Monthly Archives: January 2019
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for January 4, 2019
>Click here to read the Weekly Update<, to read all the updates >click here<, for older updates listed as NCFA >click here<18:24
Mounties looking for leads in lobster larceny
Thieves struck twice over the holiday season to nab that most precious of Nova Scotia booty: lobster. Police say they stole a total of 1,200 pounds of lobster from open pens at pounds in Port Medway, N.S., during the early mornings of Dec. 23 and Jan. 1. RCMP Cpl. Jennifer Clarke noted Friday the thieves made off with a hefty load. “It’s certainly not unusual for us to have lobster theft reported but this is certainly a significant amount,” Clarke said. One pound owner believes his boat was moved during the Dec. 23 theft, leading police to note that a boat may have been used. >click to read<16:11
Walter Kumiega reflects on eight years in the House
Deer Isle carpenter Walter Kumiega represented District 134—Deer Isle, Stonington, Isle au Haut and eight other communities—for eight years in the state legislature before becoming ineligible for re-election under state term limits for legislators.,, With commercial fishing communities “still the most important economic driver in my district,” Kumiega immediately joined the Joint Standing Committee on Marine Resources, chairing it for his final three terms. Throughout his tenure, he worked to initiate changes in lobster licensing regulations and sponsored legislation creating the Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative, funding for which was recently renewed for a second three-year span. >click to read<15:07
R.I. fishermen still without compensation deal from wind farm developer
Less than three weeks before Rhode Island coastal regulators are set to vote on a key approval for its $2-billion offshore wind farm, Vineyard Wind has yet to come forward with a compensation package for the state’s commercial fishermen who say that the layout of the company’s 84 turbines will block access to valuable Atlantic Ocean fishing grounds. The Coastal Resources Management Council granted the New Bedford company a reprieve Nov. 27, delaying a vote on the application for what’s known as a “consistency certification” for the 800-megawatt wind farm specifically to give the developer more time to reach an agreement with fishermen who catch squid, lobster, Jonah crab and other species in the waters targeted for development between Block Island and Martha’s Vineyard. >click to read<12:25
The Former Clintonite Trying to Build the Country’s Most Controversial Mine
Tom Collier is buckled into the back of a six-seat AS350 Helicopter, racing over the lowland bluffs of southwest Alaska. Clad in a black Helly Hansen jacket and baseball hat bearing the word Pebble, he doesn’t exactly look at ease, though he’ll later claim otherwise. When the chopper banks south, he reaches awkwardly for the ceiling, desperate for something to grab. Soon we pass over the Newhalen River, a rushing white torrent, then cut into the rolling hills of the Nushagak and Kvichak river drainages. The two waterways are among the wildest left in the United States , and their watersheds form a sea of tundra sedge and skinny water that produces about half of the sockeye salmon in Bristol Bay, Alaska. >click to read<11:36
Crabbers to sail into storm
Fishermen face high seas and uncertain prices as they set out Friday, Jan. 4, for the opening day of Dungeness crab season. “The weather’s been terrible but we hope to be processing by Friday night,” reported John Moody, manager of Pacific Seafood Group’s plant in Newport. A score of vessels left port under sunny skies Tuesday to drop pots for the “pre-soak,” enabling fishermen to land crab at the opening bell. But 50-55 mph gusts and 20-foot swells that were predicted to arrive Thursday night could mean further holdups for some boats. >click to read<10:15
The Sea Is So Great…
The New Year came in on a dour note, wind-driven rain slamming the south-facing windows near the foot of my bed. I would not sleep, I knew, so I stayed up late, reading a book loaned to me several years ago. The bookmark was about four pages in, then I must have put it down before eventually giving it an “I will read you, truly, someday” place on a shelf. It seemed I had been sick forever, the winter cold and everything else that is always “going around” and my normally slow reading pace had been accelerated. It was late, deep into the morning by the clock, the storm on the edge of abating when I finally went upstairs so it was correspondingly late when I first looked at the news on New Year’s Day and saw that a fishing vessel had gone down in that terrible weather a few miles south of Block Island. >click to read<
Fishing industry could be endangered by planned wind turbines
Whatever the future for large scale off-shore wind farms in New England, New Bedford and its first in the nation fishing industry will feel the effects. Renewable energy from sources which include off-shore wind, are an undeniable part of our future. It’s a fair question though whether commercial fishing as it now exists in southern New England, will survive the installation of the largest and most extensive array of ocean based wind turbines in the world. The offshore wind lease areas in federal waters overlay some important fishing grounds and navigation transit areas for the commercial fishing fleet which sails from our coast. The project furthest along in the leasing process is being pursued by Vineyard Wind,,, >click to read<21:41
ADF&G releases terms of new Pacific Salmon Treaty
A new Pacific Salmon Treaty negotiated between the United States and Canada, and critical to fisheries and the economy of Southeast Alaska, is now in effect for the decade ahead, as state and commercial harvester entities wrestle with how to deal with it. Acting Commissioner of Fish and Game Doug Vincent-Lang notes that his agency released the actual language of the negotiated terms, which were several years in the making, to allow affected users the opportunity to review them, “especially given that the terms adopt new metrics for management of fisheries in Southeast Alaska. This was done to improve transparency,” he said on Jan. 2.>click to read<20:08
Ghost Fishing Off Long Island’s Coast
On the deck of the vessel Christine & Jennifer, a dozen tiny mud crabs, each smaller than a fingertip, scuttle out of a rusty lobster trap. The crabs move sideways, exploring the edges of these newly discovered surfaces with their long thin legs. Dan Kuehn, a research technician at the Cornell Cooperative Extension, a nonprofit agency affiliated with Cornell University, inspects the next lobster pot. Something is moving among the wires. He peers inside and says: “One undersized lobster.” Kuehn cradles the small lobster in his hands. This one is lucky — it’s still alive. >click to read<15:46
New Jersey: Offshore-wind developers and officials won’t reveal key details of proposals
There’s a lot at stake for utility customers who may end up subsidizing projects to the tune of billions of dollars. Three developers are vying to build offshore-wind farms aimed at achieving the Murphy administration’s goal of building 1,100 megawatts of capacity off the Jersey coast in a process that is emerging as increasingly opaque. Details of the projects, to be subsidized by potentially billions of dollars from electric customers in New Jersey, were not forthcoming from either the state Board of Public Utilities nor the developers. The lack of transparency about the offshore-wind projects is not a new development. >click to read< 14:22
R.I. Legislators back Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument
Twenty-five members of the Rhode Island General Assembly, including the Jamestown delegation, are calling for President Donald Trump to preserve the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument. The statement is in response to threats made by the administration that would alter boundaries to allow industrial fishing and oil drilling in the area, which is about 100 miles off the coast of Rhode Island. >click to read<12:25
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 50′ Split Wheelhouse FBR Offshore Lobster, CAT 3406 B, Onan 8.5 kW Genset
Specifications, information and 9 photos >click here< To see all the boats in this series, >Click here< 11:35
NIOSH Announces Availability of $6 Million in Commercial Fishing Safety Research and Training Grants
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), in partnership with the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), announced the availability of $6 million dollars in grant funding for commercial fishing safety research and training. The grants, which are supported and administered by NIOSH, will provide funding to qualified individuals in academia, members of non-profit organizations, municipalities, and businesses involved in the fishing and maritime industries. The funding will support research on improving the occupational safety of workers in the commercial fishing industry and critical training for this high-risk occupation. >click to read<10:52
Commercial crab fisherman sues harbor district over access
A man is suing the San Mateo County Harbor District over alleged access issues at the Ketch Joanne Restaurant and Harbor Bar in November. John Schulz requires the use of a wheelchair due to quadriplegia, according to the complaint. He says he needed to wash his hands but the restaurant didn’t have an accessable sink. He added that his attempts to use the non-accessible facilities, caused a series of embarrassing situations that affected him physically and emotionally. In the complaint — dated Dec. 10, 2018 — Schulz is described as a commercial crab fisherman who came to the restaurant on Nov. 14 with two employees after a long day of fishing. >click to read<10:07
Lifelong Shelburne boatbuilder retires: ‘I knew how to build a boat when I was 15 years old’
He was only a kid when he knew boatbuilding was what he wanted to do for his life’s work, getting his early learning in the trade from the pages of boatbuilding books read while skipping school in the late 1940s. For close to 70 years, Roland DesChamp Sr., Shelburne, has been building boats, including the last 55 years running his family business, DesChamp and Jackson Boatbuilders Ltd. At 85, he has decided it’s time to give it up and has sold the business, but not the name, which will surely go down in the local history books as one of Shelburne’s most celebrated builders. >click to read<20:25
FISH-NL’S TOP 25 QUOTES OF 2018
There are twenty five good ones, but this one by John Gillett is one of my favorites. NUMBER 9 “It’s time to manage the predators of our fish stocks rather than keep regulating our fish harvesters out of existence.” — Twillingate fisherman John Gillett, June 18, 2018, in a letter to the editor of the St. John’s Telegram. >click to read<18:49
UPDATE: Coast Guard suspends search for missing fishermen near Block Island, RI
Coast Guard crews suspended their search for two missing fishermen near Block Island, Rhode Island Wednesday at approximately 5:13 p.m. The two fishermen have been missing since their boat Mistress capsized and sank Tuesday morning. The fishing boat Captain Bligh initially responded to the scene and rescued one fisherman from a lifeboat. Crews searched for approximately 72 hours covering 2,152 square nautical miles. -USCG-
Coast Guard suspends search off Block Island for missing fishermen | Video – >click to read<18:06
President Trump Signs Bipartisan Modern Fish Act Into Law
The Modern Fish Act was signed into law on December 31st, 2018, by President Donald Trump. Over 11 million Americans partake in recreational saltwater fishing—with the activity being heavily concentrated in the southeastern U.S. In what is being celebrated as a victory for recreational fishing and boating, this law will be bring much-needed clarification and reforms to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. While the bill is not entirely perfect, various stakeholders agree this new law will clarify any confusion previously inset in the law and bring recreational fishing management into the 21st century. The Modern Fish Act was passed unanimously in the U.S. Senate on December 17th, and by overwhelming approval in the House (350-11) on December 19th, 2018. >click to read<15:51
Coast Guard treats search for fishermen as rescue mission
The U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday that crews were continuing to search on the water and in the air for two fishermen reported missing. The Coast Guard said it considers the effort a rescue mission and that it assumes the fishermen put on survival suits. Capt. Oscar Diaz and his nephew, John Ansay, were aboard the F/V Mistress, which the Coast Guard said capsized and sank about 2.5 miles southeast of Block Island. The Coast Guard said the crew of the fishing boat Captain Bligh responded to the call and found Diaz’s son in a life raft. >click to read<12:48
UPDATE: Coast Guard continues search for missing fishermen near Block Island, RI
7:13 PM Multiple Coast Guard crews and good Samaritans searched throughout the day Tuesday for two missing fishermen after their boat capsized and sank approximately two and half miles southeast of Block Island, Rhode Island. The captain of the fishing vessel Mistress notified watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England at around 1:30 a.m. that the boat was taking on water. The watch standers issued an urgent marine information broadcast to vessels in the area to request assistance for the crew of the Mistress. The fishing boat Captain Bligh responded and rescued one crew member from a life boat. The remaining two crew members have not been located. >click to read<20:12
North Atlantic Right Whale: Fishing closure looms over South Shore lobstermen
The annual fishing closure that forces a halt of the lobstering industry each winter is still a month away, but lobstermen are already pulling their traps out of the water and preparing for a long three months of trying to make ends meet. For the last four years, federal regulations have forced lobstermen out of the water from Feb. 1 to April 30, an attempt to lessen the number of North Atlantic right whales that die due to fishing gear entanglements. Not only can the fishermen not be in the water, but they also have to pull all of their traps from the ocean floor before Feb. 1 — as many as 800 per commercial license. >click to read<19:15
A coastline destroyed by the wind farm invasion
018: That was the year . . . when wind farm ugliness and blight became a fact of life for the half million folk who live in coastal Sussex. The Rampion wind farm – insultingly called after the beautiful purple Sussex county flower and one of the largest such installations in Britain – was granted planning permission in 2014, was built at breakneck speed and since April has been operational. At the year end, the ramifications are painfully clear. Sea views from the elegant squares and terraces of every settlement from Worthing in the west, through Hove and Brighton, to Peacehaven in the east are now dominated by the 116 bird-slicing turbines, each towering to a massive 460ft. >click to read<17:14
Pembroke river closure upsets scallopers
The closure of all of the Pennamaquan River to scallop dragging because of the mooring field off the Pembroke boat landing on Hersey Neck has upset some scallop fishermen who would like to drag in that area. Perry fisherman Howard Calder notes that draggers used to go there first at the start of the season because there were so many scallops there. While they’re no longer as abundant in the river, the area does provide a sheltered place for dragging on windy days. “It’s too bad to have it completely shut down,” he says. The area was closed to scallop dragging at the request of the Town of Pembroke, according to Jeff Nichols, the communications director for the Department of Marine Resources (DMR). >click to read<16:25
Talking kettles of fish with Fisheries and Oceans Minister Jonathan Wilkinson
iPolitics spoke with Fisheries and Oceans Minister Jonathan Wilkinson earlier this month, on the day before his six-month anniversary at the helm of the department. We asked him about his role, marine protected areas, whales and oil spills, and other issues. This interview has been edited and condensed. Q: You’re half a year in. How’s it been going so far? A: Well, you’ve been keeping better track (of time) than I have. It’s been incredibly interesting and incredibly busy. I have been travelling enormous amounts. Obviously, when someone becomes a new minister in a new area, there’s a huge learning curve, but I’ve really enjoyed it. It’s certainly a challenge; lots of the files are not simple, but it’s been great. >click to read<12:45
Fishing industry lobbies for Maine commissioner to retain his post
The leaders of Maine’s fishing industry want Patrick Keliher to stay on as head of the state’s Department of Marine Resources under incoming governor Janet Mills. “Our industries are confronted by major issues on the water, in international waters, and within several regulatory arenas that have major consequences for our ability to do business and remain profitable,” industry leaders wrote in a rare joint letter to Mills. “The future success of Maine’s seafood industry depends on the continued strong leadership, stability, institutional knowledge and political capital that only Commissioner Keliher possesses.” >click to read<10:36
Coast Guard, good Samaritan search for 2 missing fishermen near Block Island, RI
The Coast Guard along with a good Samaritan are searching for two missing fishermen after the fishing boat Mistress capsized Tuesday morning off Block Island, Rhode Island. At approximately 1:30 a.m. the captain of the Mistress issued a mayday call stating the boat was taking on water near the Block Island Wind Farm. The fishing boat Captain Bligh was nearby and responded to the scene first. The crew of the Captain Bligh rescued one fisherman and reported that the Mistress had capsized, and two fishermen were missing. >click to read<09:36
