Daily Archives: September 14, 2018

Dear Senator Warren, I will be exploring my options

Dear Senator Warren, I am a lifelong Democrat, have been Party Chairman in Gloucester, Ma., and have supported you in the past. I find myself very disappointed, Senator, as I continue my quest of supporting the remaining fishermen of Gloucester, the Gloucester Fishermens Wives Association, Captain Sam Novello, Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken, and others in the industry. In the last three months, I have sent numerous emails, called your Washington office, your Boston office, and left messages for you, and no one has bothered to call, or answer back! I have become discouraged that I can’t count on you, so what am I supposed to do? >click to read< by Sam Parisi 23:43

Hurricane Florence – N.C. shrimper fleeing storm finds safety in Beaufort County after breaking down at sea

St. Helena Island — slammed by Hurricane Matthew two years ago — this time served as a peaceful safe harbor for a North Carolina shrimper fleeing Hurricane Florence. But not before a rescue at sea. Shrimper Scott Dudley of Smyrna, North Carolina, might have felt like Noah when the whole thing began a week ago Saturday, Sept. 8. People laughed when he eased his 83-foot wood-hulled trawler, the Miss Nicole, out of the Fulcher’s Seafood dock in Oriental, North Carolina. “The man at the dock told me I was crazy,” he rumbled Friday in a deep voice bouncing off the smooth waters of Village Creek, seeming to dance in this sunshine. It was only about five hours after Hurricane Florence made landfall. >click to read<22:31

Maine lobsterman sentenced for trying to ram skiff with 2 men aboard

A Vinalhaven man will serve 45 days in jail for attempting to ram his lobster boat into another boat that was carrying two men. Carl B. Gross, 32, received his sentence this week following a deferred sentencing agreement. As part of the agreement, Gross pleaded guilty to charges of reckless conduct and operating watercraft to endanger, according to court documents. >click to read<21:20

FISH-NL calls on DFO to take direct control of scientific quota of redfish in the Gulf of St. Lawrence

“The FFAW-Unifor should not be controlling science quotas,” says Boyd Lavers, an inshore harvester from Port Saunders on the Great Northern Peninsula, and Captain of FISH-NL’s over 40-foot fleet. “The only fair way to deal with this experimental quota is for it to be handled directly by DFO, so the FFAW doesn’t get a chance to show favouritism as to who fishes the quota, or to take a cut from the sale of the fish.”,,, Further, harvesters have been told by the union they will have to sell the redfish to a plant of the FFAW’s choosing, and pay the union half the money from the sale of the fish. >click to read<18:35

Fishing vessel F/V Haida Legend sinks off Langara Island

Four fishermen are safe after the 45-foot Haida Legend sank about 20 nautical miles off Langara Island last Thursday evening, Sept. 6. It’s unclear why the boat sank, but the crew, who were fishing halibut, heard a loud pop before it began taking on water. They radioed for help at about 5:30 p.m., and were safely evacuated to a Langara Island fishing lodge by sport fishermen who were nearby. “The crewmen are obviously shaken,” said the controller at Coldfish Seafoods, the Richmond, B.C. company that owned the Haida Legend, which was insured. The boat was already sinking quickly by the time they made for the island. >click to read<17:27

Coast guard joins search for missing orca J50

Coast Guard personnel are assisting members of NOAA’s Fisheries Service in the search for the missing Southern Resident killer whale, J50. An intense search effort was launched Thursday in which a Coast Guard helicopter crew from Air Station Port Angeles, several NOAA researchers in separate boats and multiple whale watching vessels and organizations searched for the 31/2-year-old whale. Various news sources report the whale as dead. >click to read<17:07

Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative Brings New Shell Lobster from Trap to Table in Chicago

he Maine Lobster industry is well into the 2018 peak season, when lobsters shed their shells and a brand new, softer shell emerges. The result is Maine New Shell Lobster, a sweeter, more delicate meat – known as Maine’s best kept secret. Following the industry’s first-ever live broadcast, the Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative (MLMC) brought Maine New Shell Lobster to Chicago, just ahead of the official National Lobster Day on Sept. 25. >click to read<14:59

Many US lobster companies coping well with tariff impact

As the trade war between the United States and China continues, with indications that it may escalate even further, most U.S.-based lobster companies have seen their exports to China fall dramatically. Despite the decrease, many companies say the market for lobster is still strong enough to keep the impact to their companies at a minimum. Some companies that never invested heavily into Chinese exports said 2018 has been a better-than-average year. >click to read<12:36

New York’s Whales Love Bunker. So Do Fishing Boats. Conflict Ensues.

It has been a bountiful summer for bunker in the waters off New York, and for local whale spotters. Bunker, a favorite food of many larger predators, including whales, are enjoying another year in a decade-long recovery.,,, On Aug. 30, a boat from Omega Protein lowered a net nearly six city blocks long into the water, about 25 miles southeast of the Rockaways, and pulled up about 800,000 pounds of bunker, also known as menhaden. On Sept. 6, Omega returned to the vicinity and hauled out nearly 2 million pounds more. Tom Paladino, a former charter fishing boat captain who started running whale watches from the American Princess in 2010 as local whale sightings began to grow, did not mince words. “We have a major issue with a fishing fleet coming in and taking all the food from the whales,” he told his passengers. Omega says it is doing nothing of the sort and is removing only a tiny fraction of the local menhaden that its spotter pilots have estimated to be in the tens of millions. “The best science shows that this is a completely sustainable fishery and the whale diet is not being impacted at all,” said an Omega spokesman, Ben Landry. > click to read<11:51

‘Let them take it by rail’: Fishermen oppose Donkin mine’s marine terminal plan

Fishermen in eastern Cape Breton will appeal to two federal ministers to stop plans by the operators of the Donkin coal mine to move coal by barge, which they claim will damage lucrative fishing grounds, and hurt their livelihoods. Kameron Coal wants to build a marine terminal in Morien Bay, several kilometres south of the Donkin mine, to load coal onto barges and move it to larger vessels offshore. About 200 people, many of them fishermen, packed the Port Morien Legion on Thursday night, just across the highway from Morien Bay, to denounce the plan. >click to read<10:18

Rain, floods, tornadoes hit Carolinas as Hurricane Florence makes landfall

The Carolina coast saw major storm surges, strong winds and fierce rain early Friday as Hurricane Florence arrived on land at Category 1 strength. The center of the storm arrived about 7:15 a.m. EDT near Wrightsville Beach, N.C., close to the South Carolina border, the National Hurricane Center said in an advisory update. Meteorological models project up to 40 inches of rain for parts of North and South Carolina through Sunday before the hurricane disperses. >click to read<09:00