Monthly Archives: August 2018
Dixon McGlohon, 27- ‘Wicked Tuna’ Fish buyer city’s 11th overdose of year
Lucas Pina, general manager at the Lynn-based North Atlantic Traders, sent a text message to company buyer and driver Dixon McGlohon of Gloucester on Tuesday afternoon, thanking him for putting so much extra effort into the job. “I just told him, ‘Thanks for stepping up,'” Pina said Thursday, “and he responded, ‘Just doing my job.’ Now that’s class, and that’s the kind of guy he was.” Just a few hours later, McGlohon, known for his appearances on the National Geographic reality TV show “Wicked Tuna,” was pronounced dead at the age of 27, thought by police and Fire Department responders to be Gloucester’s latest victim in the ongoing opioid crisis. Police and the Essex District Attorney’s office are still awaiting a confirmed cause of death from the office of the state medical examiner. >click to read<19:06
Due to abundance of capelin this summer, harvester and union director hope for improved science
With capelin flooding the beaches and nets of harvesters in numbers not seen in years, the abundance and quality of the species is turning heads across the province. Fixed gear harvester Dennis Chaulk had three days fishing capelin in Bonavista Bay from July 23-25. Like the capelin fishers in the Notre Dame Bay region of central Newfoundland, Chaulk witnessed a successful and plentiful fishery. ,, But now that harvesters and buyers across the province are saying it’s the best quality and population of capelin seen in over two decades, Broderick says this summer’s capelin fishery has shown that the science available on capelin is far from accurate and needs to be seriously scrutinized. >click to read<17:58
Salmon decline reveals worrisome trend
The sad story of an orca carrying her dead calf for 17 days off the Washington coast this month has garnered global attention to the plight of killer whales in the region. It has also highlighted the steep decline in the region’s salmon stocks, the resident orcas’ sole food source. ,, That is because the availability of Pacific Ocean salmon has been trending low for the past decade. The total pounds of chinook salmon caught off the Oregon coast in 2017 fell 40% compared with the year before, according to Oregon Department Fish & Wildlife (ODFW) data. Between 2014 and 2017, total pounds caught dropped 80% and the value of the catch dropped 72% to $5 million. Drought in California and nutrient-starved ocean conditions are blamed for the decline. >click to read<16:15
Maine Lobstermen’s Association seeks members
The Maine Lobstermen’s Association, founded in1954, is conducting its annual membership drive and invites all lobstermen and the public to become members For more than 60 years, the MLA has tackled numerous issues with the potential to harm Maines lobster industry. .,,, During the annual membership drive, lobstermen and the public are urged to become members and help the MLA to continue the fight. >click to read<13:46
Old Willapa boats get new lives – May West to serve as concert stage; Tokeland will be historical exhibit
With the Jazz and Oysters music festival moving to the Port of Peninsula (PoP) in Nahcotta this weekend, it seems right that the musicians would be performing on a stage befitting the event. The deck of the former oyster dredge May West will be making its official debut as a stage at the annual event, after the Northern Oyster Company donated the retired vessel to the port earlier this summer.,, The barge is one of two retired oyster boats that have been donated to PoP recently, with the Herrold family also having contributed their historic boat, Tokeland. >click to read<11:56
Video: RNLI’s New Class of Waterjet-Propelled, Self-Righting, All-Weather Lifeboats
When the UK’s Royal National Lifeboat Institution was given the chance to design their dream lifeboat, they came up with the Shannon: a waterjet-propelled, highly-maneuverable, stop-on-a dime, beach-launched and recovered, self-righting, shock-absorbing, 13-meter all-weather lifeboat capable of reaching speeds up to 25 knots. The Shannon is actually the first class of all-weather lifeboats to be powered by waterjets, which are capable of pumping 1.5 tonnes of water per second at full-power and allow for beach launch and recovery. Video, >click here<10:53
Scientists and fishermen team up to help save North Atlantic right whale
Whale researchers and fishermen are out at sea together on a two-week mission, combining efforts to help save the endangered north Atlantic right whale. These two worlds have usually stayed far apart, but for the first time scientists are onboard a crab boat to do their field work. Crab fisherman Martin Noel, captain of the Jean-Denis Noel boat in Shippagan, agreed to take scientists out in the gulf to help them carry out their research this year. “We don’t want to be called whale killers,” Noel said. “We want to be called fishermen that are implicated in the solution.” All season, fishermen begged Ottawa to involve them in fisheries management. They felt the federal government was imposing overly strict measures without consultation with industry. >click to read<09:28
Former skipper gets deferred-prosecution deal in fisheries case
Thomas Kokell, a former commercial trawler-boat captain, was indicted in 2016 on four counts of mail fraud, conspiracy and filing false fishing reports in connection with an alleged scheme to illegally harvest nearly 200,000 pounds of fluke in 2011 and 2012. The fish were valued at nearly $400,000. Kokell was released Tuesday on his own recognizance after a court appearance in which the deal was approved by a federal judge, according to federal court documents and Kokell’s attorney. He will not enter a plea and the charges will be dismissed, avoiding prison time and fines, if he “avoids future misconduct” over the next year, according to his attorney Peter Smith and court documents. >click to read<07:56
During biggest salmon return in years, up to 22,000 litres of fuel might have spilled into the Fraser River
The smell of diesel filled the air as crews worked to recover a capsized tugboat that may have spilled as much as 22,000 litres of the fuel in the Fraser River between Vancouver and Richmond on Monday night. Canadian Coast Guard spokesperson Dan Bate said it’s unknown what caused the George H. Ledcor tug to capsize around 10 p.m. PDT Monday, just east of Vancouver International Airport. There were four people aboard the vessel and all were rescued by the crew on a nearby tug, Bate said. In a statement, the First Nation said the fuel spill is “of great concern” to the Musqueam people, who have been fishing the biggest salmon return in years on the Fraser River alongside other fishermen. >click to read<20:28
The mysterious case of Alaska’s strange sockeye salmon returns this year
There’s something unusual going on with the sockeye salmon runs returning to Alaska this year. In some places — like Bristol Bay — the runs are strong. In others, like the Copper River or the Kenai River they’re unexpectedly weak. In some places, there are sockeye that are unusually small. In others, sockeye of a certain age appear to be missing entirely. It’s a mystery. In Southeast Alaska, one of the first Fish and Game staffers to notice an unusual trend was Iris Frank, a regional data coordinator and fisheries technician. Frank’s lab is on the first floor of Fish and Game’s Douglas Island office that looks like it hasn’t changed much in the 32 years since she got there. >click to read<18:06
NEFMC Seeks Input From Fishermen and Research Partners on RSA Programs; Take the Online Survey!
The New England Fishery Management Council is asking fishermen and their cooperative research partners who participate in the Atlantic Sea Scallop, Atlantic Herring, and/or Monkfish Research Set-Aside (RSA) Programs to take an online survey and provide feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of these programs and pass along any suggestions for improvement. Other stakeholders who have an interest or role in RSA programs also are encouraged to take the survey.,,, The survey, which contains roughly 40 questions, will be available online until mid-September 2018. >click to read<17:02
F/V Lady Kathy comes up for air after 20 years
Local fishing vessel, the Lady Kathy, was hauled out of the Charleston Marina on Monday for the first time in over 20 years for maintenance. Owner of the boat Richard Shore inherited the Lady Kathy from his father a couple of years ago. The boat, named after Shore’s grandmother, was built in 1971 by his grandfather and father. “It’s been a long time, about 20 years since it was last hauled out. That’s suicide for any other boat. Usually you take it out once a year,” Shore said. 3 image >click to read<16:14
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 44’11” Fiberglass Crabber, 8 Cylinder Detroit
Specifications, information and 21 photos >click here< To see all the boats in this series, >click here<15:19
A mighty wind, by Kevin Gray – The more you read, the dirtier it gets.
Jeff Grybowksi likes to tell the story about the whale.,,, For Grybowksi and his surrogates, as well as for the powerful environmental groups blowing wind into his green-energy sails, this is a handy anecdote, one they frequently recycle to journalists and policy makers. In the face of commercial fishermen’s warnings that Deepwater’s wind farms will kill their industry, Grybowksi’s parable portrays the company as a true steward of the environment. At the same time, the story underscores the brinksmanship that has propelled Grybowski’s company from startup obscurity to leading player in the booming domestic offshore wind trade: They are ready to go down to the wire for the sake of their hedge-fund investors.,,, But not everyone out here is impressed by Deepwater’s plans, or by Grybowski, or his whale. >click to read<10:52
After fire destroys seafood processing plant, Pacific Seafood celebrates their plant reopening in Warrenton
Pacific Seafood in Warrenton celebrated its grand re-opening Tuesday, five years after fire destroyed the seafood processing plant. “It’s been a great day that’s taken five years to achieve,” Pacific Seafood President & CEO Frank Dulcich said. “I’m extremely proud of our community and this team.” On June 4, 2013, a massive fire that broke out at the facility, while contractors torched a new, tar roof. “Within 45 minutes the whole building was engulfed in flames,” recalled Dulcich. “There was a lot of sadness.” Video >click to read<09:27
N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission panel in disarray ahead of quarterly meeting
Just as the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission convenes on Wednesday for its quarterly meeting in Raleigh, there has been a complete turnover of the panel’s commercial fishing members.
By statute, the nine-member board must include three members representing the commercial industry. Sammie Corbett and Alison Willis, both of whom have served since 2014, submitted their resignations Monday night.,,, Both the N.C. Fisheries Association and N.C. Watermen United sent letters Tuesday to state officials asking that no action be taken on any issues that affect the commercial industry until there is full representation. >click to read< 08:44
Man died cleaning tanks onboard boat at Fraserbugh Harbour amid ‘poison fumes’ alert
A man who tragically died onboard a super trawler boat at Fraserburgh Harbour yesterday is believed to have been poisoned by toxic fumes. Four other men were also hospitalised following the incident. The men are reported to have been cleaning tanks on the giant vessel when they were overcome by the fumes. Emergency services initially received a concern call shortly after 2pm yesterday for three men who had fallen ill but despite the best efforts of those involved one man was pronounced dead a short time later.,, The tragedy happened on the Fraserburgh-registered trawler Sunbeam which was docked in the deepwater Balaclava Basin. >click to read<05:43
Help us learn more about the “Michigan Bears” and the men who fished aboard Gloucester’s oldest fishing vessel, the Phyllis A.
On September 6, 1920 five small vessels arrived in Gloucester Harbor and tied up in Smith Cove near Rocky Neck. The little boats and the 20 men who crewed them, had spent 24 days traveling 2,200 miles from Charlevoix, Michigan to start a new life for them selves and their families, doing a method of fishing that had been introduced, but not welcomed, by the fishing industry on the east coast of the Atlantic in the late 1800’s,,, gill net fishing, used here in Gloucester and the East coast to this day. >click to read<21:21
Coast Guard responding to diesel spill in Newport’s Yaquina Bay
The Coast Guard is responding to a diesel spill of approximately 700 gallons that occurred in Yaquina Bay in Newport, early Tuesday morning. Coast Guard oil spill responders from Sector Columbia River’s Incident Management Detachment in Portland arrived on scene at 11 a.m. to oversee cleanup efforts that began when local responders deployed containment booms and applied sorbents. Coast Guard watchstanders at Sector North Bend and Sector Columbia River received a report of the diesel spill at 12:30 a.m., from a representative of NWFF Environmental. The spill reportedly happened when the crew of the commercial fishing vessel Coast Pride left a transfer pump on. >click to read<19:35
Food for hundreds – Iqaluit hunters celebrate successful bowhead whale harvest
The community of Iqaluit is celebrating a major milestone — and preparing to fill their freezers — after a bowhead whale was successfully hunted near the community on Tuesday afternoon. It’s been seven years since the last bowhead was hunted and killed near Iqaluit. This summer, the local Amarok Hunters and Trappers Association aimed to change that, organizing a hunt and encouraging locals to join.,,, As of Tuesday evening, the whale is being dragged back to Iqaluit, where it will be harvested and shared with members of the community. >click to read<18:53
310-pound bull shark caught in Southern Maryland waters
A commercial fisherman pulled an 8.6-foot, 310-pound bull shark from his pound net trap at the mouth of the Patuxent River in Southern Maryland on Monday — an uncommon catch that has been the buzz of the bay as the picture has made its rounds. Larry “Boo” Powley, 65, of Hoopers Island said he found the shark, which had swum into the trap just below Cedar Point to feed on the fish inside, when he checked his four pound nets at sunrise. It wasn’t the first shark he’s caught in the Chesapeake Bay. But he was astounded at its size. “I’ve been on the water for 42 years,” Powley said. “I’ve never seen one that big.” >click to read<17:40
EDITORIAL: All aboard for saving right whales
There are good reasons why there haven’t been any right whale deaths in waters around the Atlantic provinces this year. It’s due to a combination of good luck and good management. Last year, an alarming number of endangered whales died — 13 in Canadian waters and five more off the U.S. The bodies of another two whales have shown up in American waters this year, while several whale rescues from entanglements were carried out in the Bay of Fundy.,,, Something had to be done. Last year, Ottawa ordered ships to reduce speed in Atlantic waters to help the slow-moving marine mammals avoid collisions. Fishermen were asked to reduce rope and other gear in the water to lessen the chances of entanglements. >click to read<15:22
BREAKING: Man dead and others treated after Fraserburgh harbour incident
The emergency services were called at about 14:00 after reports of a group of men falling ill . One man was pronounced dead a short time later. Four other men are being treated in hospital. Details have not been released but they are not believed to be in a life-threatening condition. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) have been informed. >click to read<13:23
NOAA/NMFS to Reimburse Sector At-Sea Monitoring Costs
NOAA/NMFS will pay for all at-sea monitoring costs for fishing year 2018. Any groundfish sector trip beginning on or after May 1, 2018 that was selected for at-sea monitoring coverage is eligible for reimbursement. NOAA will also reimburse industry for an additional 25 percent of their at-sea monitoring costs in fishing year 2017 using remaining prior year funds, bringing the total reimbursement for 2017 to approximately 85 percent. This reimbursement was provided for by Congress through an FY18 funding increase for groundfish at-sea monitoring. >click to read<12:54
In China, rainbow trout is now salmon?
A Chinese fishery recently entangled in a “salmon scandal” — when it tried to pass off rainbow trout as salmon — has just helped the government draft a policy to reclassify rainbow trout as salmon. Two months after the revelation that one-third of the salmon sold in China was, in fact, domestic rainbow trout mislabeled to deceive consumers, the China Aquatic Products Processing and Marketing Alliance (CAPPMA), along with 13 Chinese fishery companies, recently announced new industry standards to broaden the definition of salmon, and now officially recognizes rainbow trout as legitimate salmon in the Chinese market. >click to read<12:28
Divers to refloat boat destroyed in fire, 65 feet of wharf lost to the flames
A team of divers is expected to get in the water in Twillingate Tuesday morning to refloat a longliner that burned and is now mostly submerged. The Sebastian Sails, known to many for the years it was featured on Discovery Canada’s TV show Cold Water Cowboys, was mostly underwater after catching fire on Monday morning. Just the ship’s bow was left above the surface. The fire on Monday also destroyed about 65 feet of the 300-foot wharf in Twillingate, according to Harbour Authority Master Gord Noseworthy. >click to read<10:44
Oil drilling bid for Great Australian Bight not a boring debate for Port Lincoln locals
Plans to drill for oil in the Great Australian Bight off the coast of South Australia have sparked a lively debate in the seaside town of Port Lincoln. In a city that calls itself the seafood capital of Australia, the discussion centres on the future of its greatest asset — The Great Australian Bight. Norwegian oil company, Equinor, plans to drill for oil in the seas that support Port Lincoln’s most important industry.,, Norwegian Fisherman’s Association representative, Bjornar Nicolaisen, also addressed the meeting, on behalf of an ongoing campaign in Norway to protect fisheries from drilling. Overwhelmingly speakers spoke against Equinor’s plans — just three people on the evening put forward cases for the plans. >click to read<09:57
British Columbia: The Last Cannery Standing
While British Columbia’s canning industry dates back to the earliest days of Canadian confederation, the canning process itself is even older, invented by a French chef in the early 1800s. By 1864, Americans were canning salmon on the Pacific coast. Three years later, Scottish entrepreneur James Syme established a canning operation near the mouth of the Fraser River in what would soon become British Columbia—the first of 223 salmon canneries that have come and gone in the province since then. The most fleeting of these enterprises, like Syme’s, lasted a season or two. The most tenacious, the North Pacific Cannery in Prince Rupert, boasted almost 90 consecutive years of fish processing, starting in 1889 and ending in the late 1970s. >click to read<09:07
A Marshfield lobsterman’s impromptu whale watch, Minke whale puts on a show
A minke whale put on quite the show — including a leaping belly flop — for a Marshfield fisherman out at work on Saturday, Quincy’s Patriot Ledger reports. According to the newspaper, Patrick Hurley was bringing in his daily catch when the whale started swimming around his boat. “Wow! He looked right at me,” the lobsterman exclaims as the whale breaches in a video shared by the Patriot Ledger. “Don’t jump on my boat, buddy.” “I gotta get to work,” he later calls to the whale. video >click to watch< 20:23
Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council Meeting in Virginia Beach August 13–16
The public is invited to attend the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s meeting to be held August 13-16, 2018 in Virginia Beach, VA. The meeting will be held at the Hilton Virginia Beach Oceanfront (3001 Atlantic Ave., Virginia Beach, VA 23451, Telephone 757-213-3000). Briefing Materials & Agenda Overview Agenda >click here< Attend Meeting with Adobe Connect >click here< Listen Live! 19:15
