Daily Archives: October 20, 2016
After pursuit at sea, captain busted trying to smuggle illegal immigrants into South Florida
The boat entering the Hillsboro Inlet might have gone unnoticed, if the captain hadn’t made an “aggressive” U-turn beside a sheriff’s boat and headed back out to sea. Broward sheriff’s deputies called out and signaled for the captain to stop. But he just gave them a thumbs up, pointed in an easterly direction and kept going, investigators said. Sheriff’s deputies said they followed the boat — and only gave up when they were 25 miles off shore.The Sept. 14 excursion eventually ended with boat captain James Sawyer’s arrest on federal charges he tried to illegally smuggle 15 people into the U.S. On Thursday, he pleaded not guilty. A Coast Guard cutter stopped the boat nearly three hours after it left the inlet, about 10 p.m. Only two men were visible on the boat, but officers quickly discovered there was a total of 18 people on board. Read the rest here 20:38
Nils Stolpe – Summer Flounder Management – Can it get any worse?
Summer flounder, also known as fluke, support recreational and commercial fisheries that are among the most important in the mid-Atlantic and southern New England. They have been a mainstay of recreational fishermen either from their own boats or on for-hire vessels, support a large directed commercial fishery, their incidental harvest is important in other fisheries and they are near the top of the list of must-have meals for summer visits to the shore. Hundreds of party and charter boats depend on them for all or for part of their annual incomes, thousands of private boats seek them out every summer, and much of the business bait and tackle shops do every year depends on the fishery. Hundreds of commercial fishing boats target them or take them incidentally in other fisheries.,, The summer flounder stock has gone from having the highest biomass in 50 years to being on the verge of overfishing in the five years between 2011 and 2016. While no one seems to know why the management program hadn’t been working, the SSC did come up with several possibilities. These included “sources of (fishing) mortality that are not fully accounted in the assessment. These could include under-estimation of discards in both the commercial and recreational fisheries and lower estimates of mortality rates applied to the discards than are actually occurring.” Read the full article here 15:27
Shrimpers with chainsaws: Local commercial fishermen carry on after Hurricane Matthew
October is supposed to be a month for prime Lowcountry seafood but this month, Hurricane Matthew had other plans. The Category 2 storm put local seafood production on hold. The storm hit Beaufort County just a week after the start of the oyster season and in the middle of shrimp season. But not to worry. Most local fishermen stayed with their vessels through the storm and — with the resilience the trade has always required — are making their way to recovery. “A chainsaw becomes necessary equipment on a shrimp boat now,” Reeves said. “Anything you can imagine, we see: pilings, lawn chairs, refrigerators. Cutting through can be difficult and very costly.” The long-term impact on local shrimp populations is also still not clear, local shrimpers say. Read the story here 14:01
Hawaii lawmakers hold public meeting on foreign fishermen
A woman who worked as an observer on fishing boats that docked in Honolulu described for Hawaii lawmakers what it was like without toilets, showers or hot water. “You have a cold water deck hose as a shower…the water tastes like iron,” said Ashley Watts, a former observer for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Watts’ comments to lawmakers at the state Capitol Wednesday followed an Associated Press investigation that found some fishermen have been confined to vessels for years. A federal loophole allows the foreign men to work but exempts them from most basic labor protections. Many foreign fishermen have to stay on the boats because they are not legally allowed to enter the United States. Before the meeting, a group of Hawaii residents and activists rallied outside the state Capitol to call for better conditions for fishermen, demanding an end to what they call unacceptable living and working conditions. Read the story here 13:25
Fishing Boat Runs Aground In West Falmouth
A 73-foot steel hulled fishing boat ran aground in the Great Sippewissett Marsh area early Thursday morning, October 20, according to Deputy Director of Falmouth Marine and Environmental Services R. Charles Martinsen III. Mr. Martinsen said the boat is currently stuck in a shallow and rocky area of the marsh, “right up against the shore.” Report of the accident first reached the US Coast Guard and Falmouth Fire Department Thursday morning, and the marine and environmental services department was notified at about 6:30 AM. Link to the rest 12:56
Bay of Fundy tidal energy battle heads to court Thursday
The Nova Scotia government and a company attempting to deploy two tidal turbines in the Bay of Fundy have joined forces to fight a move by a fishermen’s association to block the venture. The Bay of Fundy Inshore Fishermen’s Association is scheduled to appear Thursday in Nova Scotia Supreme Court to ask for a stay on an approval that will allow Cape Sharp Tidal Ventures to install two 16-metre-wide turbines at the bottom of the Minas Passage. Cape Sharp Tidal is a partnership between Halifax-based Emera, parent company of Nova Scotia Power, and French-owned Open Hydro. The province and Cape Sharp Tidal want the court to dismiss the application. Read the story here 09:57
Shrimp boat goes up in flames at Aransas Pass
A day at work for a local shrimper took a turn for the worst when his boat went up in flames. Aransas Pass police say the boat was found drifting in an intercoastal waterway before coming to a rest in a cove near Turtle Bayou Road. Firefighters from Aransas Pass, Rockport, and Fulton responded to extinguish the fire. A fire boat belonging to the Rockport Volunteer Fire Department was also utilized after weeks of initial training. Coast Guard and Texas Parks and Wildlife were also on the scene. Police say the boat owner sustained minor injuries trying to put out the fire. Fortunately, a local boater was nearby to help assist the owner of the shrimp boat to shore. The owner of the boat says the fire started near his generator while he was on his way to get fuel at Conn Brown Harbor. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. Video, click here 09:04
S.C. couple rode out Matthew on their shrimp boat
Richard Billington, who was aware of the storm and had taken special precautions with his boat, Village Lady, said the couple did not have cell phone service and they had lost power so they weren’t sure where the storm was. Unbeknownst to them, the hurricane was aiming for a landfall near McClellanville, the same spot where Hurricane Hugo made landfall in 1989 with a 20-foot storm surge and devastating consequences. “We came down here to make coffee and cook breakfast and all of a sudden the storm surge came in and we couldn’t get off,” he said. “The most amazing thing was right during the worst of it, I looked across the creek at a dock and there was about 20 seagulls with 95 to 110 mph winds blowing and the seagulls were still holding onto the dock,” he said. He also noticed an army of bugs coming out of the water and climbing onto the pilings. Read the story here 08:33
Fundraiser hopes to keep F/V Lady Bernice shrimp trawler working after Hurricane Matthew
The Lady Bernice shrimp trawler was set free Monday after Hurricane Matthew wedged the 80-ton shrimp boat in the mud of Hilton Head Island’s Skull Creek. But all is still not well with the Lady. There was other damage that may risk the future of one of the few shrimp boats still working near Hilton Head. After the boat was freed, longtime shrimp boat captain Charles Abner discovered that his trawler lost all electronics and that the radar system needed to navigate on the boat was damaged. The boat also suffered a broken propeller, shattered window and cosmetic damages to its side. Capt. Abner hopes the boat is still able to go on short shrimping trips, but knows it would be unsafe to go out longer. “I still fully intend to go out shrimping on Thursday,” Capt. Abner said. “We’ll see if it works then.” Read the story here To donate to help keep the “Lady Bernice” runnning, go to the “Save Lady Bernice” page at GoFundMe.com. 07:59
