Tag Archives: fisheries survey at risk

Aging coast guard ships stuck in refits put crucial Georges Bank fisheries survey at risk

Once again, Canada’s fleet of coast guard vessels is showing its age. A federal fisheries science survey on Georges Bank is delayed this winter because the Canadian Coast Guard vessel normally tasked with the job is out of commission on an extended refit, CBC News has learned. And a second coast guard ship expected to take over the job is also unavailable because it, too, is undergoing a refit that had to be extended. The five-week Department of Fisheries and Oceans survey off southern Nova Scotia usually starts mid-February aboard the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Alfred Needler, but the 36-year-old vessel is high and dry these days in a St. John’s shipyard. >click to read< 09:40