Daily Archives: September 16, 2015
Caledonian Tragedy Family Relief Fund – For: Wes Hegglund, Keith Standing, Doug White
This fund has been established for the families of the three fishermen who lost their lives on September 5, 2015, when the fishing vessel Caledonian sank off the coast of Vancouver Island. Veteran Skipper Wes Hegglund, age 55, and Engineer Keith Standing, age 48, and Doug White, age 41, were all from Vancouver Island. Their loss has been a heartbreaking tragedy for their families, colleagues, and the entire community. Pacific Seafood, the crew’s employer and owner of the Caledonian, will match 100 percent of all donations made on this site. All proceeds will be donated to the immediate surviving family members. Click here to donate 22:28
‘Why did this happen?’: Tragic deaths of three crew on trawler highlight safety concerns in B.C. fishing industry
It’s hard work, to sift through the wreckage of a sunken fishing boat, investigate what happened and what failed, analyze structural integrity, meteorological conditions, shipyard maintenance records, and, in some cases, a coroner’s autopsy. But, said Glenn Budden, senior marine investigator with the Transportation Safety Board, the devastation back home is harder to deal with than the wreckage at sea. Talking to grieving spouses and children of fishermen who never returned from a voyage, Budden said, is “definitely the hardest part of the job.” “They want to know why? Why did this happen?” said Budden. Read the rest here 22:07
Con groups, fishermen divided over NOAA plan for marine national monument
Hundreds of people filled a conference hall Tuesday night to speak out on a federal proposal to permanently protect a network of deep-sea canyons and underwater mountains off New England by creating the first marine national monument on the Atlantic coast. Terry Stockwell, chairman of the New England Fishery Management Council, said the existing regulatory framework already protects Cashes Ledge and the New England Coral Canyons and Seamounts area. The council in April voted in favor of keeping Cashes Ledge closed to most fishing. Read the rest here 18:29
More Enviro Quackery – Oasis Earth proposed rafts where walrus can rest off Alaska
In July, Oasis Earth suggested the Fish and Wildlife Service consider the resting platforms for walrus and offered to fund-raise toward the cost. The group proposed a pilot project to anchor at least one barge with appropriate surface material for walrus at Hanna Shoal from July through October. Rafts, the group said, could give walrus more time offshore to access a greater amount of food and could reduce drowning deaths among the animals. Read he rest here 15:04
Maine lobster processor targeted in federal overtime lawsuit
A former employee of Richmond-based 
has filed a lawsuit against the lobster processor, seeking allegedly unpaid overtime and class action certification. Plaintiff Bunthoeun Perez, a Cumberland County resident, claims in the lawsuit she was not paid overtime or for her final day of work during a three-week period in May and June. The lawsuit claims that while Perez was paid a piece rate, based on the weight of prepared lobster meat, she was owed overtime pay under federal law. Read the rest here, 14:17
New bluefin tuna detection equipment tested off P.E.I. coast
New underwater imaging equipment designed to locate and determine the health of bluefin tuna stocks is being tested on P.E.I. this week by Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Information gathered by a multi-beam sonar can show the size and number of tuna in a specific area. DFO research scientist Gary Melvin began the study last year. He said the new technology could help set future quotas.”So we’re looking at developing a new survey and using this equipment,” said Melvin. Read the rest here 13:35
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 52′ Crab, Gillnetter, Lobster, Other, CAT, Federal Permits
Specifications, information, and 27 photo’s click here To see all the boats in this series, Click here 12:09
CCA’s small numbers has large grip on N.C. politics, fisheries
Approach any recreational angler wetting a line from the surf, a pier, a bridge or a boat and ask, “Are you a member of the CCA?” It’s far more than an even bet that not only will the response be “No,” but more than likely, “What is the CCA? But visit legislators in Raleigh and ask them about the . Chances are every single lawmaker knows of the CCA and has likely been lobbied by a representative of the group. When Sam Walker and myself traveled to Raleigh in 2014 to interview Sen. Bill Cook and Rep. Paul Tine, we brought with us a basket of questions. Read the rest here 11:37
North Carolina: Fisheries joint enforcement, charter boat logs repealed
A new law passed this summer by the General Assembly and signed by Gov. Pat McCrory rolls back a pair of controversial fisheries management measures approved by state lawmakers in 2014. Senate Bill 374, sponsored by Sen. Bill Cook (R – Beaufort), repeals the for-hire coastal recreational fishing licenses logbook requirement and ends a joint agreement that allowed NOAA Fisheries Enforcement to also have jurisdiction in state waters. Read the rest here 10:06
Ocean fish numbers on “brink of collapse”: WWF
The amount of fish in the oceans has halved since 1970, in a plunge to the “brink of collapse” caused by over-fishing and other threats, the WWF conservation group said on Wednesday. Populations of some commercial fish stocks, such as a group including tuna, mackerel and bonito, had fallen by almost 75 percent, according to a study by the WWF and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL). Marco Lambertini, director general of WWF International, told Reuters mismanagement was pushing “the ocean to the brink of collapse”. Read the rest here! 09:23
Boat left at Gloucester Marine Railways arrested for debts
At the beginning of last winter, the owners of the fishing vessel Irish Piper brought their 41-foot wooden boat from Maine to the Gloucester Marine Railways for repair and wharfage, then vanished, never returning to claim their boat or pay for the services rendered by the boat yard. The railways also did something you might not expect: it named the boat as a co-defendant in the suit and requested that U.S. Marshals Service arrest the 46-year-old vessel built in Camden, Maine, in 1969. Read the rest here 09:07
