Category Archives: New England
A submerged concern: offshore wind cables
As offshore wind turbines undergo construction in waters south of the Vineyard, and with some already standing and delivering power, the debates on the Island regarding the industry continue. John Keene, president of the Martha’s Vineyard Fishermen’s Preservation Trust, told the Times that some in the fishing industry are nervous about how the electromagnetic field from the cables can affect marine life. Keene said the concern is that the fields emitted from cables could act like a fence, particularly for migratory species, and impact the behavior of marine species. “There’s a lot of unknowns,” he said. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:14
Mayor Mitchell advocates for scallopers
Mayor Jon Mitchell is advocating for the New England Fishery Management Council to open the Northern edge scallop grounds to New Bedford commercial fishermen. In a letter to Chairman of the Board, Eric Reid, Mitchell said that making these areas available would benefit the industry greatly and create a “key new source of scallops.” “While there are multiple species that are harvested by New Bedford fishing vessels, scallops are the prime drivers of economic activity within the Port of New Bedford,” Mitchell wrote. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 12:54
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 57′ Aluminum Dragger, Cummins KT-1150, State and Federal Permits
To review specifications, information, and 25 photos’, >click here<, To see all the boats in this series, >click here< 07:18
Fishermen Feeding Mainers awarded $750K in federal funds
Fishermen Feeding Mainers, a program of the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association, will be receiving $750,000 in federal funding thanks to an appropriations request submitted by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Sen. Angus King (I-Maine). The successful request will provide funding for the program through Good Shepherd Food Bank of Maine. The Fishermen Feeding Mainers program began in October 2020 in response to the collapse of local markets and rising food insecurity in Maine. Initially funded by an anonymous foundation, the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association partnered with Good Shepherd Food Bank to distribute donated fish to food pantries, meal sites and additional hunger-relief organizations located throughout the state. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:25
More things to worry about by Jerry Leeman
Wind energy in the Gulf of Maine is going to be a great challenge to all varieties of commercial and recreational fisheries. What disturbs me the most is, in all my travels along the coast in the four major fishing ports in New England, very few commercial fishing Captains were aware of the new talks on changing the management stock areas and the reallocation of codfish. This is a concern for many now that they are aware. This raises the question, if no Captain’s that fish inside the Wind Energy proposed areas were not aware of this future action, then how can the last comment periods on the proposed sights be accurately sighted? Charts graphs, more, >>click to read<< 13:16
Massachusetts Record for Largest Lobster Caught
The price for fresh New England lobster changes frequently depending on the time of year, market conditions and suppliers. The price fluctuates so often that many seafood dealers and restaurants don’t even include it on their menus or websites. On April 1, 2024, Boston’s James Hook & Co. was advertising fresh lobster claw and tail meat at $85 per pound, fresh knuckle lobster meat at $90 per pound, and fresh lobster salad at $85 per pound. The Massachusetts Lobsterman’s Association claims the record for a lobster caught off the Massachusetts coast was “Big George,” caught off Cape Cod in 1974. The Association says George weighed 37.4 pounds with a total length of 2.1 feet. more, >>click to read<< 10:06
The meaning behind Ed Parker’s painting, The Lobster Trap – Thief of Tradition
In the painting The Lobster Trap by Ed Parker, a Maine lobsterman lowers crates into the water while, unbeknownst to him, a large sea monster intertwines itself with the line. The calm water and blue skies suggest a peaceful and idyllic day, juxtaposed with the strange creature just below the surface. “[The painting] is an image of the state of Maine,” said Parker in a telephone interview. “The culture is in as much jeopardy, I think, as the fishery itself. They’re so interlinked and younger people don’t see a lot of future in it.” more, >>click to read<< 11:19
IS THE G.A.O. SLOWWALKING ITS INVESTIGATION OF OFFSHORE WIND IMPACTS? By Jim Lovgren
On June 15, 2023, Congressman Chris Smith issued a press release touting the acceptance by the General Accountability Office [GAO], of a request by the House Natural Resources Committee to investigate a wide range of issues related to the development of offshore wind. The Committee letter, signed by Chairman Bruce Westerman, was submitted on May 15 th , 2023, almost a year ago. I bring this up because the average time-length of most GAO investigations is three months. Which begs the question; Is the Biden administration “slow-walking” the GAO investigation? Slow-walking is the act of purposefully delaying action by stalling, stonewalling, making excuses of how hard it is to do, and other whiney efforts at delaying an investigation until it fails because it is too late. It is the bureaucrat’s favorite weapon of choice when forced to disclose vital information, that their politician benefactors don’t want exposed. more, >>click to read<< 06:10
An ocean of ambition
One by one, a trustee listed the assets up for sale: eight commercial fishing vessels and 48 federal fishing permits. It was a fire-sale liquidation for bankrupt Blue Harvest Fisheries — one of New England’s largest seafood companies — and the largest bundle of groundfish permits in recent history to come available on the market. Bids, the trustee announced, would start at $10 million. Cassie Canastra was first to act: “$11 million,” she said, without skipping a beat. There was a brief pause, as a team representing O’Hara Corporation, part owner of New Bedford-based scallop giant Eastern Fisheries, huddled to discuss their options. They raised the bid to $11.25 million. “$12 million,” Canastra responded, showing no sign of relenting. Photos, more, >>click to read<< 11:03
OFFSHORE WIND AND WHALES – A collection of articles from fisherynation.com By Jim Lovgren
After over forty-five years as a commercial fisherman out of Point Pleasant NJ, I sold my boat the Shadowfax, and retired, moving to California. My experience as a fisherman began in the early 1970’s, and I observed and learned an encyclopedia of knowledge concerning fishing, the environment, and fishery management, including politics. As I observed the continuing massacre and the lies denying them by government and media puppets, I under took an effort to expose the truth concerning offshore wind. The following articles are listed in order of their appearance in Fisherynation.com, and are best understood by reading them in order. Just click on the title of an article you’d like to read. more, >>click to read<< 15:09
Lobster harvesters in Atlantic Canada to vote on increasing minimum legal size this year
At stake is maintaining access to the United States market. “It will be an individual vote. That’s a big decision that every single enterprise and owner has to look at from their own business,” said Heather Mulock, executive director of the Coldwater Lobster Association, which represents fishermen in lobster fishing area 34 (LFA 34). In late May or June, the 979 licence holders in the area will be asked to vote on whether to match increases in allowable U.S. catch measurements that will come into effect Jan. 1, 2025, and again in 2027. Live Canadian lobster that fall under the new limits would not be allowed into the U.S. That includes bonded shipments of lobster under the new minimum in the U.S., according to an information package sent to fishermen in southwestern Nova Scotia. That could block trucking of “undersized” Canadian lobster across the border for flights to Asia from airports in Boston or New York. more, >>click to read<< 08: 57
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 141′ RSW Steel Stern Trawler, 1650HP CAT
To review specifications, information, and 43 photos’, Video, >click here<, To see all the boats in this series, >click here< 07:33
NOAA/NMFS Ignores Dangerous Sound Levels from Pile Driving – By Jim Lovgren
A new recently released report from Rand Acoustics, LLC scientifically documented that the stated sound levels created by the pile driving of wind turbine stanchions into the seafloor is much louder than the NOAA approved levels. In a study dated November 2, 2023, the researchers used acoustic listening devises to record the underwater sounds being created from piledriving by the crane ship “Orion” in the Vineyard wind BOEM lease area OCS-A 0501 southwest of Nantucket Island. Prior to this research, Rand Acoustics documented the underwater sound levels being produced by some of the research vessels using sonar and seismic devises to examine and document the seafloor prior to turbine construction. This research proved that the sound levels produced by these research vessels exceeded the stated sound levels approved by NOAA/NMFS to protect marine mammals and resulted in the documentary film “Thrown to the wind”. more, >>click to read<< 11:28
Overspreading Since the Seventies
NOAA Fisheries has been overspreading their nets since they changed from a side trawler to stern trawler back in the 1970s! On the Delaware side trawler, the wires were put together on the side of the boat and on NOAA’s Stern Trawler Bigelow, the wires are off the stern of the boat which is 32 feet apart. This is causing NOAA’s over-spread nets. Now NOAA has been working with a restrictor-rope on the doors, to stop the doors from over spreading the nets. more, >>click to read<< By Rocky Novello
“Stand Clear the Line: Swordfishing on the SouthCoast. – New Swordfishing Exhibit at New Bedford Heritage Center
No one thinks much about commercial swordfishing and the Port of New Bedford, but 50 years ago or so, that line of work was fairly prominent on the waterfront. The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center, located at 38 Bethel Street, is reviving those memories with a new exhibit, “Stand Clear the Line: Swordfishing on the SouthCoast.” Ritter said many of the fishermen who helped with the exhibit also went after swordfish back in the day. “We’re going to have a number of photos, artifacts, and media displays for people to explore the change of gear and technology used by local fishermen as they transitioned from harpooning to long-lining,” he said. more, >>click to read<< 11:51
Time to save the Right Whale from the Green-Left
Back in the sixties and seventies, “Save the Whales” was the exclusive domain of the political left. As Bob Dylan might say, “The times they are a changin.” Three major “conservative” organizations – the National Legal Policy Center, Heartland Institute, and my organization, the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow – recently filed a major lawsuit in a Washington, D.C. federal court to save the Right Whale from facing potential oblivion. Why aren’t the larger Green groups, unlike the grassroots ones, rallying around the efforts of these organizations to save Right Whales? Good question. Whales are being threatened by the Biden Administration’s fast-track plans to hurriedly place 30,000 MW of wind power generation off the Eastern coast, and doing so without the proper sort of environmental impact assessment they might otherwise perform for, say, offshore oil. more, >>click to read<< 11:11
First, the lights flickered. Then the internet disappeared – 400,000 without power as deadly Nor’easter slams New England
When the power and internet went out, they would flicker back on and off, and when it did, the power stayed on, letting the furnace run, and with a semi normal life, with the exception of our internet provider, who finally came back on last night. A deadly Nor’easter storm left hundreds of thousands of people without power into Friday morning while floods and heavy snow disrupted travel. More than 280,000 people remained without power in Maine and another 111,400 in New Hampshire as of early Friday morning, according to poweroutage.us. more, >>click to read<< 06:21
Fishermen challenge fishing ban, Antiquities Act abuse
Fishermen in New York and Vermont have filed a lawsuit against President Biden and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) challenging a ban on commercial fishing in the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, as well as the unlawful creation of the monument itself. “President Obama abused his authority when he created this monument in 2016, President Biden abused his authority when he reinstated it in 2021, and now NOAA has abused its authority with this fishing ban,” said Frank Garrison, an attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation. “We’ve now seen three Supreme Court Justices express interest in taking a case on presidential abuse of the Antiquities Act. This case is another example of the presidential abuse that has the Justices’ attention.” more, >>click to read<< 14:36
East End fishermen uneasy over wind farm South Fork Wind
Late last year, Gov. Kathy Hochul called South Fork Wind, which is projected to eliminate hundreds of millions of tons of carbon emissions annually, a “major milestone” in the state’s “nation-leading effort to generate reliable, renewable clean energy. “But at least one East End community remains staunchly opposed to wind farms: commercial fishermen — who say that the massive, 50-story turbines could irreparably damage the local marine ecosystem and displace them from areas they’ve fished for decades or even generations. more, >>click to read<< 08:12
Maine isn’t prepared for a huge threat to its fishing industry
More than two months after her commercial fishing pier on Mount Desert Island took a serious beating in back-to-back storms, Sheryl Harper has only just begun planning a way forward. High winds and storm surge swamped the pier twice in January, sending waves crashing into it, ripping doors away and heaving it up and down until the tides subsided. The pounding left the deck unusable, weakening the connection between its planks and the posts underneath, and prying the shoreside edge roughly 18 inches higher than the driveway leading up to it. The latter damage has made it impossible to get a work vehicle onto the pier to help clear out the debris. photos, video, more, >>click to read<< 06:54
Offshore wind threatens centuries of fishing
Many people today think that offshore wind power will be able to give us abundant (long-lived?) clean energy. The water in the Gulf of Maine is very deep, any turbines sited there will be on floating platforms anchored to the seabed with giant chains. It is important to remember that the Gulf of Maine is the life blood of all our coastal fishing communities. I participated in an interesting project some years ago when the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association was formed. We worked with Island Institute to document how each fishing community extended far out to sea. Each community has traditional grounds that have been worked for centuries by fishermen from those communities. Fishing sustains coastal New England. If offshore wind industrialization is allowed in these fishing grounds the communities connected to these areas will suffer. by Glen Libby, more, >>click to read<< 10:52
The One Weird Trick Trump Could Use to Get Away with January 6th
Far from shore after a week at sea, a Florida fisherman named John Yates was buste
d by wildlife officials for catching grouper that were too small. But before returning to the dock a day later, Yates chucked the contraband fish overboard rather than hand them over to authorities. So, the federal government charged Yates with destroying evidence under a law passed in response to the energy giant Enron and its shady financial practices. Called the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the law was intended to crack down on financial fraud and evidence destruction. Yates argued that the law governed document shredding and fish aren’t documents. Eight years later, the Supreme Court sided with the fisherman in a precedent-setting 2015 decision that limited prosecutions. Today, that dump of grouper could wind up getting Donald Trump off the hook for January 6th. more, >>click to read<< 10:47
What You Didn’t Know About the Andrea Gail and ‘Perfect Storm’ Location
In the fall of 1991, a catastrophic storm swept the northeastern coast of the U.S., wreaking havoc along the coast of Massachusetts. The Andrea Gail set out from Gloucester on what was meant to be a month-long fishing trip off the coast of Newfoundland, covering a total of 900 miles. What they didn’t know was that the storm heading up the coast would take the lives of 13 people and cause millions of dollars in damage from Florida all the way up to Nova Scotia. Winds from the storm reached strengths of 120 miles per hour, and when no communication was heard from the 72-foot Andrea Gail, which was right in the center of the storm, the search was called off in a matter of ten days. To this day, the trawler, and its crew, have never been recovered. Here’s what you never knew about the Andrea Gail’s last communication, speculation about what exactly happened, and the haunting clues that have surfaced since. more, >>click to read<< 09:49
Nantucket’s Commercial Scalloping Harvest Tops 8,000 Bushels
Nantucket’s commercial scalloping season comes to an end today, and the harvest by island fishermen will top 8,000 bushels for the first time since the 2019-20 season. Scallopers, along with officials from the Nantucket Shellfish Association and the town’s Natural Resources Department, all said they were pleased to see the final number above 8,000 bushels, a small but not insignificant increase over last season’s total of 7,329 bushels. Bruce Cowan was among the few scallopers still fishing on Thursday, and he returned to Old South Wharf with his five-bushel limit and a smile on his face just before noon. Even with heavy rain and wind gusts expected to top 40 mph today, he said he was still thinking about getting out there for the final day of the season. Photos, more, >>click to read<< 07:45
New Bedford – True North Seafood to shut down city plant
One of the city’s largest seafood processors is shutting down its waterfront facility, laying off as many as 94 local workers as the company consolidates its production in Virginia. True North Seafood, a subsidiary of Canadian seafood giant Cooke, announced the sudden decision to its staff at a floor meeting Thursday morning. The company is a leading distributor of imported fish, processing more than 16 million pounds of salmon each year, according to its website. Cooke has both harvesting and processing operations spanning 15 countries and over 13,000 workers. Its revenues are north of $4 billion, according to a recent interview with CEO Glenn Cooke. more, >>click to read<< 20:16
Opinion: In memoriam of Blue Harvest — private equity giveth, and it taketh away
You have to be careful when you swim with sharks — sometimes private equity sponsors. Sadly, for New Bedford, Blue Harvest did business with the Dutch private equity firm Bregal Partners. There’s a lot to unpack here, but one thing that sticks out is why a Dutch financial firm would have an interest in a New Bedford fishing company? Big fans of cod? Nope. Money. The answer is always money. The point here is not to blame the process — it’s to learn to avoid the greedy players involved and reflect on why we all did not see it coming. Or at the very least for being surprised it happened. more, >>click to read<< 16:59
Retired Lobsterman Joseph A. Pesce Jr. of Revere, Mass, has passed away
Joseph was born in Revere on September 15, 1938. He was the son of the late Joseph A. and Anna (D’Ambrosio) Pesce. He had been a lifelong resident of Revere and attended Revere Public Schools. Following high school, Joe worked at the Boston Ship Yard as a pipe fitter until he decided to pursue his passion to be a lobsterman. Joe began working as a commercial lobsterman, which was a career that would span over 65 years. His devoted son, David, joined in his passion for lobstering and worked alongside him for the last 30 years. They were the best partners. He was a dedicated and hard-working man who devoted his life to providing for his family. more, >>click to read<< 12:27
Lineless Lobster Launches The Gear Guardian as a Low Cost Rapidly Deployable Interim Solution to the Entanglement Crisis
Lineless Lobster proudly announces the launch of its new project aimed to help address the Right Whale entanglement issue with a product called “The Gear Guardian.” The Gear Guardian is a low cost mechanical device with no electronics that attaches to any lobster trap in minutes. It is designed to reduce the occurrence and severity of Right Whale entanglements, provide a way to rescue otherwise lost “ghost gear” and prove a consumer demand for ethically sourced lobster. “It hit me two years ago-I love whales but hate the way the entanglement issue with Right Whales is playing out. It’s painful seeing Lobstermen hit with unfair regulations and at the same time watching good science be ignored or debated,” says Chris Buchanan, Founder of Lineless Lobster. links, more, >>click to read<< 09:33
Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut receive proposals for offshore wind projects
Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut received proposals Wednesday for offshore wind projects as the three East Coast states hope to boost their reliance on the renewable energy source. The three states joined in a historic agreement that allows for potential coordinated selection of offshore wind projects. Massachusetts received bids from Avangrid Renewables, South Coast Wind Energy and Vineyard Offshore in response to the region’s largest solicitation to date for offshore wind, seeking up to 3,600 megawatts. more, >>click to read<< 08:07
‘I’m not going to hang around:’ Some Maine lobstermen decide to quit over new regulations
Some lobstermen have decided the paperwork, and more harsh future regulations, aren’t worth it. Bill Coppersmith’s lobster boat is named the “Billy and Andy.” He stopped lobstering the day new reporting requirements started. “Forty-three years of doing it, I took the last of my gear out of the water on New Year’s Day. And I said, ‘That’s probably it,'” Coppersmith said. “It’s come to be too restrictive to go. It creates more work. And I can’t create any more revenue because of the restrictions they’re putting on here.” Lobstermen are also now required to keep a tracking device on board so the Atlantic States Commission can track their movements in the Gulf of Maine. Coppersmith says that’s an invasion of privacy. Video, more, >>click to read<< 06:26
