Hendrika Jacoba GY-127 – The Latest in Stellendam Yard’s Trawler/ Seiner Series
Klaas van den Berg and his family have taken delivery of the new Hendrika Jacoba GY-127, the latest in an ongoing series of fly-shooter/twin-riggers coming from the Padmos yard. In the fishing company’s forty-year history, this is the first newbuild, and the 24.95 metre overall, 8.50 metre breadth 
Hendrika Jacoba replaces a 40-metre former beamer built in 1982 as GO-38, which was initially converted to work as a twin-rigger before a subsequent refit added fly-shooting capacity. The deck is laid out with split netdrums mounted in the aft gantry and the seine/trawl winches are controlled by a Marelec trawl computer with options for automatic modes. photo’s, information, >click to read< 13:15
‘Bad things can happen on nice days’: Lobster season safety takeaways
Neil LeBlanc still remembers the moment he and a crew member made eye contact after the man had been pulled overboard from their lobster vessel. A rope was clenched in the man’s hand. “I remember him looking right at me. As soon as we made eye contact, he was gone.” LeBlanc knows from experience how fast you can disappear from the deck of a vessel.,, But that calm April day in 2016, LeBlanc says, also shows how things can go wrong at any time. As soon as their crew member Wayne Jacquard had gone overboard that day, as soon as their eye contact had been made, LeBlanc was turning the boat around to retrieve their man. Helping him onboard with the rescue was crew member Alderic DeViller, known to his friends as Beef (his nickname). >click to read< 10:30
Resolute Delivered To Fraserburgh Owners
Pelagic trawler Resolute BF-50 has been delivered to owners Castlehill in Fraserburgh, calling in its home port for the first time the delivery trip from Spain, before heading for fishing grounds and landing its first trip in Norway. The order for the new Resolute was placed in November 2018, with the 69.80 metre LOA by 14.60 metre breadth newbuild replacing a Norwegian-built vessel of the same name, while the owners this time opted to build in Spain. >click to read< 09:09
Past lobster season openers starts and misses in southwestern Nova Scotia
There are years the opening of the lobster fishery off southwestern Nova Scotia goes off without a hitch, but not always. The season is always slated to start on the last Monday of November, but sometimes the weather says otherwise. The opening day, when fishermen head to sea to set their traps, is known as dumping day. After traps have been set, boats can start hauling their catches at one minute after midnight, when day two gets underway. Here’s a look at some past season openers. 2015: Good start, good price – The lobster season got off to a good start with decent opening day weather and better yet, a better price than in previous years. Fishermen were being paid around $6 a pound for their landings. photos, >click to read< 07:49
Charleston Fishing Families looks to help prepare for Christmas during tough crabbing year
The Charleston crabbing community in Coos Bay is hit hard yet again, not only with COVID, but with another delay to the start of the season this year. Crab season is delayed to December 16th and there is always the possibility of that changing. That’s why the Charleston Fishing Families organization is stepping up to help their community during the holiday season. “We’re going to provide the Christmas breakfast, dinner, and toys for the kids this year,”,,, The nonprofit is accepting applications for this holiday program. They are looking to help 25 commercial fishing families, and families associated with the industry, like dock workers,, >video, click to read< 17:41
Lobster: the last, best fishery – Part 2, The new cod?
“Another likely contributing factor is the large amount of food the fishery provides to lobsters, as many lobsters escape traps after having fed on its bait; it has been said that we are basically ranching lobsters,” says Rochette. Also, as reported in Part 1, increasing water temperature has so far been 
favourable to lobsters in Canada, given we are in the northern part of the species’ range. But for how long can that last, as waters continue to warm? And what lessons have we learned from the collapse of the groundfish stocks? Could lobsters be the new cod? photos, graphs, video, even Boris Worm! >click to read< 13:18
Pretty Rugged: Camden author’s book spotlights women of the fishing industry
For the past two years, Camden author Ali Farrell has poured her all into her second book, a book showcasing the strength of Maine’s female fishermen, entitled Pretty Rugged: True Stories From Women of the Sea. Originally slated to be released in June, the book is finally available for preorder with shipments anticipated in time for Christmas after the pandemic delayed some photoshoots and tagalongs on fishing boats. As the book nears its release, Farrell is abundantly thankful to the lobstermen allowed her and her team to document their lifestyle, and for her team, including many photographers traveling hours to wharf locations to withstand various conditions on the water. photos, >click to read< 11:09:34
Lights will shine around the world for lost Brixham fishermen
The mothers of the two fishermen lost at sea have both welcomed calls for a plaque to be erected to their sons on the beautiful Man and Boy statue on Brixham harbour. And fishing communities around the world will be shining lights in a mass event on December 5 in memory of Adam Harper and Robert Morley, lost when the Joanna C capsized. A plan to turn out all the lights in a two minute silence was called off after Adam’s mother revealed that her son was afraid of the dark and asked people to shine a light instead in his honour. On Saturday December 5 at 6.14pm – to mirror the time of Saturday morning’s 6.14am distress call – people in Brixham are being asked to shine lights into the air in tribute. >click to read< 09:23
Replenishment, or Misguided Retribution?! Trouble brewing ahead of start to Nova Scotia fall lobster season
The recent seizure of lobster traps in St. Marys Bay by federal officials could lead to big trouble on the water. Chief Mike Sack of the Sipekne’katik First Nation says Indigenous fishers whose traps were taken last weekend and on Wednesday will replace them by taking the traps of commercial fishers when the fall season opens Monday in southwestern Nova Scotia, a huge event known as Dumping Day. “Dumping Day is going to be about 400,000 traps that our people get to pick from to replenish our traps,” Sack said in an interview, referring to the start of Canada’s largest and most lucrative lobster fishery. >video, click to read< 08:02
Tension could rise again on Monday in lobster dispute on east coast – The ongoing dispute between Indigenous and non-native lobster fishers could get tense once again. Last weekend, and on Wednesday, agents from Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) seized hundreds of Indigenous lobster traps, ostensibly because the traps were set before the season opens on Monday.. >click to read<
DFO officers seize 500 lobster traps in St. Marys Bay
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans says enforcement officers are going back to St. Marys Bay in southwestern Nova Scotia where they seized hundreds of lobster traps on the weekend in an area used by Mi’kmaw fishermen. Todd Somerville, DFO’s director of conservation and protection for the Maritimes, said 500 traps were seized for a variety of violations. “Untagged gear, improperly configured gear, gear that hadn’t been tended in a while. There was gear where dead lobsters were found. Over 6,000 lobsters, live lobsters, were returned,,, >click to read< 18:17
Richmond herring sale for kids with cancer next week
Fishermen Helping Kids with Cancer (FHKWC) is hosting their 10th annual herring sale to benefit the BC Children’s Hospital Foundation on Dec. 5. Every year, FHKWC hosts a herring sale to raise funds towards purchasing books, musical instruments, laptops, games and other gifts to make the experience of kids receiving cancer treatment more comfortable. >click to read< 15:32
There are four gofundme pages our readers should be aware of for the Families of F/V Emmy Rose
We have four gofundme pages to post for review, and the first is Rosalee Varian’s fundraiser, Supporting FV EmmyRose fishermen’s families. F/V EmmyRose four fishermen’s families – We have set up this page to support the families of the F/V EmmyRose and to ease their financial burden. The F/V EmmyRose sank early Monday morning, November 23, off the Massachusetts coast. >click to read<, and please donate if you can.13:28
Celebrating Ethan’s Life – Patricia Donahue is organizing this fundraiser, It’s with heavy hearts we start to find a way to navigate this road of grief that we have been dropped on. Ethan Matthew Ward was a hard worker, a loving father, dedicated boyfriend, an honest friend, and man any family member could be proud of. He fought his own demons but never let them define him. He pushed himself to be better and do better for his family, >click to read< and please donate if you can.
Ashley Gross and Michael Porper – Graham Hults is organizing this fundraiser, Of her crew was a Michael Porper, who is the love of Ashley Gross, a lifelong resident of Peaks Island. Ashley and Michael are the parents of Grace, their daughter. This fund is being established to provide support for Ashley and her daughter. >click to read<, and please donate if you can.
Funeral service expenses Jeff Matthews – Jeff Jmath is organizing this fundraiser. Jeff Matthews lost his life at sea. Doing what he loved to do, fishing. He spent his life out on boats, working hard. There isn’t a person that knows him that wouldn’t tell you he was one of the hardest workers they have met. >click to read<, and please donate if you can.
Lobster: the last, best fishery – Stocks are healthy, but why?
In the early 2000s, while he was working on one of Clearwater Seafoods’ four offshore lobster boats in Lobster Fishing Area (LFA) 41, Frank – not his real name – was deeply impressed by the incredible lobster catches, and the incredible size of the lobsters. Frank tells the Halifax Examiner that at the time there hadn’t been a lot of lobster fishing in LFA 41, and it wasn’t until 2007 that Clearwater obtained the last of its eight licences, which gave it a 
monopoly on offshore lobster. The boat Frank was on would fish with 27 strings of gear, and each of those had 125 traps for a total of 3,375 traps. They would fish close to the 50-mile line, which divided the offshore from the inshore fishery. Frank remembers when on a single day in the fall of 2005, they landed 28,000 lobsters. Part 1. >click to read< 11:05
Bering Sea red king crab in high demand
Gabriel Prout, owner of Alibi Seafoods and part-owner of the F/V Silver Spray, brought 175 king crab totaling 1,000 pounds to the docks last week, which he and his crew had caught in the Bering Sea. After the F/V Silver Spray delivered their 28,000-pound quota of crab to a seafood processor, they were free to deliver the extra unblocked quota to whomever they wanted. Cars lined up for the next six hours until the crab sold out. Prout, who owns and operates the Silver Spray with his family and a friend, brought back triple the amount of crab as last year to sell at the docks. >click to read< 09:43
Fishermen vow to prevent construction of Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm – would rather die than allow it to go ahead
French fishermen have declared that they would rather die fighting than allow a fully approved offshore wind farm to be built off Brittany, and have vowed to take direct action to prevent construction. The row has led the French wind industry to write to President Emmanuel Macron, warning that it is being “held hostage to sterile debates’ led by organisations “stirring up false fears’ about renewable energy. The fishermen’s association from the nearby British island of Jersey is supporting their French counterparts’ opposition to Saint-Brieuc, arguing that the project would push French fishing boats out of their territorial waters and into UK waters. >click to read< 08:47
Coast Guard medevacs chief engineer 70 miles northwest of Saint Paul Island, Alaska
The Coast Guard medevaced a fisherman from a commercial fishing vessel approximately 70 miles northwest of Saint Paul, Tuesday. An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Air Station Kodiak safely hoisted the 43-year-old man, at approximately 12:25 p.m., and transferred him to awaiting emergency medical services personnel in Saint Paul Island for further transport to Anchorage. At 7 p.m. Monday, 17th District command center watchstanders received a medevac request from F/V Frontier Spirit for the chief engineer who was experiencing abdominal pain. >video, click to read< 15:30
Trump Dumps Pebble – administration denies permit
The Trump administration on Wednesday denied a permit for a controversial gold and copper mine near the headwaters of the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery in southwest Alaska. The Army Corps of Engineers said in a statement that the permit application to build the Pebble Mine was denied under both the Clean Water Act and the Rivers and Harbors Act., The agency “concluded that the proposed project is contrary to the public interest,” according to the statement from Col. Damon Delarosa, commander of the corps’ Alaska district. >click to read< 14:41
Marine Board of Investigation: Coast Guard looking for details regarding F/V Scandies Rose ahead of public hearing
After almost a year of investigation into the Dec. 31, 2019, sinking of the F/V Scandies Rose that left only two survivors, investigators are still looking for information before a public hearing in February. The Coast Guard’s Marine Board of Investigation will hold a public hearing into the loss of the F/V Scandies Rose from Feb. 22 through March 5. The public hearing will be recorded and livestreamed for those who cannot attend in person. The MBI is looking into why the 130-foot crabber sank near Sutwik Island on New Year’s Eve, which resulted in the deaths of five crew members,,, The MBI also has the testimonies of the two survivors, Dean Gribble Jr. and John Lawler, who were found floating in high seas and freezing temperatures. >click to read< 13:25
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: Aluminum 48′ Purse Seiner, (2) 425HP John Deere Diesels, 16 KW Generator
To review specifications, and information, and 4 photos >click here<, To see all the boats in this series. Seller is encouraging offers for a quick sale. >click here<12:29
Extended Closure of CA Dungeness Crab Fishing Season Will Hurt Working Families, Eliminate Holiday Crab Traditions
“Since mid-November, fishermen have had to sit idle at the dock and accept delays in the opening of their crab season due to the new, highly restrictive and unfair RAMP rules. “And now the season is being postponed for a full month,” said Ben Platt, president of the California Coast Crab Association (CCCA). Called the Risk Assessment Mitigation Program (RAMP), the new CDFW rules are more restrictive than even the strictest fishery laws in the nation,,, Our fishery is having zero impact on the species,,, “This is a huge success story, and in light of it, the new regulations constitute a solution in the absence of any real problem,” >click to read< 11:29
Whole Foods Recalls Popcorn Chicken That May Contain Shellfish
On Monday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) posted a company announcement from Whole Foods Market recalling its “Popcorn chicken with sweet chili sauce” because it may contain undeclared shellfish, specifically shrimp. According to the announcement, the problem was discovered because of a customer complaint and one illness has since been reported. Since shellfish is one of the most common food allergens, it is one of the eight allergens that the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004 requires to be presented, in clear language, on the labels of products that contain it. Anyone with questions about the recall may contact Whole Foods Market at 1-844-936-8255. >click to read< 09:28
Coast Guard confirms identities of missing F/V Emmy Rose Captain and Crew
The Coast Guard has confirmed the identities of the four missing fishermen from Maine whose vessel sank off the coast of Massachusetts early Monday. The four men aboard the Portland-based Emmy Rose were first identified by WCSH/WLBZ on Tuesday evening as Jeff Matthews, Ethan Ward, Michael Porper and Robert Blethen. Petty Officer Amanda Myrick confirmed their identities late Tuesday and said that Blethen was the captain of the vessel owned by Rink Varian. The 82-foot Emmy Rose and its crew were on a multiday trip to catch groundfish such as haddock, pollock and flounder. They left Portland late last week and were believed to be heading to Gloucester, Massachusetts, to unload their catch when they ran into trouble early Monday. >click to read< 07:15
Candlelight vigil held for missing Maine fishermen – There was a candlelight vigil held Wednesday night for four Maine fishermen lost at sea, as the Coast Guard announced it had suspended the search. >video. click to read< 18:49
F/V Emmy Rose: U.S. Coast Guard suspends search for four missing fishermen off the coast of Massachusetts
BOSTON — The Coast Guard suspended the active search for four missing fishermen off the coast of Massachusetts, 5:22 p.m., Tuesday. “The decision to suspend a search is never an easy one. Our crews conducted searches continuously for over 38 hours covering an area of approximately 2066 square miles,” said Capt. Wesley Hester, Search and Rescue mission coordination, Coast Guard’s First District. “We extend our condolences to the friends and loved ones of these fishermen during this trying time.” >click to read the press release< 19:04
A young black man and a white commercial boat owner made a deal to go fishin’ for tuition. It shouldn’t have worked.
First day of a new job rarely is easy. First day of a job on a commercial fishing boat in southwest Alaska is soul-scorching. “I can handle cleaning,” Jawanza Brown said. “I can handle heavy lifting. I can handle the hard work, you constantly get slapped in the face by a fish because it’s still alive and wants to swim away. But in the nitty gritty, I don’t know what it is, when I have to bleed a fish and put it (in the refrigerated saltwater hold) 2,000 times day, then the slime builds up and eventually, you slip, and you’re on your knees. Every June, the young Black man leaves his Flint MI., home to keep his bargain with an old white boat captain from Bellingham: Six weeks of what Brown calls “pretty crude work” in exchange for the income to pay for four years of college and a chance to have a piece of the world. photos, >click to read< , From June 5, 2017, From Flint to Alaska, Fishing for Hope – >click here< 15:08
Opposition mounts to proposal to close part of Cook Inlet to salmon fishing
The southern half of Cook Inlet will have a new fishery management plan in under a month. Commercial fishermen are organizing with the help of their city councils to make sure that plan is not the proposed “Alternative 4,” which would close off federal waters south of Kalgin Island to commercial salmon fishing. “I hate to be overdramatic in a lot of cases, but you could almost call it a deathknell for drift fishing in Cook Inlet,” he said. The North Pacific Fisheries Management Council is taking public comment on the matter until 5 p.m. Friday. As of Monday, over 80 commenters had voiced opposition to Alternative 4,,, >click to read< 11:32
Breaking: Body of missing commercial fisherman Adam Harper has been found, and recovered
The body of a fisherman has been recovered after a trawler capsized off the Sussex coast. Police said divers brought the body of 26-year-old Adam Harper, from Brixham, Devon, up from the wreck of the Joanna C on Monday night. Another fisherman, Robert Morley, 38, of Pembrokeshire is still missing after the boat sank on Saturday. A spokesman for the Sussex Police said: “Our thoughts are with their families at this time.” >click to read< 09:35
Flagship Fisheries Bill, The Fisheries Act 2020, becomes law
Yesterday the UK’s first major domestic fisheries legislation in nearly 40 years passed into law. The Fisheries Act 2020 gives the UK full control of its fishing waters for the first time since 1973. The Fisheries Act will enable the UK to control who fishes in our waters through a new foreign vessel licencing regime and ends the current automatic rights for EU vessels to fish in UK waters. Underpinning everything in the Act is a commitment to sustainability, ensuring healthy seas for future generations of fishermen. >click to read< 08:24
Canada orders temporary fishery closure in the Roseway Basin after detecting North Atlantic right whales
The latest order, issued Monday, closes several fisheries until further notice and could affect the lucrative commercial lobster fishery when the season opens next week.,, Since Nov. 9, acoustic sensors on board a marine glider cruising the area made 11 separate right whale detections.,,, Whales behavior is not understood. Because of a forecast for bad weather, fishermen have been given until Thursday to remove gear from parts of the Roseway Basin where the whales were most recently detected. The implications for the lobster fishery are potentially dramatic. Lobster Fishing Areas 33 and 34 from Halifax to Digby are the most valuable in Canada. >click to read< 07:24
Coast Guard continues search for crew of Maine based fishing boat that sank off Massachusetts
The Coast Guard said it is looking for four people in the water after the 82-foot vessel sank at about 1 a.m. Officials said a helicopter crew and Coast Guard cutter were sent to the vessel’s last known location and found debris and an empty life raft. “They found the debris field and an empty life raft. As of now, there’s no signs of the vessel or the people who were on board,” The Coast Guard said at least one of its ships will remain in the area through the night to continue searching. >click to read<
Video, Search for 4 Maine Fishermen Off Mass. Coast Continues – The United States Coast Guard spent Monday searching for four Maine fishermen off the coast of Provincetown, Massachusetts. “He’s the best fisherman that’s out there”, “a very determined man, he’s been lost in the water before”,,, >click to watch<19:23
How DFO implementation of Marshall dealt a blow to both Indigenous self-governance and community-based fishing
It’s been two months since Sipekne’katik First Nation launched its own self-regulated lobster fishery off the Saulnierville wharf in Southwest Nova Scotia 21 years after the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in the Marshall decision, affirming the 1760-61 Treaty Rights of the Mi’kmaq to fish for a “moderate livelihood.” For their part, some non-Indigenous commercial fishers say they’re angry that conservation measures that have been adopted by the fishery, are not being followed by Indigenous fishers or enforced by DFO.,,, For the sake of the Mi’kmaq, the small inshore fishing communities, and the lobster stocks, let’s just hope that this time around the real Marshall decision finally gets implemented. >click here for this Big Read!< 12:42
