Daily Archives: August 15, 2016
Coast Guard Station Yaquina Bay has busy weekend highlighted by 2 long-distance tows
Operating a 47-foot Motor Lifeboat and the 52-foot Motor Lifeboat Victory, the crew of Station Yaquina Bay and the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Blue Shark totaled 40 hours of underway time towing two disabled fishing vessels to safety from a total of 159 miles offshore, Saturday and Sunday. Saturday morning around 9 a.m., the crew of the commercial fishing vessel Kay Ann, 75 miles offshore, reported a broken water pump to the Coast Guard. After no response to a marine assistance radio broadcast, the 52-foot MLB Victory, a 60-year-old surf boat specifically designed for work in the Pacific Northwest, launched from Station Yaquina Bay in Newport. The Victory arrived on scene with the Kay Ann at about midnight and commenced towing back to Newport. The tow home lasted almost 11 hours with an arrival and mooring of the Kay Ann at 10:45 a.m., Sunday. At 12:25 p.m. Saturday, the commercial fishing vessel Barbara Marie, 84 miles offshore, reported a broken motor to the Coast Guard and requested a tow. With the Victory already responding to a case, the Coast Guard Cutter Blue Shark, an 87-foot Patrol Boat homeported in Everett, Washington, but patrolling in the Columbia River, was diverted to assist. Read the rest here 21:58
Cape Pond Ice building on the block again
The Cape Pond Ice property at 104 Commercial St. is back on the market. Almost four years after he first listed the property for sale, Cape Pond Ice President Scott Memhard has retained Nordlund Associates to market the approximately 41,000-square-foot property to potential buyers, with the intention of leasing back a portion to run a scaled-back ice manufacturing and delivery operation. The ice company, made famous in “The Perfect Storm” book by Sebastian Junger and the subsequent film of the same name, has seen its fortunes deteriorate along with those of the city’s once-mighty-but-now-dwindling commercial fishing fleet. The industry’s demise has slashed its demand for ice until it now represents only about 10 percent of the company’s overall sales. Read the rest here 19:44
Crew rescued from sinking fishing vessel off NJ coast
The commercial fishing vessel Lady Gertrude sank early Monday morning while it was fishing about 40 miles southeast of Sandy Hook, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. Petty Officer Steve Strohmaier, Coast Guard Station New York, said the vessel started taking on water and the vessel’s three-man crew abandoned the ship and got into a life raft. The crew put on their survival suits and activated the boat’s emergency radio beacon before leaving the craft. Strohmaier said good Samaritans from the boat Mazey James rescued the crew — all three of which survived the ordeal. The New York Police Department’s Aviation Unit and the U.S. Coast Guard both responded. Stohmaier said what caused the Lady Gertrude to sink is under investigation. Read the rest here 16:12
Ten Day At Sea Joint Mission Successfully Tallies 20+ Violations
On March 10, 2016, two Alaska Wildlife Troopers, a public safety technician, and a NOAA Enforcement Officer got underway for a 10-day at-sea operation in the Aleutian chain, Alaska. The joint patrol mission was focused on conducting at-sea boarding’s, as well as inspections of state and federal commercial fishing vessels and processors operating in the Gulf of Alaska. What they thought would be a relatively smooth mission, turned into much more than they bargained for. With days of 40 knot (46 MPH) winds, 10-15 foot seas, and snow, “it was more than I’m used to,” said Enforcement Officer Noah Meisenheimer of the NOAA Office of Law Enforcement Office. Aboard the State of , the crew wasn’t in imminent danger. But, on day eight of the nearly 1,300 nautical mile trek, a nearby vessel was. It was a particularly stormy evening when the vessel Stanley K had its anchor wrap around the propeller. By the end of the at-sea patrol, the Stimson team had successfully conducted this rescue mission, inspected more than 100 cod pots, boarded for examination 35 commercial vessels, and audited four seafood processors. In total, eight federal and 13 state violations were documented. Read the rest here 14:51
MAFMC and ASMFC Actions on Black Sea Bass, Bluefish, Scup and Summer Flounder
Last week the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (Commission) reviewed previously implemented specifications for scup, black sea bass and bluefish fisheries and modified specifications for summer flounder. The Commission’s actions are final and apply to state waters. The Council will forward its federal waters recommendations regarding summer flounder specifications to NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Administrator for final approval. For summer flounder, both groups approved a commercial quota of 5.66 million pounds and a recreational harvest limit of 3.77 million pounds for 2017, an approximate 30% decrease from 2016. This decrease in catch and landings limits responds to the findings of the 2016 stock assessment update, which indicates summer flounder has been experiencing overfishing since 2008. Read the rest here 12:06
Antiquities Act Proposal would devastate California’s fishing industry – D.B. Pleschner
California’s fisheries provide healthy, sustainable food, but that could change under a dangerous new proposal being circulated, until recently, behind closed doors at the Legislature. California’s fishing community – more than 40 harbors, chambers of commerce, seafood processors and recreational and commercial fishing groups – has united to oppose the proposal to declare virtually all offshore seamounts, ridges and banks off the coast as monuments under the Antiquities Act and permanently close these areas to commercial fishing. After pursuing rumors, fisheries groups discovered the proposal, along with a sign-on letter encouraging legislative support. But no one bothered to seek any input from recreational and commercial fishermen. Even worse, there has been no scientific review or economic analysis, no public participation and no transparency. Read the rest here 10:46
Whale wars: Humpbacks versus Orcas focus of new study
It’s a strange marine phenomenon: humpback whales actively defend other marine mammals like seals and grey whales from orca attacks, according to a new study. But while some people might call it a rare example of interspecies altruism, the study also found that these attacks are likely a survival behaviour due to orcas’ tendency to feed on humpback calves. Robert Pitman, a marine ecologist in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center in southern California, is the lead author of the study recently published in the Marine Mammal Science journal. He told The Early Edition he first became intrigued about the phenomenon during a research trip to Antarctica.”One day, we saw a killer whale chasing a seal. [The seal] started swimming out towards where a humpback was at the surface, and the humpback rolled over, and lifted the seal up on its chest,” he said Read the rest here 09:53
Watermen’s Appreciation Day – A day on the bay of the Eastern Shore
“In Maryland here were called watermen which is a term that’s -a follower, we’re not only crabbers, we’re clammers, we’re oyster men, we’re hunters, we’re fishermen, we do it all,” said Captain Robert Newberry of the Watermen’s Association. This all used to be done be sail . The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the world and the heritage of the Watermen’s appreciation day celebrates just that. This is the 7th annual event here at St. Micheal’s celebrating the eastern shores’ watermen. And folks came from all over to enjoy it. The Boat docking contests took the win for entertainment at the event as folks from age 14 to 60 tried docking their boats the fastest and the smoothest – all for bragging rights. Read the rest here 08:20
Coast Guard rescues 3 fishermen from liferaft 8 miles west of Cape Blanco
The Coast Guard on Sunday plucked three fisherman from the waters along the southern Oregon Coast — about eight miles west of Cape Blanco — less than 90 minutes after the fisherman made a “mayday” call. The three fishermen, reportedly uninjured, are aboard a Coast Guard 47-foot Motor Lifeboat en route to Station Coos Bay, located in Charleston, after abandoning their fishing vessel when it started taking on water. Coast Guard watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector North Bend received a mayday call from the fishing vessel McCalis, homeported in Charleston, over VHF-FM radio channel 16 at 11:54 a.m. The fishing crew reported their fishing vessel was taking on water through the fish hold and the dewatering pumps were not keeping up. The crew also announced their intention to abandon ship. Sector North Bend directed the launch of 47-foot MLBs from search and rescue detachments Coquille River operated by Station Coos Bay personnel and Rogue River operated by personnel from Station Chetco River in Brookings. An aircrew aboard an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter from Sector North Bend also launched to assist the fishermen. Both the aircrew and MLB crew from Coquille River arrived on scene at about the same time but with only about 300 feet of visibility due to fog, the boatcrew picked up the fishermen. Link 07:35
