Daily Archives: September 2, 2018

Search ends for missing fishing crew member 250 kilometres northeast of St. Anthony

A search by air and sea for a fishing boat crew member who went missing early Saturday morning in the waters near St. Anthony is over. Joint Task Force Atlantic tweeted Sunday night it’s now a missing person’s case and is in the hands of the RCMP. Joint Task Force Atlantic spokesperson Maj. Amber Binau had said the call came in from crew members of the Precious Jewel fishing vessel on Saturday at around 5 a.m, saying a person had fallen overboard about 250 kilometres northeast of St. Anthony.  Search and rescue crews, including three Canadian Coast Guard ships and other auxiliary vessels, began looking for the crew member right away, she said. The search continued over the weekend. Binau said the person was not wearing a flotation device or survival gear at the time of the incident. >link<20:55

New York Activists Make False Accusations Against Menhaden Fishermen

Gotham Whale of Staten Island, New York and Menhaden Defenders posted material on Facebook suggesting that legal, regulated fishing of menhaden in federal waters off New York and New Jersey would leave marine mammals such as humpback whales and dolphins with nothing to eat, resulting in the whales moving to other waters. The two posts specifically cited normal fishing activity by Omega Protein Corporation vessels. A blog post by a photographer, linked to by Gotham Whale, falsely accused the fishermen of marine mammal interactions. >click to read<12:58

You should have seen the ones that got away…

TWO French fishermen working off the south-west coast of Jersey got a surprise – when they caught 44 bluefin tuna. The fish, which are rarely seen in the Island’s waters, weighed between 50 and 120 kg and were brought ashore at the nearby port of Granville to be sold. Normandy newspaper La Manche Libre reported that the tuna were caught by two commercial vessels that were pair-trawling for bream west of the Minquiers. >click to read<11:09

Search continues in St. Anthony area for fishing crew member that fell overboard

A crew member of a fishing boat has been missing for more than 24 hours after falling overboard in the waters near St. Anthony, according to officials. Joint Task Force Atlantic spokesperson Maj. Amber Binau said the call came in from crew members of the Precious Jewel fishing vessel on Saturday at around 5 a.m, saying a person had fallen overboard about 250 kilometres northeast of St. Anthony.  Search and rescue crews, including three Canadian Coast Guard ships and other auxiliary vessels, began looking for the crew member right away, she said. The search continued all day Saturday, and weather conditions in the area have been favourable. Binau said the person was not wearing a flotation device or survival gear at the time of the incident. >link<10:25

Big turnout to welcome the eighth Serene to Whalsay

Crowds gathered at Symbister on Saturday afternoon to watch the arrival of Whalsay’s latest pelagic trawler, the 82-metre Serene. The boat, the latest of eight to bear the same name, was built at the Karstensens shipyard in Denmark. She is understood to be Shetland’s largest fishing vessel so far. Skipper Bobby Polson and partners signed the order for the new boat at the Skipper Expo trade show in Aberdeen two years ago. >click to read<09:28

Alaskans worried by prospect of deep-sea fish farms

In a Centennial Hall listening session, Alaskans raised concerns about federal plans to boost open-ocean fish farms under a new strategic plan for the U.S. Department of Commerce. On Friday afternoon, Tim Gallaudet, acting undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere, hosted a listening session at the end of a weeklong gathering of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration experts in Juneau. NOAA is an agency of the Department of Commerce, and Gallaudet is among the figures hosting meetings across the country as part of the process that creates the strategic plan.,, Chris Oliver, assistant administrator for NOAA Fisheries and former director of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, said concerns about aquaculture are somewhat misplaced. >click to read<09:00