Daily Archives: November 14, 2018
Lobsterman back in court – Only $720 of $10K fine paid for illegal lobsters
When James A. Santapaola Jr. got nabbed landing 183 illegal lobsters at a local lobster wholesaler two years ago, the Gloucester lobsterman eventually cut a deal with prosecutors to plead guilty to 20 of the counts and pay two fines totaling $10,050. Now, nearly two years after the plea deal, Santapaola Jr. — who was arrested again last week on charges of possessing 47 illegal lobsters — has paid only $720 of the $10,050 in fines, according to the clerk’s office at the Gloucester District Court. ,,, The haul, according to law enforcement reports, included 28 undersized lobsters, 16 V-notched females and three oversized lobsters.>click to read<20:48
Crab Fishermen Sue Fossil Fuel Industry Over Climate Change Damage
Crab fishing on the West Coast has become so threatened by warming oceans that a coalition of commercial fishers has now joined the climate litigation fray with a lawsuit filed Wednesday to hold 30 fossil fuel companies accountable for losses caused by climate change. The lawsuit, filed in San Francisco County Superior Court by the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, seeks damages on behalf of crab fishers, their businesses and families, and local communities in California and Oregon. It describes losses caused by the closing of crab fishing waters over the past four years because of algae blooms in the warming Pacific waters, and warns that these closures will keep happening as warming continues. >click to read<19:31
Coast Guard rescues 4 fishermen 60 miles off Maine coast
The Coast Guard rescued four fishermen Wednesday after abandoning their boat off the coast of Rockland, Maine. The captain of the 76-foot fishing vessel Aaron & Melissa II radioed watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Northern New England at approximately 7:45 a.m., reporting the fishing boat was taking on water. >click to read<18:40
OpenHydro sought over $17 million in tax credits for failed turbine project
The company that placed a 13,000-tonne-turbine at the bottom of the Minas Passage then sought creditor protection has applied for $17,807,391 worth of tax credits. An affidavit filed with the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia on behalf of Open Hydro Technologies Canada Ltd. states that company has filed for $7,360,751 in provincial tax credits under the scientific research and experimental development program for the fiscal years 2015 and 2016. The company also claims to have filed for $6,318,954 worth of the same credits at the federal level. >click to read<15:26
BP deep water well off Nova Scotia lacks commercial quantities of oil
A third well exploration effort off Nova Scotia has failed to find commercially viable levels of oil in the deep waters of the Scotian Shelf. Hess Corp., the drilling partners on the BP-operated Scotian Basin Exploration Drilling Project, issued a news release Tuesday saying it will write off its share of the well cost, and BP will abandon the Aspy well.,, Environmental, fishing and Aboriginal groups have repeatedly criticized the various drilling programs as lacking sufficient response systems for potential blowouts,,, >click to read<15:14
New Zealand: Man dies on fishing vessel near Banks Peninsula
A man in his 20s is dead after being injured on the factory deck of a Sanford fishing vessel near Banks Peninsula in Canterbury. The Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) has opened an inquiry into the fatal accident on board the New Zealand-registered factory fishing vessel San Granit. The accident happened about 88 kilometres east of Banks Peninsula about 4am on Wednesday. >click to read< 14:04
Scientists Admit ‘Mistakes’ Led To Alarming Results In Major Global Warming Study
The scientists behind a headline-grabbing global warming study did something that seems all too rare these days — they admitted to making mistakes and thanked the researcher, a global warming skeptic, who pointed them out. “When we were confronted with his insight it became immediately clear there was an issue there,” study co-author Ralph Keeling told The San Diego Union-Tribune on Tuesday. Their study, published in October, used a new method of measuring ocean heat uptake and found the oceans had absorbed 60 more heat than previously thought. >click to read<12:46
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 43′ Fiberglass Scalloper with Ma. CAP, CAT 3406,
Specifications, information and 6 photos >click here< To see all the boats in this series, >Click here<MA Coastal Access Permit with the following endorsements: CAP-Squid; Whiting; Dogfish; Scup; Sea Scallop Shucking12:04
As Southern New England Lobster Decline, Fishermen Switch to Jonah Crab
The lobster industry in southern New England has been on the decline for decades. As waters warm, some lobster fishermen are adapting by switching their catch to Jonah crab, a crustacean once considered a trash species. Mike Palombo is captain of a 72-foot lobster boat, but his main catch is crabs. He leaves from the Sandwich Marina for three-day fishing trips, going out over 100 miles to haul traps in the Canyons. One day this fall, he and his crew returned with around 23,000 Jonah crab and 2,000 lobsters in big saltwater holding tanks. “It was a good trip, very productive,” he said. >click to read<10:41
‘Wake-up call’ needed for Canada’s fisheries management: scientific audit
The report found Canada has a lot of work to do to reverse the term decline of its fish stocks, and it needs to pick up the pace. Oceana’s science director Robert Rangeley said he hopes the audit is a “wake-up call” for better fisheries management. “My biggest fear is one of complacency,” said Rangeley. “We’re still hovering around one-third of our fish stocks (that) are healthy, which is very poor performance for the 194 stocks that are so important for coastal communities.” >click to read<09:34
