Monthly Archives: February 2015
Deadliest Catch: The Quest to Coat Cornelia Marie – Picking Your Paint
Josh Harris and Casey McManus, a pair of 31-year-olds who respectively own and run the fishing boat Cornelia Marie – made famous on the Discovery Channel’s cable television show Deadliest Catch – discuss their decision to protect the Cornelia Marie with Sherwin-Williams marine coatings. According to Harris, in the wake of his father’s death the process to purchase the boat was tough financially given the inflated value of the boat due to the long-running success of Deadliest Catch. Read the rest here 08:23
Salmon Sisters Meld East Coast Education With Commercial Fishing Roots
Today we meet a pair of Alaskans who run the business Salmon Sisters. Emma and Claire Laukitis were born and raised on the Aleutian Islands near False Pass. Emma says it was quiet and simple upbringing. And when the sisters got a little older their dad started taking them commercial fishing with him in the summers. Claire says they were too young to pull nets, but that didn’t matter.“Going out on the boat was a big deal,” Claire said. “We were excited to spend time with my dad, and just spend time outside with one another.” Read the rest here 08:12
1 Fisherman found dead, 1 rescued from Gulf
A shrimping trip turned tragic after a Pasco County boat sunk in the Gulf of Mexico, claiming the life of 29-year-old Anthony Coffey. His cousin, William Coffey, 17, was found hours earlier, clinging to a life vest.”We found out it was going down so we all hurried up and come back to the dock and unloaded our stuff and then we all went out searching for him,” said Matthew Hubbard, a cousin of the two men. The mayday call came in at 1:40 a.m. Tuesday from the Miss Melody Video, Read the rest here 22:24
And in New Jersey, Now They Want to Privatize Wildlife Management – No, I’m Not Kidding
The Greedy Green Mafia Strikes Again! As if Gov. Christie’s recent privatization of NJ’s water resources wasn’t bad enough, they’ve gone way too far now. And this one has the Keep It Green Coalition and/or NJ Audubon’s fingerprints all over it. I am referring to proposed legislation (S2624), sponsored by Republican Senator “Kippy” Bateman, that would establish a “private wildlife” management program. Read the rest here 20:27
Really? Gloucester officials unaware of fishery disaster funding role
Gloucester city officials, caught unaware of the city’s expected role in distributing federal fishery disaster funds to eligible local shore-side businesses, were scrambling today to determine exactly what the city must do to help get funds to affected businesses along the city’s waterfront. The question is whether the city should already have known about its role in the process of distributing the disaster relief to shore-side businesses in the second phase of funding. The state detailed the criteria for distribution in its fishery disaster relief application to NOAA Fisheries last September 30. Read the rest here 19:44
Changes to the Fisheries Act have some people concerned of potential harm to Atlantic Canada’s coast.
“All other industries have been able to comply with the general provisions of this act and still remain viable,” Bill Ernst, a former toxicologist with Environment Canada, told reporters on Tuesday. “In my opinion, the reason that the changes are being made is just to reduce the oversight of Environment Canada, who is the administrator of that section of the [Fisheries] Act and allow the industry more free access to some of the higher-risk chemicals” used to kill sea lice. Read the rest here 15:06
An Excellent Five Part Photo Series – Building a Wooden Lobster Boat
I love wooden lobster boats. This is a five part series, from start, to finish at Johns Bay Boat Company located in South Bristol, ME. The photographs were shot by Walt Barrows Photography. They are perfect. The craftsmanship of the builder is evident in every photograph. Being built by the John’s Bay Boat Company for James R. Tripp from Spruce Head, Maine. Boat is 46-feet, 3 inches long. Work began in July 2014. Click here for the images. 14:36
Do Not Allow Proposed Environmentally Damaging Aquaculture Activities Regulations – Coalition to Canadian Prime Minister
Business leaders, commercial and recreational fishing associations, scientists, lawyers and environmentalists are calling on Prime Minister Harper to halt the implementation of the proposed Aquaculture Activities Regulations. The changes will exempt the aquaculture industry from the Fisheries Act provisions that “prohibit the release of deleterious substances into water frequented by fish.” Read the rest here 13:55
Menemsha Fishmonger Sees Hope for Future in Blue Mussel Farm
The Vineyard’s first offshore blue mussel farm has a new owner with a long-term vision for the local fishing industry. Stanley Larsen, owner of Menemsha Fish Market, recently took over a shellfish grant for the continued operation of the aquaculture farm, which was established off Chilmark in 2006 with federal and local funding. Read the rest here 13:37
Audio Presentation: Eavesdropping on the Private Lives of Cod
If you want to protect New England’s most iconic fish and still allow fishermen to catch them, it’s critical to know when and where they reproduce. The trouble is, we don’t. It turns out cod and humans may not be as different as you’d think. Chris McGuire, marine programs director for The Nature Conservancy, says cod spawning (a.k.a. baby-making) behavior is a lot like a night club scene. Read the rest here 13:02
Video: Bitter cold weather is taking a toll on Portland’s fishing industry, and restaurants as well
Because of the weather, fishermen can’t take advantage of the higher demand for their catch. “I think a lot of guys want to go fishing because the market’s very good right now. There’s been a very high demand and low supply, but a lot of guys just don’t want to leave based on the condition of the harbor, because once you get out, there’s a very good chance, you come back, it’s still going to be frozen over. You’ve got a fiberglass hull fishing boat, it’s kind of dangerous,” said Bert Jongerden with the Portland Fish Exchange. Read the rest here 12:42
CSU Monterey Bay study backs targeted bottom trawling
The icy standoff between fishermen and environmentalists over trawling may thaw a bit thanks to new and more targeted research on its effects. James Lindholm, a professor of marine science and policy at CSU Monterey Bay, partnered with commercial fishermen and conservationists to study the effects of bottom trawling near Morro Bay. Together, they found that trawling with a small-diameter net had a negligible impact when fishing in areas with soft, sandy ocean floor. It confirmed what many fishermen already believed. Read the rest here,
Inverness Mounties nab yet another fugitive seal
Inverness District RCMP always get their man, and increasingly these days, their marine mammal. Mounties were called to Highway 19 just north of Port Hastings on Saturday after a seal was spotted on the highway. Officers found the critter and relocated him or her to the Strait of Canso off the Port Hawkesbury wharf. Although police took the animal into custody, briefly, no charges were laid. Read the rest here 11:03
DNV GL Rules for US Fishing Vessels
The fishing vessel industry fatality rate is 30 times higher than the average of all US industries. To address this, US legislation requires that all new fishing vessels bigger than 50 feet must be built to classification rules. DNV GL is the only classification society to develop rules specifically for the US domestic fishing fleet, addressing how fishing vessels are designed, built and maintained for safety. Read the rest here 10:47
State review triggers talk of cutting back Alaska’s Commercial Fisheries Limited Entry Commission
A new state review suggests the three-member state commission overseeing some of Alaska’s most lucrative commercial fisheries is prone to inefficiency and ripe for overhaul, with a few employees who are paid but rarely show up at the office. The review of , conducted by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, comes as officials struggling with a forecast $3.5 billion shortfall look to trim state spending. Read the rest here 08:13
American lobster: the new Chinese New Year delicacy – a good-luck symbol but also a mark of prosperity
Now on the menu in Beijing for Chinese New Year: lots and lots of American lobster. Exports of U.S. lobster to China have rocketed in the past few years, largely to satisfy the appetites of the communist country’s growing middle class, to whom a steamed, whole crustacean — flown in live from the United States — is not just a festive delicacy and . Read the rest here 07:38
Video: Frozen Lake Erie – Record temps keep commercial fishermen off lake
The winter months are normally slow times for those at Euclid Fish Company when it comes to expecting fresh water fish, such as yellow perch, to fill their freezers. This winter’s haul has hit a wall of ice. All winter Euclid Fish Company’s suppliers from Canada truck in boxes of frozen stock caught by commercial fishermen meeting quotas on Lake Erie. Often they can fish somewhere on the lake that hasn’t iced up, still meeting commercial demands. That isn’t the case this year and in 2013. Read the rest here 21:45
F/V Savannah Ray Run Aground in Chiniak Bay, Coast Guard Hoist’s Four Fishermen to Safety
A Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew rescued four fishermen from the fishing vessel Savannah Ray after they ran aground in Chiniak Bay near Kodiak Island, Alaska, Monday morning. The helicopter crew hoisted the four fishermen from their grounded vessel and transferred them to awaiting emergency medical services in Kodiak. The weather at the time of the rescue was reported as 51 mph winds with 11-foot seas. Video, Read the rest here 19:28
Are the oceans really dying?
Whenever environmental doomsayers run out of arguments, they turn to the sea for hope – or rather, fear. Fish stocks are collapsing, and if climate change doesn’t get us, ocean acidification will. But how true are these claims? Environmentalists are not immune to using hyperbole, lies of omission, red herrings, and appeals to sentiment, fear, guilt, reward or empathy. These are the exact same techniques that a corporate spin doctor would use in advertising. Read the rest here 18:18
Columbia River Gillnet Killer Kitzhaber and the Greedy Greens
Oregon governor John Kitzhaber may have announced that he will resign, but a sweeping FBI investigation of him and his fiancée, Cylvia Hayes, is only getting started. While the story involves personal failings, the green-energy lobbying scandal that brought them down has national lessons and implications. ( Lots of names, lots of connections. Lotss of Gr$$n) Read the rest here, Related articles 16:41
Sixteen year old skipper’s heart-break over lost trawler
THE PEMBROKESHIRE HERALD has spoken exclusively to the skipper of the a Milford-registered fishing boat, who was dramatically rescued along with the rest of his crew last week. Sixteen-year-old Jake Bowman-Davies, the youngest fully-qualified skipper in the British Isles, talked of his efforts to save the boat after she started taking on water on passage from Milford Haven to grounds off Conwy. Read the rest here 15:11
Rules Aimed at Protecting Striped Bass Will Hold
DMF director Paul Diodati is expected to recommend a final plan to the state marine fisheries advisory council on Tuesday. He said one concern during the public hearings this year and at the winter meeting was that widely varying regulations would reduce the likelihood of achieving the reduction goal. Read the rest here 12:45
Mexican fishing vessels in Gulf generate growing concern
On a crisp winter morning in the Gulf of Mexico, a 33-foot U.S. Coast Guard special-purpose craft bounced across white-tipped swells in pursuit of a rickety boat that was fishing illegally in U.S. waters. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimates more than 7.7 million pounds of red and yellow snapper are imported from Mexico annually. While it’s almost impossible to know how much of it is illegally caught, it isn’t difficult to identify fish caught by U.S. fishing businesses that participate in a program that uses sustainable practices. Read the rest here 12:01
Dilemmas – Consider the lobsterman, By Emma Goldberg
In the 1990s, Fair Haven Lobster employed close to 50 people. Now they’re down to six. They used to fish up to 1,000 pounds of lobster daily, but because of the pesticides in the river they now get 20 pounds on a good day. Business has dropped precipitously over the years, and Mike has been forced to sell some of the boats and lay off many workers. In six months, Mike may have to close up shop. It’s getting impossible to make a living in the industry. So what’s next? I ask. He shrugs. “Can’t even really get myself to think about it.” Read the rest here
Captain reconnects with dock workers for book on Naples nautical history
A two-man band played out back as piles of chicken breast and pork sizzled in a semicircle of grills and barbecue pits. Filtering under the tents and shady palms in the spacious backyard were Naples ship captains, longtime marina owners and dozens of men and women who have spent decades working in the various trades of the Naples waterfront. Many hadn’t seen each other in years. Read the rest here 09:26
Canadian Fishing Vessel Miss Ally crew remembered as porch lights left on in Nova Scotia
Mary Hopkins left her porch light on last night in memory of all fishers who’ve lost their lives at sea — including her son Joel and the rest of the Miss Ally crew. It’s been two years since that day, when five Nova Scotia fishermen didn’t come home after their vessel ran into trouble during a storm. They’d left from the wharf five days earlier to fish for halibut. “Of course this is the time of the year that … it comes back full force,” Hopkins said. Read the rest here 08:34
New Critical Habitat Proposed for North Atlantic Right Whales
The proposed critical habitat, which you can see in the maps below, greatly expands the previous designation. The key benefit of designating critical habitat is that other Federal agencies are put on notice that they must consult with NOAA Fisheries if they intend to authorize, fund, or carry out an action that may affect right whale critical habitat. This activity does not include any new restrictions for commercial fishing operations or shipping lanes. (yet!) Read the rest here 08:01
Story off base in characterization of Alaska fisheries board appointee
I have concerns about the recent article of Feb. 4 in the Alaska Dispatch News, “Did Alaska Fish Board appointee really discover an endangered species?” I am Professor James Butler from the University of Alberta, and I was quoted in this article that is critical of the recent appointment by Gov. Bill Walker of Dr. Roland Maw to the state of Alaska Board of Fisheries. Read the rest here 07:33
Carteret Catch to give away four-course gourmet dinner – On a 90′ Trawler!
