Author Archives: borehead - Moderator
P.E.I.-N.S. ferry cancelled for a 2nd day after fire aboard ship forced evacuation Friday
Ferry trips on the route connecting Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island have been cancelled for a second day after a fire on Friday forced an emergency evacuation of a vessel’s passengers. More than 200 people were safely evacuated from MV Holiday Island after a fire broke out in the vessel’s engine room at around 11 a.m. Cormier said there were no injuries to passengers or crew. Myles MacDonald, an auxiliary Coast Guard member who also fishes crab and scallops out of Wood Islands, rushed to the scene in his boat when he heard the ferry had caught fire. He pulled up alongside the Holiday Island as passengers hopped down an evacuation chute into a rubber dinghy. From there, they climbed onto his fishing boat. photos, >click to read< 08:27
Fish and Game closes part of the Upper Cook Inlet to gillnet fishing
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game closed all set gillnet fishing in the Kenai, Kasilof, and East Forelands sections of Upper Cook Inlet after low counts of large king salmon passages. This is the third year in a row that the department has closed this fishery, with Ken Coleman saying it’s becoming a strain on some of those who set gillnets for a living. “We watch the fish jump by, watch everybody else having a good time doing what they do and we’re all losing money,” Coleman said. This closure impacts businesses collectively as it’s a chain reaction effect across the area. Video, >click to read< 15:07
Bodega Bay salmon fishing ‘very productive’ so far this season
On a late morning in early July, Dick Ogg stared off into a sea of gray. The 69-year-old Sonoma County local had just departed from Bodega Bay for five days of commercial salmon fishing off the coast. Heavy fog, rough waves and strong winds made this a bad time for a phone call with a reporter. He was able to talk for a few minutes though. Ogg, vice president of the Bodega Bay Fisherman’s Marketing Association, has lived in Sonoma County for 62 years and has fished for crab and salmon along the coast for more than 40 of those years. “The ocean conditions right now are probably the best we’ve seen in the last 10 years,” he said. Ogg unloaded his five-day catch in Bodega Bay on a Wednesday, about 3,500 pounds or so, “right in the middle” of the pack, he said. At $6.50 per pound, the haul comes out to more than $20,000. So far this season, “everybody’s done very well … this has been a very productive year.” Video, photos, >click to read< 12:15
Senators Demand Federal Scrutiny of Private Equity’s Incursion Into Fishing
Three U.S. senators, including two members of a Senate subcommittee that oversees the fishing industry, are calling for greater federal scrutiny of private equity’s incursion into East Coast commercial fishing. The ProPublica/New Bedford Light investigation found that a federal regulatory system known as “catch shares,” which was adopted in 2010 to reduce overfishing, has fostered private equity’s consolidation of the industry at the expense of independent fishermen. The single largest permit holder in the New England groundfish industry is Blue Harvest Fisheries, which has rights to catch 12% of groundfish, approaching the antitrust cap of 15.5%. The current antitrust cap “fails to prevent excessive consolidation in the fishery,” said Geoff Smith, one of 18 members of the New England Fishery Management Council, which advises NOAA. >click to read< 10:23
P.E.I. snow crab fishers fined for underreporting catch
Judge Nancy Orr expressed frustration at the low fines set out in the sentencing guidelines for this type of charge, saying the fines aren’t much of a disincentive if someone ends up being able to sell 20,000 pounds of snow crab that didn’t get reported as counting toward their quota. She made the remarks in relation to the sentencing of James Gavin. Court heard Gavin had an extensive record, with convictions dating back to 1995. Gavin was fined $2,500. The cases in Georgetown court Thursday followed a Department of Fisheries and Oceans investigation in Souris dating back to 2019 and 2020. It was called Operation Gannet. Both fishers and dockside monitors ended up being charged. >click to read< 08:57
Trawler tanker fire; TAIC orders Talley’s to review its maintenance procedures
Languishing in the water off the West Coast, the boat had to be towed back to shore after suffering extensive heat and smoke damage despite a quick response from the crew to bring the blaze under control. Amaltal Enterprises crew were fishing near Hokitika on July 2, last year when the main engine was shut down to fix repairs to a low-pressure fuel pipe. About 50 minutes after being restarted, an accumulator installed in the engine unwound and dislodged from its pipe connector, spraying marine diesel “at 8 bar pressure to jet upwards” all over the hot engine exhaust, sparking the fire. >click to read< 08:03
Captain Happy
He got his first boat in 1969; he named it Miss Tina. It was old, needed lots of work, and was small. He was young, somewhat handy when it came to fixing things, and she was big enough to get him started. For the next seven years he and she were part of the commercial fishing fleet that called the port of Cape May/Wildwood in New Jersey home. With a great deal of hard work, no small measure of persistence, and a clear savings plan, he positioned himself to finance a new boat. He named her Lady Christine. He is an optimistic sort by nature. His outgoing, sometimes gregarious, optimism won him the nickname Captain Happy. Shortly after Lady Christine was launched, he began training a second mate. This mate was new to the port, and she was pleased to be hired by a captain with Happy’s reputation. >click to read< 18:21
Mi’kmaw fisherman using 1752 treaty, ancestry in legal battle with DFO
Matthew Cope, 36, of the Millbrook First Nation near Truro, N.S. says he has proof Mi’kmaw Grand Chief Jean Baptiste Cope, who signed the Peace and Friendship Treaty of 1752 on behalf of the Mi’kmaq, is his direct relative. “So I have a 50-page lineage that was done up by the Confederacy (of Mainland Mi’kmaq). And it took years to make where it shows that I’m a direct descendant of Jean Baptiste Cope. So I am, in fact, the tribe of Indians that 1752 treaty signed for,” Cope explained. The Mi’kmaw fisherman says he intends to use this evidence to fight federal fishery charges against him in Digby Provincial Court. He is currently representing himself against charges that he illegally fished for lobster in waters near Digby during a closed commercial fishery. >click to read< 14:40
A fundraiser for the family of Christopher Vargas
On July 16, 2022 at 4am my brother Christopher Vargas was lost as sea. Our hearts are aching, and his children are taking the biggest hit. My brother was a shrimper and would stay out in the ocean for 30-45 days at a time to support his babies. Christopher has 6 children and 3 step children who he was all providing for and his wife. Anything would be greatly appreciated. >Please click to read< and donate whatever you can. Thank you. 11:31
Labour Minister Bernard Davis to launch review of N.L.’s price-setting system
The review follows weeks of bickering, including several harvester-led protests in recent days on the Northern Peninsula between harvesters and processors over a stalemate in the shrimp fishery that has delayed the harvest. It also comes on the heels of a decision by the provincial government to provide mediation services between the Fish, Food & Allied Workers union and the Association of Seafood Producers in hopes of resolving friction in the shrimp fishery. “It is incumbent on me, as minister responsible for labour, to ensure that we have legislation that is responsive to the needs of 
the industry,” said Davis in the release. Also in the release, Fisheries Minister Derrick Bragg said an efficient and effective price-setting system is “key to ensuring fisheries commence in a timely manner for the maximum benefit of the province’s fishing industry.” >click to read< 10:26
Ocean Choice to Purchase Shrimp at Competitive Price – Ocean Choice’s processing facility in Port aux Choix will be purchasing shrimp at a rate above the minimum price set by the Standing Fish Price-Setting Panel. >click to read<
Vessel runs aground near Naknek, prompts temporary fishing closure
After a fishing vessel washed up on shore in the Bristol Bay area near Naknek and leaked diesel fuel, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game temporarily closed commercial salmon fishing. The closure went into effect at 6 p.m. Monday and has since been rescinded. According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in King Salmon, there is a salvage crew working on the fishing tender on Naknek Beach south of Pederson Point Cannery. ADFG announced that they have removed major sources of pollutants, but a small residual sheen has been left behind. Video, >click to read< 09:24
Why are NL fishers going out of province to land their catch?
Although Port au Choix has a growing tourism industry, the fish plant is still the focal point of the harbour and it depends significantly on the fishers and their fishing boats to keep it going. The arrival of the summer shrimp fishery would usually mean this port would be buzzing with activity,,, But today, the usual thrum at the wharf is replaced with a murmur, as participants get ready to take the mic. Together, they’re rebuffing this year’s minimum price offered to fishers landing their shrimp at this plant, operated by Ocean Choice International L.P. “I was one of the first ones to land shrimp to this plant,” says long-time Flowers Cove fisher, Ren Genge, stepping up to speak. “I see people here, who were the first to shell that shrimp by hand. I’ve been here for 55 years fishing shrimp, and I’m not about to let three companies take me out of business.” Video, >click to read< 07:46
Madelinot elected officials concerned about the situation of LA Renaissance transformer
The mayor of the Magdalen Islands, Jonathan Lapierre, and the provincial deputy, Joël Arseneau, claim to have questioned the Quebec Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, André Lamontagne, about pay that the processor LA Renaissance would not have given to 67 lobster fishermen. business with the lobster fishermen amounts to a minimum of $3.7 million for their last two weeks of fishing. LA Renaissance has two processing plants in the archipelago, in Gros-Cap and Grande-Entrée. It processes and markets various products, including lobster, snow crab and scallops. >click to read< 17:33
Trudeau launches expanded oceans protection plan, with aim to reach more regions
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced new details about the federal government’s $3.5-billion plan to protect the oceans and boost coast guard facilities on the world’s longest national coastline. In its most recent budget, the government pledged to add $2 billion over nine years to the $1.5 billion already set aside for ocean protection. Speaking at a news conference on Bowen Island, B.C., Trudeau said the government had now launched an extended version of the Oceans Protection Plan. Initiatives already funded by the program include the opening of six coast guard stations in British Columbia and Newfoundland and Labrador, establishing an Indigenous-led coast guard auxiliary in B.C., the restoration of coastal aquatic habitats, and the removal and disposal of hundreds of abandoned boats. >click to read< 15:56
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 68′ Desco Dragger, Cat 3408 (2022 Complete/Major rebuild) with Permits
To review specifications, information, and 64 photos’, and video tour, >click here<, To see all the boats in this series >click here< 13:48
SEA-NL: Fish price-setting ‘fiasco’; minister did not refer complaint to labour board
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador says the province’s failure to have reports investigated that some processors may have paid less than the “binding” snow crab price further undermines government’s fish price-setting system. “Paying even one cent less than the binding price undermines government’s pricing system over the entire $1 billion-plus commercial fishing industry,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director. “Every other day there’s another example of how the fish pricing system in this province has become a fiasco.” Provincial Fisheries Minster Derrick Bragg told at least one enterprise owner late last month the province’s labour relations board was looking into reports that some processors were paying less than the minimum $6.15/lb snow crab price. >click to read< 13:12
Bristol Bay’s sockeye run is already the biggest on record
Bristol Bay’s 2022 sockeye run is now the biggest on record: 69.7 million fish have returned this summer. That surpasses the previous record of 67.7 million fish, which was set last year. Bristol Bay’s commercial fleet hauled in the most fish on record this year. More than 3 million sockeye have swum up the Wood River to spawn in the tributaries around Lake Aleknagik, about 20 miles from Dillingham, according to the state’s counting tower on the river. Sherol Mershon lives along the lake near the head of the river. She owns a bed and breakfast there and has hung commercial fishing nets for 45 years. She said this year’s runs are remarkable. >click to read< 12:10
F/V Lone Star sinks at Fisherman’s Terminal on Tuesday morning
According to Harbormaster Matt Creswell, the fishing boat Lone Star was reported to be sinking at around 5 a.m. “We received a report that there was a vessel sunk at the crane dock between Aurora and Harris harbors, we refer to it as Fisherman’s Terminal,” Creswell said. “Harbor staff responded before 6 a.m. and found the large fishing vessel, a little over 40 feet I believe, named the Lone Star, was completely sunk in the crane docks.” >click to read<
USCG seeks information on vessel leaking oily substance into Alaskan waters – The USCG is seeking info about a vessel photographed July 14, at approximately 4 p.m., in northeastern vicinity of Valdez Narrows. The position on that date is indicated by encircled yellow triangle on the chart below. Photos, >click to read< 10:50
Texas: Local shrimpers stay in the bays catching live bait
Local shrimpers spend their morning in the bays catching shrimp for live bait not for people to eat. “Since Gulf King is gone. Everything started going downhill,” said one local shrimp boat captain. Gulf King Seafood, once called Aransas Pass its home with the largest fleet of Gulf Coast shrimp boats in the United States. Over 20 years ago, Gulf King moved locations. Soon after local shrimpers followed trying to find more opportunities. Now the only place selling gulf shrimp in Aransas Pass is Erikson and Jensen Seafood. Right now, their fleet is stationed in Florida. Catching gulf shrimp from Florida to Texas. Video, >click to read< 09:23
Lobstermen take break from industry worries to race and ‘raise some hell’
Harpswell’s annual lobster boat race returns this Sunday, when Maine lobstermen and fishermen compete in a mile-long, full-throttle boat race for a chance to win a cash prize and bragging rights. “They want everybody else to see what their boats can do. They are all supportive, but competitive,” said race volunteer Mary Coombs. Coombs said the best part as a spectator is to see the lobstermen taking a break from their work and enjoying themselves. “It’s nice to see one day where they aren’t worried about whales, or lines and they just go,” said Coombs. “It’s fun to see them not in their oil gear, but in their bare feet behind the wheel.” >click to read< 08:24
Massachusetts: New relief fund would buoy lobster industry
A proposed state fund would provide financial relief to commercial lobstermen whose livelihoods are being impacted by state and federal regulations aimed at protecting critically endangered north Atlantic right whales. Tucked into a $52.7 billion state budget awaiting action by Gov. Charlie Baker is a proposal to create a new grant program with $500,000 in initial funding. The plan calls for providing grants of up to $5,000 to licensed lobstermen to help offset the cost of purchasing new gear and equipment needed to comply with the new whale protection rules. The grant money must be distributed in a “geographically equitable manner” under the proposal. Senate minority leader Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, who pushed for the funding, said it will help buoy lobstermen who are struggling to afford the expense of upgrading their gear and equipment. >click to read< 17:50
Maggie Helen gets a new lease of life
A former fishing boat is returning to the water after being taken over by an enthusiast team of skilled shipwrights and sailors who intend to use her to sail around Europe. They are planning to set sail later this week. The Maggie Helen had been sitting in storage since 2007 after the historic vessel, then known as Loki, had been bought by Shetland Amenity Trust for an undisclosed sum and in somewhat controversial circumstances. Shetland Museum curator Ian Tait said the restoration team have managed to complete “three years” work in three months after working non-stop seven days a week from around 8am to 11pm. “It’s an immense number of working hours that have gone into it. They’ve done the most unbelievably intense job,” he said. >click to read< 15:28
Fisheries report brings hope to Indigenous communities, sparks anger in industry
“I was pleasantly surprised, to be honest,” said Rosalie Francis, a member of the Sipekne’katik First Nation in Nova Scotia. But elsewhere in the province, the surprise has been significantly less pleasant. There are concerns the report titled “Peace on the Water” is instead stoking anger in communities where lobster is a livelihood. Representatives of the commercial fishing industry say they’re frustrated they weren’t invited to speak to the Senate as it drafted the report on Indigenous rights. It’s “throwing fuel on a fire” in an area where tensions have remained high since 2020, said Colin Sproul, president of the Unified Fisheries Conservation Alliance, which has about 1,900 members. >click to read< 12:09
Fisherman indicted on attempted murder charges after attacks with fishing gaff
A federal grand jury indicted an Andrews man Wednesday in connection to the attack of a crewmate and his captain after they refused to go back to port so he could buy more alcohol. Matthew Kelly, 49, was indicted on two counts of Assault with Intent to Commit Murder, two counts of Assault with a Dangerous Weapon, and one count of Act of Violence against Persons on a Vessel. The victims of the alleged crime told investigators that Kelly brought two large bottles of alcohol with him when he boarded the boat. He consumed the alcohol over the course of five days until he ran out on June 16. That’s when the other two men noticed Kelly beginning to talk to himself and act irrationally. >click to read< 10:01
Coast Guard finds serious defect in popular survival suits
Scott Wilwert is the commercial fishing vessel safety program manager for the Coast Guard in Alaska. He says the problem was discovered during a routine inspection in June. “Inspectors that were out in Bristol Bay a few weeks ago reported finding issues with relatively newly manufactured immersion suits,” Wilwert said. “And what they were finding was an area of what appeared to be a delamination, or a lack of adhesion of the glue that’s used to fix the zipper assembly to the neoprene part of the suit.” The suits are Imperial Immersion Suits manufactured by Survitec Group, a safety equipment manufacturer based in the United Kingdom,,, Wilwert says the Coast Guard isn’t sure how widespread the issue is. The problem became apparent in late June; After the Coast Guard notified Survitec, the company told the Coast Guard they had seen suits in Canada with a similar defect. >click to read< 08:02
Missing shrimper identified as La Feria resident
A missing shrimper last seen on South Padre Island has been identified as 35-year-old Christopher Vargas from La Feria. According to a release from the U.S. Coast Guard, Vargas fell from a shrimp trawler 35 miles off the coast of South Padre Island early Saturday morning. Vargas was last seen wearing a tank top and shorts. He was not wearing a life vest when he fell overboard. His aunt Leticia Vargas said it is uncertain what happened to Christopher. She said going offshore to catch shrimp was a traditional job for him. “This was his way of getting money for back to school, that’s what his wife was waiting for, that’s what the kids were waiting for, that’s what his intentions were for him to go out there, he’s been doing this for years,” she said. >Video, click to read< 07:00
DFO Accused of Coverup. DFO suppressing research on steelhead
Thompson River and Chilcotin steelhead populations are teetering on the brink of extinction, according to the BC Wildlife Federation (BCWF), while the Department of Fisheries and Oceans continues to supress research that the BCWF believes would confirm that seals and bycatch are a big part of the problem. The BCWF has been hounding DFO since 2019 to release peer reviewed research upon which a special assessment by the Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat (CSAS) in 2018 was based. That assessment, Recovery potential assessment for Chilcotin and Thompson River Steelhead trout, is publicly available. The peer-reviewed research upon which it based is not, according to the BCWF. >click to read< 18:41
Decline in Chesapeake crab population sparks hunt for answers
Commercial crabbers in Maryland and Virginia aren’t catching their limits, and the harvest in the first few months of the season was so meager that some gave up trying. “Crabs are so scarce that me and my son are still catfishing,” Billy Rice, a Charles County, MD, waterman, said in June. “We’re making more money catfishing than we would be crabbing.” Based on what they see on the water, crabbers have no shortage of theories about why the Bay’s most prized catch is hard to find: Changes in water quality, climate change and an influx of crab-eating fish top the list. Whatever the case, said J. C. Hudgins, president of the Virginia Waterman’s Association. “Mother Nature has throwed a wrench in the barrel.” >click to read< 14:23
Bristol Bay Fisheries Report: July 17, 2022
Harvests slowed down Saturday. The bay-wide haul was 851,000. This year’s all-time biggest harvest now totals 55.6 million fish. But escapement is still below the record. 17 million fish have made it to spawning grounds across the bay – short of last year’s bay-wide escapement of 25.6 million. Still, the runs up a few rivers have exceeded their maximum escapement goals, and many others have met escapement. >click to read< 12:10
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for July 18, 2022
Does CPR Work on Fish? The Coastal Conservation Association Seems to Think SO! – After reading this title you’re probably envisioning a forty-pound Red Drum lying on the deck of a boat, straddled by an angler, receiving mouth to mouth followed by a round of rapid chest compressions, but that’s not the CPR I’m referring to. The CPR I’m talking about is the Coastal Conservation Association’s (CCA) Catch, Photo, and Release (CPR) Initiative. In Coastal States across the Country, including North Carolina, the CCA is holding CPR fishing tournaments where anglers can win big prizes for catching, photographing, and releasing numerous species of coastal finfish. The rules are simple, pay your entry fee, receive your wristband, catch a qualifying species of fish, photograph the fish lying on a ruler with your wristband visible, release the fish, and the longest fish or combination of fish wins. And of course, you have to be a CCA member to win! >click to read, to read all the updates >click here<, for older updates listed as NCFA >click here< 11:15
