Daily Archives: July 8, 2017
Letter: Fish union failing members on crucial issues
I wish to respond to Lana Payne’s June 24th column (“Austerity should be on trial”). I have no problem with the opinion piece — austerity, no doubt, had a hand in the recent tragic high-rise fire in London, England. But while austerity should be on trial in Europe, FFAW-Unifor was actually before the courts right here in Newfoundland and Labrador, and Payne, Unifor’s Atlantic director, ignored the elephant on the wharf — as has the province’s Federation of Labour and every other union leader in the province, and country. It’s unprecedented for a Canadian union to have deceived its members, which is exactly what happened with scallop harvesters in the Strait of Belle Isle. click here to read the letter 19:48
Video Update: 2 fisherman rescued 52 miles off the coast of Coos Bay
The Coast Guard rescued two fisherman from a fishing vessel that was sinking 52 miles off the coast of Coos Bay Saturday morning. The two men where hoisted off the New Faith, a 40-foot commercial fishing vessel homeported in Coos Bay, by two separate aircrews aboard MH-65 Dolphin helicopters, one from Sector North Bend and the other from Air Facility Newport, and flew them to North Bend where they were released without need for medical care. A communications watchstander at Sector North Bend received a mayday call on VHF-FM channel 16 at 5:10 a.m. The captain of the vessel New Faith reported that his vessel was taking on water from an unknown location. The Sector North Bend aircrew was airborne at 5:50 a.m. and on scene at 6:23 a.m., where they lowered a rescue swimmer to facilitate communications and assist with dewatering. The Air Facility Newport aircrew was airborne at 6:30 a.m. and on scene at 6:54 a.m. After dewatering efforts were unsuccessful, the fishermen where safely hoisted into the helicopters, the captain at 7:13 a.m. and the deckhand at 7:34 a.m. There was less than 300 gallons of diesel and 1 ton of albacore tuna catch reported onboard the vessel. The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Orcas confirmed the vessel sank. -USCG- 15:03 click here for video
Mayport fisherman burned in accident, airlifted Friday night
The Coast Guard medevaced a 44-year-old man Friday, approximately 40 miles east of Mayport. Coast Guard Sector Jacksonville Command Center watchstanders received notification at 9:40 p.m. that a crewmember aboard the fishing vessel Charlotte Marie had suffered burn injuries during a fire aboard the vessel. An MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Savannah, Georgia, was launched at 10:45 p.m. and arrived on scene at 11:15 p.m. The man was hoisted and transported to Florida Health hospital in Jacksonville. –USCG-.,,, A family member tells Action News Jax that the victim is 44 year old Brian Lloyd, owner of the Charlotte Marie fishing boat. Lloyd’s wife Shannon says he suffered first and second degree burns and that his condition is stable. She did not have immediate details about what happened. link 13:24
Eastern Cape Breton lobster season looking good despite rough start
Rough weather delayed the opening of the lobster fishing season off eastern Cape Breton and a nasty spring storm three days later destroyed hundreds of traps up and down the island’s Atlantic coast. Despite those setbacks and the financial cost of replacing traps that can cost up to $100 or more apiece, fishermen are likely to have a profitable season by the time it ends on July 17 thanks to high landings and fair prices, said Herb Nash, a lobster fisherman out of Glace Bay. “After the first week and a half and we got straightened away, the season has really been excellent,” he told Local Xpress. “It’s one of the best seasons ever.” The lobster season in eastern Cape Breton waters normally runs May 15 to July 15, but after two days of stormy weather at the beginning delayed the opening, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans agreed to extend the fishery the same amount. However, strong winds and heavy rains May 20 kept boats tied up and left beaches along the coast littered with traps, many containing lobsters that were unsalvageable. click here to read the story 12:11
California Dungeness crab fleet nets $68 million haul, but small boats continue to struggle
California’s valuable Dungeness crab fishery appears to have rebounded after a disastrous 2015-16 season that threatened to knock even longtime fishermen so far back on their heels some feared they might not recover. Preliminary figures from the 2016-17 season show statewide commercial landings at more than $68.2 million, above the most recent 10-year average, and bested only twice in that period, including the peak $95.5 million haul in 2011-12.,,, But the relative bounty of the season, many said, obscures continued hardship for small, family operations disadvantaged by management shifts in the commercial crabbing season. But the results of those and continued serial openings onward up the coast meant that the biggest boats — those which can move their gear in one go and fill a large hold with crabs before having to return to shore — could converge on each small area that opened, whatever the weather or water conditions. The staggered openings meant big boats cleaned up and the small boats were left behind. click here to read the story 11:47
American eel turns up in southwestern Minnesota lake
An American eel — far, far away from its natural home in the North Atlantic Ocean — was found in a southwestern Minnesota lake late last month. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources fisheries workers conducting a lake survey on Cottonwood Lake about 16 miles southwest of Granite Falls captured a female, 37.4-inch American eel in their trap net late last month. American eel spawn in the Sargasso Sea in the north Atlantic Ocean. However, the American eel spends the majority of its life in freshwater habitat before returning to the Sargasso Sea to complete the life cycle. Larvae of this fish ride the currents randomly for hundreds or even thousands of miles before finding freshwater habitat. That makes this particular eel’s journey all the more impressive, having likely ridden ocean currents into the Gulf of Mexico and swimming upstream thousands of miles via the Mississippi River and the nearby Minnesota River. click here to read the story 11:06
N.J.’s fluke question will be answered next week
New Jersey will get an answer to the question of whether the state is out of compliance with its 18-inch summer flounder regulation next week. State officials from the Department of Environmental Protection were able to plead their case to NOAA Fisheries on a June 27 conference call. “We were able to go into great detail about the data behind New Jersey’s management measures that will conserve more fish and reduce the number of larger breeding females removed from the fishery, and therefore provide stronger recruitment for the future,” said NJDEP Spokesperson Bob Considine. click here to read the story 09:36
Thomas Quintin Jr. – Lost New Bedford fisherman’s life was his family and the sea
Kaylen Quintin learned about her family’s past through the walls of Seamen’s Bethel. Thomas Quintin Jr., her father, routinely showed his daughter and son, Noah, the names inscribed on the back wall dedicated to fishermen lost at sea. Within the wall of names, he emphasized two: his grandfathers, Wilfred Quintin and Ronald Foley. “I will certainly be taking my kids there,” Kaylen said. “Now, it won’t just be Wilfred Quintin and Ronald Foley, though, it will be Thomas Quintin, too.” Thomas Quintin Jr. fell overboard from the Miss Shauna on Monday. The Coast Guard concluded its search for the third-generation fisherman from New Bedford on Tuesday night. “You can bury anyone in a graveyard,” Kaylen said. “You can’t put anybody’s name up on that wall. I think that’s what he would have wanted. That’s just so much more meaningful considering the situation.” click here to read the story 08:50
Fishermen, environmentalists continue battle over protected area off Cape Cod
Environmentalists often work with fishermen to reach a middle ground that benefits the environment and eases the regulatory burden on the industry. (baloney) The Environmental Defense Fund, for instance, has partnered with fishermen, both locally and nationally, absorbing some of the cost of new equipment to make electronic monitoring of catches at sea a feasible alternative. But there’s little consensus when it comes to the country’s newest marine park. You either agree there is an urgent need to protect the fragile ecosystems and inhabitants of the 5,000-square-mile Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, located roughly 130 miles southeast of Cape Cod, or you side with many of the region’s fishermen, who are worried this could be precedent-setting: the first in series of permanent closures in which they have little say. click here to read the story 08:08
