Monthly Archives: May 2021
A study suggests farmed fish is the source of a virus spread among wild salmon as they migrate past
Evidence shows a debilitating virus found in British Columbia salmon was transferred from Atlantic fish farms, which then spread from Pacific aquaculture operations into wild fish, says a study published Wednesday. The researchers used genome sequencing to trace the piscine orthoreovirus, or PRV, that they say was first introduced to B.C. waters from Norway about 30 years ago at the start of open-net pen aquaculture in the province. The study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Science Advances, says the evidence now suggests the virus is continuously spread between farmed and wild Pacific salmon as they migrate past the farms. >click to read< 10:25
Wedgeport Boats’ sales buoyant
Wedgeport Boats, a builder of commercial fishing boats in Yarmouth County, is thriving during the pandemic due to a surge in demand for recreational boats and the rental of space in one of its buildings. “There’s definitely been an increase on the recreational side of almost 100 per cent,” says Wedgeport general manager Fraser Challoner. Such boats are usually a small part of Wedgeport’s total sales and still are. But the boatyard’s doubling of those sales in the past year has definitely helped it stay afloat. >click to read< 09:30
Flotilla arrives in Cork City to deliver fishing industry warning – sail into Cork harbour to protest EU fisheries policy
About 60 fishing vessels assembled off Roches Point in Cork Harbour this morning to travel together in a flotilla up the River Lee and have no arrived in the Port of Cork at the heart of the city. The Irish South & West Fish Producers Organisation (ISWFPO) said thousands of jobs will be lost unless action is taken by the Government. “As a consequence of a series of draconian measures introduced by Government and the EU Commission, targeted against 
those working in the Irish fishing industry, Irish fishermen claim they will lose millions of euro of earnings if we are not given a fair share of the fish that swim in our waters,” it said in a statement. >click to read< Flotilla of trawlers and boats sail into Cork harbour to protest EU fisheries policy >click to read< 08:39
1 year after tragic sinking, St. Lawrence marks anniversary with memorials to those lost at sea
The heartache is still as fresh as it was one year ago for Kerri Lynn Kettle. Kettle lost her husband, Isaac Kettle, when the fishing vessel Sarah Anne sank off St. Lawrence in May 2020. Now, she’s raising two little boys on her own. “It’s been a living nightmare. We are slowly getting through it,” said Kettle. 
Three other men from the community lost their lives when the crab fishing vessel went down on May 25, 2020: skipper Eddie Joe Norman, 67; his son, Scott Norman, 35; and his nephew, Jody Norman, 42. What makes things even harder for Kerri Lynn Kettle is that her husband wasn’t even a commercial fisherman. Isaac Kettle, 33, had been working as a driller at a gold mine in Ontario. >click to read< 21:32
Joe Lewis Jr., of Broad Creek, has passed away, service to be on Friday
Joe E. “Big Boy” Lewis Jr., 65, of Broad Creek, passed away on Saturday, May 22, 2021, at his home. A gathering of family and friends for Joe is from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday at Munden Funeral Home. Joe was born Sept. 10, 1955, to the late Joe E. and Fronie Lewis. He was born in Carteret County and resided in Broad Creek his entire life. He worked as a commercial fisherman for more than 20 years and enjoyed spending his time with friends and family. >click to read< 19:50
Commercial fishing community opposes Mid-Barataria Freshwater Diversion
Over the past many months, the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) has launched a vigorous and well-funded campaign to convince Louisiana residents, media and policy makers that its Mid Barataria Diversion Plan is the sure shot solution to solving our state’s land loss problems. They have even gone so far as to put lipstick on this pig, re-branding the nearly $2 billion project as a “sediment” diversion to disguise what it really is: a freshwater diversion of polluted river water that just happens to contain very limited amounts of sediment. >click to read< 18:33
F/V Rebecca Mary Crew Credited for Early Communication, Fast Action During Sinking
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board is crediting a heads-up crew and early communication with the Coast Guard for saving lives during last year’s sinking of the fishing vessel Rebecca Mary. The NTSB on Tuesday issued Marine Accident Brief 21/12 detailing its investigation into the accident, which occurred about 40 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts., On June 17, 2020, in the early morning, the commercial fishing vessel Rebecca Mary began flooding in the aft portion of the vessel while under way in the Atlantic Ocean about 40 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. The vessel capsized and subsequently sank >click to read< 15:53
Biden opens (condemns) California coast to floating offshore wind turbines – “We believe it’s shortsighted,”
The announcement, endorsed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, moves forward the prospect for wind farms in two areas about 20 miles off the coast of Morro Bay and Humboldt County. Turbines roughly 600 to 700 feet tall would be built on floating platforms because the water is too deep to anchor them to the sea floor. “We believe it’s shortsighted,” said Mike Conroy, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, “Floating offshore wind technology is unproven. It hasn’t been deployed on a large industrial scale yet. We have no idea what the environmental impacts will be off our coast.” >click to read< 13:16
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 38′ Northern Bay Lobster/Tuna, cruises 36-38 mph and 40 mph WOT
To review specifications, information, and 21 photos, >click here< , To see all the boats in this series >click here< 11: 47
SEA-NL Calls on Federal Fisheries Minister to Reverse Decision to Limit Increase to 2021 Northern Shrimp Quota
“DFO went outside its own rule book to limit the increase to this year’s quota, which will translate into the loss of more than 2,000 tonnes of shrimp to the province’s inshore fleet,” says Ryan Cleary, interim Executive Director of SEA-NL, a new association to represent the province’s more than 3,000 independent owner-operators. Cleary wrote federal Fisheries and Oceans Minister Bernadette Jordan Tuesday regarding her recent decision to institute a year-over-year limit of 15% to this year’s northern shrimp quota off southern Labrador and northeastern Newfoundland. (A copy of the letter is attached.) >click to read< 11:10
No more kicking ‘the rock down the road,’ on Indigenous fishery
A member of the parliamentary committee looking at Indigenous rights to a moderate livelihood fishery, says it is past time for government to deal with the issue. The parliamentary fisheries and oceans committee released a report earlier this month containing 40 recommendations on how to move those treaty rights forward. “It’s unfortunate that since the Marshall decision was made in Supreme Court that successive governments, Liberal and Conservative, have what I would call kicked the rock down the road rather than deal with the issue. And we’ve seen that come to a head last year,” said Egmont MP Bobby Morrissey, “Canada and the industry suffered a bit of a black eye from that, and it was unnecessary.” >click to read< 10:05
Joe Biden’s Offshore Wind Farm Energy Mirage: Or ‘How To Squander $Trillions of Taxpayers’ Money’
For an example of how unhinged the Democrat’s energy policy is, then Biden’s offshore wind energy plan takes the cake. The fact that offshore wind power has already proven to be a phenomenally expensive way of generating electricity clearly hasn’t registered. Nor has the fact that it’s no more reliable than wind power generated onshore, and just as chaotic in its sporadic and occasional delivery. Or, maybe, the Democrats just don’t care about reliable and affordable electricity? Craig Rucker is president of the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow, a free market environmental organization dedicated to people and planet. Craig takes a look at Biden’s offshore wind power mirage. >click to read< 09:09
‘Hang your heads in shame’, Flotilla of 50 trawlers protest Brexit fishing quotas at Cork Harbour, a “direct assault” on their incomes
A flotilla of up to 50 trawlers formed at Cork Harbour on Wednesday morning calling for a fair fishing quota for Irish fishermen. A rally is due to take place later and fishermen will march to the Cork office of Taoiseach Micheál Martin in the city. >click to read< Fishermen say that their livelihoods have been decimated as a result of Brexit and fish quota cutbacks. Further protests are planned in Dublin, Donegal and Galway to highlight fears of Irish fishermen that they face being driven out of business over the coming months and years. >click to read<, ‘Hang your heads in shame’ – “Irish fishermen and women are seeking public support to save our fishing industry. >click to read< 07:30
Skipper may have been operating 55-foot fishing vessel under the influence of both drugs and alcohol
Richmond RCMP said it received a call at around 1:30 p.m. on May 17 of a vessel being operated “erratically” in Steveston Harbour. Upon arrival, officers discovered that the 55-foot fishing vessel had run aground on some rocks near Garry Point Park. The RCMP then deployed its own patrol vessel, the Fraser Guardian, to help the Coast Guard rescue the captain and another man from the boat. According to police, the pair was uninjured. evidence at the scene indicated that both alcohol and drugs “appear to have been factors in this incident,” say police. As a result, the captain was taken into custody,,,, photos, >click to read< – and >click here< 18:48
A ‘backroom deal’? Fishermen’s group opposes new plan for South Fork Wind Farm
A board of fishermen that advises Rhode Island coastal regulators on offshore wind development has come out in opposition to state certification of the South Fork Wind Farm. A lawyer for the Fishermen’s Advisory Board,,, “It was a backroom deal that happened over the weekend without our participation,” said Marisa Desautel. She spoke Tuesday morning, hours before the coastal council was set to vote on a mitigation package that includes a reduction in the number of wind turbines from 15 to 12 and the creation of a $12-million fund, to be paid into over 30 years, that would compensate fishermen for lost access to fishing grounds in the project area in Rhode Island Sound. >click to read< 15:58
National Transportation Safety Board Opens Public Docket in F/V Scandies Rose Sinking
The docket for the investigation includes more than 4,500 pages of factual information, including interview transcripts, photographs and other investigative materials. It contains only factual information collected by NTSB investigators and there are no conclusions about how or why the Scandies Rose sank. The probable cause, analysis and recommendations will be released at a public board meeting on the Scandies Rose scheduled for June 29. The full final report will be released in the weeks after the board meeting. >click to read< 11:12
Protest “Steam-In” – Fishermen Will ‘Show & Tell Crazy Scenario” in Cork Port
Fishing vessels are due to steam up the river Lee to Cork city on Wednesday in protest over serious issues affecting the Irish industry. The protest fleet will assemble off Roches Point, Cork Harbour at 7 am on Wednesday, >click to read< “We are not being treated fairly by either the EU or the government who are not protecting the natural resource of Ireland to which Irish people should have the major rights,,, “Fishermen don’t want to be in this situation. It is not what they want to be doing, but they are left with no choice; things are so bad. >click to read< 09:41
A “freak wave”,,, Fishing Trawler aground, skipper and two deckhands safe
The skipper of a fishing trawler has been treated for a head injury after his vessel was hit by big waves while trying to navigate the Gold Coast Seaway. The trawler is understood to have lost power and steering as it tried to enter the Seaway just before 1pm on Tuesday. The vessel was then pounded by big waves which have been hitting the Gold Coast all day. >click to read< The crew have described the moment a “freak wave” smashed the boat, shutting down its power and leaving them at the mercy of mother nature. video, photos, >click to read< 08:50
As tensions rose during N.S. fisheries dispute, province balked at paying for extra RCMP
The Mounties have faced scrutiny for their handling of the tensions that followed the launch in September of Sipekne’katik First Nation’s self regulated fishery in St. Marys Bay. Critics included federal Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller who said the force should have done more to protect Mi’kmaw harvesters,,, It’s unclear what impact, if any, the financial approvals had on the RCMP’s staffing plans. “The number and type of RCMP resources that were deployed was based on operational needs,” Cpl. Chris Marshall, an RCMP spokesperson, said in an email. “In order to protect officer and public safety, we don’t discuss our operations, tactics and resources.” >click to read< 07:55
F/V Emmy Rose: Side Scan Sonar locates sunken fishing vessel off the Massachusetts Coast
It was a tragedy that claimed the lives of all the fishermen aboard the Portland, Maine-based boat: crew members Robert Blethen Jr., Jeff Matthews, Ethan Ward and Mike Porper. The four men were presumed dead and mourned by their loved ones at a candlelight vigil held two days after the 82-foot-long steel ship sank on Nov. 23, 2020. Now, roughly half a year after the Emmy Rose’s sinking, authorities announced they found the sunken fishing vessel following a search of around 5.5 square miles of the seafloor with side-scan sonar, a device used to detect objects on the bottom of the ocean. >click to read< , or >here<, 20:25
Alaska: 131-year-old fish plant, other sites to be considered for National Register of Historic Places registry
Alaska’s longest-running fish plant facility, the Diamond NN Cannery, is among the nominations for the Alaska Historical Commission to consider passing on to the National Register of Historic Places. The South Naknek cannery operated almost continuously from 1895 to 2015. “There’s 51 buildings still standing … it’s that each building tells a story,” The village site is believed to date back as many as 6,000 years. In the 1890s, the village was permanently settled as a fishing community. >click to read< 1921
Richard “Max” Strahan attempted to intervene in right whale case with court injunction
An animal rights activist made a late attempt to try and stop the industry from being allowed to use vertical buoy ropes. Richard “Max” Strahan tried to intervene at the beginning of the month in the federal right whale court case that holds the future of the lobster industry in its hands, but the activist’s attempt was rejected by a judge less than a week later. Strahan filed his motion on May 8 and claimed that the only way the industry would stop using the ropes is by a court-ordered injunction. >click to read< 16:03
Brennan Phillips has invented the smallest deep-sea system that can provide a livestream video feed!
The answers to many of life’s mysteries have been discovered far below the surface of the seas. However, getting to those depths has not been easy. Thanks to a new fiber optic reel system invented by Brennan Phillips, an assistant professor of ocean engineering at URI, deep-sea exploration is about to get much more affordable and accessible. Two years ago, Phillips created a miniature, inexpensive deep-sea camera system called DEEPi. However, he still had to rely on a large research vessel to get it in the ocean. That led to his development of a small deployment system. >click to read< 12:20
Fisheries training center helps Coast Guard crews enforce laws in Alaska
In early March, instructors at the Coast Guard North Pacific Regional Fisheries Training Center (NPRFTC) prepared crewmembers of the Coast Guard Cutter Stratton to safeguard Alaska’s living marine resources.,,, Prior to a Bering Sea deployment that began in the spring, the Stratton crew attended the NPRFTC for training in order to be considered fully operational in Coast Guard 17th District area of responsibility. photos, >click to read< 10:52
Serious fish kill consumes the Klamath River
As it enters the Yurok Reservation, the Lower Klamath River is as picturesque as it gets. Clear water rushes over gentle rapids, framed by verdant hills and a cerulean sky. An untrained eye would never notice the devastation beneath the surface — save for the tiny fish floating lifeless in the water. Over the past several weeks, an outbreak of the parasite Ceratonova shasta has ripped through young salmon throughout the lower reaches of the Klamath watershed. Driven by high temperatures and low flows out of Iron Gate Dam, the disease is resulting in what the Yurok Tribe is calling a “catastrophic” fish kill. photos, >click to read< 09:36
It’s spot prawn season in B.C. – 15 years ago, many locals didn’t even know they existed
British Columbians are wild about spot prawns – now more than ever, thanks to a confluence of pandemic-related factors that have made them easier to buy and enjoy here at home. This year’s season opened on May 14 and day-boat sales are hopping, especially in Steveston, where 10 commercial fishing boats now sell live prawns straight from the dock. Last year, there were four boats,,, In previous years, there were one or two. Across the province, fishermen and retailers are selling directly to consumers,,, “Those dock sales only exist today because Steve Johansen took a leap of faith. If it weren’t for him, >click to read< 08:38
Granville mayor defends accused French fisherman caught trawling through a protected area
The skipper of a French boat which was caught trawling through a protected bream spawning ground off the north coast has been defended by the mayor of Granville. Gilles Ménard diverted the blame onto Jersey’s government for preventing the captain of the Alizé 3 from accessing its ‘usual fishing areas’.,,, During the incident, which took place on Tuesday morning, Jersey fishermen spotted the trawler moving through the protected zone, and fisheries officers, alongside a number of local boats, went out to intercept the vessel. >click to read< 16:38
Mass commercial fishermen fear offshore wind farm ‘dead zones’, while some do the science for money thing
The 62 wind turbines will be located 15 miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard and generate enough electricity to power approximately 400,000 homes by the time the project is completed in 2023, Vineyard Wind CEO Lars Pedersen said. He also said it also will create about 3,600 jobs — half of them permanent, the other half construction jobs. (Lars is pulling,,,) But what worries Ed Barrett of Marshfield is what it might do to his livelihood.,, while New Bedford Lobsterman Jarrett Drake supports renewable energy sources like wind energy, if it’s done correctly (yes,,, of course!). Drake uses his 47-foot lobster boat to work for Vineyard Wind and with University of Massachusetts marine biologists,,, >click to read< 12:46
Balance The Pain Of Drought On Farmers And Fishermen Equitably
In the first week of May a young salmon boat captain struggled to keep his boat stable and fishing while getting bashed by an unruly spring wind storm near the San Mateo-Santa Cruz county line. Far offshore, where the continental shelf drops off and a huge volume of marine nutrients circulate from the ocean bottom to the surface, salmon gathered. So did borderline gale force winds on top of a 10-foot swell. It looked like the scene at the end of the movie, “The Perfect Storm.” You’re risking life and limb fishing in those conditions, and you wouldn’t in more normal times. But these aren’t normal times. >click to read< 11:08
As in culling seals for conserving fish, U.S. activists try to halt an Australian way of life: Killing Kangaroos
“See, that’s a doe,” he said. “I don’t especially want to shoot a doe.” A doe usually has a joey in her pouch. He and others who hunt kangaroos bear this in mind, Mr. White said, despite claims to the contrary by American activists who are trying to shut down their livelihood, calling it inhumane. These critics, he said, just don’t understand how life actually works here in the middle of Australia. Kangaroos have been hunted on the continent for thousands of years, “and there are still more of them than people,” Mr. White said. Most important, said Mr. White, 58, a third-generation full-time shooter who goes by “Whitey,” kangaroos produce healthy meat, strong leather and the jobs that keep small towns whole. >click to read< 09:51
