Daily Archives: February 19, 2018

Recovered: Sunken fishing trawler Dianne to be lifted on to land

A fishing trawler in which six men died last year will be lifted on to land four months after it sank off the Queensland coast. The FV Dianne was partially raised last Monday, and crews towed it to the Port of Bundaberg on Friday where it will be lifted on to land on Tuesday for further investigation into why it sank. Water will be pumped from the boat as authorities prepare to lift it out, with poor weather hindering several attempts to bring the wreckage to shore. >click to read<23:22

DIANNE RECOVERED: Bodies may be inside ill-fated trawler – >click to read<

Oregon Senate Passes Seafood Bill – would require more frequent testing of acid levels

After recreational crabbing along the southern Oregon coast was closed last week due to domoic acid levels, the Oregon Senate has now passed a bill aimed at better pinpointing where these toxins are flourishing. The bill will now go on to the state House of Representatives for consideration. Under current conditions, whole crabbing regions have to be shut down in order to ensure safety. The bill would require more frequent testing of acid levels, so that affected areas could be more easily identified—and, ideally, these areas of closure would be much smaller in size.,,, Commercial crabbing season has been delayed due to a combination of factors. >click to read< 18:48

Seismic Surveys Planned Off U.S. Coast Pose Risk To Marine Life

Animals that live in the ocean communicate with sound — humpback whales, for example. But these voices could soon be drowned out by powerful sonic booms from vessels searching for oil and gas. President Trump is opening up the Atlantic Coast to companies to explore for fresh reserves. And to explore, they will be making some of the loudest sounds ever heard in the ocean — sounds that, according to recent research, could harm marine animals from whales to plankton.  Five companies are currently applying for permits to use seismic air guns,,, >click to read< 14:18

Kodiak: Fishermen aspire to enter world of seafood processing

For some fishermen, moving into the processing world is one way to build their prospects. But before that can happen, they need to get the required certification. A few seafood processors and would-be processors are doing that right now in the City of Kodiak. They’re taking a two-day Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point or HACCP class, which covers possible seafood hazards. It’s one of a handful of classes Alaska Sea Grant holds annually around the state. >click to read< 12:13

Fogo Island fish harvesters meet with DFO, Finally!

The third time was the charm for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) session with fishermen on Fogo Island. The meeting was cancelled twice because of weather and department members being unable to attend. The meeting finally went ahead on Feb. 13 with approximately 30 area fishermen in attendance. When talking about concerns in the fishery, they held nothing back – which is exactly what Ron Burton, area director for DFO, was looking for. >click to read< 11:50

This Day In Icelandic History: The First Casualty Of The Cod Wars Strikes

1976 was the year the Cod Wars between Iceland and Britain ended, but it was not without at least one casualty. The Cod Wars comprised a series of conflicts between Iceland and Great Britain over the use of fishing waters in the North Atlantic. Clashes between the two nations were, for the most part, bloodless. British warships and Icelandic trawlers would get intimidatingly close to one another, sometimes even ramming one another, but for much of the time the conflict was diplomatic. All that would change on February 19 of 1976. >click to read< 10:11

Cuomo’s Curse: Wind Power Obsession Leaves New Yorkers with Rocketing Power Bills

If wind power really is cheap and getting cheaper all the time, why is it that every State or Nation ‘powered’ by the weather is suffering power prices magnitudes higher than those that continue merrily chugging away on coal, gas or nuclear power?.,,, Since 2015, Gov. Cuomo has been hyping his scheme to remake the state’s electric grid so that by 2030 half of the state’s electricity will come from renewable sources.,, To protect their interests, fishermen and fishmongers from New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Massachusetts have filed a federal lawsuit,,, >click to read< 09:02

Canada to introduce mandatory reporting of whale interactions this year

“Save the Whales” will take on new importance for Canadian fishermen in 2018 as the Department of Fisheries and Oceans introduces mandatory reporting for interactions Canada’s commercial fishing fleets have with marine mammals. The deaths of a dozen critically endangered right whales in the Gulf of St. Lawrence last year is the driving force behind the effort, which has already resulted in changes in the Gulf of St. Lawrence snow crab fishery, whose gear has been implicated in some of the deaths. >click to read<08:18