Author Archives: borehead - Moderator
Hurricane Ian makes landfall, causes ‘catastrophic storm surge, winds and flooding’ in southwest Florida
Hurricane Ian weakened slightly again late Wednesday afternoon but remained a dangerous Category 4 storm with top winds of 140 mph. The storm. which previously produced top winds of 155 mph, is forecast to weaken further as it travels up the Florida peninsula, according to a 5 p.m. update from the National Hurricane Center. In 12 hours, the storm’s winds are expected to fall to 85 mph, making the storm a Category 1 hurricane. “It will still pack a formidable punch as it moves across the state of Florida along the I-4 corridor in the next couple of days,” Video, photos, >click to read< 17:57
North Carolina: New quota cuts Southern flounder fishing off in one week, frustrating fishermen
Maurice Mann, a commercial fisherman, expressed his frustration. Maurice and his son Jasper Mann were geared up for a good season of flounder fishing, getting new nets and catching around 100 pounds of Eastern Carolina’s popular sea dwellers. After less than a week on the water, they found themselves thousands of dollars in the hole when their buyer told them the Division of Marine Fisheries said to reel it in. They were told the number of flounder they allowed to be caught commercially in September had already been met. Video, >click to read< 14:34
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 72′ Shrimper with freezer hold, Cat 3412
To review specifications, information, and 23 photos’, >click here<, To see all the boats in this series >click here< 12:00
Newfoundland fishers face livelihood questions after Fiona storm damage
Colourful fishing stages bobbed in the water by Rose Blanche-Harbour Le Cou Tuesday as Cliff Bateman watched from his property. Days earlier, the picturesque buildings that are used to land and process fish were upright before post-tropical storm Fiona swept them into the ocean by the southwestern Newfoundland town. Bateman watched the storm toss them through the water. “It’s a big loss, I tell you that,” he said from inside his kitchen. The now-retired fisherman said he stored a priceless accumulation of gear and history inside the structures that were passed down through his family, some built over 100 years ago. >click to read< 10:08
During lone scoping webinar, lobstermen tell NOAA cuts will devastate communities
State officials and Maine lobstermen were not shy when they addressed officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Tuesday night in a scoping webinar held to take public comment after NOAA accelerated the timeline for cuts to the industry. The scoping webinar was the only opportunity provided by NOAA for stakeholders to communicate directly with the agency during the development of additional new measures meant to protect right whales. NOAA accelerated the timeline for risk reduction over what was initially presented in the finalized biological opinion. That document spelled out major cuts to the industry over what was supposed to be a decade. Now, the lobster fishery will need to achieve a 90% risk reduction under phase two of the plan, instead of phase three…much earlier than previously expected. >click to read< 09:14
Fishing regulators shoot down scallop leasing plan
In a ballroom overlooking Gloucester Harbor, the council regulating New England’s fisheries rejected a controversial proposal on Tuesday to develop a leasing program in the region’s lucrative scallop fishery after failing to agree on the presented motions. The New England Fishery Management Council deliberated on three motions for more than two hours, with all three failing. The latest leasing push comes 12 years after a proposal to allow it was defeated in a close 9-to-7 council vote, with one member abstaining. New Bedford fishermen and permit owners were at the hotel hours before the council took up the leasing issue. The opposition has been largely centralized in the city, driven by the crew and some vessel owners who fear leasing is the first step toward further consolidation. Photos, >click to read< 07:40
Elliott Neese on ‘Deadliest Catch’ Sentenced to Federal Prison for Dealing Heroin
In December 2019, Elliott Neese sold heroin to a CI (confidential informant). That led to a search warrant that uncovered 160 grams of heroin, some meth, drug scales, guns, a cash-counting machine, and items “used in the distribution of narcotics”. The Deadliest Catch star immediately confessed to being part of a larger narcotics ring operating on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska and said he mostly sold heroin. Sealed documents further complicate matters. What was clear from the outset is that Elliott was a small cog in a larger drug-selling operation. Prosecutors asked for a stiffer sentence because he was selling heroin in a small community, at high risk for narcotics issues. >click to read< 20:01
Public Advisory: Hurricane Fiona Incident Command Centre Established; Registration Details for Canadian Red Cross
In the aftermath of Hurricane Fiona, an Incident Command Centre team has been established to assist communities in southwestern Newfoundland. For impacted individuals that are in need of supports, it is critical that they register with the Canadian Red Cross by calling toll-free at 1-800-863-6582 or visiting the emergency shelter at St. James Regional High School located at 200 Hardys Arterial Road, Channel-Port aux Basques. >click to read< 17:31
Hurricane Ian Public Advisory
At 200 PM EDT (1800 UTC), the center of Hurricane Ian was located near latitude 23.5 North, longitude 83.3 West. Ian is moving toward the north near 10 mph (17 km/h), and this motion is expected to continue today. A turn toward the north-northeast with a reduction in forward speed is forecast tonight and Wednesday. On the forecast track, the center of Ian is expected to move over the southeastern Gulf of Mexico today, pass west of the Florida Keys later tonight, and approach the west coast of Florida within the hurricane warning area on Wednesday and Wednesday night. >click to read< For graphics and forecasting, >click here< 16:00
Group that claims catching lobsters is harmful to whales draws sharp rebuke in Gloucester
Nothing says “Massachusetts, or really “New England”, like a lobster. But our iconic crustacean just got a failing grade from an environmental group. The Seafood Watch Project, which operates out of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, put lobster on their red list. This is devastating news at Cape Ann Lobstermen, a Gloucester facility that processes up to 40,000 pounds of locally caught lobster a day. “The lobster industry is probably the biggest fishing industry left in this area,” said company president Tessa Browne. “There’s probably 150+ boats in this harbor that come and go on a daily basis who have 1-2 crewmen who support their families.” “We’re being unfairly targeted when the main culprit is ship strikes,” said lobsterman Richard Black. Video, >click to read< 14:00
Unanimous N.C. Appeals Court Rules State Can Be Sued for Failing to Protect Fishing Rights
The decision could eventually lead to new restrictions on commercial fishing. The Appeals Court agreed to affirm a trial judge’s ruling in the case, Coastal Conservation Association v. State of N.C. The trial court had rejected the state’s attempt to have the case thrown out because of sovereign immunity. “Plaintiffs alleged the State breached this constitutional duty by ‘mismanaging North Carolina’s coastal fisheries resources.’ Specifically, Plaintiffs alleged the State has mismanaged the fisheries by ‘permitting, sanctioning, and even protecting two methods of harvesting coastal finfish and shrimp in State public waters’ — shrimp trawling and ‘unattended’ gillnetting,,, >click to read< 12:49
Letter to the Editor: The big-money green-lie
Dear Editor: It’s the big-money green-lie. Maine lobstermen are not killing whales. Progressive, woke Democrats climate change scams are killing the heart and soul of Maine. No evidence. Zero whales have been killed in this century by lobster gear entanglements. Solar and wind equal a financial bonanza for politicians, long-standing innocuous traditions are standing (fishing) in their way. No leadership. Elected officials sworn-in to represent and protect are cashing-in on special interest, new-green deal-threats that do not exist. >click to read< By Dave Gregg
North Carolina: Two events set to pay tribute to fishing industry, families
Fishers, families and friends are set to gather Sunday morning for the 25th Blessing of the Fleet in Morehead City, a time set aside to honor and remember those who work and have worked in the commercial fishing industry. The Blessing of the Fleet is a nondenominational religious service that begins at 10 a.m. at the Morehead City state port and will include the “Throwing of the Wreath for Fishermen Everywhere” and a procession of fishing vessels. The service takes places during the North Carolina Seafood Festival this weekend in downtown Morehead City. In the event of inclement weather, the blessing will not take place. >click to read< 10:07
The west Cumbria fishing family saved by social media
When fisherman John McAvoy goes to work, he is gone for days. After two nights at sea and precious little sleep he returns to sell his catch. These days the first in line are the local customers who, following the siren call of social media, saved him and his boat when Covid threatened to sink his livelihood. But Covid put paid to that odd market symmetry, halting the transport of seafood to buyers in France and Spain and shutting restaurants. Were it not for John’s daughters, and their youthful affinity with social media, that might have been the end of the line for him. Photos, >click to read< 08:50
With thousands of traps lost to Fiona, N.B. lobster fishermen ask for extended season
The fishing season for Zone 25, which includes fishermen along the Northumberland Strait in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, began on Aug. 9 and was scheduled to end on Oct. 12, said Luc LeBlanc, an advisor with the Maritime Fishermen’s Union. However, with early reports those fishermen may have lost about half of all of their lobster traps, LeBlanc said the plan is to ask the Department of Fisheries and Oceans for the season to be extended until at least Oct. 15. LeBlanc said there are 388 lobster fishermen in Zone 25, with each using 250 traps at a time. That means around 42,000 traps are unaccounted for. >click to read< 07:35
Reminder: Scoping Meeting for the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan on Tuesday, 4:30 PM
We will be conducting a virtual scoping meeting to collect public input on modifications to the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan to reduce the risk of death and serious injury caused by U.S. commercial fishing gear to endangered North Atlantic right whales in compliance with the mandates of the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Register to attend the virtual public scoping meeting. >Click to read the notice< and access the links. 16:45
North Carolina Fisheries Association: Weekly Update for September 12, 2022
Last week the US House Committee on Natural Resources marked up a bill on the Magnuson Act reauthorization. The late Congressman from Alaska, Don Young, was pushing for a different version that most of the commercial industry supported, but after he died a different version has been pushed. Named “Sustaining America’s Fisheries for the Future Act or HR 4690, the bill is up for final committee approval on September 29th. Previous reauthorizations were more of a bi-partisan effort, but this is more partisan with Democrats supporting the bill and Republicans opposing. >click to read<. To read all the updates >click here<, for older updates listed as NCFA >click here< 15:50
It’s now or never for Maine’s lobster industry
Driving through and around Belfast on Sunday, I was struck by the half-dozen or so desolated chicken farms. In my youth, Waldo County’s poultry business had gone belly-up. But it seemed more poignant now. Maybe it was because I’ve been stewing over the threat Maine lobster’s industry today faces from an unholy alliance of the federal government and out-of-state special interest groups. Killing Maine’s iconic lobster-fishery is both immoral and unnecessary. Unlike Waldo County’s chicken industry, which in the late 1970s and early 1980s succumbed to competition from Arkansas and Delaware, it is not market forces that Maine lobstermen fear so much as boycotts and excessive regulation based on unproven science. >click to read< By Sam Patten 12:26
Former New Bedford Fisherman Manuel F. “Manny” Machado has passed away
Manuel F. “Manny” Machado, 77, of Fairhaven passed away unexpectedly Thursday, September 22, 2022 at St. Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford. He was the loving companion of Diane E. Rocha of Fairhaven and the former husband of the late Bertha (Frias) Machado. Born and raised in Furnas, St. Michael, Azores, Portugal, son of the late Jose Manuel Machado and Teresa Maria (Vieira) Machado, he came to New Bedford in 1969 and settled in Fairhaven seven years ago. Manny served in the Army in Portugal and later worked as a commercial fisherman for many years on several fishing vessels from New Bedford Harbor. He was a member of the New Bedford Fisherman’s Club and was an avid bird watcher. >click to read< 11:29
Fiona Leaves Wake of Devastation for Inshore Harvesters
The damage left in Fiona’s wake has impacted multiple enterprises, leaving significant damage to gear, boats, motors, and sheds. FFAW-Unifor is seeking financial support from federal and provincial governments to assist these inshore harvesters in their rebuilding efforts. “The damage from Fiona has been felt in particular by folks located between La Poile and Port aux Basques. Some inshore harvesters have lost all their gear, motors, boats, and sheds – just washed away with the storm. As small-scale operators, they have no financial recourse through traditional insurance channels and we are therefore asking for financial relief from our federal and provincial governments,” explains FFAW-Unifor Secretary-Treasurer, Jason Spingle. >click to read< 10:17
Body found as Canada struggles to restore power after storm – ‘Everything is unusable’
Hundreds of thousands of people in Atlantic Canada remained without power Sunday and officials said they found the body of a woman swept into the sea after former Hurricane Fiona washed away houses, stripped off roofs and blocked roads across the country’s Atlantic provinces. After surging north from the Caribbean, Fiona came ashore before dawn Saturday as a post-tropical cyclone, battering Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Quebec with hurricane-strength winds, rains and waves. >click to read<
‘Everything is unusable’: Fishers, farmers assess damage as Fiona wreaks havoc on industry – Officials have said areas exposed to storm surges have seen the most severe damage from the storm. In Morell, the Red Head Harbour wharf was almost completely totalled. Ken Drake was one of the fishers who spent Friday night there keeping an eye on their boats. He said all the boats have at least some damage. >click to read< 08:05
NEFMC to decide next moves on scallop license allocation leasing in Gloucester Tuesday
Scallop allocation leasing, the practice of boat owners selling days and tonnage from a fishing license to other vessel owners to harvest in restricted zones, has been at the center of debate in the Port of New Bedford since the NEFMC held two scoping meetings at the New Bedford Whaling Museum on May 11 and May 25 respectively. NEFMC invited stakeholders to attend nine meetings in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey, North Carolina, Virginia, and two webinars. According to the Council, the vast majority, 78%, of the 286 commenters (several repeated, inflating the total number to 305) spoke against the proposed allocation leasing project during the scoping process. >click to read< 14:45
Regulators to vote on controversial scallop leasing plan Tuesday – After months of heated debate between scallop fleet owners, captains and crew, fisheries regulators are set to decide on a proposal to allow leasing in New England’s lucrative scallop fishery. More than 75% of the nearly 300 people who commented during the public process said they opposed leasing — most of them captains and crew out of New Bedford, >click to read<
Devastation in the fishing harbors of the Islands
From Grande-Entrée to Havre-Aubert, it is the devastation in the fishing ports subjected to the onslaught of the waves which, under the breath of the post-tropical cyclone Fiona, reach six to eight meters, according to Environment Canada. In the harbor of Pointe-Basse, among others, the water level was so high on Saturday morning, at high tide, that the cords of the wharf were torn off. Germain Cyr, captain of the “Double 00” from Grande-Entrée, said he had tears in his eyes when he went to the wharf on Saturday morning. He says that the sea completely destroyed the dyke, which served as shelter for the sector. His boat may have come out of the water, but he doesn’t believe it is sheltered from the wind, leaning against its supports. >click to read< 12:16
DFO says sorry after lobster lecture goes awry – “Simply leave them there”
While a storm of historic proportions was making landfall in Atlantic Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada decided it would be a good time to remind Canadians they’re not allowed to eat any lobsters they find on the shore. “Simply leave them there,” the government agency posted on Twitter. After a few hours of getting ridiculed on Twitter, Fisheries and Oceans deleted the Tweet and followed up with an apology. >click to read< 09:35
F/V Harvest Reaper for Sale – “Undoubtedly the finest under 10m trawler produced by a UK yard”
Harvest Reaper was built in 1988 for top Newlyn inshore skipper Bob Yeo to incorporate his ideas on how to get the most out of an under 10m boat. She was built by Abels in Bristol who had a reputation both for solid construction and innovative design. Their partnership created a roomy multi-purpose vessel capable of both stern and beam trawling. Her massive beam and draught created a stable boat that allowed for a forward engine room and large 160 box fishroom resulting in a quiet 4-berth accommodation aft. Photos, video, >click to read< 08:24
Coast Guard Sector Jacksonville sets port condition Whiskey for Port of Jacksonville, Fernandina for Tropical Storm Ian
Effective 8 p.m. Saturday, the Coast Guard Captain of the Port for Jacksonville (COTP) set port condition Whiskey for the Port of Jacksonville and Fernandina due to the earliest Tropical Strom Fore Winds arriving within 72 hours. These ports and facilities are currently open to all commercial traffic and all transfer operations may continue while Whiskey remains in effect. If and when port condition Yankee is set, meaning sustained Tropical Storm Force winds are expected within 24 hours, vessel movement shall be restricted, and all movement must be approved by the caption of the port. The Coast Guard is warning the public of these important safety messages: >click to read< 07:32
Menhaden fleet provides flashback in Lewes history
Although the industry has roots as far back as the late 19th century in Lewes, it was Otis Smith, who was also elected mayor, who revolutionized the industry during the first half of the 20th century up until the mid-1960s when the fishery was depleted. It’s hard to believe today, but in 1953, Lewes was the largest seafood port in the United States, processing more than 390 million pounds of fish, of which 360 million pounds was menhaden. Lewes was a factory town. There was no discrimination in the industry as good-paying jobs were provided for whites and Blacks. Many seasonal workers, mostly from Virginia and North Carolina, also came to Lewes to work during the fishing season from April through October. At its zenith, the Lewes operation landed more pounds of fish than any other fishery in the United States. Photos, >click to read< 15:26
Port aux Basques declares state of emergency as Hurricane Fiona destroys multiple homes, floods streets
A social media post by former provincial cabinet minister Steve Kent claiming one person had been swept out to sea in Port aux Basques because of Hurricane Fiona has been shared nearly 3000 times as of 12:42 p.m. According to RCMP media relations officer Jolene Garland, a report has been received that a woman was washed out into the ocean in Port aux Basques when her home collapsed. Photos, Video clips, >click to read< 13:00
These young black men catch more than lobsters. They also catch a break
At 15, Cristiano Silva thought he might spend the summer working at a McDonald’s near his home on the outskirts of Portland, Maine, and help with household expenses. Instead, he found himself on a lobster boat called the Sea Smoke, out among Casco Bay’s rocky islands. One breezy day on the boat last month, Cris scrunched his nose and placed a fist-size mesh bait bag full of smelly herring inside a wire lobster trap. This spring he and three other Black teens were recruited from area high schools to learn how to lobster in a new program called “Lift All Boats.” >click to read< 11:06
Southeastern fishery closures floated for 2023 federal right whale rule
Don’t call them “proposals,” but four draft packages arose this week in high-level brainstorming sessions among scientists and fishers on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team. The task force’s purpose is to lead the effort to save North Atlantic right whales from extinction. The ultimate goal is a 90% risk reduction to North Atlantic right whales in U.S. waters. “It’s mandated by the Marine Mammal Protection Act, so this isn’t optional,” said Colleen Coogan, branch chief for the Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Team in the Protected Resources Division of the NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office. “This is a legal mandate.” >click to read< 10:01
