Paul Withers

@PhillipProsper Get well soon Phillip. We are thinking of you this month.

@Witherscbc Looking good sir

Back at work …one last time reporting results in the PC blowout.

@downpourdog Sure. My email is 16withersp@gmail.com Send me your number.

@Witherscbc Hi Paul, may I ask a few questions about reporting fishery in NS? I’m a graduate student at King’s journalism school and preparing my final project on fishing. I would appreciate an opportunity to chat with you and hear some advice.

Speak of the devil. This afternoon DFO announced 26 river side arrests for unauthorized elver fishing, 6 vehicles seized and 6.5 kgs of elvers released back into rivers. The RCMP also laid assault charges This is a trail camera image of poaching this morning in Hubbards.

A final story for CBC News. Tensions rise between Canada and France over halibut fishing in the Atlantic. DFO has issued a blunter than normal statement. Both countries are negotiating quota sharing arrangement. It is not going well. cbc.ca/news/canada/no…

Thanks to Dalhousie University and some of their oceanography team who took time to reminisce this week. Always enjoyed talking to them over the years about their work.

Five years after Canada warned extinction of Atlantic cod was probable in the southern Gulf of St Lawrence a new assessment is out. Trend continues. Some context: extinction is defined as below 1,000 tonnes. Still present but hard to find, or catch. cbc.ca/news/canada/no…

An interesting - if not surprising - reaction in southwestern Nova Scotia following a move to accelerate shellfish and marine plant aquaculture. cbc.ca/news/canada/no…

New name. New CEO. New business strategy. But when will rebranded Occurrent Power actually start generating electricity from the Bay of Fundy tides? First it needs more money. The elusive prize remains: inexhaustible energy. cbc.ca/news/canada/no…

Leading cause of bird deaths - as estimated by the US Fish and Wildlife Service in 2017 - was included but did not make the final version of this item. Cats and collisions with glass buildings, vehicles & electrical lines are the biggest killers by far. cbc.ca/news/canada/no…

Listening for Chinese submarines entering the arctic and whales in the Atlantic, Canada looks for efficiencies and greater cooperation among federal departments collecting ocean data. cbc.ca/news/canada/no…

Hats off to John Batt and the team at Dalhousie University who are marking the 50th anniversary of the Aquatron. Its labs and tanks have been a platform for much ocean research. Open house on Saturday afternoon. (Check out the ATL whitefish if you go). cbc.ca/news/canada/no…

This is a black eye for Nova Scotia on a couple of levels. Young leader of aquaculture industry walks away from the business as her company hits pause on operations in face of lengthy government delays. This should raise red flags at NS Fisheries. cbc.ca/news/canada/no…

Some news of my own. After 37 years I will be leaving the CBC at the end of the month. A few more weeks of reporting and a summer spent oil painting in St Margarets Bay awaits!

NSP is seeking a one time payment from ratepayers for $22-m to cover the cost of severe storm restorations in 2023. If approved would result in a 1.3% rate hike for 2025. This is separate from its application for $25-m for left over Fiona costs from 2022. cbc.ca/news/canada/no…

Federal Liberals tried to wedge the Conservatives on fishing port spending in Atlantic Canada on Monday. The budget “echo announcement” was blatantly partisan. DFO was unable to provide even the most basic details of what little was released today. cbc.ca/news/canada/no…

Not our Department. DFO has noticeably increased enforcement of the illegal elver fishery. But are those arrested charged and prosecuted? “That’s the hope and expectation,” says N.S. Lib MP Mike Kelloway, speaking for DFO. Adding it’s up to Public Prosecution Service. Unclear.

DFO Minister announcing at this moment opening of personal-use mackerel bait fishery in Atlantic Canada and Quebec, extending commercial moratorium | CBC News cbc.ca/news/canada/no…

So seals are eating tonnes of mackerel after all. New CDN/US study estimates they take between 7,000 and 13,000 tonnes annually. A word of caution however…It is a modeling study with a high level of uncertainty. Still, can hear an I told you so… cbc.ca/news/canada/no…

CBC story on Nova Scotia lobster boat captain/pound operator winning appeal of his sentence in illegal fishing case. cbc.ca/news/canada/no…

Everett update. Shawn Everett was fined $32K when DFO found 34% of his lobster catch on Fundy Storm was undersized or egg bearing. Plus 1 mo. suspension. Crown sought $85K & appealed. That was rejected today. Court ruled 1) no precedent to justify more 2) no error in law.