Daily Archives: May 28, 2021
Transport Canada urged to enforce ship speed limits protecting endangered right whales
For the second year in a row, the majority of vessels passing through the Cabot Strait, between Newfoundland and Nova Scotia on Canada’s East Coast, are not complying with a Transport Canada voluntary slowdown request intended to protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales in a key migratory passage. The Strait is also the primary route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the country’s second-busiest port in Montreal. The voluntary initiative, established in 2020,,, >click to read< The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) released a key report called a Biological Opinion yesterday – >click to read<17:20
Biological Opinion to Protect Right Whales Met With Opposition on All Sides
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) released a key report called a Biological Opinion yesterday that calls for a 98 percent reduction in risk to North Atlantic right whales over the next 10 years. The goal is meant to be achieved over the course of four phases that correspond with increasingly tight restrictions on lobster and crab fisheries as well as other fixed-gear fisheries that use vertical buoy ropes. Vertical ropes attached to trap/pot gear is known to lethally entangle the whales. >click to read< 16:38
Memorial on Great Orme to F/V Nicola Faith fisherman Ross Ballantine is destroyed
A memorial to one of the fisherman who lost his life onboard the stricken F/V Nicola Faith has been destroyed. Ross Ballantine was a crewman on the fishing vessel alongside skipper Carl McGrath, 34, and Alan Minard, 20 when it vanished off the coast of Colwyn Bay on January 27. Following the 39-year-old’s funeral on April 16, his loved ones headed up the Great Orme where they created a memorial to him, spelling out ‘Ross’ using small pieces of limestone from the nearby Bishop’s Quarry. The large memorial lay alongside other names and was clearly visible from the air. >click to read< 14:52
Home in Maine, Fisherman Taylor Strout reflects on the Alaska commercial fishing industry during the pandemic
From Maine, it takes him a good 24 hours and four airports to get where he is going. Taylor Strout is a mate aboard the Fishing Vessel F/V Northern Defender which was tied up at the dock in Dutch Harbor. As the crow flies, he is more than 4000 miles away from home. What is the draw? “It’s kind of a different level of fishing out here. And it was something that I’ve always wanted to do and try back when I first got into it. I had the opportunity to do it, and to try it, and I didn’t just try it, I ended up kind of falling in love with it. And continue to do it since. I love the rotation of it. You know, you go to work, you work hard, you put it in there, and then when it’s time to go home and focus on your family you get to come home and just be Dad and take care of the family that way too,” says Taylor. >Video, click to read< 12:50
NAFTA 2.0? No shovel ready jobs in Joe Biden’s Offshore Wind Farm Big Blow Show! Manufacturing jobs years away!
Offshore wind project developers plan to ship massive blades, towers and other components for at least the initial wave of U.S. projects from factories in France, Spain and elsewhere before potentially opening up manufacturing plants on U.S. shores, according to Reuters interviews with executives from three of the world’s leading wind turbine makers. That is because suppliers need to see a deep pipeline of approved U.S. projects, along with a clear set of regulatory incentives like federal and state tax breaks, before committing to siting and building new American factories, they say – a process that could take years. “For the first projects, it’s probably necessary” to ship across the Atlantic, said Martin Gerhardt, head of offshore wind product management at Siemens Gamesa, the global offshore wind market leader in a comment typical of the group. >click to read< 10:58
BREAKING: Fishermen angry at ‘incident’ with foreign trawler off south coast this morning
Fishermen are furious after an incident off the south west coast early this morning that saw an Irish fishing trawler alleging it was threatened by a foreign-registered vessel inside the 12-mile Irish fishing limit. The incident was filmed by the crew of the Irish trawler and shows the other vessel coming dangerously close to the Irish boat. The Irish skipper can be heard radio-ing the other vessel and telling them to ‘stay away from us’,,, The incident comes just two days after southern fishermen held a peaceful rally in Cork city about the plight of the industry. >click to read< 10:05
Coastal Job: Tuna Auction Manager
I was born and raised in a fishing family. I was swimming before I could walk, and at a young age, I could say the scientific and common names of Hawaiian fish. My family did not want me to go into commercial fishing, so I pursued marine sciences. But when I started working at the auction as its assistant general manager in 1979, something came over me. It was like, This is home. The first seven years, I took no vacation. I pulled 18-hour days and spent the night sometimes. Even people who’ve visited the auction don’t truly understand the depths of the operation. >click to read< 08:51
Hull trawler sold to Greenlandic fishing interests as owners blame Government ‘failure’ in post-Brexit negotiations
The Icelandic owners of Norma Mary have sold the 32-year-old trawler, mainly crewed by fishermen from Hull and Grimsby, to Greenlandic fishing interests, blaming “the Government’s failure to negotiate fishing opportunities”. News of the sale emerged as Hull West and Hessle MP Emma Hardy told the Commons on Thursday that the country had been promised a “‘sea of opportunity’” that turned out to be no more than a stagnant millpond”.>click to read< 08:07
