Monthly Archives: October 2015
‘Deadliest Catch’ cast member has Vilonia ties – Shares his story of turning his life from drugs
Flashing his boyish smile, 29-year-old Dan Borovina of Washington said he is used to living on the edge but it is not the place where he has found his greatest adventure. He is a who has worked calamari in Southern California, sardines in Oregon, herring off Kodiak and salmon in the southeast of Alaska. However, Borovina said, his greatest adventure is ongoing and the one that he is most proud of and loves to share with others has to do with his turning his life from drugs. Read the rest here! Inspiring.
Searchers find sunken vessel off Canterbury coast as three crew feared dead
Searchers believe they have found a fishing trawler that sunk off the Canterbury coast with three men on board. All are presumed drowned. Underwater scanning equipment pinpointed the missing FV Jubilee a short distance from where the crew made a distress call early Sunday, Ocean Fisheries boss Andrew Stark said at 8.15pm. It was the first sign of the 16-metre vessel after its three-man crew got into trouble and told authorities at 4.30am they intended to get into a life raft. Read the rest here 10:58
Last West Coast lumber schooner nears final steps to 13-year restoration
Exactly 120 years ago a Danish man living near Eureka built the schooner C.A. Thayer, one of hundreds of ships used to fuel the growth of California’s cities by delivering lumber from the vast forests of the Northwest. After being out of use for nearly 60 years the Thayer — the last of its kind — is now making a comeback to prepare it for sailing again on the San Francisco Bay. In the next to last phase of its $14 million-plus restoration, the Thayer was towed Thursday from its national maritime park dock in San Francisco to an Alameda ship yard for installation of,,, Read the rest here 10:06
RECONSIDERATION PETITION – Petition urges reopener of Exxon spill claim decision
Two biologists with extensive experience in the Prince William Sound region are asking the state of Alaska and federal government to retain their option to make a claim by June 2016 against Exxon for the 1989 oil spill disaster. The announcement from Kate McLaughlin, president and executive director of Prince William Soundkeeper, and Rick Steiner, of Oasis Earth, on Oct. 17, came in the wake of a decision by the state and federal governments to drop their claim for further damages from Exxon. Read the rest here 09:42
Snakehead scare: Fishing for answers
Snakeheads, invasive fish originally from Asia, are breeding machines that can grow to be very long and wipe out local species. They were first discovered 13 years ago in a Crofton pond, where someone had likely dumped them.In an effort to stop them from spreading, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources sprayed chemicals in the pond to kill them off. Two years later, sightings of snakeheads surfaced in the Potomac watershed in Maryland and Virginia. “These have major, major teeth,” Masters said as she gawked at the fish on Norman’s tray. Read the rest here 09:10
Coast Guard airlifts sick man 85 miles from Nantucket, MA
BOSTON — A Coast Guard helicopter rescue crew medically evacuated a man from fishing vessel, Friday, about 85 miles from Nantucket. Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England received a call from the crew aboard the Alexis Martina stating their captain was ill and needed medical attention. The Coast Guard flight surgeon recommended an immediate medevac and a helicopter rescue crew from Air Station Cape Cod launched. Once on scene, the air crew safely hoisted the man from the vessel into the helicopter. Watch the video here 13:30
Waldoboro Maine man pleads guilty to elver violations in NY
A Waldoboro man has been found guilty in New York of trafficking in poached elvers, according to that state’s Department of Environmental Conservation. Richard D. Austin, 37, has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of illegal commercialization of protected wildlife, the agency said Friday in a prepared statement. Austin and Tommy Waters Zhou, 40, of Brooklyn, New York, were arrested in March on charges of trafficking illegally harvested undersized American eels. Elvers are what American eels are called in their initial life stage,,, Read the rest here 13:10
No overfishing of bottomfish in US territories of American Samoa, Guam, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
The Scientific and Statistical Committee, a group of renowned fishery scientists who advise the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, concluded its two-day meeting in Honolulu this week by setting the 2016 and 2017 acceptable biological catches (ABCs) for bottomfish in the US territories of American Samoa, Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). The ABCs are the amount of fish that can be harvested annually by the fisheries over time without causing overfishing of the stock. Read the rest here 12:30
‘Everything I ever had, I had to build or rebuild’
Story, Photo by Dwight Caswell
A commercial fisherman who lives in Bay Center, Washington, Horne has built or rebuilt boats, a truck, and even the off-the-grid house he lives in with his wife, Jazz. Rick Horne was born on “the island,” the high part of Bay Center that is almost an island in the middle of Willapa Bay (the other part is known as “the flatlands”).,, The 56-foot hull came with an engine but no wiring, no rudder, and not much of anything else a commercial fishing boat needs. But after five months of work, the Double Eagle was launched. “It was kind of a major undertaking,” Read the rest here 2 more photos 12:00
95 years on, Marine archaeologists find shipwreck off Point Reyes
Robert Schwemmer and James Delgado, marine archaeologists, sat in front of two screens aboard the Fulmar. It was like watching live color television. It was clear there was something in the water, just above the pebble-strewn bottom of the ocean, 200 or so feet down. It was ghostly, dark and covered with sea plants. “Closer,” Schwemmer said, directing Poissonnet, who guided the robot sub. “Move it up. Come left.” His voice rose. “Yes,” he said. “Yes! That’s it.” Read the rest here 10:03
Fishing Partnership Support Services mission is to keep fishermen safe
Eighteen fishermen from around New England took to the seas of Hyannis Inner Harbor on Friday for free training put on by a nonprofit group called Fishing Partnership Support Services. “You don’t want to be doing this stuff for the first time when you’re out on the water,” said the organization’s safety training coordinator Luis Catala, a veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard. “This is a great chance for them to practice and learn.” Read the rest here 09:32
Shell cuts capping timeline for N.S. offshore – They don’t say how much time, though.
The controversial timeline that allowed Shell Canada Ltd. to take up to three weeks to cap a subsea blowout off the coast of Nova Scotia will be reduced. The company submitted a revised plan to the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board on Thursday that would see the time it would take to deploy a vessel and capping system reduced from the current 21-day period. “We’re still reviewing it as we speak, but it will be quite a bit less than 21 days,” said board CEO Stuart Pinks. Read the rest here 08:57
U.S. Backs Away From Offshore Arctic Drilling
On Friday, the Department of the Interior announced the cancellation of two potential lease sales off the Alaskan coast in the . The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement also denied lease extension requests from two companies, Shell and Statoil, that were exploring the seas for fossil fuels. Read the rest here 21:47
Little known about acidification and fish, Study Suggests
An increasingly acidic Pacific Ocean threatens valuable Canadian fisheries and little is known about how greenhouse gases will affect marine plants and animals, says an internal federal report. The report was delivered earlier this year by the , a group of federal and university scientists who came together to recommend ways to handle the emerging issue, which has already affected shellfish farms in British Columbia. Read the rest here 19:16
40 Years Ago, The Last Cod War Was Sparked
40 years ago yesterday, Iceland expanded its territorial waters from 50 to 200 miles, igniting the third – and last – of the Cod Wars, ending in Icelandic victory. As RÚV reports, October 15, 1975 marked the first time any nation declared for itself 200 nautical miles of territorial waters. The decision did not go unnoticed by the rest of the world, and the British in particular had objections, as they engaged in a considerable amount of fishing in the area Iceland was claiming for itself. What followed would be the most violent of the three Cod Wars. Read the rest here Video here 17:20
The Donors Behind Greenpeace’s Ridiculous Ideas About Seafood Sustainability
It’s from 2013, but, some things never change. Greenpeace relies on major donations from distinguished foundations like Tides and Packard, groups that use florid language to set forth high-minded goals. But Greenpeace’s unserious and self-indulgent actions rarely live up to their sponsors’ idealistic rhetoric. Tides was founded by philanthropist Drummond Pike out of “a need to facilitate the giving of philanthropists who were concerned with building a better future for individuals and communities all over the world.” How? Read the rest and watch here! 15:53
Sex and Summer Flounder
Dr. Sullivan, a highly respected researcher in the dynamics of fish populations, has been working with the 
to create a stock assessment model that includes a very important element that has been left out of prior models – sex. He was also going to talk about another vital element that’s been missing from the process – cooperation. In an unprecedented effort, members of the recreational and commercial fishing communities are working together with university scientists and the National Marine Fisheries Service to develop,,, Read the rest here 13:03
This is very cool! 3D Printing Enables Quick Turbocharger Repair
The first 3D-printed nozzle ring for marine turbochargers has been developed using exotic super metal alloy, enables the reconstruction of worn out components for shorter repair times. According to the technology’s developer, Tru-Marine, the premature erosion of nozzle rings has been a commonly reported problem, and in such situations, spare part replacements are often unavailable and come with long lead times at high costs. Read the rest here 12:19
Dumping Night in Digby: LFA 35 fishermen enjoy warm and calm start to lobster season
Fishermen were allowed to leave the Digby wharf at 12:01 a.m. on Oct. 14 and, thanks to a light southerly breeze of 25 kilometres an hour, the temperature remained steady around 15ºC most of the night. The long line of lights stretching from the wharf to the Digby Gut had many on the wharf wondering if there weren’t more boats than usual fishing out of Digby this year. Exact numbers of boats leaving the Digby wharf that night aren’t available,,, Video, Photo gallery, Read the rest here 10:09
Dulac man guilty in fatal shooting of shrimp boat captain
A Dulac man has been found guilty in the fatal shooting of a Vietnamese shrimp boat captain three years ago after a two-day trial. Richard Verdin, 32, of Shrimpers Row, was convicted of the second-degree murder of Vo Hung, 49, of Houma, on June 24, 2012. He faces mandatory life in prison without probation or parole. As the verdict was read in state District Court Judge Randy Bethancourt’s courtroom, Verdin’s mother and relatives let out pained sobs in the back of the room before one of them was asked to step out. Read the rest here 09:40
Snow crab harvest slashed by 40% compared to last season
Crabbers’ fears of diving quota came true with the third-lowest snow crab harvest limit since 2005. The quota cut represents nearly a third of the entire snow crab harvest’s value last year. Between 2005 and 2014, the average price for Bering Sea snow crab was $1.86 per pound. At 40.6 million pounds, it comes to $50.2 million, or 31 percent of last year’s harvest value.In comparison to recent years, the value loss is even higher. Snow crab prices in the 2010s are the highest they’ve ever been; they haven’t dipped below $1.86 per pound since 2010. Last year, snow crab’s $2.37 per pound,,, Read the rest here 09:14
Florida Keys commercial fishermen critical of proposed dolphin changes
The head of the Florida Keys Commercial Fishermen’s Association contends that a proposed increase to the dolphin fish allocation to the commercial fishing sector does not go far enough. Kelly proposed federal fishery managers increase the commercial catch in 5, 10 or 20 percent increases a year, depending on how much the recreational side of the fishery harvests the previous year, he said. The South Atlantic and could look at the harvest data each year and make adjustments. Read the rest here 08:17
“CFOOD” – New fact-check on fisheries reporting takes to Web, social media
An international team of experts in fisheries management, spearheaded by UW professor Ray Hilborn, is trying to lead the conversation about sustainable fisheries using a less traditional approach — reaching the general public directly through a new website and social media outreach. Many scientific reports and resulting media coverage about fish stocks collapsing or being overfished are incorrect or widely misinterpreted, they say. They launched the effort two weeks ago to provide a forum for experts to discuss or explain certain claims. Read the rest here 19:33
Mid-Atlantic Council Votes to Reduce Spiny Dogfish Quota for 2016
At last week’s meeting in Philadelphia, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council recommended a substantial cut in the spiny dogfish commercial quota for next year. Following a review of the most recent scientific information, public comments, and advice from the Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) and Spiny Dogfish Advisory Panel, the Council voted to set the 2016 commercial quota at 25.3 million pounds, a 50% reduction from the 2015 quota of 50.6 million pounds. If approved by the National Marine Fisheries Service, the new measure will,,, Read the rest here 17:20
More Catch Shares – NPFMC adds options to Gulf of Alaska bycatch package
The North Pacific Fishery Management Council has added an alternative to the ongoing redraft of the Gulf of Alaska bycatch management plan. The council now has a broad array of options, including 100 percent observer coverage for Gulf of Alaska trawlers, cooperative catch shares, individual catch shares of both groundfish quota and bycatch caps, and reductions in overall bycatch caps. The plan aims to slow the “race for fish” that accompanies derby-style, open access fisheries, where vessels compete with each other to catch as much as possible within the season dates. Read the rest here 15:23
The trial against a Western Isles trawler skipper accused of human trafficking has collapsed
Alex Murray, 49, was accused of exploiting two Ghanaian nationals aboard the Stornoway-based Astra III. The Lewis man also faced three charges relating to the safety of the prawn fishing boat. But the case at Stornoway Sheriff Court was abandoned on Thursday after just two days of evidence. The case went on the rocks after a supposed victim embraced and kissed Mr Murray in the courtroom. Read the rest here 13:54
Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologist Doug Pengilly interprets crab catch numbers
Last week the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced catch limits for the state’s crab fisheries. On Monday, a Fish and Game biologist explained how the agency determined those catch limits to a group of crabbers in Seattle. Nine local crabbers gathered at Unalaska’s City Hall to tune into the conference call and ask questions. The biggest drop in total allowable catch – or the TAC – is for Bering Sea snow crab, also knowns as opilio. The total allowable catch this season for snow crab is just over 40 million pounds. That’s a forty percent drop from last season. Read the rest here 12:37
Bay’s 2015 rockfish spawn “robust” in Maryland, average in Virginia
After three sub-par years, the number of juvenile striped bass in Maryland waters of the Chesapeake Bay this summer climbed to the 8th highest level in more than six decades, according to Maryland natural resources officials. Virginia biologists, meanwhile, reported finding an average abundance of juvenile striped bass in their portion of the bay. Maryland biologists surveying the Choptank, Potomac and Nanticoke rivers and the upper bay tallied an average of,,, Read the rest here 11:54
Qld Parliament votes against motion to stop three net-free fishing zones
An industry body has warned commercial fishers to be very afraid of the precedent Queensland parliament set last night, when it voted to continue with three net-free fishing zones. Queensland Seafood Industry Association (QSIA) deputy president Keith Harris said the government had made “an incredibly political” statement by supporting the net-free zones in Cairns, Mackay and Rockhampton. “They are saying to Queenslanders your rights do not matter, fisheries management do not matter and the exclusion of profitable and viable local small businesses do not matter,” Read the rest here 10:42
‘We were damn near killed’: Atlantic Charger captain speaks out on survival, rescue
The nine men who survived the sinking of the Atlantic Charger off Nunavut last month are trying to put the harrowing ordeal behind them, with the skipper speaking out strongly about why a helicopter was not on the scene to rescue them. “It’s on my mind continually. It just haven’t left me,” Byron Oxford, the Atlantic Charger’s captain, said in an interview with CBC Radio’s The Broadcast. Oxford, who is still recovering from the Sept. 21 incident, also becomes emotional as he describes the gruelling wait the crew endured for an anticipated air rescue that never arrived. Read the rest here 08:43
