Category Archives: Featured
“The Fishmonger” Tommy Gomes to Star in TV Show and Open Point Loma Seafood Market
San Diego’s seafood culture, from its fishermen to the city’s chefs and restaurants, will be the subject of a new television show premiering Monday, March 1, on the Outdoor Channel. The Fishmonger stars local seafood expert Tommy Gomes, a native San Diegan and former commercial fisherman whose long career in the industry includes 15 years with Catalina Offshore Products, where he founded a walk-in fish market for the wholesaler and started a educational dinner series. >click to read< 08:50
Evidence shows Maine lobster gear has not contributed to decline in Right whale population
In today’s world, it is hard to discern truth from opinion, or fact from calculated lies.,, The fact is also that no documented right whale death has ever been attributed to Maine lobstermen. There has only been one known entanglement in the past 20 years (2012). That whale was disentangled and set free.,,, The combination of ship strikes and snow crab gear entanglement was catastrophic, but had nothing to do with Maine lobster gear. The “guilt by association” assumption by environmental groups and NOAA/NMFS is unwarranted and unacceptable. By Jack Merrill. >click to read< 07:55
F/V Terry F runs into serious trouble, Coast Guard rescues crew and a dog, vessel breaks up, Fundraiser!
The crabber F/V Terry F ran into life-threatening trouble near the north end of the peninsula Saturday morning in the first hours of the Dungeness 73-hour pre-soak period. The U.S. Coast Guard rescued three crewmembers after the vessel reportedly lost power and began taking on water at about 7:30 a.m. about 4 miles offshore from the mouth of Willapa Bay.,, They instructed the crew to enter the water one at a time to meet a rescue swimmer. All three were wearing survival suits and communication gear. The commercial crab season started Saturday morning when boats were allowed to set their pots offshore. John Weldon photos, >click to read< 17:50
Video: Coast Guard rescues 3 people, 1 dog from fishing vessel taking on water near Willapa Bay, WA – A Coast Guard Sector Columbia River aircrew aboard an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter rescue three mariners and a dog from a sinking vessel near Willapa Bay, WA, Saturday, Feb. 13. >click to watch<
A Fundraiser by Lawauna Cappa – Westport Fisherman loses livelihood & home at sea – This morning my brother Matt Finley and his crew left the Westport dock with f/v Terry F loaded with crab pots to finally begin the crab season.,, The fishing vessel began taking on water and sinking.,,, >>click to read< and please, donate if you can!
Wow. Just, Wow. A belly full of fish ramps up seal debate
If you have a weak stomach, the video might be difficult to watch. But for fish harvesters in Newfoundland and Labrador, the images of a seal stomach being cut open to reveal a gut full of small herring and Arctic cod is proof enough that seals are a factor in the slow recovery of cod stocks. Last week Dion Weir and a buddy hunted a few seals for personal use in Hall’s Bay, off the Baie Verte Peninsula. They were filled with small fish. “Up in these bays now they’re eating herring and Arctic cod,” Weir said. “Wherever the cod is, the seals are there.” Multiply that by 7.6 million seals,,, >click to read< 15:42
Video Interview: Life for a Mainer fishing in the Bering Sea
Taylor Strout is the son of a fisherman; fishing simply runs in his blood. He is on a boat that fishes out of Dutch Harbor, Alaska,,, Taylor is a mate aboard the Fishing Vessel Northern Defender which, when we talked, was tied up at the dock in Dutch Harbor. The Aleutian Islands split the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea, and they fish the Bering Sea. As the crow flies, he is more than 4000 miles away from home. “It’s kind of a different level of 
fishing out here.,, “You’re basically towing a football field behind you. You’re taking everything up to a bigger scale when you’re on some of these boats. Bigger weather, there’s bigger seas, sometimes we fish in 15 foot waves to 25 foot waves.” >click to read< 14:44
Canada’s sockeye salmon find their way home again after 50 years
For the first time in over 50 years, spawning sockeye salmon will return to Okanagan Lake in British Columbia,,, A fish ladder, left inoperable after the Penticton Dam was built in the 1950s, has been restored by the Okanagan Nation Alliance and Fisheries and Oceans Canada. A crane was used to remove a wooden gate blocking off the narrow concrete passage, opening the way for fish to get through. “To watch that gate go up, and to know that fish can finally return to their historic grounds, was a tearful moment,” she said. McFayden is a member of the Okanagan River Restoration Initiative (ORRI) and the Okanagan Similkameen Conservation Alliance. >click to read< 07:55
One Fisherman is Dead and One is Injured in Fishing Boat ‘Incident’ Off UK Coast
A Coast Guard helicopter from Newquay, Cornwall responded to an emergency incident 50 miles off the coast of the Isles of Scilly along with an RNLI lifeboat from St Mary’s, in which a male crew member of a fishing vessel reportedly died, according to local police. The crew member, part of a Newlyn based fishing vessel, died in a “serious accident” at sea and another crew member has been seriously injured onboard the deck of the FV Cornishman. >click to read< 15:22
New crab boat faces the harsh realities of a tough season
The commercial Dungeness crab season is well underway and there’s a new boat in town. When a retired school teacher looking for a hobby and well-established fishermen in Charleston get together, a boat is built. “He said he just bought some plans and he showed them to me, and they were exactly the kind of boat I was looking for,” said Bill Lucero, an owner of the Michelle Marie Fishing Vessel. “So, one thing led to another and we decided to build this boat.” video, photos, >click to read< 08:06
Maine lobsterman catches 1 in 30 million yellow lobster named Banana, and donates it to UNE
A Maine lobsterman caught a rare one in 30 million yellow lobster and donated it to the University of New England. Tenants Harbor lobsterman Marley Babb caught the lobster and reached out to the university after first contacting the Maine Department of Marine Resources. The Department of Marine Resources’ Jessica Waller is working on a lobster research project with UNE’s Markus Frederich. She contacted him and asked whether UNE might be interested in housing the lobster. >click to read< 20:13
Barhan Boat Works: Built by fishermen for fishermen
Salmon fisherman Dave Barhan picked an unusual spot to build boats during the off season: White Bear Floral’s greenhouse. On his second season of boat building, the retired teacher recalls driving around the area looking for a shed or pole building large enough to construct a 28-foot commercial fishing skiff. He spied the greenhouses behind the florist and thought it the perfect place. Owner John Birkeland was skeptical at first, but became a believer when Barhan, his two sons and a fourth fishing partner rolled out the first aluminum boat, dubbed “Big Momma.” They call the business Barhan Boat Works, or BBW. Their motto: “Built by fishermen for fishermen.” >photos, click to read< 16:24
Nova Scotia: Appeal judge rejects delaying $340,000 payment to fisherman
A motion to suspend payment of more than $340,000 to a Cape Breton fisherman has been rejected by the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal. Justice Carole Beaton ruled that numbered company 3102602 Nova Scotia Limited (Roderick Jeffrie, president) is to abide by a previous Supreme Court ruling and pay New Waterford fisherman Paul Fraser. The award to Fraser was made last year after a lengthy trial into the transfer of a crab allocation from Fraser to Jeffrie. Supreme Court Justice John Bodurtha ruled in favour of Fraser in awarding compensation for the eight years Fraser’s quota was used by another company. “I am convinced after reviewing all the documentation from DFO and hearing testimony of the witnesses,,, >click to read< 10:03
Disposal of Hazardous Waste: The dark side of ‘green energy’ and its threat to the nation’s environment
Wind farms and massive arrays of solar panels are cropping up across public and private landscapes, (offshore, also),,, President Joe Biden, in fact, has directed the Interior Department to identify suitable places to host 20 gigawatts of new energy from sun, wind or geothermal resources by 2024,, But how green is green? Although countries are feverishly looking to install wind and solar farms to wean themselves off carbon-based, or so-called “dirty” energy, few countries, operators and the industry itself have yet to fully tackle the long-term consequences of how to dispose of these systems, which have their own environmental hazards like toxic metals, oil, fiberglass and other material. >click to read< 12:37
A cold snap can’t stop him… and sea scallops fear him! I asked, “Do you love it?” And Captain Zach Storer admitted he did love it…
Captain Zach Storer, the skipper of the Jenna Lee, pulled his jacket a bit tighter when I must of reminded him (me all bundled up, shivering a little) how cold it actually was, just prior to snapping the top photo of him… as if he had forgotten… as if he hadn’t realized… as if being cold had been last on his morning list of “things to do,” the man surrounded by heavy-metal fishing gear layered with sea ice. photos, >click to read< 11:02
May Day! Maine man charged with false distress call to Coast Guard
Nathan Libby, of Rockland, is charged with making a false distress call to the Coast Guard on December 3rd, 2020 via VHF-FM radio channel 16. Based on the call, the Coast Guard initiated a search spanning more than five hours, which included the use of a local Coast Guard vessel, a Maine Marine Patrol vessel, and a helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod. A criminal complaint was filed on January 27th in the U.S. District Court in Portland against Libby, who faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted of the crime. >click to read< 07:45
Tributes to Skipper John, who faced pirates and broke fishing records
He spent 50 years breaking numerous records and battling all weathers at sea as he was named a port’s top skipper. Now touching tributes have been paid to a long-serving fisherman from Lowestoft who has been hailed as a “town hero” following his death. Family and former colleagues of John Ketteringham – known to his friends as JK – have honoured a “great man” who will be sadly missed. photos, >click to read< 07:20
How this family-run seafood business banded together to stay afloat for the next generation
When the Bright kids were young, Bill was away at sea often, “probably 150 days a year,” he says. One Sunday he came home from a fishing trip in New England, gathered the family around the table, and floated an idea for a new adventure, a restaurant. Well, not a restaurant-restaurant, but a kitchen trailer parked by the docks on Richardson Channel, with picnic tables where customers could see the freshness of the fish, guts and scales and all, being butchered a few feet away. “The kids were into it right away.” Bill and Michelle, a Temple-trained journalist and ace home cook, opened Hooked Up Seafood in 2010 and quickly developed a reputation of excellence. photos, >click to read< 07:48
Unlocking the secrets of rogue waves
Captain Cody VanBuskirk and the crew of the No Excuses were ten days into a sword fishing trip south of Sable Island. Despite the forecast for 40 knot winds that led them to take the evening off fishing, it wasn’t rough. Then a wave significantly larger than any of the others smashed into the boat’s side, rolled her on her beam, caved in the wheelhouse windows.,,, Twenty-six years ago a mathematician probably wouldn’t have believed VanBuskirk’s claim he’d been hit by a rogue wave. They were the stuff of mariners’ tales, not far removed from Davey Jones’ locker. They didn’t make sense on paper so they probably didn’t exist. >click to read< 16:20
Federal Relief: Great Lakes fisheries finally get a cut of Coronavirus relief funds
After being snubbed in 2020, the folks who make their living by fishing the Great Lakes – both commercially and for sport – have been included in the latest round of federal relief from the economic ravages of COVID-19.,, Neither group was included in the massive Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act that passed in March 2020, even though $300 million was specifically earmarked for U.S. fisheries.,, Getting the Great Lakes included in CRRSA was just the beginning. Now comes the harder work of figuring out how to access the money. Video, >click to read< 16:10
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
