Daily Archives: February 15, 2021
This Year’s Dungeness Crab Fishery a Shell of its Former Self
New regulations and price strikes delayed the start of the season. Dungeness crab fishermen face the worst catch numbers in decades. CDFW monitors for whales, and sea turtles and can delay or halt Dungeness crab commercial fishing if they determine that the risk of entanglement is high. That happened twice at the beginning of this season. The presence of humpback whales kept the fishermen out of the water from the originally scheduled start date of Nov. 15 until Dec. 23. Some fishermen, like Ben Platt, president of the California Coast Crab Association, worry that the new regulations will squeeze the season into a few months every year. Half Moon Bay-based fisherman Tim Obert agrees. “The Thanksgiving market’s huge for us,” he says. “The RAMP has taken that out.” >click to read< 21:10
SAFETY: A gradual culture change has been taking place across much of the fishing industry
As one of the world’s leading insurers of fishing vessels, Sunderland Marine keeps a close eye on the fishing industry’s evolution and has encouraged increasing safety awareness. Sunderland Marine has taken the initiative where it has seen that improvements can be made,,, This is not just in the UK, but also through initiatives in Australia and New Zealand, both of which have also seen a safety culture developing in the right direction In the US, Sunderland Marine has also been instrumental in making available independent safety drills for crews working on East Coast draggers and scallopers. In addition, the offshore crab fishery that’s familiar to anyone who has seen the Deadliest Catch on TV has seen positive changes. photos, >click to read< 17:32
Kirkella, the fish and chip ship stranded in Brexit
The vessel, considered the “pride” of British distant water fishing, frequented the Arctic seas of Greenland and Norway, its main fishing ground until last January, when the divorce between London and Brussels was consummated. Before Brexit, the Kirkella operated under European Union agreements with third countries, but now that the United Kingdom is an independent coastal state, the trawler must wait for the British Executive to seal bilateral agreements. Meanwhile, the boat is barely staying afloat thanks to a partial license to fish for cod in the waters of the Barents Arctic Sea, where it has been fishing since the beginning of February,,, >click to read< 12:01
A Fundraiser by Lawauna Cappa – Westport Fisherman loses livelihood & home at sea
This morning my brother Matt Finley and his crew left the Westport dock with f/v Terry F loaded with crab pots to finally begin the crab season.,, The fishing vessel began taking on water and sinking.,,, I am tearful writing this with the thoughts of how things could have gone. I am thankful that my brother, his two crewmen, and his dog were all rescued. The fishing vessel is a loss…it was Matt’s livelihood and his home. >>click to read< and please, donate if you can! 11:30
Waterfront companies suing New Bedford, port authority over North Terminal expansion project
Marine Hydraulics, a steel fabrication and machinery repair and maintenance company, is located on Herman Melville Boulevard and sits in the North Terminal. Nordic Fisheries co-owns Eastern Fisheries, a scallop fishing company located on Hervey Tichon Avenue just south of the terminal.,, The plaintiffs state in their complaint that much of their business depends on immediate access to the water to haul, service and store vessels, and that without direct access, their companies would be irreparably harmed. >click to read< 09:50
Three people to appear in court following N.S. fishing dispute
An Indigenous band councillor and two fishermen are due to appear Monday in a Nova Scotia courtroom. Brandon Maloney is facing charges of unsafe operation of a vessel in relation to a September 20th incident on the water, after a Mi’kmaq First Nation launched a self-regulated fishery in the southwest corner of the province. Chief Mike Sack of Sipekne’katik said the band would fund a legal defence for the 34-year-old, who was fisheries manager for the First Nation at the time. >click to read< 08:30
