Author Archives: borehead - Moderator
Dismal B.C. herring season sparks renewed calls for moratorium
Three days after setting his nets out in the Strait of Georgia between B.C.’s mainland and Vancouver Island, Josh Young headed back home to Pender Harbour. The herring he was expecting to catch were nowhere to be found. “I will be honest… the stocks I saw this year weren’t the healthiest year I’ve ever seen,” Young said. “We didn’t catch our entire quota.” Young wasn’t alone. When the season opened March 3 for boats equipped with seine nets, they scooped up their fill of the silver foot-long fish in 48 hours. By the time Young and hundreds of others using gillnets arrived on March 5, the fish seemed to have disappeared. “It was a different year,” Young said stoically. >click to read< 16:31
Big Brother is watching you. “we want to know who you are, where you are & what you have caught”
While we all appreciate the need to have accurate data there are ways in which the objective can be achieved without creating a world akin to the dystopian future foretold in the novel, 1984. When you hear the terms “Big Brother”, Room 101 or “Thought Police” did you know that both phrases come directly from George Orwell’s classic novel 1984? Orwell’s dark cautionary tale published in 1949 about the dangers of totalitarianism, government surveillance, and censorship left a profound mark on the English language, as Orwell introduced readers to new words and phrases to help him describe the anti-utopia of Oceania where the story is centred. Some may be moved indeed to describe the recent introduction of I-VMS, the intimate monitoring of the very smallest fishing vessels in the UK fleet, as ‘Orwellian’. >click to read<13:28
‘Deadliest Catch,’ a reality show with drama – and room for make-believe
This year, nine Bering Sea crab boats will appear on the Discovery Channel show’s 18th season, premiering April 19. That represents nearly a quarter of the 39 vessels registered as of March 21 to catch snow crab in the 2022 harvest, which has been greatly reduced due to conservation concerns. Some are smaller boats that may have a more difficult time operating in the cold, rough water of the northern Bering Sea, where surveys indicate most of the crab were to be found this year. But with the money paid by Discovery, their captains had plenty of added incentive to keep crabbing, and keep their crews employed, in 2022 rather than transferring small catch quotas to larger boats. Just how much “Deadliest Catch” pumps into the crab fleet is largely kept confidential. >click to read< 11:32
Reallocation: Fed changes to BC crab fishery could bankrupt some commercial fishermen
Commercial crab fishermen in British Columbia fear that changes to the way they can fish for Dungeness crab off the west coast of Vancouver Island could push some small, family operations out of business. This year however, crab fishermen like Jason Voong, 33, may not be able to harvest enough crabs to stay in business following changes announced by the federal government in December to reallocate half of the licenses available in the area to local First Nations. “I fully support, and the fishers support reconciliation, it’s just a process that’s wrong right now the way DFO has treated the commercial fleet and the five nations.” >click to read< 09:41
The Galician fisherman who accidentally became a spy in the Falklands War
Four decades after the war that hurts Argentines the most, Fernando Otero, a 68-year-old Galician sailor who never lived more than ten blocks from the sea, remembers his days aboard the Usurbil, the fishing vessel that in 1982 searched for hake by the Argentine Sea when he was militarized and forced to do intelligence work while pretending to fish. “I was there when the military arrived and the ship was militarized,” says Otero, a senior naval mechanic who was in charge of maintaining the Usurbil’s machines. When he arrived in Argentina to board the Usurbil, the steel-hulled freezer trawler that had been launched in 1968 in Vigo and later sold to the company Pesquera del Atlántico SA, Otero had ten years of experience and had already sailed the Atlantic, the Pacific, the Indian. >click to read< 08:46
Coast Guard medevacs crewmember from fishing vessel near Port Fourchon, La.
The story of how a Black man pioneered the salmon canning industry in British Columbia in the 1870s
Located on an island on the Fraser River in British Columbia, Canada, is the Deas Island Regional Park What many do not know is that the park took its name from John Sullivan Deas, a founder of the salmon canning industry in British Columbia. More than 140 years ago, the island was the site of Deas’ cannery. A tinsmith by trade, Deas is believed to have pioneered the salmon canning industry in British Columbia, becoming the leading canner on the Fraser River in the 1870s. Born in 1838 in South Carolina among some groups of Black people freed from slavery, Deas was a trained tinsmith by the time he was in his teens. Historians have described the 1870s also as the Salmon Rush as anyone with ample capital could open a cannery. Deas knew how to make cans, so salmon canning was an ideal business idea. >click to read< 15:30
Canadian fisherman helping displaced Ukrainians escapes Chernihiv on foot amid Russian shelling
A Canadian who was trapped in northern Ukraine while attempting to assist displaced citizens has managed to escape the area on foot as bombs rained down. Lex Brukovskiy was stuck in the city of Chernihiv for five days before he was able to walk out on Tuesday, leaving his van behind as Russian shelling of roads and bridges continued. He said in a series of texts that once outside the city in eastern Ukraine, he continued to walk, hitched a ride and then eventually rejoined his original convoy of relief vehicles and reached the western city of Lviv on Thursday. Brukovskiy, a fisherman from Meteghan, N.S., who grew up in Ukraine, says the convoy of vans did rescue six displaced people, as several vehicles managed to get out of the city ahead of him. >click to read< 10:38
Rising fuel, bait prices could eat into profit margins
Lobster fishers have had to contend with the rising costs of doing business for years, but this season presents a set of circumstances perhaps without compare. Fuel prices are higher than they’ve ever been on PEI and that will have a direct impact on fishers, especially the ones who sail further out from shore. Throw in rising bait prices driven by quotas and feeding predators, and insurance costs, and it could take a sizable big bite out of profit margins. “It’s going to be different from last year for sure. The cost of everything is going up,” said Naufrage lobster fisherman Lucas Lesperance. He hopes those pressures will create a strong price throughout the season. Mr Lesperance said seals are becoming more of a nuisance than ever, chowing down on bait species like herring and mackerel. A seal hunt would certainly help, he said. >click to read< 10:07
Fisherwoman who died off Oregon Coast remembered by family
Billie Jo Hooton was on a fishing boat off the coast of Florence last weekend when it went down. Now her family wants to share their memories — remembering her as a strong woman, proud to thrive in a demanding profession. Mollie Gower and Brandi Christner said that their sister, Hooton, was an inspiration. “You don’t hear about a lot of women doing what she did, and she did it good,” said Christner. Hooton was a mother, sister, aunt, friend and made a living fishing. photos, video, >click to read< The family started a >GoFundMe< to help with a memorial for Hooton. Please donate if you can. 08:50
J. M. Martinac Shipbuilding Corporation (Tacoma)
In January 1917, Martinac, with partners Martin Petrich (1880-1971) and William Vickat, established the Western Boatbuilding Company in Old Tacoma. In April, The Tacoma Daily Ledger reported the company employed 40 men building fishing boats up to 70 feet in length for use “in Alaskan waters, on the Columbia River and on Puget Sound” (“Fishing Vessels Turned Out Here”). Fourteen fishing boats worth $90,000 left the plant by the end of September, and the company found itself “receiving inquiries from all over the Sound” and “points in the Pacific Northwest” (“Builds $90,000 Worth of Boats”). While the venture was a success, In 1924, Martinac founded his own company, the J. M. Martinac Shipbuilding Corporation. While the company built some yachts, it primarily built fishing vessels. Photo gallery, >click to read< 21:08
Canada responds to United Nations after Mi’kmaw treaty fishery complaint
Canada submitted its response last month to a United Nations committee after Sipekne’katik First Nation in Nova Scotia asked the international body to investigate violence against Mi’kmaw fishers during the “moderate livelihood” lobster fishery in the fall of 2020. However, the federal Heritage Department, which is the lead agency handling the human rights reporting file, said Canada’s submission will remain confidential. >click to read< 19:16
Massachusetts DMF’s Ropeless Fishing Gear Feasibility Report Released
The Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries has completed the first phase of a two-year project, funded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to comprehensively characterize the issues and challenges associated with the integration of on-demand fishing gear technology into New England lobster fisheries. On-demand fishing gear, also known as ‘ropeless gear,’ is a type of fishing gear used in ‘fixed gear’ fisheries, or fisheries that use equipment that is left, or ‘fixed’, in place over time to capture fish. On-demand fishing gear replaces traditional vertical buoy lines, which can result in entanglements with marine mammals including North Atlantic right whales, with new gear retrieval and marking methods. >click to read, and access the report< Assessing the Feasibility of On-Demand Gear in New England Lobster Fisheries, 16:40
Missing fisherman’s house burns down
Hours after authorities suspended the at-sea search for the captain of a Newport fishing vessel, his Logsden house and an adjacent building caught fire and burned to the ground. The structure fire call came in at 5:13 p.m. Sunday,,, The fire compounded tragedy for a local family. The house and shop, on the site of a Christmas tree farm, were owned by fisherman Mike Morgan, whose boat capsized at around midnight Saturday off the coast of Florence. The body of a crew member, Billie Jo Hooton, was recovered by the U.S. Coast Guard, and a search for Morgan was suspended Sunday morning. >click to read< 13:43
Are the whales leaving with the food? Gulf of Maine research raises questions about new lobstering rules
As the Gulf of Maine’s waters warm, recent studies show the main food source of the endangered North Atlantic right whale is moving north, out of Maine waters. And the whales appear to be following them. Such findings haven’t escaped the notice of the Maine lobster industry, which has been referencing them in its legal arguments as to why impending new federal restrictions on lobstering gear won’t help save the whales. Oceanographer Jeffrey Runge, of the University of Maine and the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, said the lipid-rich copepods have been abundant in the Gulf of Maine since Henry Bigelow did his first oceanographic surveys in the early 20th century, but that abundance has dropped by about 70 percent in the past 20 years. >click to read< 11:57
The Last Commercial Fisherman
Phil McAdam has fished sardines in Port Phillip Bay for 45 years, but this week he netted his final catch. McAdam, who runs Vancouver Bait Supply in Williamstown, was the last commercial fisherman left at Port Phillip Bay after the government phased the industry out. photos, >click to read< End of Commercial Netting Signals New Era for Bay Fishers – It is the dawn of a new era for recreational fishing, with today marking the end of commercial net fishing in Port Phillip Bay. The Andrews Labor Government promised at the 2014 election to end commercial net fishing in the bay, and that is exactly what we have delivered, as part of a $71 million investment to improve recreational fishing in Victoria >click to read< 10:35
Lobstermen who harvest federal waters will be required to install electronic trackers
East Coast lobster and Jonah Crab fishermen who harvest federal waters will be required to install electronic trackers on their boats, giving federal regulators unprecedented detail on where fishing activity is taking place. A vote by the regional American Lobster Management Board approved the measure Thursday. Ware and the co-chair of the Maine Legislature’s Marine Resources Committee, Democratic Senator David Mirament, voted for the measure, over objections from the third member of Maine’s delegation, lobsterman Steve Train. >click to read< 09:32
Snow crab prices skyrocket
The price of snow crab jumped last year. It explodes again this year. The price of the first arrivals of the season, which opened on Friday, exceeds $38 a pound for cooked crab in Montreal. Last year it was around $26. Enough for crab legs to stop being part of the springtime ritual for many Quebecers. At the Jean-Talon market, the price of live snow crab is $21.50 per pound. That of cooked crab is $38.50 per pound. This explosion can be explained by several factors: galloping inflation, which increases costs, particularly transport costs, the imposition of quotas on Alaskan crabs by the American government,,, There are practically no Alaskan crabs in the markets. The Russians, with what is happening in Ukraine, will not sell their crabs to the United States. >click to read< 08:35
Maine’s politicians seek delay on whale protection rules
In a letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Riamondo, Gov. Mills and other officials urge federal fisheries regulators to extend the May 1 deadline to comply with the new regulations, which are aimed at protecting critically endangered north Atlantic right whales by setting a seasonal closure and requiring modifications to gear. They are requesting a July 1 deadline. The state’s commercial fishing industry is working “in good faith” to comply with the new rules but are facing supply chain issues and other complications with less than six weeks to go until implementation of the new rules. >click to read< 17:40
Seafood Biz Braces For Losses Of Jobs, Fish Due To Sanctions
The worldwide seafood industry is steeling itself for price hikes, supply disruptions and potential job losses as new rounds of economic sanctions on Russia make key species such as cod and crab harder to come by. The latest round of U.S. attempts to punish Russia for the invasion of Ukraine includes bans on imports of seafood, alcohol and diamonds. The impact is likely to be felt globally, as well as in places with working waterfronts. One of those is Maine, where more than $50 million in seafood products from Russia passed through Portland in 2021, according to federal statistics. “If you’re getting cod from Russia, it’s going to be a problem,” said Glen Libby, an owner of Port Clyde Fresh Catch, a seafood market in Tenants Harbor, Maine. “That’s quite a mess. We’ll see how it turns out.” >click to read< 13:39
Higher Snow Crab Quota in Newfoundland and Labrador in 2022
DFO’s management practices in recent years, supported by evidence-based science advice, favourable ocean conditions, and the stewardship of local harvesters, have rejuvenated the snow crab stock in most areas throughout the Province. Improvements in the stock are likely to continue in the short-term and point to continued growth and a sustainable fishery into the future. For these reasons, Fisheries Minister Joyce Murray, is pleased to announce that the 2022 total allowable catch for the Snow crab fishery in Newfoundland and Labrador will be 50,470 tonnes. This represents a 32 per cent increase from 2021. >click to read< 12:05
Snow crab quota jumps 30% for 2022 season – For fishermen like Aaron Ferriera, the quota increase is welcome news. “For a lot of fishermen, crab season is the only thing they fish all year-round, especially now with the price of everything skyrocketing. It’s a good thing for sure,” he said. And the cost of doing business is going up. >click to read< 17:13
Captain Michael John Morgan of Newport, Oregon has passed away
Michael John Morgan, 68, of Newport, Oregon passed away on March 26, 2022 after his fishing vessel, F/V White Swan III, capsized in the Pacific Ocean. Mike was born in Oakland, California in 1953 to US Coast Guard Lt. Col. Jack Morgan and Beth (both deceased). He would become the oldest of three siblings, followed by Douglas (deceased) and Patricia. At age 12, Mike’s family moved to Newport, when his father was stationed with the Yaquina Bay Coast Guard. Twelve year old Mike took to fishing immediately upon moving to Newport. Mike’s final resting place is at sea with his F/V White Swan III. >click to read< 11:14
Rising fuel costs could lead to job losses in fishing fleet
Shetland’s fishing fleet faces tie-ups and job losses as vessels are crippled by rising fuel costs, according to the local fisherman’s association. The organisation said that due to the conflict in Ukraine the cost of marine diesel in the isles has more than doubled compared to this time last year, making fishing trips “uneconomical and local businesses unviable”. Over one month on from the start of hostilities in Ukraine, governments elsewhere have been grappling with global supply chain concerns – with food and energy security on consumers’ minds as prices begin to rise. “It’s almost a forgotten fact that fishing crews help to feed the nation,” said SFA chair James Anderson, who is the skipper of Alison Kay, LK57. >click to read< 09:43
Family of woman who died after fishing boat sank near Florence speaks out
The U.S. Coast Guard said a woman has died and a man is missing after F/V White Swan III sank off the coast of Florence on March 26. The Lane County Sheriff’s Office said the man, Mike Morgan, was the captain. The 68-year-old is still missing but the Coast Guard called off the search after 24 hours of searching. The Coast Guard was able to recover the body of Billie Jo Hooton, who was a crew member on the boat. “She did everything, she would drop anything to do anything for anybody else,” Brandi Christner, her sister said. Hooton was close with her nephew, Jeremiah Gower. Video, >click to read< 09:03
Whitby’s 103-year-old lifeboat Robert and Ellen Robson pulled through streets
Whitby’s RNLI crew and other volunteers gathered at Coates Marine to pull Whitby’s old rowing lifeboat, the Robert and Ellen Robson, back to its home at the lifeboat museum on Pier Road. The boat has been at Coates Marine undergoing restoration work but will now get a final lick of paint at the lifeboat museum – the RNLI hopes to reopen the museum this summer. Until 1957 RNLB Robert & Ellen Robson was still in service in Whitby with 10 members of crew providing the muscle power on the oars. Video, >click to read< 22:35
Ottawa announces closure of Atlantic mackerel, bait fisheries to restore stocks
Fishers on the East Coast are expressing their disappointment with Ottawa after DFO closed the Atlantic mackerel and commercial bait fisheries, citing concerns that dwindling stocks have entered a “critical zone.” The department said in a release Wednesday it was taking “urgent action” to help preserve the stock of southern Gulf spring herring and Atlantic mackerel with the closures in Atlantic Canada and Quebec. Fisheries Minister Joyce Murray said she recognizes many harvesters depend on the fisheries, and she promised to work with them and others in the industry to preserve the stocks. Fishers in the sector, however, want the decision reversed. Martin Mallet, “It’s going to have a major impact — an atomic bomb impact — on our whole East Coast fishery, from Newfoundland to Quebec to southwest Nova Scotia,” >click to read< 18:52
Mi’kmaw negotiator advocates for reduction in commercial catches to bolster treaty fishery
A top Mi’kmaw negotiator insisted commercial catches should be reduced anyway to ensure the treaty right is realized, while the president of a commercial fishermen’s association responded that enough has been done and the failure rests with Ottawa and First Nation leaders. “You heard from the chiefs, the buy-back program hasn’t been successful. So maybe at this point, Canada and DFO have to be more aggressive in taking back access for the Mi’kmaw people and Indigenous people,” Janice Maloney told the committee. Colin Sproul, president of the Unified Fisheries Conservation Alliances, challenged the demand. Sproul represents 1,900 commercial fishermen. “It’s clearly unfair and un-Canadian to repossess access to the fishery from coastal communities without any consultation or compensation,” Sproul said. >click to read< 17:31
SEA-NL calls for Derek Butler’s resignation from Association of Seafood Producers
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador, representing owner-operators in the inshore fleet, is calling for the resignation of the executive director of the association representing buyers/processors after publicly criticizing the province’s snow crab resource. “Derek Butler said on NTV News Tuesday that our snow crab is second-rate compared to product from the Maritimes, worth 30% less,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director. “For the spokesman for seafood companies in this province to say that publicly shows poor judgement and reflects poorly on what is the best snow crab in the world. He must no longer speak for industry.” >click to read< 13:36
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 85′ Shrimper/Scalloper, 3412 Cat, 2 JD Auxiliaries
To review specifications, information, and 45 photos’, >click here<, To see all the boats in this series >click here< 11:55