Category Archives: International
Mullet fishers keep proud tradition alive for next generation along south-east Queensland beaches
For more than a century, commercial fishermen have been gathering on some of Queensland’s most popular beaches every winter, poised for action as a cool breeze blows. Their four-wheel drives, stacked with metal cages and boats piled with fishing nets, take up room usually reserved for sunbathing holidaymakers. It’s mullet fishing season along Queensland’s southern coast as the fish migrate north to spawn during the colder months of the year. The practice of fishing for mullet with nets off the beach, and the highly prized licences, are passed down through the generations. “I do it because that’s virtually all I know and I’ve done this since I was a little kid,” commercial fisherman Michael Thompson says. Video, photos, >click to read< 10:56
SILLE MARIE – Karstensens Shipyard delivers new trawler to Norway
On July 2, 2021, a contract was entered into between Sille Marie AS and Karstensens Shipyard A/S for the construction of a new 65.90 m trawler. The newbuilding is now completed and delivered to the shipping company. A christening ceremony will be held on Saturday, August 12, 2023, in Kristiansand. Sille Marie AS is owned by Carl Aamodt and the Salthaug family from Søgne, Norway. The shipping company was established in 2015. This vessel is the company’s first newbuilding and will replace the previous “Sille Marie,” which was purchased from Sweden in 2015 and has now been sold back to Sweden. The company is led by Carl Aamodt in collaboration with skipper Bastian Salthaug, Yngvar Salthaug, and chief engineer Tobias Salthaug. Lots of photos, >click to read< 09:56
New commercial whelk fishery to open in eastern Nova Scotia
A new commercial Whelk fishery that will officially start in the spring of 2024 was announced Friday outside Louisbourg Seafood facilities in Louisbourg, N.S. “It’s a big deal and it means we will have stability going forward,” said Al MacLean, senior operations manager for Louisbourg Seafoods. Whelk is a large sea snail that is harvested in deep waters and generally exported to Asia. The goal is to increase the availability and quality of seafood in international markets, while creating jobs here at home. “We have 65 people working here today and they’ll work for three-and-a-half to four months beyond what their normal work period was and we hope in the future that we see that grow. We can see allocations to Louisbourg grow and our production staff grow along with it,” said MacLean. Video, >click to read< 08:02
Documentary reveals exploitative working conditions on board gill netters
ISLES MP Alistair Carmichael is to lobby the UK Government and other relevant organisations to put pressure on Germany after yet more revelations about the fleet of foreign gill netters operating in Shetland waters. Working conditions described as “just one step removed from modern slavery” have been uncovered on board a number of Spanish-owned and German-registered gill netters catching monkfish. A 30-minute programme by German public broadcaster NDR documents how the Indonesian crews on board the Pesorsa Dos and Ortegal Tres are working 12-hour days, sometimes for a whole year with no day off, and being paid 800 euros (around £700) per month. Video, >click to read< 13:52
Ex-fisherman Derry brightens up Mey pier with boat artwork
A Canisbay man is using his artistic skills to enhance a north coast quayside – 44 years after he played a key role in an improvement scheme that was officially opened by a visiting rock star. Derry Ross (76) is adding new colour to a series of fishing boat designs that embellish the pier at picturesque Phillip’s Harbour, Mey, having been foreman when it was rebuilt in the late 1970s. He created the designs on the concrete wall as part of the original renovation project and now, with more time on his hands, the ex-fisherman is painstakingly painting between the outlines while also adding fresh details. Some show trawlers of the type he used to work on, based in Aberdeen, while others depict Danish-style boats. The upgraded harbour was officially opened in April 1979 by Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page. Photos, >click to read< 08:09
Lobster fisherman’s narrow escape following incident in Dingle Bay
A Co Kerry fisherman narrowly avoided being pulled into rough seas when he became entangled in lobster pot ropes seriously damaging his leg during a solo trip last year. The unnamed skipper spent five days recovering in hospital although an official report into the incident, published on Wednesday, found that without the rapid rescue response his fate could have been “far more serious”. Despite his quick thinking, he spent four hours trapped in “severe pain” before help arrived. The skipper, who owned the boat and was both qualified and experienced, was out alone with the intention of setting 30 lobster pots attached to rope strings that shot off from a table onboard. >click to read< 09:92
Fisheries plan ignores anti-bottom trawling protest
Greenpeace oceans campaigner Ellie Hooper says the new plan does nothing meaningful to address destruction of the seabed. “We see this plan as a missed opportunity to protect the ocean from the ravages of bottom trawling and truly transform commercial fishing in Aotearoa.” The draft plan, released in April, was blasted as ‘all carrot no stick’. Not so, says the Government. Announcing the final plan, Minister for Oceans Rachel Brooking said it struck a balance between looking after the ocean and making sure New Zealand had a sustainable seafood sector that can cope with the impacts of climate change. For example, the transformation plan looks at ways the industry can earn more and create more jobs without catching more fish, by utilising the whole catch in nutraceuticals and other novel uses. It also suggests the creation, incentivisation and adoption of new technology means restrictions on bottom trawling aren’t needed. >click to read< 18:17
Fishing vessel Zenith completed by Macduff Shipyards
Macduff Shipyards has recently signed over its latest new build fishing vessel Zenith BF 106 to owner Mark Robertson and his sons Paul and Adam. The fishing boat replaces the owner’s previous two trawlers Zeyphr BF 601(ex-Uberous) built by the yard in 2005 and Zenith BF 106 (ex-Daystar) built by the yard in 2008. The vessel is intended to fish out of Fraserburgh targeting primarily prawns in the North Sea region. Zenith is the second vessel in a series of three sister ships, all of which are being built at the yards newly developed Buckie site. 13 photos, >click to read< 10:31
Citing market volatility and Russia’s war in Ukraine, Trident plans to halt salmon buying early
Trident Seafoods, the country’s largest vertically integrated seafood company, announced a number of measures over the weekend that bode poorly for the Alaska salmon market, including an early end to its salmon buying season across much of the state. In a letter over the weekend to fishermen who sell their catch to Trident, the company outlined the issues prompting low prices and a halt to most salmon purchases at month’s end. “The current state of the salmon markets is volatile, and future indicators are even more concerning,” reads the letter, signed by Trident CEO Joe Bundrant and senior vice president for Alaska operations Jeff Welbourn. “We know this is not an easy time and we understand and empathize with our fishing community. Given how quickly things are changing we are committed to being as transparent as possible so you can make timely and informed decisions.” >click to read< 09:54
William R. Miller: Why don’t we restore commercial fishing in Erie?
There are two kinds of jobs, those that “create wealth” by bringing money into the region from outside the region and those jobs that “circulate wealth” within the region. Fish we take from the lake, crops that we grow, minerals that we extract from the ground, products that we manufacture, retirees we convince to live here, services provided to outside individuals and organizations, and tourists who we attract, all create wealth for the region. Each wealth-creation job typically supports about three wealth-circulating job in the region. We’ll focus here on one potential source for wealth-creating jobs. In 1890, Erie was the largest, in tonnage, freshwater fishing port in the entire world. Today, my understanding is that Erie is down to one commercial fisherman and the Canadian Great Lakes fishing industry is now about a $1 billion industry. What happened? >click to read< 15:45
Contessi Launches Fresher Trawler for Rawson
The Contessi shipyard in Mar del Plata launched at the beginning of August a new coastal fresher trawler built to fish from the port of Rawson for Argentine red shrimp. Nuevo Anave is the latest of a proven series of boats, with 17 trawlers of the same design already operating along the coast of Argentina. ‘This is a classic design by our shipyard. When we look at the landings of Argentine red shrimp over the last year, we see four of this design of trawler among the top five catchers on the list,’ said yard director Domingo Contessi. Raúl Matías Cereseto one of the owners of fishing vessel Nuevo Anave, confirmed that it was precisely for this reason that he and his associate decided to order a boat of this design. There are around ten boats of that pattern operating in Rawson and we already knew that it had great efficiency. We saw how our colleagues had positive results concerning stability and performance,’ he said. Photos, >click to read< 13:53
The EU and UK reach three agreements on fisheries management
The EU-UK Specialised Committee on Fisheries (SCF) reached three agreements for better fisheries management between the EU and UK. The agreements include a mechanism for voluntary transfers of fishing opportunities between the EU and UK, common guidelines for notifying management measures to the other party, improvements to the management of four shared stocks (lemon sole, witch, turbot and brill). Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevičius, said: “These agreements demonstrate that the EU and UK can work effectively together under the framework of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement. These agreements will improve the sustainable management of our shared fishing stocks and support both our fleets. It demonstrates the success of our work together to normalise our new fisheries relationship and sets a strong basis for continued cooperation on shared management challenges.” >click to read< 10:42
Cormac Burke: Desperation is turning to anger in Ireland’s fishing industry
As readers see this article, there’ll be a temptation to think its just another fishing industry sob story, and indeed who could blame them? It is decades since we’ve heard anything positive and yet this sector consists of thousands of people in coastal communities crying out that their traditional way of life is being gradually eliminated and eradicated by government. I could launch into the tragic list of catastrophes that have befallen the fishing sector over the last 20 years due to blatant mismanagement by successive governments, marine ministers, and senior civil servants but these tragedies were more by design than by accident. The Irish public rarely gets to see the true face of the fishing sector and how our politicians managed to get Ireland’s fishermen the worst possible deal from Brexit negotiations,,, >click to read< 15:48
Fisheries in Focus: Busting misconceptions about bottom trawling and its environmental impacts
In a new review paper published in the ICES Journal of Marine Science, researchers argue that well-managed bottom trawling produces sustainable and environmentally friendly food. A review paper is a roundup of all the latest info on a topic – a deep dive into a pool of research papers to pull out the most important aspects. In this case, Hilborn et al., 2023 went over all recent research on the environmental impacts of bottom trawling and boiled them down to four major impacts: Sustainability of target species, Impact on the seafloor, Bycatch and discards, Carbon emissions. The review also compared bottom-trawled seafood to other forms of food production. It concluded that well-managed bottom trawling can produce food with less environmental impact than chicken or pork production. Good, effective management is the key. >click to read< 11:44
‘Pirate’ ship which was attacked by Spanish fisherman sinks in Penzance harbour
A former fishing boat which was turned into a floating pirate shop has sunk in Penzance harbour in the wake of Storm Antoni. The sad demise of the vessel comes after a remarkable career which began in the early 70s when the Ar Bageergan – which means ‘the eye of the wind’ – worked as a tuna boat and crabber off the French coast, having been built in Brittany in the early 1970s. However she was later sold to a Newlyn fisherman who worked her until 2000 as a drift netter catching cod off the Irish coast, hake in the South West and tuna in the Bay of Biscay. Photos, >click to read< 09:35
Emotional tribute to Devon fishermen lost at sea
A service has been held in a Devon fishing port to remember the lives of fishermen lost at sea. The tribute in Brixham, organised by the charity Fishermen’s Mission, saw the names of those who have died in Devon waters read out to ensure they are not forgotten. The charity collated a list of 158 names dating back to the Great Gale of Brixham in 1866. The names will be added to a memorial book to be kept at All Saints Church. Helen Lovell-Smith, from the charity, said she began collating names after a conversation with a grieving mother. >click to read< 08:15
OFFSHORE WIND OPPONENTS NEED A MASS PROTEST IN WASHINGTON DC – BY JIM LOVGREN
In 2010 and 2012 fishermen held two different successful protests in Washington DC with thousands of fishermen travelling from around the country to attend. Both commercial and recreational fishermen voiced their concerns regarding catch shares and Magnuson Act reauthorization, among the multitude of issues that threatened their livelihoods. Today, the fishing industry is facing a far worse enemy then fishery management, as thousands of square miles of their historic fishing grounds have been auctioned off to the highest bidder in order to make way for the wildlife killing machines called wind turbines. These auctions have been held by BOEM, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, a part of the Department of the Interior. They are charged with the selling or leasing of US natural resources in our offshore waters, and apparently, they have absolutely no regard for any wildlife that may exist within them, or any people who might derive a living from catching said wildlife. >click to read< 11:50
Why offshore wind jobs may just be a lot of hot air
Offshore wind developers in the U.S. have promised to create thousands of “million-dollar” jobs. But those dollars won’t flow into New York workers’ paychecks. Rather, they’re just the sum total of the subsidies local taxpayers and utility ratepayers will expend to keep offshore wind afloat, as if New Yorkers’ electric bills aren’t high enough. Consider Ørsted, the Danish government-owned company that is developing the 12-turbine, 132-megawatt Southfork Wind and the 84-turbine, 924-megawatt Sunrise Wind projects, which will be built 30 miles east of Montauk Point, Long Island. Ørsted is also behind the 98-turbine, 1,100 megawatt Ocean Wind project along the southern New Jersey shore, which just rewarded it with several billion dollars in tax credits that were supposed to have been returned to New Jersey ratepayers According to Ørsted’s Southfork Construction and Operations Plan (COP), Southfork will require 166 construction workers each year during the two-year construction period and another 10 jobs each year for operation and maintenance over the project’s 25-year expected lifespan. >click to read< 09:35
Hundreds of Scots fisherman face losing jobs as new rules brand them too fat to fish
UK Government regulations which are about to come into force will mean seafarers must have a medical certificate showing a body mass index (BMI) of under 35 – or risk being banned from their own trawlers. Crewmen fear they will not be able to go to sea because of the draconian requirements. Furious fishermen branded the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) rules “discrimination”. Bob Dunsire, 49, who has been skippering prawn boats out of Pittenweem, Fife, since he was a teenager, said he can barely believe what is being done to the industry. He said: “I know I don’t have a BMI under 35 and I’m furious at these new medical requirements. They could see me out of my job and put my entire crew out of work, too. Photos, >click to read< 08:00
Devon fishermen’s names to be read in memorial roll call
A memorial service for fishermen lost at sea will see the names of those who have died read out for the first time. Among those remembered will be Lewis Mulhearn, who died after being injured when a World War Two bomb exploded underneath his boat. Sunday’s service has been organised by the Fishermen’s Mission. Family and friends of fishermen with a Devon connection who died are invited to add their loved one’s name. The names will be added to a memorial book to be kept at All Saints Church. Lewis Mulhearn died on 21 January, more than two years after the explosion of the wartime device while he was fishing off the Norfolk coast. >click to read< 08:49
Is the answer to Maryland’s blue crab shortage in Italy?
In Italy, where the blue crab is an invasive species, population numbers are growing quickly and threatening the country’s clam industry, according to a report from Reuters. A local marine biologist told the wire service that invasive “blue crabs” (yes, they really put our beloved crustacean in scare quotes) have eaten up to 90% of young clams in some areas, devastating future production. The leading theory is the crabs were not introduced to Italy’s waters intentionally but arrived in bilge water aboard cargo ships. The region of hit hardest has lots of clam farms, giving the crabs large, dense populations of clams to feast on. Couple that with warmer water, which makes it easier for the crabs to survive the winter, and it “sounds like blue crab paradise,” Colden said. “It’s a perfect Italian vacation spot for the blue crabs in terms of lounging and getting fat and happy,” she said. >click to read< 15:31
Skipper in deep water again after Catlins sinking
A rogue Dunedin commercial fisherman who flouted maritime rules has, like his vessel, found himself in deep water. Wayne John Jolly, 58, appeared in the Dunedin District Court this week after admitting skippering a ship without appropriate documentation and was sentenced to 250 hours’ community work. The importance of complying with such protocols was resoundingly brought home to Jolly in March last year when his boat Aurora – a 15.6m wooden trawler built in Port Chalmers in 1958 – sank about a nautical mile off the coast of the Tautuku Peninsula, in the Catlins. Jolly’s history of non-compliance with maritime law stretched back 17 years. >click to read< 10:02
Shrimp fisherman gets back earring lost at sea 23 years ago
Shrimp fisherman Henk Kuiper has been reunited with an earring he lost at sea some 23 years ago, when it turned up on board another trawler, Dutch media reported on Friday. The earring features a silhouette of the trawler WR70 which actually sank some 36 years ago off the coast of Tereschelling and was of great sentimental value to Kuiper. He was on board at the time. “I was busy hosing down the decks when we were finished fishing and then I saw it stuck on the rubber edging,” trainee fisherman Noah Schroevers told the paper. “We took photos and put them online.” >click to read< 08:01
Scintilla Maris: 46m trawler converted into explorer yacht in Holland
The 45.6-metre beam fishing trawler yacht Scintilla Maris has completed a full-scale conversion at her home shipyard of Damen Maaskant shipyard in the western Netherlands. The vessel underwent a huge variety of modifications to turn her into a capable and competent explorer yacht, while also reducing the yacht’s 570GT to below the 500GT threshold. Elsewhere, the yard’s goal of paring down the internal volume has meant more semi-enclosed and open spaces. Ten guests can be accommodated in the lower deck in four double cabins and a large owner’s suite amidships underneath the original hatch into the fish hold. 2 photos, >click to read< 12:18
In bluefin tuna, fisheries science is never neat
Pinchin’s eponymous kings are Atlantic bluefin tuna, marine predators that can weigh well over a thousand pounds, “imagine a grand piano shaped like a nuclear weapon,” as Pinchin puts it. Bluefin are extraordinary organisms: warm-blooded, keen-eyed, coated in pigment-producing cells that flash a rainbow of colors when the fish are hauled onto a boat. Pinchin excels at evoking her piscine subjects, whose sickle-shaped tails beat nearly as fast as a hummingbird’s wing. “To stand beside a just-landed giant bluefin, still slick from salt water, feels akin to standing beside a natural marvel like Niagara Falls or an erupting volcano,” writes Pinchin, a Nova Scotia-based science journalist. “There’s beauty, but also danger.” Her book isn’t just an ode to bluefin — it’s about humankind’s obsession with them, a fixation as old as our species. >click to read< 16:29
Scottish Fishermen 3 Major Preferences
Lunar Fishing, a Scottish fishing company operating in the North Sea and the Atlantic, relies on custom-built boats from Danish Karstensens Shipyard and CP-propulsion equipment, propellers, and thrusters from Danish Hundested Propeller for their fishing operations. The harsh weather conditions and challenging seas demand robust and high-quality equipment to ensure the safety and efficiency of their fishing vessels. Lunar Fishing has four custom-built boats, with two of them equipped with CP Marine Gear, propellers, and thrusters from Hundested Propeller. According to fisherman Philip Stephen, the choice of equipment is essential due to the demanding conditions they face at sea. The vessels must withstand significant stress and tension, especially during adverse weather conditions. The fishermen need to have full confidence in their boats, and reliable equipment plays a crucial role in their operations. >click to read< 20:39
Huge reward offered after masked man drills holes in fishing boat at Fife dock
Police are investigating reports a masked, hooded man scaled the perimeter fence and drilled holes in the hull of the vessel causing it to submerge, leaving owners, Tina and Ross Coventry, unable to run their shellfish delivery business which provides lobster and mackerel to a number a number of high-end restaurants across Fife and Edinburgh at the very height of the season. “It took less than four minutes to destroy our livelihoods,” said Ross. “We need to get the boat back on to dry land to see what the damage is and whether it is worth repairing. The hull can be fixed, but the engine has been in sea water for a whole week and the there is no hope of the electronics in it working. >click to read< 09:50
Werft wins new build project for multifunctional fishing vessel
The Flemish trawler will be named Janneke after the daughter of the captain/owner Jelle Hakvoort and be 27.99 metres long with a beam of 8.25 metres. Hakvoort himself is delighted with the design. “It is ideal for beam rawling in the winter months, and twin rigging in the summer; either for plaice or crustaceans.” Hakvoort has spent his career to date fishing on Eurocutters, known as the smaller segment in Belgium, and is now switching to a larger segment: “I have complete faith in Werft and its experienced partners,” he adds. >click to read< 08:26
Orsted hit with lawsuit over ‘$1bn unconstitutional giveaway’ for giant US offshore wind farm
Orsted’s gigascale Ocean Wind 1 offshore wind project is under threat from a lawsuit filed by opponents in the US state of New Jersey who claim the proposal has benefited from an “unconstitutional $1bn giveaway”. Legal counsel for opposition groups Protect Our Coast NJ and Defend Brigantine Beach said they filed the suit in the state’s Superior Court last week. Orsted’s gigascale Ocean Wind 1 offshore wind project is under threat from a lawsuit filed by opponents in the US state of New Jersey who claim the proposal has benefited from an “unconstitutional $1bn giveaway”. >click to read< 11:21
Fisherman winched off trawler 25 miles off St Ann’s Head
The call was made to Angle Lifeboat just before 1pm on Thursday that a crew member had lost his finger on board a 38-metre beam trawler. The St Athans Coastguard Rescue helicopter was also tasked to assist with the fisherman’s recovery. “We reached the fishing vessel within around an hour of the call and transferred two of our crew members, who are casualty care-trained, on board to assess the situation,” said a spokesperson for Angle lifeboat. The casualty was transferred onto the lifeboat but following the helicopter’s arrival, it was decided to lower the winchman down to the lifeboat to assess and further treat the casualty. “Once the the paramedic winchman was on deck, it was decided to winch the casualty into the helicopter so that he could be flown to hospital for further care,” added the crew member. >click to read< 10:19
