Daily Archives: August 18, 2018
Lobster Industry Innovator Passes Away
Riverdale Mills Corporation announces with great sadness the passing of company founder, owner, and retired CEO James Knott, Sr. Mr. Knott was 88. Great innovators make their mark by challenging the status quo and finding new ways to do things better. James Knott, Sr. unequivocally fit this category as a profoundly influential innovator, whose products help millions of people. From spending summers in Gloucester, MA, Knott saw firsthand how much time and money lobster fishermen spent fixing their wooden traps. He was convinced there had to be a better way. Knott set out to build a more durable lobster trap to keep fishermen on the water making a living, instead of regularly onshore repairing their traps or building new ones. >click to read<17:56
Quick action by Rockport fisherman saves lobstermans life
A Rockland lobsterman said he thought he was going to die as he struggled Thursday to stay above water in Rockland Harbor. But the quick response by a crew member of a fishing vessel docked at the Rockland Fish Pier prevented a tragedy. Gary Kenney had come in from hauling traps and was bringing his lobster boat to its mooring about 200 to 300 hundred yards from the fish pier. He said he was at the bow when another boat came speeding by at a fast rate, despite it being a no-wake zone. The wave created by the speeding boat, which he was not expecting, caused him to lose his balance and fall into the water.,, At the same time, Andrew Banow was atop a truck on the fish pier unloading fish from the Western Sea. >click to read<16:27
Fraser River salmon have a ‘gauntlet to get through’ as they return to spawn, biologists say
There seems to be a never-ending stream of obstacles facing the Fraser River salmon returning to spawn this year as well as the young preparing to make their own ocean-going journey. On top of warm water, habitat degradation and fishing pressure came the “near misses” of the last week. Last Friday, fire crews fought back a blaze on board a scrap metal barge in the Fraser in Surrey, B.C. Then on Tuesday, authorities sprang into action to contain a spill and remove a tug boat that had flipped and sank in the Fraser River near Deering Island in South Vancouver the night before. >click to read<13:51
Push on to brand, market Massachusetts lobster
Building on the success of its Gloucester Fresh seafood branding campaign, the city of Gloucester plans to apply the same formula to help brand and market Massachusetts lobsters to lobster lovers the world over.,, Gloucester has dominated the lobster trade in Massachusetts and the industry’s high profile here has helped mitigate some of the misery foisted upon the community by the continuing groundfish crisis.,, It is the state’s No. 1 port in both number of active lobstermen — an average of 136 annually during the past five years — and amount of lobster annually landed. Gloucester has averaged 2.94 million pounds per year over the past five years, according to the state Division of Marine Fisheries. >click to read<12:02
Mussel boat pulled off sandbar after capsizing near Malpeque Harbour
A mussel boat that capsized and grounded on a sandbar near Malpeque Harbour Friday morning has been towed away. The boat got stuck on a sandbar close to shore at Cabot Beach. A crew member on one of the boats that responded said the boat was capsized and completely flooded when he arrived just after 9:30 a.m. It wasn’t until just after 2 p.m. that crews were able pump out the water, pull the boat off the sandbar and tow it away. Jerry Bidgood, the general manager of Prince Edward Aqua Farms, said four people were successfully pulled off the boat earlier Friday morning. >click to read< 11:19
Big fish: French trawler nets 1-ton WWII bomb
French fishermen reeled in a big catch off the Normandy coast, but it turned out a bit more explosive than they anticipated. The trawler netted a WWII bomb with nearly a ton of explosives – and one movement could trigger a blast! The trawler Le Retour was fishing two nautical miles (4km) off the coast of Grandcamp-Maisy commune in the English Channel on Friday morning, when it picked up an unusual ‘fish’. The haul was a German WWII bomb which contained 860 kilos of explosives, the region’s maritime authorities said. The fishermen immediately alerted the officials about the dangerous discovery. A marine helicopter and five mine clearance divers were deployed within two hours. The Le Retour crew was promptly evacuated. >click to read<10:20
New England shrimp population still looks bad amid shutdown
A new analysis of New England’s shrimp population doesn’t bode well for the future of the long-shuttered fishery for the crustaceans. The Maine-based shrimp fishery has been shut down since 2013 because of concerns such as warming ocean temperatures and poor survival of young. Scientists working with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission are assessing the shrimp stock, and so far it looks like little has changed. Results of the stock assessment “look fairly similar to what we’ve seen in previous years,” said Megan Ware, a fishery management plan coordinator with the Atlantic States. >click to read<08:54
