Category Archives: International
British fishermen face £199 fee to export catch to EU in post-Brexit blow
Fishermen in Pembrokeshire are facing a £199 fee to export their products to the EU. The fee is being introduced by the County Council’s Cabinet to allow the Port Health Team to issue ECHs. The certificates are mandatory for all companies in the UK exporting or moving live animal products to the EU post-Brexit. A spokesperson from Pembrokeshire Cabinet said: “As a result of Brexit, fishery products exported to the European Union from the United Kingdom now require an EHC, as laid out in the Official Control Regulations 2017/625.” Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson had promised UK fishermen they would be fully protected in the event of any post-Brexit trade deal with the European Union, which was signed on December 30, 2020. >click to read< 07:59
Fishermen sail new boat into harbour four months after devastating sinking
Less than four months after their livelihood sunk to the bottom of the sea, skipper Brett Jose and crew member Callum Hardwick sailed into Cadgwith on a new fishing boat. Amid the celebrations, present in the minds of all watching was the day of November 12 last year, when the Lizard Lifeboat made one of their most difficult rescues in recent memory, saving two of their own crew after their fishing boat sunk. With no time to issue a mayday call, an EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon) signal thankfully alerted Falmouth Coastguard, who were then able to notify the Lizard Lifeboat. Now Brett and Callum have sailed their new boat, Sante Fe, into Cadgwith on St Piran’s Day no less, to cheers and applause from those watching in the close-knit community. >click to read< 15:15
French industry asks government to intervene on seine netting
Discussions have been in progress since 2019 between the French industry and representatives of the operators of Dutch, Belgian, and UK-flagged seine netters operating in the Eastern Channel and have more than once broken down. This has happened again as a latest attempt to reach agreement has not been possible. French industry body CNPMEM has stated that the representatives of the Dutch, Belgian and UK seine netters have not changed their position and talks ended last month. Consequently, it is seeking to elevate the negotiations to government level. >click to read< 13:35
Fisherman Aims to Revolutionize Crabbing
Crab pots have had much the same design for many years. Now a Norwegian crab fisherman is making crab fishing both more efficient and less physically demanding. ‘The problem with traditional pots is that they normally have two entrances. When brown crabs crawl in, they quite quickly block the way for more crabs to enter. In practice, 30% of the volume in a traditional pot is not filled,’ said Jim Harald Sæternes, who is producing his pots under the Vikingteina brand name. He has an 
application for patent rights pending. ‘The pot has three entrances above each other on three levels. This means that even if there is a lot of crab in the pot, more can get in higher up. I’ve have had the idea behind these pots for a long time. But last year I decided to make something of it, and in February I established the company Proffteiner AS.’ Photos, >click to read< 21:09
NZ fishing companies employing Russian crews despite sanctions
Despite New Zealand implementing sanctions on Russia over the war in Ukraine – the fishing industry continues to bring in Russian crew. Figures from Immigration New Zealand show last year, 306 Critical Purpose visas were approved for Russian nationals who travelled here and identified as fishing crew. That compares to 238 in 2021 and 511 in 2020. One of the companies which employs them is Sealord. Its chief executive Doug Paulin said Sealord needed to employ Russians because one of its vessels was Russian built. “New Zealand has had a number of Russian built fishing vessels here for well over 20 years. And whilst the number of those vessels is slowly decreasing as Sealord looks to replace them, they are still fishing in New Zealand waters, and require Russian crew to man them given their mechanical expertise and how those boats run.” >click to read< 11:49
P.E.I. fishermen concerned mackerel fishery won’t open in 2023
P.E.I. fishermen are worried they won’t be able to fish mackerel to use for bait this spring. Last March, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans put a moratorium on commercial fishing for mackerel across the East Coast. At the time, DFO said mackerel stocks were low and needed time to recover. Some fishermen say it’s impacting landings, and that not being able to fish their own mackerel for bait is hurting business. “With the U.S. fishing, I mean, they already issued their quota for the year and here we are not knowing yet, but you know, what we don’t catch they’re gonna catch and it’s actually worse for the fishery,” said Trevor Barlow, lobster fisherman and co-chair of the mackerel committee with the P.E.I. Fishermen’s Association. >click to read< 08:55
Rathlin woman ditched her house and lives on a converted 80 year old trawler
Those in search of new homes are becoming more open to the concept of alternative living. Charlotte Bosanquet is an example of those who do just that, as she now lives on the water in her very own 80-year old trawler boat. It all began when Charlie visited Rathlin Island and was in immediate awe of the location. “There was no accommodation, so we looked at other ways of living and that’s when we found the boat. We put in an offer but didn’t expect for it to be accepted but in February 2016, 
we secured it. I was so excited for the first month I could hardly sleep. The boat is a 1932 wooden trawler, so it needed a lot of work done to it. It was leaking a little, the living space wasn’t so nice and it needed work. But the engine was in good shape”. Photos, >click to read< 09:25
Taking under 10 Metre Trawlers to a New Level
Built for North Deven fishing company S&J Trawlers, F/V Our Frankie Shan is the latest and most advanced in a series of under ten-metre trawlers that have come from the C Toms & Son yard. F/V Our Frankie Shan is an SC McAllister design by Ian Paton and draws on the success of previous trawlers built to the same pattern, starting with F/V Saxon Spirit, also built at C Toms in 2018m and followed by Claude Henry and Simon Paul – and with another soon to be completed 10m trawler under construction. This latest vessel is designed as a multi-purpose fishing vessel capable of alternating trawling with either doors or beam gear, and scalloping. with the deck laid out for a quick switchover between fishing methods. Photos, >click to read< 08:07
MPA’s: Scottish island faces being ‘wiped out’ by SNP’s green crackdown on fishing in its rich waters
Tiree, population 653, is known as the Hawaii of the North but islanders say it will become ‘non-viable’ if a Highly Protected Marine Area is imposed by Holyrood ministers. Now the risk is that a new environmental protection area would kill the island’s fishing boat trade, which is one of the few economic growth sectors. Having gone from two boats in 1995 to nine boats today, which provide 20 full time jobs, the annual catch of crab and lobster has a value of £1million. Tiree fisherman Neil MacPhail said: “If this (HPMA) landed on top of us we would be wiped out overnight, with one stroke of the pen on a chart.”He added: “My boat alone puts food on the table for eleven people. One boat’s worth of economic impact is huge in a community such as Tiree. It’s the only industry in the island which has genuinely bucked the depopulation trend.” >click to read< 18:07
Price outlook diverges for Canada’s top 2 seafoods – Snow crab prices plunged by 60 % in 2022
Canada’s lobster industry is poised to claw its way out of a down year, say analysts, while unsold snow crab stuck in cold storage remains an anchor dragging on the bottom line. Snow crab sales sank and prices plunged 60 per cent in 2022, thanks in part to U.S. consumers who stayed away from luxury seafood as they were battered by inflation. Lobster also took a hit last year, with prices down 30 per cent. The value of Canadian live lobster exports dropped as well, but volumes actually ticked up slightly. Kelly Zhuang of World Link Food Distributors in Nova Scotia says 800 tonnes of live lobster is flown to China from Halifax and Moncton per week. And more charters are expected.>click to read< 13:55
Ban Mega Trawlers from Irish waters says Sinn Féin as F/V Margiris ploughs seas off Cork coast
It’s already been banned from Australian waters – now Sinn Féin’s spokesperson on fisheries says the FV Margiris and so called “super trawlers’ like her should not be allowed to fish off the Irish coast. The giant fishing vessel – which is less than 40 nautical miles off the Cork coast this afternoon – has been called the ‘Death Star of the Ocean” and can land up to 250 tonnes of fish a day, 14 times what a regular Irish trawler might take, while often leaving tonnes of unwanted ‘by-catch’, non-profitable marine life, dead in its wake. >click to read< 08:01
Argentinian Yard Launches its First Newbuild Fishing Vessel
Built entirely at the De Angelis yard Nuevo Don Julio is a fresher trawler designed to operate from Caleta Paula port, in Santa Cruz province. The regional standards relating to coastal fishing vessels stipulate a maximum registered length of 12 metres, so that was a crucial factor of this venture from the outset, explained production manager Juan Cruz Rodríguez. ‘The primary requirement presented by our client was that the boat should have the largest storage capacity possible while remaining within the maximum allowed length,’ he said. The 99m3 fish room is considerably larger than would be expected in a vessel of this size. Nuevo Don Julio’s designers had to strike balances between length and internal volume by creating a special configuration of elements to ensure its stability. Photos >click to read< 19:25
The unlikely conversion of the 45m trawler Scintilla Maris
A single-prop fishing trawler is not an obvious choice for conversion into a superyacht, but for the owner of Scintilla Maris it was the only one. We travelled to the Damen Maaskant shipyard near Rotterdam to find out more. Entrepreneur Erik Vonk grew up fascinated by tugboats and trawlers. “In the 1980s and into the ‘90s these steel-hulled boats represented the epitomy of Dutch shipbuilding,” says Vonk. “They were very sturdily built, almost over-engineered, to deal with conditions in the North Sea. I’d been following the Dutch beam trawlers for years and when one became available as part of a decommissioning scheme in 2006 I decided to buy her, basically with a virtual handshake over the phone.” lots of photos, >click to read< 15:32
Fishing industry warns snap lockout of key Northern Territory waters could affect restaurant plates around Australia
The fishing industry says restaurants and fish markets around Australia are scrambling to secure barramundi, mud crabs and threadfin salmon after a snap decision closed key Northern Territory waters. Commercial fishers have been banned from the East Alligator River and Mini Mini-Murgenella Creek estuaries. The lockout has followed a failed attempt by the NT Government to negotiate commercial fishing access with the Northern Land Council, which represents traditional owners. Barramundi fishers and crabbers had been preparing for their season in the rich coastal waters off Arnhem Land, east of Kakadu National Park. >click to read< 10:23
Coast Guard aircrew medevacs Canadian crewmember from 72′ fishing vessel near Graham Island, British Columbia
A Coast Guard Air Station Sitka aircrew medically evacuated a 24-year-old crewmember from a Canadian vessel located northwest of Graham Island in British Columbia on Friday. The MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrew arrived on scene at 7:58 p.m. and safely hoisted and transported the patient to shore in Masset, a village in British Columbia, where he was then transferred to awaiting EMS. >click to read< 17:12
Ban on Trawling Inside Six Nautical Miles Declared Invalid by Court of Appeal
Two fishermen have won an appeal over a ban on trawling inside the Irish six-mile limit. A judgment issued by the Court of Appeal has ruled that the Government policy directive introducing a ban on trawling inside the six nautical-mile limit is invalid and of no legal effect. The judgment by Mr. Justice Murray relates to an appeal taken by Dingle-based fisherman Tom Kennedy and Castletownbere-based fisherman Neil Minihane over a policy directive introduced by the then Minister for Marine Michael Creed on March 5th, 2019. The ban was temporarily reinstated in 2021 by the Court of Appeal, resulting in another round of legal action by the fishermen. >click to read< 08:09
Seafood industry urges ‘extreme caution’ on controlling seals to avoid consumer backlash
Canada’s seafood industry is urging Ottawa to use “extreme caution” when considering measures to control the growing seal population, warning they could jeopardize market access and acceptance of Canadian seafood. But according to Conservative fisheries critic Clifford Small, a member of parliament from Newfoundland and Labrador, those concerns are overblown. “It is immensely important that as the government considers potential steps moving forward, its actions do not disrupt either the market access or acceptance of Canadian fish and seafood products, both internationally and domestically,” said Paul Lansbergen, president of the Fisheries Council of Canada. Lansbergen said both the U.S. and the European Union have strict rules regarding the harming of marine mammals during fishing. >click to read< 14:50
Dartmouth fisherman remembered 40 years on
A Dartmouth family is remembering a crabber who was lost at sea 40 years ago today. 28 year old Paul Goddard had been crabbing off Weymouth on March 12 1983. Tragically he and his boat, the Exuberent, disappeared and he was never found. Former crew member Alan Spencer said: “She was a Cygnus Garry Mitchell design 32-foot displacement hull work boat.“ In the winter of 1981 it was decided to move her and her fishing gear to the “Over falls” off Weymouth in Dorset as fishing was rich there at that time of the year. On March 12 1983 she was being brought back to Dartmouth by the” Skipper” alone as the crew moved all the boats husbandry back to Dartmouth by road. “What happened next will never be known exactly. >click to read< 12:11
UK fishing industry ‘on its last legs’ as Tories accused of ‘betraying’ coastal towns
Fishing rights for EU vessels have proved to be a major bone of contention for the industry since leaving the bloc more than three years ago. Brexit fury has exploded after claims the UK fishing industry is “on its after legs” with Boris Johnson and the Tories accused of “stabbing fishermen in the back” over the deal with the European Union. The former Prime Minister had promised to protect the industry and insisted the UK would “take back control” of its waters before signing a trade deal with Brussels more than three years ago. The fishing agreement states there would be a five-year transition period that would see EU boats continue to gain access to UK waters until 2026. At the time, Mr Johnson admitted some concessions had been made in talks with the EU. >click to read< 09:43
New demersal trawler COPIOUS LK 985 delivered to 60 North Fishing
The vessel is the first of a pair of sister vessels for the company and was built in Croatia by Tehnomont shipyard to a full design package supplied by Macduff Ship Design. The vessel completed her delivery trip to Shetland, through the Mediterranean, up the west coast of Portugal, Spain and Ireland, arriving in Shetland on the morning of the 14th January just in time for the islands fire festival Up Helly Aa. The second vessel to be named ‘Prolific’ is set to be delivered later in the year. Photos, >click to read< 08:01
Found debris of a plane and a human skull end up in the net
The crew of Hrafn Sveinbjarnarson GK-255 received part of the plane debris and human remains in the trawler on Wednesday while the ship was fishing in Jökuldýpi, about 50 miles west of Reykjanes peninsula, southwest Iceland. Vísir.is reported the matter first. Captain Kristján Ólafsson tells mbl.is that it is a part of the tail, part of the plane’s exterior and another motor. “It’s not a whole plane, there are no interiors or anything like that. Just parts of the debris,” he says. The debris brought up the human remains, a large part of a skull, according to Ólafsson. “It’s unusual and people started to speculate what it was and then what airplane it was. So when we started to process the fish, there’s more to comes up like airplane parts. There’s also a bag, along with this body part. >clck to read< 18:07
Dredging for Bluff oyster gold in Foveaux Strait
Just before 2am on Wednesday, oyster boat Daphne Kay left its dock at South Port. The crew is five family members. Three brothers, a brother-in-law, and a son. Ricky Ryan is the skipper, with brothers Lynn, Jason, brother-in-law Karl and Ricky’s son Ethan making up the oystermen crew of five. Some of the brothers have been involved in oystering for 44 years. Ethan, trained to be a heat pump installer and worked in refrigeration, but returned to the boat and is now in his second season. He says he actually regrets not getting into the family business earlier. The Daphne Kay, one of the first to leave in the mornings of oyster season, heads out early, so the crew can work out of the sunlight. Photos, >click to read< 09:48
Fish exporter pleads guilty to mislabeling Florida spiny lobster sold to China
The company, Aifa Seafood Inc., based in Florida City, faces a sentence of five years probation and a fine up to $500,000. A judge could sentence its president, 57-year-old Jiu Fa Chen, of Parkland, to up to five years in federal prison and order him to pay a fine of up to $250,000 during his scheduled May 23 hearing in Miami. According to an Oct. 5, 2022, grand jury indictment, from May 16, 2019, to Aug. 3, 2019, the company bought about 5,900 pounds of lobster from a company in Port Au Prince, Haiti, and turned around and exported it to customers in China with the label, “Florida Spiny Lobster, Product of the USA.” >click to read< 15:32
Scots salmon boss accused of spying is key player in plan for ‘UK’s largest fish farm’
According to Companies House, Craig Anderson is a “person with significant control” of AquaCultured Seafood Limited, which submitted early stage plans for a £75m onshore salmon farm in the English town at the end of last year. Anderson was the chief executive of the Scottish Salmon Company (SSC) who asked a private investigator to compile an ‘intelligence report’ on the anti-fish farming campaigner, Corin Smith, as first revealed by The Ferret in November 2021. The intelligence report included analysis of Smith’s movements and behaviour, searches of his financial and legal history, and pictures of his house. One environmental group said at the time that the SSC had used “Big Brother levels of corporate snooping” against Smith. >click to read< 10:45
Union files petition in Ottawa to stop foreign ownership of fishing licences and quotas
The union representing commercial fishing industry workers has filed a petition with the House of Commons to put a formal end to further ownership or beneficial interest in Canadian licences and quotas by foreign interests. “If you’re a young entrant or been fishing for a long time and desire to become a owner-operator, you’re in direct competition from foreign interests,” said Orr. “In the socio-economic view on a broader scale, we’re already seeing the dismantlement of the infrastructure that supports the fishing industry on our coast. Fewer and fewer fish processing sites, fewer boat repair shops. >click to read< 08:56
‘The season where hope comes back:’ Praying for a good catch on Lake Erie
George Gibbons understands that saying a prayer over his fishing nets may not guarantee a good catch or keep him and his fellow commercial fishermen safe on Lake Erie’s choppy waters. But it can’t hurt, either. “We’re a superstitious lot,” said Gibbons, who has been a regular at the blessing of the nets ceremony at St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Port Dover since the early 1970s. The annual church service is dedicated to the fishing families of Port Dover, which was once a bustling freshwater port and still retains a small fleet of commercial tugs that will return to the water in March. >click to read< 13:37
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 60′ Duckworth Steel Longliner with Federal permits, Cat 3406T
To review specifications, information, and 24 photos’, >click here<, To see all the boats in this series >click here< 10:31
Island Town Deploys ‘Save the Whales’ Message Boards As Officials Call for Offshore Wind Pause
An island community has made no bones about its position on calls to place a moratorium on offshore wind development research until experts can determine whether the offshore soundings have interrupted whale communication patterns. Officials have said a rash of nearly 20 marine mammals, mostly humpback whales, have been discovered deceased, washed up on beaches or floating offshore. The calls for a moratorium center on research mapping taking place offshore prior to wind turbine construction. As it currently stands, no turbines have been built off the New Jersey coast, nor are any under construction. Crews, however, are performing geological seafloor mapping and surveying using acoustic equipment that some have argued could send marine mammals off their migration tracks or disable them in the wild. >click to read< 08:40
Shrimp industry is under threat, fishermen tell the king
A group of North Sea fishermen have urged king Willem-Alexander to step in and help the Dutch fishing industry which they say is being threatened by government and EU policy. In total, 400 skippers and fishing industry companies signed the letter as well as 45 Belgian and German trawler operators who fish in Dutch waters. The fishermen are particularly concerned about new emissions targets for trawlers operating in Natura 2000 areas. The new motors which trawlers need to meet the targets by October 1 cost some €100,000 and only half of that can be covered by government subsidies, they say. >click to read< 12:47
Heroic Devon fisherman dies two years after bomb blast
Tributes have been paid following the sudden death of a 39-year-old Devon fisherman who was hailed a hero after rescuing his crew when their boat was blown up by an unexploded World War II bomb. Lewis Mulhearn, 39, suffered head injuries, three broken vertebrae, a broken sternum, knee damage, a broken orbital bone and multiple facial lacerations after the Galwad-Y-Mor fishing boat he was on board sailed over a 290-pound explosive, which had lay dormant for 80 years, 20 miles north of Cromer, Norfolk, on December 15, 2020. Despite his injuries, the fisherman and captain of the ship coordinated the rescue of his six crew mates, who were also badly hurt. He also ensured he was the last man off the vessel. Photos, >click to read< 10:30
