Daily Archives: December 13, 2020
The nations oldest fishing port’s lobster trap tree survives
The country’s oldest fishing port is celebrating the holidays once again with a community Christmas tree made from a stack of lobster traps, ornamented with lights and, soon enough, buoys painted by local children. “There is something really special about the whole thing,” said David Brooks,,, The lobster trap tree outside the Gloucester police station was put together this year during a nor’easter,,, Brooks and eight elves assembled the tree, The traps used to assemble the tree are supplied by the Brooks Trap Mill in Thomaston, Maine, and coordinated by a local supplier, Three Lantern Marine. “They have been huge supporters,” Brooks said. (Thank You!) photos, >click to read< 17:58
Are Temperatures and Sea Levels Rising Dangerously? Hardly
There are two widely held climate-change beliefs that are simply not accurate. The first is that there has been a statistically significant warming trend in the U.S. over the last 20 years. The second is that average ocean levels are rising alarmingly due to man-made global warming. Neither of these perspectives is true; yet both remain important, nonetheless, since both are loaded with very expensive public policy implications. To refute the first view, we turn to data generated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for the relevant years under discussion. >click to read< 14:24
Harbour seals prime suspect in decline of steelhead populations in Thompson watershed
Rob Bison, a fish stock biologist, gave a live-streamed presentation on factors that could be contributing to the steelhead’s decline,,, The fish populations in the two rivers have been declining over the last 30-40 years, but it’s likely not their stream habitats that have led to the decline, he said. The drastic decline in steelhead appears to happen when the fish reach inshore waters and are eaten by harbour seals,,, Bison estimated that by reducing seal populations, steelhead populations could increase by 486%. >click to read< 13:03
Scientists cast doubt on seismic testing environmental mitigations in N.L.’s offshore
Jack Lawson spent part of this past summer listening for whales around Newfoundland, using recorders moored underwater to track their movements and hear what man-made sounds they may encounter. “All you can hear 24 hours a day, for months on end, every 10 seconds is the boom of a seismic array going off at various distances from our acoustic receivers, and this has made it very hard for us to detect some species, The guns make it hard for Lawson and his team’s recorders, with the technology confusing the pulsing calls of right whales with seismic activity in the distance, DFO scientists thought they’d recorded tens of thousands of instances of right whale calls in the Flemish Pass in 2019, Lawson said. “[But] when we actually went through and manually reviewed these, none of them turned out to be real.” >click to read< 10:41
California Dungeness Crab season opens Dec. 23
The official opening date of Nov. 15 had been delayed for weeks in the central California zone, from the Sonoma/Mendocino county line south, because of the possibility of migrating whales getting tangled in fishing lines. And it had been delayed in the northern zone, which consists of Humboldt, Mendocino and Del Norte counties, because the sample catch failed to reach the poundage required for testing.,, Since 2015, there have been delays in all but one commercial Dungeness season. A toxin, domoic acid, that could sicken anyone who eats the tainted crab destroyed Northern California’s 2015-2016 commercial season and created delays in other years. >click to read< 09:52
Deadline for Brexit Trade Talks Is Extended. Again.
Britain’s grinding negotiations with the European Union for a post-Brexit trade agreement won a reprieve on Sunday, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, agreed to extend the talks despite divisions between the two sides that had looked impossible to bridge. In a joint statement issued after a midday phone call, Mr. Johnson and Ms. von der Leyen said, “We think it is responsible at this point to go the extra mile.” Mr. Johnson and Ms. von der Leyen did not set a new deadline for the negotiations, though as a practical matter, the two sides have only until Dec. 31,,, >click to read< 09:02
Mourners gathered, Families of lost fishermen remember a dedicated, hardy crew
Friends and relatives of four fishermen lost at sea gathered at the Portland Fish Pier on Saturday to remember a captain and crew who worked hard, loved their families and felt a deep connection to the sea. The Portland-based fishing vessel Emmy Rose sank off the coast of Massachusetts during a gale on Nov. 23, prompting a search by the U.S. Coast Guard that was later suspended. Robert Blethen Jr. of Georgetown, Jeff Matthews of Portland, Ethan Ward of Pownal, and Mike Porper of Gloucester, Massachusetts, are presumed lost at sea. At Saturday’s service, family members rose in turn to celebrate the life of each man, starting with the captain, Blethen, who went by Bobby. >click to read< 07:39
