Author Archives: borehead - Moderator
Power to Port Dock 5 has been restored. F/V Western Breeze still on the bottom
12:03pm: Report of someone falling into the Yaquina River at Port Dock 5 in downtown Newport. Fire-Rescue and the Coast Guard are racing to the scene. 12:09pm: Unconfirmed report that a fishing boat leaned over in one direction, tossing occupant(s) into the river. The boat now has no one aboard. Reports from the scene say the boat is the Western Breeze. Photos, >click to read< 12:50
Report: Removing Lower Snake River dams – Bill filed to save Snake River dams.
If four Lower Snake River dams were breached to support salmon recovery, the energy, irrigation, recreation and other benefits they provide to the Pacific Northwest could be replaced for $10.3 billion to $27.2 billion, according to a draft report released Thursday by U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee. The report does not take a position on whether the hydropower dams should be removed, but finds that breaching offers the best chance to recover salmon runs in the Columbia and Lower Snake rivers,,, >click to read<
Republican representatives, led by Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., introduced federal legislation on Thursday to protect the four lower Snake River dams from being breached. The bill was introduced just hours before a draft study commissioned by Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and fellow Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, was released. The draft study concluded that it would be costly, perhaps requiring more than $27 billion, but the dams could be breached and their benefits replaced. It would be the action most likely to restore endangered salmon runs and benefit tribes, the draft study said. >click to read< 10:52
Why Sir Ernest Shackleton isn’t the role model you thought he was
Sir Ernest Shackleton’s expedition to the Antarctic in 1914 is justifiably a famous adventure story and it made him an iconic figure of the 20th century as well as a role model for leadership in business and society. A century after his death in 1922, he remains a titan. And yet, the Endurance expedition was a disaster. Over the past century, numerous books and articles have been written and business and university courses created which have espoused Shackleton as an exemplar of successful leadership techniques but the mythology belies some less heroic truths. There were two key errors of judgment by Shackleton which have been airbrushed from history. Photos, video, >click to read< 09:45
A very concerned fisherman writes, Questions remain unanswered
I recently sent a letter to our Scottish Government requesting answers to questions on the following issues. How much of our country’s fishing grounds are to be sold off and covered with anchors and chains to hold offshore wind farms in place, thus, excluding UK fishing communities’ access to valuable fishing grounds? How many thousands of miles of expensive (plastic covered) copper cables will be required to be laid on the seabed, to transfer the generated power to where it is required? Has the carbon cost of the production of the windmills, the copper cables and the steel for the anchors and chains that will be required, running in various directions from each windmill to hold them in place; been included in the environmental and financial calculations, plus the windmill’s replacement roughly every twenty years? >click to read the rest< by William Polson, 08:07
Newport Fishing Vessel sinking at Port Dock 5
At 12:02 PM on Thursday, June 9, 2022, Newport Fire Department was dispatched to a report of vessel sinking at Port Dock 5 on Newport’s Bay front. Upon arrival, units observed a commercial fishing vessel tied up near the fuel dock listing to its port side and sinking in water. After ensuring no lives were at risk, fire crews worked with officials from the Port of Newport and USCG Yaquina Bay to set containment and absorbing buoys around the vessel. The cause of the vessel sinking was under investigation. Representatives of the vessel owner are working with Port of Newport Officials to raise the vessel. >click to read< 19:36
9 Years Later: We Remember Richard Gaines and We Miss Him
The passing of Richard Gaines was catastrophic for many. From an industry perspective, none more so than the Gloucester Daily Times. We were gifted to have the right combination of a great writer that informed of the issues of the day, and an Editor that was supportive, and a crew that did such a wonderful job churning out article after article. To say Richard Gaines is missed is an understatement. I miss him more than ever. >Richard Gaines, click to read< 17:35
Richard Gaines, Staff Writer, Gloucester Daily Times – For years, we found his byline under the headline of every major fishery article that we read 
at the Gloucester Daily Times. It told us to read on for the truth and an unbiased perspective that a great journalist presents regarding our livelihoods. Richard’s articles provided the information to the public of the complexities that made up the convoluted issues surrounding the stories of the New England ground fishery — something that was just about impossible. Some of the articles would leave the public confused, but industry insiders knew exactly what he was bringing up. At times, these controversial to insider articles would erupt, causing some noses to get out of joint, generating lively, pointed, and sometimes fierce debate. Those were my favorites, and I know what Richard wrote was on the money, even though some would disagree, of course. By Jim Kendall, June 13, 2013 >click to read<
Huge deep-water area off N.S. declared a marine refuge – will be off limits to almost all fishing
An area off Nova Scotia’s coast nearly four times the size of Cape Breton was declared a marine refuge by Canada on Wednesday — World Oceans Day. Eastern Canyons Marine Refuge is a 44,000 square kilometre swath of ocean running from the edge of the continental shelf near Sable Island to Canada’s exclusive economic zone more than 300 kilometres offshore. All bottom-contact fisheries, including trawls, traps, and longlines, will be prohibited inside the marine refuge, with the exception of one fishing zone for smaller vessels that use longlines. It was criticized by some in Nova Scotia’s lucrative halibut fishery which will be blocked from most of the area. >click to read< 14:55
President Biden’s plan to save the oceans
FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Celebrates World Ocean Day with Actions to Conserve America’s Deepest Atlantic Canyon, Cut Plastic Pollution, and Create America’s First-Ever Ocean Climate Action Plan – >click to read< The following two bullet points are from the Whitehouse Press Release today. Commentary by Nils Stolpe, >click to read< 13:07
Crew from the Grand Manan Adventure ferry sped to the rescue of fishing crew on a life raft
The Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre says it got a mayday call from the Ross Pride around noon on Wednesday. The fishing boat was taking on water and listing, said the centre’s Lt.-Cmdr. Brian Owens. “They indicated that they were going to be abandoning their vessel, getting into their life raft,” he said Thursday. Owens said the centre immediately deployed a helicopter and a Hercules aircraft out of Greenwood, N.S. The centre also asked the Canadian Coast Guard station at Westport, N.S., and the United States Coast Guard in Eastport, Maine, to head to the scene. Video, >click to read< 11:25
Battlefront: Salmon bycatch, electronic monitoring on the table at Sitka meeting of NPFMC
The bycatch of chinook and chum salmon is on the agenda, as the spring meeting of the North Pacific Management Council gets underway in Sitka this week (June 9-14). In addition to hearing how much salmon is being intercepted in the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea by the trawl fisheries, the council will review a proposal to supplement the human observer program with electronic monitoring. >click to read< Note: Find links to the Council’s agenda and meeting livestream here.
ENC shrimper thinking of new ways to get his product to customers amid inflation
Inflation is making it harder for fisherman to turn a profit. Now, it’s fueling them to make decision on how they sell their catch. One local boat captain has found a way he could keep more money in local fishermen’s wallets. Frankie Eubanks is a shrimp boat captain and he said it used to cost him $1,500 to fill up his boat, now it’s twice that. To battle the rise in prices, he wants to take his product straight to customers. Video, >click to read< 09:14
Gasoline, diesel prices put squeeze on Hampton Roads commercial fishing
“It’s going to get to a point where the customers won’t want to buy because it’s so outrageously expensive,” said Kyle Robbins. “Everyday it costs me about $150 to $200 just in fuel to leave the dock,” Robbins said. Six days a week, Robbins ventures out on a crabbing boat to haul in hundreds of pounds of crabs from the Chesapeake Bay. But the rising cost of fuel for those boats has caused his crabbing habits to change. “In certain times, maybe we can travel another 10 to 15 miles to catch more crabs, but we’re not wanting to spend the fuel, so we’re traveling only two to three miles,” he said. “It’s a lose-lose situation.” Video, >click to read< 08:15
Fisherman who vowed to dump shrimp if no buyer found suffers vessel breakdown, threat stands
The La Scie fisherman who vowed to dump his first load of northern shrimp for the season if there was no buyer returned to port today without any catch after his fishing boat suffered mechanical problems at sea. But Terry Ryan says he expects the Atlantic Bluefin Too will be repaired as early as Friday, and he plans to follow through with his pledge. “Full-steam ahead,” says Ryan, who operates the enterprise with his son, Josh, the skipper and licence-holder. Terry Ryan threatened to dump their first load of shrimp at an estimated loss of $100,000 if there’s no buyer when the catch landed as a protest of the province’s panel system of fish pricing. >click to read< 15:14
Inland Fisheries: Meet the Last Commercial Fisherman of Washington Island
My dad asked me one day if I wanted to go fishing. I thought he meant sport fishing, so I headed for the fishing pole. He says, ‘No, not that kind, commercial fishing,’” Ken Koyen says of his start as a fourth-generation fisherman. “I said, ‘Commercial? Can I do it?’ He says, ‘Hold out your hands.’ So I held them out. He says, ‘They’re big enough!’ And that’s exactly how I got started.” That was when he was 17. Now, about to turn 70, Koyen is the last of his kind on Door County’s Washington Island. Most mornings, Koyen wakes up around 6 a.m. and makes his way to his fishing tug, the Sea Diver, docked in Jackson Harbor by 8 a.m. The 48-by-13-foot tug, built in 1950, is his daily companion. Though he fishes solo, he says he never feels alone because he senses the presence of his father with him. >click to read< 13:12
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 42′ Duffy Tuna Boat, 675HP Cummins Diesel
To review specifications, information, and 43 photos’, >click here<, To see all the boats in this series >click here< 12:01
Right whale numbers may be stabilizing after some bad years, but their future remains uncertain
All in all, it’s been so far so good this year, No dead right whales have been spotted. Fifteen calves were born, the second-largest number since 2015. Michael Moore, a senior scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, recorded a recent encounter with a right whale off Massachusetts. Regulators in Canada are responding to the whales arrival this year with large-scale closures of fishing areas to snow crab traps that depend on vertical rope. >click to read< 10:52
Copper River salmon fishery starts slow but sees potential to ramp up
The Copper River sockeye and king salmon fishery is the first each summer, kicking off around the third week of May. Because of that, the fishermen usually land a higher price per pound both for sockeye and kings. This year, the run for the Copper is predicted to be around or below average, and like elsewhere, the kings are scarcer than in past decades. This year is also seeing the sockeye run show up later than usual. Last weekend saw daily numbers increasing passing the Miles Lake sonar on the Copper River, reaching just shy of 39,000 sockeye Sunday, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. That’s the highest daily count yet and puts the total count at about 153,000, ahead of the count at the same time in the last two years. >click to read< 09:20
F/V Miss Key West bringing shrimp industry back to Key West harbor
It was once a significant part of Key West’s economy, but due to numerous economic forces, the last of the shrimping vessels in the harbor left around 30 years ago, according to Dan Smith. But as of a few weeks ago, Smith and James Phelps have brought the first commercial shrimp vessel back to the Key West Harbor since that time. It now sits in the same place where the Schooner Western Union, the flagship of Florida, once was next to Schooner Wharf bar. On Monday, the two owners stood on the docks next to the Miss Key West, along with their captain, Mark Thomson, and some relatives. Phelps and Smith came up with the idea to bring a shrimp vessel back to Key West, both their families were historically part of the fishing and shrimping industry in Key West. Photos, >click to read< 07:50
Video: U.S. Coast Guard medevacs crewmember from fishing vessel near Morgan City, La.
The Coast Guard medevaced a crewmember Monday from a commercial fishing vessel 21 miles offshore Morgan City, Louisiana. Coast Guard Sector New Orleans watchstanders received a notification at 7:46 p.m. from the commercial fishing vessel F/V GP Amelia of a crewmember suffering from abdominal pain. Watchstanders diverted a Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans MH-60 Jayhawk aircrew to assist. The helicopter crew arrived on scene, hoisted the crewmember, and transferred them to University Medical Center in New Orleans. The crewmember was last reported to be in stable condition. >click for video< 18:25
F/V Villa de Pitanxo: Spanish fishing tragedy survivors appear in court amid negligence claims
The survivors of Spain’s worst fishing tragedy in four decades appeared in court on Monday as part of an investigation into claims the boat’s captain was guilty of negligence. Twenty-one people died when the Villa de Pitanxo, a 50m vessel from the northwestern region of Galicia, sank around 450km off the coast of Newfoundland, in Canada, in February. Three of the 24-strong crew survived and were found floating in a life raft: the boat’s captain, Juan Padín, his nephew, Eduardo Rial, and Samuel Kwesi. Nine bodies were recovered. >click to read< 16:30
Breakable lines, remote control traps: Maine lobstermen grapple with an onslaught of new rules
Last week federal officials announced they aim to deploy high-tech fishing gear on as many as 100 lobster and crab boats in New England. It’s the latest move to bring Maine’s lobster fleet into a new era, as an onslaught of potentially transformative federal regulations intended to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales take effect. At a Damariscotta River wharf piled high with gleaming yellow lobster traps, boat captain Eben Wilson and his sternman, Daniel Barter, deftly pull strands of colored rope apart, then knot plastic links in between. “I think the next five years from the lobster industry perspective is going to be difficult,” says Patrick Keliher, Commissioner of Maine’s Department of Marine Resources. >click to read< 15:13
NC fishermen concerned about uncertain impacts of offshore wind farms
Recreational and commercial fishermen alike have a lot of questions about these projects. The main ones: how much access will fishermen have to wind farms, and how will the wind farms impact the fish? Unfortunately, information is limited because offshore wind is still new in the United States. There are currently two offshore wind farms in various planning stages off North Carolina’s coast. One is off Kitty Hawk along the Outer Banks; the other, called Wilmington East, is off Wilmington. Avangrid Renewables is developing the wind farm off Kitty Hawk. Construction there is expected to start in 2026. >click to read< 11:17
Lobster industry and lawmakers await court decision to determine legality of new restrictions
Maine and Massachusetts harvest more than 90% of the American lobsters sold in the U.S. and most lobstermen and New England lawmakers want to keep it that way. Over the past year, a dispute over new federal regulations on Maine’s lobster industry, intended to protect the endangered North Atlantic Right Whale,,, Mike Sargent became the captain of his own boat at 15. The 29-year-old is worried, however, that if regulations adopted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in 2021 are ruled lawful by the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia, that more expensive and stricter regulations could follow. “There’s talks of ropeless fishing and so on, and those are astronomically expensive and quite frankly could bankrupt this industry at the stroke of a pen,” Sargent said. Massachusetts lobsterman Dave Casoni said that it would cost lobstermen between $500,000-$600,000 to make the switch to ropeless traps, and if passed Casoni believes it could bankrupt the industry. Video, >click to read< 09:16
Aboard the Lake Erie fishing tug Lady Anna II (Part 4)
It’s 7 a.m. on Tuesday, March 29, 2022. The Lady Anna II is about 10 miles due south of Kingsville heading north-by-northwest, and home. It’s all hands at the starboard midship “picking” station. The crew – Craig Adamson, James “Marty” Martin, Curtis Mummery and Josh Mummery – carefully remove the 2,000 pounds of pickerel from the nets hauled aboard one hour and 20 minutes ago. The first “set,” and all the hawk-like attention it requires of Captain Mummery, is done. So I take a chance, and walk up the two steps into the wheelhouse. Captain Mummery stands motionless, eyes 
glued to the horizon, snacking on brunch – a chocolate chip cookie. Laughing quietly, he tells me, “I always have chocolate chip cookies in my pail. It’s a bad day if I don’t have my chocolate chip cookies.” And then he tells me that even though the Lady Anna II is pointed toward home, the work is only half finished. Another “pull” and set will be done before getting back to Kingsville. >click to read< 08:25
Research vessel Lady Lisa may be nearing its end
Beach visitors were captivated by what appeared to be a shrimp trawler meandering close to shore along St. Augustine Beach last week. But this was no ordinary shrimp trawler, nor was it actually “shrimping.” The vessel in question was the Lady Lisa, a 75-foot former shrimp trawler, and now a research vessel, which has appeared for more than three decades in local waters – usually twice a year. Although it appears that it was in violation of off-shore limits, the regulations do not apply to the Lady Lisa, which was built in St. Augustine in 1980 by St. Augustine Trawlers Inc. But it was not the shrimp business that its owners had in mind. >click to read< 21:04
Seafood Industry Professions Raise Concerns About Reintroduction Of Sea Otters
West Coast Seafood processors says that their membership is concerned about a study on the impacts of sea otters on coastal fishing. The West Coast Seafood Processors Association says that they join other ocean stakeholders in a lack of confidence about concerns raised about the otters. “We remain very concerned that the issues we identified in our letter last year will not be adequately addressed in the Fish and Wildlife Service’s cost and feasibility study,” West Coast Seafood Processors Association Executive Director Lori Steele said. >click to read< 18:24
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for June 6, 2022
The MFC voted on May 26th to continue with the gill net closure in the Neuse and Pamlico rivers and directed DMF to study the impacts of removing the gill nets as their preferred management option. But this time the reason for continuing the gill net closure was different. At the meeting, Commissioner Tom Roller said; “In saying that this is an allocation fight, you are right. So, when NCFA comes here and says there is no scientific evidence for removing gill nets, what they are saying is I want my allocation. Yeah, that’s exactly what it is. So, it’s an allocation by the retention of gill nets. Cause a dead fish is a dead fish, right? A dead fish is a dead fish and you have to ask what is the greater value to the economy? And in most cases, and many cases, not all cases, it’s recreational.” I’m confused. . >click to read<. To read all the updates >click here<, for older updates listed as NCFA >click here< 16:16
A New Twin-Rigger for Fraserburgh Brothers
The 22.20 metre, 7.50 metre beam F/V Day Dawn replaces the 19 metre F/V Challenger that skipper Chaz Bruce and his brother Martin had been working since it was built at the same yard in 2010. Still in Fraserburgh, F/V Challenger is now F/V Harvest Moon. The brothers chose the Day Dawn name for their newbuild in memory of their father, as this was the name of his boat when they both started at sea with him. ‘The boat performed well, it was very quiet, generally really impressed and everything seems to have worked out well, very pleased with the new boat,’ Chaz Bruce said after bringing in the new trawler home from Whitby to take on the Faithlie Trawls fishing gear and Thyborøn trawl doors to carry out the first fishing trials. Photos, >click to read< 12:46
New Right Whale Endangered Species Condom Distributed for World Ocean Day
The Center for Biological Diversity will head to Capitol Hill on Wednesday, June 8 to distribute endangered species condoms in honor of World Ocean Day and mark the 50th anniversary of the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Center staff will hand out newly designed right whale condom packages with the slogan “Cover your spout… don’t let the right whale die out.” The new right whale design is part of the Center’s Endangered Species Condoms campaign, which draws attention to how human population growth is affecting critically endangered species. >click to read< 10:55
Ex-fisherman forced to sell collection of 600 toy boats because they’re a ‘fire hazard’
Pete Dixon, 75, started collecting radio-controlled vessels when he split up with his wife 30 years ago. And now he has filled every room in his three-bedroom privately rented home in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, he has been told it’s a fire hazard – and the boats have to go. ‘When I finished fishing, I bought a couple of boats and I got the bug and started collecting them,’ he said. ‘I wouldn’t like to guess how much money I’ve spent over the years, but it must be tens of thousands. It was more or less every penny I had.’ Pete’s boats will go under the hammer on Sunday with Prestige Auctions, which is where he bought many of the vessels from in the first place. Photos, >click to read< 09:38
