Daily Archives: May 19, 2017
‘I was thinking I will just die there:’ Fishermen caught in Acadian Peninsula storm
During the worst of the storm, Christian Duguay wasn’t sure if he’d survive the night. In his 25 years as a lobster and crab fisherman, he’s never experienced a storm like the one that hit the Acadian Peninsula on Thursday night. Duguay was fishing off Lamèque Island with three of his crew when the wind picked up. They saw tornadoes on the water, he said. The first one “got the boat,” he said. “She lifted everything in the boat, all the things and the cover on my big box there, just go right away with the tornado.” He said the boat stopped dead in the water, and then the water came up around them. At one point, the waves were one and a half metres high. He’s still not sure how the boat didn’t sink. click here to read the story 18:45
N.B. island cut off from mainland due to thunderstorm – More than 4,100 NB Power customers remained without power Friday evening after a violent thunderstorm ripped through the Acadian Peninsula the previous night. At its peak, close to 7,000 NB Power customers in the province were without power. There are no reports of injuries or fatalities. click here to read the story, video 11:20 5/20/2017
Millennial fishermen and women carry out an Alaska state tradition on the Copper River Delta
Cordova is only accessible by boat or plane. It’s a place where neighbors take care of one another, all united by passion for their community and the land they call home. This humble town is home to a world-class fishery: the Copper River. Like most things in Cordova, the salmon fishery is largely independent, and the operation is as local as the shops and restaurants that line Main Street. More than 540 independent boats fish for Copper River salmon each year. These boats, known as bow pickers, are manned by one to two fishermen who cast their nets over the bow and then hand-pick the salmon off as they reel the net in. Nets stretch 900 feet long and are mended by hand. And, many of those boats are owned by increasingly younger generations of fishermen and women. Click here to read the story 16:57
Maine Is Drowning in Lobsters – The market is booming, but it’s not making anybody rich
In his famous 1968 essay “The Tragedy of the Commons,” biologist Garrett Hardin singled out ocean fishing as a prime example of self-interested individuals short-sightedly depleting shared resource.,, Then there’s the Maine lobster. As University of Maine anthropologist James M. Acheson put it in his 2003 book “Capturing the Commons: Devising Institutions to Manage the Maine Lobster Industry”. Since the late 1980s, catches have been at record-high levels despite decades of intense exploitation. We have never produced so many lobsters. Even more interesting to managers is the fact that catch levels remained relatively stable from 1947 to the late 1980s. While scientists do not agree on the reason for these high catches, there is a growing consensus that they are due, in some measure, to the long history of effective regulations that the lobster industry has played a key role in developing. Click here to read the article 15:42
Hawke’s Bay Seafoods on trial over alleged under-reporting of catches
Dozens of fishing catch returns and other documents are alleged to have been falsified by Napier company Hawke’s Bay Seafoods, a judge has been told at the start of an expected four-month trial in the District Court at Wellington. The trial started before Judge Bill Hastings yesterday, with Ministry for Primary Industries prosecutor Stephanie Bishop saying there was deliberate and wide-reaching under-reporting of catches over about two years. Ms Bishop alleged offences were orchestrated “from the top” and the necessary skippers’ collusion was gained by cash payments and continued employment. Catches totalling up to 63 tonnes of bluenose and 3.5 tonnes of trumpeter were involved, motivated by a lack of catch entitlement and prospects of export market advantages. Charges involve mainly two types of offence, with false statements on catch-return records and selling fish not properly reported to MPI. click here to read the story 14:49
A nice note to the Fishermen of Flotilla 2017 from Sargeant Steven Stanko
Hello all, I want to take a moment and express my sincere admiration as to the professionalism the fishermen/women at the event displayed. As the supervisor on scene for CT Encon Police I witnessed firsthand the interaction that took place between the fishing vessel captains and crew involved in the event had with not only my department, but with the United States Coast Guard, and other commercial/civilian craft in the area. Communication on the radio, as well as by phone, with vessel captains was first rate. As an event planner and coordinator that is responsible for public safety I must say that all those involved made the event much easier and less stressful for me to supervisor. In fact, it was a pleasure. The skills of the captains in handling numerous large vessels in constrained waterways was exemplary of the nautical experience they possess. click here to read the letter 12:52
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for May 19, 2017
SOUTHERN FLOUNDER LAWSUIT SETTLED! Click here to read the Weekly Update, to read all the updates, Click here 11:50
Coast Guard medevacs injured fisherman 86 miles east of Cape Cod
A Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod aircrew medevaced an injured fisherman Thursday evening from 86 miles off the coast of Cape Cod. At around 5 p.m., the captain of the 75-foot fishing vessel Destiny notified First District command center watchstanders that one of his crewmembers had fallen and sustained injuries to his hand and ribs. An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew launched and arrived on scene at around 8 p.m. Once on scene, the crew used a basket to hoist the fisherman to the helicopter. The fisherman was then flown to Air Station Cape Cod where emergency medical services personnel were waiting to transport the 54-year-old man to Falmouth Hospital. The Destiny is homeported out of New Bedford. Click here for video 11:36
The Wild West of Deep-Sea Mining
In the coming years, a new gold rush will begin. Deep beneath the ocean’s waves, from scalding hydrothermal vents to the frigid stretches of the abyssal plain, ocean processes have deposited vast quantities of valuable minerals on the seafloor. Now, the convergence of technological development and political will has placed this ore within reach. But like the gold rushes of old, the deep-sea-mining industry is emerging on the frontiers of society, far from legislatures and law enforcement. Officially, the nascent deep-sea-mining industry is governed by the International Seabed Authority (ISA), a nongovernmental organization established in 1996 by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The authority’s critical task is to coordinate its 168 member nations in establishing and enforcing regulations for the developing deep-sea-mining industry. click here to read the article 10:24
Photo Article: How BC’s Multicultural Fishing Industry Shaped the Province
Fishing has always been a fundamental part of life in British Columbia, particularly near Steveston. Because of the area’s natural abundance and proximity to salmon spawning grounds, Coast Salish First Nations were able to live off the area’s resources since time immemorial. Settlement in coastal areas soon began to swell and in the 1800s, Japanese, Chinese, and European immigrants joined the First Nations in harvesting and processing the catch. Then came the canneries. click here to view the photo’s, read the story 09:40
Fisherman, lawyers mull new at-sea monitoring suit
They lost in U.S. District Court in New Hampshire last summer and failed to have that decision overturned in federal appeals court in Boston this spring. Still, New Hampshire groundfisherman David Goethel and his legal team may not be done in their legal challenge of the federal government’s ability to shift the costs of at-sea monitoring to groundfishermen. “We’re still assessing all of our legal options at this point,” said Julie Smith, one of the lawyers from Washington D.C.-based Cause of Action Institute that has represented Goethel and Northeast Fishing Sector 13 in the initial federal lawsuit and appeal. Smith declined to be more specific, but clearly the options are limited: Goethel and his lawyers could swing for the fences and petition the U.S. Supreme Court to hear their case, hoping it would overturn the April decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals upholding the judgment in the original lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Concord, New Hampshire. click here to read the story 08:57
Coast Guard rescues 3 fishermen near St. Simons Island
The Coast Guard rescued three fishermen Thursday after their vessel began taking on water near St. Simons Island, Georgia. Coast Guard Sector Charleston Command Center watch standers received a call at 1:54 p.m. from a good Samaritan stating the Lady Vanessa, a 73-foot fishing vessel, was taking on water with three people on board. A Coast Guard Station Brunswick 29-foot Response boat crew launched and two Coast Guard Air Station Savannah MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crews launched at approximately 2:20 p.m. to assist. The helicopter crew arrived on scene at 2:46 p.m., hoisted the three fishermen and transported them to St. Simons Island Airport to awaiting EMS personnel. Click here for more images 08:01
