Monthly Archives: November 2020
$36 million in trade relief awarded to Maine lobstermen
Maine lobstermen have been awarded a total of $36,284,110.12 to date to help offset the financial harm they have experienced due to China’s retaliatory tariffs, according to a news release. The funding has been provided through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Seafood Trade Relief Program. Following a letter the Maine Delegation sent to President Trump in June 2019, the Administration issued a Presidential Memorandum that called on USTR and USDA to provide the lobster industry with the same form of financial assistance,,, >click to read< 08:50
Indictment: Fisherman stabbed crewmate in neck, wound patched with Krazy Glue
While on a commercial fishing boat 200 miles offshore, crew member Justin Warren stabbed another fisherman in the neck, causing a wound initially treated onboard with Krazy Glue, according to federal court records. Warren, 43, of Rockland, Maine, was a crew mate on the Portsmouth-based F/V Angela Michelle when the stabbing is alleged to have occurred and is charged with assault with a dangerous weapon “within the special maritime jurisdiction.” >click to read< 16:08
U.S. Coast Guard rescues seven in two missions off the Georgia coast – Video
The Coast Guard rescued seven people in two separate search and rescue cases Tuesday off the Georgia coast. In the first rescue, three people were hoisted from a life raft about 60 miles east of Tybee Island,,, In the second rescue, a separate Air Station Savannah Dolphin aircrew hoisted four survivors at 5:18 a.m. after the fishing vessel, Jimmy & Charlie, began taking on water near Egg Island. >Video, click to read< 15:13
South Australian reforms (catch shares) to put two-thirds of local commercial fishers out of business
A petition to address “loopholes” in the South Australian Government’s Marine Scalefish Fishery reforms has been launched by stakeholders who believe the changes will render the majority of local commercial fishers unviable. With just four days until the Government’s licence buyback scheme finishes, the Marine Fishers Association (MFA) has warned licences are at risk of being bought up by corporate traders,, “Unless loopholes are addressed, over two-thirds of our local commercial fishers will be unable to remain in business and South Australia risks losing its local fishing industry forever,” the MFA said. “This has already happened in other industry species; offshore and interstate investors already control over 65 percent of our rock lobster industry.” >click to read< 13:40
Lobster fishing must remain in season – ‘The federal government has allowed a regulatory system with unconstitutional provisions’
Wayne Easter, the P.E.I. MP who chaired the federal fisheries committee looking at moderate livelihood fisheries 21 years ago, says there are still questions to be resolved, but fishing out of season shouldn’t be one of them. In two decisions in 1999, known as Marshall I and Marshall II, the Supreme Court of Canada affirmed that Indigenous people have historic treaty rights to moderate livelihood fisheries. Easter’s committee was asked to examine the implications and made 28 recommendations. The current federal fisheries committee has begun another review. >click to read< 10:42
The last original Fisherman of Leigh has died at the age of 93
Ken Dolby was born in Leigh in 1927, and fished in his boat Britannia 2, LO199 for the greater part of his life. He was a member of a well-established fishing family of the same name, which has plied their trade in the Thames waters from Leigh for over 300 years. Wendy Noakes, his daughter, explains: “Our first known relative was Samuel Dolby, born in Leigh in 1797, and records show his son, Samuel born in 1821 was also a fisherman.” After that, each generation of Dolbys fished, leading to Ken’s father’s Alfred Moore Dolby, who was born in a cottage behind what was the original Bell Hotel. Ken Dolby was born in 22 Leigh Ville Grove, and started out on the boats with his father when he was 14. >click to read< 10:04
Behind the scenes with Seattle’s crab experts
It’s king crab season in the Bering Sea. That means around 300 people, including many from Fishermen’s Terminal in Seattle, the home port to the North Pacific Fishing Fleet, fly into Dutch Harbor, Alaska, for the harvest. And when king crab season is over, many of these fishermen and women switch to bairdi crab and snow crab. Which means they’ll be busy for four to five months and there will be a lot more crab on the market. As the executive director of Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers, a nonprofit trade association that represents the crab industry, Jamie Goen knows a lot about the work that brings crab from the bottom of the sea to our tables. >click to read< 09:19
Offshore Wind Industry Cheers Biden Win
Trade groups representing the United States’ offshore wind sector are hailing the election of Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States as significant to further growing the nation’s offshore wind capacity. Biden’s climate action plan calls for a 100% clean energy economy and net-zero emissions by 2050. This would means a renewed focus on renewable energy, including offshore wind, as the United States is likely to rejoin the Paris Agreement on climate change. Under the Biden Administration, it is expected that offshore wind will experience substantial growth from projects, supply chain development, and job creation, according to The Business Network for Offshore Wind, a non-profit that works to promote the offshore wind supply chain in the U.S. >click to read< 07:51
Clearwater sold for $1 billion, Mi’kmaq First Nations to control half of company
In a billion-dollar deal, Clearwater Seafoods Incorporated has been sold to a coalition of Mi’kmaq First Nations and Premium Brands Holdings Corporation. The two entities will each own 50 per cent of the new company.,, The deal has been unanimously approved by Clearwater’s board of directors but is subject to approval by shareholders, says a release from the company. The release says the deal signals a massive change in the Canadian fisheries sector, “catapulting First Nations into a leading global position in the seafood industry.” >click to read< 20:17
A Q&A With Nantucket Scalloper Carl Sjolund
Carl Sjolund has had his feet on the deck of a boat, fishing island waters for scallops, since he was a little boy. He has seen the shellfish fishery rise and fall. To say that fishing is in his blood is not to turn a phrase, but to state a simple fact. His father Rolf came to the island as a young man, from Norway, fresh out of the merchant marine, and fished Georges Bank. His son Jim scalloped with his dad since he was a kid, graduated from Massachusetts Maritime Academy, and is now captain of the 184-foot Northern Leader, fishing for cod off Alaska. Nantucket is also in his blood. When did you begin scalloping? I got my first scallop license at 12 years old. Charlie Sayle and I had a merger. He had an old boat, and I had an outboard motor, or I forget maybe it was the other way around.,, >click to read< 16:00
Always Top Quality! Your Seafreeze Ltd. Price Sheet for November 2020 Has Arrived!
Contact our sales team today! To review the complete price list from Seafreeze Ltd., >Click here< – “The only thing we treat our fish with, is respect” Seafreeze Ltd! >Click here to visit our website<! 12:47 
New Data Casts Doubt On Johnson’s Offshore Wind Scheme – industry has overestimated the technically accessible wind resource
The Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF) has written to the chairman of the Treasury Committee of the House of Commons providing new evidence for their inquiry into the Net-Zero target. The letter presents data from windfarm accounts showing that the wind industry has overestimated the technically accessible wind resource,, This new information shows that it will be necessary to introduce greater separation distances between wind turbines and wind farms, at greater costs. The letter draws attention to the evidence in the audited accounts of Burbo Bank Extension wind farm, recording payments made to another wind farm nearby, in compensation for reduced output caused by so-called “wake effects.” In effect, the Burbo Extension turbines have been taking the wind out of its neighbor’s sails. >click to read< 10:53
Brexit Trade Deal: UK is Open to a Sensible Fishing Compromise, Environment Secretary Says
Trade talks between the EU and the UK after Brexit have been at an impasse for months due to broad differences over fishing quotas, a level playing field, and governance. “There are still differences. On fisheries we’ve always been open to doing a sensible approach, looking potentially at agreements that might span a couple, three years for instance. The issue will become what are the sharing arrangements, how much mutual access do we allow in one another’s waters and that’s obviously a discussion that will happen annually,,, >click to read< 09:20
The limits on Crown regulation of Aboriginal and treaty rights
Acting on treaty right recognized in the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision 21 years ago in R v Marshall, the Sipekne’katik First Nation launched its moderate livelihood fishery in the waters off southwest Nova Scotia in early September. Since the fishery’s launch, some have suggested the Canadian government has broad authority to dictate how the Mi’kmaq’s treaty-based fisheries can operate. While the Court in Marshall (and in a subsequent, related decision in Marshall 2) acknowledged Canada could lawfully “regulate” the treaty right, regulate does not mean Canada may legislate and limit the treaty right in whatever way it sees fit. Far from it. As two law professors who teach Aboriginal law, we have decided to weigh-in to provide clarification. Our clear answer is that Canada’s actions, thus far, would not meet Constitutional muster. >click to read< 08:36
Fishing boat sinks after collision with cargo ship off Tynemouth coast
At 3.40pm on Sunday, the skipper of a 9.9m North Shields -based trawler made a distress call after a collision with a 1,700-tonne 81m cargo ship that had recently sailed from Blyth. The fishing vessel was badly damaged and started taking on water, leading to flooding in the engine room. UK Coastguard’s Humber Operations Centre called Tynemouth RNLI and it’s all-weather lifeboat went to the aid of the fishing boat and her two crew. A number of other nearby vessels also responded to the distress call, notably the offshore support vessel Ocean Marlin which launched a boat in case the fishermen needed immediate evacuation. >click to read< 17:56
Coast Guard suspends search for commercial fisherman who went overboard off Montauk
The Coast Guard suspended the search Sunday afternoon for a missing fisherman who went overboard 16 nautical miles south of Montauk Point, New York, Saturday. Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound watchstanders received the initial radio distress call via VHF Channel 16 at 11:20 p.m. from the commercial fishing vessel F/V Hope and Sydney, reporting that crew member Carl Whitney, 32, had gone overboard. The individual was reported wearing an orange t-shirt, jeans and carrying a green duffle bag. He was not wearing a personal floatation device. >click to read< 16:46
California crab fisherman are concerned the so-called ‘ropeless’ fishing gear, is not the answer
Is the so-called “ropeless” fishing gear the silver bullet for solving the perceived problem of marine mammal interactions in California’s crab fisheries. Several profit-driven environmental groups, including Oceana would like the public and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) to believe these baseless claims. That’s because these groups are ramping up efforts to force California’s historic and economically most important fishery – which helps create millions of dollars annually for working families – to adopt expensive, impractical and unworkable new fishing gear, which would force most crab fishermen out of business. By Johnny Atkinson >click to read< 15:33
Police Blotter: Colorado Man Steals Shrimpin’ Boat from Murrells Inlet Marina
Coast Guard searches for missing fisherman off Montauk, N.Y
NEW YORK – The Coast Guard is searching for a missing fisherman who went overboard 16 nautical miles south of Montauk Point, New York, Saturday. Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound watchstanders received a radio distress call via VHF Channel 16 at 11:20 p.m. from the commercial fishing vessel Hope and Sydney, reporting that crew member Carl Whitney, 32, had gone overboard. The individual was reported wearing an orange t-shirt, jeans and carrying a green duffle bag. He was not wearing a personal floatation device. >click to read< -USCG- 09:25
A thriving fishing industry
An article on the front page of the Aug. 4, 1966, Western World told the story. “Fishing activity in the Port of Bandon has definitely been on the increase during the past two weeks, reports Graydon Stinnett, owner of Bandon Seafood Market. “From an average of 21 fishing boats per day in July, mid-week count yesterday indicated 50 boats, and this number is apt to be raised by five or more per day, while the present season is in progress, said Stinnett. “Attracting a large number of California fishermen, Stinnett is now working at a peak capacity,,, >click to read< 08:13
Port of Ilwaco Boatyard abuzz: Skippers and crews get set for busy seasons
The boatyard has been even more abuzz than normal since arrival of a much-anticipated new 75-ton marine Travelift on Nov. 3. “Boats are getting bigger and wider and we want to modernize our facility to meet their needs,” Glenn said. The colossal new machinery has already eased haul-outs, as more boats begin to arrive, eager to complete annual maintenance ahead of upcoming fishing seasons, starting with Dungeness crab, typically in December. The new marine lift was assembled over two days outside the boatyard before making its first official haul out with the F/V Branko Storm on Nov. 5.,, >21 photos, click to read< 16:21
Number One? Bridlington could officially become the Lobster Capital of Europe
Moves are underway to officially promote Bridlington as the Lobster Capital of Europe. Academics believe the resort could attract thousands of new visitors by making the most of its unique lobster fishery. They say adopting marketing techniques used by similar American and Canadian fishing ports could put Bridlington on the global tourism map with more festivals and merchandising. And they want cafes and restaurants in the town to start putting lobster landed in Bridlington Harbour on the menu. For none of the 300 tonnes of shellfish currently landed there every year is actually available to eat locally. >click to read< 14:48
East Peoria businessman aims to take a bite out of Asian carp population in Illinois River
They worked all day on the Illinois River, tracking carp, casting nets and hauling the catch of the day into their 30-foot johnboats. By late afternoon, the fishermen had docked at different marinas located up and down the state’s arterial waterway, their boats heavy with thousands of pounds of dead and dying buffalo, bighead, silver and grass carp. Next, they trailered their boats behind heavy-duty pickup trucks and then drove one, two, three hours to a fish plant somewhere to sell their day’s work and to empty their loads so they could drive back home and prepare to fish another day. Usually, the next day.,,, >click to read< 11:51
Punitive New Rules Will Crush CA Dungeness Crab Fishing Families, Threaten Holiday Crab Traditions
This week, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) put into effect onerous new regulations that among other things, could delay or close the state’s iconic crab fishery if whales are present near the crab grounds and could economically devastate our coastal communities that rely on the fishing and seafood industry. Called the Risk Assessment Mitigation Program (RAMP), these punitive rules also include triggers for crab fishery closures that are more restrictive than even the strictest fishery laws in the nation, the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) and the Endangered Species Act (ESA). “Regulators seem to be more concerned about the optics in the media of the rare occurrence of an entangled whale than the fact that the populations of these marine mammals, which migrate off our coast, are skyrocketing, and may soon be eligible for removal from the Endangered Species List,” said Ben Platt, president of the California Coast Crab Association (CCCA). >click to read< 10:02
Coast Guard honors Oregon man with the Distinguished Public Service Award who saved 3 people from capsized commercial fishing boat
Curtis Green saw the 40-foot Darean Rose get stuck on a sand bar the day after Christmas 2019 as he worked the dock at Russell’s Marine Fuel & Supply, his family’s business in Charleston. Then the boat capsized. Green yelled for someone to do something. Then he looked around – and he got it done. “I saw the panic in their eyes, I could literally see the whites of their eyes as it was going down,” he said. “I just happened to be the closest one.” Video, >click to read< 07:46
Fishing tragedy: City of Galway at a standstill as father and son buried
When the funeral of Galway fishermen Martin and Tom Oliver left Claddagh church, the silence among hundreds of people lining the route was broken only by the roar of the river Corrib and the gentle sound of wind in canvas sails. Three Galway hookers had moored in the Claddagh basin, with musician Sharon Shannon on board the deck of one of the vessels playing soft airs on her accordion. Martin, who was almost 62, and his son Tom, aged 37 died within 24 hours of each other after a fishing accident on their potting vessel on the north side of Galway Bay last Monday. >click to read< 15:14
Canada contemplating new Aquaculture Act
The Canadian government has started a public consultation process to help develop an Aquaculture Act. In a discussion paper on its website, DFO said the proposed Aquaculture Act would define in Canadian federal law — some for the first time — the many aspects of aquaculture, including definitions of aquatic species and the practice of aquaculture itself. “It is proposed that the Act would also be forward-looking by being inclusive of emerging aquatic species for cultivation, as well as enabling aquaculture in Canadian offshore waters.” >click to read< 11:38
Shem Creek: Keeping the Lowcountry shrimping industry afloat
The Carolina Breeze leaves the dock every day at 6:00 a.m., with Captain Donnie Brown and his crew Joe, Ziggy, and Emily in tow. Taylor Tarvin — owner of Tarvin’s Seafood on Shem Creek and two boats, including the Carolina Breeze — says that while the business is easy to get into, it is not easy to stay in. He says that while he gets a lot of satisfaction out of supplying “a wholesome, healthy product for people to consume,” the business has become tough. Just 30 years ago, there were over 70 shrimp boats in Shem Creek. Now, there are only about 13. >video, click to read< 09:33
How a stolen shrimp boat ended up on an SC sandbar
Charlie Werner left his shrimp boat alone for maybe 15 hours on Halloween weekend, but it was enough time for the vessel to go missing, stolen in the dead of night. Werner discovered his boat, the Lila Lee, missing from the Marlin Quay Marina midday on Oct. 31, and camera footage later showed a man hop from another boat into this before taking off around 12 a.m. earlier that day. He reported the 40-foot boat missing to police that day. He worried he might never see it again. >click to read< They’ll need a little help, and a GoFundMe page is stablished, >click to donate, if you can< 07:31
