Daily Archives: July 29, 2020
A Fundraiser: Memorial Expenses for Sig and Helen Decker
On July 28, Julie and Gig Decker learned that they lost both their children, Helen and Sig Decker in a car accident in Petersburg, Alaska. Helen was 19 and Sig was 21. Although both were born and raised in Wrangell, Helen and Sig were in Petersburg fishing side-by-side for the summer to help pay for college. This unimaginable loss comes during an already challenging time. The initial $10,000 in funds raised will go towards funeral costs and related expenses. We are looking to raise $50,000 to fund the rest of the brand new Wrangell Mariner’s Memorial where Helen and Sig will be the first names on the wall. Additional funds raised after that will be used to start a Memorial Scholarship Fund,,, >click to read, and, please donate if you can<21:17
Coast Guard assists a 77-foot fishing vessel taking on water
The Coast Guard assisted a 77-foot fishing vessel taking on water near Freshwater Bayou, Louisiana, Wednesday. Sector/Air Station Houston-Galveston watchstanders received a report of a 77-foot fishing vessel with three fisHermen, aboard taking on water. Watchstanders issued an urgent marine information broadcast and launched a Coast Guard Air Station Houston MH-65 Dolphin helicopter aircrew and a Station Sabine Response Boat-Medium boat crew to the scene. Once on scene, the Air Station Houston helicopter crew lowered a rescue swimmer and a dewatering pump to the vessel, F/V Capt. Cardin. The source of the flooding was secured and the vessel was dewatered. Video, >click to read< 17:12
1 dead, 1 found alive after fishing vessel goes missing near Gros Morne
One man is dead, while another has been found alive in the waters off Sally’s Cove, after a fishing boat was due back the day before, the Canadian Coast Guard confirmed in a statement Wednesday afternoon. The coast guard said a man was rescued from the water at about 10:30 Wednesday morning. Shortly after, the second man was located, but he was found unresponsive. The men were commercial fish harvesters, and they were expected to return to their home community of Sally’s Cove by 2 p.m. Tuesday. The Bonne Bay RCMP said they received a report Tuesday at 10 p.m. that the 21-foot open-boat fishing vessel was overdue. Search and rescue personnel organized immediately and a mayday alert was sent. >click to read< 16:24
Memorial Fund for Helen and Sig Decker organized and facilitated by United Fishermen of Alaska
Yesterday the unimaginable happened. Julie and Gig Decker learned that they lost both their children, Helen and Sig Decker in a car accident in Petersburg, Alaska. Helen was 19 and Sig was 21. Although both were born and raised in Wrangell, Helen and Sig were in Petersburg fishing side-by-side for the summer to help pay for college. We are asking for an outpouring of support, and have set up a memorial fund organized and facilitated by United Fishermen of Alaska. >click to read< You can find the GoFundMe organized by UFA >here< 14:20
This is the unimaginable – Four dead in vehicle wreck south of Petersburg – it is linked here for a few reasons. The tragedy that has shocked so many is described, and mentions two other victims in this horrible turn of events. They are identified as Ian Martin, 29 of Petersburg and Dennis Lord, 37 of Elmira Heights, New York. Bob Thorstenson Jr. manages two seiners, F/V Magnus Martens and F/V Vigilant, says the crew had come into Petersburg to meet a marine mechanic after one of their vessels had engine trouble. “Otherwise we wouldn’t have been on this island with this godforsaken highway, you know,” >click to read<
Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument showdown reaches high court
The Obama administration exceeded its authority in 2016 when it designated the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument and cut off access to key fisheries, attorneys for the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association and other groups argued in their petition filed with the Supreme Court yesterday. A recent move by the Trump administration to preserve the monument but dissolve fishing restrictions has not erased the need for the high court to consider the case, the groups wrote. Those rollbacks are now subject to a separate lawsuit launched by environmental groups. >click to read< 12:28
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 57′ Fiberglass Scalloper, 3408 Cat, Limited Access Part Time Scallop Permit
To review specifications, information and 10 photos, >click here< To see all the boats in this series, >click here<11:31
Despite the Coronavirus pandemic, bait shrimping business is good
Over the past few years, the shrimping business has been struggling. Even the number of boats licensed to catch bait shrimp in Texas bays has dropped. There are currently only about 300 boats licensed to catch bait shrimp in Texas bay waters compared to 2,378 in 1988. Just days after Hurricane Hanna slammed into the Coastal Bend, those few bait shrimping boats were back at work to meet the public demand. “They have been selling as fast as we can get them. It is gone. We are steady every day; every day we need 200 pounds every day,”, video, >click to read< 09:22
Clifford Cooper, an early pioneer of the shrimping industry in Aransas Pass
Clifford Boyd Cooper (84) passed away on Saturday, July 25, 2020 at his home peacefully with his family at his side. He was born on November 16, 1935 to Oliver Claude and Daisy Marie Cooper in Bay City, Texas. Clifford was an early pioneer of the shrimping industry in Aransas Pass. He also shrimped off the coast of Africa and South America. He loved the open sea and filling his nets with shrimp from our beautiful Gulf of Mexico. He even taught net weaving to interested young men at Del Mar Tech College to help spur the shrimping industry. Later in life he worked for Gulf King Marine as maintenance/mechanic for their fleet of shrimp boats. >click to read< 08:31
