Category Archives: International
Memorial unveiled to honour fishermen who lost their lives at sea
A memorial has been unveiled for two fisherman who lost their lives off the Sussex coast. Robert Morley, who was 38, and his crew mate, Adam Harper, died when their vessel sank in November 2020. The sculpture was unveiled today in Newhaven, on what would have been Robert’s 40th birthday. Robert’s mother Jackie Woolford said, “I couldn’t have given him a better present. “We’ve always had something to focus on.” It is also a memorial to other local fisherman who have lost their lives, including Darren Brown, who died at sea in 2016, aged 37. Videos, photos, >click to read< 09:49
Another blow for Killybegs fish processors in weighing debacle
Two Killybegs fish processors have had their in-factory weighing permits suspended by the SFPA amid the weighing debacle. The action was taken by the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) after it reportedly refused to recognise Derry as part of Ireland. Earlier this month, a Norwegian vessel was prevented from landing its catch of blue whiting in Killybegs due to the approach which has been taken by the SPFA in regard to the weighing of fish. The weighing system would have rendered the fish unfit for human consumption. >click to read< 12:55
‘Amazing’ heritage tall ship built in 1892 arrives in Co Down
A 130-year-old heritage tall ship named ‘Leader’ has docked in Newry where it will be used for the benefit of the local community. The Brixham trawler was formerly a survivor of the fleets of sailing fishing boats that once fished in the Irish Sea. Sailing from Bristol’s Underfall Yard after dry docking and a maintenance refit, the 130-year-old Brixham trawler, arrived at the Albert Basin in Newry, County Down. >click to read< 10:10
Underwater cables linked to deformities and poor swimming ability in lobsters
Marine scientists used a specialist aquarium laboratory at St Abbs Marine Station in the Borders to expose more than 4,000 lobster and crab eggs to a level of electromagnetic field predicted to be equivalent to that experienced near underwater cables. Comparative groups of lobster and crab were not exposed in the research, which involved scientists from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh and St Abbs Marine Station. Researchers found lobsters exposed to the field were three times more likely to be deformed than those which were not, with bent and reduced tail sections the most common deformities, while some had disrupted eye development or puffy and swollen bodies. >click to read< 08:15
NPFMC asks industry for recommendations on Bristol Bay red king crab
The Bristol Bay red king crab fishery is historically one of the most valuable in the state, but for the last decade, the stock has been declining. Last fall, surveys showed that the female biomass of the stock had fallen below acceptable levels for harvest, and managers closed it. At the April NPFMC meeting, the council members approved a motion to ask the industry to come back with a list of voluntary actions harvesters and other industry stakeholders can take to help reduce bycatch of Bristol Bay red king crab and reduce discard mortality in the directed fishery. Industry stakeholders include not just the directed harvesters in the red king crab fishery, but also reach to the Pacific cod sector, pollock, and Amendment 80 fleets, which impact red king crab stocks based on area and bycatch rates. >click to read< 15:10
Fishermen say weighing system rendered catch unfit
More than 1,000 tonnes of high-quality blue whiting were rendered unfit for human consumption in Killybegs, Co Donegal last weekend because of the weighing system used by the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority, according to the Irish Fish Processers and Exporters Association. The IFPEA said the ‘MFV Lauren’ returned after her maiden voyage to her home port of Killybegs and was subjected to a “full monitor” or control weighing by the SFPA. The ongoing row over the weighing regime has seen a number of vessels leave Killybegs with their catch rather than comply with the weighing system, which skippers and processors say would damage their catch. >click to read< 14:54
Killybegs Fishermen’s Organization calls for Immediate Action on Russian Trawlers
A fleet of Russian midwater freezer trawlers are currently operating in a zone shared between the UK and the Faroe islands – having been issued licences by the Faroes. CFO boss Sean O’Donoghue has slammed the move. He said “What is most galling about this is that the Faroese are not just facilitating the access of the Russian boats, but they are also using their excessive blue whiting quota as a trade-off to ‘print currency’ or purchase cod quota from Russia. “It appears that the Faroese are swapping the fish in an area they share with the UK for cod quota in Russian waters,” said Mr O’Donoghue. >click to read< 10:17
Nova Scotia: Wharf price for lobster has plunged in April
Lobster prices paid to fishermen have plunged between 37 and 42 per cent in Nova Scotia this month. The decline, from $17.50 a pound on April 3 to $10 and $11 on Monday, comes as the lobster fishery is set to open in more locations in Nova Scotia and the Maritimes. What made the drop in the shore price more unusual in 2022 were the historic highs that preceded them. >click to read< 07:56
Hurricane Hazel: The 84-year-old World Champion crab picker from Crisfield, Maryland
If you live in the Crisfield area, you’ve heard the name Hazel Cropper, better known as Hurricane Hazel. She’s a world champion crab picker, and a famous figure in the town, or as she says, everywhere. “All over, I’m worldwide,” Hazel said. Her story starts in 1938 when she was born in the coastal town. “My parents raised me very well, and my grandmother, who taught me at the age of nine, to pick crabs, because I always followed her,” she said. She caught on quick and now, 75 years later, she’s a worldwide champion crab picker. “I’m in the Guinness Book of World Records, I’m a 16-time world champion,” Video, >click to read< 18:40
Backlash after Cornish fishers call for seal cull
Seals are the “rats of the sea” and should be culled, a group of Cornish fishers have said. Marine campaign groups hit back after fishers on an online marketplace and forum expressed anger about the amount of fish seals eat. Posting a statistic that “for every fish caught by our fisheries, seals eat 53 times more”, the Cornish Mackerel Fishermen group wrote, adding: “We need a cull!” The fishers did not supply a source for this number. Some studies have suggested seals eat as many fish as commercial fisheries catch in some areas. >click to read< 12:07
DFO says seals not having a significant impact on lobster bait stock
With mackerel and herring fisheries, key sources of bait for lobster fishermen, shut down this spring, some lobster fishermen are casting the blame on growing seal populations in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. P.E.I. lobster fisherman Charlie McGeoghegan suggested targeting the fishery is the wrong approach. “The seals have caused this problem and DFO has ignored it for over 25 years, because we’ve been telling them the whole time that their population is exploding and we know what they eat, based on science. They open them up and we know that they eat herring and mackerel and lots of it.” >click to read< 10:23
Lockdown Lobsters: How Brexit has impacted lobster fishing on the Llŷn Peninsula
Sion Williams is a third generation lobster fisherman on the Llŷn Peninsula. But in March 2020, with the onset of the pandemic, he had to restructure his business in order to adapt. “Between Brexit and Covid there was uncertainty with buyers,” When coronavirus hit, everything changed suddenly for Sion, as it did for so many other people: “All I got was a text from the traders saying ‘we don’t want anything for five weeks and maybe five months’. And that was it.” Everything was closed and they couldn’t sell. >click to read< 07:55
Southern Ocean Longliner Follows Successful Formula
A new Saint Helena-registered longliner is heading south to take part in the fishery for Patagonian toothfish in the Southern Ocean. Built for Spanish owners, F/V Polar Bay is the latest in a long series of longliners designed by Marin Teknikk and built at Tersan, and this has been shown to be a successful formula. Accommodation on board is completed to a high standard for a crew of up to 30, and F/V Polar Bay is designed to spend extended periods at sea when required as the fishery covers a variety of fishing grounds in the Southern Ocean. photos, video, >click to read< 17:48
Offshore wind farms being rushed through with ‘catastrophic impact’ on sea birds
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said Government figures showed that 4,000 kittiwakes, which are classed as a vulnerable species, are predicted to be killed or displaced each year by poorly planned wind turbine developments. It comes after the Crown Estate, which owns the rights to develop the UK’s sea beds, announced it had sold concessions to build six vast offshore wind farms, enough to power seven million homes. It conceded that a new one off Norfolk would have a damaging effect on sea birds. But it stressed that ‘environmental compensatory measures can be secured to fully offset the potential harm’. >click to read< 13:58
Amid tensions over Ukraine, Russia and Japan seal deal on fishing quotas
Japan and Russia have reached an agreement over Tokyo’s annual catch quota for Russian-born salmon and trout, the Japanese Fisheries Agency said Saturday, despite delays and chilled relations between the two sides amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The agreement on Japan’s quota for the popular fish in waters near disputed islands north of Hokkaido is a relief for Japanese fishermen who were worried about the prospects amid worsening ties between the two governments. >click to read< 08:42
Yvonne Blenkinsop, Hull Headscarf Revolutionary, dies aged 83
Yvonne Blenkinsop, the last remaining member of Hull’s famed Headscarf Revolutionaries, has died at the age of 83. Yvonne was a true hero of the city who, along with Lillian Bilocca, Mary Denness and Christine Smallbone, campaigned for safety improvements on trawlers sailing from Hull following the Triple Trawler Tragedy of 1968. She died on Sunday. In 1968, the St Romanus, Kingston Peridot and Ross Cleveland trawlers all sank within a few weeks of each other, with the loss of 58 crew members in total. Not only did this cause grief among Hull’s fishing community, but a sense of anger and injustice. >click to read< 07:09
Ukraine Selling ‘Russian Warship, Go F*** Yourself’ Stamp
Ukraine’s national postal service Ukrposhta said it had been hit by a cyberattack on Friday after sales of a postage stamp depicting a Ukrainian soldier making a crude gesture to a Russian warship went online. Queues formed to buy the stamp when it went on sale at the postal headquarters in Kyiv last week following the sinking of the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet. Kyiv said it had hit the cruiser Moskva with missiles. Russia said the ship sank while being towed in stormy seas after a fire caused by an explosion of ammunition. >click to read< 13:18
Going nuclear: Alaska is a big target for small reactors
Representatives from Westinghouse’s nuclear division have been traveling to Alaska in recent months and talking with key decision-makers in the state about their eVinci micro-reactor, which they insist utilizes a design that makes it a totally safe, economically viable alternative to the diesel-powered generators relied upon across the vast majority of Alaska. Developed to fit in four transportable modules easily moved by truck, railcar or barge, the five-megawatt micro-reactor system requires about an acre, in line with the footprint of a diesel powerhouse and fuel tanks it is meant to replace, according to company representatives. In addition to the five-megawatt electrical generation capacity, the eVinci can also provide sufficient heat to support a small district heating loop as well, Westinghouse Senior Advance Reactor Commercialization Director Mike Valore said in an interview. >click to read< 13:01
Notice of Lease Application Termination – American Aquafarms
The Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) has terminated the applications of American Aquafarms after the company failed to fulfill its legal obligation to demonstrate an available source of fish to be cultivated at its proposed salmon farms in Frenchman Bay. The source of Atlantic salmon proposed by American Aquafarms, AquaBounty of Newfoundland, Canada, did not meet the criteria for a “Qualified Source/Hatchery” as defined in DMR regulations (Chapter 24). Additionally, American Aquafarms failed to provide documentation demonstrating that the proposed source of fish/eggs could meet genetic requirements in law (§6071(4)). No further action will be taken on these applications. >link< 16:24
FRENCHMAN BAY UNITED HAILS REJECTION OF AMERICAN AQUAFARMS APPLICATION – The coalition opposing the proposed industrial salmon farm says the fight will continue. “Commissioner Keliher made the right decision,” said Frenchman Bay United board president Henry Sharpe. “We hope that the company has finally gotten the message that they are not welcome here and that it’s time to pull the plug on this destructive and ill-conceived project once and for all.” >click to read<
Will Atlantic Canada lobster season break another sales record? Or will inflation curb consumer appetite,,,
Roger Fowlow is paying a lot of attention to the long-range marine forecast these days. Lobster season opens soon and he’s hoping the unsettled spring weather will ease off, giving him light winds to set his lobster pots. He used to catch cod, but with quotas so low, cod prices stalled for years at less than a dollar a pound, and fuel prices soaring this year. He said it’s not worth bothering with. Lobster is the money maker, and the last few years have given him good catches and good prices. Fowlow is confident of good catches again this year. But on the question of the price he might get paid, he’s not so certain. For P.E.I. lobster fisher Bethany McCarthy, inflation is already driving up the cost of running her boat. In addition to higher prices for fuel, she’ll have to shell out more money for bait this year, thanks to DFO’s decision to kill the mackerel fishery. photos, video, >click to read< 12:15
MP Alistair Carmichael requests Faroese meeting over Russian trawler concerns
Countries across the world have taken various actions to sanction the Russian economy in the wake of Vladimir Putin’s regime, including a campaign by islanders to prevent Russian vessels from making use of port facilities in Orkney and Shetland, but the Faroese government has continued to allow Russian trawlers to make use of fishing grounds shared with the UK. Mr Carmichael has requested a meeting to discuss local concerns further and to advocate for a change in Faroese policy on the issue, highlighting longstanding ties of friendship between the Faroes and the Northern Isles,,, >click to read< 11:02
Fishing trawler, filled with fish, sinks at Eden wharf
A 30-metre trawler, filled with 50 tonnes of salmon, has sunk at the Eden wharf on the NSW Far South Coast. Fire and Rescue NSW were called to reports of a partially submerged fishing trawler around 3:30am, which was discovered by the captain and crew. Inspector Phil Eberle said 50 tonnes of salmon on board was secured into the hull prior to the vessel completely sinking about 30 minutes later. “The crews have got in quickly and organised the captain and deckhand to secure the hatches before it went under,” he said. “We didn’t have fish floating all through the harbour.” >click to read< 18:16
Lincoln County a Growing Force in Maine’s Elver Fishery
The elver fishery is the second most valuable fishery in Maine despite its brief season, lasting only 11 weeks from March 22 to June 7. Recent years have seen annual income generated by the fishery exceed $20 million. And from a per pound perspective, it easily tops lobsters as the most lucrative fishery in the state, and possibly in the country. The demand for elvers is driven by the overseas market where baby eels are grown to size in specially designed aquaculture facilities for use in Asian cuisine. Once mature, the eels are also processed and shipped back to the U.S. where they are a popular dish on sushi menus. While still in its infancy, U.S. based eel aquaculture is poised to be another factor in the fishery. photos, >click to read< 15:24
Charging electronic device likely the cause of fire that sank trawler
An unattended electronic device being charged has been cited as the potential cause of fire that sank a fishing vessel off the Cork coast last year. The FV Horizon, an Irish-registered fishing trawler, sank about 20 nautical miles off the Old Head of Kinsale on the morning of Thursday, May 14, 2021. According to the incident report from the Marine Casualty Investigation Board (MCIB), the boat’s skipper noticed a significant amount of smoke around the accommodation cabin door in the galley area at about 1.30am on the night in question. Grabbing a fire extinguisher, he descended down into the galley area,,, >click to read< 13:05
Scots seafood firm blames coronavirus and Brexit as it closes doors after 12 years
Bosses at The Ethical Shellfish Company, based on the Isle of Mull, said the decision had caused “considerable anxiety and heartache” but claimed they had been left with no choice after a period of poor trading. In a blog post shared on Monday, fisherman and founder Guy Grieve claimed the coronavirus pandemic had played a role in the company’s decline, but that its fate had been sealed by the UK’s decision to leave the European Union. When Scotland entered lockdown in March 2020 the company pivoted away from supplying restaurants and chefs like Nick Nairn with fresh seafood and began selling to people cooking at home. TESC was forced to sell its own fishing boats to keep the company afloat during the pandemic but Grieve says the usual supply backup dried up as a result of Brexit. >click to read< 08:15
Skipper of grounded fishing trawler hasn’t been heard from in months
Would trawlerman David Atkinson please come in? Your time is up. In fact, Christchurch District Court Judge Michael Crosbie is so convinced that your time is up, that he has issued a warrant for your arrest. That means the courts and the police would be keen to hear from you, and so would Maritime New Zealand which is bringing charges against you. And so would your lawyer, Michael Starling. Atkinson is facing charges following the grounding of a fishing trawler in Christchurch two years ago. >click to read< 08:03
A special exhibition opened in memory of one of the founders of the Scottish Fisheries Museum
David Tod BEM was a former chairman and vice-president at the heart of the museum. He died in February. A keen model boatmaker, he is now being remembered with a special exhibition of model boats. It opened to the public at the weekend. Bill Horsburgh, Model Boat Club chairman, said: “David’s models are works of art and he brought his skills as an engineer and designer to bear in creating boats that were not only beautiful to look at but are fully working models. From a fishing family on his mother’s side, in his professional life, David trained as a marine engineer and also worked as a fisherman. He bought his first boat in 1966,,, >click to read< 21:02
Alaska snow crab fishery saw steep decline. A reporter went ‘Into the ice’ to see it for himself.
CG: Well, at the heart of this reporting that you did were snow crab numbers. So what’s going on with those snow crab numbers? And how steep of a decline have they seen? HB: Well, it’s really pretty stunning for some of the biologists who do the surveys because, of course, in 2020, because of COVID, they were unable to do the summer surveys of crab population. So they did them in 2019. And when they came back in the summer of 2021, they found these staggering drops in abundance of different populations of the snow crab. The juvenile females were down by more than 99%. The juvenile males were also way down. And they’re also less of the mature males and the mature females. So this really triggered a major reassessment of what would be a safe level of harvest for this 2022 season. And they ended up still having a harvest, but reducing it by nearly 90%, >click to read< 16:37
Is It the Last Stand for the Fishermen of the Deadliest Catch?
Fishing has never been an easy job as has been demonstrated on previous seasons of the Deadliest Catch, but when the 18th season premieres this week, it may very well be the last stand as for the first time in a quarter of a century, Alaska’s Department of Fish and Game closed Bristol Bay Red King Crab Fishery for the 2020/2021 season. Times are so desperate that Capt. Sig Hansen has relocated to Karmǿy, Norway, where invasive Red King Crab from Russia offer a temptingly lucrative, but risky new market for the veteran crabber, after a disastrous attempt to keep the fishery open. Video trailer, >click to read< 12:16
You deserve this! Lobster Benedict
Chef Chris Vogeli of III Forks shares his brunch recipe for Lobster Benedict. This is an easy-to-follow video with instructions from start to finish, beginning with the Hollandaise Sauce, preparing the lobster tails, and putting it all together! >Click to read the recipes, and watch the video< 10:28
