Daily Archives: November 14, 2020
Parents of missing West Kingston fisherman sue owner of sunken trawler for negligence
New Year’s Day 2019 was cruel for the family of John Ansay Jr. They learned early that morning that a sudden gale and turbulent seas had overtaken the fishing trawler Ansay worked on. Thirty-one-year-old Ansay and the boat’s captain, Oscar Diaz, Ansay’s uncle, were missing. Diaz had put out a mayday call at 1:30 a.m. as the F/V Mistress began taking on water 2½ miles southeast of Block Island. Rescue crews from the U.S. Coast Guard had fanned out over the area in search of the missing fishermen and the remnants of the 52-foot wooden boat. >click to read< 20:38
Offshore Wind Farm Threatens Tangier Family’s Conch Fishing Livelihood
A small group of Tangier watermen find themselves competing with Virginia’s biggest power company, Dominion Energy, for natural resources in an area just outside the Chesapeake Bay 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach. Dominion Energy is using a 2,135-acre site in federal waters – leased by the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals, and Energy – for its recently launched Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Project, a two-turbine, offshore wind test site. >click to read< 15:18
RCPM say a 74-year-old man faces assault charges in violent clash at Nova Scotia lobster pound
The RCMP says Yvon Thibault, of Digby County, faces two counts of assault stemming from an incident in New Edinburgh, N.S., on Oct. 14. A pound that stored Indigenous-caught lobster was ransacked as part of two clashes that police have said involved roughly 200 people at wharves in New Edinburgh and in Middle West Pubnico, N.S. Another man was arrested last month for allegedly assaulting Sipekne’katik Chief Mike Sack, also on Oct. 14., but RCMP Sgt. Andrew Joyce says there were two other assault victims that day and Thibault is not accused of assaulting Sack. >click to read< 13:21
Coast Guard medevacs commercial fisherman 60 miles southeast of Martha’s Vineyard with stroke like symptoms
The Coast Guard medevaced an injured fisherman 60 miles southeast of Martha’s Vineyard, Friday. At approximately 6 p.m., Coast Guard District One watchstanders received a notification from the crew of the commercial fishing vessel, F/V Persistence, reporting a 50-year-old crewmember displaying stroke-like symptoms and requested assistance. >Video, click to read< 12:16
Summer season a mixed bag for Port Townsend fishermen
With the summer season now well astern, many vessels of the Port Townsend fishing fleet have returned to Boat Haven to undergo routine maintenance and repairs. Joel Kawahara stayed in Washington waters for the summer season, aboard his 42-foot salmon troller, Karolee, based out of Quilcene. Jonathan Moore and his family recently returned to Port Townsend along with their 46-foot Little Hoquiam troller, Ocean Belle, following the close of the summer troll season in Alaska. Mike Carr and his 32-foot gillnetter Miss Melito also just hauled out in Port Townsend,,, >click to read< 10:42
Federal fisheries minister concerned about size of Mi’kmaq fishery in Cape Breton bay
Bernadette Jordan said Friday that while the government recognizes the Mi’kmaq treaty right to fish, the scale of the lobster harvest in the bay is exceeding proposals made by Indigenous fishers. “While lobster stocks are generally healthy, monitoring has recently indicated that fishing activities have significantly increased in St. Peters Bay,” the minister said in a statement. >click to read< 09:32
N.S. Seafood Alliance declares opposition to out-of-season moderate livelihood fishery – The Nova Scotia Seafood Alliance said it supports the treaty right, but it must be subordinate to limits set and policed by the government of Canada. >click to read<
Local Dungeness crab fishermen oppose new fish and wildlife regulations
The regulations are a product of concerns surrounding how often whales and other endangered species are getting caught in the ropes used to fish crabs. The regulations were met with some resistance from the local fishing community. However, conservationists argue the rules will do more good than harm to wildlife. Tim Obert, a fisherman, strongly opposes,,, “You’re driving down the street and you accidentally run over a squirrel or maybe you hit a deer on a mountain road, it doesn’t mean you go park your car in the garage and never turn it on again or never leave your house,” he said. Ben Platt, the President of the California Coast Crab Association, also opposes the regulations,,, >click to read< 08:13
