Daily Archives: October 26, 2020
B.C.’s commercial halibut season extended three weeks due to pandemic caused market disruptions
Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) said the closure, normally scheduled for Nov. 15, will now fall on Dec. 7 for the 2020 season. All groundfish hook-and-line harvesters wanting to participate in the extended halibut season will need to have the conditions of their licence amended prior to fishing past the original November closure. Additional sector-specific instructions on how to request the amendment will be forthcoming,, Meanwhile, costs to harvest, process and ship products have escalated as the sector tries to meet COVID-19 safety protocols. >click to read< 20:53
Ronnie Max Andrews, 52, enjoyed a career as a commercial fisherman, has passed away
Ronnie was the son of Eyela Merrill Stouffer of Pensacola, Florida, and the late Ronald Clinton Andrews. Ronnie spent his adult life on the water as a commercial fisherman along the East Coast and spent much of that time in the Brunswick County area. He was a great fisherman and shrimper and will be missed by all who called him a friend. At the time of his death, Ronnie was a valued friend and crewman aboard the Capt. C.L. Holden out of Shallotte Point. >click to read< 17:44
Zone C lobster council OK’s trawl limit plan for new whale protection rules
Zone C Lobster Management Council held a special meeting on the internet in late September to get an update on the situation from Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher and consider a zone-specific plan for gear modifications that will likely be required by NMFS. On Aug. 19, U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg gave NMFS nine months to craft new rules to protect endangered right whales from entanglement,,, DMR asked the state’s seven Lobster Zone Management Councils to come up with zone-specific proposals,,, Last week, the Zone C council met to consider the recommendations of its working group. >click to read< 16:07
“No one knew about this COVID thing,” says CEO that kept sick fishermen at sea
The CEO of a seafood company that kept COVID-infected fishermen at sea for three weeks has responded to public criticism with a statement and interview that leaves more questions than answers. Twenty-two of 25 crew members on one of the company’s ships contracted COVID-19 shortly after setting out to sea. The company has been under fire,,, Einar Valur’s statements in an interview with Vísir also seemed contradictory. Though he admitted the company “underestimated the conditions on board,” he also stated that “This is new. No one knew about this COVID thing. >click to read< 13:40
Stolen memorial plaque honouring Hull’s 6,000 lost fishermen is returned
There was outrage among Hull’s fishing community after mindless thieves stole the plaque from the Bullnose on St Andrew’s Quay. The area is the last point families could stand to say farewell as fishermen sailed out to the dangerous grounds around Iceland, Greenland and Russia. “The Bullnose means so much to so many people. It is an iconic and sacred place. It is where people saw their fathers, brothers or sons for the last time.” >click to read< 11:28
Ropeless fishing gear won’t save whales
If you live in one of California’s historic fishing communities like Bodega Bay, (or Coastal New England) you’ve probably heard the term “ropeless” crab fishing gear. That’s the new buzzword for equipment being promoted by environmental groups to solve the perceived problem of whale interactions with fishing gear. These groups have convinced the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to adopt onerous new regulations that will force crab fishermen to adopt expensive, impractical and unproven fishing gear that will put most of us out of business. The truth, however, is something different. How do we know this? Both the East Coast lobster fishery and the West Coast Dungeness crab fishery, each of which are made up of thousands of independent fishermen, have tested the pop-up ropeless gear and found it to be faulty. >click to read< 09:54
‘Deplorable Circumstances’ for Coronavirus Infected Freezer Trawler Crew
They’re out at sea and unable to go anywhere, watch men falling ill, but the processing of the fish continues, and they keep fishing; it is windy,” Finnbogi Sveinbjörnsson, head of the Union of the Residents of the West Fjords, “As our vice chairman so appropriately phrased it, ‘Fishermen work as long as they’re able to stand,’ but this is no joking matter,” he adds. He is referring to an issue widely discussed in Iceland over the weekend, where one after another, the crew members of the freezer trawler Júlíus Geirmundsson, owned by the fishing company Hraðfrystihúsið Gunnvör, fell ill while the trawler was out fishing and were denied the opportunity to return to harbor to be tested for COVID-19 until three weeks had gone by. >click to read< 08:53
