The controversial menhaden fleet that supplies Omega Proteins’ Reedville plant is promising to limit areas in Chesapeake Bay where it will set its nets and catches fish. In a memorandum of understanding with the state, Ocean Harvesters said it wants to limit potential areas of conflict with other users of the Bay. Conservationists and recreational fishermen had pushed for limits, with some calling for an outright ban on catching menhaden in the Bay, after two spills of dead menhaden last year washed ashore. >click to read< 08:01
Tag Archives: Virginia
New Bedford – True North Seafood to shut down city plant
One of the city’s largest seafood processors is shutting down its waterfront facility, laying off as many as 94 local workers as the company consolidates its production in Virginia. True North Seafood, a subsidiary of Canadian seafood giant Cooke, announced the sudden decision to its staff at a floor meeting Thursday morning. The company is a leading distributor of imported fish, processing more than 16 million pounds of salmon each year, according to its website. Cooke has both harvesting and processing operations spanning 15 countries and over 13,000 workers. Its revenues are north of $4 billion, according to a recent interview with CEO Glenn Cooke. more, >>click to read<< 20:16
Menhaden fishermen, jet ski protestor clash leads to a bill with “teeth”
The Virginia General Assembly has passed HB 928, a bill designed to protect commercial fishermen and their boats from harassment at sea. The bill passed, 38-1, by the Senate, and, 99-0, by the House and signed by the speaker of the House on March 5 and president of the Senate on March 7. Gov. Glenn Youngkin is expected to sign it into law and the “Governor’s deadline action period” is by April 8. HB 928 was prompted by a dangerous engagement between a jet skier and an Ocean Harvesters menhaden fishing crew, reportedly occurred on Sept. 23, 2023, and was documented in a video by a menhaden spotter pilot. more, >>click to read<< 07:26
Biden administration sued over Virginia offshore wind farm approval
A conservative think tank on Monday sued the Biden administration in an effort to reverse approval of what would be the largest offshore wind farm of its kind. The Heartland Institute filed the suit with the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow, a nonprofit that advocates for an economically libertarian approach to environmental action and has denied the existence of human-caused climate change. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, seeks to reverse the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM) approval of Dominion Energy’s 176-turbine wind project offshore Virginia. more, >>click to read<< 08:30
Crab grab nets federal conviction
A Tangier man pleaded guilty today to overharvesting Chesapeake Blue Crabs in Virginia waters and selling them in Maryland in violation of the Lacey Act. According to court documents, between March 20, 2023, to April 20, 2023, James Warren Eskridge, 45, exceeded the maximum harvest and sale of blue crabs to a seafood buyer on 16 occasions. Chesapeake Blue Crabs are the most valuable fishery in the Chesapeake Bay and, as such, those fishing blue crabs are subject to strict limits by law. At the time of Eskridge’s violations, Virginia permitted licensed commercial crabbers to harvest up to 27 bushels of blue crab per day, regardless of the number of licenses crabbers present on a single vessel. Eskridge operated the fishing vessel Rebecca Jean II with two mates out of Tangier Island, Virginia. On April 11, 2023, law enforcement observed Eskridge and his mates offload 60 bushels – more than double the Virginia limit – in Crisfield, Maryland. On April 11, 2023, Eskridge and his mates returned to Crisfield and offloaded 56 bushels. On April 13, 2023, they returned again and offloaded 58 bushels more. more, >>click to read<< 16:36
Final Incidental Take Regulations for the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Commercial (CVOW-C) Project, Offshore Virginia
On Monday, January 22, 2024, NOAA Fisheries published the final incidental take regulations related to Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Commercial (CVOW-C) Project. The effective dates for these regulations are February 5, 2024 through February 4, 2029. Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act, these regulations will govern the “take” of small numbers of marine mammals exposed to elevated underwater noise generated by the project’s activities over a five-year period. NOAA Fisheries has determined the take that may be authorized under the final rule will have a negligible impact on all affected marine mammal species and stocks. more, >>click to read<< 14:50
Waterman Joshua Wade Hinman of Cape Charles, VA, has passed away
Joshua Wade Hinman, 37, husband of Erika Etz Hinman and a resident of Cape Charles, VA, passed away Tuesday, December 26, 2023, at his residence. A native of the Eastern Shore, he was the son of Peter Jackson Hinman and Donna Raye Doiron Hinman. He was a life-long waterman and was respected as one of the most prominent watermen on the Eastern Shore, was a hard worker, but above all he was a loving son, husband and dad who loved his family. In addition to his loving wife and parents, he is survived by three children, Elijah Wade Hinman, Jackson Frederick Hinman, and Julian Kane Gorman more, >>click to read<< 10:14
Christmas Comes Early: Reedville Fisherman’s Museum Gifted Historic Draketail
Reedville Fishermen’s Museum (RFM) has a special new resident at its dock. The museum was recently gifted a 99-year-old Chesapeake deadrise draketail boat with a unique dolphin nose stern by Bill and Beverly Pickens of Ware Neck, Va. Guests will have a chance to take tours on her beginning next year. Fannie is 36’ x 6’ x 2’6” and was built in 1924 by Charles Spencer. He built two boats of this style in his yard at Brick Inn on Main Street in St. Michaels, Md. One of the boats was named Fannie, after his daughter. The draketail stern, sometimes called a Hooper’s Island draketail because so many of this design was built in that area, was modeled after early motor-powered racing launches and torpedo boats. photos, more, >>click to read<< 06:20
Coalition files intent to sue federal agencies to stop whale-killing Virginia wind project
The Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT) and The Heartland Institute today announced that they were filing with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) a 60 Day Notice of Intent to Sue letter for a violation of the Endangered Species Act. The violation is contained in a defective “biological opinion,” which authorizes the construction of the Virginia Offshore Wind Project (VOW). The 60-day notice is required by the Endangered Species Act (ESA) for parties who wish to commence litigation against BOEM for failure to provide adequate protection of the North Atlantic right whale and other endangered species. The North Atlantic right whale is listed as “critically endangered” by the governments of both the Commonwealth of Virginia and the United States. >>click to read<< 12:23
Virginia fisherman sentenced for illegally harvesting $37K worth of striped bass
A Virginia fisherman has been sentenced for illegally harvesting striped bass over the course of several years. Commercial fisherman Keith J. Martin, 52, was sentenced to four months in prison on Oct. 26. He was required to begin his sentence by noon Dec. 12. It was recommended by the court to the Bureau of Prisons that Martin be incarcerated in a medical facility. Upon his release, Martin was sentenced to three years of supervised release. On the condition of and for the duration of his supervised release, Martin will be prohibited from participating in any form of commercial fishing,,, >>click to read<< 09:11
Biden approves largest offshore wind project in US history
Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project is located 23.5 nautical miles off Virginia Beach and marks the fifth such offshore wind plan under the Biden administration, which has come under fire from environmentalists for also greenlighting several new major fossil fuel leases. The approval comes on the heels of an announcement last month the administration would auction three new oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico, triggering a furious reaction from environmental groups who said the move would accelerate climate change. The approval comes on the heels of an announcement last month the administration would auction three new oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico, triggering a furious reaction from environmental groups who said the move would accelerate climate change. >>click to read<< 15:51
Virginia’s blue crab commercial harvest period extended
The Virginia Marine Resources Commission voted last week to approve the extension recommended by the Crab Management Advisory Committee. The harvest of crabs by hard crab pot is now Dec. 16, pushed back from Nov. 30. Lower bushel limits will begin Nov. 1 instead of Oct. 1. The purpose of these changes is to promote efficient utilization of blue crabs and economic stability for the fishing industry, according to the Marine Resources Commission. “Female crabs are not overfished, and overfishing is not occurring on them,” said Alexa Galván, a fisheries manager with the commission during a VRMC meeting. “But, the 2021 and 2022 exploitation rates were slightly above the target, not of the threshold which would be overfishing.” >>click to read<< 12:50
Community offers ‘love and support’ to Virginia fisherman run over by girlfriend
A Northern Neck community is rallying around a local fisherman who remains hospitalized after his romantic partner allegedly ran him over with a vehicle outside the Omega Protein plant in Reedville. The incident occurred Sunday evening, and now the woman who allegedly ran him over faces additional, upgraded charges related to the incident. Friends of the victim, Andrew Muncy, said he loved working on a fishing boat for Omega Protein, one of the largest employers in the area. “It’s one of the biggest jobs you can have around here, and to see him out of commission, out of work right now, it kind of puts him in a spot he don’t know he’s in yet,” said Josie Webb, who said he has known Muncy for years. Video, >click to read< 19:05
Reins Loosened Slightly On Chesapeake Bay Crab Harvest
“We’re being cautious, but I think we’re being responsible,” said Ed Tankard, a board member with the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, which voted June 27 to ease certain bushel limits. In Maryland, the state Department of Natural Resources announced on the same day a raft of industry-friendly changes to its crab controls, including modestly increasing the allowable harvest of female crabs and lifting limits on the harvest of males over Labor Day weekend. Those moves came a few weeks after the panel that regulates the Potomac River’s fishing industry agreed to roll back bushel limits on female crabs to 2021 levels. >click to read< 12:21
Omega Protein and Fishing Partner Ocean Harvesters Successfully Test Fish Spill Response Vessel
Ocean Harvesters, the exclusive fishing partner of Omega Protein, is continuing its commitment to responsible stewardship of the Chesapeake Bay with the deployment of a new response team and recovery vessel to more effectively respond to rare incidents like net tears and fish spills. As part of this effort, Ocean Harvesters, in cooperation with the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC), has successfully tested a skimmer vessel, which will arrive at the scene of a net tear and work to recover spilled fish from the surface that threaten shorelines. This vessel will begin operating in the Bay with this upcoming fishing season. photos, video, >click to read< 09:57
NC joins pact to cover offshore wind farm related fisheries losses
North Carolina has joined nearly a dozen other East Coast states to create a financial compensation program that would cover economic losses within the fisheries industry caused by Atlantic offshore wind development. The Fisheries Mitigation Project aims to establish a regional administrator to oversee the process of reviewing claims and making payouts collected through a fund paid for by wind developers to commercial and for-hire recreational fisheries industries to mitigate financial loss associated with offshore wind farms. The goal first and foremost of the states is to ensure wind energy areas and the cable systems that will run from wind farms to land are developed in way that would result in minimal impacts to the fisheries industry. >click to read< 10:22
Eastern Shore fisherman pleads guilty to overharvesting, trafficking of striped bass
A commercial fisherman from the Eastern Shore pleaded guilty Monday to violating a federal law by selling striped bass he caught in Virginia waterways in excess of his quota over the course of three years. Keith James Martin, 52, of Saxis, was legally allowed to harvest 4,010 pounds of striped bass per year from 2018 to 2020 under Virginia code, according to a news release from the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Virginia. However, in 2018, Martin sold more than 6,700 pounds of striped bass to a Maryland seafood business and more than 4,300 pounds to the same business in 2019, according to the statement of facts filed with the plea agreement. >click to read< 08:33
Why are the whales dying? Sea mammal deaths hit record in New York and New Jersey
As whales wash up along East Coast shores at alarming rates, researchers dissect decomposing carcasses, logging whether ship strikes or fishing gear factored into each demise, while some beachgoers wonder if their favorite coastline will be next. At least 14 humpbacks and minke whales have been found dead thus far in 2023 in waters off New York and New Jersey — up from 9 in the entirety of last year. The most recent deaths were two humpbacks, whose corpses were spotted May 31, in Raritan Bay off Keansburg, New Jersey, and Wainscott on Long Island. >click to read< 11:52
Coast Guard responds to boat collision in James River, Virginia
The Coast Guard responded to a vessel collision Tuesday morning near the Newport News Small Boat Harbor. The Coast Guard was alerted at 7:50 a.m. that the pilot boat, Swift, and a 38-foot deadrise fishing vessel, F/V Miss Heather, collided near the Newport News Small Boat Harbor. The pilot aboard the Swift rescued two fishermen from the Miss Heather and brought them aboard the pilot boat as the fishing vessel rapidly took on water. >click to read the report< 14:50
North Carolina Joins Effort to Establish Regional Fisheries Mitigation for Offshore Wind Development
Governor Roy Cooper announced that North Carolina has joined other Atlantic Coast states involved with the Special Initiative on Offshore Wind on a coordinated project to support fisheries mitigation in the development of offshore wind along the East Coast. “It is important that we work to meet our state’s offshore wind energy goals while still protecting our marine fishery industry,” said Governor Cooper. “We are committed to collaborating with other states in this effort to make sure we achieve both goals.” Currently, the Initiative is focused on establishing a framework to compensate commercial and for-hire fishermen in the event of economic impact related to offshore wind development. The goal is to develop a regional approach for administration of any financial compensation paid by developers. Economic impacts from coastal fishing in North Carolina top $4.5 billion annually. >click to read< 08:26
First Lawsuit Over Whales and Wind Dismissed
A federal district judge in Massachusetts has rejected an effort to stop an offshore wind project near Nantucket Island on the basis of danger to whales, apparently the first court test of similar claims being raised against wind turbine proposals along the U.S. eastern seaboard, including here in Virginia. On May 17, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani granted a motion for summary judgement to the federal agency that approved the Vineyard Wind One project. With a planned 84 turbines, the project is about half the size of Dominion Energy Virginia’s planned project off Virginia Beach. Both are just the first phases of larger planned buildouts. The same judge is hearing the other cases, with the two from fishing interests now combined. >click to read< 09:47
Virginia crab management committee recommends fall, spring catch limit increase
A state committee on crab management is recommending increases to crab catch limits this fall and next spring but keeping in place the summer reductions instituted last year after surveys found the population had plummeted. The newest proposals follow the results of the 2023 Bay-wide Blue Crab Winter Dredge Survey, which found that the number of blue crabs in the Chesapeake Bay increased from 227 million in 2022 to 323 million in 2023. Improvements were seen across the board among adult males and females, as well as among juveniles. However, the juvenile numbers still remained among the six lowest recorded in the 34 years of the Winter Dredge Survey. >click to read< 16:27
Feds play shell game with wind / whale impacts
NOAA is taking public comments on a massive proposal to harass large numbers of whales and other marine mammals by building a huge offshore wind complex. There is supposed to be an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed harassment, but it is not there with the proposal. We are told it is elsewhere but after searching we find that it simply does not exist. Like a shell game where the pea has been palmed, there is nothing to be found. First the bureaucratic background. The wind project is Dominion’s 2,600 MW offshore Virginia facility, which if built would be the world’s biggest. NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is proposing to issue a five year harassment authorization for the construction of this monster. >click to read< 07:36
Chesapeake Bay blue crab population improves after all-time low in 2022
This year, the number of spawning age female crabs and adult male crabs both increased substantially, but the number of juvenile crabs only increased by about 15%, according to the winter dredge survey, which is completed from December to March by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. “We are encouraged by the increases in adult crab abundance, but we need to be vigilant given the ongoing low recruitment numbers,” said Lynn Fegley, acting director for Maryland Department of Natural Resources’s Fishing and Boating Services, in a statement. “We haven’t seen a strong year class since 2019 despite maintaining the spawning stock at a level capable of producing one.” Video, >click to read< 12:56
Lowcountry is the last ‘wild west’ for blue crabs. Crabbers call for change.
In February, David Richardson drove to Columbia from his home in Charleston to speak to a room of state senators about his life as a South Carolina crabber, which, at the moment, “is kind of miserable.” But it wasn’t always miserable. Which is why he drove two hours to the Statehouse, a place he had never been nor expected to visit. The crabber thought about wearing a Hawaiian shirt, then thought twice: “I wore a suit, thank God.” As crab numbers fell over the past decade across the Eastern Seaboard, South Carolina did nothing, but North Carolina increased its management actions. It designated some areas as “no-fishing” spawning sanctuaries. And Georgia decided to limit the number of commercial crabbing licenses to under 100. Photos, >click to read< 08:39
Wind energy developer funneled cash to Dem senator pushing offshore wind
A multibillion-dollar energy developer has wired tens of thousands of dollars to Democratic Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine’s campaign in recent years while aggressively pushing a massive offshore wind project. The Richmond, Virginia-based Dominion Energy’s political action committee (PAC) has funneled $23,000 to Kaine for Virginia since 2011, with the latest, a $1,500 contribution, coming in February. In that same time span, Dominion Energy has given another $44,500 to Common Ground PAC, the leadership PAC affiliated with and chaired by Kaine. Since 2021, Dominion Energy executives led by CEO Robert Blue and Senior Vice President William Murray have donated $19,600 to Kaine’s campaign. At the same time, lobbyists who Dominion has contracted made payments totaling $3,000 to the campaign. >click to read< 08:03
Omega Protein Fishing Partner Christens Two New Vessels, Reedville and Little River
Ocean Harvesters, Omega Protein’s fishing partner, kicked off the 2023 fishing season by christening two new vessels for the Atlantic menhaden fishery. The F/V Reedville and the F/V Little River are the two latest additions to the fleet of Ocean Harvesters, which fishes for menhaden in Virginia and operates a long-term supply contract with Omega Protein. The vessels were christened on Saturday April 22 in a ceremony at Omega Protein’s facility in Reedville, Virginia. Video, photos, >click to read< 12:44
VIMS to lead national program for managing derelict fishing gear
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has recommended William & Mary’s Virginia Institute of Marine Science as home base for a new national program focused on protecting U.S. coastal waters from derelict fishing gear. The $8 million provided by NOAA to implement the four-year program is the largest single grant award in VIMS’ 83-year history. Many of these dollars will be passed on to program partners through an annual grant competition. Formally known as the Nationwide Fishing TRAP Program — “TRAP” for Trap Removal, Assessment & Prevention — the effort includes funding for commercial and tribal fishers to remove derelict pots from Virginia’s waters. >click to read< 17:46
US Navy Sounds Alarm Over Biden’s Offshore Wind Plans
The US Navy and Pentagon are sounding alarms over Biden administration plans to advance offshore wind projects along the central Atlantic US coast, warning that almost all of the new terrain eyed for development conflicts with military operations. Maps shared with industry stakeholders and seen by Bloomberg News show vast red areas that the Navy and Air Force have deemed “highly problematic,” covering prime real estate the Interior Department last year earmarked for leasing off the coasts of North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. The Defense Department’s concerns, which come on top of other conflicts identified by the US Coast Guard, have spooked renewable power developers and US East Coast states counting on mid-Atlantic wind farms to meet clean energy and climate goals. >click to read< 11:18
I’m a fishing boat captain. Green energy companies, government want to put me out of business
Offshore wind energy might be killing whales, but there’s no question it’s killing American fishermen. I’ve been a fishing boat captain for over 20 years. I live on an island in Maine and sail out of New Bedford, Mass. My brothers and cousins are lobstermen. Fishing is the trade our family has plied for generations. We’re proud to practice the founding craft of our nation. When colonists first settled New England, they looked to the sea to sustain them. And so it is for our coastal communities four 
centuries on. But for how much longer? Federal regulators and foreign green energy companies seem determined to drive us off the water and lay waste to the communities that depend on fishing. If their well-laid development plans succeed, biblical calamity will follow for working people across New England. Consider the mechanics of fishing. Photos, Video, >click to read< 10:06
