You don’t see shrimp trawlers working the sea like you once did. You don’t see them coming in with their photogenic outriggers up. To be clear, trawlers still work the sea but nowhere in numbers like they once did.,, Times were you’d see them out at sea working, nets out, capturing shrimp. Beachgoers would see several trawlers with nets up coming home with a haul. Beachgoers and locals alike knew where to get fresh-caught shrimp and it was no marketing spin. It was the real deal, but those days are slipping away. Regulations, pollution, imports, inaccessible shrimping grounds, mariculture, maintenance costs, aging fleets, and other factors have put the hurt on the shrimping industry. >click to read< 07:36
Category Archives: South Atlantic
Fishing trawler aground in rough seas in OBX Tuesday morning – Four fishermen rescued
A fishing trawler grounded in rough seas in the Outer Banks Tuesday morning. Four crew members from the F/V Bald Eagle II was airlifted a Coast Guard Jayhawk helicopter from Station Elizabeth City. The F/V Bald Eagle II is a 78-foot-long steel-hulled trawler. >Video, click to read< – Coast Guard rescues four from disabled vessel off Southern Shores – According to USCG Petty Officer Stephen Lehmann, the call came in after the Bald Eagle II had become disabled and was drifting closer to shore. >click to read< 12:21
Couple recovering after fishing boat sinks in Shem Creek
It was a difficult morning for a young couple and after their commercial fishing boat sunk in Shem Creek sometime during the early morning hours, dumping around 100 gallons of water into the creek as it went down. “We woke up this morning, came down to check the boat as normal,” said one of the boat’s owners. But things were anything but normal. Their source of income was gone. “We just have to keep our composure. It’s just a big old bump in the road, one foot in front of the other and keep on going forward. That’s just life of a commercial fisherman.” Video, >click to read< 09:03
Commercial fishing boat sinks in Shem Creek
Boaters are being asked to avoid the area of Shem Creek on Monday as crews work to clean up an oil spill that resulted from an overturned boat. According to the Mount Pleasant Fire Department, the Hampton Caroline spilled around 100 gallons of oil into Shem Creek. The boat was first reported sinking around 9:00 a.m. Monday, but officials believe it began taking on water overnight. video>click to read< Crews clean up fuel spill after boat sinks at Shem Creek – The clean up effort is underway in Shem Creek after a vessel sank in the early hours of Monday morning, leaking 50-100 gallon of fuel. photo, >click to read< 19:33
North Carolina: Marine Fisheries Commission selects options for shrimp management plan
The North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission selected preferred management options for the draft Shrimp Fishery Management Plan Amendment 2,,,The commission selected options to permanently close all trawling in crab sanctuaries; to prohibit trawling in Bogue Sound and its tributaries except for the Intracoastal Waterway; and prohibit trawling in the Carolina Yacht Basin, except for the Intracoastal Waterway. However, the commission did not go forward with proposed regional area closures that would have prohibited trawling in most estuarine waters except for Pamlico Sound. >click to read< 13:45
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for December 3, 2021
Shocked or Not, You Should Be Disgusted! Prior to the November MFC meeting, when the draft Shrimp FMP would be voted on, the following post was made by ” Rick S ” on social media.,, Legislative updates, Bill updates, Calendar, >Click here to read the Weekly Update<, to read all the updates >click here<, for older updates listed as NCFA >click here< 09:43
Grounded fishing vessel stranded at Cape Hatteras National Seashore is now free
A fishing vessel previously grounded at Cape Hatteras National Seashore is now free. Officials posted about the stranded fishing vessel on Monday, although it is unclear how long the vessel has been grounded in the Seashore. The vessel named F/V Jonathan Ryan was found near off-road vehicle ramp 48 which is approximately 1.25 miles southeast of the Frisco Campground. >click to read< 08: 46
UPDATED: Fishing trawler aground near Frisco
A fishing trawler has run aground on the Outer Banks. The Cape Hatteras National Seashore says the F/V Jonathan Ryan is stuck in the surf about a mile south of the Frisco Campground. The trawler is 65 feet long and weighs some 113 tons. >click to read< and Fishing Vessel Grounds At Cape Hatteras National Seashore – National Park Service staff are monitoring a commercial fishing vessel that grounded at Cape Hatteras National 
Seashore (Seashore). The F/V JONATHAN RYAN is located near off-road vehicle ramp 48, approximately 1.25 miles southeast of the Frisco Campground. >click to read<, 11:55 Fishing trawler runs aground along southern Hatteras Island – The Jonathon Ryan fishing boat ran aground near Frisco NC. I have no information n what happened but there are still people on the ship and I’m sure it will get pulled back out. Authorities are on the scene. Video, >click to read< 13:29
Fundraiser established for a man that lost his shrimp boat on Thanksgiving Day
McClellanville, S.C., Hello all, My name is Pressley Kellum, Noe Kellum’s daughter. November 25th, 2021, Thanksgiving Day; my dad left his boat for an hour and a half to have dinner with family friends. Everything was fine before he left and he had no concerns about his boat while he was gone. However, just within that hour he went back to the dock to get something for a friend and that’s when he walked upon every shrimpers fear. >click to read<, and please donate if you can. 15:46
Shrimp industry vital to Eastern North Carolina economy
A recent proposal from the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries is shining new light on the impact the shrimping industry has on eastern North Carolina.,, That original proposition was voted down by state commissioners Thursday,,, Yet many shrimpers, and other county residents, are still reeling from the close call. One of those is 5th generation Shrimper, Cayton Daniels, who makes his entire living off of shrimping. He says he wouldn’t have survived the proposal’s closures. photos, >click to read< 08:41
Research Team Supports Reinstatement of Maine Lobster Fishing Ban
The New England Aquarium’s Right Whale Research Team recently voiced their support of a recent ruling by a federal appeals court which reinstated protective measures for critically endangered North Atlantic Right Whales off the coast of Maine. Despite objections from the Maine Lobstering Union, the ban of lobster fishing in hundreds of miles of waters off the coast of Maine was upheld by the First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In their statement, the Right Whale Research Team said,,, >click to read< 11:17
A “shot across the bow”: Shrimp trawl decision was a close call for consumers
After two days of public hearings during which few participants voiced any support for the proposed closures, the commission voted 5-4 to include an additional 10,000 acres to the existing 1 million acres already closed to shrimp trawling. Ostensibly the proposed closure, had it been approved, would have shut down approximately 119 small independent commercial shrimpers whose vessels, ranging 35-50 feet in length, are too small to trawl in the open ocean. But, as the large number of speakers noted during the Marine Fisheries Commission meeting noted, the closure would have far greater impact. >click to read< 09:19
Mullet fishermen: A journey from Carteret County to Florida
The salt mullet trade to Cuba began to fade at the end of the 19th century, however. In the 1880s and 1890s, the first railroads reached Tampa. The railroads then began to inch further into southwest Florida, opening up the fresh fish trade to other parts of the United States for the first time. Like so many in Carteret County, Miss Lela’s husband wasn’t going to miss out on the opportunity. “So in July of 1911 we come on the sharpie to Morehead (City), me and him and our first two children, and then we got on the train to New Bern and stayed the night,” Miss Lela told Ben Green. They took the train to Tampa, boarded a steamer down the coast to Bradenton and then took a taxi to Cortez. “Once we got settled I liked it,” Miss Lela remembered. “But that first year I was still so homesick for North Carolina that I cried all Christmas Day.” photos, >click to read< 13:15
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Newsletter/Update for November 19, 2021
Shrimp FMP, Amendment 2:, The MFC meeting in Emerald Isle started out with a public comment period on Wednesday evening that lasted about 2 hours. The comments were limited to 3 minutes with overwhelming opposition to the DMF proposal to close certain areas to shrimping. The comments came from shrimpers, NCFA, county commissioners, a state Senator and consumers. We’ll offer a public thank you to the groups and individuals in the next update. >click to read<, to read all the updates >click here<, for older updates listed as NCFA >click here<-08:40
NCFC votes down controversial shrimp FMP recommendations, hand-pick preferred measures
The amendment, particularly recommended closures, has faced considerable opposition, including from commercial shrimpers, consumers and government officials. The DMF recommended to the MFC a suite of management measures that included closing 315,206 acres of coastal waters to shrimp trawling to reduce bycatch. Combined with existing areas closed to trawling, the division recommendations would have closed 62.1% of the state’s estuarine waters to such activity. After lengthy deliberation, about 55 speakers during two public comment periods and a motion on the DMF recommendations failing 4-5, the commission selected it’s preferred management measures,,, >click to read< 21:49
Shrimpers, citizens voice concerns at meeting with N.C. Marine Fisheries officials
People from across Eastern North Carolina who want shrimp trawling to remain open showed up in Emerald Isle Wednesday night for a public hearing. Shrimpers, fishermen, business owners and customers were out in full force to plead with the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission. “I feel like this is not a shrimp fishery management plan, neither is it a bycatch management plan. I feel like this is a commercial fisherman elimination plan,” said Ted Smith. “If you proceed with what you’re doing, you will not only affect the fisheries, you will affect the schools, you will affect the hospitals, you will affect the crime rate,” said one New Bern woman. >Video, click to read< 12:58
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 85′ Steel Scalloper/Trawler, Cat 3412, 2 gensets
To review specifications, information, with 12 photos, >click here< , To see all the boats in this series >click here< 11:35
Democrats And Republicans Debate Changes To Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Act
Everyone needs to watch this. You should be alarmed. >click to watch. 09:33
Watermen tackle offshore wind farm development concerns, company pushes (subsidized) economic benefit
“I just want to be able to go fishing.” Those were fisherman Jimmy Hahn’s words as he is one of many who are concerned about U.S. Wind offshore wind developments. Now with political leaders on their side, watermen hope to see some change moving forward. “Those guys have really stepped up to the plate. “People who buy electricity in the state are paying an extra amount in order to subsidize the windmills. That means that someone should stand up for these taxpayers. If we’re going to spend taxpayer dollars to build these windmills and subsidize them there should be proper oversight,” Representative Harris said. Another concern that came up Wednesday by waterman and Congressman Harris was the possibility of U.S. Wind not being an actual U.S. based company. >click to read< 09:03
Captain Horatio “Raish” Beck, of Rodanthe, NC, has passed away
Captain Horatio “Raish” Beck, 81, of Rodanthe, NC passed away at home on Friday, November 12, 2021. Born August 17, 1940, in Rodanthe to Walter Henry Beck and Laura Etta Scarborough, he was the grandson of Levene Westcott Midgett and Lucretia Midgett. Raish fished all of his life and was a scallop boat captain for Wanchese Fish Company for 30 years. He was devoted to his family and a faithful man of God. He has numerous friends up and down the East Coast. >click to read< 11:45
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly & Special Update for November 12, 2021
Legislative updates, Bill updates, Calendar, >Click here to read the Weekly Update<, to read all the updates >click here<, for older updates listed as NCFA >click here< 08:06
An Important Message From the North Carolina Fisheries Association, Inc. on Amendment 2, Shrimp FMP
Next week at their November 17-19 quarterly business meeting the NC Marine Fisheries Commission (MFC) will hear public comment and vote on preferred management options for Amendment 2 to the Shrimp Fishery Management Plan (FMP). (https://deq.nc.gov/media/
Closing inland shrimping will cost the consuming public more
More than just the livelihood of approximately 119 small, independent commercial fishing businesses stand to be hurt by a proposed N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries recommendation closing large swaths of inland waters to shrimping. This decision will have a negative impact on the primary stakeholders of this fishery, hundreds of thousands of consumers who enjoy fresh, local wild caught seafood. The DMF proposal, entitled Amendment 2 to the state’s Shrimp Fisheries Management Plan, notes that the shrimp fishery is “consistently one of the top two commercial fisheries by value” in the state. In 2019 this fishery had a “dockside value of over $22 million,,, Not noted in this report is the consumer benefit of the fishery which is difficult to quantify. >click to read< 07:53
Jim Kendall – Finding Common Ground
With regard to the letter from Sam Novello posted on Fisherynation.com, Finding Common Ground off to a Bad Start, he very eloquently laid out some of the faults, errors, and out and out incompetence of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center with respect to their continued mismanagement of the Northeast fisheries stock assessments. I know from past work and associations with the NEFSC that this has been going on for so long that they likely now believe their own Mantra about their science being the best (and only way) in which to compile the NE groundfish stock assessment. Unfortunately groundfish is not their only problematic stock assessment. >click to read< 16:32
North Carolina: With possible shrimp trawl closures, concern over ‘detrimental’ proposal
State fisheries managers are scheduled to choose preferred management options for shrimp at their next meeting, and the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries recommends closing more coastal waters to shrimp trawls. According to one local shrimper, these closures could put a lot of local fishermen out of business. “It puts the little man out of business, the people with boats in the 40- to 50-foot range,” Mr. Davis said. >click to read< 08:19
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for November 5, 2021
Legislative updates, Bill updates, Calendar, >Click here to read the Weekly Update<, to read all the updates >click here<, for older updates listed as NCFA >click here< 10:18
Biden’s Offshore Wind Farm Target Will Increase Costs, Reduce Reliability
Congress passed the first temporary production tax credit for wind in 1992 and extended it 13 times since then. The Democrat’s reconciliation package contains about $235 billion in incentives for wind and solar,,, The reconciliation package Build Back Better would make the PTC and investment tax credit direct payments, instead of a tax credit against any taxes owed. That is, renewable energy developers would receive a check from the government for the subsidy. Further, solar, which has long qualified for an investment tax credit but not the production tax credit available to wind, would now qualify for both. The legislation would also restore the PTC and ITC to their original values as follows: >click to read< 14:41
The U.S. is hungry for seafood, but more industrial aquaculture is not the answer
An often cited statistic to prove the need for industrial aquaculture is that as a country, we import as much as 90% of the seafood we consume. A lesser-known fact is that U.S. seafood exports have grown to record levels over the past decade. Rather than allowing destructive fish farming practices that can pollute our environment and displace commercial fishing in our markets, we should support our domestic fishing communities, so they can sell more of the higher-quality wild-caught seafood we produce here at home. Right now, megacorporation’s are pushing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies to gut existing regulations and fast-track permit approvals to build new floating factory fish farms and control even more of the seafood market. >click to read< 14:11
1 dead, 1 survived overturned shrimp boat near Warsaw Island in Chatham County
Georgia DNR Wardens responded to a call from the Chatham County Marine Patrol Monday around 2 p.m. about a shrimp boat that overturned with two people o it, according to a release from DNR. The boat was about one mile south of Warsaw Island. One person was able to jump free of the boat as it went over and survived. The coroner’s office identified the victim as Charles Dixon, 73, of Eden. >click to read< 12:05
In a bayman’s death is a lesson
On a summer day in August, a memorial was held at Green River Cemetery in Springs for a man named Dan King, who had died in North Carolina in April 2020. Dan grew up in the Springs section of East Hampton, where his family had roots going back three centuries to the first European settlers. Dan was a fisherman, specifically a member of the haul-seining community. That’s a method of fishing in which dories are launched from the beach into the surf and nets are spread out to encircle schools of striped bass that are then winched onto the shore. The Kings had done it for generations, as had members of the Lester family. >click to read< 13:09
