Daily Archives: August 28, 2018
Oceans Protection Plan – New fisheries minister directed to focus on sustainable waters
Sustaining Canada’s waters dominates the list of responsibilities for the Trudeau government’s new Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard Jonathan Wilkinson.,, The minster is directed to implement and develop the Oceans Protection Plan, advance Bill C-68 – the reform of the Fisheries Act, which aims to restore lost protections, to achieve the government’s goal of protecting 10 per cent of its marine and coastal areas by 2020, protect Canada’s fresh water, restore salmon stocks in the Fraser River, create a healthy future for Pacific salmon by 2019 the International Year of the Salmon and to formalize the moratorium on crude oil tanker traffic on British Columbia’s North Coast. >click to read<21:43
Oregon boat captain accused of drunken assault on woman at sea
An Oregon man accused of assaulting a woman on a commercial fishing ship he was operating while intoxicated was arrested after a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter located the vessel and sent a response boat to board the ship, according to federal court documents. Branden Michael Vanderploeg of Winchester Bay is charged with assault within maritime jurisdiction and operating a commercial vessel under the influence of alcohol. Vanderploeg, 38, is accused of holding the woman down, punching her repeatedly in the face, slamming her head into a tool box and swinging a fishing gaff at her – a pole with a sharp hook at the end used to stab large fish, >click to read<18:43
Captain Dave Marciano Endorses Geoff Diehl for the United States Senate
“I’m endorsing Geoff Diehl for U.S. Senate for the simple reason of the abject failure of our current representation. Under her watch, as well as others, we have lost thousands of fishing industry and related jobs the past 8 years,” said Marciano. “If current representatives were graded on how well they represent the fishermen in the Commonwealth, it would be an F. In the fishing industry if you fail to do your job you are “ off the boat.” The current Senator needs her walking papers or swimming papers as the case may be due to her failure to protect fishing industry and related jobs. She sat back and watched the middle class fishing families be destroyed by out of control government,” added Marciano. >click to read<16:53
Deepwater Horizon oil spill didn’t really hurt Florida pro-drilling leaders say
Former Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp caused a furor recently when he claimed oil from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster “didn’t even reach the shores of Florida.” He now admits he was wrong. Sort of. “I guess I overstated it,” said Kottkamp, now leading a group seeking to open the eastern Gulf of Mexico to oil exploration, said in an interview this week with the Tampa Bay Times. His attempt to walk back the remark could offer a preview of the campaign to come as groups push to expand drilling in federal waters eight years later. He and another industry representative say the BP oil spill was more of a public relations disaster fueled by the television news media, rather than an environmental disaster. >click to read<15:47
Shrimpers Still Impacted by Shortage of Workers
Shrimpers in the Rio Grande Valley say they are still experiencing a shortage of workers. Captain Jesus Moreno tells CHANNEL 5 NEWS it’s a tough job. He explains, new shrimpers quit within days and ask to go home. This year, the number of visas issued under the H2B program expanded. Still, only about 15 to 20 percent of the shrimpers received a visa worker. KRGV’s Christian von Preysing spoke with Andrea Hance with the Texas Shrimp Association. She says Texas shrimpers need a total of 750 workers. >click to watch<15:02
Gloucester’s annual Overdose Vigil grows and glows on waterfront
Down on Stacy Boulevard, over by the Blynman Bridge flagpole, they gathered again and lit their luminaries as the last of the evening’s light left the sky. There were 520 luminaries by Patti Day’s count, up 40 from last year, and she said the counting wouldn’t end till the vigil itself ended. Patti Day — a sister of Kathy Day, an original organizer of the annual Overdose Vigil, now in its eight year — is herself a recovered heroin addict. She is also a tan, fit living contradiction of two common misconceptions about addicts: That they are low-life denizens of some netherworld, and that they are bound to relapse. >click to read<12:18
Fisherman who lost four pals in trawler tragedy returns to water as lifeboatman
A fisherman left devastated when four colleagues died in a trawler tragedy is returning to the sea as a lifeboatman. Tam Fyall, 59, is now deputy second coxswain at Anstruther lifeboat station in Fife after battling post-traumatic stress disorder. The appointment marks a remarkable turnaround after the Meridian disaster in 2006 left him too distressed to leave shore. The accident claimed the lives of Fifers Martin Gardner, 49, Edward Gardner, 50, Ian Donald, 55, and Sidney Low, 52, from Aberdeen. Only Edward’s body has been found. Tam said he would never forget his lost friends but he was sure they would approve of his new role with the RNLI. >click to read<11:46
Research ship with URI students runs aground in the western Gulf of Boothia
A research vessel carrying a team of University of Rhode Island scientists and students ran aground Friday in the western Gulf of Boothia, a body of water in Nunavut, Canada. All passengers and expedition members are safe, and there is no report of any injuries or environmental concerns. The Akademik Ioffe had been refloated by Saturday morning, according to URI. >click to read< More about their adventure,, All ship passengers are safe and being cared for on sister ship, company spokesperson says – Andrea Beaubien, a spokesperson for the One Ocean Expeditions tour company, said Saturday morning that the Akademik Ioffe had “come afloat” and that all its passengers were safe and being cared for on another ship. >click to read< 09:51
New England lobster fishermen are asked to keep an eye out for tagged lobsters
New England’s lobster fishermen are being asked to keep an eye out for tagged lobsters that are part of a survey of the valuable crustaceans. The lobsters are tagged with green bars that say “SNECVTS” and black acoustic tags. They are part of a tagging program that’s part of a southern New England lobster study being conducted from May to November by Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation and the University of Rhode Island. >click to read< If you find a lobster with a green “SNECVTS” t-bar tag behind the carapace or a black acoustic tag on the carapace, please contact: Michael Long at (401) 515-4892 or [email protected] >click to read<08:33
