Daily Archives: March 8, 2017

Man dies after pickup truck crashes into Cohasset Harbor

COHASSET – The body of a 39-year-old lobsterman was recovered after a dive team pulled a pickup truck out of Cohasset Harbor Wednesday morning, police said. Police and fire officials received a report of a vehicle that was in the water off a dock near Lighthouse Lane and Border Street shortly before 5 a.m. Police Chief William Quigley identified the driver of the gray GMC truck as Keith Herzog, 39, of Cohasset, said. Several family members, local fishermen and townspeople stood watching in a nearby parking lot. Some people were seen hugging one another and crying. The Plymouth County Technical Rescue Team was called to respond to help locate the truck, which was about 50 feet from the dock and as deep as 18 feet down. Sadly, the rest of the story here 19:06

The Codfather will Cop a Plea!!! – Rafael scheduled to plead guilty to evading fish quotas, smuggling money

“The Codfather”, Carlos Rafael, who the Department of Justice labeled as the owner of the largest commercial fishing business in New England, will plead guilty to federal charges as part of a settlement he reached with the government, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Massachusetts said on Wednesday. Rafael, of Dartmouth, was scheduled to appear in federal court on March 20. Instead he’s scheduled to plead guilty to evading fishing quotas and smuggling profits to Portugal in U.S. District Court in Boston at 2 p.m. on March 16. The U.S. Attorney’s office provided no further details regarding the plea deal. Rafael’s attorney, William Kettlwell, did not return requests asking for comment. Read the rest here 17:06

Owner of largest commercial fishing business in New England, Carlos Seafood Inc., scheduled to plead guilty on evading fishing quotas for ‘bags of cash’ Click here to read this story 17:50

‘It was two years of absolute torment’ – Immigration charges dismissed against two Irish fishermen who hired Filipino sailors

Pat O’Mahony and Leonard Hyde had insisted to Cork District Court they understood the UK agency they hired would ensure full compliance with all Irish visa, work permit and passport regulations. Both also vehemently insisted that the two Filipino fishermen involved were treated with every consideration and respect while they worked on the ‘Labardie Fisher’ trawler operating from Crosshaven, Co Cork in 2015. The men told the two day trial that, had they any inkling the two Filipino sailors were not legally entitled to work in Ireland because they had entered via Belfast, they would never have contracted for them. Judge Aingeal Ni Chonduin dismissed all charges against the men after the trial heard that other fishermen who used the same agency and route to bring Filipino sailors into Ireland to work on other trawlers had those workers even given safety training by State agencies. Cork District Court was packed with up to 30 fishermen from all over Cork, Kerry, Waterford and Donegal who wanted to support the duo. All cheered as Judge Ni Chonduin dismissed all charges within minutes of the closing arguments. Read the story here 16:36

Celebrate the pragmatic elegance of gasoline marine engines

Gasoline marine engines revolutionized working life on the Columbia River estuary the way cotton gins did in the South, but they don’t get much respect. In the course of a half a tide, the river can go from mirror-like lake to something resembling a Michael Bay disaster movie. It’s a deceptive monster, one which generations of native and white fishermen were obliged to ride in little wooden boats. Until around 1900, the river’s sailing gillnet boats were at the whim of the wind, relying on canvas and oars to navigate the wild waters of the estuary and ocean plume in pursuit of salmon. Brave and courageous as they were, there wasn’t much they could do when a typhoon blew itself out on this fatal shore, driving boats onto the rocks like jellyfish drifted up on the beach. View five photo’s, and read the story here 15:24

 

Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 65′ DMR Fiberglass Offshore Lobster boat, Cat 3408TA, JD 30 KW Generator

Specifications, information and 25 photo’s click here To see all the boats in this series, Click here 12:23 Federal Area 1 Permit, 800 +/- lobster traps with rope and buoys available

Search and Rescue crew describes dramatic rescue of five fishermen

He was battered and sent flying by huge waves — and the first man to rappel down from a search and rescue helicopter northeast of St. John’s Sunday wondered how he was going to pull the mission off. Crew aboard the 103 Search and Rescue Squadron Cormorant helicopter managed to pull five sealers out of the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday, battling high waves and winds. “I would get smashed by the wave, and then the cable would go taunt, and I’d come flying out of it, all while trying to get close to the man that was in the water,” said Sgt. Damien Robison, the first technician to go over the side of the helicopter, trying to hoist up the five sealers. continue reading the story here 11:09

Judge gives fisherman ‘benefit of doubt’ in row over oyster dredges

A fisherman was cleared of fishing without a licence after a judge ruled the authority which provides the licence was unclear. Jason Steele, of Lower Cabry, Quigley’s Point, was accused of fishing without a licence on Lough Swilly on September 21, 2015. He denied the charges before him at Carndonagh District Court. Fishery officer Seamus Bradley told the court he received a report of illegal oyster fishing on Lough Swilly so at 12.45pm on September 21 he launched the patrol boat from Rathmullan. Mr Bradley said himself and fishery officer James Doherty checked a number of boats for licences and undersized oysters. He explained how they boarded a boat fishing vessel, belonging to Mr Steele, which was fishing for oysters on Russell’s Bed. “I asked him if he had a licence to fish for native oysters on Lough Swilly, he replied no so I cautioned him. I observed 20-25kgs of oysters on board.” Mr Bradley said he seized the oysters and returned them to the oyster’s beds. He explained that Mr. Steele’s boat was 30 foot long with a large mechanical dredge on the back that is used for fishing for oysters. continue reading the story here 10:26

Cod Found Once Again in Cold Ocean Waters off New York Harbor

Over the last several years, one fish in particular has been making a slow, but steady comeback in the offshore environment of the northwestern North Atlantic. It was a fish that was so plentiful at one time that it filled the cold waters of New England’s rocky coastline, so much so that early Europeans named a large peninsula in Massachusetts after the fish. Cod, as declared by both the Boston Globe and the New Scientist, are making a comeback, after decades of strict government regulations. Last year, the Boston Globe wrote that the Canadian fishing authorities released a report in spring 2016 suggesting “cod are finally making a comeback….The report found that the adult population of northern cod had more than doubled in size over the past three years, and it estimates that the spawning stock will double again within the next three years — bringing it two-thirds of the way back to a healthy fishery.” It’s not just in New England and Canada either. Nearby recreational fisherman out of New York City and along Long Island to Montauk and down the Jersey Shore to Point Pleasant for the last several years have been finding more cod while angling out in the ocean during winter or early spring cod fishing trips. Read the article here 08:46

Updated: Man feared dead in B.C. capsizing identified as ‘loving husband, brother, uncle’

Investigators spent the day searching for answers after a herring boat flipped and capsized near Comox, while one crew member remained missing and was presumed drowned. Alert Bay resident Mel Rocchio, 51, was on the vessel “Miss Cory” fishing for herring near Cape Lazo, about three nautical miles northeast of Comox, with four other crew members. Just before 4 p.m. the boat flipped, tossing four crew members into the ocean while Rocchio was trapped in the engine room, according to his brother Jim. “They had a really big set. The boat was listing and Mel went down into the engine room to turn the pumps on, and while he was down there the boat rolled over,” he said. continue reading the story here 08:17 From another article – Rocchio had been fishing out of the Campbell River Fisherman’s Wharf for about 15 years, according to Phyllis Titus, manager of the Campbell River Harbour Authority. Some in the fishing industry would jokingly call him “Melfunction,” Titus said, but Rocchio was a jack of all trades: heavy equipment operator, mechanic, carpenter and hunter. “He was a fabulous man, one of the true gentlemen in the fishing industry,” she said. Read the story here 09:13

Out-of-state scallop boats threaten survival of Maine fishermen

After years of waiting for the northern Gulf of Maine scallop population to flourish, small-boat fishermen from Maine say federal mismanagement of scallop stocks in the area could result in larger boats wiping them out. Hancock fisherman James West said that larger boats, most of which are based out of state, should not be allowed unlimited catches when he is capped at harvesting only 200 pounds of meat a day. And he said he’s angry that the New England Fishery Management Council has known about the regulatory disparity for years and has done nothing to address it. “That’s what makes me so mad about it,” West said Sunday. “I’m shocked the council couldn’t figure out a way to fix this. We’re really getting the shaft.” Council officials say protecting the lucrative resource is a high priority that they plan to address in the coming year. But Maine fishermen say a year could be too late to ensure that federal scallop grounds in the gulf stay productive. continue reading the story here 07:36