Monthly Archives: December 2019
New Environmental Defence Fund Report Details Actions Needed to Create Climate-Ready Fisheries
“Even with the necessary actions to control emissions and investments to reduce carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere, changes in the ocean already underway will continue and even accelerate,” said Eric Schwaab, senior vice president for EDF Oceans.,,, The five pathways articulated in the report focus on steps that can and must be taken by governments, NGOs, fisher organizations, academia and multilateral organizations in order to create greater resilience and sustainability of fisheries. The pathways include: >click to read< 06:57
Tina Comeau: ‘Easy? No. Easier? I’m not sure’ – reflecting on another lobster season start
The stars were so spectacular they stopped me in my tracks.I had been on the back deck of my house checking out how windy it was. I turned to go inside, but not before glimpsing towards the night sky. Whoa! It felt as if I had never seen the stars shine brighter. I took it as a good sign – of what, I was unsure, but surely a sky this beautiful had to mean a good day was ahead. It was the night before the day of – the ‘day of’ being the first day of the lobster season. In the morning I’d be making my annual trek to the wharf in Pinkney’s Point, Yarmouth County, for dumping day. Photos, >click to read< 05:52
New Jersey forms offshore wind working group
As part of Governor Murphy’s expanded goal of reaching 7,500 MW of offshore wind generation by 2035, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection will lead a newly established working group of fishing and conservation groups to provide guidance to the Administration’s overall strategy and approach to achieving its offshore wind goals, New Jersey DEP Commissioner Catherine R. McCabe announced. >click to read< 19:15
UPDATED: Breaking: Boat Fire in Port of Brookings-Harbor, Photos, New Details
An 85-foot fishing vessel is on fire at Port of Brookings-Harbor. A Coast Guard vessel is fighting the fire from the water with Harbor Fire, Brookings, Gold Beach and Smith River Fire Departments on the scene. This story will be updated >click to read< 15:45
Photos / New Details: Boat Fire – >click to read<
Families of French fishermen who died off Cornwall will have to wait for answers
An inquest opened last week into the deaths of two of the five men who died when the French fishing vessel Bugalen Breizh sank 14 years ago off the Lizard.,,, The families of the victims have been fighting for answers ever since the tragedy and have previously claimed that a Nato submarine involved in a military training exercise was responsible. >click to read< 12:56
Skipper not keeping proper lookout when boat wave drowned recreational fishermen, court told
Three men out fishing for fun died when their boat was almost “run over” by a fishing vessel whose skipper was not paying enough attention, a court has heard. David Marr was “entirely distracted” and only found out about the deadly near-miss his scallop dredger had been involved in from the radio, hours later. Marr, 53, of Tower Hill in Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, is charged with failing to maintain a proper lookout,, >click to read< 11:36
A dark horizon
If you’re an Alaska commercial salmon fishermen, be forewarned; the farmers in Wisconsin are coming for you. Enter the marketers. “A Better Ocean in Your Backyard” is the new marketing theme of Superior Fresh, a recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) farm in America’s Heartland: “Until now, it’s been impossible to get truly fresh Atlantic salmon in the Midwest, not to mention salmon of the incredible quality that Superior Fresh offers. Healthy, delicious, and without the same contaminants you’d find in the wild. And we did it sustainably to boot.” The word that will, or should, jump out to Alaskans (everyone, everywhere) there is “wild.” >click to read< 10:33
IMORTANT UPDATE: New England Fishery Management Council Meeting in Newport, RI December 3-5, 2019
The New England Fishery Management Council will be meeting at Hotel Viking, 1 Bellevue Avenue, Newport, RI 02840 . To read the final agenda, revised, >click here< Register for webinar >click here< to listen live. 09:57 IMPORTANT UPDATE: Due to the winter storm that is impacting the region, the Council will begin the meeting at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, December 3 instead of 9 a.m. as originally scheduled in order to allow for additional travel time. 17:05
U.S., Canadian coast guards rely on each other to save lives
Snowy, dark and difficult to see from a few hundred feet in the air — U.S. Coast Guard search and rescue pilot Lieutenant Aaron Jones recalls responding to three medical emergencies on Pelee Island, in southwestern Ontario, in the span of a month. In those cases, the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Detroit was best suited to respond, highlighting the importance of the relationship between both countries’ coast guards. >click to read< 09:28
Vineyard Haven’s Vital Working Waterfront
Stretching from the Steamship Authority terminal at the north end of Water street in Vineyard Haven, to the R.M. Packer Co. on the far edge of Beach Road, is the only unimpeded, half-mile expanse of year-round working waterfront on the Island. The area is rife with docks, silos, slips and sloops. For some it is ugly. For others, it is barely noticeable. For all, it is vital. >click to read< 08:29
Green Energy: Proposal to import Canadian Hydro into New England faces familiar pushback
Central Maine Power anticipated smooth sailing for a proposal for bringing Canadian hydropower into New England after the so-called “Northern Pass” stalled in New Hampshire. After all, CMP already owned the entire path along existing utility corridors and through remote forests.,, Jon Reed, who’s heading up the Clean Energy Matters campaign, said the goal is to ensure residents understand the environmental and economic benefits for Maine are real. Furthermore, the full financial cost is being borne by Massachusetts ratepayers.,, Maine’s governor, Democrat Janet Mills, remains a supporter of the transmission project after CMP proposed $258 million in incentives, >click to read< 07:08
Isakson’s support for right whale conservation part of broadening bipartisan effort
The Senate bill was sponsored by Sen. Cory Booker, a Democrat from New Jersey and candidate for president. Isakson was one of two original cosponsors – the other is a Democrat from Delaware, Sen. Thomas Carper, according to the legislation. In the U.S. House, a bipartisan group co-sponsored a resolution sponsored by Rep. Seth Moulton, a Democrat from Salem, Mass. Among them was Rep. Buddy Carter, a Republican who serves a district along Georgia’s coast. >click to read< 16:09
Skipper Alan and the Ajax are back in town!
Arriving at 630am the Ajax took up a berth near the ice works, having steamed down from Macduff’s shipyard in Scotland following a major refit including new main and genset engines.and the replacement of the foremast with a hydraulic landing/gear crane,,, There are a bunch of great photo’s, and a very cool video showing us around the vessel! Thank you, Lawrence! >click to view< 13:28
Cooke Aquaculture agrees to pay $2.75M to settle lawsuit over salmon net-pen collapse
Cooke Aquaculture has reached a settlement to pay $2.75 million in legal fees and to fund Puget Sound restoration projects, putting an end to a Clean Water Act lawsuit that followed the 2017 collapse of one of the fish-farming company’s net-pen structures.,,, The legal settlement, which awaits federal officials’ review and a judge’s signature, bookends a contentious and litigious chapter in the fight over fish farming in Washington waters that resulted in the termination of some of Cooke’s leases, a $332,000 fine to Cooke from state regulators and a ban on farming nonnative fish, >click to read< 12:09
South Atlantic Fishery Management Council Meeting December 2 thru 6, 2019 in Wilmington, NC
The public is invited to attend the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council to be held in Wilmington, NC, Hotel Ballast
301 North Water Street Wilmington, NC 28401 Phone: 1-800-445-8667. for Agenda details. >click here< for Webinar Registration: >Click here< To visit the SAFMC >click here< 10:49
New England’s drive for Canadian hydropower threatens native population’s way of life
Amid the last 20 years of worsening impacts from climate change, environmentalists in the Twin States have scrambled to push state leadership toward ambitious renewable energy goals. And a key component of meeting those goals has been Canadian hydropower, a cost-effective, reliable resource that is often billed as clean, green energy. The New England ISO, which regulates New England’s electricity infrastructure, currently gets 1.4 terawatt hours of electricity from damming projects from the provinces of Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador, some of which goes to New Hampshire. About a third of Vermont’s energy comes from Canadian hydro plants through the Highgate interconnection. >click to read< 09:01
My afternoon with a Galway Hooker
I should probably start by saying it’s not what you think, but more on that later.,,, But back to the hooker. In nautical terms, a hooker is a specific kind of traditional wood fishing boat — unique to the west coast of Ireland. Usually black on the hull and with vibrant colored sails, the hooker has a striking look and it’s built to withstand the strong winds that the Atlantic whips up. As modern commercial fishing techniques have overfished the Galway Bay and slowly ground away at the small family fishing industry, time had also somewhat left behind the classic old history of the hookers. Photo’s, >click to read< 07:58
