Daily Archives: November 29, 2016
Coast Guard issues temporary safety zone near Morro Bay Harbor Entrance
The Captain of the Port will be enforcing a temporary safety zone due to hazardous conditions in the vicinity of the Morro Bay Harbor entrance from November 29 –December 13, 2016. The safety zone will encompass all navigable waters from the surface to the sea floor near the inside and outside of the mouth of the Morro Bay Harbor entrance. This action is necessary to reduce significant hazards subject to the vessels, the harbor and the public during periods of poor weather conditions. The Coast Guard will energize the Morro Bay “Rough Bar Warning Light” to signify that rough bar conditions exist at the harbor’s entrance. No vessel or person is permitted to operate in the temporary safety zone unless authorized by the Captain of the Port or her designated representative. Read the rest here 20:18
Narragansett Fishermen Part Of New England Photography Exhibit at Fishing Heritage Center in New Bedford
Connecticut-based photographer Markham Starr has dedicated almost a decade to documenting New England’s fishing industry. His photos, featured in an exhibit at the Fishing Heritage Center in New Bedford, include a type of fishing unique to Rhode Island. Starr photographed fishermen across New England and says he took a special interest in the trap fishers of Point Judith in Narragansett. “It’s an ancient type of fishing,” said Starr. “They’ve been doing it probably 150 years in Rhode Island, and other traps like it go back even earlier. But there’s only three practitioners left, really, because it requires a lot of manpower.” The Fishing Heritage Center exhibit features black and white photographs of the Point Judith fishermen, as well as the commercial fishermen of Massachusetts and Maine. The exhibit at the Fishing Heritage Center in New Bedford is on display through January 17th Read the rest here 19:39
What went wrong on the Kaipara bar?
On Saturday, Francie captain Bill McNatty took what one local described as a ”coin toss” risk – to cross the Kaipara Harbour bar with 10 passengers on board. The result was deadly. Mr McNatty died along with seven of his passengers as the boat capsized. With a series of investigations under way, more details about the accident are emerging. They raise questions not just about Mr McNatty’s role, but the rules that govern charter fishing boats and lifejacket use. Another Kaipara Harbour boat charter operator, Tony Walles, claimed Mr McNatty was a “cowboy” who took “dangerous” risks. “Bill was a cowboy … bloody crazy,” he said. Read the story here. Then, there is , ‘the Queen of the Kaipara’. Flora Thirkettle has seen a lot of shipwrecks but none like this. The 88-year-old said last Saturday’s capsizing of The Francie charter boat has stunned the community and sounded a warning of just how “roaring” and “wild” the Kaipara seas could be. She has spent her life fishing by the old wrecks of the Kaipara Harbour, near the sandbar area known as the ‘graveyard’. Read the story here 15:54
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for November 28, 2016
Click here to read the Weekly Update, to read all the updates, Click here 14:33
FISH-NL challenges FFAW to public debate
FISH-NL’s Ryan Cleary is challenging the leadership of the Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union (FFAW) to a public debate, in the latest salvo between the two groups vying to represent the province’s fish harvesters. “Fish harvesters deserve answers, honesty, and a clear vision for the future — not yet more FFAW lies and deception,” said FISH-NL president Ryan Cleary in a news release on Monday. “Most fish harvesters do not trust the FFAW, or, as the union is better known these days, the ‘saltwater mafia.’ Cleary wants a debate to quash what he calls the “smears and fear mongering” by the FFAW around several issues, including that FISH-NL supports an end to the northern cod stewardship fishery. “The union has mutated into a business that prospers as the fishery dies at its feet,” Cleary said. The FFAW is gaining the support of the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour in its ongoing war of words with FISH-NL. Read the rest here 11:37
Trawler crew vanishes without trace off Fraser Coast
The Sunshine Coast prawn fishing fraternity fears a trawler and its crew that vanished without a trace off the Fraser Coast met a sudden and catastrophic end. The search for Mooloolaba-based Night Raider, which has not been heard from since November 12, was scaled back by authorities on Monday after an extensive operation that involved helicopters, police and volunteer marine rescue vessels and patrols of the shoreline and inlets. Veteran professional fisherman Grant Sainty, 60, has been identified as the skipper and devastated relatives and colleagues say it is out of character for him not to be in touch. Industry insiders told The Courier-Mail their game can be dangerous and a rollover while fishing, sudden sinking or fire could be to blame for the disappearance. One of Mr Sainty’s two crew has been revealed as Port Macquarie father-of-six Doug Hunt, 38, while a 24-year-old man also was on board. Read the story here 10:52
23-pound lobster caught in N.B.
A whopping 23-pound lobster was caught off the coast of St. Martin’s, New Brunswick. He’s estimated to be more than 100 years old. Alma Lobster Shop is home to the king critter but it might not be for long. “We’re not sure what we’re going to do with him yet,” Elizabeth Macdonald, who works at the shop, told CTV Atlantic. She suggested they may auction him or sell him and at $11 a pound, so he could fetch more than $230. Video, read the rest here 10:33
Sonoma Coast Dungeness crab season delayed
Thousands of crab traps, stacked six feet or higher, line the sides of Westshore Road surrounding the Spud Point Marina, a clear indication this year’s commercial Dungeness crab season along the North Coast is off to another rocky start. “Look at what’s happening at Spud Point — there’s probably 10,000 pots sitting out there. Those are guys who aren’t going out,” said Charlie Beck, a Bodega Bay fisherman who has been crabbing in the waters off the Sonoma Coast nearly 40 years. “Our small fishing fleet is getting destroyed. Last year was the worst season that we’ve ever seen, and this year it’s looking pretty bleak, especially for the smaller boats.” State health officials last week recommended an indefinite delay for Dungeness along a 180-mile stretch of coastal waters along Northern California, from Point Reyes in Marin County to Humboldt Bay in Mendocino County, dealing another blow to the North Coast’s lucrative wintertime crabbing season following last year’s 4½-month delay. Read the story here with 12 images 10:01
As anniversary nears, reports on deadly F/V Orin C sinking unfinished
Saturday will mark the one-year anniversary of the sinking of the Orin C and the death of Gloucester fisherman David “Heavy D” Sutherland, but the final federal reports on the deadly incident still will not be released until January. Representatives of the Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board on Monday confirmed the new timetable for releasing the findings of the separate investigations and restated the government’s intention to release the reports simultaneously. “We were really pushing to have a completed report before the anniversary of the tragedy to help bring some closure up here,” said Lt. Karen Kutiewicz of the Coast Guard’s District 1 Headquarters in Boston. “That was our goal. Unfortunately, it’s not the reality.”The draft of the Coast Guard’s internal casualty investigation was completed earlier this year and forwarded during the summer to Washington, D.C., for review by officials at Coast Guard headquarters. In July, the NTSB said it expected to release the conclusions of its investigation “sometime in the fall.” An NTSB spokesman on Monday said the agency has not yet concluded its investigation and does not expect to have the final report until mid-January. Read the story here 09:01
“Operation Broken Glass” – Three Men Plead Guilty for Illegally Harvesting and Selling American Eels
Three individuals pleaded guilty in federal district court in Charleston, South Carolina, to trafficking more than $740,000 worth of juvenile American eels aka “elvers” or “glass eels,” in violation of the Lacey Act. Harry Wertan, Jr., Mark Weihe and Jay James each pleaded guilty to selling or transporting elvers in interstate commerce, which they had harvested illegally, or knew had been harvested illegally, in South Carolina. The pleas were the result of “Operation Broken Glass,” a multi-jurisdiction U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) investigation into the illegal trafficking of American eels. To date, the investigation has resulted in guilty pleas for ten individuals whose combined conduct resulted in the illegal trafficking of more than $2.6 million worth of elvers. Operation Broken Glass was conducted by the USFWS and the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section in collaboration with 17 state and federal agency’s. Read the rest here 08:28
