Monthly Archives: October 2018
A boat takes shape
Though the date of the photo is still unknown, Crescent City resident Richard Evanow says he saw the boat take shape. Featured in a Sept. 25 edition of “Yesterdays: From the Triplicate Archives,” the boat was constructed on Parkway Drive in Crescent City, Evanow said in an email Friday. He said he thinks it was built at Dickson Concrete and was able to outline how such a vessel is created. “The idea is to make a ‘plug’ out of wood using light wood over wooden frames to the shape of the vessel you want,” >click to read<19:16
National Hurricane Center – Hurricane Michael Public Advisory – 400 PM Update
At 400 PM CDT (2100 UTC), the eye of Hurricane Michael was located near latitude 26.0 North, longitude 86.4 West. Michael is moving toward the north near 12 mph (19 km/h). A northward motion is expected through tonight, followed by a northeastward motion on Wednesday and Thursday. On the forecast track, the center of Michael will move across the eastern Gulf of Mexico through tonight. The center of Michael is then expected to move inland over the Florida Panhandle or Florida Big Bend area on Wednesday, and then move northeastward across the southeastern United States Wednesday night and Thursday, and move off the Mid-Atlantic coast away from the United States on Friday. >click to read<18:21
Researchers Try To Build A Better Life Jacket To Keep Lobstermen Alive
Early on a July morning, Massachusetts lobsterman Steve Holler and his sternman Frank Lenardis haul lobster traps out of Boston Harbor over the edge of Holler’s boat, the November Gale, and dump the catch into a holding tray. “It’s a dance between me and him,” Holler says. “Him getting that done, me getting this done, because with his strength, his weight, he’ll knock me right on my rear end. He’s done it a few times.” This particular morning in July, everything goes smoothly. But Holler remembers one day in February when a routine haul went very wrong,,, >click to read<16:13
F/V Louisa salvaged and renamed, is back at sea
The fishing boat Louisa which sank in the Western Isles resulting in the deaths of three fishermen is back at sea. Renamed Nimrod, the crab boat is working in South West Cornwall. The convener of Western Isles Council has said that this news must evoke strong memories for the families of those involved with the Louisa. Louisa sank while at anchor off the Isle of Mingulay in the Outer Hebrides on April 9 2016. Skipper Paul Alliston and crewmen Martin Johnstone and Chris Morrison all perished. One survivor, Lachlan Armstrong, managed to swim to shore.. >click to read<15:29
Finding help for addicted fishermen
It hurts to be a fisherman. Tyler Miranda found that out when he started working on a scallop boat at age 18. The son of a lobsterman and nephew of a scalloper, he was prepared for long days of heavy, repetitive work. But he didn’t anticipate how much his back would hurt after hours of shucking scallops, hauling buckets, and shoveling debris. Nor did he foresee the remedy his boatmates would offer: Percocets. >click to read<13:42
Fishing Groups Lose Legal Battle Over Marine Monument
The national monument that former President Barack Obama established in the Atlantic Ocean survived a court challenge Friday. When Obama created the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument in 2016, he relied on a 1906 law passed in Roosevelt’s administration.,, A year later, the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association and four other groups filed suit to unravel the 5,000-square-mile designation,,, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg disagreed on Friday, dismissing their case.,, “I believe the public is being led astray in thinking the area in question is fragile and in need of more protection,” said Bonnie Brady, “It has always been protected while being commercially fished with federal sustainability and essential habitat regulations through the federal Magnuson Stevens Act and the regional fishery management councils.”>click to read<21:52
Deepwater Wind to be purchased by Danish energy giant Orsted
The agreement, announced by both companies Monday morning, would create a combined company with offshore wind leases and projects across the Eastern United States. Orsted, formerly known as DONG Energy (Danish Oil and Natural Gas), has offshore wind lease rights off the coast of Massachusetts, Virginia and New Jersey. But at least one group saw cause for concern. “These are foreign oil and gas companies that are coming to the U.S. and taking our fisheries away from us without any mitigation or negotiations,” said Bonnie Brady, executive director of the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, an industry group. “It’s ridiculous. You want to talk about a job killer. This is the biggest threat to the U.S. commercial fishing on the Eastern Seaboard.”>click to read<17:22
Measures to protect North Atlantic right whales have been effective, official says
Representatives of the fishing industry and Fisheries and Oceans Canada met in Moncton over the weekend to look at the impact protection measures were having on the North Atlantic right whale — and to help decide what should happen next year. The 2018 fishing season has been controversial, with fishermen in the Acadian Peninsula protesting the new federal measures that were put in place to protect the North Atlantic right whale. Some of those measures included closing several fisheries where whales were present in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, speed restrictions for boats and increased surveillance. >click to read<15:34
Coast Guard assists fishing vessel taking on water near Oregon Inlet
Members of the Coast Guard helped a boat called the Captain Potter that was taking on water around 4 p.m. on Sunday. The Captain Potter was around seven miles away from the Oregon Inlet Sea Bouy when the Coast Guard responded with the Cutter Dolphin and used two dewatering pumps to help stabilize the boat. The Coast Guard towed the Captain Potter to safe harbor and all personel and equipment were transported safely as well. >link<15:00
Fishermen weathering effects of climate change
The lobster off western Cape Breton didn’t get the memo about thriving in colder water. “They should have told the lobsters that this year,” said John Phillip Rankin, a fisherman from Mabou Coal Mines. “By the first of July, it was warm and they started snapping but we were after putting our traps on the wharf. They start jumping when it gets warmer. They do all right in cold water. It was a decent season but it was cold-water trapping, you could tell. Last year, it was warm right through, a better season. The landings were quite a bit higher.” >click to read<14:35
Cape Cod: Expert says sharks, seals here to stay
Last year, George Burgess predicted that a fatal shark attack would occur on Cape Cod within five years. “It’s the combination of a large predator, and the things they eat, both gaining in population size and both coming back to lay claim to areas that historically were theirs 150 years ago,” Burgess, now retired after 40 years as a shark researcher and curator, was on the Cape last week to gather information for the shark attack file on the region’s two shark attacks this summer, including one that resulted in the death of 26-year-old boogie boarder Arthur Medici. Burgess stressed his concern over the loss of life and his sympathy for the victim and his family, but said the Cape has now turned a corner,,, >click to read<11:09
Columbus Day Trip With Captain Matthew Parisi of Gloucester
Looking back in time and remembering my dad Captain Matthew Parisi of Gloucester, I can never forget what he taught me as to where to fish each trip. But every Columbus Day he had special spots. Sometimes it would be like off Thatcher’s Island, Middle Bank or off the Cape in the shoal water. The herring would be around at that time of year to spawn and the haddock, cod and other ground fish would come to eat the spawn. One trip I remember was off Cape Cod,,, >click to read<09:42
Tropical Storm Michael prompts hurricane watches in Florida as it picks up strength
Hurricane watches are now in effect in numerous counties along the Florida Panhandle as Tropical Storm Michael continues to strengthen ahead of an anticipated landfall as a Category 2 hurricane later this week. The storm, which has maximum sustained winds of 70 mph, was about 90 miles east of Cozumel, Mexico early Monday morning and is dumping rain on Cuba, the National Hurricane Center said. “Michael is forecast to be a hurricane, and possibly a major hurricane, when it reaches the northeastern Gulf Coast by mid-week, and storm surge and hurricane watches are now in effect for portions of the area,” the Center said in an advisory. >click to read<09:22
Nova Scotia tuna fisherman dies after going overboard near Port Hood
A 68-year-old tuna fisherman from Arisaig, N.S., has died after going overboard on Saturday. RCMP Cpl. Andrew Joyce did not have many details of the incident, but said police received a call at 7:47 a.m. informing them of the man’s death. Other local fishermen have identified the man as Stevie MacInnis, who ran a tuna chartering company called MacInnis Bluefin Tuna Charters. MacInnis went into the water near Murphys Pond and his body was brought to Port Hood, Joyce said. The president of the Inverness South Fishermen’s Association, Jordan MacDougall, said he understands MacInnis got caught in a net and was pulled into the water. >click to read<15:19
Program helps area shrimpers sell ‘ultimate premium product’
The Louisiana Limited Wild Plate Frozen shrimp program is informing buyers about the food preservation technology. “This is the ultimate premium product,” said Thomas Hymel, LSU AgCenter and Louisiana Sea Grant fisheries agent. “It’s like it fell out of a cast net and it’s frozen.” Shrimp are packaged in 5-pound containers, then held on a plate freezer that is kept at minus 35 degrees. The products treated with this process look fresh from the ocean when they are thawed, Hymel said, with heads and even antenna intact. “This is as close to the ocean as you can get,” he said. The process also can be used for fish, Hymel said. >click to read<13:40
Plan could see prisoners working in seafood plants in Unalaska
If local officials agree, prisoners can finish their sentences working in seafood plants in Unalaska, according to a plan presented by Alaska Department of Corrections Commissioner Dean Williams at last week’s Unalaska City Council meeting, attended by many generally supportive community members. Williams said local support is needed for the transitions to work program, so that the Unalaska Department of Public Safety can provide electronic monitoring while the inmates are living in workplace bunkhouses during the last six months of their sentences, and said the state will provide funding for the project involving about five prisoners,,, >click to read<12:08
Chignik salmon fisheries made $3000 between six permits in 2018
The exvessel value per permit has been over $100,000 for the past 10 years in the Chignik Management Area. This year, the entire fishery brought in $3000, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s season summary. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game released its summary of the 2018 Chignik salmon season this week. The Board of Fish already declared the sockeye salmon fishery a disaster in early July. Then the governor declared it an economic disaster in August. This report from Fish and Game confirms that the entire fishery only brought about $3000 dollars between the six permit holders who fished. Audio, >click to read<10:04
City struggles to sell unwanted former floating strip club
The city of Kodiak is trying to get rid of what has been called a former floating strip club. The P/V Wild Alaskan vessel was impounded on Dec. 20 and has been held in the Kodiak Shipyard ever since, the Kodiak Daily Mirror reported Thursday. In August, the city began advertising the vessel as available for purchase by the highest bidder, but it did not receive any bids. City Manager Mike Tvenge said nobody wants the ship. “If you look at it, it’s in need of repair,” Tvenge said. “That’s part of the reason why it was pulled out of the harbor.” >click to read<09:02
Tedeschi says Keating underperforms for fishing industry
Republican Peter Tedeschi, the convenience store magnate and Republican candidate for congress in the Massachusetts 9th District, staged a small rally on the waterfront next to the fishing family sculpture Saturday and took aim at incumbent William Keating for what Tedeschi says are deficiencies in Democrat Keating’s job performance. About 20 supporters either arrived with him on a district-wide tour, or came out locally to hear him. He told The Standard-Times in an interview that mirrored his prepared comments, “I don’t believe that the fishermen down here and the fishing industry are getting adequate support from our current congressman. And that manifests itself in several ways.” >click to read<20:02
‘Pirate’ fishing charters make money with no license. A recent attempt to stop them failed
Pirates, they call them — people taking anglers out for money without the effort or expense of getting properly outfitted and licensed.,,The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council looked at one answer last week — a moratorium, a temporary stop on issuing new charter permits — as a way to regulate the desirable catch of sought-after snapper and grouper fish. It also could cut down the number of illegally operating captains, some council members said. Others, though, said it wouldn’t. The council voted the moratorium down. It might not have been the best answer anyway. The council’s bigger problem remains unanswered: How to get those fish counted by recreational anglers at sea. >click to read<19:19
In Battle Over Whale, Judge Tears Up Agency Stonewalling
A federal judge opened the door Thursday for environmentalists to bolster claims over a lobster fishery they blame for the declining population of an endangered whale. Ordering the National Marine Fisheries Service to produce discovery, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg said the Endangered Species Act allows the agency’s challengers to use evidence outside the administrative record. “In order to accurately assess the alleged crisis of these cetaceans, the court will benefit from a record that reflects the actual, ongoing effects of the lobster fishery on the species,” the 16-page ruling says. The cetaceans at issue are called the North Atlantic right whale. There were roughly 455 right whales left as of 2016, and the Conservation Law Foundation says at least 18 of these have been killed since 2017. >click to read<16:28
Fishermen running for office: Poverty, opioid crisis are issues in all-Winter Harbor House race
In the District 136 House race Downeast, the candidates are both Winter Harbor natives. Both have served as selectmen, both have been lobstermen. Democrat Kylie Bragdon, “Winter Harbor born and bred,” grew up on the water and now fishes when she can but works as the principal of KidsPeace in Ellsworth.,, The Republican in that race is William “Billy Bob” Faulkingham. It is clear that this man cares about his family, his community and fishing. His campaign material describes him as “Father – Veteran – Fisherman,” in that order.,, District 134 (Deer Isle/Stonington) features a lobsterman too. Genevieve McDonald of Stonington runs F/V Hello Darlings II and is full of enthusiasm for serving in the Legislature, with the opportunity to work toward collaboration between managers, scientists and fishing communities. >click to read<15:30
In the lobster business, there’s always a deadline
As a lobster salesman, Matt Egan likes to joke that his dad is his worst customer. “He always wants lobsters — and never wants to pay for them.” While some salesmen market products or services such as cars, real estate, pharmaceuticals, or insurance, Egan’s commodity is alive and kicking. Egan, a salesman for Boston Lobster Company, could give a tutorial on how to sell a lobster — except that he has a cellphone constantly glued to his head as he brokers purchases with seafood dealers and lobstermen, and then sells the goods to hotel chains, restaurants, supermarkets, and local fish markets. Like a day trader, he buys low and sells high, but unlike a non-living commodity, lobsters have a shelf life. >click to read<12:28
Inside the operation that propped up Kodiak fishermen
It was low tide and most of the staff were sleeping, having finished an egg-take shift sometime before 7:00 a.m. The next shift would begin just before high tide, at 2:45 p.m. “We’ve done 200,000 fish already – that’s male and female. We’ve got about 135 million eggs right now,” said Wachter. Kodiak’s hatcheries, as well as those across the state, were originally set up to give fishermen a safety net during years in which wild stocks are low. Alaska’s Private Non-Profit Hatchery Program, however, is currently at the center of a political battle that could see restrictions placed on the number of hatchery-reared fish that are released each year. >click to read<11:48
Army Corps dredging Moriches Inlet to remove heavy sand buildup
Four storms last winter created a buildup of 300,000 cubic yards of sand, clogging the inlet, which feeds Moriches Bay and sits between Smith Point County Park and Cupsogue Beach County Park in Brookhaven and Southampton towns. The inlet provides access to the Atlantic Ocean and is a major economic driver for marine-related businesses in the region. “Failure to dredge these vital waterways would not only cause economic hardship and create a public safety crisis, but will bring about significant environmental issues,” Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) said at a news conference Friday at the U.S. Coast Guard Station in East Moriches. >click to read<10:28
Commercial Fishers Sentenced to Jail Time For Willful Failure to Pay Taxes on Income
A Southeast Alaskan couple were sentenced today in Juneau for willfully failing to pay their individual income taxes, and instead prioritized spending money on traveling and gambling. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Bryan Schroder. Archie W. Demmert III, 58, and Roseann L. Demmert, 61, both of Klawock, Alaska, were sentenced today by Chief U.S. District Judge Timothy M. Burgess to each serve 12 months, plus one day, in federal prison on two counts of willful failure to pay income tax. >click to read<09:06
Maine Gubernatorial candidates vow to back lobster industry in upcoming fight
All four candidates for governor pledged to defend Maine’s $434 million-a-year lobster industry a week before regulators consider new rules that could severely affect the industry. Specifically, the candidates addressed onerous right whale protections that environmental groups are seeking in court now from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, proposals such as moving from a rope-based industry to a ropeless fishery, seasonal closures of western Gulf of Maine lobster fishing in April, and cutting in half the number of traps or vertical lines that could entangle whales. Independent Alan Caron, Democrat Janet Mills, Republican Shawn Moody and independent Terry Hayes took turns answering some questions, dodging others and hailing the importance of Maine fisheries,,, >click to read<21:08
Judge tosses fishermen’s suit against Obama ocean monument
A federal judge tossed a lawsuit Friday from a group of fishing associations that challenged the creation of an underwater monument in the Atlantic Ocean. The fishing groups sued in federal court in Washington against creation of Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument by former President Barack Obama in 2016. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg granted the Trump administration’s motion Friday to dismiss the suit. His ruling said the groups failed to adequately explain why the monument is too large. >click to read<15:14
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for October 5, 2018
North Carolina Fisheries Association is trying to compile an assessment of damages sustained to our industry during Hurricane Florence. If you are a commercial fisherman, fish house owner or dealer processer, please email estimated damages and photos to Aundrea O’Neal at [email protected]. It is imperative that we get this information as soon as possible so that we can let our legislators know the needs as a result >Click here to read the Weekly Update<, to read all the updates >click here<, for older updates listed as NCFA >click here<14:30
Man die’s from sea snake bite in Australia after being attacked while working on fishing trawler
A 23-year-old British man has died after being bitten by a sea snake in Australia while working on a fishing trawler. NT News, describing the man as a “backpacker”, reports that CareFlight assisted, as well as other ships in the area, to provide medical supplies for emergency treatment. But the man was declared dead after the trawler arrived at the town of Borroloola. The British High Commission has been informed of his death. It may be the first recorded death from a sea snake in Australia, say experts. >click to read<12:48
