Daily Archives: December 28, 2018
Convicted Newfoundland skipper wants trial reopened-was found guilty last month of trying to throw a female crew member overboard
A Corner Brook judge has agreed to hear a local’s skipper’s application to reopen his trial, even though he has already convicted the skipper of trying to throw a female crew member overboard. Trent John White was convicted last month of aggravated assault, assault and damage to property in connection with incidents that occurred while he was skipper of a commercial fishing vessel participating in the 2017 turbot fishery. The 65-foot vessel had left Rocky Harbour for the Labrador Sea near Red Bay to take part in the fishery that summer. In the Strait of Belle Isle, White tried to throw the woman — who was also his girlfriend — overboard. Provincial court Judge Wayne Gorman declared White guilty after a trial, saying he had found White’s evidence to be purposely disingenuous, dishonest at times, unreliable, incredible and fanciful. >click to read<18:44
Sunken fishing tender is a loss
A 71-foot fishing tender that sank at Seward’s T-Dock in early December has been refloated and was being turned over to a Seward boat repair firm for final disposal. Officials with the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation said Dec. 21 that the F/V Nordic Viking had been lifted ad dewatered by Global Diving and Salvage, Inc. on Dec. 20 with Alaska Chadux Corp., an oil spill response organization, deploying containment boom, and that the vessel was heading to Raibow Fiberglass and Boat Repair for disposal. >click to read<17:47
Corporate interests endanger independent fishermen
To the editor: The recent purchase of fishing rights in Maine by New York-based equity firm Bregal Partners is a troubling development for fishing communities throughout New England. For years, fishermen have warned that catch share policies would strip access from independent fishermen and hand it over to outside investors, bringing great social, economic and environmental consequences. This recent acquisition is evidence that the warnings need to be heeded. By Jennifer Obadia >click to read<13:16
Ilwaco: Ocean conditions again interfere with crab sampling
On Thursday turbulent seas again got in the way of collecting Dungeness crab to see if they have at least 23 percent meat in the waters south of Klipsan Beach, a requirement before the region’s commercial crabbers can start the 2018-19 season. The crab season traditionally starts Dec. 1, but is often delayed. Last season, harvests didn’t begin until Jan. 15, 2018. This season, early testing found crab slightly under 23 percent off the Long Beach Peninsula and substantially low in meat off southern Oregon. Delays have mounted as rough conditions keep a vessel contracted by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife from dumping pots — first on Dec. 22 and then on Dec. 26.>click to read<11:59
BREAKING: More crab season complications – >click to read< 16:44
DFO recruiting fishery officers in N.L.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) is looking to bring new fishery officers to the province. DFO’s conservation and protection unit is in the midst of a nation-wide recruitment campaign. Applications for new recruits will be accepted until Jan. 2. “Our fishery officers are on the water, on the wharves, in communities and at facilities ensuring the conservation and protection of species, and the long-term sustainability of Indigenous, commercial, and recreational fisheries,” reads a news release from DFO. >click to read<11:03
Port of Newport – Trawlers warm to shipping deal
An icy impasse between log shippers and fishermen that clouded the future of the Port of Newport and its new $20 million International Terminal showed signs of a thaw last week. At a meeting of the port’s commercial fishing users on Dec. 20, industry leaders were cautiously optimistic about a new proposal by Teevin Bros. to ship logs from the 500-foot terminal that fishermen claim is indispensable to 28 large vessels of the deepwater fleet based here. >click to read<10:36
