Daily Archives: February 9, 2021
Coast Guard medevacs 2 fishermen injured from vessel fire off Cape Charles coast
The Coast Guard medevaced two fishermen who suffered burns after their vessel (identified as F/V Vixen) caught fire approximately 36 miles east of Fisherman Island, Tuesday. Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Virginia Command Center received notification that a vessel caught fire and was spotted roughly 36 miles east of Fisherman Island at approximately 3 p.m. Sector Virginia Command Center watchstanders issued an Urgent Marine Information Broadcast to which a good samaritan responded, and retrieved the two men from the water after they had abandoned ship due to the vessel fire. >click to read< 23:00
A Fleetwood fisherman who was one of the last surviving skipper owners has died.
Steve Welsh, overcame a childhood illness which left him disabled to achieve his dream of going to sea and then went further by becoming a skipper and owning his own boats. For many years he was chairman of the Fleetwood Inshore Fishermen’s Association, lobbying the Government to look out 
for the beleaguered industry, latterly fighting to help small boats whose fishing grounds were affected by encroaching windfarms. Son Steve, “He only retired two years ago and that was become his fishing vessel had finally had enough “He could hardly walk five yards, he couldn’t strand straight and he couldn’t swim but he achieved a lot in the industry and was well respected. “He was one of the last surviving men of steel.” >click to read< 18:00
Noyo Harbor: How’s the Dungeness crab season playing out this year? Word on the dock is grim
Dungeness crab season is off to a pitiful start this year. Some crabbers pulled their gear out and threw the towel in just one day into the season.,,, Gene Mathieuso, whose family has worked in the fishing industry since the early 20th century said that he has seen years as bad as this before.“1973 was probably the worst season we’ve ever had,” he said. “Landings were less than a million, at 880,000 pounds.” For reference, the average total California dungeness catch from 2010 to 2020 was around 14 million pounds. Mathieuso said he anticipates that this year will rival 1973. photos, >click to read< 12:25
Bridlington Lobster exporter forced to close after 60 years, 1 month after Brexit
Family-run Baron Shellfish, which buys lobsters from fishermen in the local area before exporting them to Europe, said it would sell up to five tonnes of shellfish to punters in Spain, Belgium and Italy per week before the UK left the union. But since catch certificates, health checks and customs declarations were introduced at the start of this year, there have been severe delays to deliveries prompting European buyers to reject them. “All we have had is bullshit from the government, promises that haven’t been kept. I am winding up the business while I still have enough to pay redundancy to my staff. >click to read< 11:11
‘Trapped’: Women Working as Fishery Observers Allege Sex Harassment, Assault at Sea
She had overcome the seasickness, the unreliable shifts, and the long hours that drive many people out of the business. But she didn’t sign up for 3 1/2 weeks of harassment. On the ship that served as both her workplace and temporary home, Kim, then in her mid-20s, was constantly catcalled, hit on, and leered at, with no place to escape. Four women, including Kim, who worked on the front lines of fisheries monitoring in Canada, say they were dropped into a hellish grind of sexual harassment, assault, intimidation, threats, and horrifying animal abuse while they watched helplessly. >click to read< 10:15
Coronavirus: Why the Lunar New Year matters for Maine lobster shippers
The Lunar New Year is typically one of the busiest parts of the calendar for America’s lobster shippers, who send millions of dollars worth of the crustaceans to China every year. This year the holiday is Friday, and industry members said the Year of the Ox won’t necessarily be the Year of the Lobster. That’s because shipping has been complicated this winter by the threat of the virus. Mike Marceau, vice president of The Lobster Company in Arundel, Maine, said he isn’t expecting much in the way of exports. >click to read< 08:44
Oregon commercial crab fishery to open north of Cape Falcon Feb. 16
This area has remained closed to commercial crabbing to coordinate an orderly start with the Washington coastal Dungeness crab fishery. Results from recent domoic acid testing of crab viscera (guts) conducted by the state of Washington indicate that levels of the marine biotoxin domoic acid are still elevated in the viscera of crab. Until further notice, all crab harvested from Point Chehalis, Wash. to the Washington/Oregon border will be required to have the viscera (guts) removed ,,, Prior to the opener, crab vessels in this area will be allowed to set gear from Feb. 13 onwards, >click to read< 07:43
