Category Archives: International
Celestial Dawn – Custom Designed Prawn Trawler for Scottish North Sea Fisherman
A new prawn fishing vessel designed by Macduff Ship Design has been delivered to owner and boat captain George Hepburn of Peterhead in the north-east of Scotland. Celestial Dawn replaces Hepburn’s earlier similarly named vessel, which was delivered in 2000. Like its predecessor, the new Celestial Dawn will be used to trawl for prawns in the North Sea. The newbuild is also the first of a planned series of three trawlers. The design of Celestial Dawn began in 2018. Although intended to fish in a similar way to the owner’s previous vessel, the design of the new vessel was focused on both enhancing crew comfort and improving fuel efficiency. Photos, >click to read< 07:56
Narcan: Saved at Sea
Narcan is a lifesaving medication for the treatment of opioid overdose, but stigma around addiction limits access to it. This clip from the documentary film “Untreated & Unheard: The Addiction Crisis in America” tells the story of Captain Bill Miller, a commercial fisherman who has advocated for getting Narcan on commercial fishing boats. Video, >click to watch<, If you or a loved one is suffering from substance use disorder you can find tools, help and hope at https://drugfree.org/get-support/ 12:59
Massive losses predicted from Bering Sea crab closures
While other crab stocks have been declining in the North Pacific for years, the snow crab fishery’s collapse is doubly shocking for the industry. Not only is it one of the larger crab fisheries by volume in Alaska, it has also gone from booming and healthy to overfished and collapsing within five years, with little warning or clear explanation. Fishermen who made investments in permits and boats less than five years ago are now looking at bankruptcy. Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers, the trade organization representing the industry, has estimated the direct financial losses at about $500 million. Adding in the ripple effects to the economy, that estimate rises to about $1 billion. >click to read< 07:50
State of Alaska Federal Fishery Disaster Request
October 21/2022 – The Honorable Gina Raimondo, Secretary, United States Department of Commerce 1401 Constitution Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20230 Re: State of Alaska Federal Fishery Disaster Request Dear Secretary Raimondo: In accordance with Section 312(a) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA) and Section 308(b) of the Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act (IFA), I am writing to request you declare a fishery disaster determination for the 2022/23 Bristol Bay red king crab and Bering Sea snow crab fisheries. I also request that you expedite a disaster
determination for the 2021/22 Bristol Bay red king crab fishery. >click to read<, Sincerely, Mike Dunleavy, Governor 21:18
Experts quizzed over freeport, dredging and algal blooms as crab deaths on coast investigated
The deaths of thousands of sea creatures washed up on Teesside’s beaches are to be investigated in the House of Commons on Tuesday. Teesport operator PD Ports, the Environment Agency, a Whitby fishing association and academics will give evidence to MPs about the mass sea deaths. The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs select committee will hear from witnesses about the crustacean deaths after committee chair Conservative Sir Robert Goodwill, MP for Scarborough and Whitby, branded the situation “disturbing”. A Defra investigation earlier this year concluded the cause of the crab deaths to be a naturally occurring algal bloom but campaigners believe dredging has unearthed historical toxins – including a chemical called pyridine – which has caused the deaths. >click to read< 12:15
2022 Irish Groundfish Survey Set to Begin Next Week
The annual Irish Groundfish Survey for 2022 will be carried out by the Marine Institute off the Northwest, West and South Coasts of Ireland from next Monday 31 October to Friday 16 December. The IGFS is a demersal trawl survey consisting of approximately 170 fishing hauls of 30-minute duration each in ICES areas VIa, VIIb, VIIg and VIIj. The Marine Institute requests that commercial fishing and other marine operators keep a two-nautical-mile area around the tow mid-points clear of any gear or apparatus during the survey period outlined above. Further details can be found in the Marine Notice attached below. >click to read< 10:39
Brixham family’s plea for help over fisherman’s funeral
The daughter of a Brixham fisherman whose working life took him to ports all over the West Country has launched an online appeal to raise funds for his funeral. Scott Shay died recently at the age of 50, and his daughter Rio is hoping to raise £1,800 for the funeral and burial. “Dad was from Port Isaac in Cornwall and got into fishing when he was a young teenager. He was a trawlerman until he had a life-changing accident on the boat at sea in 2018. After this, and a long hospital stay in coma, he stayed in Brixham with his beautiful husky Winston. “I really hate to ask for help but realistically I have to.” >click to read<, and please donate if you can.
Four rescued from raft as coastguard scrambled after boat runs aground
The crew of a fishing boat has been rescued from a life raft after the vessel ran aground off the coast of Aberdeenshire. Coastguard teams from Fraserburgh and Peterhead were dispatched to the incident involving the Ocean Maid BA55 at Cairnbulg shortly after 5.50am on Monday morning. The Fraserburgh RNLI boat was also scrambled to aid in the operation, though the crew was said to be “fine” after an initial check by Scottish Ambulance Service responders. Video, >click to read< 12:31
Fiber-optic Submarine Cable near Faroe and Shetland Islands Damaged; Mediterranean Cables also Cut
Last week the SHEFA-2 undersea cable linking the Faroe Islands to mainland Scotland via the Shetland and Orkney Islands was damaged in two separate incidents leaving much of the islands without internet connection. In the south of France three key subsea cables connecting the city of Marseille to Lyon, Milan, and Barcelona were purposely cut, the cable’s operator reported, impacting internet connectivity worldwide. While French authorities suspect an act of sabotage, their Scottish counterparts remain more cautious about what caused the damage to the cables. Similar to the Svalbard cable incidents, in which Russian fishing vessels passed repeatedly over the areas where the cables were located, police investigating the Faroe and Shetland incidents suggested that it was likely fishing vessels, which damaged the cables. >click to read< 09:19
Focus on Alternative Fuels
The Padmos Shipyard is taking part in this year’s Holland Fisheries Event, with the spotlight on future-oriented fishing projects. That means less energy consumption, lower CO2 emissions and alternative fuels. The yard is based at Stellendam in the south of Holland and specialises in newbuilds, repair and maintenance of fishing vessels. The company is currently designing conversions of existing fishing vessels to diesel-electric propulsion methods or alternative fuels, according to director Walter van Harberden. Photos, >click to read< 11:07
Donegal seafood sector “hopeful” on fuel aid
Fishing and seafood organisations say the are “hopeful” that the Minister for the Marine is about to announce a national fuel aid scheme for the Irish fleet. They believe the Minister now agrees that escalating fuel costs are causing serious difficulties for the industry. EU funding is already in place to support such a scheme, but to date, Ireland had failed to implement one. Aodh O’Donnell of the Killybegs-based Irish Fish Producers Organisation (IFPO) said: “The survival of the entire fishing sector is at stake. >click to read< 08:14
I Am a Small-Scale Fisherman Fighting to Save the Coasts of South Africa
I am Christian Adams and I am a fourth generation small-scale fisher. I grew up in a small town called Mamre. My grandfather was a very successful fisherman during the 1960s and 70s. He provided employment for about 60 families. He had 28 rowboats and employed two people on each boat. During lobster season, they would go camp at a place called Bokbaai and they would fish about 60 tons of lobster per year. In 1972, when the Apartheid government was planning to build Atlantis, they interviewed him and he said: “The only thing that we need is a proper road, some electricity in the phone line. We do not ask for anything else, because we are already thriving in our business that we have here.” None of that was provided and the Apartheid government instructed him to stop fishing at Bokbaai. Photos, >click to read< 10:06
Shetland completely cut off from mainland as phones, internet and computers hit by blackout
Communications in Shetland have been completely shut down with phones, internet and computers in a total blackout after the south subsea cable between the islands and the mainland was cut. Police have declared a major incident and are patrolling to try and reassure residents, telling them they still may be able to call 999 in an emergency even without signal. ‘We don’t know the cause yet. These things have happened in the past with catastrophic effect. ‘It is not unknown and usually it is because a trawler picks up the line on the seabed and pulls it up and breaks it. >click to read< 09:19
BBC documentary examines mass crab die off on Teesside coast and what has happened since
A TV documentary examining the impact of the mass crab and lobster die off on the Teesside coast is set to air. We Are England: Trouble at Sea looks at the events of last October and what has happened since. In it, film makers speak to fishermen, conservationists, the Tees port authority PD Ports and scientists to document the effects of the worrying occurrence, the subsequent investigation and the theories on its cause that have been an ongoing source of dispute. Teessiders will know huge piles of crabs, lobsters and shellfish began to wash up on beaches around the Redcar and Markse areas as well as Hartlepool a year ago before washing down the coast as far as Whitby. They were seen in piles that were waist deep in some places and most were dead or dying.>click to read< 21:32
A fish that sparked a national obsession
Bacalhau (salt cod) is a deep part of Portugal’s culinary identity. But for a fish that is found only in the icy depths of the North Atlantic Ocean, far from Portugal’s shores, the country’s love affair with salt cod is a puzzling one. How exactly did it end up on Portuguese plates? The answer is wrapped up in more than 500 years of intriguing history. In the mid-1500s, during Portugal’s maritime explorations and hunt to find the coast of India, they stumbled across waters rich with cod around Canada and Greenland; a major discovery that kickstarted Portuguese cod fishing. But by the 16th Century, Portuguese fishermen were pushed out by the French and English. >click to read< 18:14
Wind turbine goes on fire off Wicklow coast after lightning strike
Dramatic images showing a wind turbine on fire off the Wicklow coast have been shared on social media after lightning strikes and thunder across the country. It has been reported the offshore turbine, located approximately 10km off the coast of Arklow, caught fire after being struck by lightning earlier today. A spokesperson for the Irish Coast Guard confirmed that they had responded to reports of the fire, which began to circulate at approximately 12.30pm. It has been reported that the owners/operators of the turbine, GE Energy, decided to let the fire run its course. >click to read< 07:18
Impact of mass crab die-off ‘not as severe as feared’ but report criticised by fisherman
A monitoring report into the state of shellfish stocks along the Teesside coast following the mass crab and lobster die off has concluded the impact ‘was not as severe as originally feared.’ But a fisherman who works off the Hartlepool coast has hit out at the findings and claims it does not paint a true picture. However, Stan Rennie, who fishes from Hartlepool, has criticised the report. He says it includes the catches of all of the visiting super crabbers which work thousands of pots, and he says, it doesn’t take into account the fact that fishermen are going further afield to get out of the die-off areas. >click to read< 14:48
Great Sandy Marine Park fisheries could shut down and seafood prices increase
Commercial fishing is the only job Brett Fuchs has ever known, but the Hervey Bay fisher says plans to increase no-fish zones in the Great Sandy Marine Park will be enough to sink his business, as retailers predict seafood lovers will wear the cost of limited supplies. The Queensland government has proposed to expand the green zone by almost 9 per cent in the 6,000-square-kilometre marine park that stretches from Baffle Creek to Double Island Point. Commercial fishers would be forced to remove large gill nets and ring nets from the water. “There’s nothing left for us,” Mr Fuchs said. >click to read< 11:12
Mass shellfish deaths off Whitby area coastline to be probed in Government’s new hearing – Middlesbrough Council ‘absolutely on board’
The Government’s Environment Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee is to probe the deaths of large numbers of crustaceans off the coast over the past year in a hearing at the House of Commons on Tuesday October 25. ERFA previously blamed algal bloom as the cause of the deaths, but an independent probe carried out recently pointed towards dredging and the chemical pyridine being the most likely cause, with some Whitby fishermen calling for the dredging of the Tees to halt. >click to read< Middlesbrough Council ‘absolutely on board’ with joint probe planned into crustacean deaths – Councillor Mick Saunders, chairman of Middlesbrough Council’s overview and scrutiny board, said: “Absolutely we are on board, I think there’s more to come out really, more than what the Government has been saying. Meanwhile, self-employed Hartlepool fisherman Stan Rennie, a member of the North East Fishing Collective (NEFC), has said fishermen are in a “desperate position” with half of the town’s shellfish fleet lost in the past year. >click to read< 08:30
North Atlantic Right Whale not impacted by NL lobster, snow crab fisheries
“The justification for the new “avoid” rating does not reference any of this significant action by Canadian lobster fishery stakeholders, does not identify any pathway toward achieving a better evaluation and only tells the fishery to “do more”. The Canadian lobster sector is constantly working on solutions and will continue to innovate to protect the NARW. The new Seafood Watch rating tells us that Monterey Bay Aquarium is not working collaboratively to help fisheries improve.” “It’s really not even a Canadian problem. The species spends more of its time in American waters, but I think harvesters in the United States have done a lot to mitigate the impacts out that way. There is no evidence that these fisheries are impacting the recovery of the right whale overall. There’s a lot of other factors that are impacting it, but it’s not these fisheries. I hope consumers will look into this and see that is the case.” >click to read< 09:45
Irish Fishing Industry calls for Urgent Consultation on Offshore Wind Farms
Representatives from the Irish fishing industry in Donegal and around Ireland say they fear being “displaced losers” in the development of offshore wind farms. The Irish fishing industry say they have a right to be consulted about offshore wind farms because it affects their livelihoods. Aodh, who is chief executive of the Killybegs-based Irish Fish Producers Organisation (IFPO), said needs to co-operate to reduce fossil fuels but “co-operation works both ways and we are not being consulted.” >click to read< 11:36
Deaths, accusations and a search for truth: The Teesside seaside die-off and where we are now
It is an issue that has caused a huge amount of concern right the way across Teesside and down into North Yorkshire. And it is simply not going away. Last October, residents living in the Marske area began to notice huge piles of dead and dying crabs, lobsters and shellfish washing up on the beach between the seaside town and neighbouring Saltburn – in places, the piles were waist deep. Fishing livelihoods have been decimated, protests have been mounted and the campaign for a re-investigation continues. Here’s what has happened so far as the issue continues to prove contentious. >click to read< 07:58
Three Mayo Men Convicted Over ‘Very Serious’ Illegal Fishing Incident in July 2020
Three Mayo men have been convicted of false imprisonment, assault and obstruction as they attempted to evade fisheries officers from Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) at Belderrig Pier on the North Mayo coast two years ago. At a sitting of Ballina District Court on 12 July this year, Judge Fiona Lydon also convicted the men of possessing illegally caught wild Atlantic salmon and nets, in charges brought by IFI. The charges of false imprisonment were brought by the Director of Public Prosecutions. The court heard evidence from Lonan O’Farrell, an inspector with IFI that on the evening of 15 July 2020, the men were approached by fisheries officers as they recovered their boat at Belderrig Pier. The fisheries officers suspected that the men had illegally caught wild Atlantic salmon and illegal gill nets on board but were obstructed and assaulted when they lawfully attempted to board the vessel. >click to read< 16:01
Lobster and snow crab markets fall by as much as 65 per cent
While lobster and snow crab have long been two of the Maritimes’ most popular exports, new data suggests the markets are now falling short. At the wharf in Glace Bay, N.S., fishermen were getting about $7 a pound for lobster by season’s end and about $6 for snow crab. “It wasn’t a good year, lobster-wise or crab-wise for us,” said fishermen’s representative Herb Nash. At Louisbourg Seafoods, where lobster and snow crab have long been their biggest sellers, a record year last year gave way to a difficult 2022. “We were very optimistic coming into 2022 that we would see a replica of 2021, and that couldn’t have been further from what happened,” said Allan MacLean, a senior operations manager at the seafood business. Video, >click to read< 11:38
New satellite imagery first to identify North Atlantic right whale from space
New satellite imagery research led by the University of Ottawa is the first to identify a specific endangered Gulf of St. Lawrence North Atlantic right whale from space. Matus Hodul: “The North Atlantic right whale is critically endangered, with about 336 individual whales accounted for. Mortality comes from whales being hit by ships and becoming entangled in fishing gear, so being able to detect and monitor their location is important to conservation efforts. Knowing where the whales are at any given time enables fisheries to open or close to avoid the whales and enables ships to bypass them to prevent collisions.” >click to read< 07:46 ‘Individual North Atlantic right whales identified from space’ >click<
Scrabster in top three in Scotland as fishing activity outperforms national average
Fishing activity at Scrabster outperformed the national average last year and the port is now in the top three in Scotland, newly released figures have shown. However, while the Caithness harbour has recovered well from the “turbulence and volatility” created by Covid-19, continued growth is likely to be hampered by fuel costs and other challenges. Marine Scotland’s Scottish Fisheries Statistics 2021 give details of fish landings at every port in the country. The harbour is the third most important port/district in Scotland, after Peterhead and Shetland. >click to read< 09:55
Signs China will discuss lifting trade ban, but Australian lobster fishers say diversification crucial
Trade Minister Don Farrell is yet to meet his Chinese counterpart but says ambassador Xiao Qian has indicated his government is “prepared to have these discussions”. “My job now is to convince China to change its view,” Mr Farrell said. Gordon Lewis owns two fishing boats in Port Macdonnell, South Australia, one of the country’s largest rock lobster fisheries. He said after fishing for the first few days of the season, he pulled his boats out for more than two weeks because volatile prices had made it unaffordable. “Everyone is struggling,” he said. With China no longer taking the majority of the catch, oversupply in the domestic market led to a price drop. >click to read< 09:47
Killing joke: how Defra dismissed the Tees Bay die-off
It seems that no matter how often Defra and its partner agencies are exposed as inept over their handling of this crisis, their response is simply to deny the truth and carry on. The grim response of the Environment Agency (EA) to the mass crustacean die-off in Tees Bay moved up a gear last week. Where once they only patronised the inshore fishermen about the probable cause, they have now shown themselves prepared to do it on national TV. Friday 30 September Channel 4 News featured the ongoing tragedy and, in the process, interviewed Hartlepool fisher, Stan Rennie. Video link, >click to read< For more about this, >click here< 07:52
Stepping up Crabber Fleet Renewal
The first crabber in a series of eight has been floated off at the Nakhodka Shipyard for Russian fishing giant Antey. The company hopes the new vessel will be an improvement than the one it took delivery of from Pella Shipyard. F/V Kapitan Khazan is designed for catching crab in the waters of the Bering, Barents and Okhotsk seas and has a carrying capacity of up to 120 tonnes of live crab in nine tanks with a total volume of 680m3. ‘We placed an order at the Nakhodka shipyard, one of the oldest plants in Primorye. It is important for us not only to renew the fleet and create comfortable conditions for seafarers but also to revive the traditionally strong shipbuilding industry in the Far East,’ Antey’s president Ivan Mikhnov said in a statement. Photos, >click to read< 11:10
Rescuers thanked after Peterhead fishing boat sank off Shetland
Rescuers have been praised after eight crew members were saved when a fishing boat sank following a collision with another vessel. The Peterhead-based Guiding Star went down following the incident with her sister vessel Guiding Light 45 miles (72km) off Shetland on Thursday. Three crew were rescued by the Shetland Coastguard helicopter, and five were taken on board the Guiding Light. The skipper and owners said they wanted to thank all involved. Video, >click to read< 07:50
