Category Archives: Featured
Biden signs executive orders on first day as president
Several executive actions will make changes to the U.S. response to COVID-19 and try to ease some of the financial strain on Americans resulting from the pandemic. Other executive actions directly target and undo Mr. Trump’s actions on the environment, immigration, the U.S. census, and regulatory changes. Mr. Biden signed three executive orders in the presence of reporters, implementing a mask mandate on federal property, increasing support for underserved communities and rejoining the Paris climate accord. Mr. Biden also will reverse the 2020 decision by the Trump administration to allow land development at the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah and at the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine national monuments in New England,,, >click to read< 07:00
Son of a lost fisherman nominated for a 2021 Young Scot Award after his incredible fundraising efforts
It might have claimed his father’s life but Keiran Reid has a special affinity with the sea, remembering the days his dad would take him dolphin watching on the Moray Firth. The schoolboy was just six when fisherman Craig, 25, was washed overboard from the trawler Apollo in a gale-force storm off Orkney. A frantic search – involving helicopters, the Kessock Lifeboat and French and American aircraft diverted from a Nato exercise – was stood down after nine hours. Three months later, another fishing boat found Craig’s body. But only weeks after his father’s death, Keiran, now 11, from Avoch on the Black Isle, started raising money for the local rescue team who had searched so tirelessly for his dad. >click to read< 20:00
As Commerce Secretary, Raimondo to play key role in offshore wind.
In the selection of Gina Raimondo as the next U.S. Secretary of Commerce, the offshore wind industry would get a champion in Washington. What influence she could bring to bear for the emerging energy sector remains to be seen, but if confirmed to her new position in the Biden cabinet, Raimondo would oversee federal fisheries regulators who have raised some of the concerns about potential negative impacts of erecting what could be many hundreds of wind turbines in the ocean waters off southern New England. >click to read<09:45
Testing Concepts for Floating Offshore Solar Panels
A unique test is getting underway exploring the potential of floating offshore solar panels as the latest contributor in the search for new renewable energy sources. Norwegian energy company Equinor, which has already expanded into offshore wind, is collaborating with a developmental energy company, Moss Maritime, to test the solar technology including in the harsh Norwegian environment. “We have been working on this concept for the past three years, most recently through our partnership with Equinor,” >click to read< 13:01
F/V Chief William Saulis: Commercial fishing vessel located upright after month-long search
One month and one day since it was lost at sea, the Chief William Saulis scallop dragger has been found. The RCMP says the fishing vessel was located underwater more than two kilometres from the shore of Delaps Cove, Annapolis County. The vessel, the RCMP said, was upright. Because of the depth of where the vessel is – which is greater than 60 metres and exceeds the maximum depth for the RCMP Underwater Recovery Teams (URT) – the RCMP says the next steps to search the inside of the vessel are to be determined. >click to read<, to be updated. 09:50
A World First: Activation of Commercial Iridium Global Maritime Distress Safety System on board Norwegian Trawler
The Norwegian trawler F/V Trygvason has put to sea following installation of two Lars Thrane LT-3100S GMDSS terminals by local marine services company Brommeland Elektronikk A/S, with Iridium GMDSS service provided by remote communications solutions provider, Applied Satellite Technology (AST). The terminal manufactured by Lars Thrane A/S is the only GMDSS terminal paired with Iridium’s global network. >click to read< 12:48
Low fuel prices may have saved Gulf Coast shrimpers
Texas shrimpers had a painfully low amount of shrimp harvested in the Gulf in 2020. It dropped from an annual average of 45-50 million pounds of shrimp to 38 million pounds. Yet in the beginning stages of a new year, there is interesting news about what actually happened. According to Andrea Hance with the Texas Shrimp Association, “We actually ended the year on a fairy positive note and it’s kind of hard to believe,,, video, >click to read< 16:48
NL Groundfish Industry Development Council can’t support federal cod stock rebuilding program
The Newfoundland and Labrador Groundfish Industry Development Council says it can’t support the federal government’s recently announced cod stock rebuilding plan, saying it’s overly restrictive and will not enable the industry to rebuild as the cod stock rebuilds. Jim Baird, chair of the NL-GIDC, wants to see further surveys done based around the impact of seals and capelin stocks, adding the entire plan appears to be based around limiting the catch for harvesters and not other sources which could be impeding the development of cod stocks. >click to read< 22:32
Oregon: Dungeness crab season a go as fisherman, California Crab Fishermen Reduce Asking Price
After more than three weeks on strike, commercial Dungeness crab fishermen accepted an offer of $2.75 from Oregon processors. But Pacific Seafood’s offer has strings attached. “All the boats that are delivering to Pac Choice have to deliver their first two offloads to Pac Choice guaranteed,” said Tyler Leach “Which means they can’t go to an alive buyer, they can’t go to anybody else whose offering a better price at that point in time.” The fleet was hoping to be offered upward of $3,,, “We sat for a very long time so hopefully it will go up shortly after we get fishing.” >click to read< 07:50
California Crab Fishermen Reduce Asking Price To $3.10; Representative for Processors Says COVID-19 Effects On Dungeness Market Continue – >click to read<
President-elect Joe Biden has chosen Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo as his commerce secretary
The Biden transition team announced the president-elect’s choice of Raimondo for this key economic position Thursday night. The agency has a critical role in everything from technology policy to climate change to promoting American industry. Beyond that, the statement said she has “worked to quickly bring the state economy back from the depths” of the pandemic; “expanded clean energy jobs and put Rhode Island on a path to achieving 100% renewable energy.” >click to read< 10:40
New Jersey Offshore wind developer is hosting a webinar for recreational fishermen this coming Wednesday. The purpose of the meeting is to get feedback from recreational fishermen. The group has brought on for-hire vessel operator Captain Adam Nowalsky as the recreational fisheries representative and liaison. >click to read<
Deadliest Catch deckhand Mahlon Reyes’ cause of death has been reported as acute cocaine intoxication
Deadliest Catch star Mahlon Reyes sadly died at the age of 38 following a drug overdose, it’s been reported. The television personality – known for being a deckhand on one of the crab fishing boats – died in July 2020 after reportedly suffering from a heart attack. According to TMZ, Reyes’ cause of death has since been linked to acute cocaine intoxication. Flathead County Sheriff and Coroner, Brian Heino, also reportedly told the publication that Mahlon’s death has been ruled as accidental. Confirmation of Mahlon Reyes’ cause of death comes just one week after co-star Nick McGlashan was found dead at the age of 33. >click to read< 10:25
The Deadliest Disease – A lifestyle of the Bering Sea Crabber is a dream for many, but a reality for few. Hard work and fast money make this a lucrative industry enviable for the hopeful masses. By Nick Mcglashan >click to read<
California: Dungeness crab fishermen unite during uncertain times
Commercial fishermen from the Half Moon Bay Seafood Marketing Association, the San Francisco Crab Boat Owners Association and the Bodega Bay Fishermen’s Marketing Association, have come together to broker an agreement that will ensure a safe and orderly start to the commercial Dungeness Crab season in California, once price negotiations are settled. Local groups are coordinating with all California ports,,, >click to read< 07:40
In nearly 50 years as a fisherman Arnold Locker has seen it all – ‘crews will be worse off in 2021 than before they left the EU’
The outcome of the Brexit trade deal has left him and many others bitterly disappointed. Mr Locker, chairman of Locker Trawlers in Whitby, and former chairman of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations, believes Environment Secretary George Eustice should resign. He says this time the betrayal of fishing communities is worse, because politicians like Mr Eustice, Michael Gove and Prime Minister Boris Johnson “knew exactly what they were doing when they devastated coastal communities.”>click to read< 11:43
One year after the F/V Scandies Rose sinks: Family honors the victims
December 31, 2020 marks one year since a mayday call that changed lives. The F/V Scandies Rose fishing boat issued the call off the coast of Kodiak, during a sinking some crew members would not survive. Family members of a few of the victims said they will commemorate the lives lost at sea Thursday evening at 9:50, the time the mayday call went out. Please >click to read, and watch the video< . 11:49
DFO has a new plan for northern cod stocks. It doesn’t include more fishing
The rebuilding plan, made public with little fanfare on Dec. 21 after years in development, outlines the Department of Fisheries and Ocean’s objectives to boost fish numbers and the management techniques it intends to use to measure any progress starting in 2021. Northern cod numbers have ticked upwards since the 1992 moratorium brought harvesting and processing to a screeching halt. A small stewardship fishery now exists, with 1,865 licence holders allotted a maximum harvest of around 12,000 tonnes of cod in 2020. But 28 years later, stocks remain well below pre-moratorium levels, and in DFO terminology, remain squarely in a “critical zone.” >click to read< 11:15
Coast Guard medevacs an injured fisherman 80 miles northeast of Dutch Harbor, Alaska
An MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew based out of Air Station Kodiak and deployed aboard Cutter Alex Haley, hoisted the man from the vessel Magnus Martens after he suffered a severe leg injury. He was flown to Cold Bay and placed in the care of awaiting Guardian Flight Alaska personnel for further transport to Anchorage. The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Alex Haley, also based out of Kodiak, received initial notification about the injured man while on patrol in the Bering Sea in the vicinity of Unimak Island. >click to read< 09:09
Brexit: What does the trade deal mean for fisheries? All the Fish related bits in the Brexit deal to read at your leisure: Articles 1-19
Contrary to many dire predictions, we finally have a Brexit trade deal, and with it an agreement on how the UK and EU will manage shared fisheries into the future. The fishing industry has experienced an unusually high profile since the Brexit referendum, but this reached dizzy heights over the last few months of 2020, as disagreements over fishing quotas and access were said to be the final barrier to a wider agreement. So now that the deal has been landed, how does the catch measure up? >click to read< All the Fish related bits in the Brexit deal to read at your leisure: Articles 1-19. – Article FISH.1: Sovereign rights of coastal States exercised by the Parties. The Parties affirm that sovereign rights of coastal States exercised by the Parties for the purpose of exploring, exploiting,,, >click to read< 08:40
17 fishermen feared dead, two rescued after Russian trawler sinks in the Barents Sea
The fishing boat Onega, sank near the Novoya Zemlya archipelago with 19 people on board, local news outlets reported, citing the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations. The ministry attributed the incident to the formation of too much ice on the vessel. >click to read< , 17 fishermen feared dead after boat sinks in Arctic Russia – Seventeen fishermen were missing and feared dead on Monday after a Russian boat capsized during a storm and sank in the freezing waters of the Barents Sea. Officials said that two people had been rescued during a search-and-rescue operation, but that bad weather conditions had complicated efforts to find survivors. >click to read< 06:23
Lifelong Ucluelet fisherman Doug Kimoto shares his thoughts on restoring fisheries
Doug Kimoto’s livelihood begins with a 42-foot commercial salmon troller named ‘La Perouse.’ The wooden fishing vessel has been a member of his Japanese-Canadian family for 70 years. “I started commercial fishing with my father when I was about 13-years-old,” His father, Tom Kimoto, lost about 10 years of his life as a result of being forced into a Canadian Japenese internment camp, Kimoto recalls. “These last few years, it’s been a disaster,” he says. “Years ago you could make a decent living, but now it’s down to what you’d call not even a minimum wage for most fishermen.” >click to read< 07:03
Crab fishing is delayed over price negotiations; no one wants under $3 a pound, will not go
Disputes between Bay Area fishermen and seafood company Pacific Seafood Group over crab prices are causing more delays to the start of the commercial crab fishing season. California allowed commercial crab season to begin Dec. 23 after a month delay over environmental concerns to whales and other marine animals. However, the fleets in Half Moon Bay and the entire Bay Area remain at an impasse,,, Fishermen want at least $3 a pound for crab, while Pacific Seafood Group is only offering $2.25 a pound. Until an agreement is reached, commercial fishermen from the Bay Area will not go out to fish. >click to read< 08:59
Unexploded Ordnance May be Cause of Fishing Vessel Blast
The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has launched an inquiry into a blast aboard a fishing vessel off Norfolk, UK on December 15, which injured all seven crewmembers on board. The explosion aboard the crabbing vessel Galwad-Y-Mor,,, “The hauler was being used to heave in the back 
rope, and the crew had let the skipper know that there was a lot of tension on the line, when there was an unexpected explosion. Galwad-Y-Mor was thrown up from the sea surface, then landed heavily back down; all propulsion and electrical power was immediately lost. The skipper was injured and dazed, but conscious, and saw that the wheelhouse had been completely wrecked.” >click to read< 16: 32
Crab-22: how Norway’s fisheries got rich on an invasive species
The Norwegian fishing village of Bugøynes, 310 miles north of the Arctic Circle and a frigid, dark place for much of the year, was on the edge of ruin. Work was scarce. Years of overfishing and mismanagement had stymied cod quotas. Boats lay idle in cold waters. Those who chose to stay were forced to rely on what meagre wages they could still muster from fishing and processing. That is, until the crabs arrived.,, Unknown to the fishermen, the crustaceans had traveled from Russia, where scientists had introduced red king crabs on the Murman coast during the 1960s with the goal of establishing a new, lucrative fishery. Slowly, the crabs scuttled the 60 or so miles over the border,,, >click to read< 07:39
Please Contribute to Chief William Saulis Families Fund
Charles “Hot Dog” Roberts, Leonard “Layback Lenny” Gabriel, Aaron Cogswell, Eugene “Geno” Francis, Dan Forbes, Mike Drake. These six men were tragically lost while returning to port from a trip fishing for scallops aboard the Chief William Saulis on the morning of December 15th 2020. So far, only Mike Drake’s body has been recovered. Any funds collected from this GoFundMe will be added to that account and will then be provided to the families of these men. Please >click to read< and donate if you can. Fundraiser organizer is Alain D’Entremont. Thank you, Alain. 22:14
An Fundraiser – Help for the Family of Mike Drake of Fortune, NL
Mike Drake at the age of 48 from Fortune, NL was among the crew of six on the Chief William Saulis, a scallop dragger, that sank in the Bay of Fundy this past Tuesday, December 15, 2020. Mike’s body was recovered late Tuesday from the frigid waters off the coast of southwestern Nova Scotia. At this time Mike remains at a funeral home in Nova Scotia while he awaits a flight home to Newfoundland to be returned to his family who are all anxiously awaiting for his arrival back home to give him a proper burial and hopefully give the family some closure to this great tragedy and loss. >click to read the rest<, and, please! Donate if you can. Thank you Joan Caines 20:56
F/V Chief Williams Saulis: ‘Hearts are extremely heavy’ as search for missing N.S. fishing crew ends
The Maritime Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre said late Wednesday afternoon that it is suspending the search for five missing fishermen in the Bay of Fundy. The news comes after 36 hours of searching for the crew of the Chief Williams Saulis, a scallop vessel based out of Yarmouth, N.S. The RCMP will now handle the investigation as a missing persons case. The JRCC said the search covered 260 nautical miles by sea and air. One body was recovered on Tuesday night, but had not yet been publicly identified. >click to read< 07:16
Body of Newfoundland Fisherman Recovered, Search for Others Called Off in Nova Scotia – Residents of the Town of Fortune are rallying around the family of a man whose body was recovered,,, The man, Michael Drake, was one of six crewmen on board the Chief William Saulis,,, >click to read<
RCMP suspend search for Chief William Saulis fishermen due to impending storm – Chief Deborah Robinson of Acadia First Nation also expressed her condolences in a statement on Thursday morning. Eugene Francis, nicknamed Geno, was a community member who lived on the Yarmouth reserve, growing up in Milton, N.S., where his parents and son still live. “We were devastated to hear that Geno was among those on board and our thoughts and prayers are with his family and all the families, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, who are impacted by this tragic event,” Robinson said. >click to read<
Search continues for 6 fishermen aboard missing fishing vessel in Bay of Fundy
An emergency signal from a scallop fishing vessel, the Chief William Saulis, came in at 5:51 a.m. Debris was spotted from the air around 8:22 a.m. Two life-rafts washed ashore but no one was on board, said Lt.-Cmdr. Brian Owens, with the JRCC. “We’re going to continue the search into the rest of the evening and as long as it takes to make sure that we make all possible attempts to find these individuals,” he said. At 5 p.m. on Tuesday, he confirmed that the search would continue throughout the night. >click to read< 17:09
U.S. Coast Guard crew tows New Bedford fishing vessel 5 days, 160 miles
The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Tahoma safely towed a disabled fishing vessel located 160 nautical miles East of Nantucket, Massachusetts, Friday. Tahoma received a report at 10:26 p.m. Sunday night from Coast Guard First District Command Center. Fishing vessel F/V Fearless was reported to be disabled with the crew requesting assistance. Tahoma’s crew conducted the tow of F/V Fearless over the course of 5 days, taking the vessel into tow Monday and rendezvousing with a commercial towing company near Buzzard’s Bay on Friday. Video, photos, >click to read< 10:54
Ben Platt: Whales aren’t at risk from crab fishing along California’s coast
Anyone who lives in or near California’s many historic fishing communities like Morro Bay, Monterey, or Half Moon Bay, has probably heard the term “ropeless” crab fishing gear. That’s the new buzzword for equipment being promoted by environmental groups to solve the perceived problem of whale interactions with fishing gear.,,, Both the East Coast Lobster fishery and the West Coast Dungeness crab fishery, each of which are made up of thousands of independent fishermen, have tested the pop-up “ropeless” gear and found it to be faulty. Meanwhile, strikes by large ships likely cause 50-150 whale deaths a year off the West Coast,,, >click to read< 07:31
From the “Where the Rubber Meets the Road” Department: Automobile Tires Are Killing West Coast Salmon, Not Climate Change
Just last year, PBS and Popular Science were screaming about “climate change” being the cause of salmon deaths with headlines like “Climate Change is Killing Salmon in the Pacific Northwest” and “Climate change is cooking salmon in the Pacific Northwest.” It seems they were wrong. Dead wrong. New research from the University of Washington published December 3 in the journal Science, exonerates “climate change” in the salmon-killing caper and finds a surprise villain: an additive to automobile tires, not “climate change.” In fact, the researchers specifically ruled out climate change-driven water temperature increases as a cause. >click to read< 09:35
Chesapeake Bay Says Goodbye to a Classic Virginia Deadrise Boatbuilder
Edward Diggs, an iconic builder of deadrise workboats, left the Chesapeake Bay for good on Thanksgiving after a long, well-lived life. He was 93 and had lived for many years in the home he built with his family on Mobjack Bay in Redart. Diggs began building boats with his father and later built with Alton Smith,,, Diggs boats were large (44-50’), high-sided, and built stout. Mr. Edward’s last large boat is a good example: Dutch Girl is 50’ x 15’, built in 1992 at Horn Harbor for Capt. Dave Thompson. Thompson took her to New York,,, >click to read< 18:20
