Daily Archives: December 31, 2018
Lobster fishing bill draws focus onto grey zone
A bill to allow Maine lobster fishermen to haul their traps at night throughout most of the year in the disputed “grey zone” has again drawn attention to the 165-square-kilometre fishing area centered around Machias Seal Island that is claimed by the U.S. and Canada. Cutler fishermen are supportive of the legislation, since they say it would help them prevent Canadian fishermen from hauling their traps, while Grand Manan fishermen say any bad apples in the fishery can be found on both sides of the border. Rep. Will Tuell of East Machias submitted the bill, which would remove all nighttime restrictions on lobster fishing from Labor Day to Memorial Day, at the request of a group of Cutler fishermen. >click to read<17:55
Greenpeace’s iconic “Rainbow Warrior” boat was disposed of in a way the group campaigned against for years.
Greenpeace quietly admitted in November one of its “Rainbow Warrior” boats was “scrapped on a beaching yard in Bangladesh” — a method it spent years campaigning against. “We have made a mistake, one that we have tried to correct,” Greenpeace International, based in Amsterdam, admitted in mid-November, adding it allowed Rainbow Warrior II “to be scrapped on a beaching yard in Bangladesh, in a way that does not live up to the standards we set ourselves and campaigned with our allies to have adopted across the world.” However, the embarrassing admission from one of the world’s largest and most prominent environmental groups flew under the radar of major news outlets. >click to read<15:09
Dungeness crab season to officially open in January for parts of the Oregon coast
After a month-long delay, the Dungeness crab season is set to open at the beginning of January in Oregon, but industry experts say these appear to be a trend and they hurt coastal communities. Oregon’s Department of Fish and Wildlife will open the crabbing season for the central and northern coast. Fishermen can set their pots on Jan. 1 and begin pulling them on Jan. 4. It was supposed to open on Dec. 1. Officials delayed the season because there was not enough meat in the crabs. Rough weather also delayed testing. If all goes according to plan, you may be able to find crab in the markets by about Jan. 10, according to sellers. >click to read<13:39
Trawler Goes Aground in Norway’s High Arctic
The Norwegian Coast Guard is moving quickly to respond to the trawler Northguider, which grounded Friday in a narrow strait between Spitsbergen and Nordaustlandet, well above the Arctic Circle. At 1320 hours on Friday, the Main Rescue Center (HRS) for northern Norway received a distress message from the Northguider. The trawler had gone aground in the Hinlopen Strait (Hinlopenstretet). Her crew reported that she had taken on water in the engine room and had a heavy list. Both of the government of Svalbard’s two rescue helicopters were immediately deployed to the scene. The first rescued 10 of the Northguider’s crewmembers at 1500 hours, and the second helicopter lifted off the remaining four crewmembers at 1600. >click to read<11:15
Rare North Atlantic right whale calf spotted off Florida
A North Atlantic right whale calf spotted Friday off Florida with its mother is the first of the calving season for the imperiled marine mammals, after last year’s season passed with no documented births. “Super excited, super excited,” said Christopher Slay, owner of Coastwise Consulting, the company that provided endangered species observers aboard a dredging vessel off Jacksonville Beach, near the mouth of the St. Johns River. >click to read<10:25
Another bewildering chapter in the odyssey of Artemis
The ghost of the derelict scallop boat Artemis, whose owner set a strong standard for scofflaw vessels during his time in Gloucester, continues to hover over its final resting place along the side of Provincetown breakwater. The Artemis, a 42-foot metal boat owned by John F. Christiansen of West Yarmouth, broke free of its mooring in Provincetown Harbor in the midst of a March 2 nor’easter and went aground on the rocks of the town’s West End breakwater. And there it sat for months, as Provincetown officials arm-wrestled with Christiansen to remove it. In June, Provincetown police came up with a curious solution: They charged Christiansen with littering for refusing to extract the vessel off the breakwater. >click to read<09:47
