Daily Archives: February 23, 2020

Coast Guard medevacs fisherman near Port O’Connor, Texas

The Coast Guard medevaced a mariner from a fishing vessel approximately two miles offshore Matagorda Bay near Port O’Connor, Texas, Sunday morning. The Matagorda County Sheriff’s Office received a request from a fishing vessel, F/V Lady Nora, for a medevac of a 52-year-old male crewmember experiencing symptoms of a heart attack. Coast Guard Sector/Air Station Corpus Christi watchstanders were notified and consulted with the duty flight surgeon who recommended the medevac. Photos, >click to read< 19:38

North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for February 21, 2020

Legislative updates, Bill updates, Calendar, >Click here to read the Weekly Update<, to read all the updates >click here<, for older updates listed as NCFA >click here< 14:50

Alaska fishermen lose millions amid US-Russia sanctions war

Fishermen in Alaska are losing up to $60 million annually after access to one of their key markets was cut in 2014, when Russia imposed a food embargo in retaliation to US sanctions.  Russia bought an average $40 million worth of seafood products from Alaska’s producers between 2010-2013, according to data from the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute.,, This is because no one stopped Russian exporters from shipping their products to the US despite Moscow’s embargo on American goods. Moreover, most seafood imports are not subjected to any duties, >click to read< 10:17

WTF?!!! A mile wide toxic waste site sits on the ocean floor near Stellwagen Bank

About 19 miles east of Boston Harbor, beside a national marine sanctuary that’s home to one of the world’s richest fishing grounds, lies one of the nation’s largest offshore dumping sites of radioactive waste.,,, David Wiley, the sanctuary’s research coordinator, led a seminal study of the area in the early 1990s. His report, which found that the federal government kept few records of what was dumped there, estimated that there could be as many as 80,000 barrels of toxic waste, most from hospitals, universities, and companies throughout the region. At least 4,000 of them were thought to contain radioactive waste, from the same sources >click to read< 09:11

Fishermen protest chemical spraying in Lake Okeechobee

“As far as people go, it’s polluting the water. As far as animals go, it’s killing off the wildlife,” said Jim Watt, a former animal dealer. Fishermen and other lake locals say FWC chemical spraying is killing plants, animals, and their way of life. “They’re getting doused with this poison and they’re losing habitat and all the baitfish are sick, your birds, your catfish, all your other fish are eating this sick bait, living in this habitat with chemicals on it,” said Fisherman Eric Cassels. The FWC says all of the chemicals being sprayed are deemed safe, but people who spend all their time on the water disagree. photos, video, >click to read< 08:19

The Blue Wave and Blue Mist sank more than 50 years ago. Grand Bank never forgets

The vicious storms of February — with gale-force winds and mountainous waves — are a constant reminder to Grand Bank of the price its people have paid to earn a living from the sea.,, Many of us still have painful memories of the loss of the schooner Mabel Dorothy in 1955, along with her six-man crew. This tragedy was followed less than four years later when the steel side trawler Blue Wave capsized and sank, carrying her 16-man crew with her. Just seven years after that in 1966, a similarly designed ship from the local fishing fleet, the Blue Mist, met the same fate, taking the lives of the 13 men onboard. >click to read< 06:54