Category Archives: Featured
‘This is going to be a bad one’: Newfoundland’s hardy fishermen, not usually ruffled, wait in fear for Fiona
Andy Francis points to the sky, where low-lying clouds race north. Francis, like so many Newfoundlanders along the island’s southwestern shore, comes from a long line of fishermen, known collectively as the Port aux Basques’ local meteorologists. They’re used to high winds and stomach-churning waves. But what’s on the way has most of them squinting in worry at the sea and sky Friday morning. Combined with a high tide, rain and winds, Francis says most of what’s close to the water, like docks, boats, fishing stages and even houses could be gone after Hurricane Fiona takes her leave. Dennis Stone spent the morning shoring up his trailer with cinderblocks, hoping the wind won’t tip it over. He, too, doesn’t like the sound of the forecast. If the water rises high enough, it could be costly to fix the damage and get back on the water, he says. Photos, >click to read< 18:06
F/V Aleutian Isle: Fishing vessel lifted out of orca waters after 5 weeks on sea floor
A salvage team successfully lifted the F/V Aleutian Isle onto a barge Wednesday afternoon, more than five weeks after the fishing boat sank into the depths off San Juan Island. Coast Guard officials say some diesel spilled from the boat as a crane lifted it out of the water. They reported “light sheening” on the surface of Haro Strait near San Juan Island’s Mitchell Bay. The salvage team had to pump out all the seawater from the waterlogged 
vessel to make it light enough to lift out of the sea without breaking apart. Now they plan to remove remaining diesel from the boat before transporting it to a shipyard. The boat sank while fishing for sockeye salmon in critical habit for the Northwest’s endangered orcas. All five crew members escaped onto a small skiff, with no injuries reported. Photos, >click to read< 21:06
Fishing No Longer a Viable Career for Aran Islanders
Several leading Aran Island fishers have spoken of how impossible it is for family businesses to continue fishing due to Brexit-related quota losses and escalating fuel costs. Interviewed on RTÉ Radio 1 Countrywide, John and Mary Conneely outlined the struggle involved, and said they would be considering applying for the Government’s decommissioning scheme. A 60 million euro scrappage scheme, where vessel owners who agree to surrender their licenses and have their vessels broken up, is being rolled out by the Government with EU backing. Stevie Joyce, also an Aran islander, said he hopes to remain in the industry. Joyce, who fishes the 27-metre Oileáin an Óir,,, >click to read< 10:39
Maine lobstermen appeal federal judge rejection of lawsuit
The Maine Lobstermen’s Association is appealing a federal judge’s ruling that rejected a lawsuit aimed at blocking new regulations designed to protect the endangered North Atlantic Right Whale. The appeal goes to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. In announcing their appeal Monday morning, the MLA said the regulations would “cripple” Maine’s lobster industry, calling the regulations “draconian and fundamentally flawed.” >click to read< 09:42
East Coast lobster harvest sustainable, according to non-profit’s criteria — but a Seafood Watch report advises consumers to avoid it
A recent report by a California-based seafood assessment group has the East Coast lobster industry seeing red. While Seafood Watch has put lobster on its “red list” and recommend consumers avoid it, lobster fisheries in most areas of Atlantic Canada have been certified sustainable by another group that has significant credentials in the business of seafood accreditation. In existence for about 25 years, the Marine Stewardship Council is a global non-profit organization that works to end overfishing around the world. Catherine Pigeon-Dubeau, fisheries and commercial manager for MSC in Eastern Canada, said the last review of the East Coast lobster fishery was in July of this year, and the Blue Label certification remains in place. >click to read< 14:10
NOAA must show proof of right whale claims
A port association that includes the Georgia Ports Authority and a large organization in South Carolina that represents hundreds of anglers and others associated with the recreational and commercial fishing industry have submitted a simple request to the federal agencies that regulate U.S. waters. The request: Provide the data behind an amended regulation that could lead to dire consequences for industries that generate billions of dollars in revenue and thousands of jobs. The National Marine Fisheries Service and its mothership, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, are proposing to amend the Atlantic Right Whale Strike Reduction Rule. If adopted, fishing craft between 35 and 65 feet in length will be required to follow the same speed mandate as large vessels. From Nov. 1 to April 15, none would be allowed to exceed 10 knots, roughly 11.5 mph, when in waters frequented by right whales. >click to read< 12:43
Ida grounded this shrimper’s boat, then thieves raided it. Now a fundraiser aims to help.
Rita Verdin of Golden Meadow said her husband, Rodney, returns to the marsh to check on his boat, La Belle Idee, and each week finds more is missing. She estimates thieves have stolen about $20,000 so far, including the propeller, rudder, generator and other electronics. Rita said she reached out to the news industry after the family couldn’t find help anywhere else. Hearing the news, Lt. Gov. Nungesser and the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board reached out to New Orleans Chef Amy Sins, who is also president of Fill the Needs, a nonprofit that aids with ongoing hurricane-recovery efforts. >click to read< 17:32 >click here Hurricane Ida- Louisiana Shrimper – Fill the Needs and please donate if you can.
NMFS survey delivers more bad news to Bering Sea crab fleet
A Bering Sea survey by federal scientists contains more bad news for Alaska, Washington and Oregon-based crabbers hoping for an upturn in upcoming harvests that last year fell to rock-bottom levels. The federal survey results for Bristol Bay king crab are bleak and crabbers have been warned that for a second consecutive year there may not be a fall harvest, according to Jamie Goen, executive director of the Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers. “We have got an emergency,” Goen said. “I’m trying to get Congress to act to help.” The National Marine Fisheries Service survey does offer hope for improved harvests three to five years from now, as young snow crabs grow to adult size. >click to read< 12:20
Statement from the Maine Lobstermen’s Association
The Maine Lobstermen’s Association has issued the following statement following the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia’s decision in Maine Lobstermen’s Association v National Marine Fisheries Service. “The federal district court and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) have failed Maine’s lobster industry. It has become crystal clear that neither grasp the devastating impacts their decisions will have on the Maine lobster industry, our coastal communities, and the State of Maine. The court’s decision provides a blank check for NMFS to continue to use admitted “worst case scenarios” and disregard actual data in its regulation of a fishery that has zero documented right whale entanglements over the last 18 years. This disappointing decision puts the future of Maine’s lobstering heritage at great risk, and along with it, the livelihoods of thousands of hard-working men and women. But this is not the end. We won’t go down without a fight.” 08:48
New Build: Raising the Bar with Space and Comfort
The first impression is that there’s plenty of space on board, and Winter of Ladram really does have far more room to work and carry gear than any conventional crabber in the UK fleet. The working deck forward is enclosed under a shelterdeck that feels like a ballroom, with room to stack pots six high and a surprising amount of overhead height. Nobody’s going to have to worry about banging their head here. ‘This is a unique design and a new take on the south-west crabber, with much more security and comfort for the crew. This is a new generation of vessel. It also has ten berths on board so there’s space for researchers and others.’ Photos, >click to read< 13:21
Shrimper hit by thieves after Hurricane Ida stranded his boat
A Lafourche Parish shrimper said Tuesday he is left with nowhere to turn, as thieves have begun cannibalizing his fishing vessel that was washed aground more than a year ago by Hurricane Ida. Rodney Verdin’s boat the F/V La Belle Idee remains stranded in the marshes of Golden Meadow. “It’s selfish of people to take advantage of us when we’re already down,” Rodney’s wife Rita Verdin said. Rodney has been a commercial shrimper in Golden Meadow for most of his life. He grew up in a nearby camp, generations old, from which he later ran his business, until Ida wiped it off the map. “That’s my life, that’s my whole business,” he said. “I can’t really do anything else. I’m almost too old to go find another job. Trying to do what I can … we aren’t giving up hope.” >click to read< 07:09
Shetland fishing industry ‘flung by the wayside’ for offshore wind farms
Addressing a session during the parliamentary Westminster Energy, Environment & Transport Forum policy conference, Shetland Fishermen’s Association (SFA) executive officer Daniel Lawson said his industry had “big concerns” over the UK’s plans for renewables off the islands. “All of the things we saw with the onset of oil, protection, partnership, working consideration, consultation, compensation, they’ve all been largely abandoned so far in this rush towards offshore wind development,” he told delegates. Mr Lawson said the organisation, which represents 115 member vessels, was dismayed by news of the latest round of offshore wind licensing as part of the Crown Estate Scotland’s ScotWind clearing process. >click to read< 09:55
F/V Aleutian Isle: Fishing boat that sank off San Juan Island had apparently run aground the previous day
The U.S. Coast Guard and other agencies have declined to say why the boat sank, or even what it was doing before it went down, citing the ongoing investigation of the maritime disaster. The sinking sent a two-mile sheen of diesel fuel into prime habitat for the region’s endangered orcas. Nearly three weeks later, the boat still sits 240 feet underwater, an ongoing risk for leaking more diesel into Haro Strait. But eyewitness accounts, photographs, and public records fill in some of the information gaps. Eyewitness Brit Reese, of Sedro-Woolley, was shooting pictures near the marina entrance while waiting for a friend whose boat was anchored just outside. Photos, >click to read< 09:12
Fishermen launch legal action over North East crustation deaths
Fishermen along the North East coast have told of taking up new jobs amid a fishing crisis which has threatened their livelihoods and seen dead crustaceans wash up along the shoreline. Paul Graves, a lifelong fisherman off the Teesside and North Yorkshire coast, has taken up extra jobs over the summer to earn a living while his fishing boat is tied up in Hartlepool Mr Graves, like many other fishermen in the area, have grown frustrated by a marine life crisis which has seen hundreds of dead crustaceans wash ashore along the coast. For Paul, he’s contemplated selling his boat, owned by his family for years, due to the uncertain future. “I tied the boat up and went and did seven weeks work for a cable company,” he said. photos, >click to read< 15:49
Idea for more sustainable fishers catches prize for Halifax company
Marc d’Entremont has millions of dollars in Ocean Supercluster funding to bring his idea to fruition, but another 50 grand is always welcome. His company, Katchi Technologies, headquartered in Halifax, is one of the winners of the sixth annual Cisco Global Problem Solver Challenge. Katchi has designed a replacement fish net system that eliminates contact with the ocean floor and reduces greenhouse emissions, allowing for more sustainable harvesting. “We’re basically removing the bottom trawling from the seabed,,, “We’ve invented a new method to open the net up, and we’re reducing drag and saving fuel by 30 per cent. The other piece is we’re controlling the net to ensure it stays off the seabed, using an algorithm that takes input from a whole bunch of sensors on the vessel. >click to read< 15:54
Fishermen from urban areas and out of state hold big share of permits in world’s largest sockeye run.
In 1975, an Alaska state law, bitterly contested and extensively litigated, wrought a profound change in the Bristol Bay fishery. It capped the number of people who could fish there and vested them with permits that could be used each year or sold to the highest bidder. The state Legislature made the big change two years earlier in an era when many in the seafood industry were worried about oversized fleets chasing then-depressed stocks of salmon. This had far reaching consequences for local bay communities, where many permits once held by local residents have shifted through the decades to fishermen living in urban parts of Alaska or to Washington and other states. As of 2020, Alaskans hold 44% of the 1,862 drift gillnet fleet permits, and 64% of the 964 permits to fish from beaches with setnets. Photos, >click to read< 10:18
Marshfield lobsterman proud to add new boat to ‘hundreds of years of commercial fishing’
What’s 45 feet long, 17 feet wide and required a State Police detail to get to its Brant Rock home? The answer is Andy Glynn’s new lobster boat. Glynn, a Marshfield native, is a commercial fisherman and lobsterman out of Green Harbor. His new boat, an H&H Osmond Beal design, made the 315-mile trip from Steuben, Maine, earlier this month. The boat is named Bre-Jay after Glynn’s daughters Breanna and Jayanne. It’s going to be a commercial lobstering boat, but it needs some work. It’s a rough shell with the engine, shaft and rudder in place. The tanks, the decking, the windows, all the plumbing and all the electrics have to be done. It’s going to take six months to a year to finish. >click to read< 07:35
New generation keeps Pacific City’s famous dory fleet afloat
In 2003, when Shawn Farstad tracked down the dory boat his father sold in 1988, the boat was rotted and the owner was asking “a fortune.” But it had been built by Farstad’s grandfather, skippered by his dad and named for his sister, Susann, and mom, Janet. So, Farstad and his wife, Crystal, paid the price. Then, Farstad took the Su-Jan home, stripped it down to the bones and built it all over again. In this coastal home of the Pacific City dory fleet, the bond between fisher and boat runs deep. Today, Farstad builds dories and helps maintain the fleet. The demand for his work is growing as the dories grow older and need more care. 5 photos, >click to read< 10:11
We’re eating less lobster, just as fall fishing season begins
After reaching record high prices in the spring, the shore price for a pound of Atlantic lobster has dropped dramatically, from around $18 to $5. Low demand, both domestically and internationally, and inflation are contributing to this drop, say industry professionals, who are concerned about the rising costs to fish and distribute the product as the fall lobster fishing season commences. Stewart Lamont, managing director of Tangier Lobster Company, a live lobster exporter in Nova Scotia, said consumer purchasing habits have changed since the beginning of the pandemic. >click to read< 07:47
Alaska’s snow crabs have disappeared. Where they went is a mystery.
Gabriel Prout and his brothers Sterling and Ashlan were blindsided. Harvests of Alaskan king crab, the bigger, craggier species that was the star of the television show “Deadliest Catch”, have been on a slow decline for over a decade. But in 2018 and 2019, scientists had seemingly great news about Alaska’s snow crabs: Record numbers of juvenile crabs were zooming around the ocean bottom, suggesting a massive haul for subsequent fishing seasons. Prout, 32, and his brothers bought out their father’s partner, becoming part owners of the 116-foot F/V Silver Spray. They took out loans and bought $4 million in rights to harvest a huge number of crabs. It was a year that many young commercial fishers in the Bering Sea bought into the fishery, going from deckhands to owners. Everyone was convinced the 2021 snow crab season was going to be huge. And then they weren’t there. >click to read< 08:27
Vermilion Bay shrimper says local shrimp industry is struggling, calls on lawmakers for solutions
“I’ve been commercially fishing since 1974, so it’s been a little over forty years I’ve been doing this,” said Thomas Olander. “I am a third generation, my father did it, my grandfather did it,” he said. “Hurricanes have been a big issue for us. The BP oil spill was a real big issue for us here.” “In 2022, we’re down to 4,000 commercial fishermen.” “We’re being overregulated, we’re paying way too much for fuel, and we’re getting the absolute worst price of my whole career doing this,” he added. According to Olander, the cause is imported shrimp, as imported shrimp floods the market and domestic shrimpers are getting a smaller share and getting squeezed out. Video, >click to read< 17:03
Nova Scotia: Indigenous lobster fishermen not required to observe whale closure
A Department of Fisheries and Oceans fishery closure in Nova Scotia this week to protect endangered North Atlantic Right Whales will not apply to Indigenous lobster fishermen in the area. The department is allowing ceremonial lobster fishing in St. Marys Bay to continue, raising concerns about conservation and fairness. All commercial crab and herring fisheries with unattended gear in the water are being ordered out of St. Marys Bay effective 5 p.m. on Thursday, which is standard practice after sightings. Dan Fleck of the Brazil Rock 33/34 Lobster Association represents commercial fishermen in the area. He said he’s been getting calls from concerned fishermen this week. “I would expect that the rules would be applied fairly and equitably amongst all resource users,” Fleck said. >click to read< 08:01
Top Biden Climate Adviser Sanctioned by National Academy of Sciences for Ethical Violations
Jane Lubchenco, the deputy director for climate and environment at the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy, was sanctioned by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) on August 8, Axios reported. Lubchenco’s sanction stemmed from a violation of the NAS’ code of conduct. Specifically, Lubchenco edited a paper that appeared in the NAS’ peer-reviewed journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, in 2020; but the paper did not use the most recent available data, and Lubchenco had a personal relationship with one of the researchers in violation of the journal’s editorial policies. Axios adds that one of the researchers was Lubchenco’s brother-in-law. >click to read< 09:46
Lobster fishing is not profitable this year, fishermen explain
Rampant inflation and cooling markets are hitting Maritime lobster fishers hard. Six days after the start of fishing in the Northumberland Strait, some of them are receiving a price up to 40% lower than last year for their catch. A fishermen’s organization believes that this is not profitable. The atmosphere was not festive at the Cap-Pelé wharf on Tuesday afternoon. Fishermen have learned what price they will get for lobster this season: between $4.50 and $5 a pound. Last year at this time they were getting $7 a pound. We have prices, but it is not strong. They say it’s blocked everywhere, that lobster doesn’t sell, that’s the reason, explains Captain Guy Cormier. I take it one day at a time, we’re not dead today. >click to read< 07:50
Maggiolo Launches Anchovy Catcher for Exalmar
Pesquera Exalmar, one of the major fish meal and fish oil producers in Peru, has acquired a new anchovy seiner from Construcciones Augusto Maggiolo, an 80-year-old shipyard in Callao. The newbuild replaces F/V Nueva San Telmo, an older vessel that was lost at sea in 2020. According to Nicola Rubini, Maggiolo’s general manager, the entire concept of F/V Mariangella – which takes over Nueva San Telmo’s fishing permit – came from the shipyard’s team. ‘Exalmar asked us to develop a vessel with a high level of comfort for the crew and a modern design,’ he explained. Maggiolo’s engineers came up with an audacious configuration for the waterline and bulbs, which had been submitted to tests at the University of Chile, in Valdivia. They also selected an advanced propulsion system for F/V Mariangella, taking care of the propeller design themselves. Photos, >click to read< 17:40
Atlantic fishing fleets ditch gill nets in favour of hook-and-line technology
The goal is higher-quality fish. That’s why one Canadian offshore fishing company is ditching gill nets in favour of hook-and-line fishing. The Arctic Fishery Alliance of Nunavut just bought a 52-metre longliner from Iceland to fish its quota of Greenland halibut (turbot) in the Davis Strait, near the Arctic Circle. In addition to adding modern processing equipment on board, the vessel will be fitted with a Mustad longline system, enabling the ship to deploy 40,000 fishing hooks daily. To fetch the best possible price in the market, a turbot fillet must be pure white. “And you don’t get that using gill nets,” said Earle. >click to read< 10:53
TUNAVILLE – Point Loma’s proud Portuguese past, and present
The Point Loma boundaries of Lowell to Talbot streets, and as high up the peninsula as Willow Street, by the 1930s, had earned the moniker “Tunaville.” Here has been home to an immigrant Portuguese populace settled as far back as 1885, and by the 1940s had become a bustling tuna fishermen’s haven. Early Portuguese fishing settlements grew along the base of Kellogg and McCall streets in La Playa and Roseville. Interestingly, the natural tidelands at the time meandered as far inland as today’s Scott Street. “In remarkably short order, each fisherman owned his own dory. photos, >click to read< 14:58
Supply ships, Coast Guard help rescue seven people and two dogs from sinking fishing vessel
“This was a good day. This is as best as you can hope for in a situation that’s grave like this,” said Mark Gould, a regional supervisor with the Coast Guard’s Marine Search and Rescue. The mayday call came around 1:00 a.m. from the F/V Gypsy Mariner, a fishing boat from Quebec, as it was taking on water about 60 nautical miles off St. John’s. The Maritime Rescue Sub Centre directed all nearby vessels to the scene. The two supply ships, the Atlantic Griffon and the Atlantic Shrike, and a Canadian Forces Hercules aircraft were the first to arrive at the scene. A Coast Guard cormorant helicopter arrived about 30 minutes later. “We did drop a pump to the vessel just in case there was a way to save it, but it quickly became clear that that wasn’t going to be an option,” >click to read< 21:33
Regulations coming to Atlantic Canada could ensure safety of endangered right whales
Last month, Sierra Club Canada held a web discussion where it talked about the endangered North Atlantic right whale population in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and how new changes coming to the fishing industry could help protect them. DFO has been working to develop rope systems that are designed to release if too much force is applied suddenly. Currently, there are no regulations for fisherman to use low-bearing gear. Jenn Michael Lewis, who helps catch lobster in St. Peters Bay, said the response from fishermen in the community about the new rope regulations will likely be a negative one. “It has been a point of tension. There isn’t many right near St Peters Bay, many fishermen don’t see the point in switching,” Lewis said. >click to read< 08:10
The Birds Eye Fleet
In 1954, General Foods Birdseye Division was a big part of Rockland’s waterfront. In addition to a fish processing operation on Tillson Avenue, the company had a shipyard on Mechanic Street that maintained a fleet of nine fishing boats. On the morning of Wednesday, Oct. 13, 1954, the Surf went aground on the ledges of Devil’s Limb off Seal Island, to the west of Nova Scotia. The Surf was built in 1937 and was registered at 309 tons. Her length was 132 feet with a 25-foot beam, powered by a 750-horsepower diesel. Captain Douglas Schwartz of Rockland was taking the trawler and his crew of 10 men to the Grand Banks, having left the day before at 4 p.m. It is believed the trawler’s compass was off. Men who have sailed the area observe the Surf was 15 to 20 miles off course when she ran aground. >click to read< 11:53
