Daily Archives: August 29, 2018
Salvage team refloating F/V Pacific Knight
The 58-foot vessel, which was operating as a tender near Clark’s Point, sank July 25. After more than a month at the bottom of the Nushagak Bay, a salvage team is lifting the ship and will tow it to Dutch Harbor. “The past few days we’ve been passing chains underneath the vessel and connecting them to our crane barge,” explained Todd Duke (Resolve Marine). “We’ve turned it, and we’ve picked the vessel so it’s sitting somewhat upright now. We’ve been using a tool we call an airlift to remove sand and silt from around the vessel so that we can get the chains underneath, and we’ll continue doing some airlift and more chain connections to go ahead and lift this thing completely out of the water.” >click to read<21:25
PETA seeks to honor their brother and sister lobsters, with a stone
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent a request to the Maine Department of Transportation to place a five-foot roadside memorial honoring the lobsters. A truck carrying 70 cases of lobsters rolled over and crashed on a highway in Brunswick, strewing cases of the creatures. “Countless sensitive crustaceans experienced an agonizing death when (a) truck rolled over and their bodies came crashing down onto the highway,” PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman said in a statement. >click to read<20:10
The Snowflake Generation – Cromer crab fisherman shortage as young people ‘won’t stick at it’
A sweet Cromer crab is a prized British delicacy, best eaten fresh from the coast of Norfolk where it is caught, and a firm fixture on high-end restaurant menus across the land. Fans of the crustacean will be worried to hear that the future of the local industry is under threat, according to local fishermen. They argue that young people don’t want the work involved in a life catching Cromer crabs, and that they don’t have the gumption to stick at it. Local crab fisherman John Lee, 55, of Cromer, Norfolk, said that experience is not passed down from one generation to the other, and we are at risk of losing the skill. >click to read<15:47
Southeast pink salmon catch lowest in over four decades
Southeast Alaska’s commercial pink salmon catch will wind up way below forecasts, the lowest harvest in more than four decades. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s pink and chum salmon project leader for Southeast Andy Piston said the region’s commercial catch this summer is 7.3 million fish. “And that would be the lowest region-wide harvest since 1976,” Piston said. “And our Southeast purse seine catch, and that’s the gear group that catches most of our pink salmon, is about 6.5 million which again is the lowest we’ve seen since the mid-1970s.” It’s not the lowest catch ever. >click to read<14:57
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 60′ Steel Longline/Offshore Lobster, Federal Permits available
Specifications, information and 19 photos >click here< To see all the boats in this series, >click here< Vessel can be purchased with or without the Federal Southeast Region Permits 12:31
Life on the Bays – Stories of beauty and heartache
Once numbering in the thousands, independent baymen have worked in the public waters off Long Island for centuries. Now these clammers and fishermen, many in their 60s or 70s, go mostly unnoticed. So do their daily struggles. Whether in Peconic Bay, Hempstead Bay, The Great South Bay, or others, the baymen share common pains: declining clam and fish populations, lack of affordable docking, increased regulations and catch limits. They cite pollution, fertilizers, global warming and governmental disinterest as culprits. Of course, there is also the literal pain they endure from the repetitive physical stress of their jobs. And then there’s Oyster Bay. 40 minute video, >click to read<10:55
English Channel Scallop War Erupts! French fishermen accused of ‘endangering’ lives of British fishermen
French and British fishermen clashed on Monday night in a row over scallops. Tensions continued to rise in the early hours of Tuesday morning as 40 French boats appeared to surround five British vessels leading to an angry stand-off. Rocks, paint pots, flares and cans of oil were thrown, while one boat crashed into the side of a rival trawler. One of the British boats involved suffered a broken window, while another suffered fire damage. Video, >click to read<09:23
A controversial comeback for a highly prized tuna
“There’s probably no fish that’s ever been more politicized than Atlantic bluefin tuna,” said Golet, a University of Maine professor. “People get a passion for this fish. And people are making a living off of this fish.” The fish have long been at the center of a battle among commercial fishermen who can make a huge amount of money on a single fish, environmentalists who see them as marvels of marine migration, and consumers who pay a hefty price for them in restaurants.,, But international regulators say the species has recently recovered enough that it can withstand more fishing, and U.S. ocean managers implemented an increase of about 17 percent for this summer, to the delight of fishing groups. The decision prompted environmental groups to renew their calls for holding the current line on quotas. >click to read<08:30
