Daily Archives: October 21, 2020

New ice plant at terminal, Community Ice

After the F/V Evolution took on eight tons of flake ice last Friday, Oct. 16, Ed Backus, general manager of Community Ice, walked out the gangway to thank the captain. It wasn’t the first time the boat filled up at the new ice plant. “It’s good ice,” the News-Times overheard someone on the boat tell Backus. The F/V Evolution is a shrimping boat, mixing in the ice as the shrimp is loaded on board. When delivered, the ice and the shrimp are mixed. “What’s important to a shrimp vessel is that the ice stays cold and loose, so they can shovel it easily when they’re mixing it with the harvested product,” Backus said. >click to read<  18:12

New Bedford port nets $20 million to protect against natural disasters

A $16 million grant is bound for the city of New Bedford to improve the city’s port, helping prepare it for future natural disasters. According to a U.S. Economic Development Administration press release, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced the grant funding on Tuesday. The money, according to the press release, will “make port infrastructure improvements needed to protect commercial fishing businesses from floods and severe weather events.” >click to read< 16:13

Sipekne’katik seek injunction from Nova Scotia Supreme Court to end threats, interference in lobster fishery

The Sipekne’katik band is seeking a temporary court injunction to end blockades, interference and threats over its lobster fishing in southwest Nova Scotia. The band applied to Nova Scotia Supreme Court Wednesday for an injunction to prohibit anyone from trying to stop members from accessing two wharves in the region, in Saulnierville and Weymouth, and a lobster pound it uses in New Edinburgh. The band also seeks to end interference at sea, where it says traps have been damaged, destroyed or taken by non-Indigenous fishermen. >click to read< 14:01

Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 41′ Libby Lobster Boat, 750HP, Iveco Diesel

To review specifications, and information, and 10 photos, >click here< To see all the boats in this series, >click here<12:56

Scores more wind turbines proposed for Long Island’s South Shore

Scores more 600-foot tall wind turbines would be built off Jones Beach under a new proposal. Norwegian energy conglomerate Equinor has bid to create another 2,500 megawatts of offshore wind power for New York state and Long Island with two projects. One, which would connect to the local electric grid in Nassau County, would more than double the number of turbines off Long Island to some 200. A second would be built around 50 miles from Montauk Point and connect to the state grid in Queens. The plan would also include conducting assembly work in Brooklyn. >click to read<  10:42

Bellingham Dockside Market – From Tide to Table

Rain had been in the forecast, but as my fella and I strolled from the Squalicum Harbor parking lot to Gate 5 shortly before noon last Saturday to attend the soft opening of the Bellingham Dockside Market, glimpses of blue sky belied the prediction of inclement weather. As we joined a stream of other masked shoppers eager to support the new hub that makes it possible for local fisher-folks to collectively sell their catch directly from their boats or adjacent to the dock, By the time we made our way to the F/V Ocean Swell, the crew had sold out of fresh tuna and ling cod but still had plenty of black cod—also known as sablefish—for $6.50 per pound. >click to read< 09:27

Zone B waits to present recommendation

Even though a deadline to present a state plan designed to minimize potential harm to right whales is fast approaching, members of the Zone B Lobster Management Council asked Department of Marine Resources officials to check numbers for the area 6-12 miles offshore before agreeing to a plan specific to that fishing zone. “The timeline is short,” said DMR Commissioner Pat Keliher,,, While most members of the Zone B council seemed in favor of the subcommittee’s recommendations, there was some hesitation.   “I support thisit would work for me,” said Howland. “I’d hate to railroad it if there are some concerns. This is better than it could be, but it doesn’t sound like it’s ideal for some guys.”,, “There’s a side of me that feels like this is getting stuffed down my throat,” said council member James Hanscom after asking if the decision could be tabled.  >click to read< 08:09