Daily Archives: May 12, 2018

Two fishermen dead after lobster boat capsizes

Two fishermen are dead after a lobster boat capsized on the water off Inverness County early Saturday morning. Nova Scotia RCMP say they recieved a 911 call at around 6 a.m. about a fishing vessel that had capsized less than 100 metres from the shore near Port Hood. There are few details available at this time, but sources say a 30-foot lobster boat carrying three fishermen capsized near the community of Colindale, N.S. Three men on board were thrown from the boat, and one of them was able to swim to shore. Video, >click to read<20:33

Shrimp boat runs aground along Holden Beach coast

What started as a normal day on the job turned into a bit of nightmare for one shrimp boat captain. Big Earl, the shrimp boat, washed up on the beach in Holden Beach. Boat Captain, Virgil Coleman said he got in trouble around 4 p.m. Thursday. Coleman said he, along with another person had just started shrimping when the winds caused a net to get stuck in the boat’s propeller. The current winds pushed the boat closer to shore overnight and eventually beached the ship on the east end of the island. Video, >click to read<14:49

PEIFA shares concerns about right whales

The Prince Edward Island Fishermen’s Association (PEIFA) would like to clarify and expand upon some of the information that has been in the media recently regarding North American Right Whales (NARW). The PEIFA shares the concerns of the public around the declining population of these magnificent marine mammals. The organization has been very active during the past winter attending numerous Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) informational meeting and representing the Prince Edward Island inshore harvesting sector,,, Both the snow crab and lobster fishers on P.E.I. have supported and implemented the reduction of rope in their fishing practises and other gear standardization. >click to read<13:57

Portuguese fishermen helped launch Georgia shrimp industry

Wild Georgia Shrimp had it pretty good around here until the likes of John Martin and Joe Santos arrived on our shores following World War I. These two men were among the early wave of Portuguese refugees who crossed the Atlantic Ocean early in the 20th Century, only to chart a course right back into the sea to reap its bounty. Suddenly, our local shrimp began showing up in large numbers on menus and dinner tables from here to New York City. By the 1930s, the public’s newfound taste for these crustaceans had filled the docks along Brunswick’s East River with shrimp boats, all of them captained and crewed by stout-hearted Old World mariners. Those vessels would include the seven trawlers Joe Santos and partner John Mendes owned jointly in the Union Shrimp Company. >click to read<12:49

Scientists say Maine’s lobster boom won’t last. Here are the fisheries coming next

In southern New England, many fishermen have turned their attention to species such as Jonah crab and black sea bass, the numbers of which have increased as ocean temperatures warm and as lobster in the region have become more scarce. Maine’s lobster landings remain near historic highs, but some say the changes that have occurred south of Cape Cod are inevitable in the Gulf of Maine. “I know it’s a hard concept to get around, but it’s going to happen,” Norbert Stamps, a Rhode Island fisherman, told a roomful of other fishermen at the Maine Fishermen’s Forum in Rockport in March. “It seems as the lobster declined [in southern New England], the crab increased. And sea bass are everywhere.” >click to read<10:43

San Pedro fisherman officially hangs it up at 99 years old

When Robert “Bobby” Austin was growing up in the 1920s and 1930s, Torrance was an expanse of open acreage. He also started driving at 10 — walked right into the Torrance police office at the age of 14 asking for a driver’s license. “How did you get here?” the desk officer asked. “I drove,” Bobby replied, pointing to the Model T Ford outside. Good enough. Traffic was nonexistent and gas was a nickel a gallon. Only a couple years later, in 1937, he beat the captain of a fishing boat at arm wrestling to win a spot on his crew for the next trip out. For 81 years, Austin’s fishing boats have called San Pedro Bay home. >click to read<08:26