Monthly Archives: August 2020
4,000 wind chimes displayed in hopes of large catch in city hit by 2011 tsunami Great East Japan Earthquake
The wind chimes have been hung at four commercial buildings facing onto Kesennuma Bay and that opened in July. At one of them called Mukaeru, a local designer has painted fireworks on a passage wall in fluorescent colors. Wind chimes are traditionally thought to drive away evil, and the ones on display have been purified at a shrine. Each of them also bears a strip of paper inscribed with a prayer for a large catch. The wind chimes are illuminated at night, creating a fantastic atmosphere for visitors. >click to read< 15:52
Fishing vessel taking on water at New Bedford City Pier III
First responders were down at Pier III Monday morning for a call of a vessel sinking. Upon arrival, they found the fishing vessel Tom Slaughter III taking on water, said John Ryan of the Port of New Bedford. He said the call came in just before 8 a.m. There were no immediate details as to why the vessel was taking on water. >photos. click to read< 13:28
Lobster may lead to Coronavirus treatment
A Maine-based researcher and professor is optimistic a treatment for the global pandemic could be hiding in plain sight and Maine waters: in lobsters’ circulatory fluid, analogous to blood. That fluid, called hemolymph, is seen by most as trash — a throwaway byproduct that’s nothing more than production waste in lobster processing after they’re caught by fishermen. Lobsters’ hemolymph holds a protein that’s worked as an antiviral on herpes and shingles and may fight the coronavirus, Robert Bayer said. >click to read< 12:21
Consultation lacking on decision to reactivate licenses for Indigenous communities
The reactivation of dormant lobster fishing licences by the federal government has prompted a terse statement from the P.E.I. Fishermen’s Association (PEIFA) and the Maritime Fishermen’s Union (MFU). The two organizations say they were left out of consultation over the reactivation of 10 lobster licences by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) in the Lobster Fishing Area (LFA) 25, located on the western end of the Northumberland Strait between P.E.I. and New Brunswick.,,, The statement said fishermen were “frustrated” by the lack of consultation prior to the decision and called for the federal government to bring together Indigenous and non-Indigenous fishermen’s organizations. >click to read< 09:54
Record NSW Coke Bust? Police find tonne of suspected cocaine on a commercial fishing boat
An unusual-looking route bought the Coralynne to the attention of authorities and, as investigators boarded the fishing vessel, it didn’t take long to confirm their suspicions — it was allegedly carrying more than a tonne of what presumptive testing suggests is cocaine. As police boarded the boat, a fire broke out in the engine room. It was extinguished before officers found what they allege was more than a tonne of drugs that were sitting inside the boat. There was no attempt made to conceal the cocaine, >photos, click to read< 08:33
Fishing Boat Catches Great White Shark while dragging off Barnegat Inlet
Commercial fishermen never really know what they’re going to find when they pull up their nets, but Ocean County fisherman Timothy Brindley never expected what he found. Brindley and his crew of the Viking Rose were trawling out in the Atlantic Ocean just 2 1/2 miles off the coast of Barnegat Light when he saw a Great White Shark in his net as it was pulled out of the ocean.,, He works out of the Viking Village Commercial Fishing Dock on Long Beach Island which is home to over 40 commercial fishing boats. >photos, click to read< 07:32
Seiner’s new lease of life
The wooden La Sardane was built in 1977, and after a few years fishing for its new skipper, it was clear that an overhaul would not be far away as maintenance was becoming increasingly complex. A newbuild was not an option. So Jérémie Gourret went to naval architect Coprexma and Chantier Naval Hénaff for a refit that brought in skills from across the region. The main part of the work involved lifting the gunwales and the transom, and 
creating a wheelhouse to improve comfort on board. Naval architect Yves Le Perron explained that the yard replaced the upper part of the bow section, refitted the fishroom and replaced the working deck, and the new wheelhouse provides a better view over the deck – which is critical for a small purse seiner which is necessarily fitted with a lot of rigging and crew on deck. photos, >click to read< 11:38
A community mourns loss of Yakama fisherman Simon Sampson and wife, Diane
With his wife by his side, Simon Sampson fought for his Yakama treaty hunting and fishing rights until he died on June 14. He was 71. Two weeks later, on June 28, his wife of 50 years, Diane Sampson, died from COVID-19 complications. She was 69. Their deaths have left somber clouds over their hometown of Toppenish on the Yakama reservation and along the Columbia River, where the Yakamas have fished since time immemorial. In town, the Sampsons were community activists working to improve public safety, education and good will to others. On the river, Sampson known as the Slammin Salmon Man, was a voice for tribal fishermen and their indigenous fishing rights preserved in the treaty. Sampson was fighting a federal conviction in the U.S. Court of Appeals of the Ninth Circuit when he died. >click to read< 10:30
Five B.C. First Nations say salmon decision shows systemic racism at DFO
The five Nuu-Chah-Nulth First Nations are upset that Ottawa decided to give a surplus allocation of salmon — which arose this year due to reduced recreational fishing during the COVID-19 pandemic — to commercial fishers rather than to the First Nations. Clifford Atleo, lead negotiator for one of the nations who is also called Wickaninnish, says he feels sports and commercial troll fishers are given more rights to fish in the waters off the west coast of Vancouver. He says the latest decision to shut First Nations fishers out of an opportunity to catch more chinook salmon this year shows systemic racism is “alive and well” within the federal fisheries department. >click to read< 08:52
Photos: Coast Guard rescues 3 adults and a juvenile from a sunken shrimp boat near Biloxi
The Coast Guard rescued four people early Saturday morning from a commercial shrimping vessel taking on water near Biloxi, Mississippi. Three adults and one child were recovered safely without any medical concerns. Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Mobile received a report around 4:30 a.m. that the vessel Cajun Made was taking on water reportedly at a high rate of speed approximately a half mile offshore Biloxi. >click to read< 21:13
Federal officials approve Steller and California sea lions kill program along the Columbia River
As expected, federal officials on Friday approved a program to kill more than 700 sea lions along a nearly 200-mile stretch of the Columbia River and its tributaries in an effort to protect salmon at risk of extinction. The program is a significant step-up in existing efforts, and will be in place for five years. Targeted are both Steller and California sea lions, which will be darted with lethal levels of tranquilizing drugs by authorized teams from states and tribes. >click to read< 14:13
American Fishermen Call on State Department to Help Captain Illegally Detained in British Virgin Islands
During the week of June 8, the government of the island of Tortola, in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), detained the documented U.S. fishing boat Rebel Lady, arrested Captain Michael Foy, held the foreign crew without charge, and confiscated 8,000 pounds of tuna and swordfish valued at more than $60,000. Captain Foy was initially denied bail by the local magistrate, Later today, the Tortola High Court will decide on his appeal of that decision. Captain Foy has been imprisoned 67 days as of this writing. The American Sword and Tuna Harvesters urge all relevant agencies of the United States Government, and specifically the Department of State, to take all possible actions to obtain justice for Captain Foy. >click to read< 12:14
Veteran fisherman Tom Lindberg tried to save his deckhands
The daughter of the veteran Cobble Hill fisherman who died when the Arctic Fox II capsized in the waters off Washington state said her father put the deckhands’ lives ahead of his own as heavy waves crashed onto the boat in the pitch black night. Tom Lindberg, the 76-year-old skipper of the tuna troller, and another fisherman died Aug. 11 after the boat capsized about 136 kilometres offshore of Cape Flattery, which is just south of Port Renfrew. The third fisherman was found alive in a life boat by U.S. Coast Guard officers responding to the vessel’s distress call. Paula Lindberg was told there was only 20 minutes between when the mayday call was put out around 2 a.m. and when the boat went down which is “incredibly fast.” >click to read< 11:07
The F/V Martha Rose: her catch, crew, and mission – As Fresh as it Gets
Three times a week, the Martha Rose sets out of Menemsha’s cozy harbor and, engine roaring, begins the 14-hour journey to the local scalloping beds. In weather fair or foul, the 77-foot fishing vessel chugs out of Menemsha Bight, rounds the nose of Aquinnah, and then charts a steady course to the southeast. The sea scallop beds currently designated as fishable lie one hundred miles out, and some thirty or forty fathoms down. Once the Martha Rose arrives, her crew of three waste no time putting out the ship’s dredge and preparing the deck to bring in the first haul. photos, >click to read< 09:26
Historic fishing boat gets another chance – “an incredible piece of our region’s maritime history”
Kent Craford’s wife used to joke that she’d probably have to bury him in the old gillnet boat he bought on a whim when they were young and broke and that for years his children called “the rusty boat.” Many people’s boat dreams have sunk at the dock — to the despair of marina managers everywhere. But not the John M, Craford’s 113-year old wooden fishing boat. Yes, it nearly sank one day in 2010 when the pump failed and rainwater filled it. That was a turning point. >click to read< 07:55
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for August 14, 2020
Legislative updates, Bill updates, Calendar, >Click here to read the Weekly Update<, to read all the updates >click here<, for older updates listed as NCFA >click here<20:00
Dear Mr. Pentony and Dr. Hare: On behalf of the MAFMC I am writing to express our deep concern about the plan to redeploy observers
On behalf of the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, I am writing to express our deep concern about the plan to redeploy observers on vessels in the Greater Atlantic Region on August 14, 2020. Given the continued transmission of the COVID-19 virus, we do not believe the observer program can be safely operated at this time. >click to read< 14:49
For New England lobstermen, resilience in ‘a season of uncertainty’
This is a tough season so far for Ms. Rosen, but over her 15 years of lobstering off Vinalhaven, Maine, she’s always been a better fall fisherman, she says. This season is like no other – the lobsters are slow to appear, but more than that, the coronavirus has caused trade to plummet and tourists to stay home. Rosen is selling her lobster for $3.35 per pound – a dollar less than last year – and she’s torn between wanting to catch more and worrying about flooding the market by catching too much. To supplement, she picked up a job with UPS in the afternoons after fishing. Ms. Rosen often fishes for her own bait rather than buying it.,, On Cape Cod, Glen Sveningson has been getting about $5.30 a pound wholesale, but it’s starting to fall. “Last year was one of the best years I’ve seen,” he says. >click to read< 13:17
Prince William Sound harvest nears 19M salmon
Purse seine and drift gillnet harvests of salmon continue in earnest this week in Prince William Sound,,, The five year even year average for humpies through this date is 29 million fish. where the overall harvest has jumped from 11.2 million to 20.5 million salmon in a week, including some 17.6 million humpies. ADF&G’s Charlie Russell in Cordova said wild stocks of pinks this year have performed above average and will likely total some 6 million to 7 million fish, while hatcheries are likely this year to get about 50 percent of their forecast. PWS harvests of sockeye salmon rose from 902,000 a week ago to 924,000 on Aug. 12, while overall harvest totals for Chinook chum and coho salmon showed no significant growth. >click to read< 11:07
Commercial fishing sails into final chapter
The final nail in the coffin? According to the news, the traditional mom-and-pop style operations would move out of the Great Lakes for good, and leave the door open only for large, investor-style operations to take over the industry. “What it does, it finally just chokes us out,” said Amber Peterson, operator of The Fish Monger’s Wife, one of the remaining commercial fisheries. “It doesn’t even offer us the dignity of a quick death.” >click to read< stories related to this post, >click here< 10:15
West Australian crabber invents new pot, triples his catch rate, and has best season in 15 years
It is an industry that has suffered disastrous blows including a marine heatwave in 2011, flood waters that caused the stock to decimate and a local industry shutdown for three years. However, managing director Peter Jecks said this year was the best season in a long time. At the start of the 2019/2020 season the Jecks family, who own and operate the fishery, were faced with a dilemma that saw them invest more than $400,000 into developing a plastic-injection molded crab pot. Mr Jecks said it turned out to be a revelation in catching efficiencies. photo’s, video >click to read< 09:23
Hero fishermen used tidal & weather information to find Galway paddleboarders
The mother of one of the two missing paddleboarders dramatically rescued has hailed the hero fishermen who found them and said: “We are forever indebted.” Patrick Oliver, 38, and his 18-year-old son Morgan correctly worked out their location off the Aran Islands using tidal and weather information. Speaking to RTE radio, Sara’s mum, Helen Feeney, described the rescue as a miracle. Asked about how the girls are doing, she said: “They’re wonderful now, really. I suppose they’re overwhelmed. They’re very grateful. >click to read< 07:53
The “Lobster Lady” is honored as Grand Marshal for Sea Goddess Coronation
At the 73rd Sea Goddess Coronation luncheon Aug. 8, visitors honored the 2020 Grand Marshal for the parade, who is Virginia Oliver (also known as “The Lobster Lady”). Oliver recently celebrated her 100th Birthday and is the oldest licensed lobster fishing person in the state of Maine. >click to read< 17:58
‘weak and tired’ but ‘thankful’ – Fisherman Patrick Oliver ‘couldn’t sit at home’ when he heard two women were missing
The fisherman who rescued two young women clinging to the buoy of a lobster pot off Inis Oirr after 15 hours in the water has said they were “fairly shook” and “delighted” when he found them. Patrick Oliver and his son Morgan (18) found the women, aged 17 and 23, around 20 miles out from Furbo Beach in Co Galway where they had been paddle boarding on Wednesday evening. Mr Oliver, from Claddagh, said the women spent the night on their paddleboards and held onto each other overnight. He said when daylight came on Thursday morning they saw a buoy, paddled towards it and clung onto it until they were found. >click to read< 14:01
CHA-CHING!!! Vineyard Wind to pay town $34.4 million in mitigation money
Vineyard Wind has agreed to pay the town $34.4 million over the next 45 years as financial mitigation for the 84-turbine offshore wind farm it’s proposed 14 miles southwest of Madaket that some town officials, preservationists, fishermen and environmentalists see as potentially environmentally and visually devastating. But Mary Chalke sees it as the least they can do. No amount of money or mitigation, she said, can reverse the environmental impact the wind farm will have on the marine animals that inhabit the waters around the island ,,, >click to read< 12:14
A family of crabbers – Tradition provides a through line for generations
With his orange gloved hands, my dad pops the shell off the crab, then twists the crab in half and pulls the guts off, and then puts the crab halves in the tote beside him. We’re processing Dungeness crab at Mickey’s Fishcamp. My dad tells me when his mother first came up to live in Wrangell, she worked as crab shaker at the local cannery. Crabbing and shaking run in our family. We bought these crabs from my son, Mitch Mork, who’s deck-handing for his dad this summer, along with my two grandsons, Owen, 9, and Chatham, 6. They’re working 225 pots around the Wrangell area. Mitch crabs partially for work but mostly to hang out with his dad. He’s also teaching my grandkids how to work hard and showing them that being an employee isn’t their only option in life. >click to read< 11:05
Big turnout for Winter Harbor lobster boat races
Blessed by near perfect weather, 88 boats signed up to power up the course between the Schoodic Peninsula and Grindstone Neck in a slate of 29 races that saw some tight competition and a new diesel-powered lobster boat speed record — well, maybe — set. There were plenty of stars in this year’s event, but the “supernova” had to be Cameron Crawford’s 28-foot, 1,050-horsepower Wild Wild West. Winter Harbor always seems to bring out a good mix of boats familiar to racing fans and boats that are brand spanking new. >click to read< 08:58
SCRUB OBSERVERS ON FISHING TRIPS!
From all indications, on August 14, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration commercial fishing monitors will be back looking for a journey unless NOAA steps in and waives the requirement for data-collecting observers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The information human observers collect can be temporarily gathered through electronic surveillance, but a momentary waiver has to come directly through your two U.S. Senators and one U.S. Representative in Washington. Let them know as soon as possible because if you don’t email or call them now, don’t think anyone else is going to do this for you. >click to read< 08:11
Apprehension: Young deckhands backed out of fatal F/V Arctic Fox II trip just before fishboat departed
Two men who were supposed to crew the boat decided to leave money on the table and walk away before it hit the open ocean. Raymond and Anthony Dixon, twins from the Nanaimo area, were on board the F/V Arctic Fox II as new deck hands with Captain Tom Lindberg when they sailed out of Cowichan Bay Marina on Sunday, Aug. 2. Originally, there was another deckhand, Jessie Gilbert, who had actually recruited Raymond. But the day before Raymond was due to arrive in Cowichan Bay, Gilbert had to go home sick. So Raymond recruited Anthony, who was hired immediately. It would have been the 19-year-old brothers’ first commercial fishing trip. >click to read< 06:53
Brothers sensed danger and didn’t stay on boat that later capsized – In Victoria, Dixon and his brother met the boat’s owner, Larry Teague, who told them they have to keep an eye out for boats because Lindberg’s eyesight was poor. Dixon believes Lindberg was in his early 80s. >click to read<10:04
Covid-19 Transmission and Mandatory On-Board Observers
You have two Senators and one Member of Congress representing you in Washington. If you are concerned with the recent NOAA/NMFS decision to once again require their observers on board commercial fishing vessels,, you should let them know, and you should let them know ASAP, Feds the observers will be back and looking for rides on August 14, w/links,,, More on Covid-19: We know that research cruises by the R/V Bigelow have been cancelled for (at least) the rest of this year. There must be a compelling Covid-19 related reason for this, and I’d suspect for the fact that NOAA/NMFS has been making it awfully hard to get solid info on where their research vessels are or aren’t,, Captains and crew members know the people who work with them,, On the other hand, mandatory fisheries observers are about as far from necessary as one can get in this pandemic year. While they unknowingly will be putting fishermen at risk, in actuality all they will be doing will be providing government scientists with data points for them to add to data sets that in instances go back fifty years or more. By Nils Stolpe >click to read< 15:35
