Author Archives: borehead - Moderator
House GOP Investigates Alleged Financial Ties Of US Green Groups To Putin
The GOP committee members wrote to three groups Thursday, the League of Conservation Voters, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and the Sierra Club, demanding more information about their financial ties to the California-based Sea Change Foundation. The Republicans cited reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin has funneled money through Sea Change to the environmental groups, according to the letters sent to the groups’ leaders. The NRDC vehemently denied the allegations Thursday, saying the reports Republicans referenced were false. >click to read< 10:16
Four of a Kind! Scalloper Quartet for Normandy Fishermen
A group of French fishermen from Ouistreham followed the example of their colleagues along the coast in Cherbourg and went to a Turkish shipbuilder to order four identical scalloper/trawlers, which were built in only eight months to be shipped to France. Designed by French company Archi Delion, the 13.44 metre by 6.40 metre breadth vessels are designed primarily for scalloping but will also pursue other fisheries outside the scallop season. Photos, video, >click to read< 09:12
What Canadians think of the Blue Economy
Fisheries and Oceans Minister Joyce Murray released findings Friday of an engagement process on its Blue Economy Strategy, which aims to make better use of Canada’s oceans for food production, energy and marine trade. Murray’s ministry consulted 1,600 Canadians to get feedback on its Blue Economy Strategy, which is designed to protect Canada’s oceans and maximize economic benefits from it. But one of the most important ocean-based industries in B.C, salmon farming remains under a cloud of uncertainty, with investments and hundreds of jobs at risk, as a deadline for renewing 79 federal licences looms. Murray offered no clarity on whether they will be renewed in June, which is when they expire. >click to read<, The Blue Economy-Who wants the disappearance of fishermen? The answers are here. >click to read< 19:17
Federal windfall won’t put a stop to state lobster industry relief bills
Although Maine’s lobster industry is set to receive $17 million in federal funding as part of the 2022 omnibus spending package, it is unlikely to affect two bills going through the Legislature that seek more than $30 million in state funds for the industry. The spending bill will bring more than $200 million in funding for projects across the state. For the lobster industry, it includes $14 million to help lobstermen comply with new federal regulations intended to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales, set to take effect May 1, along with $760,000 for the Department of Marine Resources to conduct outreach and education among lobstermen, and $2.3 million for right whale research, monitoring and conservation. >click to read< 17:28
Remembering America’s Forgotten ‘Fish Evangelist’
The Eat More Fish campaign distributed posters that implored patriots to “Save the meat for our soldiers and allies,” or, simply, “Eat the carp!” One of the posters featured a stern-looking woman in a starched lunch-lady uniform and paper cap. “Eat more fish,” she admonished the onlooker, “a real health food.” The woman’s name was Evelene Spencer and, to many Americans, she would have been a familiar sight. From 1915 to 1922, Spencer held the distinguished title of Fish Cookery Expert at the USBF (later renamed the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service), where she led the charge in 
persuading the public to eat seafood, so prolifically that she eventually became known as the Fish Evangelist. Born in Canada in 1868, Spencer was a 47-year-old restaurant manager in Portland, Oregon, when she was hired by the USBF. She was married and the mother of two daughters. But little else is known about Spencer’s life or culinary training prior to her role as Fish Cookery Expert. photos, >click to read< 13:00
U.S. Bans Russian Seafood, Alcohol in Downgrade of Russia’s Trade Status
The United States will join the European Union and Group of Seven (G7) countries in downgrading Russia’s “most favored nation” trade status, President Joe Biden announced Friday. As part of a new executive order from Biden, the administration will also ban alcohol, seafood and diamonds from Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine, which is currently in its third week. The move is part of a series of actions by the U.S. and Western nations to chip away at Russia’s economy through sanctions and bans. >click to read< 11:15
Atlantic Canada snow crab fishery hopes for another banner year
But concern over high fuel prices, fear of U.S. recession dampens hopes for one Nova Scotia processor. The snow crab fishery in Atlantic Canada is gearing up in hopes of another banner season in 2022, buoyed by expectations of more quota, high prices and less competition from rival nations. But will rising inflation, especially in the United States, and uncertainty over the war in Ukraine dampen the spectacular returns in 2021 when the fishery was valued at nearly a billion dollars? >click to read< 10:04
Stephen W. Walima of Rockport, Mass, has passed away
Stephen W. Walima, 62, of Rockport, passed away on Friday, March 4, 2022, following a brief illness. Born in Gloucester, son of Ann S. (Budnovitch) Walima and the late William W. Walima. He was a graduate of Rockport High School, class of 1977. He later graduated from Wentworth Institute of Technology, receiving his bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering. Steve worked for many years as a commercial fisherman on various boats out of Rockport and Gloucester and loved tuna fishing too. He was predeceased by his father, William W. Walima; and his pug, Bart who was his best buddy. >click to read< 09:21
Mid-Water Herring Trawlers to Return to Inshore Waters – Court Overturns Exclusion Zone
Herring fishermen from New England and the Mid-Atlantic won a crucial decision last week when a federal judge in Boston ruled in their favor against an exclusion zone in Northeast U.S. waters. The court ruled that a National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) measure excluding the mid-water trawl fleet from productive inshore fishing grounds violated the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the nation’s premier fisheries law. The lawsuit was brought by the Sustainable Fisheries Coalition (SFC), a trade group representing herring and mackerel fishing companies. >click to read< 08:16
Commercial fishing vessel caught with $30,000 of illegal shrimp in Tampa Bay
Officers with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission boarded the ship on March 3 as part of a resource inspection, according to a press release. More than 11,000 pounds of shrimp, along with several pounds of cobia fillets were discovered in the vessel’s freezer, FWC said. The F/V Dona Lupa was operating illegally just south of MacDill Air Force Base, officials say. >click to read< 22:14
Fly-shooter to focus on squid, mullet, and gurnard
A new Belgian fly-shooter built by Padmos Stellendam has been delivered to Zeebrugge-based trawler company Nele. This is the first new seine netter to join the Belgian fishing fleet. Fishing company Nele placed the order for the new F/V Aravis Z-99 in August 2020, and the previous vessel of the same name, which was something of a pioneer as one of the first of a long series of fly-shooters converted from former trawlers, had been sold to Marissa Fisheries in Suriname more than a year previously. Photos, Video, >click to read< 19:08
Maine: Fishermen oppose large salmon farm
Alley, Backman, Briggs, Coombs, Dunbar, Faulkingham, Knowles, Perry, Torrey and Whalen are among the surnames of multi-generation fishing families on the Schoodic Peninsula, whose working fishermen and women signed a petition opposing American Aquafarms’ proposed salmon farm comprising two 15-pen sites in Frenchman Bay. The 100 petitioners’ “Statement of Opposition” to the project to raise 66 million fish annually in their historic fishing grounds was delivered last week to the Gouldsboro Select Board. “This is going to take away more of our lobster fishing ground,” 75-year-old South Gouldsboro fisherman Jerry Potter said. Potter has fished in Frenchman Bay throughout his working life. “We’re worried about disease. And I’m very concerned it would pollute the bay and destroy the bay’s entire ecosystem.” >click to read< 13:26
Shetland’s whitefish boats receive on-board defibrillators
A dozen new devices, designed to give controlled electrical shocks to the heart of someone in cardiac arrest, have been secured for the local fleet through grants from the Scottish Government’s Marine Fund Scotland. It is part of a wider £80,000 government investment under which a total of 100 new defibrillators have been gifted to fishing vessels throughout Scotland. Shetland Fishermen’s Association executive officer Sheila Keith said: “In the case of sudden cardiac arrest, we know that the sooner a defibrillator can be deployed the better the chances of survival. >click to read< 13:06
Rebuttal: Ropeless lobstering is not the answer
I grew up in a lobster fishing family and I think I know a thing or two about how to live, thrive, and survive on the water. So, I was surprised to read a recent column, (“Ropeless Technology Ahead of the Wave,” March 2) authored by a “wild mushroom entrepreneur” who seems to think she actually knows best when it comes to the future of the lobster industry. It is accurate to say the Maine lobster industry faces an uncertain future, but not because of the endangered North Atlantic right whale. The real threat comes from Washington, DC,,, >click to read< By John Leonard 09:51
Right whale protection measures to return ahead of migration into Canada
The federal government has announced its fishery and vessel management measures for the 2022 season to protect North Atlantic right whales as the endangered animals migrate into Canadian waters. Officials said in a statement Thursday the Fisheries Department will once again implement seasonal and temporary fishing area closures in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the Bay of Fundy and other “critical habitat areas” where whales have previously been sighted. They also say Transport Canada is again enforcing vessel traffic measures, including speed restrictions for vessels over 13 metres long, throughout much of the Gulf starting on April 20 to better respond to right whale presence. >click to read< 08:29
Woolly Mammoth Tooth Found by Fisherman to Be Auctioned to Aid Ukrainian Refugees
A pair of restaurant owners from Kittery, Maine, trying to find a way help the refugees in Ukraine decided to put the 12,000-year-old woolly mammoth tooth found on a fishing expedition up for auction and donate the proceeds to a charity. Kayla Cox and Captain Tim Rider, the other restaurant co-owner, wanted to help Ukrainians in need following the Russian invasion into Ukraine on February 24, which was ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin. One customer suggested they auction off the woolly mammoth tooth and donate the money to World Central Kitchen, an organization serving meals to Ukrainian families. >click to read< 07:05
Fuel: in Lorient, the trawler Le Dolmen will not go to sea for glory
The war in Ukraine is yet to impact fully on the price of diesel fuel in the UK. Handline, inshore and gillnetters burn considerably less fuel than trawlers and even more so than beam trawlers – the biggest of which can typically consume somewhere in the region of £3,000 per day in red diesel – which means the expenses alone for a trip could exceed well over 50%. In Cornwall, CFPO are telling its members that, they’re very aware of the rising fuel costs & the toll this is taking on the fleet. Discussions between @GOVUK and industry are taking place. This Friday, @NFFO_UK will hold an emergency Executive Committee meeting on this issue. French fishermen are already reacting to the increase in their fuel costs as this translated story testifies. Video, >click to read< 12:35
North Carolina: Offshore wind turbines interfere with ships’ radar, ability to navigate
Gov. Roy Cooper and the Biden Administration want to make North Carolina carbon neutral by 2050, and President Biden’s ambitious plans to combat climate change lean heavily on offshore wind generation. The turbines could be a problem for fishermen. North Carolina’s fishing industry has largely been cautious in criticizing the wind turbines, saying it wants to wait for more information. “Demolition derby on the high seas thanks to offshore industrial wind turbines? Amy Cooke asked. “Add maritime navigation and radar challenges to the long list of reasons, including high cost, unreliability, environmental damage and misleading nameplate capacity, as to why offshore industrial wind is absolutely horrible public policy.”>click to read< 11:13
Shaheen, Collins Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Help Lobster Industry Afford New Gear
U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced bipartisan legislation to support lobstermen by creating a grant program to help them comply with federal regulations that require a change in fishing gear, which reduces the risk of entanglement for highly endangered North Atlantic right whales. The Stewarding Atlantic Fisheries Ecosystems by Supporting Economic Assistance and Sustainability (SAFE SEAS) Act of 2022 will help lobstermen with the financial burden of this transition in gear – which is expected to cost the industry tens of millions of dollars each year. >click to read< 10:20
Clyde fishing ban: Scottish Government refuses financial support for creel fishermen
The news comes after an 11-week targeted cod ban, prohibiting all fishing activity where cod can spawn in the Firth of Clyde, came into place on February 14. Rural affairs secretary Mairi Gougeon confirmed, in line with policy around similar management measures, including the National Cod Avoidance Plan and Marine Protected Areas,,, The minister said adapting the measures to exclude any exemptions such as creel fishing this year was the “right decision” to protect spawning cod based on “the best available scientific evidence”. However, scientists and academics have claimed there is “no evidence” creel fishing impacts cod spawning. >click to read< 08:36
Virginia Man Pleads Guilty to Murder Aboard Commercial Scallop Boat
Franklin Freddy Meave Vazquez, 31, pleaded guilty to one count of murder in the second degree, one count of attempted murder, and one count of assault with a dangerous weapon. U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs scheduled sentencing for June 28, 2022. Meave Vazquez was indicted in November 2018. On Sept. 23, 2018, the scalloping vessel, F/V Captain Billy Haver, was sailing approximately 55 miles off the coast of Nantucket with seven crew members aboard, including Meave Vazquez and the three victims. Inside the shucking house, Meave Vazquez used a hammer to strike Victim A hard in the head into unconsciousness. Meave Vazquez then walked out onto the deck,,, >click to read< 22:17
Lobster fisherman from Ukraine now living in Meteghan, returning home to help family
When the war in Ukraine first broke out, Lex Brukovskiy immediately thought about his mother in the city of Lviv, more than 6,400 kilometres from his home in Meteghan, a small fishing village on Nova Scotia’s St. Marys Bay. The 38-year-old has decided to return to his native land in an effort to help his family and the growing number of refugees entering from Ukraine into Poland. Brukovskiy has no idea how long he will be away from his home in 
Meteghan, where his two teenage boys live. He is a lobster boat captain and is leaving in the middle of the lucrative lobster season in southwestern Nova Scotia. Brukovskiy has now hired a temporary captain to operate his boat for the remaining three months of the season and his crew will remain employed. >click to read< 19:41
Crab crash: Effects of collapsed Bering Sea crab stocks are being felt far beyond the fleet
The crash in Bering Sea crab stocks is translating to serious impacts for fishermen and communities across the Western Alaska coast. From the top, the Bristol Bay red king crab fishery is closed entirely this season for the first time since the 1990s, while the Bering Sea snow crab total allowable catch was reduced by nearly 90 percent. In the meantime, fishermen who depend on crab are dealing with the fallout of those cuts this year. Gabriel Prout of Kodiak was waiting out a storm in the Akutan harbor last week, after finishing up his snow crab season. The F/V Silver Spray, the vessel he owns with his father and brothers, was only able to go out for 100,000 pounds of snow crab. Of that, they only caught about 75,000 pounds because the fishing was so slow; they traded the rest of the quota for bairdi and headed south. >click to read< 17:39
Us against Them
I’ve been commercial fishing since I was 17 and I’m 51 now and I’ve been forced out of several fisheries due to regulations, permits and closures. I would like to make an observation, every time I visit this group, I read several posts about someone else about to lose their livelihood and a part of their soul to another regulation or closure by people who we don’t know and, on most occasions, never even see. Do any of you really think this is the natural way of things or maybe this is planned out? >click to read< 15:42, By Gunner Gause
North Carolina Sports target commercial fisheries – example #3 in 2022
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 68′ Steel Longliner, 500HP Cummins, with Federal Permits
To review specifications, information, and 7 photos’, >click here<, To see all the boats in this series >click here< 12:02
Maine Right whale advocates say they feel sidelined by the powerful lobster industry
As Maine’s lobstermen fight national conservation groups over federal gear rules and fishery closures intended to protect endangered whales, they have found fierce allies among the state’s political leaders. That’s left some local advocates for the whales feeling sidelined by the powerful industry. A few weeks ago, lobstermen joined lawmakers to support a bill that would give nearly a million dollars directly to the industry for its legal battles over whale protection measures. None of Maine’s more well-known conservation groups weighed in, but a handful of local advocates for the planet’s estimated 340 North Atlantic right whales testified against it. >click to read< 10:38
Talley’s subsidiary found guilty of bottom trawling in conservation area
Convictions for bottom trawling in a protected area of the Tasman Sea should send a strong message to the fishing industry, says the Ministry for Primary Industries. Judge David Ruth in the Nelson District Court found Talley’s subsidiary Amaltal Fishing Co breached the conditions of its high seas fishing permit when its vessel, Amaltal Apollo, trawled in a protected area. Both Amaltal Fishing Co and the then-master of the vessel, Charles Shuttleworth, were found guilty on 14 charges. A date has not yet been set for sentencing. >click to read< 10:02
Calling On DFO Minister to Clarify Comments
Dear Minister Murray: As the Shadow Minister for Fisheries in Newfoundland and Labrador, I write on behalf of the PC Official Opposition Caucus to express our deep concern over remarks you reportedly made during your recent speech at the recent annual meeting of the Canadian Independent Fish Harvesters Federation. The president of the association representing fish harvesters in our province issued a news release in which he restated and challenged your vision for the fisheries here on Canada’s East Coast, saying you told your audience of fish harvesters that your goal as Minister is to leave as many fish and grow as much vegetation in the water as possible so the Atlantic Ocean can better absorb carbon to combat climate change and fish harvesters will simply have to accept the sacrifice as part of Canada’s commitment to fight climate change. >click to read<, By Craig Pardy, MHA Bonavista 14:30
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