Daily Archives: May 20, 2021
USCG and RCAF helicopter crews rescued over two dozen fishermen from a sinking vessel on a stormy night.
An offshore fishing trawler named Atlantic Destiny was in distress and her crew of 31 was battling a fire while the vessel was without power or steerage and shipping water. There initially was no direct line of communication with the stricken vessel, which may have experienced an engine room explosion and was running on emergency backup power. Information relayed from other fishing vessels in the vicinity suggested the situation was dire, but the crew had not yet given up hope they could save her. “As soon as we hear something like that, we start acting swiftly,”,,, But with 31 people to extract, this would be especially challenging. “It was a very large number of people to rescue in a very difficult location.” >video, click to read< 19:38
Coming To America! Danish Wind Farm Operator Suffers Massive Financial Losses
Apart from literally burning cash, there is no faster way to squander money than by piling it into an offshore wind power project. It’s hardly news that the true cost of generating electricity using wind power is staggering; the cost of doing so offshore is astronomical. Instead of producing ‘free’ energy with purportedly ‘endless’ sea breezes, offshore operators like Denmark’s Orsted is delivering a tale of woe for its shareholders. The Global Warming Policy Forum reports. >click to read< 16:13
New Bedford is America’s number 1 fishing port for 20th straight year
The National Marine Fisheries Service released its annual report on the health of the nation’s fishing industry on Thursday,,, New Bedford ranked No. 1 for the value of seafood landed at its port for the 20th consecutive year in 2019, with $451 million worth of fish hauled in by its boats. That was up by $20 million compared with the year before, and far outpaced the second-ranked Port of Naknek, Alaska, which had $289 million worth of landings. NOAA officials said New Bedford’s dominance remains driven by sea scallops, which account for 84% of the value of all landings there. >click to read< 14:21
Copper River wild salmon fishery off to a slow start
Drift gillnetters out on the first Copper River opener of the 2021 wild salmon fishery harvested an estimated 1,957 Chinook, 8,197 sockeye and 173 chum salmon, and within 24 hours much of the catch was delivered to Seattle via Alaska Airline’s “Salmon-Thirty-Salmon” jet. Airline officials said the first flight brought in 17,000 pounds of wild Alaska king and red salmon headed for markets in Seattle, Dallas-Fort Worth, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago. When the jet, painted to look like a gigantic king salmon, arrived at SeaTac, Alaska Airlines Captain Tim deal, with First Officer Bill Jacobson, held up a sample of the catch, a 37-pound Chinook salmon. >click to read< 13:05
Prospect area mackerel fishermen demand answers after lucrative season halted by DFO
The fishermen were prepared to set up a roadblock if they didn’t hear back from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans about why the season was halted. While most commercial fisheries for Atlantic mackerel have not started for 2021, a number of fisheries in the Maritimes region are open year-round or opened on April 1.,, DFO issued a variation order to temporarily close the Maritimes region mackerel fishery. About 72 fishermen and their crew from the Prospect area who fish and set traps in St. Maragaret’s Bay are affected by the closure. They say there is mackerel in the waters but they aren’t allowed to pull in their nets because they haven’t been given their quota. video, >click to read< 10:29
Commercial Dungeness Crab fleet ordered to end operations June 1 for whale endangerment concerns
An order to end the current crabbing season six weeks early in Northern California will deliver another blow to crab fishermen in Humboldt County after seeing record low landings this season, fishermen said. “The price on crab is very high right now. There might not be the most participation (out of the season) but there are still a lot of people who rely on springtime crabbing at a very high price,” he said. “It is quite unfortunate and sad that it is going to be closed earlier than normal.” California Department of Fish and Wildlife director Charlton Bonham ordered the state’s commercial dungeness crab fishing fleet to end its activities at noon on June 1, approximately six weeks earlier than the normal July 15 end for Northern California crab fishermen. All crab lines must be cleared by the end time set. >click to read< 08:33
Ørsted and Eversource partner with fishermen’s consortium – First Agreement of its kind
The agreement marks the first time an offshore wind developer and a commercial fishing consortium sign a substantial commercial contract in the history of U.S. offshore wind. Separately, Ørsted has also begun discussions with Sea Services to expand this scope into its Ocean Wind and Skipjack Wind Farms, serving New Jersey and Maryland respectively.,,, Sea Services CEO and co-founder, Gordon Videll, ”When our vessels and crews are not fishing, we will be providing Ørsted and Eversource with 24/7 monitoring of all designated wind project assets, as well as monitoring and education for vessels traveling in designated areas. As wind farms mature and grow, so will opportunities for the Sea Services consortium.” >click to read< 07:35
Ørsted, Eversource Hire Sea ServIces to Ensure Safety During Offshore Wind Farm Construction – >click to read<
Lobsterman recounts fire that destroyed boat, forced crew to go overboard
Todd Simmons and Damon Crumett were returning late Tuesday afternoon from hauling traps off Port Clyde when the engine to the 38-foot lobster boat Prestige began “cutting out.” The 57-year-old Simmons of Port Clyde, who was captain of the Prestige, said he noticed one of the gauges showed that the engine was overheating. He started to go down to look at the engine and when he opened the door, smoke began billowing out of the boat. >click to read< 06:55
