Author Archives: borehead - Moderator
Maine Lobster Industry Faces off against Conservationists over Whale Protections
Maine lobster fishers recently won reprieve on new federal regulations to protect the endangered North Atlantic right whales. According to the Maine’s Lobstermen Association, The regulations could dramatically change lobster fishing practices, impacting fishers and Maine’s island communities who depend upon this resource. In 2023, a federal court ruled in favor of the Center and other groups, finding that NOAA had violated the Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act, and was not doing enough to reduce the lobster industry’s threat to right whales. But Maine’s community of lobster fishers are encouraged by the decision. “It gives us time to take a breath,” Steve Train, a commercial lobster fisher from Long Island, Maine, tells Food Tank. “Some people think it might be the end of it all, but I think most people see a little light now that we can work under.” “In the last 25 years, there has been one documented entanglement of a North Atlantic right whale in Maine fishing gear,” Train says. more, >>click to read<< 13:16
Last haul? As Georgetown eyes redevelopment, shrimpers brace for end of working waterfront
Timmy Jordan has spent most of his 49 years on the water. No wife. No kids. Just days and nights of dragging coastal waterway bottoms for shrimp, hoping for a good haul. But over the last few months, he has grappled with the stages of grief — denial, anger, bargaining and depression. He’s been preparing to moor his trawler alongside sailboats scattered in the Sampit River because he and this city’s other five shrimp boat owners were told the dock at the end of Cannon Street will close this month. The target date for the closure has been fluid since last year as the Tarbox family worked through selling Independent Seafood, the former wholesale market on the dock that originally opened in 1939. The shrimpers have tried to find open dock space from the North Carolina line toward Georgia but have been told no one has room. For them, an anchor is the only option. “This is my life ending,” Jordan said aboard his Miss Lue. “This is death for us that’s been in the business for so many years. We’re dying. It’s dying, and we’re dying with it.” 63 photos, more, >>click to read<< 11:55
Ilwaco community rallies to salvage crabbing season after fire
Deckhand Curtis McKenzie and his captain, Zeke Estrella, of the Sunset Charge pulled up to Ilwaco Landing last Monday to drop off crab pots. The landing, which serves as a hub for Dungeness crab harvests, was oddly quiet, and workers didn’t meet them as they pulled in. So they went down to see what was going on. They smelled smoke, then saw an inferno. Estrella pushed into the growing blaze with a fire extinguisher, but the flames were too intense. They would later overwhelm firefighters and level the wooden dock and fish-receiving facility owned by Bornstein Seafoods. Thousands of stacked crab pots, carefully prepared and waiting for the season beginning Thursday, were destroyed. For some, it was unclear whether fishers could recover in time. But just hours after the fire, as smoke rose from the remnants, the port was buzzing as the community pulled together to restore what was lost. lots of photos, more, >>click to read<< 10:25
Sens. Murphy and Blumenthal propose bill linking commercial fishing and climate change
Connecticut’s U.S. Senators Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal have teamed with their Massachusetts colleague Elizabeth Warren on a new bill designed to update Atlantic Coast commercial fishing as it relates to climate change. The Supporting Healthy Interstate Fisheries in Transition (SHIFT) Act would require the Department of Commerce to consider the changing geographic ranges of fish populations as it oversees federal fishery management plans and quota allocations for Atlantic states. The senators stated restrictions on the species and number of fish that can be caught in Atlantic waters need to be updated because fish locations have changed in response to warming ocean temperatures and climate change. more, >>click to read<< 08:01
‘Working Waterfront Support Fund’ helping Maine fishermen impacted by recent storms
It could be a while before Maine’s commercial fishing industry really sees the extent of the damage caused by the recent storms and flooding. Restoration efforts are underway now along the coast. The Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association is stepping in to help. They’ve established the “Working Waterfront Support Fund.” They’re encouraging Mainers to make a contribution to help in the reconstruction of the working waterfront. more, >>click to read<< 07:52
Amorgos’ pioneering fishermen
Fishermen from the island of Amorgos, the easternmost of the Cyclades, are calling for the establishment of three marine areas where fishing will be banned, as well as a 1.5-nautical mile zone around the island where the ban would apply in April and May – the breeding months for most fish species. Their proposal, which is aimed at the sustainability of fishing and the protection of the environment, now has the necessary scientific basis, as the Agricultural University of Athens has completed and submitted the necessary studies to the state. The initiative of the island’s fishermen, named “Amorgorama,” started about a decade ago. Seeing the fish in their nets becoming increasingly scarce, they banded together and decided not to fish in April and May, but to use their boats during this period to clear inaccessible shores of rubbish. more, >>click to read<< 16:54
2023 was another bad year for chinook, fall chum salmon, Yukon River Panel hears
Alaska and Yukon representatives met in Whitehorse last week to discuss the 2023 chinook and fall chum salmon runs on the Yukon River, which once again failed to meet Canadian conservation goals. An estimated 58,529 chinook salmn entered the river last year, according to public presentations by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) during the Yukon River Panel’s post-season meeting. It was the second-smallest run on record — 2022 was the smallest — and not enough to meet spawning escapement goals on either side of the border. The goals set out the minimum range of fish that need to make it to their spawning areas to healthily sustain the population. more, >>click to read<< 13:51
Louisiana pogy industry faces backlash as reports show more massive fish spills
When a menhaden ‘mothership’ and its net boats spilled a million fish and left the floating mass to rot off the Louisiana coast, the menhaden industry attempted to ease public outrage and calls for tougher fishing rules with assurances that such incidents hardly ever happen. Nine million wasted fish might seem like a lot, but not when compared with the overall menhaden population, which is immense and shows no signs of decline, said Ben Landry, a spokesperson for Omega. “Sounds like Chicken Little to me,” he said. “This is a fish that numbers more than 100 billion in the Gulf. And there’s concern for 9 million fish? That’s a bit hyperbolic.” photos, more, >>click to read<< 11:48
NOAA confirms 67 large whale entanglements nationally in 2022 – none involving the North Atlantic right whale
NOAA Fisheries has released the National Report on Large Whale Entanglements Confirmed in the United States in 2022. In 2022, there were 67 large whale entanglement cases – a slight decrease from 2021 and slightly below the historical average. The majority involved humpback whales and there were no confirmed entanglement cases with the endangered North Atlantic right whale. Over 85 percent of all confirmed live whale entanglement reports were observed off the coast of four states: California (34.3 percent), Massachusetts (20.9 percent), Alaska (14.9 percent) and Hawaii (14.9 percent). links, more, >>click to read<< 09:15
Devon man forced to sell boat as fish ban sparks turmoil
Devon fishermen face an uncertain start to 2024 as tough new rules imposing limitations on what they can catch were imposed by the UK Government in conjunction with the EU. The pollack quota is now effectively at zero and can only be caught as bycatch – when they’re caught in nets whilst fishing for a different species. Brixham fisherman Rob Adams is having to put his beloved 10-metre boat, ‘Jodie B’, up for sale rendering him and his crew ‘unemployed’. Rob, aged 55, has been fishing since he was 16-years old but said ‘there’s no income from Jodie B now’ due to the pollack fishing restrictions. photos, more, >>click to read<< 07:52
Harris: No offshore wind turbines
Warning of dire consequences if offshore wind industrialization is allowed off Maryland’s Atlantic coast, three legislators called on experts to bolster their call to halt construction of wind turbines off the mid-Atlantic coast. Harris was joined by New Jersey Congressmen Jeff Van Drew (R) and Chris Smith (R). Six experts testified and answered questions from the legislators. whose districts “are directly impacted” by “offshore wind industrialization,” according to news releases issued by the congressmen’s offices. Harris doubted that “the average person would be willing to pay the extra taxes and extra rates in order to develop a source of energy that … is roughly four times as expensive as what your current source of energy is,” he said. “That impacts everyone whether or not you live on the Shore.” 12 photos, more, >>click to read<< 06:55
Month-long closure paralyses Lorient fleet
Following the decision by the French Council of State to order a closure of fishing grounds in the Bay of Biscay to protect cetaceans, more than half of the Lorient fleet expects to remain tied up until the end of February. The closure applies to around 450 gillnetters, pelagic trawlers and other fishing vessels from 22nd January to 20th February, throughout the Bay of Biscay, as well as applying to fishing vessels operating under other flags. The measure is affecting around forty of the Lorient Keroman fleet, and the effects go down the chain to hit the port’s seafood trade. more, >>click to read<< 20:27
Fish farming fouls fjords, faces fines
Norway’s huge fish-farming industry has become almost as controversial as the country’s oil and gas. Salmon producers in particular have long been accused of endangering wild salmon, but now Norwegian media have also reported how some fish hatcheries have polluted fjords while fish farms have neglected fish welfare. This week six of Norway’s major salmon producers also found themselves facing charges of collusion lodged by the European Commission. Norway is home to the world’s largest salmon producers and the EU is their biggest market. On Thursday, EU competition authorities sent out a “Statement of Objections” to six Norwegian salmon producers including Lerøy, Mowi, SalMar, Cermaq, Grieg Seafood and Bremnes. All are suspected of having “breached EU antitrust rules by colluding to distort competition in the market for spot sales of Norwegian farmed Atlantic salmon in the EU.” photos, more, >>click to read<< 12:26
Tributes pour in for Whitstable harbour ‘legend’ Derrick West believed to be Britain’s oldest fisherman
A “local legend” believed to be Britain’s oldest fisherman who spent more than 70 years working at a town’s harbour has died. Tributes have flooded in for Derrick West, dubbed the ‘Whelkman of Whitstable’, following his death aged 95. Derrick was just 14 when he first started working at the town’s harbour, initially as a trainee boat builder in the then-shipyard. After a period of national service, he returned to Whitstable to work in the family shellfish industry, West Whelks, which became his life. photos, more, >>click to read<< 09:49
Offshore Wind and the Stress on Commercial Fishermen
Congressional Republicans are sounding the Mayday alarm this weekend to the grave challenges commercial fishermen face resulting from the Biden administration’s offshore wind agenda. Offshore wind development is placing enormous stress on the American commercial fishing fleet, which may not survive these challenges. A trio of coastal lawmakers, Reps. Andy. Harris (R-Md.), Chris Smith (R.-N.J.), and Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) will explore offshore wind farm interactions at an upcoming hearing, which their colleagues and the public should heed. President Joe Biden casts himself as a friend to American workers, but his poor treatment of fishermen and their communities puts the lie to this claim. Biden’s plan to produce 30 GW of offshore wind energy by the year 2030 is based solely on political goals, not any true scientific investigation of our ocean’s offshore ecosystems. The science is unresolved. Coastal economies are forgotten. Energy and food security questions are ignored. And that’s just for starters. more, >>click to read<< 08:16
‘Ludicrous’ fishing ban hits Plymouth dad as he fears for future
A Plymouth fisherman with a five-month-old daughter at home is one of many being hit hard by a tough new quota for pollack, which was agreed by the UK Government and the EU late last year. James Strevens said 70 per cent of his income has been ‘taken away’ since the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) introduced changes which saw the pollack catch quota effectively at zero from the start of 2024 to preserve stocks, leaving James and many other fishermen “stressed” and feeling “pushed backwards”. The stock of pollack in the Channel is shared between the EU and UK. In 2022, the quota for the UK was 1,821 tonnes, and in 2023 it was 1,506 tonnes, the BBC reported last month. While Defra argue it was better to put in place restrictions rather than see fish stocks exhausted, Plymouth’s inshore fleet says it is in a “dire situation”. photos, more, >>click to read<< 07:18
Ottawa revamps redfish allocation in Gulf of St. Lawrence, but N.S. keeps largest share
Following months of anticipation and lobbying in Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Nova Scotia, the federal government has announced how it will allocate fishing access to the redfish population in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The allocations were announced on Friday by Fisheries Minister Diane Lebouthillier at a news conference in Gaspé, Que. Under the new terms, Nova Scotia will continue to receive the largest portion of the allocation, but it appears the province has received in the past will decline. It is unclear by how much. more, >>click to read<< 15:55
Commercial Fisherman Corey Lee Goodwin, 66, of Ashland, N.H. passed away
Corey Lee Goodwin of Ashland passed away in his home after a fearless battle with cancer on Jan. 19, 2024. He was 66 years old. Corey was born on Oct. 11, 1957, in Biddeford, Maine, and the world was never the same. He immediately became a waterman, growing up on the ocean, always aboard a skiff equipped with an outboard motor and a fishing pole, where he loved catching mackerel and striped bass in his teens. You could catch him on his family’s fishing boat, “The Striker,” with his father and brother. After graduation from Kennebunk High School, he continued his fishing career and fished on his family’s new boat, “The Bompa C.” He eventually landed on his best friend John Green’s ground fish dragger “Leonore Rinder,” and they continued their journey together fishing on another dragger the “Trippolina.” Corey purchased his own dragger, the “Lively Lady,” and captained it until an unfortunate accident in his late 20s, where the boat was lost at sea. Following the accident, he purchased a lobster boat called the “Yankee” and ran that through his 30s. more, >>click to read<< 14:22
Fire destroys 3 lobster boats on Pembroke wharf
Three Yarmouth County fishing vessels have been destroyed by fire. It happened around 10:30 p.m. Thursday at the Pembroke wharf. Yarmouth fire chief Mike Deveau says the call initially came in as a car fire. “A passer-by noticed it. We paged for mutual aid from Port Maitland. We also had our staff and volunteers on scene, and spent the night mitigating the incident,” said Deveau. He says there was a flare up this morning, and firefighters remain on scene, with Wedgeport providing mutual aid. photos, more, >>click to read<< 12:08
Vessel Review: French Owner’s New Scallop Trawler to Operate in the Englis Channel
French boatbuilder Plasti-Peche recently delivered a new trawler to father and son fishers Thierry and Martin Ramet based in the port city of Boulogne-sur-Mer on the northern coast of France. Mere du Christ II (“Mother of Christ II”) was designed by local naval architect Coprexma primarily for the bottom trawling of scallops, taking over the role once performed by the owners’ earlier boat, the 1992-built Mere du Christ. The bespoke vessel’s main area of operations encompasses the portion of the English Channel that stretches from Boulogne to the Seine Estuary, where it will trawl for scallops from October to January. For the remainder of each year, the crew will focus on catching squid and sardines. Photos/specifications, more, >>click to read<< 11:05
‘Unique mix’ gathers to solve lobster bait problem
Following the closure of mackerel and herring fisheries, P.E.I. lobster fishermen have been struggling to find an alternative bait that is affordable. This week in Charlottetown a diverse group of players in the industry came together to discuss solutions. “We’ve brought together government, we’ve brought together buyers, we’ve brought together harvesters,” said Ian MacPherson, executive director of the P.E.I. Fishermen’s Association. “It’s a unique mix and a lot of different perspectives but some great information coming out of it.” photos, more, >>click to read<< 09:56
Who’s on the take? Hundreds of Millions of Dollars for Mitigation Can Ease Offshore Wind Opponents’ Pain
Opponents of offshore wind offer different reasons for their position: fear of impacts on the marine ecology; fear of loss of income for fishers; fear of loss of tourism dollars and private property values due to the sight of the turbines on the horizon. The cloudy threat of wind projects off the New England coast comes with a golden — not silver — lining. That gold would arrive in the form of millions of dollars contractually promised to communities by developers in the form of mitigations, sometimes through a mechanism called host community or good neighbor agreements. A brief tally of the “lunchbox” of mitigations — touching on communities and institutions from Long Island, N.Y., to Cape Cod to Nantucket to Portsmouth, R.I. — shows a total of about $282 million in negotiated mitigation payments from 2017 to this month. (see below for details). more, >>click to read<< 09:07
Northumberland fisherman barred from holding permit and fined nearly £2,500 for latest rules breach
Charles ‘Michael’ Denton, of Atlee Terrace, Newbiggin, was prosecuted by the Northumberland Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (NIFCA) after an inspection of his catch in Blyth on March 15, 2023 found he had landed an egg-baring lobster. At Newcastle Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, January 18, Denton was found guilty in his absence of breaching local fisheries legislation after enforcement officers’ findings were put to the court. Magistrates agreed to NIFCA’s request to disqualify Denton, the owner and skipper of the commercial fishing vessel Talisman II BK176, from holding a shellfish permit to fish for 12 months. more, >>click to read<< 07:41
Crabber who lost pots in Ilwaco fire thankful for donations, volunteers
Zeke Estrella survived a boat sinking in the Pacific Ocean. Estrella said Monday’s fire at Ilwaco Landing was worse. “We lost 570 crab pots,” said Estrella, captain of the F/V Sunset Charge. The fire destroyed thousands of crab pots stored on the landing ahead of the start of commercial Dungeness crab season next week. About 8,500 crab pots on the deck were surrounding the building at the time of the fire. Estrella said despite the losses, he expects to replace all of his lost pots by Monday thanks to donations and volunteer work from crabbers up and down the West Coast. Twenty volunteers showed up Thursday to his Ilwaco property bringing pots, buoys, and ropes. Video, more, >>click to read<< 21:55
Elderly man in hospital after being rescued from Wicklow river by local fisherman
A fisherman on board a trawler moored at Wicklow Harbour dived into the water on Wednesday to rescue an elderly male, who was witnessed floating face down and drifting out to the sea. The alarm was raised shortly before 2 p.m. on Wednesday after Alan Hegarty, owner of The Fishman located on South Quay in Wicklow town, spotted what appeared to be an elderly male being carried by the currents along the River Vartry at considerable speed. One person almost immediately threw a life-buoy into the water in an attempt to rescue the person, but they were unsuccessful as the man was unresponsive. Another person tried to pull the man’s body out of the water using a large pole but was unsuccessful. As he continued to drift towards the sea, a local fishing boat skipper took action, diving in to retrieve the man, with the help of his crew. more, >>click to read<< 20:33
More boats sink, roofs collapse, avalanche danger remains high as snowfall pummels Juneau
The City and Borough of Juneau put out a statement Wednesday that said avalanches have come down on Basin Road and above Behrends Avenue, the same spot where a slide occurred last week. A city official said that Basin Road is closed where it intersects with Eighth Street. Four boats sank in the city harbor early Wednesday morning, according to Juneau Harbormaster Matt Creswell, who said he is concerned more vessels are at risk of sinking due to the heavy snowfall. Creswell urged all boat owners to check on their boats immediately and clear off any snow they can. Juneau has seen over 28 inches of snow since Sunday alone and is up over 61 inches — or more than five feet — in the month of January. Video, photos, more, >>click to read<< 17:50
Humboldt Bay awarded nearly half billion dollar grant for offshore wind terminal
On Tuesday, the Humboldt Bay Harbor District was awarded almost half a billion dollars in federal grant funds to construct its offshore wind terminal in far Northern California. $426.7 million will go to the harbor district from the Department of Transportation’s Nationally Significant Multimodal Freight & Highway Projects program. That program was funded through the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. U.S. Representative Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, said he’s been pressuring the Department of Transportation to fund this major green-energy project. “I think this is gonna be great for the climate,” he said. “I think it’s going to be great for the community, and it’s going to be a gift that keeps on giving in terms of jobs, workforce development, economic development.” more, >>click to read<< 15:52
New Jersey Approves Two Major Offshore Wind Projects
The approvals were part of the state’s third solicitation for offshore wind power as it aims to achieve approximately 11,000 MW of offshore wind power by 2040. The developments are expected to bring significant economic benefits for New Jersey and establish it as a key player in the offshore wind supply chain. New Jersey’s offshore wind development strategy aims to secure the best overall value for ratepayers while safeguarding the environment and commercial and recreational fishing interests. As part of their commitment, the awarded projects will provide over $60 million for environmental and fisheries research, monitoring, and conservation efforts. The approvals come as the offshore wind industry faces challenges from soaring costs, high interest rates and supply chain bottlenecks that have forced some projects to developers to pivot their plans or cancel projects altogether. “Governor Murphy’s leadership is positioning New Jersey as a significant hub for offshore wind development,” said Said Anne Reynolds, Vice President for offshore wind at the American Clean Power Association. More, >>click to read<< 10:45
Lowestoft fisherman, 18, hopes to attract youngsters to industry
Alex Wightman said he believed there was still a future in fishing, despite government figures showing a decline in registered vessels. His family, from Lowestoft in Suffolk, have spent almost £300,000 on Alex’s boat; the Emma Claire. Father Steve Wightman said he also hoped more young people would get involved. Alex said: “We’re a dying breed but there’s still a future in it if you’re willing to work hard.” At nearly 10m (32.8 ft), the Emma Claire is thought to be the first new fishing boat in Lowestoft’s in-shore fleet for 20 years. photos, more, >>click to read<< 09:10
Petersburg Borough to join United Fisherman of Alaska
Petersburg will be the newest Community Supporting Member of the United Fishermen of Alaska, or UFA. That follows a unanimous vote by the Borough Assembly at their regular meeting last week. Vice Mayor Donna Marsh said she hopes the move will help boost the local fishing industry further down the line. “Commercial fishing is so integral to Petersburg,” said Marsh. “I think it would make sense to have the support of a professionally recognized organization [that is] also trying to keep that industry alive.” more, >>click to read<< 08:14
