Daily Archives: June 9, 2020
City Officials Announce Financial Relief Plan For Crabbers Impacted By Pier 45 Fire
Mayor Breed, the San Francisco Port Commission and Supervisor Aaron Peskin said they hope the financial assistance will ensure that a crab season happens this year. Some have called it the biggest disaster the San Francisco fishing fleet has ever experienced. More than 30 crabbers lost 8,000 crab, shrimp, and black cod traps pots during the four-alarm fire that ravaged Pier 45 on the morning of May 23. Shed C, which housed the vast majority of the crabbing community’s pots, was engulfed in flames and completely destroyed. The fire essentially brought the local crab fishing industry to a halt. >click to read< 19:29
Jimmy Buchan warns no-deal Brexit ‘will hurt’ Scottish fishing industry
The warnings come just days after the final round of scheduled talks between London and Brussels broke off, with EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier accusing his opposite number, David Frost, of not showing “any true will” to reach a deal. Since the outset of negotiations the EU has demanded “status quo” access to UK waters, which would essentially mean a continuation of the common fisheries policy, something that has been categorically rejected by Boris Johnson. Jimmy Buchan, chief executive of the Scottish Seafood Association, told the Commons environment committee that, despite the differences, a deal must be done “no question”. >click to read< 16:57
Depoe Bay Harbor: “Best Harbor in the U.S.”
The second annual contest to find the best harbor in the U.S. wrapped up on Sunday, May 31, with winners announced shortly thereafter. US Harbors, an online site for tides and weather, providing localized information on more than 1,400 harbors on the coast and Great Lakes,,,, Depoe Bay Harbor captured the most votes, and runners up in this year’s contest were Onset Beach, Mass.; Padanaram/South Dartmouth, Mass. (Best Harbor 2019); Boothbay, Maine; Cuttyhunk, Mass.; and Oriental, N.C.,, Depoe Bay, a picturesque harbor of only six square acres, claims the title of “smallest navigable harbor in the world.” It is both the whale-watching capital of Oregon, and home to a working fishing community. >click to read< 14:25
Why New England Aquarium is fighting back against the Trump administration
Decades of work at the New England Aquarium went into securing special protected status for an area of underwater canyons and mountains off Cape Cod.,, During a visit to Maine last Friday, President Donald Trump announced he was signing a proclamation to allow commercial fishing in the nearly 5,000-square-mile ecosystem, which was declared a national marine monument by former President Barack Obama in 2016.,, Vikki Spruill, the CEO and president of the New England Aquarium, called the Republican president’s proclamation“irresponsible and shortsighted.” “The Trump Administration has chosen a moment of national vulnerability to take aim at the environment,” Spruill said in a statement Monday, referring to the COVID-19 pandemic and the national protests against police brutality. >click to read< 13:00
Glace Bay Fisherman celebrates 80 consecutive years of working on the water
In a year that has been anything but normal, Jim Munden continues to be a figure of both consistency and longevity on the Glace Bay wharf. The longtime fisherman, who will celebrate his 89th birthday this summer, still plays an active role in the former coal mining community’s other big industry. And this year marks the 80th consecutive year that Munden has taken to the coastal waters off Cape Breton to ply the trade he first experienced as a nine-year-old boy.,,, When asked about the beginnings of his lifelong career, Munden likes to mention that it all started in a foreign country. “I was born in Newfoundland back in 1931 when it was still part of England,” he recalls.,, they moved to Glace Bay when I was a boy.” That’s where he started fishing. And at his side the entire time has been Dot (Billard), his childhood sweetheart, wife of almost 70 years and mother of their six children. >click to read< 10:54
Judge weighs shutting down Southeast Alaska Chinook fishery
Fishermen in Southeast Alaska could see their season cut short if a federal judge issues an injunction requested by a Washington environmental group to protect the food supply of a subpopulation of orcas. The Wild Fish Conservancy filed a lawsuit against NOAA,,, “We are getting blamed for harvesting their food source, which really isn’t the cause of the problem,” Amy Daughery, executive director of the Alaska Trollers Association said. “The problem as we see it, is the exponential population growth in Seattle, which has lead to a lot of toxicity and pollution and habitat loss in that area. And so these whales are really struggling, this one population. The Northern killer whales that we see off the coast of Southeast Alaska are doing very well. In fact they’ve increased.” >click to read< 10:19
‘It’s like a weight has been lifted’ – Family of Newfoundland Fisherman Isaac Kettle relieved his body was found
It wasn’t how they wanted to find him, but Isaac Kettle’s family is comforted in knowing that at least his body can finally come home. “This is the best, worst news we could get,” his wife, Kerri Lynn Kettle, said after hearing that a body found near Arnold’s Cove on the weekend is her husband’s. “But it was such a relief to know he’s finally coming home. It’s like a weight has been lifted.” Kettle, 33, was one of four St. Lawrence fishermen lost at sea aboard the Sarah Anne, a 36-foot fishing vessel, after it set out from their hometown to go crab fishing on May 25. >click to read< 09:00
