Daily Archives: December 10, 2020
UPDATED: Search suspended – Coast Guard, partners search for missing fisherman off Big Island
Multiple rescue crews are searching for a 32 year-old male who is reported to have fallen overboard late Wednesday. At 4:50 p.m., Wednesday, Sector Honolulu watchstanders received a phone call from the master of the commercial fishing vessel F/V Sea Goddess reporting the situation. Sector Honolulu watchstanders immediately issued an urgent marine information broadcast and launched rescue crews including partner agency assets. >click to read< 21:50
Hazardous Bar Crossing Procedures: Coast Guard urges safety, preparedness for the 2020-2021 Dungeness crab season
The Coast Guard urges commercial fishermen to ensure vessel safety to prevent maritime emergencies before the opening of the Dungeness crab season scheduled to begin Dec.16. The Coast Guard reminds all commercial fishermen that prior to crossing a restricted bar between sunset and sunrise, they must notify the Coast Guard on VHF-FM channel 16 or 22A to provide their vessel name, position, number of people aboard, destination and any vessel limitations. After crossing, they are required to report back a safe transit or otherwise. >click to read< 19:59
Family owned working waterfront fishing businesses displaced by waterfront developments on Great Lakes
For three generations, the Minor family, today brothers Carson and Landon and their father Paul, have been up before first light to board their fishing tug and make their way to their fishing grounds on Lake Erie. Most mornings, the Minors leave from Port Colborne, Ont., Each afternoon they return to the port to unload their fresh catch of perch and pickerel.,, Without warning, the unloading zone their family had used for more than 70 years was blocked off. They were forced to move to a new port further away from their fishing grounds, increasing travel time and putting them at greater risk during bad weather.,, The Minors’ story is not new, nor is it isolated. Working waterfront access is being affected by coastal gentrification, also called “coastal grabbing” >click to read< 16:47
Sipekne’katik First Nation Chief frustrated, ceases lobster fishery talks with feds
In a letter sent Wednesday to Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan, Sipekne’katik Chief Mike Sack says the department has neither the “desire nor the ability” to recognize and implement the Mi’kmaq band’s constitutionally protected treaty right to fish. Sack expresses frustration with the nation-to-nation discussions and says Ottawa has tried to lump his band’s treaty rights in with regulation of commercial licenses. A spokesperson in the minister’s office was not immediately available for comment. >click to read< 14:31
Family of fisherman lost at sea, Michael Porper Jr., thanks public
It’s been more than two weeks since Michael Porper Jr. was lost at sea, and his family continues to struggle with grief. The 38-year-old Gloucester native was among the four crewmen aboard the dragger F/V Emmy Rose when it went down early Nov. 23 off Provincetown. “It’s difficult, sometimes it’s really hard — just too much,” said his father, Michael. Porper said his son, known as Mikey, was born, raised and attended schools in Gloucester, and started working on fishing boats when he 15. “He really never stopped,” he added. “His great-grandfather was a famous fisherman, and he wanted want to be just like him,” he said, referring to Capt. Robert Porper, noted by author Gordon Thomas as a “highliner” in the fishery, his vessels catching more halibut than any other Gloucester schooners. >click to read< 11:24
Confined Space: Trawler engineer died after asphyxiation by gas, says Marine Accident Investigation Branch
An engineer on a fishing trawler died after he was asphyxiated by gas that leaked into a refrigerated saltwater tank where he was working without any safety precautions, an investigation has found. Three other crew members were also “nearly overcome” when they tried to rescue second engineer William Ironside on the trawler Sunbeam in Fraserburgh on August 14 2018. A Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) report found the fatal accident happened because Mr Ironside entered the tank, which was an enclosed space, “without any of the safety precautions normally associated with such an activity”. >click to read< 09:29
Was an Arctic Fox Actually Rescued From an Iceberg Miles Offshore by Commercial Fishermen?
Once readers clicked on the ad, they landed on an 80-slide story with the headline: “These Fishermen Noticed Something Unbelievable Atop An Iceberg… What Was It?” It detailed the story of a fishing boat crew that found an Arctic fox on an iceberg. We were a bit surprised to find that this story was true. The crew was from South Labrador in Canada. On Dec. 9, 2020, we reached out to one of the crew members, Alan Russell, who told us that the use of the word “unbelievable” was “perfect. ”Yes it took us by surprise for sure. Me and my father fished our entire life and never seen anything like it! May never see it again. Links, photos, and a real fact check, >click to read< 08:26
Massachusetts Lobstermen Raise Concerns Over Proposed Whale Regulations
At a public hearing on Tuesday, the Massachusetts Department of Marine Fisheries (DMF) shared its recommendations to extend a seasonal commercial gear closure to areas north and east of the Cape from February 1 through April 30. “I’m just trying to plan for the future of fisheries. I mean, if we have a closure this will really close down the state to any type of income,” said Mike Lane, a fisherman who asked whether the state would require modifications to other kinds of fishing gear. Officials were unable to provide an economic impact report based on these recommendations,,, (someone that was there said there was a lot of ropeless chatter) >click to read< 07:30
