Daily Archives: April 18, 2018
Coast Guard comes to aid of boat on fire off coast of Trinidad
A Coast Guard Sector Humboldt Bay MH-65 Dolphin helicopter and four-member crew were dispatched to an area about 12 miles off the Trinidad coast this morning after reports of a boat on fire were received. The fishing vessel Midori called the Coast Guard just before 9 a.m. and reported that they had a fire on board. The five people on board Midori soon abandoned the burning vessel and got into a life raft. They received assistance from a second fishing boat, the Pacific Bully,,, >Video click here<>click to read<21:15
Ice still holding up crab fishery
The Canadian Coast Guard still has about five to seven days of ice-breaking operations around New Brunswick’s Acadian Peninsula, the acting superintendent of Ice Operations Atlantic, Trevor Hodgson, reported Wednesday. Ice had started its normal regression from the Gulf of St. Lawrence by early March but a few days of northeasterly winds in mid-March reversed that trend. “It hit the Gulf pretty hard, he said. “It essentially took all the ice that was in the Gulf and compacted it into three big piles,”,, >click to read<20:49
Despite sector shuffle, New Bedford fishermen will still be…
Whispers filled the convention room at the Hilton Wednesday as the dozens in attendance attempted to count the raised hands, which signified votes of the New England Fishery Management Council. The three attempts to accurately tally the votes only added to the drama of a discussion that involved a groundfishing ban that’s affected New Bedford since November. In the end, the vote didn’t provide a resolution for those fishermen out of work and the shoreside business affected by the ban. <click to read<18:27
Bluffton has the last hand-shucking oyster house in SC; owner wants to ‘keep it alive’
A new video shows viewers a Lowcountry maritime tradition that hasn’t changed in more than a century. The video, with sweeping views from high above the May River, puts a spotlight on traditional oyster farming with the Bluffton Oyster Company, reported to be the last hand-shucking oyster house in South Carolina.”Basically what we’re doing now is the exact same methods that were done back in the early 1900s when there were 25 or 30 almost identical places doing the same thing,” the business’ owner Larry Toomer, also Bluffton’s mayor pro tempore, says. Watch the video >click to read<17:23
Charges filed in high-grading case against Ilwaco charter skippers
Several local charter skippers and crewmen could soon be reeling in hefty fines and jail sentences. Following a nine-month Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife investigation, the state in early April filed a total of 37 criminal charges against six men affiliated with Pacific Salmon Charters: David Gudgell, 57, of Seaview; Robert Gudgell, 56, of Longview; Thomas Merriman, 61, of Sammamish; Brian Cables, 59, of Ilwaco; Patrick Gore, 28, of Deer Island, Ore.; and Richard Mercado, 52, of Tacoma. Investigators say the men systematically urged,,, >click to read<14:55
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 49ft. 11in. Lobster/Longliner, 6 Cylinder Volvo
Specifications, information and 33 photos >click here< To see all the boats in this series, >Click here<12:44
Sustainable Shark Bill Recognizes Sacrifices of U.S. Fishermen, Fin Ban Undermines Them
At a House Natural Resources subcommittee hearing today, John Polston, a fisherman and member of the Sustainable Shark Alliance (SSA), testified in support of legislation that would promote shark conservation by incentivizing other nations to meet the same high standards of sustainability as U.S. shark fishermen. In testimony before the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans, Mr. Polston, owner of King’s Seafood in Port Orange, Florida, praised the Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act (SSFTA) as a “proactive bill that levels the playing field for American fishermen.”>click to read<11:16
NOAA ship crashes in Seattle’s Lake Washington Ship Canal
A research vessel with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) crashed Monday while passing through Seattle’s Montlake Cut of the Lake Washington Ship Canal, according to witnesses and a spokesman for the agency. The incident — which resulted in damage to one of the ship’s propellers, hull dents and paint scrapes — remains under investigation, NOAA spokesman David Hall said in an email. The boat, which the agency calls The Rainier, “made contact with the seabed and a concrete wall,” Hall said. No injuries were reported. >click to read<10:50
Billfish Conservation Act: Hawaii seafood wholesalers fear Congress could block mainland marlin exports
Last year, Garden & Valley Isle Seafood, Inc. exported roughly 300,000 pounds of freshly-caught marlin to the mainland. The sales added up to nearly $1.5 million worth of striped marlin, blue marlin and spearfish to wholesalers, supermarkets, chefs and restaurants. Hawaii seafood exporters fear those sales may soon suffer serious slowdowns – more specifically, that Congress is about to pull the plug on that lucrative mainland marlin market. Bills in both the U.S. Senate and U.S. House call for amending the Billfish Conservation Act to prevent the commercial export of marlin caught in Hawaiian waters to the mainland. >click to read<10:08
Investment pool could help sustain fishing on Washington coast
One of the knottiest problems confronting the Lower Columbia commercial fishing fleet is how to enable the next generation to begin the costly climb into owning their own permits. A new private $2 million investment pool aims to facilitate a “permit bank” — a kind of matchmaking service between willing sellers and qualified buyers who agree to keep their boats anchored in the economy of Ilwaco, Chinook and Nahcotta. >click to read<08:54
