Daily Archives: November 14, 2015
Three offshore wind companies – The Ghost of Cape Wind
The three offshore wind companies seeking to build large-scale turbine projects on ocean waters south of Martha’s Vineyard said emphatically Friday that financing their projects wouldn’t be a problem, should the state give legislative support in a potential energy bill next spring. “Of all the challenges that we think about…financing projects is not one of them,” said Deepwater Wind CEO Jeff Grybowski, whose company is backed by an entity of the D.E. Shaw Group, a global investment and technology development firm. Read the rest here 14:03
Dungeness crab season delays hit Santa Cruz fishermen hard
Crab fishermen were busy scraping last year’s crust of debris from marker buoys, replacing ID tags on old crab pots and getting new pots ready last week in preparation for the start of the commercial Dungeness crab season, despite uncertainty over when it will begin. “We have to get ready as if nothing’s changed,” said fisherman Will Collins. “And just stand by until it’s ready to go.” “I don’t see it opening till the first of the year,” said Stan Bruno, commercial fisherman and captain of The Grinder, based in Santa Cruz. “The levels are that high.” Read the rest here 11:56
Maine foghorns to be radio activated by May
The Coast Guard on Friday announced plans to install Mariner Radio Activated Sound Signal (MRASS) devices at 17 foghorns located at lighthouses across Maine, including Goat Island Light off Cape Porpoise. Sarah Nunan is one of those people who raised concerns about the new key activated system. Her husband is a lobsterman in Cape Porpoise. “There is a foghorn for the safety of boats out in the ocean,” she said. “What if there is a kayak or a skiff that is right outside the harbor that gets shut in by the fog and does not have a VHF? They cannot activate the foghorn. Read the rest here 11:17
Prince Rupert Reacts to Job Losses at CANFISCO
“A slap in the face” That’s what union executives are calling the cuts to the salmon canning industry in Prince Rupert. The union representing says it will be fighting Canfisco’s decision to end operations at its Oceanside plant. A dark day for workers in the salmon canning industry — as they receive news that they’ll soon be without a job. Executives of the union representing fishermen and allied workers met with its members today to explain details surrounding the imminent closure to salmon canning operations at Canfisco’s oceanside plant. Read the rest here 10:47
A Karachi fisherman’s tale — In search of lobsters and livelihood
The sun had just risen and cast a golden-red light on the the beach at Mubarak Goth — a fishing village located in Deh Mann, Karachi. A light wind blew across the aqua-green waters of the Arabian Sea. The tethered boats of the fishermen, bobbed up and down in eager anticipation of the immeasurable possibilities the new day would bring. The fishermen of Mubarak Village refer to the sea as darya laal which means ‘red river’. It holds a sacred importance since they are dependent on it for food and sustenance. Interesting. Great photo’s! Read the rest here 10:29
WEEKEND FOCUS: Warming waters and the Gulf of Maine’s fate
Headlines around that great body of water, cradled inside of Cape Sable Island to the north and Cape Cod in the south, screamed alarm this fall about a pending ecosystem collapse brought on by climate change. Most of those headlines linked back to a study by Andrew Pershing, chief scientific officer at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, published in October in the journal Science. In it, Pershing attributes the non-recovery of cod stocks to the Gulf of Maine having warmed faster between 2004 and 2014 than 99 per cent of all other saltwater bodies on Earth. Read the rest here 09:38
Liberals to reopen Maritime Rescue Sub-centre in St. John’s
New federal Fisheries Minister Hunter Tootoo and the Liberal government will reopen the Maritime Rescue Sub-centre in St. John’s. The Nunavut MP signed the mandate given to him by new Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in a letter nine days after he was sworn in as the minister of Fisheries and Oceans Canada. The sub-centre was closed in 2012 despite loud outcry from advocates and fishermen. Provincial and municipal politicians — such as St. John’s Mayor Dennis O’Keefe —have lobbied since to have it reopened. Read the rest here 08:32
