Daily Archives: August 19, 2020

UPDATE: 17th Coast Guard District to conduct maintenance on VHF radio system – anticipate intermittent service outages

JUNEAU, Alaska – The 17th Coast Guard District is scheduled to conduct maintenance on its VHF radio system Thursday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Due to technical difficulties, today’s scheduled maintenance was postponed. The Coast Guard encourages all mariners throughout Alaska to remain vigilant and have a redundant means of communication with them such as: EPIRBs/PLBs (most highly recommended), Satellite messengers (second most highly recommended) Followed by: Cellphone, when in range, Satellite phone, High frequency radio communications,,, >click to read< 21:40

Sockeye Collapse: First Nations call for halt to B.C. salmon fishery on the Fraser River

First Nations leaders in British Columbia are calling for an emergency order from the federal government to close the sockeye salmon fishery on the Fraser River and declare it exhausted. “Without a doubt, it’s collapsed,” said Robert Phillips, an executive with the First Nations Summit and First Nations Leadership Council of B.C., in an interview with Global News on Wednesday. In an Aug. 14 report, the Pacific Salmon Commission projected a record low return this year, with just 283,000 salmon expected to make it to spawning grounds. It’s a less than a third of a projection in July, when as many as 940,000, >click tp read< 19:11

‘Comeback Calamari’ – Cranston Chef Star In Democratic Convention

As appetizing as calamari might be to foodies across the country, its off-the-charts popularity among Rhode Islanders likely wasn’t known to the rest of the nation until Tuesday night. Calamari, typically prepared in Rhode Island with garlic, parsley and sliced cherry peppers, found its unlikely way onto the national stage during the Democratic National Convention. As states cast their votes for Joe Biden or Bernie Sanders in a series of 30-second videos, Cranston native John Bordieri, the executive chef at Iggy’s Boardwalk Lobster and Clam Bar in Warwick, appeared on a beachfront with state Democratic Chairman Joseph M. McNamara, who cast 34 of the state’s 35 votes for Biden. Video, >click to read< 16:10

Andrew Furey sworn in as 14th premier of Newfoundland and Labrador

The surgeon and charity CEO from a political family was elected Liberal leader Aug. 3 and will replace Dwight Ball to become the 14th premier of the province. Furey, the son of Senate Speaker George Furey, was sworn in during a ceremony at Government House in St. John’s this morning. The new premier, who has never held public office and does not have a seat in the provincial legislature, will take questions at a news conference later today. Furey will inherit a troubling financial situation in Newfoundland and Labrador, with officials attributing a $2.1-billion deficit to falling oil prices and pandemic-related spending. The new premier will face the likelihood of rising electricity rates due to cost overruns from the Muskrat Falls dam and will have to manage a struggling offshore oil and gas industry. >click to read< 15:04

Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 72′ Steel Shrimper / Groundfish Dragger, Cat 3412, 2 Cummins gen sets

To review specifications, information and 2 photos, >click here< To see all the boats in this series, >click here< 13:46

Alaska’s wild salmon are getting smaller

For years, people in Alaska have been noticing that wild salmon were getting smaller, but the reasons have been unclear. In the new study, published August 19 in Nature Communications, researchers compiled and analyzed data collected over six decades (1957 to 2018) from 12.5 million fish by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. This unprecedented dataset enabled them to see patterns of body size changes for four species of salmon, Chinook, chum, coho, and sockeye, across all regions of Alaska. The results showed that the decreases in body size are primarily due to salmon returning to their spawning grounds at younger ages than they have in the past. >click to read< 11:24

Seattle fishing boat outbreak suggests antibodies protect against coronavirus infection

Crew members from a Seattle-based fishing boat that experienced an explosive outbreak of the novel coronavirus have serendipitously provided what could be the first direct evidence that antibodies can protect people from reinfection. Blood samples collected before the vessel sailed in May showed that three of the 122 people aboard had robust levels of neutralizing antibodies, the type that block the virus from entering human cells, indicating they had been previously infected and recovered. All three were spared during the shipboard outbreak, which quickly spread to more than 85% of the crew. >click to read< 08:18

A Coast Guard investigation is underway into the capsizing of a Kodiak fishing boat

Lexie Preston, a U-S Coast Guard Petty Officer based in Juneau, said two boats collided near Whale Pass, about 22 nautical miles east of Kodiak. Preston says the Denise Marie rolled after it collided with the Alaska Eagle.,, The owner of the Denise Marie, Michael Patitucci said he and his three crew members were just wrapping up a pink salmon opener on the Denise Marie – but it wasn’t just any opener. Patitucci, who is 65, said he felt a satisfaction he had never experienced before – as if he had finally perfected the art of seining – that the crew, the boat and the fish had all been in sync. Then suddenly, they were all in the water, after the Alaska Eagle hit the stern of the Denise Marie, basically rear-ending it. >click to read< 06:42