Daily Archives: December 25, 2017
Donegal coastal community left devastated after Irish fisherman dies
A Co Donegal coastal community has been left devastated after a fisherman died while out fishing. The small fishing community of Downings is coming to terms with the sudden loss of popular local fisherman, Garret Boyce. Mr Boyce died on-board the McBride Fishing Company owned, MFV ‘Peadar Elaine II’, sometime before 4.00am on Saturday morning. The boat was fishing crab in the North Sea over the Christmas period and Mr Boyce was due to return home on December 27th. click here to read the story 20:28 
BP Canada’s offshore exploration bid progressing
The public comment period on the draft Environmental Assessment Report for exploratory drilling in the Scotian Basin closed at the end of the day on Friday. BP Canada has applied to drill up to seven exploration wells within its current offshore exploration licences, located between 230 and 370 kilometres southeast of Halifax. The project would include the drilling of up to seven wells between 2018 and 2022. click here to read the story 17:33
The UN Starts a Conservation Treaty for the High Seas
The nations of the world have launched a historic two-year process to create the first-ever international treaty to protect life in the high seas. Covering nearly half of the planet, the high seas are international waters where no country has jurisdiction. These waters, which reach depths of nearly seven miles, are filled with life, from valuable fish to plankton. They help generate the oxygen we breathe and regulate the global climate. “This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to get ocean governance that puts conservation and sustainable use first,” says Liz Karan, senior manager for the high seas program at the Pew Charitable Trusts. click here to read the story 16:19
A Christmas Day disaster
St Finbarr’s final trip was plagued by bad luck from the start. She took 14 days battling atrocious weather to get to Newfoundland’s Grand Banks – a trip usually done in half that time. Electrical faults reported from previous trips caused three delays before she even set sail from Hull’s St Andrew’s Dock on November 16th, 1966. On her maiden voyage in late 1964, St Finbarr, the most expensive Hull trawler ever at £500,000 (£13m in today’s money), smashed the national record hauling in 488 tons and 17 hundredweight, and had continued to do so since. click here to read the story 14:25
Winds of worry: US fishermen fear forests of power turbines
East Coast fishermen are turning a wary eye toward an emerging upstart: the offshore wind industry. In New Bedford, Massachusetts, the onetime whaling capital made famous in Herman Melville’s “Moby-Dick,” fishermen dread the possibility of navigating a forest of turbines as they make their way to the fishing grounds that have made it the nation’s most lucrative fishing port for 17 years running. The state envisions hundreds of wind turbines spinning off the city’s shores in about a decade, enough to power more than 1 million homes.,, “Fishermen are losing ground one a nibble at a time,” said Joseph Gilbert, a Stonington, Connecticut fisherman who owns boats that range from Virginia to Maine. click here to read the story 12:30
Matinicus lobsterman gives hundreds of pounds of lobster to needy on Christmas Eve
No one would ever mistake Noah Ames for Santa Claus. For one thing, the Matinicus lobsterman is rail-thin and lacks that signature bowl-full-of-jelly belly. He dresses in a sensible parka bundled up against a cold December wind, not a dashing red outfit pulled together with white trim, a black belt and boots. And Ames’ vehicle of choice is a black pickup, not a sleigh, although one suspects that Santa has the edge in roof-landing ability. click here to read the story 10:33 
