Daily Archives: October 13, 2020
Commercial fishermen rally in Digby, Ex-fisheries minister calls for pause on out of season fishing and protests
Several hundred commercial fishermen held a rally Tuesday in Digby, N.S., as tensions continued to simmer over expanded Mi’kmaw lobster fishing in the area. There were calls for a pause on all out-of-season fishing by First Nations and an audit of commercial licences awarded to bands following the 1999 Marshall decision that recognized their right to fish for a moderate livelihood. Afterward, some fishermen gathered outside a lobster facility in New Edinburgh suspected of buying lobster harvested by Mi’kmaq fishermen when the season is closed. There was an RCMP presence at the rally, which was held on the eve of the Wednesday opening of commercial fishing in Lobster Fishing Area 35 in the Bay of Fundy. >click to read< 22:03
“Challenging,” “Inconsistent,” “Strange” – Rotten tuna season comes to a close
It’s been a stinky season for Washington and Oregon commercial tuna fishermen. The final albacore tuna landings are offloading at local ports this week, ending was has been a tough overall 2020 fishery. “Challenging,” “Inconsistent,” “Strange” and “Worst ever” are some of the words used to sum up the season by local processors, commercial and recreational fishermen. Catch coast wide this season has been about two-thirds of the 20-year average, according to Western Fishboat Owners Association Executive Director Wayne Heikkila, who monitors the commercial tuna fishing season coast wide from California to Washington as part of non-profit group representing 400 albacore fishermen on the West Coast. photos, >click to read< 18:25
Three people and three dogs rescued from a 40-foot shrimp boat taking on water
The Coast Guard rescued three boaters and three dogs from a 40-foot shrimp boat taking on water Tuesday, near Pascagoula, Mississippi. Coast Guard Sector Mobile watchstanders received a radio call at 7:47 a.m. via VHF Chanel 16 from Coast Guard Cutter Jacob Poroo, reporting a person in the water holding on to a life ring in the Pascagoula Ship Channel. The Jacob Poroo’s 26-Foot Over the Horizon-IV crew and a Station Pascagoula 29-Foot Response Boat-Small II launched to assist. The name of the vessel is F/V Miss Angela. >click to read< 16:12
The US Coast Guard has accepted the Birdon America 47C MLB at the National Motor Lifeboat School
The US Coast Guard has accepted the Birdon America 47C MLB SLEP First Article Vessel at the National Motor Lifeboat School in Ilwaco, WA. The boat will undergo a four-month operational assessment by members of NMLBS. The NMLBS trains personnel to become elite Coast Guard surfmen. The 47 MLB is the standard lifeboat of the USCG. The boat is designed to weather hurricane force winds and heavy seas, capable of surviving winds up to 60 knots, breaking surf up to 20 ft and impacts up to three G’s; and, if the boat should capsize, it self-rights with all equipment remaining fully functional. >click to read< 13:24
Gov. Edwards announces program to help Louisiana shrimpers
Gov. John Bel Edwards announced the creation of a $250,000 program that will pay part of the cost shrimp fishermen will have to pay for mandated devices to protect sea turtles and other animals from getting trapped in their nets. The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries will operate the Skimmer Turtle Excluder Device Reimbursement Program (STEDRP), which will reimburse up to 60 percent of the cost for two skimmer Turtle Excluder Devices, commonly called TEDs. >click to read< 12:02
Brexit: Could a fight over British fish put a Brexit deal at risk? – Why the Brexit Talks Could Still Fail
For generations, boats have left this port to fish in the waters between France and England. Look across the water from Boulogne on a clear day and you can see Dover. It is just two and a half months until the end of the year, and the close of Britain’s transition period. If a Brexit trade deal has not been agreed by that point, Boulogne’s fishermen may face a truly profound change to their lives. Even if there is a deal, access to British coastal waters may be curtailed. If the UK leaves without an agreement, then the impact would probably be felt much more severely. >click to read< , Why the Brexit Talks Could Still Fail – >click to read<, Brexit: Fishing in Troubled Waters – >click to read< 10:30
Maine fishermen donate catch to food bank, local schools
Brian Pearce of North Yarmouth usually heads out on the 45-foot Gracelyn Jane from April or May through January, fishing for monkfish or groundfish, hake, haddock, pollock, redfish, and cod. As with most everything else, though, this year was different. When Coronavirus hit, the market for local fish, primarily restaurants and exports, was among the many casualties. Pearce, along with many Maine fishermen, found it wasn’t worth the time and cost to fish, so they tied up their boats. But early Monday morning, Pearce docked at the Portland Fish Exchange and unloaded about 2,000 pounds of pollock, hake, cod, redfish, and haddock after a quick overnight trip. >video, click to read< 09:20
Shipping disasters: The Race Against Catastrophe
In the last few days of 2018, as the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, Norway, lay cloaked in the long darkness of polar night, a shrimp trawler called the >F/V Northguider< ran aground off the coast of one of the islands. A gale howled. The engine room flooded with seawater. A Norwegian coast guard helicopter managed to quickly rescue the crew. The ship, though, remained behind, along with the 300,000 liters of diesel oil stored in its fuel tanks. An oil spill in the surrounding Nordaust-Svalbard nature reserve—home to walruses, polar bears, and a wealth of seabirds—seemed all but certain. >click to read< 07:52
