Daily Archives: April 22, 2021

MMO announce first panel dates for Fisheries and Seafood Scheme in England

The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) is pleased to confirm dates for the first English Fisheries and Seafood Scheme (FaSS) panel. The MMO is administering the new £6.1 million FaSS on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). The fund includes support for business to adapt to new markets and respond to new trading conditions, improve safety on fishing vessels and onshore and to protect the environment – with funding available for equipment that reduces the impact of fishing on the marine environment, among other areas. More information can be found on their website. >click to read< 22:08

In the Wake of Hurricane Sally, City won’t pay for removal of boats sunk behind Joe Patti’s

Since Pensacola fisherman Linh Tran lost his livelihood when his shrimping trawler sank seven months ago during Hurricane Sally, his days have been plagued by anxiety and dread over how to retrieve the vessel. Earlier this week, he got more bad news. The Pensacola City Council declined to take up the issue of whether to allocate money to remove two sunken boats, including Tran’s, from a small harbor behind Joe Patti’s Seafood. So for now, the two boats, along with a third one on Joe Patti’s property  will remain in the water. After hearing of the council’s decision, Tran — who emigrated to the U.S. from Vietnam, became a citizen and reached his American dream of buying a boat to shrimp the Pensacola Bay — tried to hold back tears. >photos, lots of photos, click to read< 19:10 Brother starts GoFundMe Fundraiser – Shrimp Boat Sunk by Hurricane Sally – Daniel Tran is organizing this fundraiser on behalf of Linh Tran, >click to read<

“Protect the Gulf of Maine”: Fishermen to Rally in Augusta April 28th

Leaders in the lobster fishing industry are planning a “Protect the Gulf of Maine” rally in Augusta next week to highlight issues related to the development of offshore wind power. The rally is scheduled for Wednesday, April 28, at the Augusta Civic Center, with guest speakers slated to talk at 10 a.m. They include Olsen; U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, Maine State Senate President Troy Jackson; State Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham, and others. Local 207 is part of the Protect the Gulf of Maine coalition. The group calls offshore wind development “a threat to the Gulf of Maine ecosystem and our way of life in Maine.” >click to read< 15:35

Ottawa, Mi’kmaq community on collision course over plan for second lobster season

The federal fisheries minister said today that enforcement officers will be in place in St. Mary’s Bay to “uphold the Fisheries Act” if Sipekne’katik fishers harvest lobster beginning on June 1. Bernadette Jordan’s comment came shortly before Chief Mike Sack held a news conference to say his band will operate a five-month season that will occur outside of the commercial season. Sack says the plan envisions 15 to 20 boats setting 1,500 traps, with a midsummer closure during the moulting and reproduction season and its own enforcement officials. >click to read< 14:18

Elver eels rocket back up in value!

Maine is home to the U.S.’s only significant fishery for the baby eels, which are called elvers, and it’s taking place right now. Prices tanked last year due to disruption to the worldwide economy caused by the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. This year, the fishery is experiencing a return to normalcy. The tiny, wriggling fish are worth $1,634 per pound to fishermen, the Maine Department of Marine Resources reported on Monday. They’ve been worth between $1,300 and $2,400 per pound every year since 2015, except last year, when they were worth $525. >click to read< 11:22

Feds charge Montauk fisherman, Gosmans with violating fishing limits, conspiracy, obstruction

The federal indictment unsealed Wednesday charges Chris Winkler, 61, Bryan Gosman, 48 and Asa Gosman, 45, with conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud and obstruction of justice in the alleged scheme.,, A Gosman family business, Bob Gosman Co., Inc., also was charged as part of the multi-count indictment. According to prosecutors, Winkler, captain of the New Age fishing trawler in Montauk, caught 74,000 pounds of fluke and sea bass  over the federal limits during 70 fishing trips at the time. >click to read< 10:02 From U.S. Dept. of Justice, New York Fisherman and Fish Dealer   Charged with Conspiracy, Fraud, and Obstruction – Today, a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of New York unsealed the indictment of one fisherman, a wholesale fish dealer, and two of its managers for conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and obstruction in connection with a scheme to illegally overharvest fluke and black sea bass. All four defendants are from Montauk. >click to read< Other stories of F/V New Age, >click here<

National Marine Fisheries Service designates critical whale habitat areas in Alaska and the West Coast

The National Marine Fisheries Service Wednesday published a final rule designating critical habitat for three populations of humpback whales including some areas in Alaska. The federal ruling affects the eastern Aleutians, Kodiak, Prince Williams Sound, as well as the coastlines of Washington, Oregon, and California. The rule establishes about 116,000 square nautical miles of protected area for the endangered Western North Pacific and Central American populations of humpback whales and the threatened Mexico population. >click to read< 09:14

Home and Dry: Safety campaign to get fishing crews ‘Home and Dry’ following deaths in Brixham

A safety campaign has begun to reduce the ‘alarming’ number of deaths among fishing crews. It comes as more than 10% of fatalities in the fishing industry over the last decade have happened in the last six months. In the past six months, seven fishermen across the country, including two on a trawler from Brixham, have lost their lives at sea. Six of the men who died ended up in the water.  Now the industry’s safety group is launching the Home and Dry campaign aims to help those on vessels stay safe by educating them on practices they can use to reduce risks. >Video, click to read< 08:12  Shetland fisherman’s death highlighted in new man overboard prevention campaign – The lives lost included Shetland fisherman Joseph Lacaste, 45, who died while working on the trawler Copious in February. >click to read<