Monthly Archives: February 2021
FROTH THE FIZZ!
For those who haven’t seen this yet, two P’rtleveners, Felix Griffiths and Ross Sloan have been working on ‘FROTH THE FIZZ’ – a comic style series of stories about the British fishing industry. In my eyes, Brexit should be about buying British, supporting our local business’ and communities, not half the shit we were told in the leave campaign. How on earth did we think Brexit would work without this?! >photos, click to read< 07:28
NC Fisheries Association seeks to intervene in civil suit against state
The N.C. Fisheries Association, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting the state seafood industry, filed Jan. 28 in Wake County Superior Court a motion to intervene in the civil complaint filed Nov. 10, 2020, by the Coastal Conservation Association’s North Carolina branch against the state. CCANC, a recreational fishing and conservation nonprofit, alleges state officials have mismanaged coastal fisheries resources. “Along with our motion to intervene, we have filed a proposed motion requesting the dismissal of the CCA lawsuit against the state,” the association said. >click to read< 07:02
Spiny lobster comes back to San Diego
The rumored price prior to the season opening was $8 per pound, down from the 2019 average of about $20 and 2015’s high near $30. California Department of Fish and Wildlife data showed that spiny lobster was the most profitable local catch at $3.8 million in 2017. In 2018, it brought in $3 million, beating out bigeye tuna. When the pandemic started in China in late 2019, it coincided with the height of legal spiny lobster season in California. Sales in 2019 dropped to $1.8 million. Among San Diego’s top-grossing seafoods, spiny lobster saw the biggest decline. Said Halmay, “They [local fishermen] got together and decided, ‘We can’t make a living off that. Let’s do something about it.’” >click to read< 16:54
Video Interview: Life for a Mainer fishing in the Bering Sea
Taylor Strout is the son of a fisherman; fishing simply runs in his blood. He is on a boat that fishes out of Dutch Harbor, Alaska,,, Taylor is a mate aboard the Fishing Vessel Northern Defender which, when we talked, was tied up at the dock in Dutch Harbor. The Aleutian Islands split the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea, and they fish the Bering Sea. As the crow flies, he is more than 4000 miles away from home. “It’s kind of a different level of 
fishing out here.,, “You’re basically towing a football field behind you. You’re taking everything up to a bigger scale when you’re on some of these boats. Bigger weather, there’s bigger seas, sometimes we fish in 15 foot waves to 25 foot waves.” >click to read< 14:44
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 39′ BHM Tuna, 850HP Cat, Phasor Generator
To review specifications, information, and 15 photos, >click here<, To see all the boats in this series >click here<11:01
Maine delegation requests comment period extension for BiOp with profound impact on Maine lobstermen
The BiOp is an assessment of a federal agency’s impact on an endangered species. In this case, the Biological Opinion assesses the effectiveness of regulations that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has imposed on the Maine lobster fishery to protect the North Atlantic Right Whale. Maine lobstermen have already taken significant steps to protect the right whale, despite there being no direct evidence that a single right whale serious injury or mortality has been attributable to the Gulf of Maine or Georges Bank lobster fishery since 2004. >click to read< 09:29
Cornish fishermen forced to re-name catch after Brexit to appeal to British customers
Cornish fishermen have drawn up a detailed plan to sell more of their catch to UK customers as post-Brexit sales to the EU nose dive, and want to rebrand the names of some species to make them more appealing. Megrim and spider crab – two of the biggest catches for boats in the county – are set to be given the more appetising names of Cornish sole and Cornish King crab. Until the UK’s Brexit transition period expired on December 31, about 95 percent of megrim and 85 percent of spider crabs landed by Cornish trawlers was exported to the EU. >click to read< 08:46
One in a Million? Rare Albino Crab Finds a Home at Humboldt State University Marine Lab
An albino Dungeness crab caught in the Bay Area was brought up to local outfit Comet Fisheries, which help revive the unusual crustacean by placing it in an aeriated tank before HSU’s Marine Lab came to take it to a new home. Based on pictures on a Facebook post by Comet Fisheries, based over at Woodley Island, a crab expert says looks like the real thing. (ODFW), described them as rare, according to an announcement from the Oregon Coast Aquarium when it had one on exhibit, possibly as rare as one in a million. >click to read< 07:35
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
Weʼre raising £10,000 to The Leigh Spencer Memorial Fund
Leigh was killed on Saturday the 6th February in a tragic accident aboard the fishing vessel he worked on. He leaves his wife Analiza and two young children, Theo and Issabella. We’ve started this page to raise money to cover Leigh‘s funeral arrangements, and also to provide for Analiza and the children now that their husband and father is no longer there for them. >Please click here to read<, and donate if you can. Thank you. 17:14
Fisherman Leigh Spencer who died in trawler incident identified
A fisherman who died in an incident on a trawler off the coast of Cornwall has been named locally. Leigh Spencer, 50, from Millbrook was fatally injured on the vessel on Saturday. Devon and Cornwall Police said a second crew member was taken to the Royal Cornwall Hospital with minor injuries and later discharged. The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) confirmed the vessel was a beam trawler called The Cornishman, which is now back in Newlyn. >click to read< 13:43
Now that’s waterproof! Lobsterman fishes dropped iphone, still working, from the depths
Two weeks ago, Gloucester lobsterman Andrew Gossom was working on his boat, the F/V Sandollar, while it was tied up on the far side of the old Intershell building off St. Peter’s Square. The 26-year-old Gloucester native was talking on his iPhone 12. He had called Tony Gross, his former boss on the Sandollar,,, The iPhone 12 can do many things. Flying is not recommended. Gross, at home in Annisquam, heard two sounds. The first, while unusual, was unmistakable: The plop of something entering the water. >click to read< 11:27
“The Perfect Catch” campaign: Asian carp is getting a new name and a public makeover
Illinois officials and their partners want to give the invasive Asian carp threatening the Great Lakes a similar makeover. The goal: To grow the fish’s image as a healthy, delicious, organic, sustainable food source which will in turn, get more fishermen removing more tons of the fish from Illinois rivers just outside of Lake Michigan. Markets such as pet food, bait and fertilizer have expanded the use of invasive Asian carp in recent years. But “it’s been hard to get the human consumption part of this because of the four-letter word: carp,” A full-on media blitz is coming later this year to change that. >click to read< 09:51
Grimsby fisherman has vital equipment removed and destroyed by Triton Knoll wind farm
Darren Kenyon, of Fastline Shellfish, lost 13 lobster pots and a distinctive anchor by a contractor working for the new Triton Knoll wind farm. Mr Kenyon, 54, who has been left angry about the loss, says he has since reported the matter to the police. But Triton Knoll say they needed to remove the equipment to ensure safety for those working on the site and they had made attempts to locate the owner before destroying them. Mr Kenyon said: “We have enough problems as it is without this. There are a lot of struggles with the fishing industry being the way it is. >click to read< 08:41
Canada’s sockeye salmon find their way home again after 50 years
For the first time in over 50 years, spawning sockeye salmon will return to Okanagan Lake in British Columbia,,, A fish ladder, left inoperable after the Penticton Dam was built in the 1950s, has been restored by the Okanagan Nation Alliance and Fisheries and Oceans Canada. A crane was used to remove a wooden gate blocking off the narrow concrete passage, opening the way for fish to get through. “To watch that gate go up, and to know that fish can finally return to their historic grounds, was a tearful moment,” she said. McFayden is a member of the Okanagan River Restoration Initiative (ORRI) and the Okanagan Similkameen Conservation Alliance. >click to read< 07:55
Hauling Out F/V Sunup, the crab vessel that sunk at the South Jetty
January 24, a commercial crabbing boat, the Sunup, lost propulsion and crashed at the entrance to Humboldt Bay near the South Jetty. Three of its crew had to be rescued. The vessel eventually broke up and parts of it sunk. On Friday and Saturday, several companies worked together to remove the remaining parts of the vessel from out of the water. Photographer Jae Wood, who captured much of the recovery, photo-documented the operation. >click to read< 16:00
One Fisherman is Dead and One is Injured in Fishing Boat ‘Incident’ Off UK Coast
A Coast Guard helicopter from Newquay, Cornwall responded to an emergency incident 50 miles off the coast of the Isles of Scilly along with an RNLI lifeboat from St Mary’s, in which a male crew member of a fishing vessel reportedly died, according to local police. The crew member, part of a Newlyn based fishing vessel, died in a “serious accident” at sea and another crew member has been seriously injured onboard the deck of the FV Cornishman. >click to read< 15:22
GOP congressman pitches plan to breach Lower Snake River dams in new vision for Northwest, Salmon
Could Congressman Mike Simpson, a Republican from a conservative district in eastern Idaho, have launched a concept that will forever alter life on the Columbia and Snake — and finally honor tribal treaty fishing rights in the Columbia Basin? His proposal includes removing the earthen berms adjacent to all four Lower Snake River hydroelectric dams to let the river run free, to help save salmon from extinction, while spending billions of dollars to replace the benefits of the dams for agriculture, energy and transportation.,,, Simpson is careful to point out that what he has released is an overall concept that provides only broad spending targets for key initiatives. What he wants is a regional conversation about a new vision for the Northwest. What if we stopped debating whether the Lower Snake River dams are valuable, and recognize that they are, then figure out together how to replace those benefits? video, >click to read< 14:15
Biden administration gives boost to offshore wind. Orstead fails to renew fisheries representative contract
The Biden administration’s announcement this week of a plan to resume an environmental review of a wind farm off the Massachusetts coast and accelerate green-energy development was welcomed by developers and proponents of projects for Long Island. Biden on Jan. 27 signed an executive order,,, Orsted officials declined to comment on the decision by the company not to renew the contract of Julie Evans, a Montauk fishing boat captain who had been a fisheries representative to the company for local fishing issues. She had worked with fishermen in 2020 on fishing-gear loss cases tied to Orsted survey work. One fishermen, Vinny Damm of Montauk, had his claim rejected. Orsted declined to comment on the matter. >click to read< 11:16
Headscarf Revolutionaries: ‘Big Lil’ saved my life and that’s why she should be named the Greatest Hullensian of All Time
Alongside Christine Jensen, Mary Denness and Yvonne Blenkinsop, ‘Big Lil’ formed the Hessle Road Women’s Committee as the dire consequences of the Triple Trawler Tragedy in 1968 came into full focus. The group, known as the Headscarf Revolutionaries, has become immortalised in books and murals locally, but consensus remains that their work is not celebrated enough outside of Hull. Bilocca, a fish wife, led the group after becoming enraged by the loss of 58 men in the winter of 1968 when the St Romanus, Kingston Peridot and Ross Cleveland all sunk in a matter of weeks. >click to read< 10:06
Hawaii Longline Association Takes Action To Fight Poor Conditions And Human Trafficking
Eric Kingma, HLA executive director, says the local longline fleet has already taken several steps to ensure Hawaii’s fishermen are treated humanely. While he took issue with some of the findings of the AP articles, he acknowledged it sparked a needed conversation about how foreign fishermen are treated. “That report did damage to the reputation of our fishery,,, “Certainly, we took the issue very seriously and responded with our own review of crew, captains and vessel owners.” He said HLA’s internal review did not find any evidence of human trafficking or forced labor in the longline fleet, which is made up of about 140 vessels and nearly 700 foreign fishermen. >click to read< 08:29
Half a Metre Longer, and as Good as New
Seine netter Stella Polaris UK-22 has been through a major refit when owner Pauw Romkes acquired the boat, and fifteen years on the decision was taken to embark on another extensive refit. The refit has been a drastic one, removing and replacing everything above the waterline. The hull was split into on the slipway at the Balk Shipyard, where a new 2.50 metre middle section was inserted, but with the way that the bow section has been remodelled, UK-22’s overall length of 30.50 metres is only 50cm longer than it had been before. photos, >click to read< 16:55
Scottish fishermen say their industry is in crisis after Brexit
Scottish fisherman Alistair Sinclair hasn’t taken his boat out since March of last year, the beginning of the pandemic. Sinclair has been a fisherman for over 40 years and says the industry has never experienced a crisis quite like this one. The crisis he’s referring to is not the pandemic — it’s Brexit. Since Jan. 1, when Britain formally left the European Union, truckloads of fish have been stopped at ports on both sides of the English Channel.,, Sinclair says Scottish fishermen are within weeks of declaring bankruptcy. >click to read< 12:21
Baker’s embattled climate undersecretary targets fishing industry for Euro wind farmers!
David Ismay is again being called out for his questionable comments — this time against fishermen. The Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, that broke the first video on the $130,000-a-year official’s rhetoric, says he also told climate activists that in order to obtain enough (offshore) wind power, “something has to give” in regard to the fishing industry. “We need offshore wind, and yes there is fishing out in the ocean too, but you know, there’s, we can’t have no offshore wind, no transmission, no solar, and have clean energy. Right. Something has to give,” Ismay is quoted telling Vermont climate advocates. He goes on to discuss transmission lines that will be placed in the ocean. >click to read< 13:00
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