Daily Archives: October 23, 2015
Crab Fishermen Trained as ‘First Responders’ for Entangled Whales
Crab season means more Dungeness crab on Bay Area menus, but it could also mean more injured whales. The cetaceans get entangled in crab trap lines, which is why the federal government is teaching crabbers to become first responders. Geoff Bettencourt is a fourth-generation fisherman. From his boat, The Moriah Lee, he points to an area in Half Moon Bay. “The whales have been so thick in here. Like close, where they’ve never ever been,” says Bettencourt. Listen, and read the rest here 20:26
Historic boat ReKord needs home, Yarmouth realtor says
The owner of a century-old vessel docked in Yarmouth may have had his dream crushed, but to paraphrase an old saying: “One person’s loss could be another person’s gain.” Dave Bishara, the realtor who has listed the vessel with Tri Nav Marine Brokerage Inc., has great respect for her history and the owner’s passion. He says the boat needs to be sold immediately and holds high hope it will sell locally, perhaps to be hauled up on shore as a summer getaway. Read the rest here, and more info here. 16:27
Woman Among the Baymen
“Clam Power” read the T-shirt on the sturdy woman carrying gear from her pickup to her no-frills work boat tied to a ramshackle dock in Patchogue, on the South Shore of Long Island. The woman, Flo Sharkey, 72, works full time on the bay, and on Wednesday morning, she and her son, Paul Sharkey, 36, a bayman himself, loaded rakes, hip waders and bushel baskets into the boat and headed out through Swan Creek into the open bay. People who make their living on these waters are known as baymen, and it’s a dwindling profession. A woman doing it for a living is nearly unheard-of. Read the rest here 14:54
EU ministers OK Baltic catch limits; Envirocrat activists object
The ministers reached the agreement Thursday night at a meeting in Luxembourg. In a statement, they said the limits take into account scientific advice as well as the EU’s recently changed Common Fisheries Policy. But Andrew Clayton, a spokesman for Pew Charitable Trusts, a non-governmental organization, said the limits, which concern 10 commercial fish stocks, exceed scientific recommendations in seven cases. Last year, he said, ministers exceeded scientists’ recommendations for herring, cod, plaice, Atlantic salmon and sprat. Greenpeace said,,, Read the rest here 13:56
Mexico braces for Patricia, the Western hemisphere’s strongest hurricane ever
Hurricane Patricia headed toward southwestern Mexico Friday as a monster Category 5 storm, the strongest ever in the Western Hemisphere that forecasters said could make a “potentially catastrophic landfall” later in the day. Residents of a stretch of Mexico’s Pacific Coast dotted with resorts and fishing villages on Thursday boarded up homes and bought supplies ahead of Patricia’s arrival. With maximum sustained winds near 200 mph, Patricia is the strongest storm ever recorded in the eastern Pacific or in the Atlantic, said Dave Roberts, a hurricane specialist,,, Read the rest here 09:39
“Be bold. Think big.”- N.S. cousins prepare to launch schooner they built in Stewiacke
Two cousins in Stewiacke, N.S. have built a 24-metre wooden schooner, just like their great-great-grandfather once did. Evan Densmore was only 22-years-old when he started designing the schooner with his cousin Nick Densmore, then 20-years-old. They set up shop in their backyard, a smaller operation than Cameron Shipyard, the business their great-great-grandfather started in South Maitland, southwest of Truro, N.S. They’ve been working on the boat for five years, full-time for the last three, said Evan Densmore, now 27. “When I started this, it was so far away that I couldn’t even really dream of it,” Densmore said. “It’s pretty cool.” Read the rest here 08:20
Nova Scotia fishery can co-exist with Shell oil drilling, ministers say
Two provincial cabinet ministers are trying to reassure fishing groups that their industry will be able to co-exist with Shell Canada, after the company got the green light to begin drilling for oil off the coast of Nova Scotia. This week, fishery industry representatives warned that parcels of the ocean that may be snapped up for oil and gas exploration are too close to major fishing banks on the Scotian Shelf, putting those fishing grounds at risk. But Energy Minister Michel Samson is not concerned. Read the rest here 08:07
8 Arctic countries to sign historic coast guard deal
All eight Arctic nations — including Canada and Russia — are to sign a historic deal next week for their coast guards to work together in the treacherous and increasingly accessible waters of the North. Creating the Arctic Coast Guard Forum is considered a significant step forward for international co-operation in the region and will flesh out previous search and rescue agreements “(The forum) will be an operationally focused organization that strengthens maritime co-operation and co-ordination in the Arctic,” said an emailed statement from the United States Coast Guard. Read the rest here 07:49
