Daily Archives: April 22, 2019
Coasties face charges including use and distribution of cocaine
Nine Coast Guard members face criminal charges of use, possession and distribution of cocaine and marijuana as a result of the USCG’s internal investigation into drug use in Kodiak, according to documents obtained by the Kodiak Daily Mirror. A majority of those charged are aviation technicians stationed at Base Kodiak or Air Station Kodiak. A total of 31 service members have faced some kind of punishment as a result of the investigation so far; the investigation remains ongoing. >click to read<21:04
‘Our Logo, Our Story’ – Gloucester debuts new logo for 400th-anniversary celebration
Gloucester Celebration Corporation, the official organizers of Gloucester, Massachusetts’ 400th-anniversary celebration, has selected the winner of the Gloucester400 Logo Design Contest. Originally submitted anonymously for consideration, the logo representing Gloucester’s 400th anniversary was developed by Linn Parisi, a 13th generation Gloucester native.,,, Gloucester, America’s oldest seaport, will be “400 years young” in 2023. To celebrate its past, honor its people, and welcome its promising future, the city has begun preparations for celebrating this historic milestone and organizing the year-long celebration of its anniversary.>click to read<15:13
North Carolina’s 3rd Congressional District candidate Phil Law Responds to N.C. Seafood Industry questions
Phil Law (Republican) is a candidate for North Carolina’s 3rd Congressional District in the U.S. House. Law is running in the primary on April 30, 2019. The general special election is September 10, 2019. Note: The general election will be held July 9, 2019, if no primary runoff is needed.,,, Question 5.) What do you think of windfarms in the ocean off our coast? I do not favor this idea. >click to read< 13:33
Fisherman surprised vessel isn’t write-off following sinking in Moray harbour
Keith Sutherland’s boat Emblem was one of two crafts that began to take on water at Burghead on Friday night. The Hopeman-based fisherman, who predominantly catches prawn and squid, returned the following morning at about 5.30am with his nephew to begin pumping water out of the vessel – before getting help from a local who offered his tractor to get the boat back on an even keel. >click to read<12:33
Louisiana: Shrimp Season to Open April 25 in a Portion of State Outside Waters
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries announced that the portion of state outside waters between Calliou Boca and the Atchafalaya River Ship Channel at Eugene Island shall reopen to shrimping at 12:00 p.m. on April 25, 2019. The closure area is defined as follows: >click to read<Recent biological sampling conducted by the department has indicated that small white shrimp, which have over-wintered in these waters from January through the present time, have reached marketable sizes and the closure is no longer necessary.11:30
Even after sinking of Seattle-based F/V Destination, Coast Guard slow-walks training for fishing boat skippers
The Coast Guard investigation into the 2017 sinking of the Seattle-based Destination, released last month, was the latest in a long succession of Coast Guard inquiries to spotlight serious stability problems that led to commercial fishing boats going down and their crews dying. Earlier findings prompted Congress, in a 2010 overhaul of commercial fishing safety laws, to require operators take a short course that reviews how loading gear, boat modifications and changing weather conditions can affect a vessel’s ability to stay afloat. But nine years later, the Coast Guard has yet to come up with regulations to enforce the safety mandate. Even in the aftermath of the Destination investigation, which documented the missteps that contributed to the loss of six crew members in the Bering Sea, Coast Guard leaders have yet to say when this training rule might be in place. So the stability courses remain voluntary, often sparsely attended. >click to read<11:07
Earth Day: Not a Single Environmental Prediction of the Last 50 Years Has Come True
We should be thankful that the gloom-and-doom predictions made throughout the past several decades haven’t come true. Fear-mongering about explosive population growth, food crises and the imminent depletion of natural resources have been a staple of Earth Day events since 1970. And the common thread among them is that they’ve stirred up a lot more emotions than facts. >click to read<10:23
Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team to Focus on Right Whale Survival This Week
On April 23, a group of approximately 60 fishermen, scientists, conservationists, and state and federal officials will come together to discuss ways to further reduce serious injury and mortality of endangered North Atlantic right whales caused by trap/pot fishing gear. The group will meet in Providence, Rhode Island for four days. At the end of the meeting, they hope to agree on a suite of measures that will reduce right whale serious injuries and deaths in fishing gear in U.S. waters from Maine to Florida to less than one whale per year, the level prescribed by the Marine Mammal Protection Act. >click to read<10:01
Letter: ‘We found her in the tulip fields’ – a story of tragedy, and beauty
After wandering the furthest reaches of the tulip fields in beautiful Skagit Valley, Mt. Vernon, Washington, and me holding our granddaughter the whole time (I wouldn’t give her up), I needed a break from walking and so sat down on the bench outside the gift shop as the girls wandered inside.,,, The two sisters exited the gift shop with not one, but two – one purchased by each of them because they couldn’t decide which was cutest – of the softest, impossibly long lop-eared, scraggle-furred, stuffed rabbits affectionally – per the tag – named ‘Harey’, or, actually Harey One, and Harey Two. Harey hails from Cricket Island, and his tale began with one of the worst commercial fishing disasters in U.S. history,,,, >click to read<09:31
Captain Rescued from 77 Foot Clam Dredge After Experiencing Medical Issue
Suffolk County Police Marine Bureau officers rescued the captain of a clam dredge after he experienced a medical incident while fishing in the Atlantic Ocean. Ronald Garay, captain of the 77 foot commercial clam dredge Mary T, was operating in the Atlantic Ocean south of Point O’ Woods, Fire Island, when he began to experience shortness of breath and called for assistance over Marine VHF radio. The Marine Bureau heard the call and dispatched a rescue boat, Marine Kilo, crewed by Officers Keith Magliola and Christopher DeFeo, who are both New York State Certified Emergency Medical Technicians. >click to read<08:54
