Daily Archives: July 26, 2017
Marine Accident Investigation Branch – Fishermen ‘worked to exhaustion’ before death in sinking
Martin Johnstone, Christopher Morrison and Paul Alliston died when the Louise went down in the Outer Hebrides in April last year. The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) found a series of mistakes contributed to the sinking of the boat, while the emergency response was delayed by almost an hour. The Louisa’s four-man crew were asleep when the creel boat began taking on water at anchor off Mingulay. They had worked 20-hour shifts for four days before the sinking, sleeping between stringing creels and eating snacks as they went. An alarm intended to warn them about flooding had been disabled and they did not wake up until the Louisa was already sinking rapidly. The men abandoned the boat but were unable to inflate their faulty life raft. click here to read the story 20:56
Simrad Commercial And Patti Marine Enterprises Partner on New Clamming Vessel Bridge
Simrad Commercial, in partnership with Patti Marine Enterprises, announced today the latest vessel commissioned for the Truex clamming fleet is outfitted with a complete suite of Simrad Commercial marine electronics. SEAWATCHER II, a 152-foot clamming vessel, features two Simrad NSO evo2 processors driving five 18.5-inch monitors, an AP70 Autopilot, Halo-4 and Halo-6 Pulse Compression Radar systems and two SonarHub™ sonar processing systems. The design of the SEAWATCHER II is based on an original concept developed in partnership with the Truex family in 2003. The original namesake, the 134-foot SEAWATCHER I, was the first aft house clam vessel with integrated and stylized stacks. click here to read the story 18:33
Police lay charge stemming from April protest at DFO headquarters; FISH-NL says authorities setting bad precedent
The Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador (FISH-NL) is shocked to learn a charge has been laid against an inshore harvester from La Scie involved in an April demonstration at the St. John’s headquarters of the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans. “Inshore harvesters have been driven to the point of protest by direct threats to their livelihoods,” says Ryan Cleary, President of FISH-NL. “They should not be charged, especially after police said they wouldn’t be.” “But like the promise made by federal Fisheries and Oceans Minister Dominic LeBlanc that he would meet with hunger striker Richard Gillett, words these days appear to mean nothing.” click here to read the press release 16:16
Hilton Head Island shrimp boat catches fire
Hilton Head Island Fire and Rescue firefighters were kept busy Tuesday by a shrimp boat that caught fire behind Hudson’s Seafood Restaurant. The boat took on water and leaked fuel into the waterway, fire departament spokeswoman Joheida Fister said. The fire was reported around 6:30 a.m. and firefighters arrived to find a fire in the boat’s engine room, Fister said. Flames damaged the engine room and much of the shrimp hold area in the boat, which was docked behind the restaurant. More images, click here to read the story 14:20
TSB recommends mandatory safety measures following investigation
Drawing attention to the wide range of safety risks that persist in the fishing industry, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) today released its investigation report (M16A0140) into the June 2016 fatal capsizing of fishing vessel C19496NB near Miller Brook Wharf, Salmon Beach, New Brunswick.,,, Therefore, the Board recommends that the government of New Brunswick and WorkSafeNB require persons to wear suitable personal flotation devices at all times when on the deck of a commercial fishing vessel or on board a commercial fishing vessel without a deck or deck structure and that WorkSafeNB ensure that programs are developed to confirm compliance. click here to read the story 13:42
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 49’11”x 24′ Dixon Lobster/Scalloper, 500HP Lugger, Nothern Lights – 14KW
Specifications, information and 15 photos click here Vessel very well maintained and clean. To see all the boats in this series, Click here 12:47
Newport’s fishing fleet lays it on the line…
The Port of Newport is home to a diversified commercial fishing industry. Well over 100 commercial fishing vessels are home-ported in Newport and many more transient vessels visit and utilize the Port’s facilities. Newport-based vessels participate in many fisheries and Newport is also home to many of Oregon’s Distant Water Fleet.,,, The International Terminal (IT) is a critical component to Newport’s commercial fishing success. The IT can accommodate large fishing vessels that do not fit at other port facilities. It is not unusual to see 12-15 large trawl vessels moored at the IT between November 1 and January 10th or between April 1 and May 15th. Crab and shrimp boats and trawlers also use the IT heavily to stage and switch gear throughout the year. click here to read the story 12:09
Sustained by the sea: Buying into a fishing legacy
Trae Lohse and Tracey Nuzzi, both fairly new to the commercial fishing industry, have very different fishing histories. They’re drawn to commercial fishing’s unconventional lifestyle, setting their sights on the waters of Prince William Sound each summer to support themselves and their families, as part of an industry that supports Alaska’s economy.,,, For most young adults beginning their careers, making an investment of $200,000 would be out of the question. But for those looking to get into the industry, this is pretty standard. They are well aware of the costs. The two biggest upfront costs are purchasing a commercial fishing boat and permit. click here to read the story 10:12
Wicked Tuna draws out tourists
Henry and Cheryl Klemmer of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, traveled nearly 1,200 miles to Gloucester this week with a dream of meeting a “Wicked Tuna” captain. They didn’t meet one. They met five.
“Oh gosh, it really brought a personal connection to the show,” said Henry Klemmer. “It brought reality into the living room.” The seventh season of the National Geographic Channel’s hit series is currently filming in Gloucester, and will air in 2018. Meanwhile, the fourth season of the spinoff “Wicked Tuna: Outer Banks” premieres Sunday at 10 p.m.. That show includes two captains from the original series, T.J. Ott of Hot Tuna and Tyler McLaughlin of the Pinwheel, who will fish for bluefin alongside a fleet of the South’s best fishermen. click here to read the story 08:54
Dominic LeBlanc pledges to ‘enshrine the owner-operator and fleet separation law’
Federal Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc told the Canadian Independent Fish Harvesters’ Federation he plans to make amendments to the Fisheries Act that will “enshrine the owner-operator and fleet separation law.” “This would mean that the minister would be able to create regulation under law to prohibit a fisherman from using a licence to enter a controlling agreement or other arrangements that are contrary to social and economic objectives that are beyond the spirit and intent of the owner-operator and fleet separation policies,” LeBlanc said. LeBlanc made the announcement during his keynote address at the annual Canadian Independent Fish Harvesters’ Federation meeting held in Chester, N.S., Tuesday. click here to read the story 08:21
NL Fish Harvesters Welcome Minister’s Commitment to Protect the Independence of the Inshore Fishery
The Fish, Food and Allied Workers’ Union (FFAW-Unifor) applauds Minister Dominic LeBlanc’s announcement that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans will pursue amendments to the Fisheries Act that will protect the independent owner-operator fishery. “The best way to build a strong middle class, create jobs and protect and strengthen the economy in coastal communities is through enforcing the owner-operator and fleet separation policies,” said Keith Sullivan, President of the Fish, Food and Allied Workers (FFAW-Unifor). “Today’s announcement is the result of consistent calls from FFAW-Unifor and other fisheries organizations across Canada to keep fishing licenses in the hands of those who actually fish by taking concrete steps to enforce existing policies.” click here to read the press release 08:12
DRILLING FISHERMEN By Karen Wall
For the last 20 years, the screws have been continually tightened on fishermen. A few flounder here, a few grouper there … slowly choking the life out of both commercial and recreational fisheries, with the incessant mantra that fishermen didn’t care about the resource and that at the rate we were going, the oceans would be empty by 2050. The contention was and has been that fishermen lacked any semblance of self-control, and that they needed to have their industry saved from themselves. That was the argument used in 2005 and 2006, when Lee Crockett, the director of federal fisheries policy for the Pew Charitable Trusts, was leading the charge to cut the summer flounder quota to 5 million pounds, economic issues be damned. Crockett continually insisted that summer flounder were in danger of reaching the extinction tipping point because of greedy, shortsighted fishermen — a common theme in the Pew-funded arguments about fishermen. click here to read the op-ed 07:07
Pew Trust proposes Arctic drilling standards – Many environmental groups flat-out oppose offshore Arctic drilling, but Pew’s Marilyn Heiman says they do not go that far. “Pew does not have a position that we oppose all offshore drilling, but we do believe there are ways that this can be done right,” Heiman said. click here
Catch Shares Editorials – Articles that are a must read for every fisherman concerned about their right to fish!!!!! click here
