Daily Archives: October 1, 2017
Coast Guard: Captain’s mistakes led to El Faro sinking
The U.S. Coast Guard has concluded mistakes by the captain of the El Faro led to the sinking of the cargo ship and the deaths of all 33 crew members in 2015. The Coast Guard’s final 199-page report was released on Sunday, two years to the day after the 800-foot vessel sunk near Crooked Island in the Bahamas. Capt. Michael Davidson sailed through rather than around Hurricane Joaquin and “failed to carry out his responsibilities and duties as captain of the vessel during the last eight hours before it sank,” the report concluded. click here to read the story 17:53
Coast Guard seeks to punish El Faro owner in final report issued Sunday – The U.S. Coast Guard released a full report Sunday click here to read the story with report
On the Value of Fisheries
The chairman of the Town of East Hampton’s fisheries advisory committee told the town trustees on Monday that the committee has raised $35,000 toward the $100,000 cost of an analysis of the socioeconomic importance of fisheries to the town, and asked that the trustees consider making a contribution of their own. Brad Loewen, a bayman and a former town councilman, told the trustees that the State Industrial Development Agencies has awarded a $25,000 grant toward the study, which would be conducted by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County and cover the commercial and for-hire recreational fishing industries as well as aquaculture interests. click here to read the story 12:46
Fisheries Minister George Eustice announces new protections for lobster stocks
New protections to improve the long-term sustainability of England’s shellfish industry and support the next generation of fishermen have been announced by Fisheries Minister George Eustice. From Sunday (1 October), fishermen will no longer be able to land egg-bearing (‘berried’) lobsters and crawfish in English waters – a move that will protect the species until their eggs have hatched. The UK is leading the way in Europe in providing this new protection for shellfish – with a proposal for similar action to ban the landing of berried lobsters across the EU currently in discussion. click here to read the story 11:16
The Fight to Raise the Sapphire – ‘We proved everybody wrong and we got our boys home’
When four crewmen perished on the Peterhead fishing boat Sapphire 20 years ago, relatives began a campaign to have their bodies recovered from inside the sunken trawler. The 76-tonne boat sank in the North Sea, 12 miles off the Aberdeenshire coast, on 1 October 1997. The UK government refused to finance the recovery of the bodies, 270ft (90m) below the surface, saying it was policy not to bring back the bodies of those lost at sea. Shipping minister Glenda Jackson and Prime Minister Tony Blair were criticised for the decision at the time. The families of the dead men began an appeal to raise hundreds of thousands of pounds to fund the operation. click here to read the story 10:28
Sapphire tragedy impact being felt 20 years later – “You’re thinking to yourself: ‘There but for the grace of God . . .” “But you never get used to these tragedies or the impact they have on so many different people. click here to read the story
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for September 29, 2017
Click here to read the Weekly Update, to read all the updates, Click here for older updates click here09:43
Don Cuddy: There’s profit for New Bedford in processing all of the fish
On September 21, New Bedford officially joined the Icelandic Ocean Cluster, a business incubator in Reykjavik, focused on fostering innovation in ocean-related industries. The cluster, which focuses on marine biotechnology, aims to demonstrate that the seafood industry can extract more value from its fisheries as part of this network. The bottom line is getting people to look at organic waste as a product that has value and not simply as waste. Mayor Jon Mitchell signed the agreement with Thor Sigfusson, the main man from Iceland, at a ceremony held at the Whaling Museum. click here to read the story 08:27
