Daily Archives: June 19, 2020
Coast Guard assists vessel aground in Sukhoi Bay, Alaska
The Coast Guard assisted a vessel aground, taking on water in Sukhoi Bay, Alaska, Thursday. An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Air Station Kodiak arrived on scene at 3:11 p.m. and lowered dewatering equipment and a rescue swimmer to 52-foot F/V Stormie B. The Stormie B crewmembers were able to utilize the dewatering equipment to control flooding. Good Samaritan F/V Buccaneer arrived on scene at approximately 3:35 p.m. and remains in the vicinity to maintain communication. >click to read< 19:35
Canadian lobster to China hits another roadblock, demand a signed declaration live lobster is Coronavirus free
Canadian businesses that export lobster to China have run into another border roadblock. On Friday, Chinese importers started demanding a signed declaration that Canadian live and processed lobster is free of COVID-19 before it can enter China. “It’s a bold thing to ask and we as Canadian exporters should push back,” says Stewart Lamont of Tangier Lobster in Nova Scotia. His company flies lobster to mainland China. Lamont has refused to sign the declaration, which makes Canadian companies liable in the Chinese court system if there is a problem. >click to read< 18:52
Copper River fishermen gain another harvest
Commercial harvesters keen on those Copper River salmon got a fifth shot at those prized Chinooks and reds on Thursday, June 18, in a 12-hour opener announced by Alaska Department of Fish and Game officials in Cordova. Waters within the expanded Chinook salmon inside closure area were closed for the period. It has been, in no uncertain terms a real slow start, with several of those openers already cancelled because of a very slow run. Through Tuesday, June 16, a total of 1,665 deliveries to processors from four 12-hour openers in the Copper River had brought in some 5,751 kings, 71,370 sockeyes and 1,056 chums, a total of 78,177 fish. >click to read< 16:01
Body of missing shrimper recovered from Lake Barre
Authorities identified the body as 36-year-old Thinh Quoc, of Houma. Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office Water Patrol deputies worked with other agencies Thursday to find Quoc, who was a crewman of the shrimp boat “Miss Sue,” authorities said. Quoc was reported missing Wednesday night in the waters of Lake Barre. His body was spotted in Lake Barre at about 5:09 p.m. and recovered, then brought to shore by a Water Patrol boat, the Sheriff’s Office said. >click to read< 11:49
Nova Scotia Live Lobster Exports to China Hit a Snag
A recent coronavirus outbreak traced to a market in Beijing is disrupting Canadian live lobster exports to China. New testing measures imposed in at least three cities — Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou— have led to cancelled lobster shipments from Nova Scotia this week and delays for shipments that do arrive. “We’ve hit a significant snag,” said Geoff Irvine, executive director of the Lobster Council of Canada. “The latest news is that they will continue to do these random inspections, which has effectively caused many of the large shipments to stop.” >click to read< 10:22
Tasmanian lobster, abalone exports at risk as latest COVID-19 outbreak closes Beijing markets – “Australian seafood exports are not being blocked by China [but] authorities there have advised that they may conduct COVID-19 testing on live, fresh, chilled and frozen imports of Australian seafood upon arrival into China,” said chairman Nathan Maxwell McGinn. >click to read< 13:08
Congressmen urge NOAA to extend at-sea monitor waiver for Northeast commercial fishing vessels
In a letter to Neil Jacobs, an acting undersecretary at the Department of Commerce, U.S. Reps. Seth Moulton and Bill Keating said a continuation of the at-sea monitor waiver is “critical to both protect the health and welfare of fishermen who are working to sustain their operations and to maintain our region’s seafood supply during the continued COVID-19 pandemic.” On March 24, NOAA Fisheries implemented the at-sea monitor waiver and took the observers off the boats. It has extended the waiver at least twice. >click to read< 07:44
