Daily Archives: August 25, 2020

Opinion: Been a lot about the Observer Program out there lately. My question is, why are they needed?!!

When our boats come to unload their catch, NOAA people are there to report their landings, and if they caught too much haddock, cod or flounder, or other species that are not allowed, the owner could face a fine. Of course, Electronic monitoring is an alternative to that. This would show what they caught each and every tow, thus not needing an observer that many can’t afford, and second it should be a NOAA financial obligation, not placed on our fishermen. There are so few of them left. There is a lot to think about, but the bottom line is, it should be a financial obligation of the government to harvest the government required data. Thank You, Sam Parisi, Gloucester 19:15

Seattle Entrepreneur and Unalaska Businessman to Start Flight Co-op Between Unalaska and Anchorage

The community of Unalaska/Dutch Harbor has been without reliable air service since a fatal plane crash on the island late last year. Now, two people are promoting a new idea that they say could help address the community’s persistent travel problems: a flight co-op to protect people flying between Anchorage and Unalaska. Their goal is to sign up 5,000 corporate clients and individuals before launching, Chaffetz said. With that many people, he said airlines that fly between Unalaska and Anchorage would be forced to listen.  “By creating a membership, kind of like a Costco,,, >click to read< 17:27

Anti-Commercial Fishing Lawsuit demands NC coastal fishing reforms

The N.C. Coastal Fisheries Reform Group, a nonprofit organization, has said the degradation of marine fisheries is the most significant environmental issue facing the state, and it is going to court to seek change. Joe Albea, a spokesman for the organization, said that “vast schools of croaker and gray trout all over North Carolina in the sounds and along the beach” were present in the 1970s and ’80s. “Through the years we have lost those great schools of fish,” he said. Brent Fulcher, whose fishing vessel, the Micah Bell, is named as a defendant“,, Glenn Skinner, executive director of the trade group the N.C. Fisheries Association, believes the lawsuit is without merit. >click to read< 14:44

New Brunswick: US company plans to build a lobster distribution warehouse in Bayside, upsetting some neighbors.

Little Bay Lobster of Newington, N.H., is proposing a 2,300-square-metre building that can hold as much as 300,000 pounds of live lobster. Owner, Jonathan Shafmaster says the company has been looking for a spot to set up in New Brunswick for over two years. “We have run out of space and we can’t expand,” Shafmaster said. “We buy a lot of lobsters in Canada and you have a very well-managed fishery.” He said Little Bay Lobster buys over two million pounds of Canadian lobsters annually, and the majority of the crustaceans sent to the Bayside warehouse will come from this country. But the proposed location for the metal-clad building, on a former gravel pit property on the St. Croix River, has Gary McDougall in a boil. His home would look down on the building. >click to read< 10:07

Mayday – Mayday – Mayday: Tuna boat throws curveballs to new owners

The last thing any fisherman ever wants to do is place a mayday call because their boat is sinking, but for Capt. Adam Hall and the F/V Tommy John, that’s exactly what happened late in the night on Saturday, July 25, about a 20-hour voyage off the south Washington coast. Hall and boat co-owner Greg Surgener of Southern California-based Surgener Fisheries sank big dollars into purchasing the Tommy John, moored at the time in San Diego. The duo wanted to find a boat to tuna and crab fish and felt the 50-footer was the right fit for their needs. Named for retired four-time Major League Baseball All-Star pitcher Tommy John, nicknamed “The Bionic Man,” the vessel was specifically built for tuna 40 years ago. >click to read< 08:48

Marco now a Tropical Depression, Laura expected to Strengthen into a Hurricane today

Marco – Maximum sustained winds are near 30 mph (45 km/h) with higher gusts. Additional weakening is expected,,, This is the last public advisory issued by the National Hurricane Center on Marco. >click to read<  Tropical Storm Laura – On the forecast track, the center of Laura will move away from Cuba and over the southeastern Gulf of Mexico this morning. Laura is then forecast to move over the central and northwestern Gulf of Mexico tonight and Wednesday, approach the Upper Texas and Southwest Louisiana coasts on Wednesday night and move inland near those area on Thursday. >click to read< 08:01