Daily Archives: May 18, 2020

F/V Miss Jenna and her Captain Banned from Menemsha Basin

A Vineyard crab and whelk boat, has been banned from the Menemsha Basin by the Chilmark Harbor Department. Harbormaster Ryan Rossi said he made the decision following the grounding of the vessel Thursday night in Aquinnah. Rossi said alcohol appeared to be a factor in the grounding and taken together with two other incidents since last May, constitute a pattern of nautical behavior “proven to be reckless.” Rossi said not only is the Miss Jenna banned, but Capt. Andrew Wheeler’s right to operate any vessel in the Menemsha Basin has been revoked.  The Miss Jenna was allegedly found to still be in gear when the Coast Guard found it in the shallows of Lobsterville Beach Thursday night. According to a Chilmark Police report, the Coast Guard also found “two empty 18 packs of Bud Light and numerous ‘nip’ bottles” on board. Wheeler told The Times “we fell asleep.” >click to read< 17:47

DOC Secretary Ross Allocates $88 Million in Fishery Disaster Funding for Fishing Communities Affected by 2019 Bonnet Carre Spillway Opening

Today, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced the allocation of $88 million in fishery disaster funding to Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi, where a catastrophic regional fishery disaster occurred due to extreme freshwater flooding in 2019 associated with the unprecedented opening of the Bonnet Carre Spillway. “The Department of Commerce stands with our U.S. fishing communities, especially in times of hardship,” said Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. “These funds will help industries and individuals recover from this disaster, and build resilience for the future.” >click to read< 16:22

Over $21.3 million in federal fishery disaster funds allocated to Mississippi>click to read<

Our latest lobster boat: Force of Nature

Completed in late April 2020, some 12 months after contracts were signed, Force of Nature is a 22.4 metre Southerly Designs monohull which, like other recent Dongara Marine fishing and pilot boat newbuilds, combines an aluminium hull with a composite superstructure. The new boat is an upgrade from Perham’s current vessel, the 17.1 metre Conquest 55 Natural Selection, which was built for him by Sea Chrome Marine in 1994 and which Perham is selling to make way for Force of Nature.,, “When Natural Selection was built it was pretty much the average size crayboat, perhaps slightly above average if anything. In the 1990s only a handful of new boats, maybe one in every 20, were over 70 feet. Now that’s the average size for new Australian high speed lobster boats, and in fact its more like 75 feet for the Western Australian fishery. photo’s, video, >click to read< 14:29

PGS to Acquire Three Seismic Surveys for Eastern Canada in 2020

PGS’ new Blomidon, South Bank, and Torngat Extension GeoStreamer surveys are all supported by industry funding. Together they will cover approximately 10 000 sq. km offshore Labrador and Newfoundland. The three new PGS marine seismic surveys will be acquired by the Ramform Atlas and Ramform Titan between early June and early September 2020. PGS will deliver fast-track results in 2020, and final imaging and interpretation products in early 2021. >click to read< 12:48

‘Baboom!’ St. Jude returns with 48 tons of tuna and no restaurant market thanks to coronavirus so they are selling it at Seattle’s docks

When the tuna boat St. Jude motored out of Anacortes in November for fishing grounds 5,000 miles away in the South Pacific, few people outside of microbiology labs had ever heard the word “coronavirus.” By the time the 95-foot vessel docked in Seattle this month, the microbe had shaken the entire world and turned the seafood business upside down. “Baboom!” said owner and captain Joe Malley, who returned from the six-month voyage to find the primary market for his high-quality albacore had vanished. “Who could have anticipated this?” >click to read< 11:19

‘I Don’t Know if We Will Make It’: Fishing Industry Takes a Huge Hit from Coronavirus

Commercial fishing is one of the many industries suffering from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s led to a dramatically shrinking market for seafood as restaurants either close or have converted to takeout, and consumers stay home. It’s a quiet scene these days at L.D. Amory & Co. in Hampton, Va. The normally bustling wholesale seafood packer is struggling. “About 80 percent of the product we pack here ends up in restaurants,” Meade Amory, vice president of the company, told CBN News. “And so far we have no markets for our products right now, and it’s been very difficult.” Video, >click to read< 10:34

Mass. Hydropower Project Stymied By Maine Ballot Question Dispute

The project that would provide New England with its largest source of renewable energy and Massachusetts with about a fifth of its electricity demand is at the center of a simmering political and legal fight taking shape in Maine. New England Clean Energy Connect, a 145-mile transmission project of Central Maine Power Company, is expected to link the electrical grids in Quebec and New England to provide cleaner and more reliable hydropower directly to a converter station in Lewiston, Maine, and into the regional power grid. >click to read< 08:51