Daily Archives: February 11, 2020
Coast Guard search underway after radio beacon alert and debris found off Wilmington, North Carolina
The Coast Guard is searching for a possible missing vessel after being alerted by an unregistered emergency position indicating radio beacon and finding debris approximately 126 miles southeast of Wilmington, Tuesday morning. Watchstanders at the Coast Guard District Five command center in Portsmouth, Virginia received the distress alert at approximately 11 a.m. >click to read< 17:34
Feb. 14 deadline for bids on Tanner crab test fishery
State fisheries officials have set a Feb. 14 deadline for bids to participate in a Prince William Sound test fishery from Feb. 22 through April 7, to harvest up to 30,000 pounds of Tanner crab. Six lots of up to 5,000 pounds each are available in defined areas of the Northern and Hinchinbrook districts, Bids will be accepted for six individual lots for a maximum of 5,000 pounds each, at a minimum bid price of 35 cents a pound, with the contract to be awarded to the highest bidders for each lot. Vessel owners are welcome to bid on more than one lot. >click to read< 16:38
Dirty Wind, Dirty Politics. Pier remake could cost state three times $93 million estimate
Tuesday morning, Gov. Ned Lamont plans what I would have to call the most egregious overreach of executive power and assault on open public governing I’ve ever seen. And I’m old. It’s hard to know exactly what will unfold at a special meeting today of the board of Lamont’s stepchild, the corrupt and dysfunctional Connecticut Port Authority, because the governor, incredibly, won’t disclose the deals he plans for them to vote on. An agenda for the meeting posted late Friday afternoon suggests the board will vote on the still-secret deal to rebuild State Pier as a wind turbine assembly facility mostly closed to routine marine cargo, its historic purpose. >click to read< 15:31
Further protection measures coming to protect North Atlantic right whales
Federal Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan says Ottawa will announce further measures in the coming weeks to protect the endangered North Atlantic right whale. Speaking to a fishing gear innovation summit in Halifax today, Jordan didn’t release any details of the coming measures.,, The minister says testing also continues on new technology such as ropeless gear, which could help reduce the risk of entanglements for whales. More than 250 harvesters and fishing gear manufacturers from Canada, the United States, Iceland and Norway are attending the two-day summit. >click to read< 12:50
First month of Dungeness crabbing disappointing
Crabbing season is off to a slow start in Crescent City and Brookings, Ore. “We’ve had a lot of bad weather, not too many days out fishing,”,, Fishermen were anxious to begin crab fishing when the season opened on Dec. 31, after being delayed twice due to the crab quality. So far, the season has been disappointing, yielding a low overall poundage of crabs, according to Crescent City Harbor Commissioner Rick Shepherd and Burkman. It is not the worst year Crescent City and Brookings has seen, but it’s certainly not the best. >click to read< 11:55
Coronavirus: With China’s Borders Closed to Imported Live Seafood, Local Fishermen Feel the Pinch
As the number of the sick and the dead continue to rise alarmingly in China, the economic effects of the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak were felt in the Santa Barbara Harbor.,,, “Santa Barbara brings in $4 million to $5 million a season,” said Chris Voss, president of Commercial Fishermen of Santa Barbara. The prized crustacean had been stockpiled for China’s late January Lunar New Year festivities, he said, from New England to Australia. When China closed its borders to live-animal foodstuffs about 10 days ago, everyone was hit. >click to read< 10:21
West Coast fishery appeals for aid but federal fisheries minister is missing in action
Commercial fishermen in B.C. are sending out an SOS following last year’s disastrous salmon season that has already sunk some boat owners. The union representing commercial fishermen says years of Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) “mismanagement” pushed some commercial fishermen to the brink, and 2019 pushed them over. “Hundreds of fish harvesters are facing financial ruin after decades of fisheries regulation mismanagement,” said Joy Thorkelson, president of the United Fishermen and Allied Workers’ Union. >click to read< 09:19
Family’s fishing vessels vandalized in Gloucester
Police were called to Captain Joe’s Marina at 95 East Main St. for a report of vandalism on multiple lobster boats. Upon inspection, police found that someone had taken the padlock off the cabin of one vessel and drilled several holes through the hull of the boat with the intention of sinking it at the dock. A fellow fisherman had noticed the vessel sitting low in the water and called the owner. Besides the holes, the owner found the bilge pumps had been sabotaged and his emergency pump had been disabled. >click to read< 08:00
