Daily Archives: July 31, 2018
At Sea on Taiwan’s Last Fire-Fishing Boats
It’s pitch black on Taiwan’s waters, and in a few minutes, all hell will break loose. A boom and blaze of fire explode into the night sky, followed by the sour stench of sulphur. Thousands of tiny, ray-finned sardines suddenly leap out of the Pacific Ocean—in a wild, graceless dance—hurling themselves towards the scorching flames. Meanwhile, fishermen work feverishly to scoop them up, before they plunge back into the sea. The scene is utter chaos. Traditional sulphuric fire fishing is a century-plus-old practice found only in Jinshan, a sleepy little port city near the northern tip of Taiwan. >click to read<20:25
Lawmakers urge more FDA inspections of imported seafood, win approval
An effort to increase the amount of imported seafood the U.S. inspects for health issues has crossed a hurdle in the Senate. Louisiana’s two Republican senators, John Kennedy and Bill Cassidy, won approval of a measure that would add $3.1 million the FDA’s budget for such testing. Shrimpers in Terrebonne and Lafourche, joined by their peers in other states, have pushed for the measure,, The group represents shrimp fishermen and processors in Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas. Video >click to read<17:48
Once in a blue moon: Crabber catches rare all-blue blue crab
Jim McInteer and his crew mate Alan Payne knew they had captured an oddity the moment they pulled their crab pot from the York River last Tuesday. “We were excited about it,” says McInteer. “Alan yelled, ‘Come look at this crab!’ He very carefully took him out of the pot and then I could see exactly what it was — I’d read about how they occur every now and then, so we knew what we had.” McInteer, who at 73 has been crabbing commercially for 10 years and recreationally for decades, says he’s caught blue crabs “with blotches of white, and some other slight discolorations, but never a solid-blue blue crab.”Recognizing its rarity, they donated it to the laboratory of Professor Rom Lipcius, an expert in crustacean ecology at William & Mary’s Virginia Institute of Marine Science. >click to read<16:19
First two days of capelin fishery around Twillingate proving successful
By noon on July 30 the wharf outside Notre Dame Seafoods plant in Twillingate had piled up with long liners, delivery trucks and forklifts. Since Sunday, July 29, the capelin fishery around the shores of Notre Dame Bay has proved to be a successful year for harvesters in the area. It’s a complete 180 from last year’s capelin fishery, which was met with scarce signs and unachieved quotas. For fisherman Nelson Rideout, his 35,000 pound daily quota was achieved with one shot of the fishing gear into the water early Monday morning, June 30. >click to read<13:13
PHOTOS: Stonington’s 65th Blessing of the Fleet, a time to celebrate fishing fleet, remember those lost
The Rev. Dennis Perkins, the pastor of St. Michael and St. Mary churches, sprinkles holy water on a memorial wreath that was dropped into the waters of Fishers Island Sound by Peggy Krupinski just outside the Stonington breakwater at the 65th annual Blessing of the Fleet in Stonington. The wreath is in remembrance of fishermen lost at sea, a list that includes Walter Krupinski, Peggy’s husband, who died in 2015. >click to read<10:38
Vineyard Wind Appoints Crista Bank as Fisheries Liaison
Vineyard Wind today announced the appointment of Crista Bank as Fisheries Liaison. In this role, Bank will lead the project’s regional engagement with fishing industry representatives on Cape and Islands, the South Coast, Rhode Island, and along the East Coast. A fisheries scientist, Bank brings extensive local, regional, national and international experience and deep knowledge of marine science and fisheries issues to her role at Vineyard Wind. >click to read<10:15
Daughter’s lawsuit against ‘Deadliest Catch’ star Sig Hansen proceeds after appeals challenge
A child molestation lawsuit against Seattle-area resident and “Deadliest Catch” star Sig Hansen is allowed to proceed, the state Court of Appeals decided in a Monday ruling. Hansen is accused by his now-grown daughter, Melissa Eckstrom, of molesting her when she was about 2 years old, in 1990, in the wake of a bitter divorce with Eckstrom’s mother. Eckstrom filed a lawsuit against him in 2016 and a King County Superior Court judge denied Hansen’s motion to dismiss the case in 2017. The Division I Court of Appeals, after taking up the case in March 2017, upheld the Superior Court’s decision. Hansen said in a prepared statement that he plans to appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court. >click to read<09:26
Salvage efforts are underway for the F/V Pacific Knight
The owner of the F/V Pacific Knight is contracting with the private company Resolve Marine to salvage the 58-foot vessel that sank near Clark’s Point on Wednesday. The entire Nushagak commercial fishing district is closed because the wreck is leaking fuel. When the boat sank, it was carrying 1100 gallons of fuel. It is still unknown how much diesel and hydraulic fuel has spilled into the bay. Divers unsuccessfully attempted to stop the vessel leaking fuel over the weekend and again on today. They are scheduled to attempt another dive tonight to determine how much fuel is still on the ship and to pump off any that remains. >click to read<08:12
