Category Archives: National
Coast Guard medevacs injured fisherman 100 miles off Coos Bay
A Coast Guard aircrew medically evacuated a 26-year-old man Saturday morning off the fishing vessel McKenzie Rose 100 miles west of Coos Bay. The fishing vessel’s captain used a marine radio to hail watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector North Bend at approximately 5:30 a.m. to report a member of the crew sustained a head injury and was in need of medical attention. The McKenzie Rose began to transit toward shore to more quickly rendezvous with the Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin helicopter aircrew. >Video, click to watch, read< 21:55
Flounder, fluke, and flying by the seat of your pants – Bob Mone’s life as a fish broker.
The origins of Vineyard Co-op go back to a guy named Steve Boggess, who around 1970 ran Boggess Seafood out of Woods Hole on the pier over where the ferry shuttles back and forth to Naushon. Trip Barnes, who did trucking for Boggess, described him as “a college guy, kind of a yuppie. But he had a mind like a steel trap.” But the Steamship Authority, which owned the dock where Boggess’s office was located, put the squeeze on Boggess and forced him to leave. So Ralph Packer agreed to build a dock next to his gas tanks on Vineyard Haven harbor and Boggess moved his business to the Vineyard. Around 1975 Mone answered an ad looking for a manager at Boggess Seafood. At the time he was driving a milk truck on the Island and the only thing he knew about fish was that you buy them at a fish market. photo gallery, >click to read< 10:59
Senate Candidate Joe Kennedy was in Gloucester Friday to hear Fisherman and Industry member concerns
This morning in Gloucester at 9 am, Joe Kennedy met with fishermen, industry representatives, and local politicians to discuss with them, their concerns about the fishing industry. Topics of discussion included Offshore Wind Farms, Imported fish from Iceland, Fishery Observers and Monitoring, NOAA science, and the need for a U.S. Farm Bill tailored to the needs of the unique and varied fisheries of the nation, including timely fishery disaster relief aid. Sam Parisi, photo’s, >click to read< 19:19
Setting the New Normal – Point Steele
With concern over the 2020 Bristol Bay salmon season and Covid-19, there was only optimistic excitement at Washington State’s Velocity Marine as the yard’s latest newbuild headed for sea trials.,, With a capacity of 18,000 pounds (8165kg) in RSW, Point Steele will deliver to the tender multiple times in an opening. Even loaded, the boat can be expected to make roughly half the light boat’s speed. Lenco trim tabs help optimise performance under different load conditions. To make these speeds Point Steele is powered with a pair of Cummins QSC8.3 engines. photo’s, >click to read< 17:01
UPDATED: American fisherman detained entering British Virgin Islands – New Jersey delegation aware
An American longline fishing boat captain has been in jail for a month after he was detained in the British Virgin Islands on June 8 for traveling into BVI waters during coronavirus border closures. Now he is facing criminal charges and a monthslong wait in a sweltering island prison cell. Michael Foy, who lives in Puerto Rico and left the island May 29 on a fishing expedition, was initially detained for illegal entry into the British Virgin Islands, but at his June hearing he was also unexpectedly charged with illegal fishing. >click to read< 13:21
New Jersey Senators write Deputy Governor on fisherman’s arrest – “We are aware that our constituent, Michael Foy, has been detained in Tortola and have been in communication with the State Department and the [United States] Embassy in Barbados regarding the case,” according to the June 30 letter signed by Senators Cory Booker and Robert Menendez and Congressman Andy Kim. >click to read< 10:09 7/11/20
SURVEY: Please Help Extreme Gloucester Fishing: Restructure, Retool, Retrain, Revive and Reunite the U.S. Commercial Fisheries
Extreme Gloucester Fishing Commercial Industry Training Center is doing a U.S. Commercial Fisheries Survey – Please help Extreme Gloucester Fishing with our efforts to Restructure, Retool, Retrain, Revive and Reunite the U.S. Commercial Fisheries Take the Survey. 1. Do commercial fishermen care about their industry? 2. Should fish be owned before they are caught?, 3.,,, >click to read<, and please leave comments or suggestions, and connect with others to get things started! Thank you, Captain Joseph Sanfilippo 10:30
Commercial Fisherman George Roy Hutchings Jr. of Kodiak, Alaska and Damariscotta, Maine
George Roy Hutchings Jr., 60, of Kodiak, Alaska and Damariscotta, passed away peacefully on Friday, July 3, 2020 at his home here in Maine with family at his side. He attended Nobleboro Central School and Christian Academy during his grammar school days. He attended Lincoln Academy, while working in South Bristol clamming, and later earned his GED. He left Maine in his teenage years to start his adventures in fishing in Point Pleasant, N.J., then on to more adventures scallop dragging in New Bedford, Mass. At the age of 20, George headed for an even greater and larger adventure in Homer, Alaska, where, after some tough times, he became a king crab and scalloping fisherman for many years. >click to read< 09:09
Prime Lobster Season Is Here, but Mike Dawson Isn’t Celebrating.
Mike Dawson (self-employed) Location: New Harbor, Maine Employees: 1, Status: Open, essential industry. The lobsters have just started to “come on” for the 2020 season, which in the lexicon of a Maine lobsterman means the annual lobster migration and catch has begun for the summer. Normally, 
that would signal a time for the state’s 5,000 lobster harvesters to spend all their time setting and hauling traps. Not this year. This season is marked by weak demand from restaurants across the country and seafood processors that are taking less meat during the coronavirus pandemic. International markets have slammed shut. As a result, lobster prices are weak.Some lobstermen are still sitting on the sidelines, collecting unemployment. Others, like Mike Dawson, who fishes off New Harbor, Maine, have diversified by catching pogeys, or bait fish, in addition to catching lobster. 16 photo’s, >click to read< 16:05
Northern Right Whales Are on the Brink, and Trump Could Be Their Last Hope
The task of responding will fall to an unlikely champion, President Trump, whose recent appeals for support from Maine lobstermen could clash with the task of saving the right whale. Peter Corkeron, a senior scientist at the New England Aquarium who spent nearly a decade chronicling the gruesome deaths of right whales as the director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association’s research program for large whales, said he feared the listing would have little impact. “Lobstermen certainly recognize the dire circumstance that the right whale species is in right now,” Patrice McCarron, “We’re in this awkward situation where right whales are not doing great, and it’s certainly not the fault of the commercial fisheries.”PEER also filed a complaint last year with the inspector general of the Commerce Department, which oversees NOAA, arguing that federal officials intent on reopening fishing areas have been ignoring their own scientists on climate change as well as other threats to whales. >click to read< 11:37
A NASA Diver/Commercial Fisherman is Among the Cast on CBS Reality Show
Tough As Nails. It takes 12 Americans from all walks of life whose common thread is that they work in tough, gritty jobs — ironworker, firefighter, welder, Marine Corps veteran, and more. They will compete both as individuals and on teams to win cash and prizes, with one of them ultimately being crowned the Tough As Nails champion. One of the competitors is Callie Cattell, a 28-year-old from Bend, Oregon, who spends her time working as a commercial fisherman in the frigid waters off the Alaskan coast. But in addition to that harrowing job, Cattell is also a diver for NASA. video>click to read< 10:34
Bob Guzzo Talks Quotas, Offshore Wind, Coronavirus, and Fishing out of Stonington, Connecticut
“We’re giving up traditional fishing grounds that we’ve had for hundreds of years, that have fed the country, that are now going to light a light bulb and it’s not going to be worthwhile,” Guzzo said of the proposed wind farms located in federal waters. The location of the wind farms also destroys longtime fisheries, said Guzzo. “They’re taking away places that we’ve fished for this country over hundreds of years and we’re losing that ground,” he said.,, Quotas and Coronavirus, “I got tired of throwing fish overboard, I could never stand it. I started too long ago and never had to do this. The way they make you fish today is a crime,” >click to read< 08:01
Bristol Bay Fisheries Report: July 7, 2020
We have the first million-fish catch day in the bay! Egegik harvested 1 million and 30 thousand fish, and the Naknek-Kvichak district and the Nushagak both had harvests over 950,000. The total run across the bay jumped by 4 million fish yesterday, to 15.5 million fish. With respect to Egegik’s big catch yesterday, Egegik management biologist Aaron Tiernan had this to say in an email, “Wow! That was impressive. Based on Port Moller, there is still a good amount of fish to come.”,, A boat sinks in the Nushagak district.,, “I have never picked so much fish in my life in one opener” – Nushagak drifter describes a big opener. >click to read< 14:13
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 97′ Longliner with Permits, (2) 425 HP Cummins KT-19s, (2) Cummins Lima – 60 KW Gensets
To review specifications, and information, >click here< Vessel is in good condition. Longline – Hydraulic spool reportedly holds approximately 50 miles of monofilament line, more,,, To see all the boats in this series, >click here<11:17
Kingfish Zeeland seeks state permit to draw and discharge seawater for $110M fish farm proposed in Jonesport
Kingfish Zeeland, which has an agreement to develop a 94-acre site on Dun Garvan Road, east of central Jonesport on Route 187, needs approval from the state Department of Environmental Protection to draw and discharge seawater between the land-based plant and Chandler Bay. The company says it plans to filter and cool the water that is discharged into the bay to make sure it is clean and that it does not affect the water temperature in the bay, where many local lobstermen set their traps.,, Kingfish officials said Tuesday that the discharge permit will be “one of the most critical permits” for the project. The company also is expected to apply for permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and from the Jonesport planning board, which it will need to get prior to starting construction, possibly in 2021. >click to read< 09:48
Honolulu mayor announces new ‘fish-to-dish’ program to help Hawaii’s struggling fishing industry
“We have an incredible longline fishing industry,” said Caldwell during a news conference at Pier 38, “and local fishermen who go out every day in grueling conditions, catching fish and bringing it back to feed our residents and visitors.” But the longline fishing industry has lost an estimated $10 million, or about 60% in revenue, since mid-March lockdowns went into effect due to the pandemic, Caldwell said. In an effort to help, he said the city is committing $2.6 million in federal coronavirus funds to help the fishing industry get back on its feet. The “fish-to-dish” program will work in partnership with the Hawaii Longline Association, the United Fishing Agency, which runs the fish auction, and Hawaii Seafood Council to distribute fish to the community.>click to read< 08:23
As Jaws reaches its 45th – 45 Things About Jaws You Might Not Know
As we celebrate the 45-year anniversary of the movie that changed the summer blockbuster, or in this case the movie that actually invented the summer blockbuster, Jaws. These 45 interesting facts about Jaws will be in no particular order. One of the great things about Jaws is that it was filmed on location and not in a studio. They hired hundreds of local extras and many local actors to fill the roles. The medical inspector who lists the Chrissie 
Watkins death as a boating accident; the young Cassidy, who passes out before he can go skinny-dipping with Chrissie Watkins; the fishermen who lose their holiday roast while on the dock and so many others were all real local Martha’s Vineyard residents. The beer brand that Quint drinks aboard the Orca is called Narragansett. It was a popular beer in places like Rhode Island and New England and at one time was a sponsor of the Boston Red Sox.>click to read< 18:27
Study: Microplastic fiber pollution harms lobster larvae
A study published in the Marine Pollution Bulletin reports that the fibers affect the animals’ feeding and respiration, and they could even prevent some larvae from reaching adulthood. “Lobsters play a fundamental role in the Gulf of Maine ecosystem as well as the state’s economy, and it is important that we understand how pollutants impact their development.” Young lobsters grow to adulthood through four distinct developmental stages, and the researchers found that the physiology of each stage determined how the animals interacted with plastic fibers. The youngest lobsters didn’t consume them—but they were plagued by fibers accumulating under the shells that protect their gills. >click to read< 16:04
Bristol Bay Fisheries Report: July 6, 2020
The run is late this year, but it’s ramping way up across the bay. The total run passed 11 million fish yesterday, with some of the biggest harvests we’ve seen yet this season in 3 of the bay’s districts. Total run in the bay jumped by over 3 million fish yesterday, to almost 11.5 million. Total catch bay-wide is 8.4 million, total escapement is 2.5 million, and there are an estimated 515,000 fish in-river in the bay’s combined rivers. Fish per delivery from the drift boats also jumped by an average of 500 fish per delivery bay-wide. All the districts that fished yesterday delivered more than 1,100 fish per delivery yesterday, and in Ugashik… that number was almost 2,000 fish per delivery. audio, report, >click to read< 14:39
U.S. Crustacean Market to hit $10.2 billion by 2026
The U.S. is among the biggest markets for seafood & seafood-based products and it is ever-growing due to its inherent health benefits. The growth of the seafood demand is attributed to high disposable incomes and an exponential growth of omnichannel partners. E-commerce platforms and digital distribution channels have significantly escalated the seafood market in both formats including business-to-business as well as business-to-customer operations. Many retail giants such as Walmart and Target etc. engaged in the industry has been increasing the presence on these channels to reach out to more customers and deliver high-quality & fresh products. This trend is redefining the supply chain distribution of consumer products in the region. As a result of these marketing efforts, more people are buying or preferring seafood, which will support the growth of crustaceans. >click to read< 14:09
Fisherman talks shrimping season coming to close
Louisiana fisherman Bobby Rivere says the brown shrimp season is coming to a close this evening, and the white shrimp season won’t start up until mid-August. “This gives the white shrimp time to grow. We don’t catch them too prematurely because right now they’ll be too small for consumption,” he said. The white shrimp may be smaller right now because of our mild winter. “We really don’t know why they are so small, they are late moving and with winter not being too cold they aren’t growing properly I guess,” Rivere said. >click to read< 11:01
Most of R.I.’s calamari catch is processed in China. A local group wants to change that.
Also known as loligo, squid is Rhode Island’s most valuable fishery, worth about $28 million a year. More than 22 million pounds of squid are landed each year, most of it at the port of Galilee. But while the official appetizer of the Ocean State may arrive at a fishing port just a few miles away, most squid is shipped to the other side of the world, and all the way back again, before anyone gets to eat it. “One of the reasons that food policy councils exist, and there are some 350 food policy councils around the country, is to promote the growth and strength of local food systems,” she said. >click to read< 08:48
Bristol Bay Fisheries Report: July 5, 2020
The total harvest for the bay is around 1.2 million, as of yesterday. Taking a look across the bay, the total run is at around 8.5 million. The numbers seem to be picking up on the eastside again. The Nushagak district’s daily harvest was 165,000 yesterday, bringing the season’s harvest to 2.6 million. That was harvested 4% by Igushik set-netters, 26% from Nushagak set netters, and 70% from drifters. In the full Nushagak district, daily escapement was 36,800 yesterday. That makes the total escapement across the Nushagak district 1,056,000 Breaking that down by river system… audio, >click to read/listen< 14:57
The USCG’s First Superstorm: The Great Galveston Hurricane
In early September of 1900, a hurricane of massive force struck the Gulf Coast west of Galveston, Texas. The Great Galveston Hurricane would prove far deadlier than any man-made, environmental or weather-related disaster in U.S. history, with approximately 8,000 killed in Galveston and roughly 2,000 more lost in other parts of the Gulf Coast. This death toll is greater than the combined casualty figure for the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack, Hurricane Katrina, the 9/11 terrorist attacks as well as Hurricane Ike, which struck Galveston in 2008. >click to read< 09:15
America Needs To Stop Relying On Countries Like China For Seafood Markets
When Americans visit a supermarket and wander past the meat counter, they see this century’s equivalent of the fishmonger’s stall: the seafood department. Laden over crushed ice in glass cases sits an array of fish products — whole snapper or shrimp, maybe, but almost always pre-sliced filets in a bevy of hues. Oysters and clams complete the display. In the rare cases where stores divulge the provenance of seafood, placards will often list Thailand, China or South American countries. Less frequently, however, will one see U.S-raised or caught seafood in such displays. This is disappointing to the patriot who wishes to ‘buy American.’ >clickto read< 07:00
New analysis shows seismic risks related to Pebble Mine
New analysis commissioned by Bristol Bay fishermen contends that plans for the Pebble mine project and environmental review do not adequately account for seismic risks on the proposed mine site, putting the fishery and regional communities and cultures as risk for devastation. With the U.S Army Corps of Engineers expected to release its record of decision on a critical permit application for the mine in mid-July, concerns remain with fishermen and others opposed to the mine abutting the Bristol Bay watershed over seismic and other risks outlined in the report produced by Lynker Technologies, in Boulder, Colo. >click to read< 18:06
Michael Shellenberger: Sorry, But I Cried Wolf on Climate Change – A Mea Culpa
If climate change is a problem, then wind turbines and solar panels aren’t a solution: heavily subsidised and unreliable wind and solar are an economic and environmental disaster. When climate alarmists managed to hijack energy (and with it economic) policy it was a case of lunatics (Offshore Wind 
Farmers, politicians)taking over the asylum. Last week, Michael Shellenberger hit the headlines with a heart-felt mea culpa, the foundation for which is laid out in his latest work, ‘Apocalypse Never: Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All’. At 459 pages it’s a thoroughly researched piece of academic work that can’t be easily dismissed or ignored; as a grand and exhaustive effort to expose the fanciful and far-fetched claims being made about a planet on the brink it’s had a perfectly predictable result. >click to read< 16:38
Trump Memo On Lobster Aid Leaves Industry Wondering What’s Next. How about a U.S.Fish Bill?!!
In a memo, the president urged Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue to consider taking appropriate action “to provide assistance to fisherman and producers in the U.S. lobster industry that continue to be harmed by China’s retaliatory tariffs.” He also asked the secretary to consider including lobster and other segments of the seafood industry in future assistance to mitigate the effects of the tariffs. But none have heard details on what Perdue might do to offset the impact on the industry of Trump’s trade war with China. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is also mostly quiet. >click to read< 10:01 – A reminder from Sam Parisi to those interested in creating and implementing a U.S. Fish Bill – Greetings to all commercial fishermen, fish processors, equipment suppliers, politicians, and citizens, that are interested and supportive of creation of the U.S. Fish Bill. >click to read< 10:06
Bristol Bay Fisheries Report: July 4, 2020
A big bump of fish hit the Naknek-Kvichak and Egegik yesterday — those fleets caught most of the bay’s daily harvest of nearly 1.2 million. Total harvest around the bay is now approaching 5 million. Escapement yesterday was 140,000, and 1.8 million fish have escaped around the bay this season. The total run is at around 6.8 million. The Nushagak district’s daily harvest was 60,000 yesterday, bringing the season’s harvest to,,, Breaking that down by river system, audio report, >click to read< 07:25
Seadrift fishermen struggle with shrimp-sized market
Shrimping season arrived in May, but it didn’t bring renewed demand for Gulf shellfish. After restaurants began to close in March, demand for oysters tanked. Some oyster harvesters were able to scrape through the season, but Nevarez said shrimp season has been even bleaker. “After all these outbreaks we’ve been having, they’re probably going to start closing again,” she said of the restaurants that normally buy her husband’s shrimp. She said she’s encouraging her husband, a shrimper of 35 years, to begin considering alternate work. >click to read< 18:34
