Daily Archives: February 19, 2016
Fishing Vessel Skipper medevaced from Ocean Beauty Cannery in Lazy Bay
A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Air Station Kodiak medevaced a 49-year-old man from a cannery near Lazy Bay in the vicinity of Kodiak Friday. Watchstanders at the District 17 command center in Juneau received a call from the master of the fishing vessel Providence who informed them he was suffering from breathing difficulties and taking his vessel to the Ocean Beauty Cannery in Lazy Bay. The duty flight surgeon was consulted and recommended medevac by the helicopter crew from Kodiak. Read the rest here 17:18
Flounder and semantics heat up fisheries meeting, just “who” is a commercial fisherman?”
Before state officials decide how to better regulate commercial fishing licenses, they’ll have to answer an important question — “just who is a commercial fisherman?” When members of the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission met in Wrightsville Beach this week — their first meeting of 2016 — updating the state’s 17-year-old criteria for commercial fishermen was a hot topic. And it’s one that’s sure to be contentious — when Commissioner Alison Willis proposed a subcommittee to study the issue, she said she was putting her head on the chopping block. By the time her motion was worded as carefully as possible, it was a paragraph long. Read the rest here 16:14
Cork fishermen to sue The Guardian over migrant workers article
Two Cork Fishermen are suing The Guardian over an article published on its website in November. Lenny Hyde and Pat O’Mahony have taken a defamation case against Guardian News & Media concerning an article that reported on the treatment of migrant workers in the fishing industry in Ireland. The article was published on theguardian.com on 2 November. Part of the report outlines claims made by a native of the Philippines about his time working on a fishing boat in Ireland. Read the article here 16:01
Illegal Filming of Illegal Fishing – Evidence Leads to Bust!
The owners and an associate of an outdoor film company, Montana Wild, were issued 38 state citations and 11 federal citations, resulting in $5, 950 in fines. The citations involved violations of bull trout fishing regulations and unlawful commercial filming activity on USFS lands without valid permits. In January 2014 Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Criminal Investigator Brian Sommers and United States Forest Service Law Enforcement Officer L. Kevin Arnold began a joint investigation into Montana Wild, a Missoula, Montana based company that produces hunting and fishing videos on its website and is owned and operated by Zach and Travis Boughton. Their website states the following: “We specialize in outdoor marketing, social media, cinematography, photography, video editing and a new line of apparel.” Read the rest here 15:05
New Jersey – New reef gear rules are in effect
The state’s Division of Fish and Wildlife is reminding all commercial lobster/fish/conch pot license and recreational lobster license holders that new gear rules on the two artificial reefs in state waters are in effect. The rules went into effect on November 2 after the state formalized a compromise between recreational and commercial fishing interests over access to artificial reefs off the coast. The rules allow commercial fishermen to have continued access to portions of two reefs in state waters and calls for the construction of a new reef for recreational fishing, also in state waters. The rules are as follows: Read the rest here 14:16
Game Changing – Custom live seafood shipping containers designed to expand markets
Two Nova Scotia companies are teaming up to transport live seafood around the world using what they call a method. BioNovations offers multiple sizes of its specialized live seafood shipping containers. (BioNovations) Antigonish-based BioNovations has created a self-regulating holding crate it says will enable a smooth transition for live seafood, such as crab and lobster, and reduce the shipping mortality rate. CEO Joe Boudreau said many markets want live seafood, and he anticipates the containers will increase demand further by allowing more successful shipping to Europe, Asia and various areas of the U.S. Read the rest here 12:07
Glycol accidentally released into sea from West Aquarius rig
Glycol was discharged in the ocean from the West Aquarius drilling rig this week, authorities revealed Thursday. Hibernia Management and Development Company (HMDC) said the discharge of glycol, which is used to prevent the control fluid from freezing, came from the blowout preventer on the rig on Monday. In a news release Thursday, HMDC said it estimates that 1317 litres of glycol was released into the ocean. Read the rest here 12:00
A lobsterman’s life
With respect to The Phoenix’s focus on food this month, I (Chris Shorr) figured it’d be a good time to paint part of the real picture behind the process and effort that goes into catching lobsters in Maine. For most lobstermen, their days start well before the sun comes up. Checking the weather forecast is a must, particularly for the wind speeds and visibility, plus things like sunrise and sunset times, and when the high and low tides will be. During this time of year, the days when Mother Nature will allow lobstermen in Maine to haul their traps are few and far between. That’s because in the winter months the only place to catch lobsters is many miles offshore, and in the harsher weather most boats can’t handle such a trip in winds any faster than about 15 miles an hour. Read the rest here 10:05
The Pirates of Bodega Bay – Crab Fleet still testing crabs with Domoic Acid
A little-known fact is, Pirates in the 17th and 18th Centuries created one of the first democracies, voting for their captains and quartermasters, and voting them out if things didn’t work out. They weren’t made to walk the plank afterwards, they were merely demoted to the rank of members of the crew. Amazingly these high ideals are still held today, at least by the commercial fishing fleet in Bodega Bay. On Feb. 15, a hearty battle broke out (only verbal) among the fishermen who have recently seen their world fall apart with the dispute over tainted crab. It was somewhat like a manly square dance with captains and crew changing sides frequently but in the end, they all came to an agreement. Lots of info, Read the article here 09:20
Florida Fish And Wildlife: 44 Illegal Spiny Lobster Tails Taken By Suspect, Charged With Poaching
One could call them the “J Team” of Officers James Johnson, Jeremy Foell, Jamie Richards and Jose Lopez. Foell and Richards inspected a commercial fishing vessel they saw pulling traps while they were on patrol in the FWC Interceptor with Johnson. During the resource inspection, officers discovered 44 wrung spiny lobster tails hidden behind hydraulic equipment on the fishing boat; 24 of the illegally wrung tails were undersized. When they got to shore, Lopez interviewed a suspect who was then booked into a local jail for the numerous poaching violations. (Link) 08:53
Former Board of Fisheries nominee charged with Permanent Fund fraud
A former head of the United Cook Inlet Drift Association and Alaska Board of nominee is being charged with illegally collecting $7,422 in Alaska Permanent Fund dividends between 2009 and 2014. Roland Maw, who owns a home in Kasilof, was charged Wednesday in Juneau District Court with 17 counts of theft and unsworn falsification on his applications for six years of Permanent Fund dividends and for commercial fishing permits. Read the rest here 08:27
Gulf Nova Scotia Fleet Planning Board is buying 1,038 PFDs for its members!
Leonard LeBlanc has been a long-time champion of safety measures in the fishing industry. The retired fisherman lost his five-year-old son, Matthew, in a boating accident 26 years ago. The child was killed in an explosion on LeBlanc’s fishing boat off Chéticamp. “Since then, it’s kind of been my thing, to talk about safety, to try to help someone else from walking in my boots,” he said. LeBlanc retired from fishing last year, but remains secretary/treasurer of the Gulf Nova Scotia Fleet Planning Board. This month the group is investing in safety by spending part of the proceeds from its federal shrimp allocation on personal flotation devices. Read the rest here 06:51
