Category Archives: Mid Atlantic
From Oregon to Massachusetts, fishermen’s wives associations are the backbones of their communities
In spring 2020, the fishing community of Newport, Oregon, shuttered along with the rest of the country. A coronavirus outbreak at a local Pacific Seafood processing plant left fishermen sitting on docks with no buyers for their Dungeness crabs, while restaurants closed and families found themselves housebound. That’s when Taunette Dixon and her organization, the Newport Fishermen’s Wives, stepped in.,,, In Massachusetts, the Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives Association was founded in 1969. “We were shore captains,” said Angela Sanfilippo. “We would make sure when the boats came in, they’d get everything they needed so they could go back out the next morning at 2.30. The wife would be responsible to make sure these things happened. As their wives, we knew more than them.” >click to read< 11:32
NJ Fishing Community Says Coronavirus Aid Helped Keep Them Afloat
With New Jersey’s commercial fishing industry about to receive a second round of federal coronavirus aid, boat owners and those who run fishing-related businesses say the extra money is helping keep them afloat amid a sea of red ink. The state’s fishing industry received $11 million last March under the CARES Act, an early aid bill passed in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. And it should get roughly the same amount under a second bill passed by Congress in December.,, U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. said Monday. Pallone held a news conference Monday at the Belford Seafood Cooperative in Middletown with boat owners and those who run related businesses. >click to read< 10:24
Vineyard Wind hopes to have offshore wind farm up and running by 2023
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) released its final environmental review of the Vineyard Wind project Monday, which included a favorable assessment of the proposal. Vineyard Wind’s proposed 84-turbine offshore wind farm would generate 800 megawatts of clean energy and power 400,000 homes. The final step in the lengthy federal assessment of the project, according to the company, is an official decision from the BOEM, which could come as early as this spring. >video, click to read< 20:05
Stokesbury’s image-based, drop camera survey has been pivotal in the revival of the scallop industry
Stock assessment is one of the many key areas of research being conducted by several professors at UMass Dartmouth’s School for Marine Science & Technology (SMAST). Efforts led by Professors Steve Cadrin, Pingguo He, and Kevin Stokesbury help characterize how offshore wind development interacts with the marine environment, including important fisheries and critical habitat. Their findings are also critical in advancing offshore wind in a sustainable manner while minimizing impacts to existing marine activities and resources. >click to read< 13:34
Athearn Marine Agency Weekend Special – 49’2″ X 22’6″ Millennium Marine Lobster Boat, 1000HP Cat C-18 – Loaded!
Price Reduced! To review specifications, information, and 37 photos of this vessel, watch the video, >click here<, To see all the boats listed here with the Boat of the Week feature, >click here<10:53
Gina M. Raimondo Sworn in as 40th U.S. Secretary of Commerce
Gina M. Raimondo was sworn in as the 40th U.S. Secretary of Commerce. Secretary Raimondo was sworn in by Vice President Kamala Harris after a bipartisan vote of 84-15 in the United States Senate. In her role as Secretary of Commerce, Raimondo will lead a key agency focused on promoting economic growth, >click to read<11:20
Maryland oyster industry may be forever altered by Coronavirus pandemic
The pandemic-impacted oyster season has been difficult for the industry in Maryland, causing farmers and watermen to rethink how they sell their product and changing how programs conduct oyster restoration. Robert Brown, waterman and oyster grower, has bottom oyster leases on the tributaries of the Potomac River. Brown, president of the Maryland Watermen’s Association, said he sells the majority of his oysters to oyster packaging houses, which aren’t working at capacity because they can’t sell the oysters once they shuck them. Watermen are being hit hard in the pandemic, and it might be a few years before we get back to normal,,, >click to read< 08:36
A century before civil rights, Black oystermen in Suffolk forged economic independence
One by one, 6 feet apart, the many granddaughters and friends of Marie Hill climbed the three brick steps of her porch in mid-February to pay their respects. They waved through the front door of the Suffolk home where Hill had lived for more than 80 years. “Happy birthday to you. Happy 100th birthday to you,” For multiple generations, Hill’s family, including her husband, Ernest Hill, Jr., had oystered out of Chuckatuck Creek. At its peak in 1910, the village was home to nearly 500 people. With money earned working farms and once-prosperous oyster beds, Hobson residents were able to live in relative independence. photos, >click to read< 17:32
Cryptic mortality – Human-caused North Atlantic right whale deaths are being undercounted
A study co-authored by scientists at the New England Aquarium has found that known deaths of critically endangered North Atlantic right whales represent a fraction of the true death toll. This comes as the death of a calf and recent sightings of entangled right whales off the southeastern United States raise alarm. The study, published this month in Conservation Science and Practice, analyzed cryptic mortality of right whales. Cryptic mortality refers to deaths resulting from human activities that do not result in an observed carcass. (what the,,,) >click to read< 11:58
Judge Drops Shinnecock Fishermen’s Federal Lawsuit
A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by three Shinnecock Indian Nation fishermen who have fought to protect their indigenous fishing rights in eastern Long Island. David Taobi Silva, Jonathan Smith and Gerrod Smith were seeking $102 million in punitive damages, as well as temporary and permanent injunctions to end what they call racial discriminatory practices by state and local law enforcement. “[The men had] not put forward sufficient evidence to establish that the state proceeding is motivated by a desire to harass or is conducted in bad faith,” U.S. District Court Judge Sandra Feurestein said in her ruling. >click to read< 15:02
The Coronavirus pandemic could change U.S. fisheries forever. Will it be for better or for worse?!
The first symptoms appeared long before Covid-19 gained a stronghold on U.S. shores, as China went into its first lockdown and a critical export market disappeared overnight,,, Then as social distancing rules kicked in here, another major organ of the U.S. supply chain, restaurants, where most seafood purchases are made, fell limp. Many fishermen across the country have pivoted to direct-marketing models by selling their catch off their boats,,, To many in the food industry, the pandemic’s impact has exposed the fundamental vulnerabilities of a system that has long favored efficiency over resilience. >click to read< 09:48
Mass, R.I. Public Hearing: Summer Flounder, Scup, Black Sea Bass Commercial/Recreational Allocation Amendment
Might want to get this out there- it’s going to be important the industry get involved. Tell the Council status quo! Comments may be submitted at any of five virtual public hearings to be held between February 17 and March 2, 2021 or via written comment until March 16, 2021. Wednesday, February 17, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.: Massachusetts and Rhode Island, Thursday, February 18, New Jersey, Wednesday, February 24, Delaware and Maryland, Monday, March 1, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.: Virginia and North Carolina, Tuesday, March 2, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.: Connecticut and New York >click to read< 16:10
Harris, Dorchester watermen react to Executive Order workboat mask requirement
Dorchester County watermen and the Eastern Shore’s congressman are opposed to a requirement to wear masks on commercial fishing vessels. U.S. Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md.-1st, spoke out Friday, Feb. 12, against the Biden Administration’s Executive Order 13998, which requires the wearing of masks on all federal and federally regulated transportation vehicles and vessels to prevent the spread of COVID-19. He said the Coast Guard announced they will enforce this mandate that all commercial fishing vessel occupants will be required to wear masks. >click to read< 10:49
‘Mask police’: Commercial fishermen, watermen required to wear masks on boats via Biden, Coast Guard COVID orders
The U.S. Coast Guard is requiring masks be worn on commercial fishing boats and other vessels as part of President Joe Biden’s executive orders mandating face coverings on federally regulated transportation vehicles.,, Now, they are also going to be enforced on watermen and those working on fishing boats, according to the Coast Guard. U.S. Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md.-1st, said mandating the mask on watermen and fishermen working outdoors is burdensome, goes against the science of how of and where COVID is spread and could require masks to be worn at all times on boats, including while sleeping. >click to read< 19:10
Congressman Harris Asks for Clarification on Mask Mandate for Small Craft Fishing Vessels – The Coast Guard has issued guidance that all commercial fishing vessel occupants will be required to wear masks, and that they will enforce this mandate. >click to read<
New Fees at Cape Charles Harbor Hit Hard for Virginia Commercial Watermen
“We as commercial fishermen feel like we are just kind of systematically being driven out of the harbor,” Scott Wivell said of continually rising harbor rates and expectations from harbor management that make him, as a waterman, feel unwelcome. The Cape Charles town council approved the new harbor management agreement Sept. 17, 2020, which took effect at the beginning of the new year. According to the town harbor management vision statement, the Cape Charles Yacht Center pledged “to improve the appearance, function, and financial position of the Town Harbor,” which is deteriorating and struggles to break even, much less turn a profit. >click to read< 07:59
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 39′ BHM Tuna, 850HP Cat, Phasor Generator
To review specifications, information, and 15 photos, >click here<, To see all the boats in this series >click here<11:01
Coast Guard medevacs 2 fishermen injured from vessel fire off Cape Charles coast
The Coast Guard medevaced two fishermen who suffered burns after their vessel (identified as F/V Vixen) caught fire approximately 36 miles east of Fisherman Island, Tuesday. Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Virginia Command Center received notification that a vessel caught fire and was spotted roughly 36 miles east of Fisherman Island at approximately 3 p.m. Sector Virginia Command Center watchstanders issued an Urgent Marine Information Broadcast to which a good samaritan responded, and retrieved the two men from the water after they had abandoned ship due to the vessel fire. >click to read< 23:00
Biden administration gives boost to offshore wind. Orstead fails to renew fisheries representative contract
The Biden administration’s announcement this week of a plan to resume an environmental review of a wind farm off the Massachusetts coast and accelerate green-energy development was welcomed by developers and proponents of projects for Long Island. Biden on Jan. 27 signed an executive order,,, Orsted officials declined to comment on the decision by the company not to renew the contract of Julie Evans, a Montauk fishing boat captain who had been a fisheries representative to the company for local fishing issues. She had worked with fishermen in 2020 on fishing-gear loss cases tied to Orsted survey work. One fishermen, Vinny Damm of Montauk, had his claim rejected. Orsted declined to comment on the matter. >click to read< 11:16
Offshore Wind Plans Will Drive Up Electricity Prices And Require ‘Massive Industrialization Of The Oceans’
Joe Biden’s climate advisors (crackpots) are calling for the immediate approval of a slew of pending offshore wind projects. In New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo is calling for 9 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity to be built by 2035. Other East Coast governors (a real crackpot)are also floating multi-gigawatt offshore plans. In all, according to a report issued by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management last June “approximately 22 gigawatts of Atlantic offshore wind development are reasonably foreseeable along the East Coast.” >click to read< 10:34
Lobster fisherman ruined financially by the Long Island Sound lobster die-off, escapes a prison sentence
Carlos Santos of Westbrook was described in federal court as a successful lobster fisherman until the total collapse in the Long Island Sound lobster population,,, Santos, 58, agreed to work off some of his debt by taking an offer from the owner of a Bridgeport marina to secretly sink boats that had been abandoned by the owners on marina property. Santos was charged with obstruction of navigable waters by sinking vessels The cause of the collapse of the lobster fishery, by some estimates, lobster landings fell 100% in 1999-2000, is still a subject of debate; explanations have run from an increase in water temperature to pesticide use. But there is no question that Santos and the 1,300 other Long Island Sound lobstermen were out of work. >click to read< 18:58
Coronavirus relief: N.J.’s sinking fishing industry nabs $11M life raft from state
Nearly a year after being approved by federal lawmakers, financial relief is being handed out to New Jersey’s battered fishing industry. Gov. Phil Murphy and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection announced Friday that $11.3 million in grants are being distributed to Garden State fishermen, and the businesses that support them. The relief money was part of the $2 trillion CARES Act which was passed by Congress and signed by former President Donald Trump in March. >click to read< 09:47
Out with the old Oyster Creek nuclear plant, in with a new one? The choices ahead. Enough offshore windfarm nonsense!
For more than a half-century, the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant energized the region and local pocketbooks before shutting down three years ago, the start of what was expected to be a tedious, unremarkable and costly mothballing. Now the path forward for Lacey doesn’t seem so clear or unremarkable. While Oyster Creek wraps up one chapter in energy generation, it seems poised to start another — with development of a smaller, cheaper nuclear prototype plant. >click to read< 08:16
How this family-run seafood business banded together to stay afloat for the next generation
When the Bright kids were young, Bill was away at sea often, “probably 150 days a year,” he says. One Sunday he came home from a fishing trip in New England, gathered the family around the table, and floated an idea for a new adventure, a restaurant. Well, not a restaurant-restaurant, but a kitchen trailer parked by the docks on Richardson Channel, with picnic tables where customers could see the freshness of the fish, guts and scales and all, being butchered a few feet away. “The kids were into it right away.” Bill and Michelle, a Temple-trained journalist and ace home cook, opened Hooked Up Seafood in 2010 and quickly developed a reputation of excellence. photos, >click to read< 07:48
East Hampton Approves South Fork Wind Farm Cable Agreements
Agreements for the South Fork Wind Farm cable landing and burial project from Beach Lane in Wainscott to an East Hampton LIPA substation, and for $28.9 in benefits to be paid by the developers to the community, were approved by the East Hampton Town Board on Thursday.,, The wind farm, just over 30 miles east of Montauk Point, will have 15 turbines capable of producing 136 megawatts of electricity. The agreement also calls for South Fork Wind to hire a liaison to communicate with the East Hampton commercial fishing community “until the project ceases commercial operation,” and calls for a wind farm support facility and transfer vessel base in Montauk. >click to read< 14:47
Oyster Prices Plummet As Diners Stay Home Amid Pandemic
With several hours of daylight to spare, Ronnie Robbins and his son, Jason, had already docked their 36-foot deadrise workboat on Hooper’s Island and started unloading their briny cargo.,,, It isn’t a supply problem. Watermen in Maryland and Virginia alike say they are having no trouble landing their daily wild oyster quotas.,,, “We got lots of oysters, and they’re excellent quality,” said Bill Sieling,,, The problem is decreased demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic. >click to read< 09:31
Massachusetts Launches ‘Ropeless’ Fishing Feasibility Study
The Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) has launched a comprehensive scoping project to assess ‘ropeless’ fishing gear in the New England lobster fishery. A first of its kind on an accelerated timeline, the project will interview dozens of fishermen, technologists, policy experts, and scientists to fully evaluate the challenges and opportunities of the new gear type. The twelve-month project will evaluate fishing, legal, regulatory, technological challenges and opportunities of alternative lobster gear, which could reduce whale entanglements. >click to read< 12:47
6 Ocean Priorities for the Biden Administration from the Environmentalist
Since President-elect Biden was voted into office last November, he and his team have been sharing what they want to accomplish in their first 100 days in office.,, In the midst of any political transition, it is easy for environmental issues to be pushed aside in the name of more “urgent” issues. Fortunately, the new administration has given us promising signals that environmental action is high on their to-do list. Here are six things that must be prioritized in the coming weeks and months,,, >click to read< 09:48
Public Hearings for Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Commercial/Recreational Allocation Amendment
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (Commission) are seeking public comment on the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Commercial/Recreational Allocation Amendment. Comments may be submitted at any of five virtual public hearings to be held between February 17 and March 2, 2021 or via written comment until March 16, 2021. >click to read, click for links< 12:41
New York State more than doubles the number of foreign wind turbines planned off the coast of Long Island
New York State’s decision last week to award two “massive” offshore wind power contracts to Norwegian energy giant Equinor will more than double the size of a planned wind farm off the coast of Long Island. It also promises “substantial” upgrades to a section of the electric grid at Oceanside. The 
plan, announced by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo last week as part of an expansive post-COVID-19 green economy, would bring the number the number of turbines expected to be spinning off the South Shore by 2027 to around 170, encompassing some 80,000 acres from Jones Beach to Islip, the company said. >click to read< 08:50
Its Deadline for Comments Day on South Fork Wind Farm Environmental Report
BOEM, which recently finished its draft environmental review of the South Fork Wind Farm, gave the public a chance to weigh in on the document at three virtual public hearings in mid-February, and is accepting further written public comment through midnight tonight… Meghan Lapp of Seafreeze Ltd. in Narragansett, Rhode Island, “Our vessels will have to fish in the area, which will be impossible if this goes through as planned,” she said, adding that the DEIS “does not contain any cumulative impact analysis” of how the offshore wind industry will affect the fishing industry. Bonnie Brady of the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, based in Montauk, agreed with Ms. Lapp, adding,,, >click to read< 12:05
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