Daily Archives: November 30, 2016
Millennium Marine lawsuit claims lost sales
Millennium Marine, the boatbuilding company in Eastport, is seeking $226,662 in damages and also claims to have suffered losses of $430,000 because of defaults by the city and county, including business interruption and lost sales caused by delays in repairs following a 2014 fire at its building, The Quoddy Tides reported. Disputes between the company and the city began earlier this year over disagreements around the company’s rent payments. The company’s attorney, Joseph Baldacci of Bangor, told the newspaper that the attorneys for the city and county have received the lawsuit. But city attorney Dennis Mahar said the case had not been filed in Washington County Superior Court and the city had not been served with the complaint. Read the rest here 19:20
Skull found in crabpot determined to be 2,300 years old
Scientists have determined that a skull found in a crab pot off the coast two years ago dates back about 2,300 years, Grays Harbor County Coroner Lane Youmans said Tuesday afternoon. The skull was discovered by fishermen in late February 2014 about three miles offshore and southwest of Grays Harbor and was turned over to the FBI for DNA analysis. A sample of it was sent to Beta Analytics in Miami, Fla. for radiocarbon dating. An earlier report indicated the DNA profile showed that the sample was from a female. “The lab analyzed the sample and determined it to be approximately 2,300 years old … around 360 to 400 B.C.,” Youmans said. “The remains will be turned over to Dr. Guy Tasa … the Washington State Physical Anthropologist in Olympia … so he can release them to the appropriate tribe.” Read the story here 15:50
Coast Guard escorts 4 to safety after heavy winds, seas damage fishing boat off Portland, Maine
The Coast Guard assisted four people to safety Wednesday after heavy winds and seas damaged a fishing boat about 40 miles southeast of Portland, Maine. A fisherman aboard the Gracelyn Jane sent a distress hail to Coast Guard Sector Northern New England watchstanders Tuesday evening and reported their fishing boat was disabled with four people aboard. The man reported the crew lost their GPS, the boat was losing power, and their windows had shattered. On scene weather at the time was 30 knot winds and 10-14 foot seas. The 270-foot Coast Guard Cutter Northland, homported in Portsmouth, Virginia, was approximately ten miles from Gracelyn Jane’s location and quickly diverted from their patrol to help. A helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod also deployed to provide assistance. After arriving on scene, Northland’s crew found the Gracelyn Jane regained power and made way toward shore escorted by the Coast Guard. Once closer to shore, a response boat crew from Coast Guard Station Boothbay Harbor relieved Northland’s crew from their escort and accompanied Gracelyn Jane into Boothbay Harbor, Maine. Link 15:27
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 160′ Catcher/Freezer/RSW Trawler
Specifications, information and 30 photo’s click here To see all the boats in this series, Click here 12:31
Catch Shares: NSW fishermen face difficult decisions as deadline looms for reform package
Friday is a big day for New South Wales fishermen. Those that want to leave the industry and take advantage of a government buyback have to decide by that date. Those that want to keep fishing are anxiously waiting to find out if they can buy-up the other’s shares and they are wondering what it will cost them. Peter Ragno fishes out of Wallace Lake near Tuncurry on the Mid North Coast. His family have been fishermen since 1891, catching prawns and mud crabs, mullet, brim and whiting among other species. The government has reduced the quote linked to his shares so just to maintain his business he will need to buy licences worth close to a quarter of a million dollars, money he cannot afford to borrow. Read the rest here 11:54
Sport groups pressure Oregon governor to stop changes in Columbia River net plan
Four powerful sportfishing groups have asked Oregon Gov. Kate Brown to keep the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission from significantly altering a plan to move gill-nets from the lower Columbia River in 2017. In a stern letter delivered Monday to the governor and commission, the coalition threatens to withdraw support from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife if a revision to the Columbia River Plan is adopted. It was signed by representatives of the Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association, Association of Northwest Steelheaders, Coastal Conservation Association and the Northwest Guides and Anglers Association. Read the rest here 11:06
‘King Louie’, the 23-pound lobster bought by a vegan who wanted it returned to its watery home
A massive lobster taller than a toddler was caught in the Bay of Fundy and then bought by a vegan activist so it could be returned, alive, to its chilly home. Catherine MacDonald, co-owner of the Alma Lobster Shop in southern New Brunswick, said the 23-pound lobster, dubbed “King Louie,” was possibly a century old. “It’s beautiful,” said MacDonald in a phone interview Tuesday. “For a lobster to be 23 pounds and to be that large, there was nothing else that was going to be a predator, except man.” The lobster is very healthy, and about four feet long, said MacDonald. It was caught by a fisherman in St. Martins, N.B. MacDonald said the crustacean was sold for $230 to a Nova Scotia vegan who requested it be released back into the ocean. And so King Louie returned home on Tuesday, she said. Read the rest here 09:58
Willapa gillnetters losing grip
It’s been a tough two years for gillnetters on Willapa Bay. Battered by increasing costs, stifled by stricter regulation and furious over fewer fishing days, commercial gillnetters have been gritting their teeth since 2015 when a new management plan was instituted by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. As some in the industry were forced to sell their boats and find new work, others remain steadfast and galvanized in their resolve in calling for change in what they say has been mismanagement by WDFW officials in Olympia. Over the past three years, the commercial gillnetting industry on Willapa Bay has gone through a gauntlet of highs and lows. Record catches were celebrated during 2014 only to be followed by the devastating 2015 season that was largely stifled under new regulation. Read the story here 08:56
Oregons season delay doesn’t stop crab preparations
Although Oregon’s crab season has been delayed indefinitely, many Brookings commercial fishermen on Tuesday continued preparing for the start of the season — whenever that may be.The season — which traditionally begins Dec. 1 — has been postponed due to elevated levels of the shellfish toxin Domoic acid found in crab off the coast of Garibaldi, a northern Oregon port. However, the season will open Thursday in and around Crescent City. “Some boats are fishing in California,” Brookings fisherman Willy Goergen, captain of the Catalyst fishing vessel, said Tuesday. “My crew’s on the gear pile, switching out pots and changing tags over, ropes — we’re going to have to fish a different area than we anticipated.” The California crab season is limited to the ocean from Crescent City to just north of Eureka. Some Brookings fishermen — those who have California permits — will go fishing over the border, but others will wait until the Oregon season opens. Read the story here 08:28
