Monthly Archives: September 2018
Shrimp boat anchored in Beaufort Co. to avoid Hurricane Florence overturns, leaks fuel
A shrimp boat anchored in the May River to avoid Hurricane Florence overturned and appears to have leaked fuel into the water, state and local officials said Saturday. Beaufort County dispatchers alerted the S.C. Department of Natural Resources about the possibility of a vessel leaking fuel on Saturday, said David Lucas, a DNR spokesman. A DNR officer and official with the Department of Health and Environmental Control visited the site and found a shrimp boat overturned off of Bull Island. >click to read< 08:53
Tsukiji market’s last days: Tuna from around the world
At 5:30 a.m., a bell clanged at Tsukiji fish market, marking the start of its famed auction of frozen tuna. An auctioneer, swaying with a unique rhythm, soon began calling out the price of the fish per kilogram in a thick voice: “1,100 yen!” “1,200 yen!” Tuna, referred to as “omono (big items)” at the market, are symbols of Tsukiji, which deals in about 480 kinds of fish. The catches are shipped in from around the world, from the waters off Tahiti in the southern Pacific Ocean to those off Angola in Africa. >click to read<21:33
4th Annual Fish and Fleet Festival Returns to the Pillar Point Harbor on Sunday
If you are a lover of seafood, here’s a chance to see the classic fishing boats and colorful crews that go out to the deep sea to catch your favorite dishes. It’s time for the 4th annual Fish and Fleet Festival being held Sunday at the Pillar Point Harbor from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Along with seafood, The Fish and Fleet Festival will also showcase boats that would thrill Ernest Hemingway. One is names Mr. Morgan and it looks like a commercial fishing vessel one would see in a novel or a movie. >click to read<19:22
Man killed in Massachusetts shark attack, first since 1936
A man who was swimming near a beach off the coast of Massachusetts was killed Saturday when he was attacked by a shark, officials say, making it the state’s first fatal shark attack in more than 80 years. The incident happened at about 12:30 p.m. ET on Saturday when the man, believed to be in his mid-20s, was swimming near Newcomb Hollow Beach in Wellfleet, a town on Cape Cod.
The victim suffered serious injuries and CPR was performed at the beach, but he was later pronounced dead at Cape Cod Hospital. >link<15:46
First offshore wind farm on West Coast is one step closer
The Redwood Coast Energy Authority, with support from several private companies, is one step closer to developing the first offshore wind farm on the West Coast, according to its executive director Matthew Marshall. The authority, along with Principle Power, Aker Solutions, and EDP Renewables, recently submitted a lease application to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. According to Marshall, if approved the lease would give the authority and its partners “site control” over an ocean area of approximately 70 square miles, meaning they have exclusive project rights to that area. This doesn’t mean the project will span 70 square miles, Marshall said, instead it defines the boundaries of where Redwood Coast could put the project. >click to read<14:10
A lobster named Roscoe was exposed to marijuana smoke – “Hot box” lobsters touted
In an experiment to test the affect of cannabis on lobsters, Roscoe the lobster was placed for a few minutes in a covered box with about two inches of water at the bottom. Marijuana smoke was then blown into the water at the bottom of the box. Gill’s hypothesis is that the treatment sedates the animals and could make their deaths less traumatic. “I feel bad that when lobsters come here there is no exit strategy,” said Gill, who has owned Charlotte’s Legendary Lobster Pound for seven years. Alrighty then! >click to read<11:37
Maine’s rebuilt scallop fishery looks to year of more growth
Maine is known for producing scallops that are somewhat bigger than other East Coast states, and some are plucked from the icy waters by hand during winter. Others are harvested by boats with fishing gear. The Maine Department of Marine Resources has said strict management of the harvest has allowed the scallops to rebuild from collapse in the mid-2000s. The state is looking to continue that trend this year with a season that keeps fishermen restricted to tight limits on the number of pounds they can harvest. Fishermen are also limited in the number of days they can fish, and the state is looking to trim a few days. >click to read<10:19
Fire destroys fishing vessel in Witless Bay early Saturday morning
Fire destroyed a small fishing vessel in Witless Bay early Saturday morning. An official on scene told The Telegram that the fire was reported by fishermen from another vessel docked nearby. When firefighters from the Witless Bay volunteer fire department arrived on scene at the town’s fish plant, they found the boat fully engulfed in flames. It took them about an hour to completely extinguish the blaze, including some hard-to-reach hotspots between sections of the hull but by then, the boat was taking on water through some of the holes that had burned through the sides. >click to read<09:21
Dear Senator Warren, I will be exploring my options
Dear Senator Warren, I am a lifelong Democrat, have been Party Chairman in Gloucester, Ma., and have supported you in the past. I find myself very disappointed, Senator, as I continue my quest of supporting the remaining fishermen of Gloucester, the Gloucester Fishermens Wives Association, Captain Sam Novello, Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken, and others in the industry. In the last three months, I have sent numerous emails, called your Washington office, your Boston office, and left messages for you, and no one has bothered to call, or answer back! I have become discouraged that I can’t count on you, so what am I supposed to do? >click to read< by Sam Parisi 23:43
Hurricane Florence – N.C. shrimper fleeing storm finds safety in Beaufort County after breaking down at sea
St. Helena Island — slammed by Hurricane Matthew two years ago — this time served as a peaceful safe harbor for a North Carolina shrimper fleeing Hurricane Florence. But not before a rescue at sea. Shrimper Scott Dudley of Smyrna, North Carolina, might have felt like Noah when the whole thing began a week ago Saturday, Sept. 8. People laughed when he eased his 83-foot wood-hulled trawler, the Miss Nicole, out of the Fulcher’s Seafood dock in Oriental, North Carolina. “The man at the dock told me I was crazy,” he rumbled Friday in a deep voice bouncing off the smooth waters of Village Creek, seeming to dance in this sunshine. It was only about five hours after Hurricane Florence made landfall. >click to read<22:31
Maine lobsterman sentenced for trying to ram skiff with 2 men aboard
A Vinalhaven man will serve 45 days in jail for attempting to ram his lobster boat into another boat that was carrying two men. Carl B. Gross, 32, received his sentence this week following a deferred sentencing agreement. As part of the agreement, Gross pleaded guilty to charges of reckless conduct and operating watercraft to endanger, according to court documents. >click to read<21:20
FISH-NL calls on DFO to take direct control of scientific quota of redfish in the Gulf of St. Lawrence
“The FFAW-Unifor should not be controlling science quotas,” says Boyd Lavers, an inshore harvester from Port Saunders on the Great Northern Peninsula, and Captain of FISH-NL’s over 40-foot fleet. “The only fair way to deal with this experimental quota is for it to be handled directly by DFO, so the FFAW doesn’t get a chance to show favouritism as to who fishes the quota, or to take a cut from the sale of the fish.”,,, Further, harvesters have been told by the union they will have to sell the redfish to a plant of the FFAW’s choosing, and pay the union half the money from the sale of the fish. >click to read<18:35
Fishing vessel F/V Haida Legend sinks off Langara Island
Four fishermen are safe after the 45-foot Haida Legend sank about 20 nautical miles off Langara Island last Thursday evening, Sept. 6. It’s unclear why the boat sank, but the crew, who were fishing halibut, heard a loud pop before it began taking on water. They radioed for help at about 5:30 p.m., and were safely evacuated to a Langara Island fishing lodge by sport fishermen who were nearby. “The crewmen are obviously shaken,” said the controller at Coldfish Seafoods, the Richmond, B.C. company that owned the Haida Legend, which was insured. The boat was already sinking quickly by the time they made for the island. >click to read<17:27
Coast guard joins search for missing orca J50
Coast Guard personnel are assisting members of NOAA’s Fisheries Service in the search for the missing Southern Resident killer whale, J50. An intense search effort was launched Thursday in which a Coast Guard helicopter crew from Air Station Port Angeles, several NOAA researchers in separate boats and multiple whale watching vessels and organizations searched for the 31/2-year-old whale. Various news sources report the whale as dead. >click to read<17:07
Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative Brings New Shell Lobster from Trap to Table in Chicago
he Maine Lobster industry is well into the 2018 peak season, when lobsters shed their shells and a brand new, softer shell emerges. The result is Maine New Shell Lobster, a sweeter, more delicate meat – known as Maine’s best kept secret. Following the industry’s first-ever live broadcast, the Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative (MLMC) brought Maine New Shell Lobster to Chicago, just ahead of the official National Lobster Day on Sept. 25. >click to read<14:59
Many US lobster companies coping well with tariff impact
As the trade war between the United States and China continues, with indications that it may escalate even further, most U.S.-based lobster companies have seen their exports to China fall dramatically. Despite the decrease, many companies say the market for lobster is still strong enough to keep the impact to their companies at a minimum. Some companies that never invested heavily into Chinese exports said 2018 has been a better-than-average year. >click to read<12:36
New York’s Whales Love Bunker. So Do Fishing Boats. Conflict Ensues.
It has been a bountiful summer for bunker in the waters off New York, and for local whale spotters. Bunker, a favorite food of many larger predators, including whales, are enjoying another year in a decade-long recovery.,,, On Aug. 30, a boat from Omega Protein lowered a net nearly six city blocks long into the water, about 25 miles southeast of the Rockaways, and pulled up about 800,000 pounds of bunker, also known as menhaden. On Sept. 6, Omega returned to the vicinity and hauled out nearly 2 million pounds more. Tom Paladino, a former charter fishing boat captain who started running whale watches from the American Princess in 2010 as local whale sightings began to grow, did not mince words. “We have a major issue with a fishing fleet coming in and taking all the food from the whales,” he told his passengers. Omega says it is doing nothing of the sort and is removing only a tiny fraction of the local menhaden that its spotter pilots have estimated to be in the tens of millions. “The best science shows that this is a completely sustainable fishery and the whale diet is not being impacted at all,” said an Omega spokesman, Ben Landry. > click to read<11:51
‘Let them take it by rail’: Fishermen oppose Donkin mine’s marine terminal plan
Fishermen in eastern Cape Breton will appeal to two federal ministers to stop plans by the operators of the Donkin coal mine to move coal by barge, which they claim will damage lucrative fishing grounds, and hurt their livelihoods. Kameron Coal wants to build a marine terminal in Morien Bay, several kilometres south of the Donkin mine, to load coal onto barges and move it to larger vessels offshore. About 200 people, many of them fishermen, packed the Port Morien Legion on Thursday night, just across the highway from Morien Bay, to denounce the plan. >click to read<10:18
Rain, floods, tornadoes hit Carolinas as Hurricane Florence makes landfall
The Carolina coast saw major storm surges, strong winds and fierce rain early Friday as Hurricane Florence arrived on land at Category 1 strength. The center of the storm arrived about 7:15 a.m. EDT near Wrightsville Beach, N.C., close to the South Carolina border, the National Hurricane Center said in an advisory update. Meteorological models project up to 40 inches of rain for parts of North and South Carolina through Sunday before the hurricane disperses. >click to read<09:00
For Chesapeake watermen, storm is another challenge in a tough year
Pasadena waterman C.J. Canby and his crew of three pulled up their crab pots early Wednesday and for the most part found a healthy catch. “Oh boy,” Canby exclaimed as they hoisted one of the wire cages out of the Chesapeake Bay near the mouth of the Patapsco River. “That’s a $100-a-dozen crab.” It measured 8¼ inches across. Every so often, a trap came up empty. Canby assumes it’s because recent rain, wind and waves knocked the crab pot on its side, preventing crustaceans from sidestepping their way inside. Ahead of Hurricane Florence, he’s working to put more of his pots in deeper waters and on muddy terrain, where they’re less likely to be disturbed. >click to read<19:21
“Recipe For Disaster” – Filmmaker documents ravages of green crabs
More than a year ago, Gloucester filmmaker Nubar Alexanian laid out his airtight case against the rapacious European green crabs for Bruce Tarr and the incredulous state lawmaker had a suitable response: “There’s a horror movie happening in my district and I didn’t even know about it,” Tarr told Alexanian. As Alexanian’s new documentary short film, “Recipe For Disaster,” makes clear, the call is coming from inside the Great Marsh, which stretches from Gloucester to the New Hampshire border. “In the film, we say there are millions and millions of the green crabs here already,” Alexanian said. “Now I would say it’s billions and billions.” Watch the video trailer. >click to read<17:44
Is a soft-shell green crab industry viable in New England? NOAA Fisheries awards Manomet $267,440 to investigate
Manomet has been awarded a grant of $267,440 by the NOAA Saltonstall-Kennedy Grant Program to expand work to develop a lucrative green crab fishery in New England and provide a new source of economic opportunity for fishers and coastal communities. The grant will be used to implement long-term green crab population monitoring, explore new pathways to developing the soft-shell green crab fishery, increase marketing and outreach efforts, and begin to determine the economic viability of a soft-shell fishery. >click to read<16:12
NWS National Hurricane Center – Hurricane Florence Advisory Update 200 PM EDT
Hurricane Florence Intermediate Advisory – NWS National Hurricane Center Miami FL LOCATION…33.6N 76.0W ABOUT 110 MI…180 KM ESE OF WILMINGTON NORTH CAROLINA, ABOUT 165 MI…270 KM E OF MYRTLE BEACH SOUTH CAROLINA, MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS…105 MPH…165 KM/H, PRESENT MOVEMENT…NW OR 315 DEGREES AT 10 MPH…17 KM/H MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE…955 MB…28.20 INCHES >click to read<14:13
FISH-NL calls on DFO to halt FFAW fishery for northern cod, leave fish for fishermen
The Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador (FISH-NL) is calling on Fisheries and Oceans to immediately cancel this year’s northern cod quality project, and leave the fish for struggling inshore harvesters to catch. “Inshore harvesters are fit to be tied that while the northern cod stewardship fishery is temporarily closed to them, cod is still being landed through the FFAW-Unifor’s cod quality fishery — which will reduce the overall amount of quota available to harvesters,” says Ryan Cleary, President of FISH-NL. “The cod quality projects are seen by most inshore harvesters as yet another FFAW money-making scheme,” he added. “When it comes to quality and inshore harvesters getting the most money for their fish, the No. 1 action that can be taken is to grade the fish at the wharf — not the plant.”>click to read<12:49
Local Fisheries Biologist Pleads Not Guilty to Molestation Charges
A well-known fish biologist and river-restoration expert pleaded not guilty today to charges that he molested a young girl in 2014 and 2015. Public Defender Marek Reavis entered the pleas on behalf of 43-year-old Dr. Joshua Seth Strange, charged with two felony counts of oral copulation or sexual penetration of a child under 10 years old and two felony counts of lewd and/or lascivious acts on a child under age 14. Strange was arrested on a warrant on Aug. 31 at a residence on Highway 96. Deputies reportedly found him hiding in a closet. He is being held on bail of $1.4 million. >click to read<11:32
Harvesters worry their efforts in producing a quality catch will be lost due to delays in grading
With hefty nets, healthy livers and plump fish, harvesters across the central region are seeing signs of a healthy and rebounding cod fishery this summer. But fishers and union representatives agree, the most pivotal mark to grow this future fishery is not in quantity but in producing a quality grade codfish. “The only thing that’s going to do it for us is quality,” Salvage harvester Gordon Janes said. “Norway and Iceland got it down to a science, and the fish we put out in comparison to them is very little. In recent years, harvesters have been encouraged in a variety of techniques for producing a fresher and higher-quality fish. These techniques include an emphasis on more fish caught through hook and line, decreasing the amount of time harvesters leave out gillnets, pulling out the fish’s gills to drain the blood from its fillets, and gutting the fish and putting it in ice immediately after it’s caught. >click to read<11:09
Scallop wars: French fishermen pull plug on talks with UK rivals
French fishermen have broken off talks with British rivals for a new deal on access to scallop-rich waters in the English Channel, a long-simmering conflict that flared into a high-seas confrontation last month. Representatives from both sides had been meeting in London since last week to hammer out an accord that would stop smaller British boats from scooping up the prized mollusks outside the official fishing season. “It’s game over,” Hubert Carre, the head of France’s CNPMEM national fishing committee, told AFP. >click to read<10:30
New Bedford revives push to seize Northeast Fisheries Center
Appealing to the new management team at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, elected officials from New Bedford are newly appealing to relocate the Northeast Fisheries Science Center from Woods Hole to New Bedford, arguing the change will help the federal government to more effectively engage with members of an active fishing community. In a letter Tuesday to Acting Administrator Rear Admiral Tim Gallaudet, officials cited media reports suggesting that NOAA had ruled out every possible location for the center except Woods Hole in Falmouth. In asking for reconsideration, they also demanded the federal government release its “business case analysis” of potential locations in the Northeast. >click to read<20:46
Fishermen did a good job freeing Owl
I’ve read the articles concerning “Owl” the whale and conclude that another opinion needs to be expressed that was not present in the article, which conveyed a negative perspective to the fishing industry. I’ll admit from the start that I was not witness to the event but from what was described and my experience in the fishing industry there are reasonable conclusions that weren’t considered in the description of the event. While it was stated that “65 years of whale watching experience” was present I’d dare bet that there was little to no experience with fishing knowledge to understand what the crew of the fishing vessel did to prevent the event from escalating to a worse condition.>click to read<by Erik Anderson 19:56
Coast Guard establishes temporary maritime emergency contact numbers for North Carolina
Sept. 12, 2018 U.S. Coast Guard Hurricane Florence Response Contact: Hurricane Response Media Operations Centers Hampton Roads/Elizabeth City: (757) 295-8435 North Carolina: (252) 515-0895 – Members of the public should follow all local advisories for evacuation and for seeking safe harbor throughout North Carolina as Hurricane Florence progresses. The primary number for help should be 911, as this number allows first responders to coordinate rescues across agencies. Coast Guard Sector North Carolina has established temporary maritime search and rescue phone numbers. >click to read new contact information< 19:05
