Daily Archives: May 7, 2020

Video: Coast Guard set out to rescues 3 people, dog from a capsized fishing vessel offshore Apalachicola, Florida

The Coast Guard rescued three people and a dog from a capsized fishing vessel offshore Apalachicola, Florida, Thursday. All passengers aboard, including the dog, were rescued and no injuries were reported. Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Mobile received a report at approximately 11 a.m. that the 64-foot fishing vessel Pete’s Dream was taking on water about 70 nautical miles offshore Apalachicola, Florida, with three people and a dog aboard. In the process of launching rescue assets, Sector Mobile received an additional report that all three people and the dog abandoned ship and boarded a life raft. One of the passengers was able to use a satellite phone to communicate to shore. Video, >click to read< 21:17

President Donald J. Trump Executive Order Promoting American Seafood Competitiveness and Economic Growth

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to strengthen the American economy; improve the competitiveness of American industry; ensure food security; provide environmentally safe and sustainable seafood; support American workers; ensure coordinated, predictable, and transparent Federal actions; and remove unnecessary regulatory burdens, it is hereby ordered as follows: DONALD J. TRUMP, THE WHITE HOUSE, May 7, 2020. >click to read<

President Donald J. Trump Is Working to Secure America’s Seafood Supply Chain and Bring Jobs Home>click to read< 17:54

Shetland fishermen against Brexit transition period extension

In the light of the Covid-19 crisis and the deep recession forecast for 2020, Liberal Democrats and the SNP have been lobbying for an additional delay before the UK leaves the EU. But Simon Collins, the SFA’s executive officer, said that as far as he could see there was “not much appetite within the government to extend”, and fishing was a special case anyway. “Whatever decisions are being made for other parts of the economy, for which we can’t speak, as far as fishing is concerned our stance is absolutely clear: we have every intention to push the government to deliver, at least for fishing, that we are an independent coastal state by the end of the year. >click to read< 15:46

CARES Act : Maine’s cut of $300 million in federal seafood industry funding is nation’s fifth-highest.

Maine is in line to get $20 million to help its battered seafood industry weather the COVID-19 storm. The award, announced Thursday by U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, comes out of the $300 million in federal funding included in the CARES Act to help the U.S. fishing industry survive the economic losses associated with the coronavirus pandemic. Maine’s award was the fifth-highest out of 31 states. Commissioner Patrick Keliher said Thursday that he was only just learning about the award and would not be making any comments about distribution plans, , or priorities, until he received specific guidance from the NOAA. >click to read< 13:44

U.S. Department of Commerce Announces Availability of $1.5 Billion in CARES Act Funds to Aid Communities Impacted by the Coronavirus Pandemic

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross today announced that the Department’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) is now accepting applications from eligible grantees for Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) supplemental funds (EDA CARES Act Recovery Assistance) intended to help communities prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus.,, On March 27, 2020, President Donald J. Trump signed the $2 trillion CARES Act into law. The CARES Act provides EDA with $1.5 billion of which $1.467 billion is available for grant making. The remaining funds will be transferred to cover salaries and expenses and oversight activities. >click to read< 12:54

UPDATED! Video: Coast Guard aircrew hoists 2 people from grounded fishing vessel in Barnegat Inlet, New Jersey

The Coast Guard hoisted two people to safety after their vessel ran aground at the Barnegat Inlet Jetty in Barnegat, New Jersey late Wednesday night. A passenger (passenger?) aboard the grounded 53-foot fishing vessel Bay of Isle contacted watchstanders at Coast Guard Station Barnegat Light and reported that they had run aground and began taking on water. Due to the location of the grounded vessel, it was determined that a boatcrew from Station Barnegat Light would not be able to reach them and evacuate the passengers. Video, >click to read/watch< 12:05

  Two Rescued From Wooden Boat Off South Jetty in Barnegat Light – Coast Guard Station Barnegat Light got the distress call via 911 at 10:55 p.m. Wednesday, May 6, that the Bay of Isles was taking on water, said Operations Petty Officer Graham Sahli. Two men on board were airlifted from the boat by Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin helicopter. >click to read< 19:33

Concern Builds Over Potential Leak From Wrecked Fishing Boat in Inlet – The U.S. Coast Guard said late Thursday night that the condition of an overturned commercial fishing boat at the Barnegat Inlet jetty had deteriorated, raising concerns that hundreds of gallons of diesel fuel on board could begin to leak. photo’s >click to read< 12:41 05/08

Seafood processing worker is Cordova’s first positive coronavirus case

Cordova’s first positive case of the new coronavirus is an Ocean Beauty Seafoods worker who had recently traveled to the Prince William Sound community from outside of Alaska, officials announced Wednesday. The worker was asymptomatic, but his case was caught by his company’s routine testing of employees, said Mark Palmer, the president of Ocean Beauty Seafoods, in a KLAM radio briefing Wednesday afternoon. The worker, who arrived in Alaska two weeks ago from the Lower 48, tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday night. “This person showed no signs of illness,” Palmer said. “But our testing procedure caught that person.” >click to read< 10:46

Long Island bayman still plying the waters, preserving traditions at 76

Ben Sohm stands on the second floor of his Amity Harbor home, surveying his surroundings through an expansive bay window. Below him, Ketcham Creek rolls its way to the Great South Bay, visible in the distance. His personal armada of a half dozen skiffs, duck-hunting and deep-sea fishing boats, is assembled along the dock abutting his house. Around him, arrayed on shelves that surround the living room, is his collection of vintage duck decoys, many carved a century ago by the baymen of Seaford, where Sohm grew up. But the most telling item in his collection is framed on the wall, near the carved ducks and family photos: A faded copy of Frank Roach’s New York State hunting license, issued in 1919. It was Roach, Sohm’s maternal grandfather, who inaugurated him into the life of a bayman, a tradition Sohm carries on, with aplomb, even at his own grandfatherly age of 76. Video,  >click to read< 09:56

Coronavirus: Louisiana Shrimpers Uncertain of the Future

The seafood industry in Louisiana has seen highs and lows throughout the years.,, The ongoing competition from imported seafood and natural disasters have always been hurdles Captain AC Cooper and his family have had to navigate through, but now with the surplus of shrimp due to COVID-19 he’s unsure of the future. Acy said, “You just can’t get rid of the product that you normally get rid of because of the restaurants being closed and we went through lent but we still didn’t get rid of the excess. It’s hard to say that you don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow and we don’t, and that’s very scary.” >click to read< 08:31

Amid escalating conflict, Ottawa orders temporary shutdown of Maritime elver fishery

The multimillion-dollar elver fishery in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick has been shut down amid escalating conflict between commercial and Indigenous harvesters, according to an industry representative. Riverside disputes and threats of violence during the spring elver fishery in 2020 rose to the point where local police intervention was required,,, The order says estimated elver removals were “far above the established catch limits in areas where fishing is occurring, which represents a threat to the conservation and protection of the species.” >click to read< 07:28