Daily Archives: November 25, 2019

Namibia’s ex-minister arrested, freed over fishing graft scandal

A Namibian court on Sunday released an ex-minister after his arrest at the weekend following a Wikileaks report exposing alleged corruption in the fishing industry. Former fisheries minister Bernhard Esau was arrested on Saturday for corruption, but freed,,, Esau and justice minister Sakeus Shanghala resigned last week after they were named in documents published by Wikileaks in which Iceland-based multinational fishing company Samherji is suspected of bribing senior Namibian officials for continued access to the country’s shores. >click to read< 19:23

Owner of New Bedford vessel capsized off Martha’s Vineyard fears 3 crew members perished

Coast Guard crews from Air Station Cape Cod were continuing the search for the three missing fishermen Monday,,, Luis Martins, who owns a fish processing plant called Joe’s Fresh Seafood in New Bedford, said he has owned the 56-foot commercial fishing vessel for about five years. The boat was built in 1967, and Martins said it had been updated. The U.S. Coast Guard has released footage of the rescue of the lone fisherman from the F/V Leonardo. Video, >click to read< 16:07  all F/V Leonardo posts >click here<

Celebrating Small Business: Catch 49 keeping Alaskan fishing local

The brainchild of the Alaska Marine Conservation Council (AMCC), Catch 49 has been working with small-scale fishermen along Alaska’s coastline to provide sustainably-sourced seafood options to the community since 2011. Operating under one of AMCC’s guiding principles, “fisheries management policies should ensure adequate, intergenerational access to fishing opportunities for local residents and communities,” Catch 49 prides itself on providing business opportunities to coastal residents. >click to read< 15:01

Last of the hunters or the next scientists? Arguments for and against the inclusion of fishers and their knowledge in mainstream fisheries management

For years fishermen have decried the world of fisheries research because all too often their experience of scientific research has been frustrated by the perceived gulf between those that research and those that actually go down to the sea every day to fish. Huge research vessels using totally outdated trawls fishing for species in areas known (by the fishermen) to be devoid of said species or at times when said species are less likely to be caught – compare your haddock catch by day and by night on the same grounds! Ed Hinds just published thesis tackles this issue and sets out a vision for how fishermen may play a significant role in fisheries research in the future – there a handful of UK fisheries research vessels and 5,400 fishing vessels – every one capable of [laying a role in research given the resources. >click to read< 13:10

Canada’s cocaine cowboys: How a two-year RCMP sting led all the way to Mexican kingpin El Chapo

It was March 12, 2015, and Stephen Tello was having second thoughts. The following day he was due to meet a man called Joe at a steakhouse in Toronto. Joe was a transportation broker who, for the right price, had told Tello he could smuggle huge amounts of cocaine into Canada. He could have drugs collected at sea in the Caribbean, he said, before swapping them onto fishing trawlers closer to Newfoundland, for safe passage to harbour. The two had met before, but their first deal hadn’t worked out. Now Tello, who lived a double life as a Toronto real estate,,, >click to read< 11:56

Weather delays opening day of lobster season in southwest N.S.

Rather than heading out to sea to set their gear on Monday, Nov. 25, strong winds have kept fishermen ashore an extra day. A decision was made during industry conference calls on Monday morning to go with a Tuesday, Nov. 26 opening. Rather than leaving the wharves at the normal 6 a.m. time in LFA 34 (in southwestern Nova Scotia) the decision was to push the start back to 7 a.m. LFA 33, which stretches along the province’s South Shore, will also have a 7 a.m. start on Tuesday. >click to read< 10:57

Coast Guard continues search for 3 missing fishermen off Martha’s Vineyard

The owner of a scalloping vessel that capsized and sank in choppy seas southwest of Martha’s Vineyard Sunday afternoon said the single fisherman found in a lifeboat a few hours after the distress signal was sent is currently in the hospital. “The other three fishermen are presumed lost,” said Luis Martins, owner of the F/V Leonardo Monday morning. “That’s all I can say.” He declined to provide any names. >click to read< 09:48

Former fish-plant owners lose lawsuit, Daley Brothers’ plant was burned down in a riot by fishermen

On May 2, 2003, arson destroyed Les Fruits de Mer Shippagan Ltée, along with some traps for snow crab fishing, a warehouse, and a crab processing plant. Three Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada boats, on loan to Elsipogtog First Nation, as well as another boat, also burned up that day.,, Hundreds of angry fishermen from the Acadian Peninsula were involved in the riots, which began as a protest against the federal government’s move to reduce their crab quotas to recognize the First Nations’ right to live off fishing., >click to read<  07:56

Fishing boat sinks 24 miles off Vineyard

The fishing boat F/V Leonardo out of New Bedford sank Sunday afternoon 24 miles southwest of the Vineyard. The U.S. Coast Guard rescued one mariner from the vessel. A search and rescue operation is underway for three others. Sector Southeast New England received an EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon) signal at 3:18 pm, according to Petty Officer Ryan Noel.,, None of the mariners were wearing survival suits. The person rescued was in a liferaft and did not have a lifevest on, Noel said. >click to read< 06:21