Tag Archives: Trawlers

If Brexit is to mean anything we must end fraud of EU fishing boats registering as British

Last week, with surprisingly little fanfare given the years of high-profile politicking over our territorial waters, the Fisheries Bill was written into UK Law. The long awaited Bill slipped quietly into legislation,,, The fact that the fishing industry was the first industry to be sold out by Labour and Conservative governments as we entered the European Economic Community means, I firmly believe, it must be the first industry to be returned to the status demanded by full sovereignty. I watched hours of debate, as the Bill passed through the commons onto the House of Lords, in which more attention was given to marine conservation and sustainability than to how this bill will affect the United Kingdom’s fishing industry and coastal communities. >click to read< 15:25

Islanders, officials discuss the dire state of river herring

Local fishermen, tribe and town officials, state and federal officials, and concerned citizens gathered Monday in the cavernous Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) Community Center to discuss the troubling decline in the river herring population on the Vineyard, and along the eastern seaboard.,,, The decimation done by offshore fishing was a recurring theme in the discussion. “Ninety-five percent of the public doesn’t know how much harm the midwater trawlers are doing,” charter fishing captain, and Aquinnah Deputy Shellfish Warden Buddy Vanderhoop said. Vanderhoop said the trawlers off the New England coasts are also decimating groundfish stocks, such as cod, haddock, flounder, and pollock. >click to read< 13:19

Plymouth fish market brings in record-breaking £1million ($1,130,7796.43) haul in a week

Plymouth’s fish market has recorded its first £1 million week. The Sutton Harbour market’s sales in the first three days of the week alone were than higher than in the whole of 1994, the last year of the old Barbican fish market. And the final tally yesterday was £1,002,000. Trawlers poured in a bumper harvest through the week, with cuttlefish leading the charge. David Pessell from Plymouth Trawler Agents said they sold 195 tonnes of cuttlefish, worth £600,000, most destined for Spain and Italy. “We have had more than 120 boats landing to us this week,” Mr Pessell said.

When Lowestoft boats went to fish from Canada

There was an interesting time, way back in the early 1950s, when several drifter/trawlers and trawlers from Lowestoft were sent on the long trip to Nova Scotia to ply their trade, reports Mick Harrod. The first Lowestoft boats to make this voyage were Acorn LT 31, skippered by Ivan Down, and Boston Swift LT 377, in September of 1954. Acorn was a steamer, built in 1919 at Aberdeen and the story goes that, although she was filled with coal, including in the fish hold and ice lockers, she still ran out of fuel in the last few miles and was towed in by Boston Swift. The agreement with Mercury Fisheries Ltd, of Halifax, Nova Scotia, was that the crew initially signed on for six months and then, if they liked it enough, they could have permanent berths and their families would get assistance to move to Canada. click here to view more images, read the story 09:36

Trawlers may convert to pot gear for cod catches

One of the tools being talked about to help trawlers reduce salmon and halibut bycatch is the opportunity to voluntarily convert to pot gear to catch Pacific cod. It’s an option being discussed by fishery managers as they craft a trawl bycatch reduction plan for the Gulf of Alaska. Sam Cunningham, “The reason someone might be interested in using pot gear, and the reason is that it would have lower bycatch of prohibited species of Chinook salmon and halibut, and when those species are caught incidentally they would be less likely to die because they are caught in pot gear.” Listen, and read the rest here  17:51