Author Archives: borehead - Moderator
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Warning of ‘environmental devastation’ of offshore wind farms
A campaign group has accused the offshore wind industry of creating “environmental devastation”, and claimed that the impact will become greater as more projects are developed. Scotland Against Spin took issue with a Scottish Government survey which found that a majority of people approve of offshore wind farms. Those living in coastal areas cited the economic benefits of offshore, according to the study, while the effects on tourism “could be minimal”. Industry body Scottish Renewables said the findings indicated that most members of the public recognise the social and economic importance of the offshore wind sector. However, Scotland Against Spin chairman Graham Lang maintained that offshore developments are posing a threat to seabirds, including puffins and kittiwakes, and to fish species such as haddock, cod and mackerel. >click to read< 20:19
Coast Guard responds to man overboard of Commercial Fishing Vessel near Panama City, Fla
The Coast Guard responded to a report of a man overboard Sunday approximately 12 miles south of Panama City, Florida. Coast Guard Sector Mobile watchstanders received a notification at approximately 4 a.m. over VHF-FM channel 16 from a crewmember on the fishing vessel F/V Fiona Leone reporting that the captain of the vessel fell overboard while the vessel was on autopilot. The captain was in the water for more than four hours without a life jacket before the good Samaritan vessel New Beginnings rescued him. The Station Panama City boat crew convened with the New Beginnings and transferred the captain back to the Fiona Leone to safely navigate his vessel back into port. >click to read< 19:15
Nordic Aquafarms Final Environmental Impact Report Available for Public Review
The County of Humboldt has prepared a Final Environmental Impact Report for the Nordic Aquafarms California, LLC – Coastal Development Permit and Special Permit application (Case Number PLN-2020-16698), and the report is now available on the county’s website. The Planning Commission will be considering the Coastal Development Permit and Special Permit at a Public Hearing on July 28 beginning at 6 pm in the Board of Supervisors Chambers. >click to read< 12:00
Dungeness crab fishery to close early after slow start
The commercial Dungeness crab fishery in Southeast Alaska will close early this summer because the start of the season has been so slow. In recent years, Dungeness crabbing has been pretty great for commercial fishermen in Southeast. The harvests and prices have been above average, sometimes way above. Last year, saw the second highest harvest on record and the highest price ever paid. The summer season was worth $13 million. But this year looks different. The season opened on June 15. About 200 fishermen registered in the region and they’ve reported poor fishing. “I’ve heard generally it’s slow,” said Joe Stratman with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. “I’ve heard generally it’s slow throughout the region.” It’s only the third time in the last 20 years that the season has been shortened. >click to read< 10:14
Rising cost of fuel adds to pressure on fishing industry
The fishing industry is facing a perfect storm of circumstances that must be addressed urgently by the Government to avoid permanent damage to the sector, according to representative groups. The rising cost of fuel is compounding the already significant strain on the industry caused by Brexit and the pandemic, fishers say. According to Aodh O’Donnell, chief executive of the Irish Fish Producers Organisation, said many boats can’t run profitably in the current circumstances. “We are looking at fuel costing €1.30 per litre or more, it has effectively doubled in cost in less than a year.” Mr O’Donnell said French and Spanish fishermen were being supported by their governments and this was leaving Irish boats at a disadvantage. >click to read< 08:54
Cabo Virgenes Adds to its Fleet
One of the leading companies in the fishery for Argentine red shrimp, Cabo Vírgenes, is about to take delivery of a new trawler built at Astillero Río Paraná Sur, as the company continues to invest in capacity and innovative technology. Astillero Río Paraná Sur, located near Paraná River in the city of Lima, launched the new F/V Atón on 6th May ahead of final fitting out. This is part of the growth of Cabo Vírgenes, which has acquired seven fishing vessels since 2019, including two built for the company by Astillero Contessi. These two represented milestones, as F/V Luca Santino was the first Argentinian fishing vessel with a liquid ice system on board when it was delivered in 2019 and the 25-metreEspartano, delivered in 2020, is the first fishing vessel built in Argentina with an inverted bow. Photos, details, >click to read< 19:22
F/V Susan Rose: Coast Guard suspends search for missing fisherman
The Coast Guard has suspended its search for a missing fisherman who went overboard on Friday morning. According to a post on social media, the USCG said they, along with local agencies “have suspended the search for the fisherman from the F/V Susan Rose pending further developments.” Around 1:30 a.m. Friday, crew members of the commercial fishing vessel, F/V Susan Rose noticed one person wasn’t on board, according to Petty Officer Ryan Noel. >click to read< 16:32
Western Flyer sails again
The Western Flyer left for Seattle after seven years of intense restoration and rebuilding in Port Townsend, but she will make a detour on the way to her final destination for one last visit to the town that returned her to the ocean. The boat, known most famously as the vessel writer John Steinbeck and marine biologist Ed Ricketts chartered for a research trip to the Sea of Cortez in 1940, had been in Port Townsend undergoing restoration since 2015. On Wednesday, the Western Flyer embarked on stage two of its rehab when it was towed to Snow & Company boat builders in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood. There, over the course of the next four or five months, it’ll get a new engine, rigging, hydraulics and mechanical systems. >click to read< 12:14
US Coast Guard continues search for overboard fisherman off the coast of Massachusetts
The search for a fisherman who went overboard off the coast of Massachusetts continues. The United States Coast Guard Northeast shared an update on Twitter around 9:20 p.m. Friday stating that crews would continue the search overnight for the fisherman who went overboard Friday morning from the 77-foot Susan Rose vessel, which is out of Point Judith in Rhode Island. The person is believed to be in the area of Noman’s Island, which is about three miles south of Martha’s Vineyard and New Bedford, officials said. >click to read< 10:04
30 years after N.L. cod moratorium – the wins are few and losses are many
John Williams wishes he could say the cod moratorium of 1992 feels like it was yesterday. But after losing his livelihood and reinventing himself a few times over, he’s felt every one of the past 30 years. Williams was one of about 30,000 people put out of work when the federal government brought an end to the northern cod fishery on July 2, 1992. It’s a date that still stirs up feelings from a solemn and desperate chapter in Newfoundland and Labrador’s history. “It was a pretty sad time to know that you weren’t going to go fishing anymore,” Williams said. “At the time I had three kids, and they had to be fed, go to school, and be clothed. It was tough.” It doesn’t help Williams that he’s constantly reminded of his small role in history — being the person who prompted former Fisheries Minister John Crosbie to utter some of his most famous words. Video, photos, >click to read< 08:38
Today Marks 30th Anniversary of Cod Moratorium – Gus Etchegary spent his working life in the fishery and has been an outspoken advocate for the industry. He believes a big contributing factor keeping stocks low is seal predation, which wasn’t a problem when stocks were healthy. He says when the resource was huge there was little impact because replacement levels overcame any pressure put on the stocks by seal predation. >click to read< 09:40
Maine lobster industry may receive nearly $14 million in federal aid
U.S. Reps. Jared Golden and Chellie Pingree, both Democrats from Maine, helped secure the funding and pledged to keep advocating for the fishery. In a statement, Golden called the regulations misguided, indefensible and economically damaging. “NOAA has been unable to prove that these regulations will work, but lobstermen are still being forced to pick up the tab,” he said. “It’s just wrong.” Virginia Olsen, director of the Maine Lobstering Union, said the money will help keep fishermen in business as they “work to right the wrongs” of the new regulations. Patrice McCarron, executive director of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, agreed. >click to read< 19:58
The cod delusion – A moratorium on cod fishing that was supposed to last two years has now lasted 30.
Three decades on, the latest DFO science still puts Atlantic cod in the critical zone. “I hope politicians and bureaucrats in Ottawa have learned something, because I’ve learned something: the moratorium was the biggest catastrophe ever heaped on the people in this province, ever. Nothing has been as bad as this,” says Captain Saunders, an 80-year-old Inuk. Seated in the wheelhouse of his longliner, docked in Pinsent’s Arm in late September 2021, Saunders speaks with the authority of someone with six decades of fishing experience, backed by centuries of hindsight. “Newfoundland and Labrador people fished for 500 years and didn’t damage the stocks. What Canada done was an atrocity in my opinion. It ruined a way of life. It ruined culture. All the stages, stage heads, they’re all falling apart, they’re all deteriorated — that’s the government did that.” >click to read< 17:40
Your favourite takeaway could set you back following green-energy expansion
Fish and chip fans fear the future of their favourite takeaway, as widening offshore wind farms will soon be constructed in precious fishing territory. Fishermen across the country have criticised the Prime Minister’s plans to increase the number of wind turbines in the sea, meaning over half of their legal fishing territory could be lost by 2050. A damning report outlined in the Spatial Squeeze in Fisheries report indicated how 56 percent of Scottish waters could become prohibited for fishing boats. The Prime Minister’s plans would see fish go uncaught, leaving restaurants no choice but to rely on importing. One chip shop in Kent recently shut down as its owner refused to charge £14 per person for a portion of Britain’s most famous dish. >click to read< 15:27
Bluefin Benefit Battle competition to help families in Maine battling cancer
The Bluefin Benefit Battle will gather fishermen in Maine while raising money for an important cause: families battling cancer. The event is a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. “The goal is to raise as much money as we can for Maine families battling cancer. Mitchell Napolitano and his wife Lexi, an ICU nurse, came up with the idea. He has been fishing for tuna for over two decades and has participated in all of Maine’s tuna tournaments since he was a kid. “I figured with the connections that my wife and I have, between her being an ICU nurse at Maine Med and the deep roots that we have in the commercial fishing industry, I figured we could do a good deed and give back a little bit to the community by giving back to families in need in Maine,” Napolitano said. photos, video, >click to read< 14:42
‘They want to turn the ocean into an aquarium’
I overheard those words a few years ago from a commercial fisherman in Barnegat Light. It seems it’s slowly happening. Your grandchildren might not ever know the idea of fishing off the Jersey Shore if NOAA gets its way. The NOAA is holding public hearings on whether to declare the Hudson Canyon a National Marine Sanctuary. The hearings will be held this summer. Now, who will show up in greater numbers will be interesting. You have commercial fisherman, most of whom are local men and women who have done this work for generations. The other crowd that will be heard are the activists and environmental groups who will plead their case that we need to save this precious resource. by Dennis Malloy >click to read< 11:54
Northern Peninsula Shrimp Fleet Facing Crisis
The 4R shrimp fleet met in Hawke’s Bay today to discuss the assault on inshore owner-operators by the Association of Seafood (ASP) and their member companies, and the complete lack of support from provincial departments responsible. The 4R fleet on the northern peninsula are in a unique, troubling circumstance – they have no access to other species and the viability of their enterprise is dependent solely on shrimp. Without a price based on fair market values, harvesters will be unable to breakeven this year and many will face bankruptcy,” explains Keith Sullivan, FFAW-Unifor President. “Companies have attempted to manipulate the collective bargaining process with most fisheries this year. Working together like a cartel, they are attempting to erode solidarity by putting harvesters in a very desperate situation. >click to read< 09:57
PWS harvest soars above 9M fish, statewide catch exceeds 16M salmon
Commercial harvesters in the Prince William Sound region delivered upwards of 371,340 salmon through Tuesday, June 28, while the statewide preliminary harvest exceeded 16 million fish, including deliveries in Bristol Bay, Cook Inlet, Kodiak and the Alaska Peninsula. Harvests reached almost 8% above year-to-date 2021 (2020 for pinks), led by strong sockeye harvests in the Alaska Peninsula and Bristol Bay regions, according to Sam Friedman, who is producing the McKinley Research Group weekly in-season reports on behalf of the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute. For Prince William Sound, harvests and the weights of salmon harvested remained below the 10-year average, according to Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologist Jeremy Botz, in Cordova. >click to read< 09:06
Coast Guard searching for a missing fisherman off the coast of Massachusetts
There is an active search underway off the Massachusetts coast Friday morning for a missing fisherman. The search is focused on a line between Nomans Island, which is just south of Martha’s Vineyard, and New Bedford. The Coast Guard says a crewmember from the fishing vessel F/V Susan Rose was last seen on board the boat at around midnight, and that the crew then realized he was no longer on the vessel at around 1:30 a.m. >click to read< , and >click here< 07:07
Coast Guard searches for man who went overboard off coast of Massachusetts – The U.S. Coast Guard Northeast said Friday that they are searching for a man who went overboard off the coast of Massachusetts. Fairhaven Harbormaster Timothy Cox said the active search started just after 2 a.m. on the track line between Noman’s Island and New Bedford. The vessel arrived in New Bedford at about 8 a.m. >click to read< 11:02
World’s First All-Electric Longline Handling System
F/V Kap Farvel is the first fishing boat in the world that started using the all-electric longline handling system from Mørenot. Already after one week of testing followed by seven weeks of fishing, the feedback from the skipper and crew is unanimous: This is the longline system of the future! For several years, Mørenot has been challenging the idea of a traditional hydraulic longline system with its first fully electric longline system for both deep sea and coastal fisheries. Seeing the opportunity of a high-tech electrical longline system, Mørenot has heavily invested in innovation that enables fishers to effortlessly achieve higher efficiency, lower energy consumption, and better working conditions. Mørenot’s VP Alf Rune Ose explains how their engineers in Iceland developed the complete mechanical system with an updated LineTech longline control system to revolutionize the fishing industry. Mørenot has designed a system that is suitable for fishing operations worldwide. photos, >click to read< 21:16
Salvage operation under way after fishing vessel capsizes
Early on Sunday morning, the Saldanha Bay-registered vessel, the Restless Wave, capsized eight nautical miles south of Cape Point. It happened quickly, with the National Sea Rescue Initiative (NSRI) saying: “It is believed that the vessel capsized in under a minute.” The good news is that none of the 12 crew on board was injured and all were rescued by nearby boats. The bad news was that the vessel, with a fuel capacity of 45,000 litres, was stranded upside down, threatening marine life in a biodiverse and protected area. These initial fears are subsiding as the salvage operation comes to an end. >click to read< 15:32
Offshore wind farms could reduce Atlantic City’s surfclam fishery revenue up to 25%
New research from Rutgers University shows Mid-Atlantic surfclam fisheries could see revenue losses from planned offshore wind farms, at least in the short- to medium-term after the development takes place. The data is sure to fuel opposition from the fishing industry to the Biden administration’s rapid offshore wind development along the New York, New Jersey, and Delaware coasts. President Joe Biden has a goal of generating 30 gigawatts of wind energy by 2030 as part of his effort to tackle climate change. Clammers and scallop fishermen fear a shrinking patch of fishable ocean will lead to the collapse of the industry. >click to read< 14:03
A piece of western Washington literary history heads back to sea
The boat John Steinbeck was on while writing The Log from the Sea of Cortez is embarking on a new chapter. The Western Flyer has been being refurbished in Port Townsend for the past nine years. Now, the 85-year-old boat is launching into Puget Sound once again. The painstaking voyage back to the sea begins with a bulldozer noisily hauling the 77-foot seiner out of drydock, inch by inch. It’s part of a journey Rom Welborn has been on since he first learned about the boat when writing a high school paper. “It changed my life and it still feels like it’s changing my life,” he said. >Video, click to read/watch< 11:27
Speakers list released for today’s event to mark 30th anniversary of northern cod moratorium
The speakers list for the event scheduled for this afternoon to mark the 30th anniversary of the announced shutdown of Newfoundland and Labrador’s most iconic fishery has been finalized. Moratorium Story, 30 Years On will include speakers Ches Crosbie, Toni Kearney, Merv Wiseman, Kimberly Orren, Gus Etchegary, the Honourable Clyde Wells, Wilfred Bartlett, Amy House/Bernie Stapleton, and Mike Hearn. Biographies are included at the end of this release. Ryan Cleary will also speak and host the event, with music provided by Newfoundland folk singer Jim Payne. >click to read< 10:31
Lobstermen frustrated by regulations after new study shows whale entanglements decline
A new report has Maine lobstermen saying, “I told you so.” The report says large whale entanglements dropped in 2020, including for the right whale. Lobstermen in Maine have long argued they should not be blamed for the right whales’ population decline, which makes this new study from NOAA all the more frustrating. “I’ve been doing this my whole life,” Harpswell lobster boat captain Forrest Moody said. “This is what we know.” Moody calls the new changes to the industry “life-altering.” “There hasn’t always been evidence to prove or say what they were asking us to do but we still were, we were still made to do it,” Moody said. Video, photos, >click to read< 09:08
Fishing industry at risk of being ‘put to the sword’ by offshore renewables and MPA’s
The fishing fleet is facing a “truly frightening” future with the prospect of more than half of Scottish waters being off-limits by 2050, a new study has warned. The industry is at risk of being “put to the sword” because of offshore renewable energy developments and the expansion of enhanced marine protected areas, according to the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation (SFF) and National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations (NFFO). Their report, Spatial Squeeze in Fisheries, produced by the ABPmer consultancy, is described as the first attempt to assess the cumulative impact on commercial fishing of “hugely increased competition for space in the marine environment”. >click to read< 07:55
Commercial Fisherman/Businessman Jared “Jerry” Trussler of New Zealand
Jared “Jerry” Trussler was born on August 21st, 1938 to Fern and Arthur Trussler in Paso Robles, California and passed away peacefully at his home in Kerikeri, New Zealand on June 24th, 2022. He grew up in San Luis Obispo and Santa Clara Counties and graduated from San Luis Obispo High School with the class of 1956. In 1957, Jerry went to Alaska to work on a commercial fishing boat in the Bering Sea, which he described as the most pivotal point in his career, and he continued to return to Alaska as a commercial fisherman for over 30 years. Jerry also became a commercial abalone diver and obtained his pilot instructor’s license. In 1965, Jerry started a welding company focused on building steel commercial fishing vessels, but later moved on to manufacturing steel water tanks up to 10 million gallons in size for municipalities all over California. >click to read< 21:45
Bristol Bay Fisheries Report: June 28, 2022
The price of fuel is on the rise in the United States and many industries are feeling the pressure. Rural areas generally face higher prices for fuel, but in recent months, Bristol Bay residents have seen those prices creep even further. Bristol Fuels in downtown Dillingham Gas set their price at $5.49. In Naknek, the same company charges even more, at $6.64 per gallon. Shannon Williams is based out of Naknek and fishes on the east side of the bay. She said that she’s going to need to work harder to keep up with expenses. “It’s gonna be hard,” she said. “I’ve got to pick a lot of fish to pay my bill.” >read, or listen to the report< 18:39
Peter Pan Seafoods announces price increase to $1.15 per pound for Bristol Bay sockeye – Peter Pan’s vice president, Jon Hickman, says the price bump is part of the company’s assessment of the season so far. “And wanting to relay that to the fishermen, as we consider our business partners in this industry, that we believe we can go a little higher,” >click to read<
Whale entanglements dropping but threat remains, feds say
The number of whales entangled in fishing gear has declined recently, but the entanglements remain a critical threat to rare species, the federal government said in a report released Tuesday. There were 53 confirmed cases of large whales entangled in gear in the U.S. in 2020, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Tuesday. That was a 25% decline from the previous year and a lower figure than the 13-year average, the agency said. Every coastal region except Alaska saw a decrease in whale entanglements, NOAA said. >click to read< 16:06
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 44′ 11″ X 19′ Novi Dragger, Cat 3406C Diesel
To review specifications, information, and 10 photos’, >click here<, To see all the boats in this series >click here< 11:33
