Monthly Archives: March 2019
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 44′ 11”x21′ 2003 Novi Lobster Boat
Specifications, information and 16 photos >click here< To see all the boats in this series, >click here<(Vessel has a 5 foot extension) 12:17
Fishers, First Nations fight Northern Pulp mill’s proposed effluent pipeline into ocean
On a bitterly cold March day, Greg Egilsson drives his pick-up down Fisherman Road to Caribou Harbour, parks on the deserted fishing wharf and gazes out at the blindingly white pack ice covering the harbour that provides him and many other fishing families their livelihoods. “Seventy boats come out of this harbour,” he says. “There’s another 10 or 12 out of Pictou Harbour, some more out of Sinclair’s Wharf and another 20 or more out of Tony River, west of here.” >click to read<11:18
Fishermen in Co Down tell of shock after finding human remains in fishing nets
Police are working to identify a man whose body was recovered in fishing nets. The individual, who was wearing blue over-alls, was discovered in a prawn haul at 11pm on Monday. Skipper Alan Carson was one day into a five-day trip when his crew alerted him to the gruesome find,,, His trawler The Elegance, which is based in Portavogie, Co Down was in Northern Irish waters off the coast of The Isle of Man.,,, >click to read<10:33
Creed declines calls to meet fisherman on hunger strike over fisheries bill
The Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed has declined calls to meet a Donegal fisherman who is on hunger strike in protest at legislation to restore reciprocal access for Northern Irish fishermen to Irish waters. Mr Creed was speaking as the controversial Sea Fisheries Bill (Amendment) was passed in the Seanad this evening. He said he cannot engage with Gerard Kelly as such action could jeopardise a court case that the State and Mr Kelly are involved in. Sinn Féin TD Pádraig Mac Lochlainn urged Mr Creed to meet the Donegal man who has gone on hunger strike in protest at the legislation that is at the centre of a North-South fisheries row. >click to read<20:28
Caplin news not strong: DFO
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) said Monday that despite a small increase in 2018, the spring acoustic abundance index remains at a relatively low level, similar to levels observed in the late 2000s. “A new forecast model predicts that the abundance index will increase slightly in 2019, but decrease in 2020,” a technical briefing document states.What this information means for the caplin fishery this upcoming season is no real change from last year. >click to read<17:43
California’s Commercial Crabbing Season to End Three Months Early
Center for Biological Diversity Press Release: SAN FRANCISCO— Californians will be pleased to know that Dungeness crab will be caught off the coast with greater care for endangered wildlife under a settlement announced today by the Center for Biological Diversity, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations. The legal settlement protects whales and sea turtles from entanglement in commercial Dungeness crab gear. The Center for Biological Diversity sued the state wildlife department in October 2017,,, >click to read<15:02
MAINE DMR schedules whale updates, community meetings
Maine’s $485-million lobster industry is facing serious restrictions on the way it operates as a consequence of efforts to protect endangered right whales from extinction. In April, DMR will hold a series of community meetings to talk with lobster industry members about upcoming actions by the NOAA Fisheries Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission dealing with protection issues. Meetings are scheduled for >click to read<14:28
Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw fishermen sue DFO for racial profiling, infringing on treaty rights
Four Mi’kmaw fishermen from Nova Scotia are suing the Department of Fisheries and Oceans for charging them with fisheries violations and seizing their catch in 2015. Mark Howe, 59, Jeremy Syliboy, 36, Alex McDonald, 57, and his son, Kyle McDonald, 28, accuse DFO fishery officers of racial profiling and infringing on their treaty right to commercially fish to earn a moderate livelihood.,,, “It’s to get the message out that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans needs to stop abusing their power,” >click to read<13:36
NOAA, BOEM, Fishing Industry Sign New Memorandum of Understanding
NOAA Fisheries, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), and the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA) signed a 10-year Memorandum of Understanding that brings local and regional fishing interests together with federal regulators to collaborate on the science and process of offshore wind energy development on the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf. >click to read<12:52
California Crabbers Could Feel the Pain, State Reaches Tentative Agreement With Enviro Group Over Whale Entanglement
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Center for Biological Diversity have tentatively agreed to settle an ongoing lawsuit, which claims that the state’s lack of action in preventing whales from becoming entangled in commercial crabbing lines violates the Endangered Species Act.,,, The Center for Biological Diversity filed the suit in 2017 after a record number of entangled whales were observed off the coast of the Western United States between 2014 and 2016. >click to read<08:55
Crew told stories and joked to keep spirits alive, in shark infested ocean after fishing boat capsizes
Three people told stories and joked to keep their spirits alive whilst trapped in freezing, shark-infested waters after their fishing vessel capsized off the coast of the Chatham Islands. The commercial fishing boat, Mary Ellen II, had only been at sea for two hours and had just started pulling in blue cod when the 10 metre long vessel was hit by a rogue wave from behind and flipped upside down on Friday morning, the NZ Herald reports. There was about 300kg of blue cod on board. Skipper Jason Braid, 47, told NZ Herald the ordeal was “pretty bloody scary”. >click to read<18:32
The Long Haul
“I been here for so many years, I just can’t give it up,” he says. He raises his voice over the whine of the hydraulic hauler that lifts his trap out of Muscongus Bay. After more than nine decades on the water, World War II veteran and Maine-art-lore inheritor John Olson can’t stop trapping lobsters. At 96, Olson is square-shouldered and cowboy-lean, and although he sticks closer to shore than he used to, he still works 250 lobster traps in the waters off Cushing. His 68-year-old son, Sam, one of seven children, hoists the trap over the gunwale. >Photo’s, click to read<14:14
Wind Farm Vessel Collides With Turbine Tower
The captain of a wind farm service vessel was navigating within the wind farm as the weather worsened, with winds gusting to 40 knots, driving rain and heavy seas and swell. The captain, as was the practice once ‘inside’ the wind farm, had put the radar into standby mode. Trials have demonstrated that, at close range, a wind farm may produce multiple reflected and side lobe echoes that can mask real targets. Employing radar within a wind farm is not reliable;,,, >click to read<12:17
Fish fights: Britain has a long history of trading away access to coastal waters
The British boats were outnumbered by about eight to one by the French. Before long there were collisions and projectiles were thrown. The British were forced to retreat, returning to port with broken windows but luckily no injuries. The conflict behind this skirmish between British and French fishers in the Bay de Seine at the end of August 2018 was quickly dubbed the “scallop war” in the press. The French had been trying to prevent the British scallop dredgers from legally fishing the beds in French national waters. But the incident exposed tensions that have been simmering for many years. >click to read<11:23
North Carolina – Reforms would rebuild depleted fish stocks
A former director of the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries asked a local wildlife group last week to seek state lawmakers’ support for three proposed fishing regulations aimed at rebuilding depleted fish stocks. Louis Daniel, who spent more than two decades with the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries and was director of the division for 10 years, told the Albemarle Conservation and Wildlife Chapter in Elizabeth City Thursday that current regulations have not done enough to protect fish species such as southern flounder. >click to read<09:45
Warm and Fuzzy. Pentony: NOAA patching up relationships with fishermen
We took a break from hoops last week to check out most of the video of NOAA Fisheries Regional Administrator Mike Pentony’s 90-minute sitdown with the editorial board of the The Standard-Times of New Bedford, a fine news organization that does a standup job covering the fishing industry in America’s most lucrative fishing port. The discussion was interesting on a number of levels. Among the most compelling was Pentony’s take on the “evolution of perspectives” that has shaped the relationship between NOAA Fisheries and the Northeast commercial fishing industry. “It’s fair to say that six to 10 years ago, the relationships between the industry at large and the agency were in trouble, were a real problem. Maybe at an all-time low, I don’t know. But certainly, with my experience, it was a real struggle,” Pentony said. >click to read<18:17
Interior B.C. historical society restoring 90-year-old Japanese-Canadian boat
The Merriwake fishing boat first hit the water 90 years ago near Prince Rupert, B.C. The gillnetter built by master boat-maker Isamu Matsumoto belonged to a Japanese-Canadian fisherman. However, it was confiscated from him in 1942 when he and 22,000 other Japanese-Canadians were forced into internment camps during the Second World War. Today, the Slocan Valley Historical Society is trying to raise between $20,000 and $30,000 to restore the boat to display it on a permanent dry dock near the village of Slocan in the West Kootenay region. >click to read<17:10
Leading veganism advocate is ‘really, really sorry’ she was captured on camera eating fish
As a lifelong meat- and fish-eater, I am savoring this delicious story of hypocrisy.,,, Many are motivated by compassion for all animals, though vegans take that even further, eschewing eggs, milk, and other non-lethal products of animals. At least 90% of them are women, mostly middle aged and younger.,,, A YouTube star who champions a raw and vegan lifestyle accidentally upended her own “plant-based” empire when she was caught on camera eating fish. Yovana Mendoza Ayres, who posts under the name Rawvana, has made a name for herself preaching the virtues of her raw, vegan diet,,,, Video, >click to read<13:19
Many Alaska Peninsula Corporation shareholders aren’t willing to trade salmon for gold
The Alaska Peninsula Corporation (APC) is the merged Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act village corporation for the Bristol Bay communities of South Naknek, Newhalen, Port Heiden, Ugashik and Kokhanok. Recently, ADN ran an opinion piece from APC CEO Dave McAlister regarding the proposed Pebble Mine, a project he believes can save the communities around Lake Iliamna from economic demise. I am an APC shareholder. I live in Igiugig, one of those wonderful Lake Iliamna communities, and I disagree. >click to read< By Christina Salmon-Bringhurst 12:32
Federal help potentially coming to help fight the War On Carp
The war on Asian Carp is nowhere close to being over. Lyon County Judge Executive Wade White just returned from Washington D.C. and says help could be on its way. During that trip, White requested 12 million dollars in funding. White says that money will go toward Asian Carp barriers at nine different hot spots on the lake, subsidies for fisherman, and research on carp control methods. Also in the works – a change to fishing restrictions that would allow commercial fisherman to fish on the weekends to help catch more Asian Carp. Current regulations restrict them from doing that. >click to read<11:31
Karen Jacobsen: Remembering a father lost at sea
When the phone rang in my home on March 23, 2008, I thought it must be my dad calling to wish me a happy Easter. Instead it was my stepbrother, Scott. I didn’t hear much after he said, “Dad’s ship went down.” I found myself fatherless and surrounded by reporters who wanted to know what happened to the ship, how many were on board and what led my dad to the West Coast in the first place. I was just 9 in 1973 when my mother, my little brother, Carl, and I drove my dad, Eric Peter Jacobsen, to Logan Airport and said goodbye. We didn’t see him for three years. He left for Seattle to work with his father on fishing boats. >click to read<19:50
Kodiak man dives into scallop fishery – has been fishing scallops out of Kodiak for 40 years
With regards to scallops, Tom Minio could accurately be described as erudite. On Thursday afternoon, Minio sat in the galley of his vessel, the Provider, explaining what makes the best product, while the metallic screeches of boat work drifted in from other parts of the vessel. “The market really loves the big stuff, which I don’t understand. I don’t like eating big scallops,” he said. “It’s just like old halibut, you know: the bigger they are, the older they are and the tougher they are.” Minio has been fishing scallops out of Kodiak for 40 years. He started when he was 18 years old and doesn’t know anyone who’s been doing it longer than he has. With a small number of limited entry permits available and the quota around Kodiak decreasing, other fishermen and vessels dropped out of the fishery — but Minio held on. During the most recent season, the Provider was the only vessel fishing scallops in the Kodiak fishery. >click to read<14:01
Kitchen freezer could have become a missile as stricken trawler sank
An unsecured kitchen freezer on board a Queensland trawler that sank with the loss of two men could have become a missile inside the stricken vessel as it rolled in rough seas before plummeting to the ocean floor, an inquest has heard. The bodies of skipper Matt Roberts, 61, and crewman David Chivers, 36, have never been found but investigators say it’s likely they were inside the wheelhouse of the FV Cassandra as it rolled in the early hours of April 4, 2016. >click to read>13:02
International team of salmon scientists back in port, raring for another mission
The organizer of a month-long Gulf of Alaska salmon survey is already thinking about how to raise money for another trip in the winter of 2020, now that the Russian trawler used in the expedition has finished its job and tied up in Nanaimo. “From what I’ve seen, this needs to be done again,” said Richard Beamish, who came up with the idea of the expedition to mark the International Year of the Salmon with the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission. Future surveys would build on data collected by the 21-member volunteer team of international scientists from the five salmon-producing Pacific Rim countries: Canada, Russia, the U.S., Korea and Japan. >click to read<11:52
Turtle conservation rules cut Hawaii’s swordfish season short for 2nd year in a row
Swordfish season typically run through the month of June. But the 15 boats that make up Hawaii’s shallow-set longline fleet are sidelined for now. That’s because a law protecting endangered sea turtles has cut Hawaii’s commercial season short for the second year in a row. Earlier this week, fisherman hooked a loggerhead turtle ― the 17th one of the year. By law, that interaction brought the fleet’s season to an abrupt end. >video, click to read<10:53
NOAA official talks ‘damage’ to scallop industry from offshore wind
Michael Pentony’s initial comments came when asked in an editorial board meeting if offshore wind gives the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration cause for concern about the sustainability of the scallop industry, particularly with regard to wind turbines off New York. He began,”I think it’s difficult to say that we have concerns about the sustainability of a three- to five hundred million dollar a year fishery.,,, >click to read<10:07
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for March 22, 2019
>Click here to read the Weekly Update<, to read all the updates >click here<, for older updates listed as NCFA >click here<20:42
EPIRB distress beacon saves three from sinking boat near Chatham Islands
Three crew have been rescued from a sinking crayfish boat this morning thanks to a floating distress beacon that had only been recently installed. At 8.20am the beacon was activated from Western Reef, 32km northwest of the Chatham Islands. The owner, who was on land, confirmed there were three people on board the 10m cray fishing boat, Mary Ellen 2. Two fishing boards headed to the scene and picked up the three crew members from the bow of the partially submerged vessel. Rescue Coordination Centre NZ senior search and rescue officer Dave Wilson said the beacon saved their lives. >click to read<17:28
British cannot close off fishing waters post Brexit, says France
French Minister of Agriculture Didier Guillaume said Thursday it was “not possible” for Britain to close its waters to French and other EU fishermen after Brexit. “We do not accept that… that is not what we want,” Guillaume told a meeting of fisheries professionals in the Channel port of Boulogne. “We shall leave not one fisherman in difficulty because of Brexit,” concluded Guillaume, stressing that the French fishing industry should not suffer as a result of Britain’s departure from the bloc. >click to read<15:45
The facts about pinnipeds
Recent studies estimate the harbour seal population to be 80,000 in Lower Mainland waters. Harbour seals eat 10-18 pounds of food each day. At an average of 15 pounds, they consume 1.2 million pounds a day, or 438 million pounds a year. Add to that: thousands of California sea lions who migrate to the area annually to prey on our salmon runs and who weigh two to three times as much as a harbour seal and likely eat 30-60 pounds a day. Add to that: pinnipeds prefer the guts of fish, often leaving the edible carcass. Add to that: their reproductive rate is in excess of 12 per cent annually. These facts then beg the following questions: Bruce Smith, Halfmoon Bay>click to read<13:48
