Daily Archives: March 3, 2017
This is the story of the Casie Nicole a boat captained by Billie Joe Neesmith
On April 11, 1990, Nathan Neesmith, his brother Billy Joe Neesmith, his nephew Keith Wilkes, and his friend Franklin Brantley set off from McIntosh County pier in Georgia to go on a seven-day commercial fishing expedition. Their ship, Casie Nicole, had just recently been docked for maintenance. They took it to an uncharted reef off the coast of South Carolina. Early in the morning on April 12, their boat capsized and quickly took on water. They had to abandon the ship, so they boarded a raft. Nathan Neesmith left the other three men in the raft with some food and went off in a wooden box to go find help. He was rescued five days later, but the rest of the men were never found. The only things ever found were a sleeping bag and a life vest. To this day their fate is unknown. They were about 65 miles off shore, and Nathan said that he’d got up around three-thirty, four am in the morning, started the engine, and started driving to somewhere to go fishing. He noticed the boat was heavy with maneuvering, and it wasn’t going over the waves, it was kind of ploughing through them,,, continue reading the story here 22:33
‘A major concern’: Snow crab, shrimp assessments worry fisheries minister
The Newfoundland and Labrador minister of fisheries and natural resources has added his voice to those concerned about what the latest shrimp and snow crab assessments will mean for 2017 quotas. “What we’re hearing from harvesters is that they are concerned and this is a major concern of ours as well,” Steve Crocker said Thursday. “When you look at our shellfish industry, it provides thousands of jobs in our plants and we have thousands of harvesters who rely on these resources for their income.” The federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans estimates the volume of crab available to be caught dropped 40 in one year, and shrimp stocks off the northeast coast of Newfoundland and southern Labrador are at their lowest level ever. Continue reading the story here 16:23
An Unprovoked Attack: Sea lion bites fisherman at Sand Point dock
A crewman aboard a fishing vessel tied up at the Peter Pan Seafoods dock at Sand Point was bitten by a sea lion who jumped aboard the commercial fishing vessel, causing severe injury, the Aleutians East Borough said in a report published Feb. 28. The attack on Michael “Mack” McNeil, of Deer Park, WA, occurred on Jan. 23, on board the F/V Cape St. Elias, the borough reported in an article written by Laura Tanis, borough communications director and editor of “In The Loop,” the borough’s online newsletter. Owner/skipper Ben Ley said the attack was unprovoked. “We were taking off a pollock net and putting on our cod net at the time,” Ley said. “There were zero fish on board. That’s what’s kind of eerie about this.” McNeil was standing with his back to the stern ramp as the crew moved a net forward off the reel and stacked it to put away. None of them saw the sea lion swimming around nearby. “This was completely out of the blue,” McNeil said. “I was running hydraulics, and I walked around to clear the backlash. The sea lion came up all the way out of the water, jumped up over the stern ramp and up onto the deck, several feet up.” The sea lion grabbed him before it even hit the deck, McNeil said. Other crew members grabbed McNeil before he got any closer to the stern ramp. continue reading the story here 14:10
Fishermen’s fury as Brussels DEMANDS access to 60% of British Waters after Brexit
Scotland’s fisherman have said they will not bow to pressure from the European Union (EU) to allow them to be held to ransom over Brexit. And they are calling for Theresa May to make an immediate impact assessment on current fish stocks in United Kingdom waters. The European Parliament Committee on Fisheries (PECH) is demanding access under its common fisheries policy for the right for fishermen from other countries to access up to 60 per cent of Britain’s fish supplies. And Brussels bosses say they will not allow Britain to sell fish to the EU should they not get their way. The concerning rhetoric has been blasted by fishermen in Scotland who are wholly opposed to the EU over the effect the bloc’s policies are having on their livelihoods. The industry is hitting back and today issued a direct demand to the UK and Scottish governments not to give away their income. continue reading the story here 13:46
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Breaking the Records! Maine lobster landings set records in 2016
Maine fishermen landed more than 130 million pounds of lobster in 2016 valued at $533.1 million before paying out bonuses, the most ever landed at the highest value ever recorded. The value of the fishery jumped by more than $30 million since 2016 and made lobster the most valuable, and fastest growing industry, of all of the state’s commercial fisheries, which topped $700 million last year. After the state’s 19 lobster co-ops paid their bonus, the overall value of all Maine lobster reached $547.2 million, according to the state. “The historic landings reflect the hard work of our harvesters to build and sustain this fishery,” said Commissioner Patrick Keliher of Department of Marine Resources at the Annual Fishermen’s Forum in Rockport Friday. continue reading here and the story will be updated 11:59
Some industry members fear confusion as Nova Scotia launches its own seafood brand
Nova Scotia’s decision to create its own seafood brand is getting mixed reviews, with praise from some exporters and a pan from one industry association concerned it could cause confusion in the marketplace. Fisheries and Aquaculture Minister Keith Colwell unveiled the $150,000 branding effort Thursday at the Halifax airport cargo hangar where tonnes of live lobster are flown to Europe, Asia and the Middle East. “We realized sometime ago we have to have a unique brand for Nova Scotia,” Colwell said.,, The Halifax-based Lobster Council of Canada is not on board with the new brand. The council has spent years promoting the region’s exports as Canadian lobsters. “We believe it will lead to confusion in the marketplace,” said executive director Geoff Irvine. “We would prefer Nova Scotia processors use the Canadian brand.” Read the story here 11:25
St. George sternman admits to sinking rival’s lobster boat
A St. George man was sentenced Thursday, March 2 to 24 months in prison for sinking a competitor’s lobster boat last summer. Vincent Hilt, 22, pleaded guilty during a hearing in Knox County Unified Court to felony charges of aggravated criminal mischief and felony theft. Hilt is the second person convicted of the Sept.1 sinking of the 36-foot lobster boat Oracle owned by Joshua Hupper of St. George. In January, 21-year-old Devlin Meklin of Warren admitted to the same charges as Hilt and was sentenced to 24 months with all but three months suspended. The case against Hilt’s captain — Alan B. Norwood Jr., 47, of St. George — remains pending in court. Norwood has pleaded not guilty to aggravated criminal mischief for allegedly paying Hilt $500 to sink Hupper’s boat. continue reading the story here 10:54
Cape May fishermen chase scallops despite risks, trade-offs
Scallops caught by boats based in southern Cape May County may end up on your plate at a local restaurant, or in the frozen foods section of a Wal-Mart or Costco, or even in foreign countries like France. But before the delicious white mollusks end up frozen in a chain store or fresh at a restaurant, commercial fishermen have to scrape them from the bottom of the ocean floor. It’s a fairly lucrative business that fuels a commercial fishing industry worth tens of millions of dollars each year. But the job takes an emotional toll on the fishermen who must leave their families for up to two weeks at a time to go to sea. Tom McNulty Jr.’s wife, Mandy, gave birth Feb. 16 to a daughter. Zoe McNulty was born at 7 pounds, 12 ounces, the proud father announced recently. But with scallop season quickly approaching, he’s going to have to leave them to go make a living.,, “It’s hard on your family,” he added. “You miss birthdays. You miss graduations.” Photo gallery, continue reading the article here 10:17
FISH-NL calls for independent, expert review of DFO in light of reported dramatic decline of key stocks
The Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador (FISH-NL) is calling for an independent, external review of the management/science capabilities of the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans in relation to the reported dramatic decline of key stocks off Newfoundland and Labrador. “The picture right now for our harvesters is bleaker than the moratorium,” says Ryan Cleary, President of FISH-NL. “When cod stocks collapsed in the early 1990s harvesters could turn to other species, but crab, shrimp and south coast cod are apparently in simultaneous free fall, if not outright collapse, and the common theme is DFO management.” continue reading the press release here 09:32
UPDATED: Five fishermen rescued from sinking vessel
Five men were rescued from the fishing vessel Ocean Way around ten miles east of Whalsay on Friday morning before it sank less than one minute later after taking on water. The men abandoned the trawler and jumped into the sea, which is thought to have been less than seven degrees in temperature, before they were collected by the lifeboat. Lifeboat coxswain Alan Tarby described the scene as “chaos” and said there was less than one minute between the men jumping into the water and the boat fully sinking. He believed something “struck the bottom of the boat and made a hole in it”. The men walked away unharmed after being taken into Lerwick Harbour on the lifeboat. The lifeboat crew and Shetland Coastguard were alerted at around 6.50am after receiving reports of water entering the Ocean Way (LK207). Read the story here and here 09:01 Video: Five Fishermen Rescued from Sinking Trawler 13:37
