Monthly Archives: June 2016
Coast Guard tows disabled fishing boat to Monomoy Island, MA
The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Harriet Lane towed the 86-foot fishing boat Buzzards Bay with five people aboard after it became disabled Tuesday 50 miles northeast of Cape Cod. Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England were notified by the captain of the Buzzards Bay at around 3:30 a.m. that the boat was disabled due to a main diesel engine failure. Coast Guard Cutter Harriet Lane was diverted to assist and arrived on scene at around 8:30 a.m. The crew was able to safely put Buzzards Bay in tow at around 9:30 a.m. and began making way toward Nantucket Sound. Harriet Lane intends to bring Buzzards Bay to an anchorage east of Monomoy Island Tuesday evening. Buzzards Bay is expected to remain anchored until a commercial towboat arrives. Three images at the link 20:06
Newlyn fishermen to stage protest ahead of EU referendum
NEWLYN fishermen were among those who decorated London-bound boats to campaign against Britain remaining in the European Union last week – and they’re not finished yet. While Nigel Farage and Bob Geldof were making headlines on their flotillas last Wednesday, the west Cornwall fishermen and their supporters also decorated their boats with red Vote Leave flags and sailed to the Thames to support ‘Brexit’ campaigners. “We have seen a lot of support from our local fishermen,” said Liz Lane, the co-ordinator for Vote Leave in Cornwall. “Last week’s event, even though it was slightly interrupted by Bob Geldof’s actions, has really woken up a sleeping giant,” she said. Read the story here 18:20
Tragedy – Captain Luke Gurney, a respected member of the Martha’s Vineyard Fishing Community
A multi-agency search on water and by air ended Monday afternoon about 1 pm when the Coast Guard announced that rescue crews had located and recovered the body of Luke Gurney, a missing Martha’s Vineyard conch fisherman and father of two, who became entangled in gear and was swept off his 42-foot boat No Regrets, near Nantucket. Jeffrey Canha of Vineyard Haven, a commercial fisherman, told The Times late Monday that the mood was somber on the town dock at Owen park where Mr. Gurney often tied up his boat. Mr. Canha said Mr. Gurney played and coached hockey and was deeply enmeshed in the Island community. “He was always upbeat, always positive,” Mr. Canha said. “Willing to help anybody.” Read the story here 14:54
Brexit: Bob Geldof’s Boat Funded by Goldman Sachs!
Bob Geldof and his despicable tirade against fishermen in the Thames has been exposed as a Goldman Sachs funded operation. Reports from insiders also reveal that the BBC director was on board the boat as Geldof made vile remarks and gestures to bemused fishermen protesting the loss of their fishing grounds to EU regulations. Bob Geldof was seen on the boat swearing and shouting at the fishermen, and the millionaire champagne socialist compounded his ridiculous protest with a continual barrage of insults from his Goldman Sachs funded boat. Geldof, who recently lost his daughter Peaches to a heroin overdose, encourages negligence at every turn and is not a good example of human fortitude unlike the fishermen he was berating. Bastards. Link 14:13
Rec Fishers, environmentalists join forces in NT debate (attack) over impact of finfish trawling
Amateur fishers have banded together with charter operators, environmentalists and some commercial fishers to raise an alarm about the ecological and social impacts of finfish trawling in the Northern Territory. The unusual alliance has been drawn together as stocks of some of the Territory’s most-prized fish species dwindled. The groups – which have often been at odds with each other – have come together with the Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) to raise their concerns.,, Amateur Fishermen’s Association of the NT (AFANT) chief executive Tristan Sloan said AFANT had received reports of damage in the Timor Reef from finfish trawling, and likened it to the “maritime equivalent of two … bulldozers and a length of chain dragging along the bottom, dredging up all the coral”. Read the rest here 11:27
Massachusetts Environmental Police busts Maine skipper for six hidden bags of scallops during offload
A Maine captain faces prosecution after an inspector, who was checking the boat as scallops were offloaded Thursday in Gloucester, reported finding additional shellfish, worth more than $6,000, hidden in the vessel’s hold. “He was offloading at the Cape Ann Seafood Exchange in Gloucester and one of our officers asked to inspect the permit and the catch, and in conversation with the captain asked if he had any more than the 600 pounds, and the captain said no,” said Maj. Patrick Moran, coastal bureau chief for the Massachusetts Environmental Police. The vessel in question, the Loriann, has a home port of Bristol, Maine. “On weighing it in, it was found that it was 607 pounds, or 7 pounds over.” Moran said the inspector asked the captain to look at his permit and inspect the hold, not an unusual request. Read the story here 09:34
Humane Society Nuttery – Fish Have Feelings, Too!
When you think about fish, it’s probably at dinnertime. Author Jonathan Balcombe, on the other hand, spends a lot of time pondering the emotional lives of fish. Balcombe, who serves as the director of animal sentience for the Humane Society Institute for Science and Policy, tells Fresh Air‘s Terry Gross that humans are closer to understanding fish than ever before. “Thanks to the breakthroughs in ethology, sociobiology, neurobiology and ecology, we can now better understand what the world looks like to fish,” Balcombe says. “We humans kill between 150 billion and over 2 trillion fishes a year. … And the way they die — certainly in commercial fishing — is really pretty grim, ” Balcombe says. “There’s a lot of change that would be needed to reflect an improvement in our relationship with fishes.” (My relationship is fine. I eat them, and you should too!) Listen, and read the rest here 09:07
Gulf sanctuary could add coral reefs off Texas, Louisiana
Federal officials are considering enlarging a research sanctuary in the Gulf of Mexico off the coasts of Texas and Louisiana by adding more than a dozen coral reefs and banks. The Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, which is about 100 miles off Galveston, is federally protected to avoid damage from vessels and oil and gas drilling operators. In the early 2000s, The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration began exploring options for expansion of the 56-square-mile sanctuary. It has proposed five alternatives for expansion. Staffers recommend adding 15 reefs, including one basalt sphere – a geological feature. Public comments on all of the alternatives are being accepted until Aug. 19. The agency will review the public input,,, Read the rest here 08:16
Lobsterman rescued from boat fire ‘lost everything,’ still thankful
Hoarse and shaken from jumping into the cold Atlantic to escape his burning boat a day prior, Joshua Ford said Monday he’s “fortunate” to be part of the fishing community and grateful to his rescuers from New Hampshire Fish and Game. Ford also has a survivor’s tale that will likely live on in the history of local fishermen. It began late Sunday morning when Ford, 31, and his 24-year-old deckhand, cousin Curtis Oliver, were returning to port with a boat full of lobster traps. Ford was motoring the F/V GIB, a lobster boat built in Dover three generations ago, that he’d admired since he was 17. “I loved the lines,” he said. “It was a really beautiful boat.” In the “middle of the ocean,” in the boat he bought five years ago, Ford said he heard a “weird noise” and opened the engine box to investigate. Flames “the size of the boat” escaped from the engine area and consumed the entire boat, Ford said. Read the story here 07:02
A group I despise is heading to B.C. to fight something I despise! Salmon Farms or something
The Sea Shepherds salmon campaign is all about,,, The Sea Shepherds! They continuously grovel for attention and legitimacy, but really, where’s the beef? It’s in old Captain Watson’s ass, and in the swelled cavern between his ears! I read an article today, which I will share with you. The Sea Shepherds are sending their luxury yacht, which they refer to as a research vessel, the Martin Sheen to the coast of B.C to support Alexandra Morton in opposition to the salmon farms. Will they make a difference? Nope. If anything, they pollute the issue. It’s not been revealed what exactly they plan to do, but, unless they swing from the yard-arm with daggers clenched in their teeth when DFO shows up, or ram some salmon pens in true Sea Shepherd fashion, this is nothing but a self aggrandized publicity stunt. Click here to read the article, which is all about them. 20:30Body of overboard fisherman recovered
The body of a fisherman who was dragged overboard by fishing gear this morning has been recovered, and transported to U.S. Coast Guard Station Brant Point, Chief Warrant Officer John Roberts said this afternoon. The man, whose identity has not been released pending notification of next of kin, was reported overboard about 9:15 this morning off the 42-foot fishing vessel No Regrets out of Oak Bluffs, Mass. According to a press release from the 1st Coast Guard District in Boston, the man became entangled in nets on the conch boat and was swept over the side about a quarter-mile off Great Point. After being recovered about 1 p.m., the body was brought to Station Brant Point, then transported to Nantucket Cottage Hospital, Roberts said. Will be updated, Sadly, Read the rest here 18:34
New England Fishery Management Council meeting in Portland, ME June 21- 23, 2016
The New England Fishery Management Council will be meeting in Portland, Me. at Holiday Inn by the Bay, 88 Spring Street, Portland, ME 0410. To read the final agenda, click here Listen live via webinar. click here http://www.nefmc.org/ 18:23
Pacific Fishery Management Council Meeting in Tacoma, Washington June 21-28, 2016 Listen Live
The Pacific Fishery Management Council and its advisory bodies will meet June 21‐28, 2016 in Tacoma, Washington at Hotel Murano, 1320 Broadway Plaza, Tacoma, WA 98402. Download the June 2015 Meeting Notice WITH Agenda (includes full logistics for public comment deadlines). Listen to the Live Audio Stream Enter the Webinar ID – The June 23-28, 2016 Webinar ID is: 157-423-659 Please enter your email address (required) http://www.pcouncil.org/ 17:56
The NSW Musical Chair Catch Share game – Clarence River fishers have rejected it unanimously
Clarence River fishers have rejected the latest State Government attempt to restructure their industry. After mulling over Department of Primary Industry restructure information packages sent out a few weeks ago, a meeting including 50 fishers voted unanimously to reject the proposals. The vote occurred at an information/update meeting on the NSW Commercial Fisheries Business Adjustment Program (BAP) for Clarence River and Region 2 Commercial Fishermen on Tuesday at the Harwood Hall. The fishermen, Clarence River Fishermen’s Cooperative directors and management, the Professional Fishermen’s Association and the Wild Caught Fishers Association met to put the contents of the DPI information packages under the microscope. Read the story here 16:55 Watch this video.
Prices still high for live lobster on the tail a cool spring season!
Lobstermen in Maine and Massachusetts, who supply the U.S. with most of its domestic lobsters, are coming off several years of high catches for lobsters, a signature food item for the region. Prices for lobsters also have been somewhat high for most of the last two years, with the consumer price currently in the range of $8 to $12 per pound at most retail outlets in Maine, the country’s biggest lobster producer. That’s a couple dollars more than a year ago. Scientists have warned the bigger catches can come early this year – a circumstance that can disrupt the lobster supply chain and depress prices. So far, that hasn’t happened. Right now, lobsters are trickling in, said David Cousens, a South Thomaston lobsterman and the president of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association. Read the rest here 15:39
Coast Guard searching for missing fisherman off Nantucket
Coast Guard crews are searching for a person in the water Monday after receiving a report of a fisherman being entangled in a net near Nantucket. At about 9:15 a.m., Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England received a report that a fisherman aboard the 42-foot fishing vessel No Regrets, became entangled in the vessel’s nets as they were being deployed and was swept over the side approximately one-quarter mile west of Great Point on Nantucket. The Nantucket Harbormaster, Chatham Harbormaster, Chatham Fire Dive Team, and other local government agencies are on-scene searching. Multiple good Samaritan vessels are also in the area assisting with the search. No regrets is homported in Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts. Link 12:27
Meanwhile in the Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia government approves “experimental” turbine deployment
The Nova Scotia government has approved a plan to deploy two experimental tidal turbines in the Minas Passage for research purposes. The government announced the approval of the proposed monitoring program for the Fundy Ocean Research Center for Energy (FORCE) and Cape Sharp Tidal Venture in a news release on Monday. The turbines, which are each 16 metres in diameter and weigh 1,000 tonnes, were originally scheduled for deployment last year, but were delayed by weather. Fishermen and environmental groups have raised concerns that the giant turbines would have a negative impact on marine life in the Bay of Fundy. Environment Minister Margaret Miller said in a news release that the full environmental impact of the project will not be known until the turbines are in the water. Read the rest here 11:34
A massive coastal wind farm off Long Island will please pretty much no one
Election year is the season to channel more money into renewable energy resources because it tends to carry some significant sway with the liberal base. With that in mind, the green light has been given (yet again) to plans for a truly massive “wind farm” in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Long Island. But the usual liberal caveat of NIMBY (“Not in my back yard”) is always in play when such plans come close to fruition and this one is no exception. Some of the chief opponents to this forest of turbine towers are the fishermen who make their living in the targeted waters. Read the rest here 11:05
Last In First Out policy ‘descriminates against Nunavut,’ says Nunavut Senator Dennis Patterson
Nunavut Senator Dennis Patterson is standing up for his territory’s shrimping industry. On Friday Patterson called on federal fisheries and oceans minister Dominic LeBlanc to consider Nunavut’s position when reviewing changes to the Northern shrimp quotas. Northern shrimp stocks dropped dramatically in 2014 and 2015, so it’s expected the quotas are going to be cut. Under the federal government’s “last in first out” (LIFO) policy, Nunavut would bear the brunt of the cuts because the territory’s fishing companies are the newest to have been given licences. Other fishing companies in the Atlantic provinces were operational well before Nunavut was even established in 1999. Therefore, Patterson says, the LIFO policy favours those companies and “discriminates against Nunavut.” Read the rest here 09:18
Connecticut – DEEP to host hearing on shark, menhaden plan
The state Department of Energy and Environmental Marine Fisheries Division will host a public hearing to get input on the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s draft management plan for coastal sharks and for menhaden. The hearing will take place at 7 p.m. June 28 at DEEP Marine Headquarters, 333 Ferry Road. The purpose of the plan for coastal sharks is to maintain consistency between federal and state fishery management plans, where possible, and to better incorporate the intent of the smooth dogfish limited exception in the Shark Conservation Act of 2010 into state regulations. Fishermen and other interested groups are encouraged to provide input on the plan at the hearing or by providing written comment. Read the rest here 08:43
Americans would choose Brexit
Britons are less than a week away from a referendum about whether to exit the European Union (EU), or remain. British commentary on the debate has been unreasonable enough, American commentary is worse, but the American choice would be clear. Some Americans have mischaracterized Brexiteers as opponents of a “liberal democratic capitalist project“. That’s not how either side is characterizing the EU: the EU admits its philosophical mission to “force people to be free,” while Brexiteers characterize the EU as an undemocratic, centralizing socialist enterprise, in opposition to Britain’s liberal democratic capitalist traditions. A similar falsity is to mischaracterize Brexiteers as opposed to “free markets“: Brexiteers want to trade with the larger and better managed markets of the world; the EU is a free market within its own borders, but also a protectionist area from the perspective of the rest of the world. Read the rest here 08:26
Numerous issues discourage young Alaskans from commercial fishing
Austin Sollars got his first paid commercial fishing job at 11, baiting hooks on a 74-foot halibut schooner that fished off the Aleutian Islands. Along with his father, he was part of a crew of nine, and he returned home with more than $30,000. When he turned 21, he took out a quarter-million dollar loan and bought a 54-foot fishing boat, the Jani-K. He catches salmon, halibut and gray cod in southeast Alaska, then heads to the Gulf of Alaska for black cod. Sollars, 30, is bucking a trend. Fewer young Alaskans are jumping into commercial fishing. A steep financial commitment, competition for fish, long periods away from home and uncertain fish prices play a part in the reluctance to fish. Read the rest here 07:44
Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council meeting in Clearwater, Florida June 20 – 24, 2016
The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council will meet at the Hilton Clearwater Beach Hotel in Clearwater, Florida. Committee meetings will convene Monday at 8:30 am, concluding at noon Wednesday. The full Council will convene Wednesday afternoon beginning at 1:15 pm. The Council is expected to adjourn by 11:30 am Friday. Read the Committee and Council Agenda, Click here Register to listen live, click here 22:05
Will a great year for Chesapeake Bay crabs mean a great year for Watermen?
At 4:41 a.m., Bubby Powley looked at his watch, looked at the thin, pink glow to the east, and looked at the dark water sliding past his boat. According to Maryland state law, he was allowed to start catching crabs exactly one hour before sunrise, and that was right . . . about . . . “Now. Dontcha think, Monroe?” Powley said, hitting a lever on a boom that lifted his first batch of the day from the Chesapeake Bay. The sprightly 66-year-old swung the basket inboard, where his culler of 42 years, Monroe Dorsey, 68, a slim cigar clenched under his white mustache, dumped a few dozen wriggling crustaceans into a fiberglass basin. It was a pretty good haul in what so far has been a very good crab harvest. Dorsey measured male after male with a plastic caliper and tossed those of five inches or more into one of the six and a half bushels Powley would sell later that day to a wholesaler. The summer is getting off to a promising start along America’s biggest estuary,,, Read the rest here 15:31
For Argyll: ‘a quarter of England’s entire whitefish quota is now owned by a single Dutch super trawler’
From the article: Back in 1970 when Britain applied to join the EU [then EEC], a new law was passed a mere six hours before official acceptance of our application. The Common Fisheries Policy [CFP], which confers ‘equal access to fishing grounds for all EU countries’, thus became part of the body of existing EU law, the so-called ‘Acquis Communautaire’, which new members are obliged to accept. The Heath government folded and accepted the heist, taking Britain into the EU on 1st, January 1973, thereby ceding control of Shetland’s [and UK] legendary fishing grounds to the EU.,, Fishermen must now land any unwanted catch ashore to be dumped – but it cannot be sold for human consumption and they are not allowed to give it away, not even to schools, hospitals or care homes. This is lunacy. At least, discarding fish benefits the marine food chain by removing large predators from the sea and returning them dead, for consumption by other fish and small marine creatures. However, any such benefits are lost if the fish are ferried ashore and dumped to landfill. Read the story here 10:21
Polar Star crew recognized for mission-saving repairs
Polar Star’s engineering crew knows more about the saga of aging cutters than the average Coast Guardsman. Every patrol, maintenance issues occur regularly, but Operation Deep Freeze 2016 was the “mother” of all casualties for the 40-year old cutter, threatening to halt a resupply mission for the U.S. Antarctic Program in Antarctica. It took a surfboard repair kit, elbow grease and round-the-clock marathon repair sessions by Petty Officer 1st Class Kevin Oakes, an electrician’s mate, Petty Officer 3rd Class Agustin Foguet, a damage controlman and Seaman Manon Mullen from the deck department, to keep the limping “polar-roller,” as it’s affectionately called, afloat and operable. The three crew members were in for a surprise when Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Paul Zukuft recognized them during an awards ceremony aboard the cutter. The Commandant was then shown the engine room where the critical repairs took place. Read the story here 09:24
40 years of change: For fishing industry, the spring of 1976 was the start of a new era
When you talk about fishing here in New Bedford, you have to start with the whaling era — and the lessons learned. For decades, the pursuit of whaling chugged along without any dramatic changes. The ships, the equipment, the culture remained essentially the same for years, feeding countless families, lining countless pockets … until the bonanza ran out and the industry collapsed in the early part of the 20th century, never to be revived. The fishing industry, both local and national, might have fallen into that same trap, but 40 years ago the U.S. government changed the game, adopting the most sweeping changes in the laws governing fisheries that reverberates to this day. On April 13, 1976, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act was passed and immediately accomplished two major goals. Read the story here 00:32
Decades ago, North Kingstown’s Bob Bercaw chose quahogs over cubicles, and he never looked back
Bob Bercaw’s livelihood began with a $20 rowboat that his mother gave him when he was just 10. His father died when Bercaw was 6, and they didn’t have much money. Spending $20 was a big deal for the Saunderstown family. The little boy took his rowboat on the Narrow River and caught blue crabs and white perch, which he sold around the neighborhood. In two weeks, he paid his mother back — and found his calling. Before she died of breast cancer a decade later, Ruth Bercaw gave her son advice: “Go to college, but if afterward, you want to take a job as a garbage collector, then why not?” After Bob Bercaw earned a business degree from Johnson & Wales University, his uncle offered to get him into IBM in New York City. Bercaw blew it off. He’d rather be on the water. By 1979, he had a wood boat and was raking for quahogs. Read the story here 20:58
Brexit: Prominent Fisherman Calls On Geldof To Apologise
A leading fisherman has demanded Bob Geldof apologise for his Remain campaign flotilla stunt which was “disrespectful to hard working communities”. Skipper Jimmy Buchan added he’d never seen such a blatant attack on working class people. On Wednesday UK Independence Party (UKIP) leader Nigel Farage and Labour MP Kate Hoey led a flotilla of fishing boats up the Thames supporting Brexit as better for fishermen. Interrupting the fishermen’s plea to take back control of British waters, multi-millionaire singer Geldof sought to “intercept” HIJACK the Fishing for Leave flotilla. Jimmy Buchan, a Peterhead skipper, was on one of 30 fishing boats among the flotilla and called on the celebrity activist to apologise. Mr. Geldof’s gesturing and everything about it was so wrong. I was on the boat standing next to Nigel Farage when this happened and I could hardly speak. “I’ve seen a lot in my 56 years but I’ve never seen hard-working people attacked like this. Read the rest here 19:19
A Fathers Day tribute – This Old Salt: Lobster Fishing With Daddy
I wake to the smell of toast and something else that I can’t quite determine yet. As my pup stretches beside me and licks my face, I gaze at my Fitbit only to see it’s 4:15 AM. I groan and sit up in the bed. The second mystery smell I recognize as boiled eggs and strong tea. At this point my stomach gurgles wanting tea and reminding me why I should not stay up late and drink wine before heading out fishing the next morning. This is a lesson I still not have learned obviously despite my 46 years on the planet. My father is downstairs in the kitchen mumbling to himself— something about the timing of the eggs and pants that won’t stay up. I reach for the clothes I laid out the night before and begin to dress in layers. As I bend to place the third pair of socks on, I appreciate whoever the talented person was who knitted them by hand. My toes will likely be numb by mid-morning but at least less so with the wool socks in my rubber boots. Descending the stairs, I watch the man I have loved and looked up to as my hero all of my life. Read the story here 16:16
