Daily Archives: December 6, 2017
Alaskan summer of success for a kid from Flint
Inspired by Seahawk Thomas Rawls, a young African-American man from Flint took a job fishing in Alaska’s Bristol Bay, and it paid for his first year in college. Plucked from the harshness of Flint, MI., and delivered to the pristine waters of Alaska’s Bristol Bay, upon one of world’s greatest fisheries, Jawanza Brown had his mind close to blown. “It was almost like going to a whole other planet, you know?” he said. “Everything was so different. I mean, Alaska’s part of the U.S., but it’s such a different part of the country, and the fishing industry is so big and booming. It was just wild.” click here to read the story 22:37
Fishermen voice concerns over fallout from Rafaels crimes
A century’s worth of fishing industry experience traveled from New Bedford to the Viking Hotel on Wednesday to describe the impact on NOAA’s groundfish ban on Carlos Rafael’s vessels. Richie Canastra, an owner of the New Bedford fish auction BASE, sat in front of the New England Fisheries Management Council during a public comment portion of it’s meeting and warned of “many layoffs” that will occur because of the ban. click here to read the story 21:02
North Pacific Fishery Management Council meeting in Anchorage (in progress) December 4-12, 2017
The North Pacific Fishery Management Council will meet the week of December 4-12, 2017 at the Hilton Hotel, 500 W. 3rd Avenue, Anchorage, Alaska. The AGENDA and SCHEDULE are available. The Council meeting will be broadcast (starts today) click here to listen online 19:38
Listing the Bearded Seal as Threatened: A Disturbing Victory for Untestable Hypotheses and Flawed Models.
The Center for Biological Diversity also petitioned to list thriving populations of Bearded Seals as threatened or endangered by melting sea ice. In response to their petition, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) assembled a Bearded Seal Biological Review Team (BRT). The BRT’s report can be read here. Oddly, despite promoting a threatened designation, the BRT reports Bearded Seals have existed for over 1-2 million years, surviving far greater bouts of climate change as the earth bounced between several ice ages and warmer interglacials. An interesting (click here) read by Jim Steele 18:25:37
No plan to feel sorry for himself, LeBlanc says after leukemia diagnosis
Federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Dominic LeBlanc has been diagnosed with leukemia, and plans to start treatment next week. Despite this, the long-time politician said he has no intention to spend time feeling sorry for himself. LeBlanc was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia last April, he said in a statement Wednesday. He said it was discovered after a series of tests following an annual physical exam where his doctor detected an anomaly in his white blood cell count. click here to read the story 17:43
Efforts to F/V Pacific Paradise shipwreck off Waikiki fail yet again
Efforts to pull a commercial fishing boat stuck on the reef off Waikiki failed again Wednesday. Crews said they were suspending efforts to pull the Pacific Paradise out to sea after it got stuck on a sandbar as the tide started to drop. The U.S. Coast Guard said they’ll return Thursday to renew salvage operations. The 79-foot longline fishing vessel ran aground off Kaimana Beach on Oct. 10 when it was returning to its Honolulu home port from American Samoa with 20 people on board. Video, click here to read the story 17:06
F/V Misty Blue: Divers will look for missing fishing boat Thursday
The Coast Guard has suspended its search for the two fishermen who went missing after their boat sank off the coast of Nantucket, and because of the current weather conditions, State Police divers are waiting until Thursday to go into the water and confirm the location of the sunken vessel. click here to read the story 13:04
Japanese Fishing Boat Washes Up on N. Oregon Coast
Tempests and tides have brought a good number of remarkable things to the Oregon coast in recent weeks, and the latest wild find was a Japanese fishing boat that washed ashore at Arcadia Beach State Recreation Site just south of Cannon Beach. The 38-foot vessel came up on the beach on December 2, and almost immediately state officials were there in various capacities, include salvage personnel and a biologist checking for invasive species. Photo’s, click here to read the story 12:40
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 45ft. Guimond Lobster Boat, 510HP Volvo D11 Diesel
Specifications, information and 8 photos click here To see all the boats in this series, Click here 11:50
Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative responds to questions about its effectiveness
The Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative, which spent $6.25 million over four years to market lobsters to well-known chefs and at restaurant events nationwide, is seeking to extend its contract beyond 2018, when the current five-year marketing agreement expires. A portion of the collaborative’s budget is paid through license fees paid by lobstermen and contributions by dealers and processors. click here to read the story 10:47
Fairhope Docks: a work in progress
The fate of Fairhope’s city marina is looking brighter, as the city looks to celebrate its past and build toward the future with its recent takeover. While the city has always owned the marina, located along Fly Creek off of Seacliff Drive, it had previously leased the property to a private company, Eastern Shore Marine, for several decades.,,, The city hired a new marina manager, Captain Drew Craze, to be onsite and help manage the goings-on throughout the upgrades and transitions the city hopes to make. Craze brings with him 25 years in the private marine industry, working with large vessels and corporate entities. Craze has already helped to bolster some of the commercial lease space available at the marina by bringing in another fishing boat. click here to read the story 10:28
Wind Farm Cable Would Come Ashore In Wainscott; Company Would Fund Fisheries And Scenic Improvements
Deepwater Wind has told the East Hampton Town Board that it has identified Beach Lane in Wainscott as the preferable place for the cable from the 15-turbine wind farm planned southeast of Montauk to come ashore and connect to the South Fork power grid.,,,Additionally, the company is pledging to give the East Hampton Town Trustees $600,000, in two dedicated funds, for improving fisheries habitat and other environmental improvements on Town Trustees-controlled wetlands and bay bottoms. click here to read the story 10:06
Lawsuit alleges sunken fishing boat was ‘unseaworthy’
A lawsuit filed less than a month ago alleges the now-sunken fishing vessel “Misty Blue” was unseaworthy. The Coast Guard suspended the search for the missing crew members Michael Roberts, 44, and Jonathan Saraiva, 32, Tuesday night after the vessel sank about 10 miles off the coast of Nantucket Monday night. According to court documents, the $1.5 million civil lawsuit was brought by a Fairhaven fisherman who claims that he was seriously injured in September due to the captain and crew’s negligence and the “unseaworthiness” of the Misty Blue. click here to read the story 08:52
Marine resources commissioner opposes task force to study addiction in fishing industry
The head of the Maine Department of Marine Resources has come out against a proposed bill to study the high rate of addiction in commercial fishing. Patrick Keliher said a task force bill that will be introduced by Rep. Mick Devin, a Newcastle marine biologist who sits on the committee that oversees Keliher’s agency, focuses too narrowly on one industry. Keliher acknowledges the commercial fishing industry has a drug addiction problem, but no more so than any other line of work. Addiction is an issue that transcends the fishing industry, he said. click here to read the story 08:05
Westport Marina ranked 10th in the nation for commercial seafood landings
Westport Marina was 10th nationwide in seafood landings in 2016 with 108 million pounds of crab, salmon, hake and other seafood landed, according to statistics compiled by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Westport placed 14th in the nation in total value of seafood landed in 2016, with a little more than $59 million in product. That is down from $65 million in 2015, due to lower prices in 2016 for many species. “We are extremely proud of our commercial fishing fleet and the hundreds of fishing and processing jobs they support in our region,” said Westport Marina Business Manager Molly Bold. “We are committed to providing the infrastructure, facilities and services our fishing industry needs to continue to thrive.” click here to read the story 07:25
