Washington state officials are ordering a salmon fisherman to pay $646,259 in damages and penalties for spilling diesel fuel into Haro Strait as his commercial fishing boat sank off San Juan Island. The boat, a purse seiner called F/V Aleutian Isle, sank while participating in a sockeye salmon fishery in August 2022. Its five-member crew escaped onto a small skiff before the Aleutian Isle rolled on its side and disappeared beneath the waves, about 15 minutes after its captain noticed water covering its main deck. F/V Aleutian Isle spent more than a month on the sea floor, with the powerful currents of Haro Strait moving it to deeper water over time, before salvage crews lifted it from the water. They recovered 590 gallons of diesel from its tanks. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:11
Author Archives: borehead - Moderator
Spectre of draggers returning to cod fishery drives FFAW to call to reinstate moratorium
Newfoundland and Labrador’s fisheries union is calling on the federal government to revert its decision to end the moratorium on cod fishing and reinstate a stewardship fishery, a week after the federal Liberal government called the move “a historic milestone.” Greg Pretty, president of the Fish, Food and Allied Workers union (FFAW), told reporters in a press conference on Tuesday — the 32nd anniversary of the 1992 cod moratorium — there’s real concern that everything done over the last 32 years to rebuild the stock will be undone if offshore draggers, both Canadian and international, are allowed to fish cod in Newfoundland and Labrador waters again. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:38
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 40′ Novi Scalloper/Permits, John Deere Diesel
How the Supreme Court rescued my NJ fishing firm that bureaucrats almost sank
The Supreme Court just sided with my New Jersey-based, family-owned fishing business, and may have even saved it. That’s the reality of the court’s June 28 decision in a case called Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, which overturned the “Chevron doctrine” that gave unchecked power to federal bureaucrats. Yet the media reaction hasn’t focused on what the ruling means for regular people and job creators like me. The pundits say that Washington, DC, will descend into chaos because the justices stopped unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats from deciding for themselves what’s “reasonable” under federal law. But as I can attest, that power quickly leads to abuse. The Supreme Court has protected the American people from regulators run amok, and from a Congress that won’t do its job. I was one of the small business owners who sued the federal government in this case. By Wayne Reichle, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 21:20
Feds say “damn the whales” in the Gulf of Maine
Biden’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) proposes to build a huge amount of floating offshore wind in the Gulf of Maine. As required by law, it has published for public comment a draft Environmental Assessment of the area designated for this monster project. But insanely, there is no assessment of the project, just of the area without the project. I am not making this up. This place is properly called the Wind Energy Area (WEA) because that is where the wind energy will come from. BOEM says they plan to issue eight leases initially with a monster development potential of 15,000 MW. Given that 15 MW is the biggest turbine available that amounts to 1,000 or more huge turbines. A second phase might add another thousand of so. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 12:29
Newfoundland and Labrador Harvesters Call for Reestablishment of Northern Cod Stewardship Fishery
St. John’s, NL – On the 32nd Anniversary of the historic Northern cod moratorium, fish harvesters in Newfoundland and Labrador are calling for an immediate return of the Northern Cod Stewardship Fishery, following an announcement from the federal government earlier this week that they plan to return the important species to commercial status and allow offshore draggers to access the stock. “As a province, we are demanding the federal government return our important northern cod resource back to a stewardship fishery and ensure the species is protected as it continues to rebuild,” says FFAW-Unifor President Greg Pretty. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:03
Maine leaders split on environmental regulation ruling by US Supreme Court
By a vote of 6-3, the Supreme Court overturned the Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council ruling from 1984. Governor Janet Mills shared concerns that this decision could impact how federal agencies protect the health and safety of Americans. Maine House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham, also a lobster fisherman, says this could help in their fight against federal fishing regulations. “This really opens up a whole new avenue for people that feel like they’ve been hurt by the government to challenge that,” Faulkingham said. 5 photos, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:08
The Vietnamese Impact on Jefferson Parish’s Seafood Industry
For centuries, the Port of New Orleans has been the entry point for immigrants arriving in the country. Many of those immigrants took jobs in local industries, like fishing. Perhaps no other immigrant community has contributed more to the fishing industry in Louisiana than Vietnamese Americans. Among the more recent ethnic groups to settle in the state, many came as refugees, fleeing their war-torn homeland after the fall of Saigon in 1975. For many newcomers, the fishing industry was an easy transition. They simply had to adapt their knowledge of fishing in Vietnam’s swamps and coastlines to those of Louisiana. Today, almost two-thirds of Southeast Louisiana’s commercial shrimping fleets are made up of Vietnamese Americans. Their contributions didn’t stop at simply being laborers, though. Vietnamese immigrants also brought with them their recipes and cooking techniques, infusing them with traditional Southeast Louisiana cuisine. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:50
‘I’m a fisherman and lifelong Tory who voted Brexit. I won’t vote for them again’
Fisherman James Stephen has been at sea for more than 40 years. Based in Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, which is home to the largest fishing port in Europe, he voted for Brexit in 2016 in the hope it would give his community a greater share of fishing in UK waters. But eight years on, he feels he was sold a “pack of lies” and says it has cost the Conservatives his vote at the general election. “I would say that 99 per cent of the fishing industry would have voted for Brexit in the hope that we could get back control of our waters, rightfully get our share of [fishing] quota which was given away when we joined the EU,” says Mr Stephen. “I hoped, by voting for Brexit, we could undo some of the unjust that was done to the industry then. But for me, it’s been a total disaster. Nothing we were promised materialised.” Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:40
Minister to assess damage after 5 fishing boats destroyed by fire in Quebec’s Magdalen Islands
Federal fisheries minister Diane Lebouthillier was scheduled to visit the Magdalen Islands’ Grande-Entrée wharf Monday after five fishing boats were destroyed by a fire. The fire broke out one of the vessels Sunday morning and then spread to four others in the harbour. All but one of the boats sank, spilling an estimated 18 and 220 litres of hydrocarbons into the waters, according to the Canadian Coast Guard. Diane Lebouthillier, who is the MP for the area and is Canada’s Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, is set to arrive in the Port of Grande-Entrée Monday afternoon to assess the damage. She will be accompanied by Mayor Antonin Valiquette, who is also president of the Communauté maritime des Îles-de-la-Madeleine, and Cédric Arseneau, area director for the Magdalen Islands at Fisheries and Oceans Canada. video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 16:47
P.E.I. student who’s worked on lobster boats seeking patent for new lifejacket
Ben Collings-MacKay is in fourth year at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia but hails from Montague in eastern P.E.I.. He has been spending most of his summers out on the Gulf of St. Lawrence, fishing lobster. But he is also the founder of CM Marine Safety Equipment, which in mid-June was awarded top prize for northern Nova Scotia in the annual Spark Nova Scotia competition meant “to activate early-stage innovation in rural parts of Nova Scotia.” Collings-MacKay knows first-hand the challenges fishermen face having to wear both an approved lifejacket or personal flotation device and the kind of protective gear that can keep them warm and dry as they handle heavy traps and nets in a physically demanding job. Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 13:24
In a proud and troubled UK town, voters wonder whether their election choice will make a difference
“At the last election, I voted Conservative because Johnson promised our waters back, and lied through his teeth,” said Stan Rennie, a fisherman who has caught lobster off Hartlepool for five decades but says he can scarcely scrape a living anymore. “Because we’re the northeast, I don’t think the government even knows we exist,” he said. “We’re the forgotten land.” A proud, rugged town jutting into the North Sea 250 miles (400 kilometers) north of London, Hartlepool is scarred by industrial decline. The shipyards and steelworks that once employed thousands are long gone. The fishing fleet has been shrinking for years. In a 2016 referendum, Hartlepool voted heavily to leave the European Union, persuaded by Johnson and other Brexit-backers that quitting the bloc would let the U.K. control immigration and free up billions in cash for struggling communities. photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:56
‘It hasn’t been crab salad weather’ – fisherman
Crabs from Cromer, in Norfolk, have long featured on the menus at high-end restaurants, and tourists head to the town to sample the local delicacy. But one specialist supplier – Jonas Seafoods – has had to reduce the amount of crab it takes in, blaming a double whammy of the bad weather combined with the rise in the cost of living. “It hasn’t been crab salad weather,” said John Davies, a fisherman and fishmonger. “The economy is struggling, we are luxury food item, and the cost of living has a knock-on effect, so prices are going up everywhere,” he added. “There’s just not been the volume of people about.” more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:49
An Optimist’s view: Death of the Chevron Deference
My name is David Goethel. I am a 55 year plus commercial fisherman, research biologist and former fishery manager. As author of Endangered Species/Chronicles of A new England Fisherman I discuss these topics and a lawsuit I filed in 2015 with the legal group Cause of Action over the legal concept known as Chevron Deference. Most people believe Congress writes laws, the Executive Branch carries out those laws and the Judicial Branch interprets and clarifies whether aspects of those laws are Constitutional and correctly applied. It turns out under a doctrine called “Chevron Deference” the regulatory bureaucracy can deem a law unclear or ambiguous and create any regulation the agency decides it needs to carry out its bureaucratic function. Until this past Friday, the courts gave deference to the regulators as the “recognized experts” even though no proof is required and no test for ambiguity is applied. The Supreme Court overturned Chevron Friday saying they had “placed a tombstone on its grave”. Fishermen, including me, had sued saying that unelected regulators should not have this vast power over our lives. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 20:18
Fire destroys 5 fishing boats in Magdalen Islands, Quebec.
Five fishing boats were completely destroyed in a fire at the Magdalen Islands’ Grande-Entrée wharf Sunday morning. The fire department received a call around 4:20 a.m. about burning boats at the Magdalen Islands’ largest fishermen wharf. The fires were under control as of 7:30 a.m., though three boats sank, two others were burned to a crisp and others suffered minor damage, said Antonin Valiquette, the mayor of the Magdalen Islands. No one was injured. Valiquette says all evidence points to the fire being accidental. It appears to have started in one boat and been pushed onto other boats by the wind. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 13:23
Fishermen Who Were Forced to Pay $700 Per Day to Government-Mandated Observers on Their Boats Get Big News from SCOTUS
Members of the 18th-century British Parliament, unelected by American colonists, tried to take money from those colonists without their consent. Hence, the American Revolution ensued. On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a 40-year-old ruling that had allowed unelected federal regulators, acting the part of the British Parliament, to commit such travesties of justice as requiring fishermen to pay for government-mandated regulators on their boats — a requirement that, according to CBS, could cost the fishermen more than $700 per day. The true magnitude of Friday’s ruling, however, involved far more than fishing boats. In fact, it struck at the heart of American progressivism by eviscerating the insidious claim that federal “experts” know best. In so doing, it took one small-but-crucial step towards dismantling the permanent federal state that actually governs in Washington, D.C. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 11:18
Louisiana Inshore Shrimp Season to Close July 1 in State Inside Waters
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries announced the 2024 spring inshore shrimp season will close at 6 p.m. on Monday, July 1, 2024, in all state inside waters from the Mississippi/Louisiana state line westward to the Louisiana/Texas state line. The open waters of Breton and Chandeleur Sounds as bounded by the double-rig line described in R.S. 56:495.1(A)2 and all state outside waters seaward of the Inside/Outside Shrimp Line, as described in LAC 76:VII.370 will remain open to shrimping until further notice. more>>CLICK TO READ<< 09:07
Concerns about overfishing resurface despite new monument off Cape Cod
Located 130 miles off Cape Cod, the area spans more than 3 million acres and is part of the Biden Administration’s plan to conserve at least 30 percent of U.S. lands and waters by 2030. Officially called the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument. Debate over how to manage this vast marine environment has been ongoing. Former President Donald Trump lifted restrictions on commercial fishing in the monument area in 2020. The Biden administration reestablished protections one year later, in a move praised by environmental groups and condemned by fishermen, who said it would put more people out of work. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:30
Gliders: Scientists add more underwater robots to monitor North Atlantic right whales
In the race to protect the endangered species, researchers are bringing in more underwater robots—unmanned vehicles known as gliders that slowly patrol the Gulf of St. Lawrence, passively listening for whales. Gliders can stay at sea for months, move far offshore and work in all types of weather. They’re equipped with underwater microphones that scientists use to track the animals. The team added a third glider to its fleet this summer, expanding its ability to monitor whales’ whereabouts by sea and air. It’s collaborative effort involving researchers from University of New Brunswick, Ocean Tracking Network, Transport Canada and Woods Hole Oceanographic. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 19:37
Virginia Moves To End 16-Year Ban On Dredging For Crabs During Winter
Virginia’s fishery managers have lifted the longstanding ban on dredging for blue crabs during the winter in the Chesapeake Bay, a seismic policy shift that drew strong criticism from their Maryland counterparts and conservationists. The Virginia Marine Resources Commission voted 5–4 on June 25 to repeal the 16-year prohibition on winter dredging. The board is expected to reconvene in September to consider staff recommendations on how to implement the fishery. The new season could open as early as this December. The board’s action came after the VMRC’s Crab Management Advisory Committee, which is mostly made up of industry members, voted 10–2 in favor of reopening the winter season. After that May 29 vote, the agency received 186 public comments on the proposal — all in opposition. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 16:12
Opinion: The Fisheries Act is crucial to speed disaster relief to American fisheries
By the time NOAA and OMB finally approve and allocate disaster relief, small businesses and fisheries are already devastated and, in some cases, may have already been forced to close shop. This self-induced, slow-moving bureaucratic process is unacceptable. Overall, the Fishes Act expedites the deployment of federal fishery disaster relief by cutting unnecessary red tape and enacting a 30-day decision requirement for the Office of Management and Budget to either deny or approve a state’s spending plan. What we hope to do with this bill is to throw American fisheries and coastal communities a life raft to stay afloat post-disaster. U.S. fisheries support millions of jobs and bring in billions of dollars to the broader U.S. economy each year. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:17
How a seagoing mentorship program trains ‘greenhorns’ and changes lives
As a student at Vermont’s Middlebury College, Lea LeGardeur loved being on the water. Which proved an asset for LeGardeur, who, after teaching geography at Middlebury, decided to commercial fish in Alaska. LeGardeur’s break came when she discovered the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association, or ALFA, based in the small fishing town of Sitka, Alaska. The organization had an extensive record of fighting foreign fishing, trawling and depletion of resources. ALFA had recently secured a grant to fund its Crew Training Program, or CTP. The program was the brainchild of Karl Jordan, who suggested the concept to his father, Eric, shortly after Eric’s wife, Sarah, announced her decision to retire from fishing. Jordan père went on to propose the concept to Linda Behnken, the executive director at ALFA. Photos, Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:50
DFO warns Canadian fishers about participating in French halibut fishery
On Friday, Fisheries and Oceans Canada issued a statement saying it has requested formal consultations under the Proces-Verbal to reach an agreement related to quota allocation. The government describes Proces-Verbal as “a treaty that has allowed Canada and France/Saint Pierre and Miquelon to cooperate on the management of fish stocks that are present in our two domestic fishing waters.” The move follows word that a French-flagged ship recently landed 30 tonnes of halibut in Saint Pierre and Miquelon that is believed to be destined for the United States via the Port of Halifax. The fish was caught outside Canada’s 200-mile limit off Newfoundland and Labrador in an area known as the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization Regulatory Area, according to industry sources. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:46
Neil Gorsuch Cheers Supreme Court Placing ‘Tombstone’ on 40-Year Precedent
In Friday’s 6-3 ruling in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, the justices wiped out 40 years of administrative law precedent in a move that will restrain federal agency powers. The court’s decision overturned the Chevron deference established in the 1984 case Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council. The majority, led by Chief Justice John Roberts and joined by the court’s other conservative justices, held that “courts may not defer to an agency interpretation of the law simply because a statute is ambiguous,” overturning Chevon deference. The court’s three liberal justices dissented. The majority, led by Chief Justice John Roberts and joined by the court’s other conservative justices, held that “courts may not defer to an agency interpretation of the law simply because a statute is ambiguous,” overturning Chevon deference. The court’s three liberal justices dissented. In Gorsuch’s concurring opinion, he wrote: “Today, the Court places a tombstone on Chevron no one can miss. In doing so, the Court returns judges to interpretive rules that have guided federal courts since the Nation’s founding.” more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 15:49
Biloxi Blessing of the Fleet: A Coast tradition
It’s time for Biloxi’s Blessing of the Fleet, a yearly Coast tradition that dates back to 1929. This year, it’s happening Sunday, July 7. Each year before shrimp boats journey into the Gulf, they are blessed in the waters between East Biloxi and Deer Island. The ceremonial blessing, given by a local Catholic priest, marks the official beginning of shrimping season. During the event, an evergreen wreath is dropped into the Sound in the memory of those shrimpers who have died at sea. The event once only blessed working boats, but now recreational boats are welcome to be blessed, as well. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 12:29
Supreme Court Strips Power from Federal Agencies—Overturning Decades-Old Precedent
The Supreme Court overturned a landmark ruling Friday that gave widespread power to federal agencies, a seismic ruling that has the power to upend how the federal government operates—and delivers a win to conservative groups who long wanted to see the precedent overturned. “Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo” and “Relentless v. Chamber of Commerce” are two linked disputes, both brought by herring fishermen who opposed a federal policy requiring them to pay $700 per day to carry federal monitors on their vessels. The cases more broadly asked the court to overturn “Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council,” a landmark 1984 ruling that gave federal agencies broad power to enact regulations by arguing courts should usually defer to agency staff—a precedent that high-profile figures on the right have long wanted to see struck down. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:29
Reagan Paul: Hope Floats, But Not for UMaine’s VolturnUS Floating Offshore Wind Platform
Last year, LD 1895 “An Act Regarding the Procurement of Energy from Offshore Wind Resources” passed, which got the ball rolling on Maine’s push for offshore wind port. The port will be the culmination of a more than decade-long taxpayer-funded effort to develop a floating offshore wind research array project, with the goal of eventually turning the Gulf of Maine into an industrialized wind farm. The viability of this technology was to be tested through an array of 12 wind turbines using the patented VolturnUS concrete, semi-submersible floating offshore wind turbine platform design created by Dr. Habib Dagher of the University of Maine, over the last decade. The Portland Press Herald conceded that this floating offshore wind research array project is too cost-prohibitive without an almost billion-dollar dedicated wind port facility off the coast of Maine, which means that a port must be constructed before the state can even move forward with the research array outlined in LD 1895. Enter Sears Island. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:46
Seagull makes nest, lays eggs on Point Judith fisherman’s boat
Since 2003, Paddy McGlade has been the captain of F/V Enterprise, his 70-foot-long stern dragger that he navigates while fishing in the ocean. “We catch Whiting, squid, fluke, everyday,” said McGlade. “We probably get up at 1 o’clock in the morning, leave at 2, and we’re back in at 1.” While they have lots of stories from out at sea, a new one has emerged. About two weeks ago McGlade noticed a nest on top of his boat near the cabin. “Paddy said, ‘There’s a seagull nest on the roof!’” said Shawn Overend, a crewmate. “We have been watching it ever since.” “The female usually flies off when we go fishing in the morning, and then when we come back at 12 during the day, she’ll land right on top of the boat and sit on the nest,” said McGlade. “Then when she is back another seagull, I think it’s the male usually flies over to the boat and hangs around like protection.” Photos, Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 19:39