Daily Archives: April 8, 2021

Fish Trawler With Over 80 People On Board Has Caught Fire In Sea Of Okhotsk

A fish trawler with over 80 people on board has caught fire in Russia’s Sea of Okhotsk, there is no threat of sinking, according to preliminary information, a spokesman for the regional emergency services told Sputnik on Thursday. “The burning trawler is around 200 kilometers [124 miles] away from Magadan, the holds of the vessel are in flames,” the spokesman said, adding that there are over 80 people on board. No injuries have been reported so far, the spokesman went on to say. >link< 21:18

P.E.I. lobster boat captain said he was at the wheel during fatal collision

The captain of a boat that crashed into another in a fatal collision that killed two people told an investigator he didn’t know how he didn’t see the other vessel. Clarence Barry White is facing two counts of criminal negligence causing death in connection with the June 9, 2018, collision that killed Chris Melanson and Justin MacKay. On Thursday, White’s statement to a Transport Canada investigator was played in P.E.I. Supreme Court in Charlottetown during the third day of his trial. White was the captain of the Forever Chasin’ Tail when it collided with the Joel ’98, which Melanson and MacKay were on. During the interview, White said he couldn’t understand how he didn’t see the Joel ’98 before the collision. “It’s surreal to me, but I cannot explain it,” he said. >click to read< 20:24

Tight-Knit Fishing Communities Navigate Drugs

Johnnie*, a salt-and-pepper fisherman in his late 50s, is smiling as he tells me what happened one dark night last year. “It was like a movie star, dropping down from the sky off the helicopter to get to my crewmate, pitch of night,” he says. “The Coast Guard—this handsome guy, my wife would’ve loved him, like Rock Hudson—dropped down from the moon. Felt like hours after we had given him all the Narcan we had. The Coast Guard still didn’t carry it back then, did you know that? So they pulled him up into the clouds and we all were left below at sea.”, “It’s not the first time that’s happened on our boat,” Johnnie says. “If we didn’t have that Narcan on board though, kid probably wouldn’t have made it.”  >click to read< 19:13

Coast Guard medevacs an injured fisherman 113 miles southeast of Cape Cod

The Coast Guard medevaced an injured fisherman 113 miles southeast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Wednesday. At approximately 3:34 p.m., Coast Guard District One watchstanders received notification from a crewmember of the commercial fishing vessel Motivation, home-ported in Cape May, New Jersey, reporting a 50-year-old crewmember experiencing shortness of breath and a fever and requested assistance. video, >click to read<15:24

Mi’kmaw community requested a crab season opener delay from DFO prior to boat sinking

The fisheries manager for Elsipogtog First Nation in New Brunswick says the community asked the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to delay the opening of the crab season days before a boat capsized off Cape Breton killing two crew members. According to Dawn Levi, the season started too early and a request was made to delay it. “We had a call last Thursday, on the call were industry representatives including DFO, I requested a delay in the season until it was safe for all our boats to be out there,” According to Levi, DFO said the season was starting because of “protocol.”. >click to read< 12:47

After two-year break, seiners hopeful herring fishery will continue into future

The Sitka Sound Sac Roe Herring Fishery opened in late March, after a two-year hiatus. Less than half the fleet is fishing this spring, but the seiners who have stuck around have hauled in catches every day over the last week and a half. KCAW spoke with two commercial fishermen shortly before the fishery opened about the importance of herring to their businesses and lives. Justin Peeler is standing on the deck of his boat, the F/V Defiant, Matt Kinney runs the F/V Hukilau. audio, >click to read< 11:08

Obituary: Nevin Stanley May, Ketchikan, Alaska – Commercial Fisherman

Born in Prentice, WI, Nevin came to Ketchikan in 1967. In his words, “I thought it was the greatest place you could imagine. It was wide open, you could do just about anything you wanted.,,,  Nevin began his storied career as a commercial troller soon thereafter and continued for more than 40 years, selling the F/V Cheryl in 2012. Through his years fishing, he made friends (and probably some enemies too!) with local, state, and federal politicians, and helped to shape some of today’s fishing regulations. He co-founded the Alaska Trollers Association and was a board member for several years. He was also a member of the Seafood Producers Co-Op, and served as chairman of the board from 2001-2002. Nevin was an avid hunter, both locally and nationally. >click to read< 10:05

Parading in protest – Lobstermen call for abolishment of closures

About 40 lobster boats participated Wednesday in the boat parade protesting Massachusetts’ current closure of virtually all of its state waters to commercial lobstering as a protection for the North Atlantic right whales. The boats, which primarily hailed from Gloucester, Manchester and Rockport, staged around Ten Pound Island in the late afternoon and then headed in single file toward the head of the harbor. Nancy MacDowell of Rockport was at the state fish pier to support her lobstering family in its effort to bring awareness to the closure and the negative impact its is having on those who lobster in state waters. photos, >click to read< 09:05

FV Tyhawk: Missing fisherman’s brother says he drowned trying to save others

As Derek Sock raced to his brother’s sinking fishing boat on Saturday, Craig Sock was fighting to save his shipmates in the frigid waters 16 nautical miles off the coast of Nova Scotia. The Tyhawk was making its second run of the day to set lobster traps when it began to take on water. As the crew tried to ready the life raft, the Tyhawk suddenly capsized, trapping Jumbo, as Craig Sock of Elsipogtog First Nation was known, and another man in the wheelhouse. Jumbo managed to toss that man out a window and both men surfaced. Derek said his brother lost his life trying to save his crew mate. >click to read< 07:57