Monthly Archives: August 2019
Family hoping for return of lost shrimper after Coast Guard stops search near Port Aransas
The family of a Florida shrimper lost at sea is hoping for his discovery despite the discontinuing of a Coast Guard search for him. “I know it’s a long shot, but we still have some type of hope that somebody picked him up out of the water,” said the man’s niece, Denise Beale,,, Rick Beale, a 62-year-old Fort Myers, Fla., shrimper, went missing off the coast of Port Aransas on Sunday morning, she said. As a shrimper of 42 years, the man routinely sailed out of Florida on long trips along the Gulf Coast. >click to read< 14:14
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 2000 Novi Lobster boat, 44’x11”x 20′ 6”, 3412 Cat
Specifications, information and 30 photos >click here< To see all the boats in this series, >click here< 12:44
North Carolina: Petition seeks to introduce new rules to commercial fishing industry
A petition by the North Carolina Wildlife Federation (NCWF) could have a major impact on the commercial fishing industry. The petition seeks to:
Limit shrimpers workweek from five days (Monday-Friday) to three (Monday, Wednesday, Friday). To designate areas as shrimp trawl management areas. Reduce the size of nets allowed and restrict gear in these newly designated areas. The federation says the reason for the petition is to reduce the amount of by-catch. By-catch is the anything in the net that’s not your intended species. It’s common for shrimpers to catch juvenile fish in their nets while shrimping. >click to read< 12:07
Offshore Wind Farms Worry Fishermen from Point Judith to New Bedford
from the article, Before construction can begin, Vineyard Wind must first determine what the cost will be to Massachusetts’s commercial fishermen through federally mandated fisheries studies. How that cost is determined, and who gets to determine it, and what exactly should be studied, has proven no small source of contention between the wind industry and commercial fishing. Kendall has taken a pragmatic approach to the divide between fishing and wind energy. He sees wind farms as an inevitable outgrowth of Massachusetts’s push for renewable energy, now required by state law to demonstrate a 2% annual growth. If he can advocate for the fishing industry in the interim, he hopes he can help cut fishermen a square deal. >click to read< 09:18
How Much Do Deckhands on ‘Deadliest Catch’ Actually Make?
If you’re a fan of Deadliest Catch, then you already know that the Discovery show follows a cast of captains and their crew members as they embark on the dangerous career of Alaskan crab fishing, (and West Coast Dungy fishing). But you’ve also likely wondered why anyone would put themselves in this much potential harm. The answer is easy: Money. According to former stars and captains Gary and Kenny Ripka, the heads of the vessels can make quite a bit during one season. >click to read< 08:39
You Asked, We Answered: How Will Vineyard Wind’s Compensation Plan To Fishermen Actually Work?
The development for the country’s first large scale offshore wind farm is currently at a standstill. Federal officials have delayed approval of the Vineyard Wind project because of continuing concerns about the impacts it could have on New England commercial fishermen from safety issues to lost fishing grounds. This week, one of our listeners wanted to know more about Vineyard Wind’s compensation plans that are setup to address these issues. South Coast Reporter Nadine Sebai has been extensively covering offshore wind in the region and is here to talk with us. >click to read< 08:06
Clock ticking as Fraser River slide blocks spawning salmon: Wilkinson
Time is critical to find a solution to a massive obstruction in British Columbia’s Fraser River as 90,000 salmon wait downstream and an estimated two million more sockeye are about to arrive, federal Fisheries Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said Tuesday. The minister said dozens of people are working against the clock looking for ways to clear a path that allows salmon to get through the area where a massive rock slide came down in the river northwest of Kamloops. >click to read< 20:14
Koko wrecks against channel pilings
The narrow Ilwaco channel proved it can endanger anyone when the 47-foot tuna boat Koko got tangled up in a trap of rotten old pilings and eventually overturned. Bad weather not in the forecast caught up with the Koko and skipper Harvey Cosky at about 10 p.m. last Friday night as the vessel was returning from a successful albacore trip. Even with decades of local experience, the skipper and his veteran one-man crew couldn’t help being blown off course in the murky conditions. Personnel at U.S. Coast Guard Station Cape Disappointment were unable to get to them ,,, >click to read< 18:23
SC anti-drilling group calls on DHEC to pull back seismic permit approvals
Don’t allow three companies to conduct seismic blast testing offshore, an environmental group is telling state regulators. The South Carolina Environmental Law Project urged the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control to work with federal regulators to reconsider approvals given four years ago. The request, which is not binding, was sent Tuesday. It comes after DHEC in July rejected plans by WesternGeco, a Texas-based exploration company to conduct seismic testing offshore. It is one of six companies seeking federal permits. >click to read< 17:15
Coast Guard urges EPIRB education to save taxpayer dollars, lives
When the Coast Guard receives an EPIRB alert and cannot trace it to the owner due to missing or outdated registration information, they launch aircraft and boat crews to search the area for signs of distress. It costs approximately $15,000 per hour to fly a C-130 Hercules aircraft, $10,000 per hour to fly an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter, and $5,000 per hour to operate a Coast Guard small boat. Since October 1, 2018, there have been 16 confirmed false alerts for distress beacons in Alaska that cost the taxpayer approximately $353,108. Of those 16 cases, three of the distress beacons were located in garbage dumps. The cost for searching for those beacons was approximately $35,000. >click to read< 14:53
73% Of Sea Turtles Killed In 2019 Died From Vessel Strikes: AMCS
A startling number of sea turtle deaths in local waters have been attributed to vessel strikes, a new report says. The Atlantic Marine Conservation Society said, so far in 2019, the organization has responded to 168 marine mammals, including whales, dolphins, porpoises, seals, and sea turtles that have stranded on New York shores. Sea turtles specifically, which share area waters in the warmer months, have been significantly impacted by humans, with 73% having been struck and killed by marine vessels from the East End of Long Island into New York City,,, >click to read< 13:00
The Global Ocean Grab – Fishing Rights: We can still help save our BC fishing communities!
The sea is an open space that, beyond coastal waters, does not belong to any particular nation or group. People have been harvesting food directly from the sea since time immemorial and the oceans are a resource that belongs to all humanity. Unfortunately, in the age of globalization, the management of this shared heritage of limited resources is based on legal frameworks that undermine small-scale fishers and community management systems while reinforcing the disproportionate power of corporations and other private actors. One of these “legal” mechanisms involves reallocating access to fishing rights and quotas to increase economic efficiency, but this model is very weak in regards to conservation and ensuring equity and social justice. >click to read< 10:42
Letter: Open-net pen aquaculture is a failed technology
From the letter, The key question is whether the future of salmon aquaculture in the North American market will be closed-containment land-based (CCLB) or open-net pen (ONP). The government of Newfoundland and Labrador is betting $30 million that projects like the environmentally disastrous Grieg ONP project planned for Placentia Bay will carry the day and Couturier agrees. ACOA is in for another $10 million grant, not loan, according to its website. Meanwhile, as The Telegram article demonstrates, companies like Nordic Aquafarms in Belfast, Maine, are forging ahead with CCLB projects in Maine and many other U.S. locations. These projects use Recirculatory Aquaculture Systems (RAS), by Leo White >click to read< 09:08
Coast Guard boat crew, Ketchikan EMS medevac injured fisherman in Revillagigedo Channel, Alaska
A Coast Guard Station Ketchikan 45-foot Response Boat-Medium crew medevaced an injured 58-year-old man off the fishing vessel Lake Bay in Revillagigedo Channel, 18 miles southeast of Ketchikan, Alaska, Monday. The boat crew and Ketchikan emergency medical services coordinated efforts to transfer the man from the small boat to Station Ketchikan. Ketchikan EMS further transported the man to Ketchikan Medical Center. The man was reported stable upon transfer. >click to read< 22:09
How Ship Strikes Have Become The Greatest Threat To Right Whales
This is the first of a two-part report explaining how vessel strikes happen, why they’re increasing and what’s being done to stop them. In the last month, eight North Atlantic right whales have been found dead in Canada’s Gulf of St. Lawrence, including two members of the critically endangered species this past week. Canadian authorities say work to determine these new whales’ cause of death is ongoing. Whatever the cause of these latest deaths, researchers worry collisions with ships are increasingly to blame. >click to read< 20:24
20-Pound Lobster Found In Luggage At Logan
In a classic case of “only in New England,” one traveler apparently wanted to leave Boston with more than just some memories and a Wicked Pissah T shirt. TSA workers at Boston Logan Airport on Monday found a lobster inside a passenger’s checked baggage – and this catch was quite the haul. >click to read< 18:43
The Mississippi River Devastated Fisheries This Year. Some See It As A Preview Of The Future
On a bayou in the St. Bernard Parish town of Yscloskey, George Barisich starts up his shrimp boat. “Hear that?” he says, as the diesel engine below our feet roars to a start. “That’s the sound we want to hear.” Barisich says that engine hasn’t gotten much use lately. There is no point in heading into the marsh when there aren’t any shrimp to catch. “I’m 82 percent off on my brown shrimp,” he says of this season. “Eighty two. And there’s a lot of people just as bad.” This year’s historic flooding on the Mississippi River has decimated the coast’s fisheries. >click to read< 17:48:45
More articles on sediment diversion, >click here<
Agents recieve a complaint! Agents cite Lafitte man for theft of crab traps, and a few other things.
Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries enforcement agents cited a Lafitte man for alleged commercial fishing violations in Jefferson Parish on Aug. 2. Agents cited Tracy Bruce, 46, for theft of crab traps, taking commercial fish without a license, taking commercial fish without a commercial gear license, using crab traps without required markings, illegal removal of contents and operating an unregistered motorboat. Agents received a complaint that Bruce was fishing multiple traps belonging to other fishermen near Little Lake. On Aug. 2, agents stopped Bruce,,, >click to read< 16:18
Northwest B.C. fisherman awarded $50K for Skeena salmon documentary
Fed up with heated arguments over fish management, a local filmmaker is trying to refocus the conversation about preserving salmon populations through a documentary on the fish’s significance in northwest B.C.,,, Quinn Barabash moved with his family to Terrace seven years ago,,, He says he’s been fishing all his life and watched as declining salmon stock populations created a ripple effect in the region, stirring up heated discussions between stakeholders over who’s to blame. “Unfortunately right now we’re at a time where all the user groups have,,,>click to read< 13:29
Still recovering from escaped Atlantic salmon, Cooke Aquaculture now wants to farm steelhead
In August 2017, at least 263,000 farmed Atlantic salmon escaped from Cooke Aquaculture’s net pens at Washington’s Cypress Island into Washington state waters. The incident launched a legislated process to phase out nonnative finfish farming in Washington by 2025, and a $332,000 fine for Cooke Aquaculture, a Canadian multinational seafood company. As Cooke sunsets its Atlantic salmon farming in the state, it has experienced at least two viral outbreaks impacting more than 1 million fish; and was fined for more water quality violations. But not quite two years since the disaster, >click to read< 12:21
DeSantis Names 11 to His Red Tide Task Force
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday announced the appointments of 11 “expert researchers and leading scientists” to the recently re-organized Red Tide Task Force. The governor was joined in Englewood, epicenter of 2018’s monumental Red Tide event, for the announcement by Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Secretary Noah Valenstein and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) Executive Director Eric Sutton. For more than 15 years, this Task Force had been inactive and without funding until its re-organization by FWC today at DeSantis’ direction. >click to read< 11:49
Real Maine lobster rolls from a real Maine fisherman
Sadie Samuels, a Belfast native, has been a lobsterman since she was 7 years old on her father’s boat and says the best lobster rolls she eats are ones made fresh from her own catch, with just a little mayo. It was her inspiration for the lobster shack, Must Be Nice Lobster Co., she recently opened along the Harbor Walk. She sells lobster rolls, crab rolls, cheeseburgers and hot dogs. “I just feel like people need a real Maine lobster roll made by a real Maine fisherman,” Samuels said. >click to read< 11:19
Pollution fears after ‘oily sheen’ spotted around stranded fishing vessel
A full scale rescue operation was launched early yesterday after the Oban-registered Colleira ran aground at the Vee Skerries, near Papa Stour. Fifteen crewmen were winched to safety after the alarm was raised at around 1.30am yesterday. It had been hoped the Anglo Spanish longliner would refloat at high tide, but last night the MCA confirmed it was “hard aground”. >click to read< 10:46
R.I. fishermen critical of wind farm plan
Developers Ørsted U.S. Offshore Wind and Eversource Energy say that they’ve taken into account the concerns of fishermen by configuring the wind farm’s up to 15 turbines from east to west with rows that are 1 nautical mile (about 1.2 miles) apart. The spacing from north to south, however, would be smaller, with either 0.8 or 1 mile between turbines.And that, according to fishing industry leaders and the Rhode Island coastal council, isn’t good enough. ,,,“I do have concerns. Hopefully this won’t turn out to be Vineyard Wind, part two,” said Lanny Dellinger, chairman of the which advises the Rhode Island coastal council. >click to read< 08:30
British Columbia: Mount Polley mine disaster 5 years later; emotions, accountability unresolved
People are swimming and fishing in Quesnel Lake five years after the largest environmental mining disaster in Canadian history, but residents of Likely, B.C., are still struggling with unresolved emotions about what happened and who will be held accountable for the dam collapse at the Mount Polley mine. A five-year deadline for federal Fisheries Act charges expired Sunday, while the possibility of other charges under the same act remains with no timeline for a decision. British Columbia missed the three-year deadline to proceed with charges under both the province’s Environmental Management Act and Mines Act. >click to read<21:47
Is seismic testing to blame for disappearing plankton? This scientist says it’s possible
Scientists have noticed a mysterious population crash in some of the Atlantic Ocean’s tiniest and most important species, and a Halifax biologist says oil and gas exploration may be to blame.,,, The tiny organisms are disappearing from Newfoundland and Labrador’s waters, and Lindy Weilgart says blasts from seismic air guns have been shown to wipe them out.,,, On the other side of the world, Australian scientists first found that testing with seismic air guns destroys plankton a few years ago, >click to read< 21:18
Sam Parisi invites “Good Morning America” to Bring America Back to Gloucester and New England!
Good Morning America did a nice little story about Captain Joe Piscatello, and his family, the people of the Fishing Vessel American Eagle, which is Sam’s family, and their story of choices that found the vessel sold and converted into a wind jammer (around 1986) video.,,, Good Morning America was in Gloucester, May 13, 1992, and it was shot on the day the NEFMC was cutting days at sea for conservation. video, The issues from fish shortages to whale issues haven’t changed much. Sam would like to invite Good Morning America back,,, Under the circumstances of the issues that continue to cause stress and uncertainty for New England fishermen, lobstermen, and their support infrastructure, perhaps it is would be a good time to get Good Morning America to come back to New England. >click to read< 20:18
Arctic Corsair move: Emotional moment historic trawler sails the River Hull once more
This the poignant moment Hull’s historic Arctic Corsair sailed along the River Hull once more after 20 years. The country’s last surviving distant water sidewinder trawler moved from its current berth on Sunday morning in an emotional send-off. Huge crowds gathered to see the relocation of the trawler, which signals the start of Hull’s next major, heritage-led regeneration project to capitalise upon its spectacular success as UK City of Culture. Video, Plenty of photo’s’, >click to read< 14:31
Offshore wind deal pushing forward at New London State Pier
Three months after Gov. Ned Lamont’s May 2 announcement of the deal, state and local officials, State Pier operator Gateway and Danish offshore wind giant Orsted and its partner Eversource say negotiations are on schedule, with attorneys likely to finalize details and sign a contract within a few months.,,, Meanwhile, the Connecticut Auditors of Public Accounts is set to begin its biennial audit of the authority amid a whistleblower complaint alleging misuse of funds. >click to read< 13:18
The real Sea Wolf: Russians try to tame ‘Sea Wolf’ Captain Alexander MacLean (Part 2)
After being caught almost red-handed poaching seals from a Russian island, Captain MacLean was summoned, along with most of his crew, to appear aboard the Russian warship Alert. This he complied with, but once aboard the Russian warship, a fight broke out and eventually the Americans were overpowered. A prize crew was then sent to the schooner. According to MacLean, “the American flag was floating at the masthead, and as the halyards were hammed and cut, it was no easy matter to get down. Several attempts were made but were unsuccessful. >click to read< 12:06
The real Sea Wolf: Captain Alexander MacLean (Part 1) – >click to read<
