Daily Archives: May 30, 2017
Op-Ed: Something fishy is going on in the Bay of Fundy
If you thought the massive fish and marine animal die-off that took place in Nova Scotia back in December is all cleared up, you’re dead wrong. There have been two more die-offs, but these latest ones are different because they are being caused by man. Besides the massive kill that took place in December that encompassed an area from Annapolis to Yarmouth, there was the mutilated fish brought up in gill nets earlier this month in the Minas Basin area. Now everyone is looking at Nova Scotia Power (NSP) as being the culprit in these latest fish kills. click here to read the story 20:02
Newport Coast Guard Helicopter funding looks promising – not a done deal, but close
Encouraging news out of Washington DC that a two year extension of funding for the Coast Guard rescue helicopter base at Newport Airport has been approved by a vote of both Democrat and Republican members of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. The vote is but another step toward ultimate approval by the whole Congress. click here to read the story 18:28
Lobster season drawing to a close off southwestern Nova Scotia
The largest commercial lobster season in Canada comes to a close this week with the end of the season in lobster fishing areas (LFAs) 34 and 33 off southwestern Nova Scotia and along the province’s south shore. Fishermen in these districts have until the end of the day Wednesday, May 31, to haul their traps out of the water, although some had already started bringing loads of traps and gear shore over the weekend. (A nice little rundown of the season, with some very good photo’s of hard working people doing what they do, and a mention in reverence to Fisherman Big Jim Buchanan who tragically lost his life early in the season) Click here to view the photos and read the story. Rest in Peace Jim Buchanan. 17:22
Advancing fishing rule aims to protect deep-sea coral in New England waters
Fishing trawlers bring in an average of $6.4 million annually to Bay State ports from fish scooped off seabeds 600 meters or more below the surface of New England waters. In an effort to save coral on the ocean floor, the New England Fisheries Management Council is advancing a proposed restriction on draggers and trawlers fishing at those depths. The council’s Habitat Committee signed off Tuesday on the proposal, which affect fishing operations in a roughly 25,000 square mile area. If it is passed by the full council it would need to go through the National Marine Fisheries Service, also known as NOAA Fisheries, before it would go into effect. Environmental groups Wild Oceans, Earthjustice, Pew Charitable Trusts and Conservation Law Foundation urged the council’s scientists to study an alternative proposal, which they said would protect more coral than the plan the council advanced. The council agreed to study the conservation groups’ proposal. click here to read the story 16:30
Rhode Island: Squid Fishing is a Boon to the Local Economy
Its high squid fishing season. Recreational anglers crowd the Calamari (Goat Island) Causeway at night, carrying floating water lights and special jigs to scoop them up in buckets. The commercial fleet is pumping squid into the Port of Galilee by the boatload. From the seabed to the boat to a saltwater flume that shoots them into the maw of a dockside processing facility, they are sorted, graded and flash frozen at minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit.,, The Rhode Island fleet has been so adept at maximizing this particular catch that Galilee is now the number one port for longfin squid landings on the East Coast. In 2015, for example, Rhode Island landed sixteen million pounds. New York, its nearest competitor, landed about 4.3 million pounds. click here to read the story 14:34
Did you know Beaufort’s ‘Captain Billy’ North? A memorial Mass will honor him Wednesday
Woody Collins knew William North for years. He walked the shrimp docks in Port Royal on Wednesday recalling the man the Lowcountry came to know as “Captain Billy.” Captain Billy’s Lowcountry life on the water will be remembered in Beaufort on Wednesday. A memorial Mass for William North will be held at noon at St. Peter’s Catholic Church chapel on Carteret Street. North, known as Captain Billy, was a Beaufort native and longtime charter and commercial fishing boat captain. He died in Georgia on April 17 at age 70. click here to watch the video 12:24
Nova Scotia Power blamed for fish deaths in Gaspereau River
Fishermen, members of the three First Nations Communities of Glooscap, Valley and Sipekne’katik, as well as Fisheries and Oceans officers and scientists, descended upon the White Rock hydroelectric station located along the Gaspereau River Monday morning to see for themselves. A crowd watched from the riverbanks as its current carried the dead fish downstream. Some got caught on the banks and rocks, others in nets, and the smell of dead fish lingered in the air. Several local fishermen estimated the mortality is beyond tens of thousands of the species, after Nova Scotia Power started generating power last week. The largest number of fish deaths reportedly occurred after a third incident in the past week, on Sunday, after the flow on the river was turned up again to help a charity rubber duck race that has been part of the Apple Blossom festival for more than 20 years. click here to read the story 10:48
Steve Holler has been fishing for lobster since he was 14. He’s not about to stop now.
There’s one road into Houghs Neck, Quincy, and if you drive in on a Friday or Saturday in the summer, you’re bound to see the signs: “Lobsters fresh off the boat, 3-6.” Arrows point toward the Maritime Center and down a dock, where you’ll find Steve Holler’s boat, November Gale. Holler is a fixture in Houghs Neck, selling some of the freshest lobsters in the Boston area. He starts back up again June 2, and will keep going through August. Holler, 54, has been a commercial fisherman since the age of 14, when his uncle — a former Navy SEAL — pulled him off the corner, where he was hanging out with friends, and said, “You’re going fishing.”,,, Holler’s idea to sell lobsters fresh off the boat came when he realized he needed to do something different to stay in business. “I’m the only guy who does this, and for a reason,” Holler said. The 19-hour days aren’t for everyone. Still, the creative approach has paid off: It has more than kept his business afloat. He pulled up iPhone photos from some days when the line stretches all the way down the dock and up the beach. click here to read the story 10:01
Severe Weather on the High Seas
Many seafarers find themselves subjected to harsh elements, and when it comes to the ocean, nothing “stirs the pot” like the wind; and the winds are a response to pressure differences.
More specifically, winds move from high to low values of pressure, and the greater the differences between the pressure fields, the faster the wind moves. A good way to visualize this process is to imagine a ball rolling down a hill: the steeper the slope of the hill, the faster the ball will roll. Oh gravity, thou are a heartless force. High pressures can ultimately be thought of as “hills”, the low pressures as the “dips”, and the ball is the “wind”. So when analyzing atmospheric pressure patterns, much like a contour elevation map would indicate the steepness or grade to a hiker, tightly spaced pressure contours indicate a steep pressure change pattern, hence higher winds. click here to read the article 08:57
