Category Archives: Featured
I am a Fisherman! WTF are you? Not a fisherperson, or a fisher!
Chloe-Louise Chesswas, 29, prefers to be known as a fisherman and says the politically correct alternative will never catch on. Chloe-Louise is believed to be one of just six female fishermen in Britain and has been doing the job for three years. The 5ft 4in mother of two is a deckhand and potter on a crab potting boat based out of Salcombe, Devon. But she said the term championed by the BBC would not catch on and that, if anything, it took away from equality. “I am 100 per cent a fisherman. There is no such thing as a fisherwoman. We are all fishermen. “It is a gender neutral word. >click to read< 09:25
No North Atlantic Right Whale Deaths In Canadian Waters This Year
It has been a good year for the endangered North Atlantic right whale in Canadian waters. Federal officials say no deaths or new entanglements have been reported to date. The government credits “significant” action taken to help protect the whale. A new season-long fishing area closure protocol was introduced in the Gulf of St. Lawrence based on where whales were detected. Fisheries and Oceans Canada also expanded the scope of where temporary and season-long closures were applied. >click to read< 15:50
Spiny dogfish eat small Atlantic codfish! DNA may provide some answers
Conventional observations show that spiny dogfish in the western North Atlantic rarely eat Atlantic cod. However, some believe the rebuilding dogfish populations are limiting depleted cod numbers by competition or predation. To find out what is going on, NOAA Fisheries scientists looked to genetic testing to confirm cod presence in dogfish stomachs. >click to read< 13:10
Restore the oyster dredger Vanguard! Plea to help fund restoration of Essex boat used at Dunkirk
The Vanguard Restoration Foundation hopes to restore the oyster dredger Vanguard by securing the vital £500,000 needed to have it rebuilt. This year marks the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War and the group hopes the boat, now residing in Burnham, will get a fresh boost of Dunkirk spirit. The aim is to get her ready for a return to Dunkirk in June 2025 to take part in celebrations marking the 85th anniversary. >photos, click to read< 13:35
New Trawler Built Under Coronavirus Restrictions
‘That was undoubtedly our major challenge this time. We had signed the contract with the shipowner just a few days before quarantine measures were ordered by the Argentinian government,’ said Domingo Contessi, the shipyard’s president. ‘Construction began in April, when all of the 
restrictions were already in place, so this boat was completely produced under social distancing requirements’. Fortunately, both Contessi’s suppliers and staff responded positively to the company’s new needs and Siempre María Elena was completed within the time agreed with Aquellos Tres S.A., the shipyard’s client. >Video, photos, click to read< 13:23
Converging forces make for worst Upper Cook Inlet season in decades
Low prices, an oddly timed sockeye run and another year of very poor Kenai king returns combined to result in one of the worst Upper Cook Inlet commercial fishing seasons on record. The 2020 Upper Cook Inlet harvest of roughly 1.2 million salmon was less than half the recent 10-year average harvest of 3.2 million fish and the estimated cumulative ex-vessel value of approximately $5.2 million was the worst on record, according to Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s Upper Cook Inlet Commercial Salmon Fishery Season Summary. >click to read< 16:27
Offshore Wind Industry Cheers Biden Win
Trade groups representing the United States’ offshore wind sector are hailing the election of Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States as significant to further growing the nation’s offshore wind capacity. Biden’s climate action plan calls for a 100% clean energy economy and net-zero emissions by 2050. This would means a renewed focus on renewable energy, including offshore wind, as the United States is likely to rejoin the Paris Agreement on climate change. Under the Biden Administration, it is expected that offshore wind will experience substantial growth from projects, supply chain development, and job creation, according to The Business Network for Offshore Wind, a non-profit that works to promote the offshore wind supply chain in the U.S. >click to read< 07:51
Port of Ilwaco Boatyard abuzz: Skippers and crews get set for busy seasons
The boatyard has been even more abuzz than normal since arrival of a much-anticipated new 75-ton marine Travelift on Nov. 3. “Boats are getting bigger and wider and we want to modernize our facility to meet their needs,” Glenn said. The colossal new machinery has already eased haul-outs, as more boats begin to arrive, eager to complete annual maintenance ahead of upcoming fishing seasons, starting with Dungeness crab, typically in December. The new marine lift was assembled over two days outside the boatyard before making its first official haul out with the F/V Branko Storm on Nov. 5.,, >21 photos, click to read< 16:21
Fishing tragedy: City of Galway at a standstill as father and son buried
When the funeral of Galway fishermen Martin and Tom Oliver left Claddagh church, the silence among hundreds of people lining the route was broken only by the roar of the river Corrib and the gentle sound of wind in canvas sails. Three Galway hookers had moored in the Claddagh basin, with musician Sharon Shannon on board the deck of one of the vessels playing soft airs on her accordion. Martin, who was almost 62, and his son Tom, aged 37 died within 24 hours of each other after a fishing accident on their potting vessel on the north side of Galway Bay last Monday. >click to read< 15:14
Commercial fisherman Michael Foy free from British Virgin Islands jail after plea deal
After a five-month ordeal in which he was imprisoned in British Virgin Islands, Stafford fisherman Michael Foy accepted a plea deal Friday and is free to go, aside from paying a $4,000 fine. Foy, 60, was arrested June 8 by British Virgin Islands custom officials and charged with illegal entry for violating the islands’ COVID-19 curfew. He was subsequently charged with unregistered and unlicensed fishing, and failure to arrive at a customs port. “The goal all along was to bring Michael (Foy) home. This was an acceptable decision for all parties. He can start putting this whole ordeal behind him,” >click to read< 08:50
Statement from the Director of Public Prosecution On the Case Commissioner of Police v Michael Foy – We wish to inform the public that Defendant Michael Foy changed his plea before the Magistrate’s Court on 28th October, 2020. To provide some background, on 8th June, 2020, the Defendant Mr. Micheal Foy was apprehended in Territorial waters off of Norman Island by Her Majesty’s Customs.,, >click to read< 11/4/20 14:32
Settlement reached in sinking of F/V Scandies Rose for more than $9 million to surviving crewmen and families
The owners of the Scandies Rose have reached a settlement of more than $9 million with two surviving crew and the families of four men who died when the Washington-managed crab boat went down Dec. 31 off Alaska. Jerry Markham, an attorney for the families of three of the deceased, also confirmed the settlement, and said his clients “are relieved and pleased that the matter is settled.” The Scandies Rose disaster took the lives of five crew,,, The two survivors of the Scandies Rose, Dean Gribble Jr., and Jon Lawler, told harrowing tales of a severe list that imperiled the vessel. Both Lawler and Gribble eventually made it to a life raft.,,, >click to read< 10:14
Envelope pushed in St. Marys Bay and Digby folk pushed into a corner – Susan Beaton
So now that the dust is starting to settle, righteous keyboard warriors can take a breather. So let’s try to give the people of Digby County and St. Marys Bay some consideration. Terrible things were said and done this month to the Sipekne’katik First Nation people and to those who supported them. No apologies here for the bad behaviour. But consider for a moment what it’s like for a small village, its lifeblood on the line, as a fight for treaty rights plays out on its doorstep. Sipekne’katik wanted to push to the forefront the “moderate livelihood” debate, as many bands in other areas are doing as well. This tiny bay became a focus of that effort. What happened next is a bit more dubious. By Susan Beaton, >click to read< 09:23
Chief Mike Sack: The face and voice of Mi’kmaq lobster fishing that is met with ire and violence
Monday is election day, when the Sipekne’katik band will elect a chief to lead the province’s second-largest Mi’kmaq community for the next two years. Chief Mike Sack is on his way to Digby. In his pickup, skirting along Highway 101, it is two and a half hours of picturesque driving from his band’s reserve in central Nova Scotia to communities on the province’s southwestern coast, where lobsters grow plump and delicious in St. Marys Bay. While he is well-known in his community, most in Canada only recently noticed Sack, through the news and, for a certain demographic, online memes, both heroic and horrific, sparked by alarming events as the lobster dispute turned violent. >click to read< 18:50
Ropeless fishing gear won’t save whales
If you live in one of California’s historic fishing communities like Bodega Bay, (or Coastal New England) you’ve 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. These groups have convinced the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to adopt onerous new regulations that will force crab fishermen to adopt expensive, impractical and unproven fishing gear that will put most of us out of business. The truth, however, is something different. How do we know this? 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. >click to read< 09:54
Fishing Company under Fire for Keeping Coronavirus Infected Crew at Sea for Three Weeks
Despite crew members developing flu-like symptoms one by one, Júlíus Geirmundsson didn’t return to harbour until it needed to refuel last Sunday, after three weeks at sea. During refuelling, the crew was tested for COVID-19 but left again for the fishing grounds before the results were in. They returned as soon as it was discovered that the majority of the crew had contracted COVID-19.,, Hákon Blöndal, the ship’s first engineer, called out the fishing company’s explanation,, “This isn’t the whole story, and people have to grow a pair and admit their mistakes,” >click to read< 15:38
How an Ill-Fated Fishing Voyage Helped Us Understand Coronavirus
F/V American Dynasty, a commercial trawler, departed Seattle one day in May to fish for hake off the Washington coast. Before leaving, its 122 crew members were screened for the coronavirus using the highly accurate polymerase chain reaction (P.C.R.) method, and all the results came back negative. But because those tests are “good but not perfect,” they missed at least one case: Somehow SARS-CoV-2 found its way on board. When a crew member fell seriously ill, the vessel returned to port, and almost everyone was tested for the virus again,,, The finding is believed to be the first direct evidence that antibodies protect against SARS-CoV-2 infection in humans, and it offers clues about what sort of concentrations might be needed to confer immunity. >click to read< 10:24
New F/V Ocean Challenge a massive boost to Skerries
The arrival of a brand new state of the art whitefish trawler at the outlying community of Out Skerries has been described as a major boost to the small community by skipper Leslie Hughson. Built at Mooney Boats yard in Killybegs the Ocean Challenge arrived in Lerwick at the weekend before heading to her home port of Skerries for the naming ceremony on Sunday. Back in Lerwick on Monday to take on gear ahead of fishing trials later this week, Hughson said sailing the new vessel home to Skerries had been a “proud moment”. >click to read< 09:31
Fisherman charged in 2018 scallop boat slaying ruled mentally incompetent
A Newport News man charged with killing a fellow fisherman two years ago on a scallop boat off the coast of Massachusetts has been declared mentally incompetent to stand trial. Franklin Meave faces life in prison on a federal charge of killing Javier Rangel Sosa, 54, a well-liked fisherman,, On Sept. 18, 2018, the Captain Billy Haver, an 83-foot fishing boat, left its York County dock with a crew of seven to dredge scallops off the Massachusetts coast. Sosa was the boat’s chief mate; Meave was a hired hand. Five days later,,, “Mayday, mayday, mayday,” the boat’s captain said,, “We have a man gone crazy here on the boat, man,” he said when the Coast Guard responded. “One man, I don’t know if he’s dead or what. But one of the crew members went crazy, and he started hitting people in the head with a hammer. >click to read< 14:50, Six articles, starting in September 24, 2018, >click to read<
Chance remark leads to movie role. “You guys with the movies or something?” Then something happened. Something always happens.
It happens to commercial fishermen of a certain age. Fishermen of a certain pedigree. After a lifetime on the water, they begin to view their world through a different prism, one that assembles the puzzle pieces in just the right way.,, Within the next fortnight, Bob Morris will turn 63. He still lobsters out of Pigeon Cove,,, He watched as a group of people walked toward him. “They were young people, all clad in black,” he said. As they passed, he gave them a little shot. Nothing serious. Just the type of dig that passes for a friendly introduction along the docks. “You guys with the movies or something?” “In fact we are,” said Matthew Balzer. Balzer is the writer and director of a film called “The Catch.” A nice video trailer! >click to read< 13:55
To fight climate change, should we mine the deep sea?
Ancient rocks lie across vast fields miles below the surface of the Pacific Ocean. Far from people, but not entirely out of reach, they contain metals such as cobalt, used in batteries for technology like electric cars. They are numerous, about the size of meatballs or potatoes, and formed over millions of years. These stones may hold a key to fighting climate change, according to a contingent of entrepreneurs who want to mine them. To wean the world off fossil fuels that worsen global warming, scientists say, will require a lot of batteries. Opponents argue that rushing into deep-sea mining risks destroying a pristine wilderness,,, Skeptics of the industry believe it is better to focus on improving mining conditions on land. >click to read< 17:25
Coronavirus Tie-Up: NI Fishermen offered money to stop fishing
Northern Ireland’s fishing fleet is to be offered money to stop fishing as markets for its produce shrink due to Covid. A £1.7m pot is available to fishermen who wish to stop fishing for six weeks. They can apply to either of two “tie-up” periods between mid-October and the end of November. The closure of pubs, restaurants and workplaces across Europe has seen a big reduction in demand for full prawns and scampi – NI’s main exports. The cash will help will crew costs, mortgage payments on boats, insurance and harbour fees. >click to read< 10:35
Sam Parisi: Remembering the F/V Andrea Gail, and the loved ones left behind
On October 28,10991, we lost six fishermen during the Perfect Storm aboard the F/V Andrea Gail. Captain Billy Tyne, David Sullivan, and Robert Shatford of Gloucester, Dale Murphy and Michael Moran, both of Bradenton Beach, Florida, and Clifford Pierre of New York City. My heart goes out to those families, and loved ones, may they not be forgotten. I can still remember the boat and the owner Bob Brown, also called “Suicide” Brown. He was the first lobsterman to fish off the Canyons over a hundred miles from land with his forty five foot lobster boat. >click to read< 17:24
New “Gadget”? Underwater noisemaker to scare away seals at Ballard Locks
On a recent morning, after some acrobatics and horsing around, a seal cruising the locks suddenly took an all-business turn. When it resurfaced, it was with a mouth crammed full of coho. The Hiram Chittenden Locks, built more than 100 years ago, allow navigable access from the freshwater of Lake Washington and Lake Union to Puget Sound. But the locks also inadvertently created an attraction for seals. The concrete chute of the locks concentrates salmon, making easy pickings. As salmon runs have declined in Puget Sound, a range of methods has been tried over the years to shut down the buffet. Underwater firecrackers, pingers, even Fake Willy, a faux orca that used to be lowered into the channel in an attempt to scare off seals and sea lions. Now a new gadget is being tested at the locks, intended to startle seals to deter them. >click to leave< 20:20
Video: U.S. Coast Guard, Air Force, and Navy medevac fisherman from commercial fishing vessel off Hawaii
The Coast Guard, Air Force, and Navy successfully medevaced a 73-year-old fisherman from the 84-foot commercial fishing vessel Lady Alice 150 miles east of Hilo, Friday. At 7:37 a.m., Monday, the owner of the Lady Alice notified JRCC watchstanders that the master of the vessel appeared to be suffering symptoms of a stroke. The mariners aboard provided medication to the patient and were instructed by JRCC watchstanders to monitor his condition and maintain scheduled communication. Duty flight surgeons from the Coast Guard and Air Force were consulted and recommended sending Air Force pararescue jumpers from the 129th Rescue Wing to the vessel before the mariner’s condition deteriorated. Video >click to read< 10:22
Community gathers for sunset memorial honoring Captain Wayne Magwood
Friends and family gathered on Thursday night to remember the loss of Lowcountry shrimper, Captain Wayne Magwood. Dozens gathered at Mount Pleasant Memorial Waterfront Park to share stories, pray and walk the pier. When the group reached the end of the pier, they dropped flowers into the water. Moving forward, it’s Magwood’s legacy that will keep the community going. A boat parade in his honor is scheduled for this Saturday, October 3rd. Video >Click to read< 07:56
Retired Arbroath boat builder reunited with renovated luxury ship he made almost 50 years ago
Harry Simpson, 68, former owner of MacKay Boat Builders, welcomed the Nova Spero into the town’s marina on Monday afternoon. The vessel, built in 1972, has since been turned into a luxury passenger ship, which overcame difficult conditions to berth in the marina on its way to the Forth. The crew and passengers stopped off in Angus after strong winds trapped them in Peterhead on Sunday. Harry, who waited at the harbour to welcome the ship home, was only an apprentice when he helped construct the vessel.,, “I did everything from laying the keel, the planking, the frames, the lofting, then to the fitting out. I was involved in all the bits and pieces, everything. That’s how I learned my trade.” photos, >click to read< 10:02
Cruises around Scotland on board Nova Spero – Skarvlines – photos, >click to read<
Vineyard Wind project has opposition, with considerable opposition among conservationists
I read with great interest “The power of wind” point of view (Sept. 21) by Allie McCandless. The writer enthusiastically defends the Vineyard Wind Project as one that will launch Massachusetts “into a clean future.” In fact, the Vineyard Wind project has raised considerable opposition among conservationists. The 84 projected wind turbines would install two 220,000-volt alternative current submarine cables, seriously disturbing the underwater ecosystem and the fishing industry by generating heat, noise and possibly disturbing the electromagnetic field.,, There is a powerful lobby behind the wind turbine industry. There is also a growing worldwide conservation movement that has taken stock of the issues caused by already installed wind,,, By Marie Huet, >click to read< 15:46
NEFMC will vote Sept. 30 on changing requirements for groundfish monitoring, fishermen have mixed responses
Commercial fisherman Randy Cushman walks on top of his boat where he measures fish in front of electronic monitoring cameras, pictured to the right. Cushman is among a handful of New England fishermen who use electronic monitoring instead of a traditional human observer to track what they catch and discard. The New England Fisheries Management Council (NEFMC) is scheduled to vote on changes to its groundfish management plan at a virtual meeting Sept. 30, culminating four years of research. “If we’re going to have accurate stock assessments, we need 100 percent coverage under this management system,” said Cushman. But, the prospect of increased monitoring concerns Terry Alexander, a fisherman who represents Maine on the NEFMC and operates his 62-foot boat out of Massachusetts. >click to read< 10:57
‘Ain’t no hurricane going to stop Joe Patti’s’ – Shrimp boat captains docked behind Joe Patti’s devastated
Joe Patti’s Seafood bore a beating, but the iconic Pensacola seafood market expects to survive the hit dealt by Hurricane Sally. “We got it on the chin,” However, it’s likely a different story for the fishing boat fleet that docks behind the Joe Patti’s warehouse. Seven of the nine shrimp boats — which are primarily captained by Vietnamese immigrants, many of whom lack maritime insurance — were ravaged by the hurricane. Standing on the wharf behind Joe Patti’s on Tuesday morning, it looked like a battleship had turned its guns on the small fishing fleet. Where there had been docks, scraps of driftwood bobbed in the shallow water. Shrimp boats with punctured hauls sat on the bottom of the harbor. 45 photos, >click to read< 08:44
Asian carp processing facility might be headed to North Peoria
A former government adviser and official, Brian Colgan, leads a company that intends to convert a 4,000-square-foot building at 8606 N. Pioneer Road into an Asian carp processing, packaging and distribution facility. There the fish would be fashioned into bait for domestic crab, crawfish and lobster harvesters on all coasts. “Our company, Colgan Carp Solutions Inc., by creating these markets and working with others in the area who want to do the same, can drive up demand, can reduce the population in the Illinois River and hopefully create some jobs, economic opportunity and show that there’s a market-driven strategy for invasive-species management,” Colgan said. >click to read< 11:33
