Author Archives: borehead - Moderator
OPINION: The desk-bound green groups that dictate fishing policy
Shetland skippers have worked in harmony with the sea for thousands of years; the maritime world in general and fishing in particular are vital to the very existence of our community and way of life. In contrast, the corporately funded, desk-bound staff of environmental campaign groups operate in a fluorescently lit, urban world of computer screens and utterly misplaced conceptions about our industry. Yet so warped has our political system become that, despite their having no stake whatsoever in our future, they are the ones being allowed to dictate fisheries policy and regulations. It would be ridiculous if it wasn’t so dangerous. It jeopardises the jobs of hundreds of people and poses a genuine threat to our community. Why? more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 13:46
Falklands Trawler Launched In Marín
The Nodosa Shipyard at Marín in the Galician region of Spain has floated off one of the three large factory vessels it has under construction. The 85-metre F/V Argos Berbés is being built for the Orion Fishing Company, a joint venture between Vigo-based Armadora Pereira and the Argos Group in the Falklands. Outfitting will now continue at the yard’s quayside and Argos Berbés is scheduled for completion at the end of this year, ready for the early fishing season around the Falklands in 2025. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 11:50
Hello Mayors: FOIA Emails Suggest US Wind Requested Coastal Towns Keep Initial Offshore Wind Talks Private
New light is being shed on offshore wind company US Wind’s talks with the mayors comprising the Association of Coastal Towns (ACT) with the release of email correspondence between the two. US Wind and the ACT have been in talks over US Wind’s proposed offshore projects off the coast of Maryland that would potentially see a power cable landing in Delaware Seashore State Park. US Wind has also presented community benefits packages to the Coastal Towns which include proposed annual payments over twenty years worth $2 million to each town. Following a Freedom of Information Act request (FOIA) submitted to the ACT, WBOC has received copies of the emails between ACT and US Wind that suggest the offshore wind company’s desire to keep the initial discussions shielded from the public. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:55
Letter: No. 1 Concern Is Offshore Wind Impact on Ocean
I am the fourth generation of residents, homeowners, business owners and taxpayers on Long Beach Island, as well as the granddaughter of a commercial fisherman and scalloper out of Barnegat Light. I take offense when someone says I have a case of the NIMBYs (Not In My Back Yard). This is the country’s entire coastal backyard. I am not opposed to “green” energy or for fossil fuels. I am against the destruction of our ocean. Period. The amount of resources the world receives from the ocean is immeasurable. I am not concerned with the view or real estate, tourism and the rest. Of course, all of that will be colossally impacted. My main concern is with the destruction of one of the world’s most precious resources, our ocean. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:43
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Climate change forces 3rd gen fisherman to rethink this year
Every June, fisherman Scott Hawkins and his small crew set sail from a marina in San Diego and travel hundreds of miles, scouring the water, hoping for a good catch of albacore tuna. It can take hours or days to stumble upon a school of them. But when they do, everyone springs into action at once. The men grab fishing poles taller than they are, stand in a row on the edge of the boat and cast their lines into the water. Every few seconds, one of them pulls up a fat, two-foot-long albacore tuna and hoists it over his shoulder onto the pile. Every thud is another one landing atop the dozens already flapping on deck. They do this 17 hour per day for five months. “It’s the exact same that my grandfather did in the 50s,” Hawkins says. But this June, the boat isn’t leaving the marina. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 15:16
Fisherman remembered as ‘hero’ for saving deckhand after shrimp boat capsizes in Mobile Bay
Boat captain and shrimper, Mike Bishop, was killed when a waterspout Saturday flipped over his boat, trapping him inside. His deckhand Mark Henderson survived the horror after floating in the water for seven hours. Bishop tried to save Henderson before several others pulled together. Now, he’s being called a hero…and he’s not the only one. Mike’s son Brandon Bishop says this was a team effort from many heroes. “The shrimping community is tight and everybody comes together,” Brandon said. “Especially in these hard times like this. And shrimping is not a job. It’s a way of life and my dad loved it.” “When I went and spoke to Mark his deckhand this morning in the hospital he was still pretty shaken up,” Brandon said. “But he said that my dad gave him a lifejacket and told him to go out back. They were hit by the waterspout, and my dad’s a hero, he saved someone’s life….” Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 12:27
GCIFA calls for seal population controls
The head of the Guysborough County Inshore Fisherman’s Association (GCIFA) is calling on the federal government to bring in aggressive, new “controls” on millions of hungry grey and harp seals whose sheer numbers, she says, are weakening the east coast fishery. GCIFA Executive Director Ginny Boudreau made the comment to The Journal in an interview after the release last week of the Standing Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans’ report, Sealing the Future, which criticized federal authorities for mismanaging the rising numbers of the animals over the years and called for an increase in their annual harvest. “It’s huge that scientists are now considering the impact of [the more than] seven million seals in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the [nearly] 500,000 here in the Scotia-Fundy region,” Boudreau said. “It’s only ever been about the impact of the harvesters. As more accurate data comes in, I think we’re going to see the seals as the main predator.” more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:42
Gov. DeSantis awards $7.5M to Lee County for shrimp dock rebuild
Nearly two years after Hurricane Ian bashed into Southwest Florida, the area is continuing to recover. Gov. Ron DeSantis is pitching in with $7.5 million to rebuild and refurbish the shrimp dock at San Carlos Maritime Park in Fort Myers. The structure is important not just for commercial fishing but to help in emergency situations after a storm, DeSantis said. “This dual-purpose facility serves as emergency operations site to launch barges and provide a place for shrimp barges to dock,” DeSantis said during a press event at a Home Depot in Fort Myers. “If it’s needed for disaster response it’s going to be able to serve that purpose as well.” more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:50
Northline Seafoods barge embarks on maiden trip to Bristol Bay
A new state-of-the-art seafood barge is enroute to Bristol Bay, with a freezer capacity to hold over one-million pounds of frozen salmon. The vessel is on its way to Clarks Point in the Nushagak District and will be buying fish from throughout the Bay during the fishery. The 400-by-100-foot barge, a vertically integrated vessel more than three years in the making including 15 months of construction, is designed for purchase, freezing, shipping, storing and distributing wild Alaska salmon. The innovative supply chain platform will improve quality, increase efficiency and preserve the value of wild salmon at the source, company officials said. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:02
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 40′ X 16′ Novi Lobster/Gillnetter
To review specifications, information, and 28 photos’, >click here<, To see all the boats in this series, >click here< 07:32
Meet one of the young faces of Steveston’s spot prawn industry
The best part of spot prawn season, according to Reid Thornton, is the “tight-knit” community. Now in his fifth season, the 21-year-old Steveston resident started working in the industry fresh out of high school. Thornton is the sales manager and a deckhand at Steveston Spot Prawns & Seafood. With the exception of Thornton himself, most employees in the company are third-generation Japanese-Canadian fishermen. He had heard of spot prawns prior to starting his job, but he had no idea about the extent of its popularity. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:38
A STAR is Reborn: Fishing boat’s long journey back to original condition, family
When Paul von Goertz first heard that a boat built by the historic Kivela Boatworks Company was being used as a lawn ornament, he knew he had to do something. The “STAR” was built by Jacob Kivela in 1934, for fisherman Sivert Andewson. It was built with the intention of being used to fish the waters of Isle Royale, and so required some special design. “My guess is that Sivert and Jacob Kivela collaborated on the design for the special needs of fishing the exposed waters of Isle Royale,” von Goertz explained. “It was built as a double ender to break following seas, with the beam of the boat forward of amidships so the bow would pop up in a following sea. One does not want to get buried in a following sea as the next wave would push the boat sideways into the trough and from there into a capsize. Pretty smart boat designers!” more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 15:38
Maine Lobstermen’s Association letter to ASMFC reiterates its call to delay any gauge increase
Dear Ms. Starks: The Maine Lobstermen’s Association (MLA) strongly supports the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) recommendation to NOAA Fisheries proposed in Addendum XXX “that as changes to the minimum gauge size in LCMA 1 are required by Addendum XXVII, the smallest minimum size for foreign imports would match the smallest minimum size in effect for the US industry.” MLA has raised concern with ASMFC through previous comments and letters that the lack of clarity in Addendum XXVII regarding the import of undersize lobster from Canada smaller than the minimum possession size has created significant confusion and angst amongst Maine lobstermen who worry that the import these lobsters would have a significant negative impact on the U.S. boat price. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 14:06
Low-Lying Tangier Island to Get $2.3 Million to Safeguard Fuel Oil Supply for Watermen
The town of Tangier Island, Va. has been awarded a $2.5 million grant to ensure the town’s watermen can keep getting the fuel they need to run their boats, and that fuel supply will be kept safe from an environmental disaster. The $2.5 million from the Virginia Department of Environment Quality (DEQ) will provide funding to create safe storage of fuel and continued supply of fuel and fuel oil to the island. “The owner of the fuel plant was going to close it down,” said Mayor of Tangier, James “Ooker” Eskridge. “If the fuel plant closed down, that would have been catastrophic to our community. We would not have accessible fuel to run our boats and fuel oil to heat our homes.” more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 12:20
In wake of Mississippi seafood scandal, Alabama is set to enact mandatory disclosure of origin
On the tail end of a high-profile seafood fraud case in Mississippi where a restaurant admitted to selling mislabeled imported fish as local Gulf seafood, a new Alabama law will go into effect on October 1, 2024 to prevent similar deception. Alabama State Rep. Chip Brown (R-Hollinger’s Island) introduced a bill requiring Alabama restaurants disclose whether the seafood they serve is either domestic or imported. Governor Kay Ivey signed that bill into law, and later this year, it will go into effect. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:17
Sonoma County Offers Marina Fee Waiver As Salmon, Crab Seasons Nixed
The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors is offering a lifeline to the local commercial fishing community devastated by the canceled salmon and shortened Dungeness crab seasons, Sonoma County Regional Parks announced Monday. The board authorized the Bodega Bay Marina Temporary Fee Waiver Program, which provides monthly dock fee waivers at three marinas operated by the county. Waivers are offered to active commercial fishermen and charter fishing vessels who can show evidence of six commercial landings between 2021 and 2023. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:09
Retired truck driver’s life savings sunk with fishing boat after grounding on Farewell Spit
Eddie Lockington is now bankrupt at age 74, with only a car to his name – and he had to refinance that – after his boat, the Scorpio, was left in pieces from the events of two years ago and the insurance company refused to pay out. The boat was eventually cut up by the local council, which salvaged it, and skipper Simon Dunjey has now been sentenced to community work for operating a ship in a manner causing unnecessary danger or risk and operating a ship without the right number of crew. Lockington sold his house in Greymouth to buy the $35,000 boat in 2019 and had planned to go fishing after retiring from a life on the road, but then got cancer so decided to hire a crew to run the boat. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:41
Coddock? Sea sleuths work to uncover mystery of new cod-haddock-like fish
Last summer, I wrote about a very interesting fish, showing up in the Gulf of Maine and promised an update. Well, here it is. We nicknamed it a “coddock” due to its strange shape and coloration. It has the head of a haddock, the lateral line of a cod, the pectoral fin of a cod, and the meat flaked in large pieces like cod. The body shape is that of haddock, and all the other fins look like haddock fins, but it was missing the “thumbprint of God,” which is a large black spot just behind the operculum (gill plates) and above the pectoral (side fin). It also had spotted skin that looked more like a cod than the silvery skin of a haddock. This was abnormal and deserved some investigation. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:37
AMSA Publishes Safety Lessons Learned from Battery Fire Incident on Domestic Vessel
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has published an outline of safety lessons learned from an incident wherein a domestic commercial vessel suffered an onboard fire caused by a thermal runaway event involving a lithium-ion battery system. An explosion occurred on a charter fishing vessel whilst berthed. The investigation identified that the ignition source was a lithium-ion battery that was not holding charge connected to a battery charger in a way that bypassed the battery management safety system. The vessel was beyond repair following the explosion. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 18:29
NLGIDC are disappointed in DFO’s management approach for Unit 1 Redfish for 2024-2025
Late on Friday, May 31, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) unveiled its management plan for Unit 1 redfish in the Gulf of St. Lawrence for the 2024-25 period. The plan sets a Total Allowable Catch (TAC) of 60,000 tonnes for the next year (from May 15, 2024, to May 14, 2025). While this TAC level is seen as reasonable, the decision to allocate the majority of the quota to the offshore fleet has greatly disappointed inshore fleets and Indigenous groups in the Gulf of St Lawrence. “Many inshore harvesters, processing operators, and coastal communities were looking forward to a more equitable distribution of this resource among all fleets in the newly recovered redfish fishery in the Gulf,” said Bill Barry, founder and CEO of Barry Group Inc. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 14:23
Vard to Build New Stern Trawler for Havbryn
Norwegian shipbuilder Vard has secured a new contract for the design and construction of a stern trawler for Havbryn, part of fishing boat company Strand Rederiet. The vessel will be of Vard 8 02 trawler design, outfitted for semi-pelagic and bottom-trawling operations with gentle handling to meet the latest demands for fish health management, efficiency, and environmentally friendly operations. The new vessel will have a length of 80,4 meters and a beam of 16,7 meters. The hull is ice strengthened according to Ice-1A. The vessel with its propulsion system is compliant with the stringent DNV Silent F notation more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 12:04
Inuit harvesters threaten legal action
Monday, June 3rd, 2024 – Inuit harvesters from northern Labrador are threatening to take the Nunatsivut government to court if their 2024 inshore shrimp allocations aren’t restored, and an investigation ordered into why they were reassigned to an offshore factory-freezer trawler. “The spirit and intent of a communal licence is to provide local inshore Inuit with jobs and connect them to their culture and traditions, and that has been broken,” says Lisa Blandford, an Inuit harvester on behalf of the group. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:21
NCFA WEEKLY UPDATE FOR June 03, 2024
The Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Management Council (MAFMC) meets this week in Riverhead, NY. The meeting starts Tuesday June, 4th and goes through Thursday June, 6th. Meeting Webpage, Agenda, Combined Briefing Book, Join Meeting on Webex. Public comments on agenda items will be allowed during appropriate times of the meeting and general comments will be taken the last day of the meeting. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:31
End of Plymouth Fish Market ‘disastrous for Looe’
Mike “Moogie” Pengelly has been fishing off Looe after leaving school in 1967 and owns the small stern trawler the Ganesha with his two sons. He said things could be “disastrous” after the closure of the Plymouth market “put us in a bit of a pickle”. He said: “We’re relying on Brixham now. That’s it. “We used to land on Looe Market, but that collapsed and we went to Plymouth, which was successful. “Now that’s wrapped up and we’re in a bit of a mess at the moment.” more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:40
“He passed away doing what he loved;” Local fisherman dies at sea
Mike Bishop and his deckhand, Mark Henderson, set out onto the waters early Saturday morning for the first day of shrimping season. Leaving around 3:00 a.m. to make a three-hour journey to South Mobile Bay. “You know, he’s a hero, he’s a hero. He let someone live and he went down with his ship,” Bishop’s son, Brandon said. Just after 3:00 a.m. the Coast Guard believes a waterspout hit Bishop’s boat, “The Old Navy”, causing them to capsize only 10 minutes from their dock. “The surviving deckhand says the last thing he remembers is my dad handing him a life vest,” Brandon explained. “Telling him to go outside and that was the last time he saw him was up in the wheelhouse.” Video, more, >>Click to Read<< 06:09
Retired Commercial Fisherman Captain Nick Mosich has passed away
For over thirty years the fishing vessel Mauritania patrolled the Eastern Pacific searching for tuna to bring home to market. At the helm was Captain Nick Mosich. He was hardworking, practical, and stoic. Always among the top producers, he was admired for his devotion and skill in his never-ending pursuit for tuna. His father was a fisherman, and his mother a homemaker. In 1949, he left Loyola to join his father in the fishing industry, where they worked side by side for a decade. In 1950, he met and married the love of his life, Barbara. They went on to have two children, and he was a dedicated family man.In 1960, Nick became owner of F/V Mauritania. At the time, the vessel was a bait boat, meaning it fished for tuna using bait and poles. The boat was converted to a purse seiner and for over thirty years he sought schools of tuna from Mexico to Peru. More than a fishing savant, Nick was devoted to his crew, and treated them as family. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 13:37
Search and rescue operation ended after fisherman found deceased in capsized vessel
Search and rescue efforts are underway for a missing fisherman in Mobile Bay after a storm early Saturday morning. Authorities say he and another man set out on the water around 3 a.m. for the first day of shrimping season. A storm is believed to have hit the area around 3:30 a.m., causing the boat to capsize. One of the fishermen was recovered by nearby shrimpers and taken to a hospital. Story will be updated, >>CLICK TO READ<< 11:03
Fishy Business: How Brexit Failed To Help a Dying Industry
Brexit promised fishermen to take back control of the waters and get rid of foreign boats in British waters. But since the UK broke up with the European Union, little has changed. British fishing communities continue to struggle, as big companies, many of them international conglomerates, have bought quotas for the country’s most valuable species, controlling the price of the fish from sea to plate. Fishermen believed that the promised reforms, made possible by leaving what they saw as a restrictive European Union, would revive the national fishing industry, and with it bring back — at least to some extent — the prosperity of the past. They turned out to be empty promises. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:12
Rock star fishery booming in Western Australia, as octopus catch quadruples
In a world hungry for healthy sustainable protein, WA’s western rock octopus is a rising star. It’s wild caught, all natural and has no adverse impact on the environment, according to the Fremantle Octopus company’s general manager Emma Davison. “Octopus has more iron and more protein than red meat,” Ms. Davison said. The Fremantle company dominates the relatively new octopus fishery. About 70 per cent of its current market is for raw tentacles favoured by high-end restaurants. The in-demand mollusc is the rock star of Australia’s commercial fishing industry. Since it was established as a managed fishery in 2015 the annual catch has increased by 400 per cent. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 20:31
