into a numbers debate I say you shoot first...I got my arguements complete.

Ronnie...FYI...The Canadians and actually most of the countries in the world have banned MWT and Pair Trawling...there are no "mother ships off our east coast in any way shape or form.

Your arguement is exactly correct if we were talking about Tuna and some other species but truth is Atlantic Herring, Cod and some other species getting less press have been screwed up by Americans and our system alone...at least those screwed up since the early 80s and that is most that are in trouble today. Hell, the Canadians think we are crazy and are causing all kinds of issues because they will not water down or change their science the way we do.

I feel your pain on having to work at times of most hearings. Just let me ask a follow up. IF you can't attend the hearings/meetings and it takes much longer to find and read the information then where is your information on the atlantic herring industry of today coming from. Pretty much every small boat commercial and rec and enviro group is on the same page...the numbers show all kinds of numbers of many many species in the by catch reports and many species turned downward hard aftr the MWT fleet arrived again in 1999. Their bycatch is ugly and does not descriminate.

I also agree there is more to the Maine striper thing as well but if you think that the shortage of herring off the inshore Maine coast is not a part of it you are in denial.

My son, who is now 17, has been sitting down with me and polishing off a can of sardines on crackers since he was 5. We like em with a dash of tabasco. Preferably Ritz crackers. I started eating them with my Dad when i was about 5. High protien, good fish oil, delicious.

SEAFOOD.COM NEWS [Letters] - April 16, 2010 - ''After 135 years, last US sardine cannery shutting down in Maine, Bumble Bee says quota cuts to blame.''

This story does not get to the root of the problems here. The truth is
the industrial herring fishery has not even caught close to its annual
target quota (e.g. 180,000 metric tons in 2004) for the last several
years. This indicates a problem with herring abundance, not with catch
limits. In fact, the 2010 catch limit was based on the average fleet
landings for the last three years. It is these vessels' exceptional
efficiency that has contributed to shrinking herring populations over
the past decade (a 24 percent decline since 2000).

Furthermore, poor monitoring of this fishery means scientific advisors
don't know exactly what is going on, which leads to a great deal of
uncertainty. Therefore, declining stocks plus uncertainty equals harvest
reductions. It's too bad that Bumble Bee has been fingering fisheries
managers for their problems, when the real culprits are their suppliers:
industrial trawlers. More importantly, it is terrible that so many jobs
will be lost in an area with little opportunity. With luck this factory
can be used for something else and bring jobs back to Maine.

Gary Libby
Lobster and groundfish fisherman
Captain of F/V MisKim and F/V Leslie and Jessica
Port Clyde, Maine

Pat...
 

I was not looking for a fight. I was just upset and felt sorry for the guy that I spoke with about the Plant closing. I can see that you know more about this stuff than I ever will. I am sure you have sympathy for the people that lost jobs too. Thanks for the information...it really cleared things up for me. Sorry if I came acrossed like an ass, Joe.

Joe...my passion is driven by the fact that fishermen and others in traditional new england employment are victims (the people in the plant are amongst those). It is insanity to let these industrial operations gut our traditional ways and then blame everyone but themselves and their greedy operations. This fleet has done the same damage in every ocean it has been allowed to fish.

I applaud you for having the free mind to get into the conversation as that is how we will all learn and eventually change the non sustainable methods of the last 15 years or so.

FYI...Ronnie and I have been friends or years and he is someon I hae much respect for as he is what I call a local hero. He serves the local community in all he does and on this issue he is just confusing a couple fisheries issues. One of the many things he and I agree on is that our government has failed our fisheries and we have so very many issues all colliding and that makes for a confusing mess. I only have more knowledge on a few of these issues because it is part of what I get to do for a living and I am grateful to do what I love.

no biggie on my end...we debate and discuss and arrive at intelligent solutions...or we loose...i'd rather have the debate to win

Total Spin by BasicPatrick
 

I am not one for engaging in these online discussions, but Basicpatrick has gone too far and it is insulting to Maine fishermen and especially to those in Prospect Harbor who have just lost their jobs - some of whom I have known for 25+ years. Basicpatrick and his like are just trying to displace the blame from their role in this plant closing. Their relentless attacks on the herring fishery - not supported by facts - have more to do with this plant closing than any science or facts about the fishery.

The inshore quota was not reduced because the fishery has not caught the total quota for the fishery - this is just total nonsense! Having attended all public meetings relative to this issue, this was never mentioned as a rational by anyone. Again, this is fabricated by those who attempt to displace their guilt onto others. The total quota was reduced becuase of scientific uncertainty and the inshore quota that Stinson's relied heavily on was drastically reduced because of a political campaign that Basicpatirck has been participating in for a number of years - along with Earth Justice, CHOIR and Pew - all friends of fishermen everywhere!

In fact, the resource is not overfished and overfishing is not occurring. While a number of issues did arise from the most recent stock assessment, it was a consensus of the participating scientists that the stock appears to be stable and that current removals from the fishery have maintained a relatively abundant stock size.

Basicpatrick is right - he is zealot and totally lacking in factual information. Bycatch in this fishery is not ugly - in fact information for the fishery indicates it is one of the cleanest in the region. People like Patrick just say "well we don't believe it." To say most countries ban midwater trawling is not correct. In fact, the largest fishery in the US ( BSAI pollock) is MSC certified as sustainable and prosecuted with midwater trawls. As for the GL letter he posted - I know Gary and do not believe he wrote it. I do beleive he signed it, but most likely written by Earth Justice.

As I said, I have never participated in these online forums but this spin goes way too far. The reality is people like Patrick felt way too comfortable going after the big bad boats and can't own up to their own part in the outcome of this plant closing. and blaming Maine herring fishermen to boot. Take a look in the mirror Patrick and then take a look at the people you hang out with. Every night before you go to bed think about the 140 people in Prospect who lost their jobs!