Daily Archives: June 14, 2020

“We were pumped”! Lobster fishermen find and retrieve big anchor outside of Malpeque Harbour

Matt Wall was out fishing last week, hauling lobster traps, when he noticed something unusual. “It just seemed like the traps were stuck on the bottom,” he said. Wall and the crew quickly realized they had snagged an anchor. “I didn’t think it was a big deal at the time, there’s all [kinds of] anchors out there, net anchors, small stuff,” Wall said. It was bigger than they first thought and when they pulled it up it slipped out of their grasp. But Wall marked the spot. He had a diver scheduled to come out and look for the anchor on Tuesday, but after fishing on Saturday, Wall decided to head back out and look for it again. Photo’s, >click to read< 18:30

Maryland’s wild oyster harvest doubles from last year

Despite having fewer days to work, Maryland watermen harvested nearly twice as many wild oysters last season as they did the previous year, state officials report. Even so, a new study finds the state’s population of bivalves is in much better shape now than it was two years ago, with abundance up and overfishing down. As a result, state fisheries managers say they’re weighing whether to maintain catch restrictions put in place last season or relax them for the next wild harvest season, which normally begins Oct. 1. Data presented Monday night to the Department of Natural Resources’ Oyster Advisory Commission indicates that the overall abundance of adult, market-size oysters in Maryland’s portion of the Chesapeake Bay has rebounded considerably since 2018 and is now at the fifth highest level since 1999. >click to read< 17:01

Inspiring Women: Virginia Oliver – The Lobster Lady!

Arguably the world’s oldest licensed lobster fisherman – 99 year old Virginia Oliver is one of a kind. This short film gives viewers a chance to meet this inspiring woman and ride along as she and her 74 year-old son Max haul their lobster traps in Spruce Head, Maine. Virginia’s positive approach to life as well as her infectious laugh will capture viewers heart’s and inspire them in their own lives. We ran this story, >This is very cool! Happy Birthday! Celebrate the Lobster Lady’s 100th birthday on TV< on May 23rd. The link has disapeared, but we found the Vimeo! >Click to watch<, and once again, Virginia, Happy Birthday!

Stranded at Sea in The Time of Coronavirus

Spanish fisherman Josu Bilbao boarded a Qatar Airways flight headed for the Seychelles in January, just as he had done for the past 15 years. Ahead of him, four uninterrupted months of hauling tuna out of the glistening Indian Ocean. As it turned out, catching the fish was the least of the problems for the 56-year-old captain of Albatun Tres, one of the world’s largest tuna fishing boats. The coronavirus then swept the world, countries shut borders, planes stopped flying and Spain became one of the countries worst hit by the virus. Bilbao and his crew were stuck. As the Indian Ocean fleet shift was extended ship owners tried to figure out a way to get workers home. Aboard the ship avoiding infection became the priority. >click to read< 09:43