Author Archives: borehead - Moderator
From the Gulf of Maine to a tin can: A glimpse into high-end tuna production on NH’s coast
“I left today at, like, 12 midnight,” he said, his face hidden behind mirrored sunglasses and a beard. “And then it’s about an hour and a half ride out, and it was beautiful last night because that big fat moon is waning.” Keper Connell is a one-man operation aboard his boat, The Figment. When conditions allow, he cruises into the Gulf of Maine in search of bluefin tuna, a torpedo-shaped fish that can reach more than 1,000 pounds. Rather than sell his bluefin to a wholesaler, where cuts may end up in a fishmonger’s display case, or as toro on a sushi menu, Connell is doing something that nobody else in the U.S. is apparently doing. His fish is put on ice and sent to Oregon, where it will be packed into tin cans with a high end olive oil and some salt. (There are no canneries on the East Coast where an independent fisherman can bring his catch, he says.) Photos, >>click to read<< 11:07
His passion is lobstering, his worry is the future
Christopher Robert Tobey Jr. was born on July 22, 1991, in Portland, into a family of fishermen. He spent a lot of time on the docks and water. He watched his father and grandfather talk with other fishermen and learned the lingo. He also learned a lot by going to other docks because everyone does things differently. “As a little kid, I always knew who everyone was and what their boat was,” he said. Tobey’s father always told him fishing wasn’t easy, but it was there if he wanted it. “I started lobster fishing because my father was a lobster fisherman, and when I was a kid that’s all I wanted to do,” he said. However, fishing is dangerous. And on May 11, 2008, Tobey’s life changed forever. “It was Mother’s Day, a Sunday, and we went out to go fishing to fill some orders for a couple of my dad’s friends,” Tobey said. “I remember it was me, my father and another fisherman, Robbie Blackburn. He was working for my dad. We went out and it was a great day and the weather started to turn.” >>click to read<< 09:53
Tributes to Cromer fisherman and council leader John Lee
He was an eighth-generation fisherman known for his down-to-earth style and speaking his mind. Helping others, socialising and having a laugh were all part of his daily routine, and he was dedicated to his family. Tributes have been paid to John Lee, from Cromer, who has died following a short illness, aged 60. His widow, Donna Lee, said his death had come as a shock. “It has left a big hole in our lives and our hearts – we weren’t expecting it this quickly,” she said. “He called a spade a spade, he was straight-talking and honest. He was a family man, very sociable, and very committed to Cromer, the community and to youth football.” Photos, >>click to read<< 09:07
Fisherman David Dunsford reflects on 50 years at sea amid luck, loss and laughter
Saltwater runs through David Dunsford’s veins. “Our story is a pretty special story really; my mother’s family came out from Sicily by ship, landed in Albany and made their way to south-eastern South Australia,” he says. “My grandfather, Frank Corigliano, was one of 14 children; the product of an Italian father and an Irish mother – so a huge fishing family, and I was lucky they stayed here in Beachport.” David says his ancestors were pioneers of the southern rock lobster industry, which today contributes more than 30 per cent – or $158.5 million — to South Australia’s seafood gross state product and employs about 1,300 people through direct and flow-on business. David recalls the moment the die on his own fishing destiny was cast. “I remember being at school one day, about 15, and my father said to me, ‘David, it might be best if you come home’. Photos, >>lick to read<< 07:53
Harpswell fishing advocate battles winds of change
Harpswell resident Jerry Leeman III sits in an office chair at a dining room table with his father, Jerry Leeman Jr., on a nearby couch watching TV. In front of Leeman III is a laptop and a stack of studies and reports on a range of issues that could threaten the New England fishing industry. Leeman, like his father, used to be a commercial fisherman. Now he spends his days reading reports and constructing arguments against what he sees as challenges to the industry, while advocating for his fellow New England fishermen and their interests. Having recently harpooned the whale conservationists in court, the New England fishing industry’s current biggest threat, in Leeman’s view, is the advent of floating offshore wind power and its planned deployment along the New England coast. >>click to read<< 12:17
Shrimp Alliance request fisheries disaster declaration
There’s no other way to put it if you ask Aaron Wallace. Despite a decent catch by the eight shrimp boats that supply Anchored Shrimp Co. in Brunswick, the prices fishermen are getting for their hauls aren’t what they should be. “It’s been one of our toughest years,” Wallace said. He and his father, John Wallace, own Anchored Shrimp and operate the Gale Force, one of the boats that serve the company’s retail and wholesale business. The Southern Shrimp Alliance, for which John Wallace serves as a member of the board of directors, is calling the flood of imported shrimp a crisis. The alliance asked the governors of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas in a letter on Aug. 25 to collectively request a fisheries disaster determination by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce for the U.S. shrimp fishery. >>click to read<< 11:06
Statement from Fisheries and Oceans Canada regarding lobster fishing in St. Marys Bay, Nova Scotia
Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) is committed to a renewed relationship with Indigenous peoples based on recognizing rights, respect, collaboration, and partnership. As part of that commitment, we are working with First Nations harvesters so that they can exercise their Supreme Court-affirmed Treaty right to fish through various DFO-authorized fisheries. These fisheries include food, social and ceremonial (FSC), and communal commercial fisheries, including interim understandings reached to fish in pursuit of a moderate livelihood. >>click to read<< 10:14
Idalia demolished some Florida fishing communities. But locals say they’ll rebuild
For five generations, Austin Ellison’s family has toiled in the shrimping and fishing business here in this picturesque shoreline community nestled in what’s known as Florida’s Nature Coast along the state’s northern Gulf Coast. But when Hurricane Idalia barreled into the coast as a Category 3 storm on Wednesday with 125 mph winds, his family business, Ed’s Bait House, was pounded to the ground. Ellison points to his shrimping boat, named Miss Laura, floating in a nearby canal. The storm smashed out its windows, but the vessel survived otherwise. To Ellison, rebuilding means not just the cost of construction, but the additional expense of meeting modern storm-proofing requirements — a daunting task for someone who makes less than $30,000 a year as a seasonal fisherman. Photos, >>click to read<< 09:37
Lobsterman Shane Matthew Sykes of Warren, Maine, has passed away
Shane Matthew Sykes, 33, of Warren, died after a brief illness on Aug. 9, 2023 at Pen Bay Medical Center. He was born in Bangor on June 16, 1990 to Gerald (Roy) and Cynthia (Hagar) Sykes. He was a lifetime resident of the Midcoast. Wherever he lived, he always called Bristol his home. Shane graduated from Lincoln Academy in 2008 and then became a full-time clamdigger. He was a hardworking man and later became a lobsterman. He looked forward to each day spent on the ocean, and often photographed the horizon in the early dawn hours. He also worked at Masters Machine Shop and was a cook at a few local restaurants. He always said he made an awesome steak, and he did. >>click to read<< 08:33
This board advises the state on offshore wind’s impacts on fisheries. They all just resigned.
All the members of the panel that advises state coastal regulators on the impacts of offshore wind on fisheries have resigned in protest of what they charge is a process that unfairly favors developers. A resignation letter signed by the nine members of the Fishermen’s Advisory Board was sent to the Coastal Resources Management Council Thursday night. “It has become abundantly clear that the Rhode Island CRMC has made deference to offshore wind developers its top priority regardless of the requirements of the Ocean SAMP, the cost to the environment, or the impacts to Rhode Island’s fishing industry,” they wrote, referring to the Ocean Special Area Management Plan, the state document that guides offshore wind permitting. >>click to read<< 07:47
Commercial crab fishery closed for 2023-2024 season
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has closed the commercial red and blue king crab fishery for the 2023-2024 season, the sixth year in a row, citing stock survey numbers that remain well below the regulatory threshold. The announcement made Wednesday is a blow to commercial fishers, who saw a significant drop in prices for chum (dog) and pink (humpback) salmon this year. “If they would open up the crab season for 10-15 days it would help bail us out of a terrible season,” said Norval Nelson, owner and operator of Star of the Sea, which was in Aurora Harbor. He made his comments before he learned of the news. >>click to read<<17:27
2 Nova Scotians arrested after crates of live lobster seized in N.B.
Two people from Saulnierville, N.S., were arrested and released Wednesday for Fisheries Act infractions following the seizure of live lobster in Moncton, N.B. Fisheries officers seized 110 crates containing about 8,000 lobster, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans posted on social media. Officials returned the lobster to Nova Scotia and released them back into the ocean near Meteghan, N.S., on St. Marys Bay. The department did not release any further information about who was arrested or where the lobster were originally harvested. >>click to read<< 15:28
Fishing Industry Icon Francis J. O’Hara, Sr., of Camden, Maine, has passed away
Francis “Frank” Joseph O’Hara Sr., 91, died on August 3, 2023, at his home in Camden, Maine surrounded by his family. Born in Boston, Massachusetts on October 29, 1931, he was the son of Francis Joseph and Dorothy (MacCalduff) O’Hara. He married Donna “Jill” Hildreth in Portland, Maine, on January 11, 1953. Frank was a devoted family man and a devout Catholic. He supported many local organizations and causes and was a strong believer in public service. He flipped pancakes at the Camden Snow Bowl, sat on the Camden National Bank and Owls Head Transportation Museum boards, and served on the New England Fishery Management Council. Under his leadership, O’Hara Corporation, a 115-year-old, fifth-generation family-owned and operated commercial fishing company, expanded its influence from the coast of Maine to the Pacific NW, Alaska and China. >>click to read<< 13:57
Study: Marine heat waves do not affect fish populations
The lead author of the study, Assistant Professor in the Department of Oceanography at the University of California, Alexa L Fredston said she was surprised by these results. She added: “We know that fish communities faced long-term ocean warming by moving towards the poles, which can change the biomass and composition of fish in a given location. So I expected similar result, i.e. more fish species in “Warmer waters and fewer fish in colder waters after these marine heatwaves.” The American, Canadian and European researchers who conducted the study analyzed more than 82,000 bottom trawl fish catches collected as part of scientific expeditions in the North Atlantic and Northeast Pacific Oceans. >>click to read<< 13:01
Trawl Fishing Resumes off Fukushima amid N-Plant Water Release
The offshore trawl fishing season kicked off in the northeastern Japan prefecture of Fukushima on Friday, about a week after the country began discharging treated wastewater from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. Some 20 fishing vessels left Matsukawaura port in the city of Soma early in the morning. They began returning to the port from before noon for fish landings and auctions. “It’s regrettable we have to resume fishing while the treated water is being released, but I hope everyone will do their best,” Masahiro Kikuchi, vice head of the local Soma Futaba fisheries cooperative association, said at a departure ceremony held at the port from 1:30 a.m. >>click to read<< 12:18
BP & Equinor Demand 54% Hike In Offshore Wind Power Price Increases
BP PlcBP and partner Equinor ASA EQNR are demanding a 54% hike in electricity prices produced at three offshore wind farms in the United States, per a Reuters report. The companies obtained the rights to develop the Empire Wind 1, Empire Wind 2 and Beacon Wind farms offshore New York. Several projects were awarded, and spikes in inflation forced energy companies to hedge equipment and labor at much higher prices than expected. The strike price for Empire Wind 1 would rise from $118.38 per megawatt hour (MWh) to $159.64 per MWh and for Empire Wind 2 from $107.50 per MWh to $177.84 per MWh. Beacon Wind would witness the strike price increase from 118.00 per MWh to 190.82 per MWh. >>click to read<< 11:29
Lobster season underway, but South Australian fishers still missing out on Chinese trade
Lobster fishers in South Australia’s southern zone are heading out today to set their pots for the start of the season. After a two-year trial, the season’s September 1 start date has become permanent in the hope it will help get lobsters onto the plates of those celebrating the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival. Robe lobster fisher Paul Regnier supports the change. “It has been a real bonus for us,” he said. But China is still not allowing Mr Regnier’s catch into the country — officially, at least. China’s 2020 ban on Australian lobsters sent prices crashing and exporters were forced to find new markets for the crustaceans. >>click to read<< 10:34
Free dental care offered to fisherman and their families
Between 14 September and 14 December 2023, Smiles at Sea – now in its seventh year – will open its doors to fishermen suffering from dental problems in Cornwall and Devon. Along with their dependent families, they will have access to free dental checks, emergency treatment and oral cancer screenings from a mobile dental unit in eight fishing ports. The treatment will relieve any urgent dental problems including simple tooth extraction, permanent fillings and scale and polish. There will also be referrals through NHS routes where more complex oral surgery is required. >>click to read<< 09:37
Nova Scotia fishers, Indigenous stakeholders call for more dialogue amid violence
As Nova Scotia RCMP continues to investigate violence on a wharf in St. Mary’s Bay, stakeholders on both sides are calling for more conversation instead of violence. The Maritime Fishermen Union called on all levels of government, including fishers on both sides to get to the table. “Our largest concern is the conservation of the stock on St. Mary’s Bay,” Ruth Inniss, a fisheries adviser with the Maritime Fishermen Union, said. “We tried to bring all the players of the problem to the table to solve the problem. The problem clearly hasn’t been solved.” Video, >>click to read<< 09:04
Blue Harvest to shut down, ending reign over New England groundfish
Blue Harvest Fisheries is set to shut down all fishing operations on Friday, its fishermen were told this week. It marks the last in a cascade of sales and closures for the billionaire-backed business venture that once aimed to “dominate” the New England fishing industry but ended up overcapitalized and belly up on the dock. The company launched in 2015, flush with private equity capital, and expanded at a rapid clip to become the single-largest groundfish permit holder in New England. It still owns the permits and vessels, but seafood industry sources say, after the shut down, a quick sale or bankruptcy filing is likely. “A big rise leads to a big fall,” said Luke deWildt, captain of the Teresa Marie IV, >>click to read<< 07:52
Two Friends: A Tragedy In Gloucester
In the summer of 2001, my wife Jan and I lived in a house on the highest point of East Gloucester, known as Beacon Hill. It had once been a visual landmark for ships navigating the approach into Gloucester harbor. One July day as I turned onto East Main, I noticed something that had not been there before, a tall crane behind some buildings. There was the crane and the reason for its presence: a burned-out and rusted fishing trawler pulled up to the shore, its name “Two Friends” still visible on the bow. The boat was being stripped for salvage, and as pieces were severed from above its hull, the crane deposited them in the lot to be hauled away. I found the history of the vessel online, because it had been in the local news and in the courts. 18 Photos, >>click to read<< 18:44
Florida Gov. DeSantis To Seek Aid For Fishing Industry
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday said the state will seek federal help for the fishing industry in the Big Bend region, as cleanup efforts moved into a second day from the devastation caused by Hurricane Idalia. Meanwhile, the state reported its first confirmed death related to Idalia, while utility workers still had about 135,000 customer power outages to tackle from the Category 3 storm, many in sparsely populated areas of North Florida. The governor’s plan to seek help from the U.S. Department of Commerce for the fishing industry followed White House approval of a separate request for a major disaster declaration. >>click to read<< 17:22
Eagle, Eagle, what are you going to do?
Dick and Carl Arvidson had sister ships built in Seattle. Carl named his the “Eagle,” and when they were transiting through the locks out of Lake Washington, Dick was in the lead. Evidently there was confusion for Carl, as over a loudspeaker, he heard an urgent announcement: “Eagle! Eagle! What are you going to do?” Dick and Carl were good friends and had both begun fishing in the Cordova area at a young age. Dick loved to tell the story about the maiden voyage of their matching boats. It was always good for a laugh. The Eagle still sits in the Cordova boat harbor and is used in set net operations by the Kritchens on the other side of the Sound. Seeing it reminded me of another eagle story witnessed from Renner’s Dragonfly. >>click to read<< 15:09
‘Enforce the laws’: N.S. Liberals to feds, province on lobster dispute
As the conflict over Sipekne’katik’s moderate livelihood fishery once again heats up in St. Marys Bay, the provincial Liberal party has split from their federal counterparts. On Tuesday, Nova Scotia Liberal Leader Zach Churchill called for the provincial government to start revoking the licences of any buyers found to be purchasing lobster caught without a licence issued by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). And he called out the federal government for a lack of enforcement of the Fisheries Act. “We are talking about hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars of lobster being landed illegally. There has to be a disincentive. … DFO also has to enforce the laws of the land which prohibit large-scale poaching.” >>click to read<< 12:34
Submerged Rock Led to Fishing Vessel Grounding
A captain’s decision to navigate close to shore in an area with uncharted rocks led to the grounding and capsizing of a fishing vessel in Alaska last year, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said. The Challenger struck a submerged rock while fishing for salmon along the shore of Kodiak Island, Alaska on August 7, 2022. The vessel began taking on more water than the onboard pumps could handle. The captain and three crewmembers abandoned ship and were rescued by a nearby Good Samaritan fishing vessel, and the vessel capsized soon after. Another Good Samaritan vessel towed the fishing vessel to Larsen Bay. No injuries were reported. The Challenger was declared a total loss, with damages exceeding $600,000. >>click to read<< 10:51
Catch Shares: Commercial trawlers to transition to quota system for Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands cod harvests
Starting in January, the fleet will fish under a “rationalization” system where each catcher vessel will have a maximum catch limit, which will be assigned through quota. The new regulations will require vessels trawling for cod in the area to form cooperatives, and quota will be administered through each co-op. Previously, the entire fishery had a total allowable catch that had to be caught within a certain amount of time. NOAA said this is the first time a catch share program has been implemented in Alaska since 2012. >>click to read<< 09:31
Offshore wind projects may be cancelled in NJ, according to report
Already facing a series of lawsuits and opposition from state and local officials, Danish wind power developer Orsted is reporting huge financial losses. Those losses, company officials warned, could reach $2.3 billion in the U.S and may force the cancellation of projects of the New Jersey coast. In a conference call with investors, Orsted CEO Mads Nipper told them, “If the walk-away scenario is the economical, rational decision for us, then this remains a real scenario for us.” Orsted is considering “walking away” from or cancelling projects in New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Maryland. >>click to read<< 08:48
Forty years since Narooma lobster case that could have transformed Indigenous fishing rights in NSW
Norm Patten’s eyes light up when he talks about lobster season. “When you see that yellow wattle come out mate, you know the lobsters are travelling up the coast,” Mr Patten said. The eastern rock lobster can be found along the continental shelf off Australia’s south-eastern coast. Mr Patten’s mum was a Monaro-Gunai woman and he grew up in Victoria’s East Gippsland region and in Narooma on the NSW far south coast. He and his siblings were taught by their stepfather how to spot lobsters’ horns poking out of the seaweed at low tide. By the time Mr Patten was an adult, a commercial rock lobster industry was established on the far south coast and strict catch limits were introduced for recreational fishers. >>click to read<< 07:54
RCMP investigate assault, theft from First Nation lobster harvester near Digby
RCMP in Digby, N.S., are looking for suspects in an alleged theft and assault of a lobster harvester from the Sipekne’katik First Nation earlier this month in St. Mary’s Bay. The Mounties say four people stole a crate full of lobster worth $400 from a boat at the Weymouth North wharf near Digby on Aug. 2. When confronted by the owner, a Sipekne’katik woman, they dumped the lobster into the water and allegedly threw the empty crate at the owner hitting her on the arm. The victim was uninjured. The details released by the RCMP match those in an incident described by Sipekne’katik harvester Sheyanne Francis and captured in a video by Indigenous broadcaster APTN. >>click to read<< 22:03
Commercial Fisherman Carl Blackman, Jr., of New Bern, North Carolina has passed away
Carl O’Brian Blackman, Jr., 65, passed away August 26, 2023, surrounded by his family. Carl was known for his sense of humor, loyalty, kindness, and love for his family and friends. He was a jack of all trades, a highly skilled, self-taught mechanic, specializing in diesel marine motors, and a lifetime commercial fisherman. In addition to his love for crabbing, Carl was very passionate about his work. He worked at Bryan Wholesale, for the City of New Bern as the Heavy Equipment Manager, and at B&J Seafood for the past 20+ years as a mechanic and commercial fisherman. >>click to read<< 15:00
