Daily Archives: July 17, 2019
Bend Over! – Critics Say Wind Farm Rates Constitute Price Gouging
There are a lot of ways to deflect the criticism, but really none to refute it: The South Fork Wind Farm will charge higher rates for the power it generates — three to five times more than its parent company, Ørsted/Deepwater, will charge in nearby markets. Despite complaints from all sides, freedom of information requests, and now a lawsuit, neither the Long Island Power Authority nor Ørsted have shed any light on the matter. East Hampton Town doesn’t even know the cost per kilowatt-hour ratepayers will be charged. In fact, though, every ratepayer in the PSEG/LIPA system will pay for the wind power generated, and the power will not be earmarked for East Hampton, as many at first believed, but for the entire grid. >click to read< 19:40
#NOPIPE – Fishermen still determined. No pipe in the Strait
Lobster traps are out of the water now in Nova Scotia as fishermen along the Northumberland Strait wrap up a successful spring season. The wharves on the Nova Scotia side are quieter than they were a year ago when 200 fishing and pleasure boats and 3,500 people readied for the #NOPIPE Land and Sea Rally on July 6 in Pictou Town and Harbour. People and boats from Nova Scotia, P.E.I., New Brunswick and Pictou Landing First Nation gathered in strong and vocal opposition to Northern Pulp’s proposal to discharge 60-80 million litres of treated pulp effluent daily into the Northumberland Strait. >click to read< 18:58
Englund Marine celebrates 75 years, and are hosting “thank you” events at seven locations on Friday!
On Friday, July 19, in celebration of the milestone, the company will be hosting a “thank you” event at each of their seven retail stores. The entire Englund family and the crews at all the locations wish to express their gratitude for the long years of support given to them by their customers and the communities they serve. There will be drawings, giveaways and special deals on clothing, boots and raingear. All customers, community members and suppliers are encouraged to stop by, join in the festivities, and take advantage of the sale prices. Englund Marine was founded on July 22, 1944 by Axel and Freda Englund in a small store front at the foot of 15th Street in Astoria. It continues today as a family-run business. >click to read< 16:23
“It is official”!!! Lobstermen to rally in Stonington Sunday
Last week, Stonington lobsterman Julie Eaton, speaking for most members of her industry said just about the same thing in a posting on Facebook announcing plans for a rally on the Stonington Fish Pier at noon this Sunday., The rally is being called to protest a proposed NOAA Fisheries rule that would force Maine lobstermen to remove half their buoy lines from the Gulf of Maine to reduce the risk that endangered right whales might become entangled in the fishing gear. “It is official,” Eaton posted. “We are holding a Lobstermen’s Rally … on the Stonington Commercial Fish Pier.” >click to read< 15:22
Chief calls for state of emergency and fishery closure in light of Big Bar slide in Fraser River
A state of emergency and complete fishing closure should be called because of the Big Bar rock slide in the Fraser River, said Esket (Alkali Lake) Chief Fred Robbins Tuesday. “Along the coast they aren’t feeling the impact and on July 18 they can start fishing, but I believe there should be a complete closure for all fishing on the coast,” said Robbins,,,Robbins called a meeting in the community on July 12 and told members they would not be fishing until the rock slide is dealt with. Robbins is proposing different options to deal with the slide.,, “We need more boots on the ground and government to government to government discussion.” >click to read< 14:28
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 68′ Steel Longliner, Cummins KT19, two 30-kw gensets, Federal Permits
Specifications, information and 23 photos >click here< To see all the boats in this series, >click here<12:47
Maine DMR rejects group’s petition to change aquaculture lease process
Meanwhile, the company pitching a 40-acre oyster aquaculture lease on Maquoit Bay continues to await,,, A group known as Save Maquoit Bay, comprised of coastal property owners, lobstermen and fishermen, submitted a 189-signature petition asking officials to include a stipulation requiring the department to consider whether any other locations near a proposed lease site could “accommodate the proposed activities while interfering less with existing and surrounding uses of an area.” >click to read< 12:17
Elderly Vallejo boat captain ‘held hostage’ by wrecked ship
Doug Wagoner thought he’d prepared well for his retirement, but found out that the city of Vallejo is literally blocking his plan. The 80-year-old is not getting any younger. A boat captain for 30 years — and a fisherman for 35, most of that time commercially at San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf — Wagoner said he moved the trawler he lives in and his three work boats to the Vallejo Marina 20 years ago. It was then that Wagoner bought a 28-foot barge,,, Shortly after that, the city docked a rusting, 142-foot, 28-foot-wide, World War II-era, three-story, steam ferry troop ship and onetime floating restaurant, between the barge and the exit, blocking it in. >click to read< 08:58
Refusing to Leave! St. Bernard fisherman in Washington, DC to make their case for millions in federal aid
Fishermen and elected leaders from St. Bernard Parish are refusing to leave Washington, DC without $150 million in federal disaster aid, funded through a federal fisheries disaster declaration. They say repeat openings of the Bonnet Carre spillway has flooded the coast with fresh water that seafood cannot tolerate. St. Bernard Parish President Guy McInnis said the openings are destroying the $4 billion regional seafood industry and the money would be used to subsidize fishermen, repair fishing grounds and coastal waters. >click to read< 08:35
Naturalist Peter Trull: Don’t Blame The Seals
Why are there virtually no codfish to be found in the waters off Cape Cod? Depending on who you ask, it’s because of the eating habits of the thousands of gray seals now living in local waters, or it’s because of decades of chronic overfishing plus ecological changes, like warming oceans. Peter Trull, Pleasant Bay Community Boating Curriculum Developer and Naturalist, comes down squarely on the latter cause. He calls blaming the seals “the biggest misconception” that exists on this topic today. >click to read< 07:18
