Category Archives: New England
A sunken historic fishing boat is leaking fuel off Maine’s coast
Harpswell officials are working to raise a historic 83-foot fishing boat that’s been leaking oil in the New Meadows River after it was sunk by one of the twin storms that hit Maine’s coast in January. But it’s unclear who would pay for that work or how quickly it could happen. It’s also questionable whether a new owner would be able to save the boat once it’s recovered, although a relative of its original owner is making a longshot effort to do so. First built in 1949 by Newbert & Wallace in Thomaston, the Jacob Pike was a refrigerated vessel used to fish for and transport sardines. After the collapse of Maine’s sardine industry in the 1950s, the vessel was used to transport lobster, then pogies. more, >>click to read<< 09:30
Female-run fishing businesses are keeping the industry alive in Gloucester, Mass.
A few local business owners in Gloucester are hoping to expand the image of who is a fisherman. Melissa and Donna Marshall are two of those women. They own Cape Ann Fresh Catch, the largest community-supported fishery in the country. Donna started working with the CSF in 2009 when it was founded. When Melissa took the reins, she expanded Cape Ann Fresh Catch to include a smokehouse, Twin Light Smokehouse. Smoking fish is another way that the CSF can reduce waste. Owner Tessa Browne started Cape Ann Lobstermen in 2017 as a wholesaler of live lobsters and crabs. Video, more, >>click to read<< 08:09
Maine Fishermen’s Forum begins Thursday at Samoset in Rockport: shellfish, wind power, working waterfront access
Patrick Keliher, Commission of the Maine Department of Marine Resources, will be the keynote speaker at 70th annual meeting of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, March 1, at the Maine Fishermen’s Forum, in Rockport. The Fishermen’s Forum, now in its 49th year, begins Thursday, Feb. 29, with seminars and the trade show, and continues through Saturday, culminating with an annual dance. The Maine Fishermen’s Forum is a three-day annual event held over the first weekend in March at the Samoset Resort. The Forum brings together fishermen, sea farmers, gear suppliers, state and federal scientists and regulators, and other stakeholders for education, collaboration, commerce, and more. The trade show and seminars are free to attend. more, >>click to read<< 07:03
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 74′ Steel Scalloper/Dragger, Caterpillar 3412
To review specifications, information, and 38 photos’,>click here<, To see all the boats in this series, >click here< 08:29
Maine’s lobster fishermen struggle with efforts to save right whales
Willis Spear stands in the backyard of his Yarmouth, Maine home. Behind him are dozens of yellow and green lobster traps. Spear, 67, spends most of the winter preparing these traps to be deployed in the Gulf of Maine come April. It’s a task this lifelong lobster fisherman has carried out each year since he was a child. “The water gives us life,” Spear said on an unusually warm winter day in late February. Over the last decade, lobster fishermen in Maine have faced increasingly stronger financial headwinds, from the price of fuel to the revenue they are receiving for the lobster themselves. The lobster-fishing industry generates hundreds of millions of dollars for Maine’s economy each year. Video, more, >>click to read<< 18:37
Fisheries Survival Fund Calls for Reevaluation of Draft PEIS on Offshore Wind Development Impacts on Scallop Fisheries in the New York Bight
The Fisheries Survival Fund (FSF) has submitted to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) regarding the Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (Draft PEIS) for the New York Bight Wind Energy Area. The FSF, representing the majority of full-time Limited Access scallop fishermen on the East Coast, has raised significant concerns over the inadequacies of the Draft PEIS in addressing the impacts of offshore wind development on scallop fisheries, which are among the most valuable federally-managed commercial fisheries in the United States. The FSF argues that the Draft PEIS, while prepared under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), fails to adequately mitigate the impacts of offshore wind development on the Mid-Atlantic scallop resource and does not sufficiently reduce wind farm interference with scallop fishing activities. more, >>click to read<< 06:55
Lifelong Commercial Fisherman Jason Libby of the Saint George Peninsula, has passed away
Jason Libby, a lifelong resident of the St. George Peninsula, died in his sleep at home, on Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024. Jason graduated from Georges Valley High School in Thomaston in 1992, where he played soccer, was the class clown and made his mark on all those around him. He started his lifelong commercial fishing career while still in school, fishing for scallops, shrimp, and groundfish with his father, Glen, and uncle, Gary, on the family fishing boats out of Port Clyde. Later, Jason also spent time fishing on boats out of Gloucester and New Bedford, Mass. as captain, mate and crew. He fished with his uncle Wayne, brother Justin, longtime captain Stephen Sukeforth, and on many other boats with dorymates who loved and respected Jason. Jason enjoyed spending his free time with his children and grandchild, going out of his way to ensure they were cared for and loved. more, >>click to read<< 13:45
Here’s how activists use lobstermen as bait to endanger Maine industry, communities
Far left activists are exploiting the recent death of an endangered whale to imperil the future of Maine’s iconic lobster fishery. These organizations have poor command of the facts and no knowledge of our industry. Their agitating imperils our fishery and the working communities that depend on it. Organizations like the National Resources Defense Council, the Conservation Law Foundation and others are exploiting this event to pressure regulators to impose new rules. These organizations are restless and can claim some success. A self-styled watchdog called Seafood Watch convinced Whole Foods to stop stocking Maine lobster products late in 2022. 3 Videos, more, >>click to read<< By Dustin Delano 16:12
A day on the ocean with Maine’s tough winter scallopers
Their day began in the 5:30 a.m. darkness, when Josh Todd and his father, Alex Todd, steamed the F/V Jacob & Joshua from Chebeague Island to Littlejohn Island, where they picked up Blanchard. As Alex Todd piloted his boat to the day’s fishing ground west of Eagle Island, Josh Todd and Blanchard readied the vessel’s eight-foot, 1,500-pound dredge where it hung from scaffolding at the stern. Once in position, Blanchard lowered the dredge on a quarter-inch steel cable. The Jacob & Joshua shuddered, and the rigging groaned, as the dredge bit into the graveled sea floor, roughly 80 feet below. 8 photos, more, >>click to read<< 08:15
U.S. Coast Guard performs medevac recuse off coast of Nantucket for injured crew member
The U.S. Coast Guard performed a medevac recuse off the coast of Nantucket for an injured crew member on Thursday. According to the Coast Guard, the fishing vessel F/V Rachel Leah was 150 nautical miles off Nantucket when a crewman sustained facial injuries. The victim was described as a 50-year-old with a large laceration. The Coast Guard says a tight line struck him in the face. Video, >>click to read<< 06:01
Maine Fishermen’s Forum returns Feb. 28
The Maine Fishermen’s Forum comes to the Samoset Resort on Thursday, Feb. 28 to kick off the 49th annual event. “The Forum brings together fishermen, sea farmers, gear suppliers, state and federal scientists and regulators, and other stakeholders for education, collaboration, commerce, and more,” according to mainefirshermensforum.org. For three days the forum takes over the Samoset with fishing industry group meetings, educational seminars, a trade show with more than 130 exhibitors, children’s activities and social evening happenings. more info, >>click to read<< 15:14
Hull Lifesaving Museum to host bestselling author, fishing boat Captain Linda Greenlaw
Although the 43rd annual Snow Row takes place next weekend (Saturday, March 2), the world- famous rowing race is not the only large-scale event on the Hull Lifesaving Museum’s winter calendar. Greenlaw, the only female swordfishing boat captain on the East Coast who was featured in “The Perfect Storm” by Sebastian Junger (and in the film based on the book), will discuss her remarkable career on Saturday, March 9 at in the auditorium of the Memorial Middle School. Greenlaw wrote three best-selling books about life as a commercial fisher: “The Hungry Ocean,” “The Lobster Chronicles,” and “All Fishermen Are Liars.” She now lives on Isle au Haut, Maine, where she captains a lobster boat. more, >>click to read<< 13:01
War On Maine’s Lobstermen?
If you want an emblem of the “man’s man,” larger than life, daring and doing, self-reliant, depend-on-nature, a make-it-happen guy, who rises with the dawn, works hard, asks little, wants little, values independence, and will never fly a desk… that’s the Maine lobsterman or woodsman. Now, they are being scapegoated for wind farms – or some other cause – apparently killing Right whales. Go figure. A more cynical irony is hard to imagine. The wind subsidy crowd, sure they will make money off the taxpayer-funded “green wave” with gold at the end of a government-funded rainbow, has decided – in Washington and “activist cells” around America – to hit Maine’s lobstermen. Wrong. more, >>click to read<< by Robert B. Charles 07:17
Maine Lobster Community Alliance donates $10,000 to help coastal communities rebuild
The Maine Lobster Community Alliance (MLCA), a non-profit based in Kennebunk whose mission is to foster thriving coastal communities and preserve Maine’s lobstering heritage, announced today that it is donating $10,000 to the Working Waterfront Support Fund. The fund was established following January’s devastating storms and historic flooding that caused widespread destruction and millions of dollars of damage in communities up and down the Maine coast. “Lobstermen can’t get to work if they don’t have access to working waterfront,” said Amber-Jean Nickel, president of the MLCA. “Right now, so many hardworking families who live in our coastal communities are suffering and trying to pick up the pieces. more, >>click to read<< 10:18
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 68′ Fiberglass Dragger, 3408 Cat, /State and Federal Permits
To review specifications, information, and 38 photos’,>click here<, To see all the boats in this series, >click here< 08:52
Grants available for municipal and regional projects in coastal communities
The Department of Marine Resources’ Maine Coastal Program (MCP) and the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry’s Municipal Planning Assistance Program (MPAP) are seeking applications for coastal planning grants totaling approximately $300,000. Funding for these planning grants comes from the Maine Coastal Program’s annual grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). In response to the significant impacts of recent storms experienced by Maine’s coastal communities, the FY 2025 Coastal Community Grant Program and Shore and Harbor Planning Grant Program are being combined into one grant program. The matching fund requirement has been eliminated and the application process has been modified to include a Letter of Intent, followed by a final application by invitation only. Lots of links, and information. more >>click to read<< 16:39
Janet Mills announces Sears Island as preferred site for offshore wind power port
Gov. Janet Mills announced Tuesday that her administration has selected Sears Island in Searsport as the preferred site for development of a large, offshore wind port designed to jumpstart the clean energy economy in Maine and the transition away from fossil fuels. Selection of the site follows a public stakeholder process led by the Maine Department of Transportation and the Maine Port Authority to consider several potential options in the Port of Searsport, the Port of Eastport and the Port of Portland. Nearly four years ago, Gov. Mills identified the Port of Searsport as the leading site in Maine to “support the transportation, assembly and fabrication of offshore wind turbines.” She also called for further study of the port’s assets and future needs. This story will be updated. more, >>click to read<< 14:15
Maine lobster industry reacts to right whale found entangled in rope
Maine’s lobster industry is responding following the discovery of a dead North Atlantic right whale near Martha’s Vineyard last month. According to federal authorities, the whale was entangled in fishing rope, including portions traced back to Maine. While NOAA has yet to determine the exact cause of the whale’s demise, Maine lobstermen are fearing potential blame. “They’re going to say that the rope, you know, caused harm to the whale, and over time, it just was a very slow death,” said John Drouin, a Lobsterman from Cutler with over 40 years of experience. The incident marks the first documented interaction between a right whale and Maine fishing gear in over two decades. more, >>click to read<< 11:49
Sam Parisi asks, How Accurate is NOAA and NOAA Fishery Survey Science?
The agency is not required to compare their results with other independent science. The unproven science may bring concern on the health of fish stocks the industry depends upon. Our Fishermen and Fishing Industry depend on sound science. We need a Magnuson Act Amendment which would require NOAA to compare their science with other independent scientific surveys before any restrictions are placed on, or allocation cuts are enacted. Thank you, Sam Parisi. (click here to comment) 07:22New England Fishermen Fear NOAA Retaliation as Feds Pin Dead Whale on Maine Lobstermen
For the first time in twenty years, the death of a North Atlantic Right Whale has been linked to Maine fishing gear, according to a federal environmental agency. Found dead off of Martha’s Vineyard on January 28 near Joseph Sylvia State Beach, the juvenile, female whale was described as having been entangled in a rope that was “deeply embedded in the tail.” According to the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) — parent agency of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) — the rope found on the whale contained purple markings that are consistent with water trap and pot buoy lines used by lobstermen in Maine. Photos, more, >>click to read<< 07:22
Captain Jimmy Ruhle Honored Posthumously with New Cooperative Research Award
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council named Captain Jimmy Ruhle as the first recipient and namesake of a new award that recognizes outstanding contributions to cooperative fisheries research in the Mid-Atlantic region. His son, Captain Robert Ruhle, accepted the award on his father’s behalf during the Council’s meeting last week in Arlington, Virginia. Jimmy Ruhle was a lifelong commercial fisherman, a former Council member, and a trailblazer in cooperative fisheries research. He had an instrumental role in the creation and success of the Northeast Area Monitoring and Assessment Program (NEAMAP) Mid-Atlantic/Southern New England trawl survey, a cooperative fishery-independent survey of coastal waters from Cape Hatteras north to Cape Cod. Since 2007, the survey has been conducted biannually aboard Jimmy’s vessel, the F/V Darana R, by a team of Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) researchers working in partnership with Jimmy and his crew. more, >>click to read<< 13:11
Warren, Markey and Keating demand answers from Blue Harvest owners
“After years of putting private equity profits ahead of workers and small businesses, Bregal Partners — which owned and stripped Blue Harvest of its assets — owes the community an explanation,” wrote Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Ed Markey and U.S. Rep Bill Keating. They each signed the joint letter addressed to Gene Yoon, managing partner of Bregal Partners, which owned 89.5% of New Bedford-based seafood giant Blue Harvest Fisheries prior to the company declaring bankruptcy in September of 2023. “Bregal’s actions with respect to Blue Harvest have left local small businesses and workers holding the bag after your firm spent years price gouging, mistreating workers, saddling consumers with junk fees, and stripping assets,” the letter continued. “Your actions have harmed New England’s fishing industry and left over 1,000 independent contractors, businesses, and other creditors saddled with debt.” more, >>click to read<< 07:18
Statement from Maine Lobstermen’s Association on Right Whale death
“The Maine Lobstermen’s Association (MLA) is deeply saddened by the death of a juvenile right whale that NMFS has attributed to the Maine fishery. We know that entanglement in Maine gear is extremely rare. This is the first reported entanglement of a right whale in Maine lobster gear in 20 years and the first death attributed to the fishery. Maine lobstermen have made significant changes to how they fish over the last 25 years to avoid entanglement and continue gear testing. The MLA will continue this important work as we review the data and evidence that NMFS has collected. MLA remains committed to finding a solution to ensure a future for right whales and Maine’s lobster fishery”. 16:50
Maine lobstering gear linked to right whale death for first time
A federal regulatory agency has confirmed that the right whale found dead near Martha’s Vineyard in January had been tangled in Maine lobstering gear. It is the first time Maine gear has been found on a dead right whale, an endangered species. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries announced Wednesday afternoon that the female right whale calf found on Jan. 28 near the island off Cape Cod had been injured by gear that has markings distinct to Maine lobstering operations. The link to Maine fishing gear was confirmed by the Maine Department of Marine Resources. Commissioner Patrick Keliher traveled to Massachusetts with department staff to inspect the gear and arrived at the same conclusion. more , >>click to read<< 15:37
Oregon fishermen, tribes angered by surprise announcement on offshore wind energy areas
Federal officials say Oregon’s wind energy areas were developed “following extensive engagement and feedback from the state, Tribes, local residents, ocean users, federal government partners, and other members of the public” and are based on reducing conflicts with ocean users, particularly commercial fishermen. The areas avoid 98% of the locations recommended for exclusion due to their importance as commercial fishing grounds, they said. But local groups representing fishermen and Indigenous communities said that narrative is inaccurate and the federal government’s engagement with local communities was perfunctory at best, failing to take into account suggested impacts on local fishing areas, the environment and views that are sacred to tribes. The groups said the announcement caught them by surprise since Gov. Tina Kotek had asked the federal agency last June to pause identifying and leasing offshore wind areas so the state could fully evaluate potential impacts on the environment and economy. more, >>click to read<< 10:07
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 40′ H&H Lobster Boat, 575HP Scania DI 1242M Diesel
To review specifications, information, and 9 photos’,>click here<, To see all the boats in this series, >click here< 08:01
Lifelong commercial fisherman Jeremy Davis of Maine, has passed away
Jeremy G. Davis died unexpectedly on Saturday, January 27, 2024, at York Hospital after a short illness. Jeremy was a lifelong commercial fisherman. He crewed and eventually captained boats for others out of ports in Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts in his early years. Eventually, Jeremy purchased his first commercial fishing boat, a 42′ boat fittingly named the F/V Chutzpah. This allowed him to stay closer to home, support his young family, and avoid the extended offshore trips on larger vessels. His love for fishing was not just a job; it was his life’s work. Jeremy was an extremely hard worker who rarely took a day off from running his fishing business. He eventually purchased his largest boat, the F/V Karen Lynn I, named after his wife of 42 years. Jeremy captained that boat until his semi-retirement a few short years ago when he started spending winters in Port Charlotte, Florida. more, >>click to read<< 09:34
January storms leave many working waterfronts in Maine adrift
Chris Hole watched in horror last month as the storm pummeled his family’s fishing business at Lookout Point in Harpswell. It was Jan. 13, and the second of two powerful storms in less than a week leveled Henry Allen’s Seafood, a lobster wharf, wholesaler and retailer. Strong winds and high tides wiped out the dock’s seawall, drowned new refrigeration units and flooded buildings with waist-high water. Guy Baker left his fish house on Bailey Island that day so he wouldn’t have to bear witness. When he returned, the building that had stood on the edge of Baker’s family property for more than 80 years had been reduced to a pile of rubble on the shore. Farther up the coast in the Washington County town of Milbridge, all but the supporting structure of Chipman’s Wharf floated away at high tide during the Jan. 10 storm. Photos, more, >>click to read<< 10:11
‘Wicked Tuna’ star meets Kaua‘i fishermen, scientist eager to resume local ahi research
Reality television star Dave Marciano, captain of the fishing vessel Hard Merchandise on the long-running National Geographic series “Wicked Tuna”, has spent the last two weeks on a whirlwind tour of Kaua. The famous fisherman, who visited with his family, was on vacation. However, he was also excited to reignite a long-running initiative between local commercial fishermen and marine biologists – which has all but stopped in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and a lack of funding. The local fishermen are more than Marciano’s colleagues: They’re also some of his biggest fans. When not discussing their shared profession, some could not resist taking a selfie or getting an autograph from the avuncular East Coast captain. Photos, more, >>click to read<< 08:46
Six offshore wind turbine sites planned off Barnegat Light, draw large crowd to Toms River
A plan to place wind turbine farms in six areas of ocean off the Jersey Shore brought a crowd to the Clarion Hotel and Conference Center on Thursday, where the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management fielded questions and concerns. Federal personnel met with more than 100 offshore wind supporters, critics and curious residents over a plan to develop an area of the Atlantic known as the New York Bight. Gus Lovgren, a fourth-generation fisherman, has a vessel named the Lilly Rose docked in Pleasant Beach. Lovgren worries that his family’s century-long fishing heritage in the United States is coming to an end. He said offshore wind farms could block his access to more than half of his usual fishing grounds. The wind farms will bring “devastation and the extinction of our industry,” Lovgren said. photos, more, >>click to read<< 07:29
