Daily Archives: March 4, 2021

Obituary: Todd Arlen Chase

Todd Chase, 51, passed away Feb. 20, 2021, in a tragic commercial boating accident, aboard the F/V Coastal Reign, on the bar of Tillamook Bay and Garibaldi. Todd was born in Portland on Jan. 9, 1970. He spent his teenage years in Tillamook County. His surviving parents are Frank and Charlotte Chase, of Warrenton. Todd was always known for his strong work ethic and a love and appreciation of the water. From the age of 14, Todd was working on commercial fishing boats, in canneries and in construction.  At the age of 21, he met Angeline Steinman at a Christian event. From that moment the chase was on. In August 1991, they married. There will be a funeral service to honor his life and what it stood for. >click to read< 22:43

An Alaskan fish story, with a longline to Midland, Michigan

“It started with me and my mom commercial fishing together on an adventure together up in Alaska. I needed a deckhand and I didn’t have one, and I called my mom up. … She was in her mid-60s and she was up for it.” That was over ten years ago. For the past four and a half years, Caven and his mother, LoLita Pfeiffer, who lives in Midland, have sold fresh, wild-caught Alaskan fish to Midland. Fishing is normally a tradition passed down in families, but Caven had to learn fishing on his own. He spent nearly 15 years learning how to fish as a full-time fisherman, >click to read< 21:51

F/V Haida Lady Update: Vessel has been raised, Coast Guard concludes monitoring diesel fuel clean-up near Sitka, Alaska

The fishing vessel, Haida Lady, has been raised with lift bags and dewatering pumps, and is tied off to shore. Approximately 1,550 gallons of diesel fuel and oily water mixture were removed from the vessel’s fuel tanks. An additional 275 gallons of oil products were recovered from the water with the use of absorbents, which included 72 sections of absorbent boom and 1,000 feet of harbor boom was deployed and recovered on-scene. All recovered oil products and the net were transferred to the vessel Eyak,,, photos, >click to read< 18:53

Bill 534 could eliminate whale entanglements, hurt (destroy) the crab fishery

The Whale Entanglement Prevention Act introduced on Feb. 10 proposes that trap fisheries such as the crabbing industry use ropeless gear by Nov. 1, 2025,,, Authored by Rob Bonta-D California, in collaboration with Social Compassion in Legislation and the Center for Biological Diversity, Assembly Bill 534 argues that crabbers use antiquated trapping gear that needlessly harms marine life. California Coast Crab Association President Bejamin Platt said the industry has been against ropeless gear because it’s not cost-effective the current price for the gear is more than $1,700.  >click to read< 15:37

Gina M. Raimondo Sworn in as 40th U.S. Secretary of Commerce

Gina M. Raimondo was sworn in as the 40th U.S. Secretary of Commerce. Secretary Raimondo was sworn in by Vice President Kamala Harris after a bipartisan vote of 84-15 in the United States Senate. In her role as Secretary of Commerce, Raimondo will lead a key agency focused on promoting economic growth, >click to read<11:20

Ropeless fishing gear: Georgia researchers work with commercial fishermen to test equipment

NOAA has identified two areas critical for right whales: off the coast of New England, where the whales forage for food in warmer months; and off the southeast coast from North Carolina to Florida, where the whales reproduce between November and April. Fluech is collaborating with Kim Sawicki, project lead and doctoral student at the University of Massachusetts,, In summer 2020, the research team secured a permit from the National Marine Fisheries Service to test eight different ropeless gear systems with black sea bass pots off the coast of Georgia. It was the first time the ropeless gear had been tested in the South Atlantic. >click to read< 08:37

DFO Path Forward Rejected – ‘We’re going to establish our own fishery’

“We’re going to establish our own fishery and our seasons outside of theirs,” Chief Mike Sack said Wednesday. “We’ll push our own season and determine what those months are going to be.” Sack was responding to a letter from Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan that said any moderate livelihood fishery must operate under the rules and regulations of DFO’s commercial fishery. Then the letter spells out the rules under which any moderate livelihood fishery would be negotiated and what Canada is “prepared” to allow,,, Sack said none of that was acceptable. >click to read< 07:17