Daily Archives: July 19, 2020

Coronavirus snagged the R.I. fishing industry, so state let fishermen sell direct to the public

In the spring, when the state closed restaurants to stop the spread of the coronavirus, fishermen were hit hard. Prices dropped dramatically. In some cases, wholesalers stopped buying, and fishermen had no place to sell their catch. To help fishermen navigate this storm, the state temporarily changed some regulations to allow them to peddle their catches directly to consumers, fish markets and restaurants, instead of selling exclusively to wholesalers. Fifteen Rhode Island fishermen are “actively using” their direct-sale licenses, according to Nichole Ares, principal biologist for the DEM’s marine fisheries division. The fishermen have sold about 13,000 pounds of fish for a total of about of $40,000. More than 160 fishermen applied for the licenses,,, photo’s, >click to read< 18:43

Fishing Dragger Struck and Sunk by recreational boat in dense fog near Montauk Inlet

Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound received a report of a collision about a quarter-mile from the inlet at about 6:30 a.m. The commercial fishing vessel F/V Petrel, based out of Montauk, had been hit by the sailing yacht Chaos, a 40-foot powerboat, according to Petty Officer Anthony Pappaly, a Coast Guard public information officer. The crash occurred just north of the Bell buoy, where the commercial fishermen were getting ready to put out their net. The two people aboard the Petrel, the captain and his first mate, were taken aboard the Chaos as their boat began to sink into the harbor. Friends of the commercial fishermen said the other boat was going 30 knots, which is just under 35 miles per hour on the road. >click to read< 13:53

Body of Shrimper Reported Missing Pulled From Lake Pontchatrain, Louisiana

William Segrave, 65, left home Thursday afternoon in his 28-foot shrimp boat. He was reported missing Friday after family members found his empty boat still in gear near the foot of the Highway 11 bridge, the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office said. The body was found about noon near the Interstate 10 Twin Span bridges and will be turned over to the St. Tammany Parish coroner’s office for autopsy to determine a cause of death and positive identification, the Sheriff’s Office said. >click to read< 10:58

Michael Shellenberger: Let’s Get Serious, Let’s Go Nuclear

Whatever your views on climate change, the idea that trying to run modern, civil societies on sunshine and breezes might somehow prevent it is, of course, a complete nonsense. One environmentalist who called it out, loud and early, was Michael Shellenberger. As a long-time advocate for reliable, affordable and safe nuclear energy, and critic of intermittent renewables, calling wind and solar worse than useless, Michael combines common sense, logic and reason, in an era when those attributes have become scarce commodities. Here’s Michael having a crack at some of those who would drive us back into the Stone Age, if they were ever given the chance. Why Climate Activists Will Go Nuclear—Or Go Extinct >click to read< 09:03

Rep. Kennedy Backs Offshore Wind – “Jobs and Justice Initiative” “Through the JJI we will deploy a clean energy job core to support on and offshore wind, solar panel installation, energy storage, energy efficiency, building retrofits, cleaning of toxic sites, urban farm and community garden installations, national park maintenance, and environmental justice,” Kennedy said.  >click to read<

Maine: 1 in 3 Lobstermen got small Paycheck Protection Program loans

About $14.9 million in forgivable Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP, loans of less than $150,000 have been handed out to 1,358 Maine lobstermen, according to an analysis of newly released U.S. Small Business Administration data. That puts lobstermen ahead of full-service restaurants, real estate offices, beauty salons and home builders, which rounded out the top five Maine industries receiving small PPP loans. Maine’s $1.4 billion-a-year lobster industry – including those who buy, sell and process lobster as well as catch it – have received 1,495 forgivable PPP loans worth at least $24.2 million, so far. Fishermen got the lion’s share of the industry’s total PPP money, but only because they outnumber dealers, retailers and processors. Some dealers got loans of up to $1 million. >click to read< 07:15