Daily Archives: August 23, 2018
Gloucester: Fed seizure of accounts closes fish auction
Last Friday night, without any notice, the U.S. Labor Department seized the bank accounts of the Cape Ann Seafood Exchange, leaving the fish auction and seafood processor unable to pay fishermen for landed fish and imperiling even further its ability to profitably operate on the Gloucester waterfront. CASE owner Kristian Kristensen first knew there was trouble afoot when he started receiving text messages from his bank that his business balance had dipped below $25. “I didn’t put the pieces together until Saturday,” Kristensen said Thursday. “That’s when I knew it was the Department of Labor.” What followed was a business nightmare, as Kristensen tried to contact fishermen and other vendors about his inability to access his bank accounts for payments. >click to read<19:41
Former New Bedford Fishing Captain Pleads to Hindering Coast Guard Inspection at Sea
A former New Bedford fishing boat captain pleaded guilty Thursday to interfering with a U.S. Coast Guard inspection and faces sentencing Nov. 28, federal prosecutors said. Thomas D. Simpson, 57, of South Portland, Maine, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to one count of destruction or removal of property subject to seizure and inspection, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. On May 31, 2014, the Bulldog was engaged in commercial fishing off the coast of Massachusetts when the USCG boarded the vessel to perform a routine inspection, the news release said. At the time of the boarding, the Bulldog’s net was deployed in the water and the crew was actively fishing. >Click to read<18:49
Ulstein Unveils New Trawler Series
Norwegian ship designer and shipbuilder Ulstein has launched a new series of fish trawlers with state-of-the-art ship solutions for sustainable fishing methods and processing. The trawlers incorporate a number of innovative features, including Ulstein’s signature X-Bow hull design and environmentally friendly hybrid propulsion systems. Ulstein Group has a long tradition of cooperating with different actors when developing new and innovative ship designs and solutions. On this project, Ulstein has worked closely together with Nordic wildfish. Both companies were established in 1917. >click to read<17:15
A Provincetown fisherman’s appraisal of the great white dilemma
It finally happened: two worlds collided. The great white shark world collided with the human world and the result was a man being bitten at Longnook Beach. We’re thankful he was saved and is recovering. But how did we get here? It started in 1972 with the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which prohibits hunting or harassing marine mammals, including seals. Before this law fishing communities hunted seals for their pelts and to manage the herd, because they eat enough fish to threaten the livelihoods of commercial fishermen. There were actually payments made by fishing towns to anyone who brought in a seal nose. The threat to commercial fishing was seen as very real. With the 1972 law, the hunt was stopped and seals began reproducing at a far greater rate than was expected. >click to read<11:55
Hermaphrodite Crab Spotted Near Deal Island
A rare catch in the Tangier Sound left many watermen puzzled. The strange crab seemed to display both male and female characteristics. It’s almost as if you drew a line down the middle, the right side of the crab female– the left, male. A group of watermen discovered the hermaphrodite crab Monday morning. Tom Wheatley was sorting through hundreds of crabs when he quickly spotted the unique crustacean, unsure of which pot to place it in. “I was combing through a box of crabs and this one crab caught my eye. It threw me off for a second,,, Video>click to read<10:57
Could Famed Coast Guard Rescue Boat Be Shipped To D.C.?
A private chat between leaders of the Orleans Historical Society and author Casey Sherman this morning (Aug. 22) led to questions about the future of the iconic CG36500 lifeboat that rescued 32 sailors from the sinking tanker Pendleton in 1952. Sherman, author of “The Finest Hours,” said he participated in a conference call with OHS President Kathleen McNeil and two others and was asked to “leverage my relationship with the Coast Guard” regarding the potential for eventually moving the boat to Washington, D.C., for display. “The idea of shipping the boat to Washington where only Coast Guard people would see it does a disservice,” Sherman said. >click to read<10:36
Giving up Chinook Is a Nice Idea but It Will Not Save the Orcas
The Seattle Times published a heart-warming/heart-breaking story Wednesday about chef Renee Erickson, who recently announced that she will be yanking Chinook salmon from her restaurant menus in response to Tahlequah, aka J35, the Salish Sea orca who became an international cause célèbre after carrying her dead baby for 17 days. “It’s sad,” Erickson told the Times. “I love eating [chinook], and I grew up catching it.” But, she added, “The biggest gut wrench is that we have starving orcas. We are eating the salmon they need to eat.”,, Taking chinook off restaurant menus (and your own shopping list) is a commendable action. But, unfortunately, it won’t save the whales. It’s kind of like every other environmental crisis: >click to read<09:59
Why three weeks on a fishing trawler off the coast of Iceland was the ‘best lesson ever’ for one 11-year-old boy
Three weeks off the coast of Iceland on a fishing trawler, working 18-hour days with constant seasickness might sound like hell for many children today – however for one Grimsby boy, it was the adventure of a lifetime that made him into the man he that became. Robert Hanley had grown up seeing his father Bill embark on fishing expeditions from Grimsby’s docks and return with his paycheck as a ‘three day millionaire’. Fishing was in his family’s blood on both sides, and Robert wanted to follow in the family tradition. In the summer of 1965, when he was 11 years old, he finally got the chance to embark on that voyage. >click to read<09:02
