Monthly Archives: July 2021
On the Brink of Extinction: DFO salmon closures sink dreams of Pacific fishermen
Geoff Millar’s livelihood is on the brink of extinction after DFO closed roughly 60 per cent of B.C.’s commercial salmon fisheries. The closures, DFO stated, will last “multiple generations” of fish to save tumbling salmon populations. The decision leaves Millar, along with hundreds of other commercial fish harvesters on the B.C. coast, in despair and in difficult financial straits. “These closures have absolutely devastated us,” affirmed James Lawson, a Heiltsuk fish harvester based in Campbell River, B.C.,, “We’ve been forced into a corner, and the only option is retirement, that seems to be DFO’s goal.” >click to read< 07:35
Going On Tour! Chesapeake Bay Buyboat History Comes to Life with 17th Annual Rendezvous
Skipjacks get all the glory, but there’s another hero of the Bay’s historic seafood industry worth celebrating: the buyboat. The era of Chesapeake Bay motor-powered buyboats started at the turn of the 20th century when gas and diesel engines powerful enough to push a boat the size of a Bay buyboat became affordable and available to the general public.,, Though most people recognize the term buyboat, it is somewhat misleading because buying and selling seafood was only a small part of the overall use of these boats. The Chesapeake Bay Buyboat Association will hold its 17th annual buyboat rendezvous from July 30- Aug. 8. The tour will start in Urbanna at the town-owned marina on Urbanna Creek from July 30-Aug. 1 and end on Aug 6-8 at Hudgins Horn Harbor Marina in Port Haywood. >click to read< 16:26
A whelk fishing vessel hit a bell buoy off the Vineyard
The vessel was on autopilot when the incident occurred, according to the vessel’s master Michael Briggs. Briggs said he was at the stern of his boat when it hit the buoy. The boat, which has no name across the transom, is up on jacks in Vineyard Haven. A section of the bow has been smashed, leaving a green-smudged hole. Briggs said the boat, a 35-footer, dates from the mid 1970s and is wooden with a fiberglass skin. He said his bilges couldn’t keep up with the incoming water after the buoy strike and he had to radio for help. Eventually he said he jammed a t-shirt into the hole to staunch the inflow. photos, >click to read< 15:17
Patrick Joseph Bowes, Sr., a South Shore Commercial fisherman has passed away
USMC Veteran, Scituate Firefighter, Fisherman Patrick Joseph Bowes, Sr. of Scituate and Marshfield, formerly of South Boston, passed away on Friday, July 2, 2021 after a stroke. Patrick was born and raised in South Boston, and was married for 50 years to the love of his life. A proud father, and grandfather, Patrick was a Boston Harbor Fisherman for over 40 years and in past years fished off of Scituate, MA. Pat learned most of what he knew about lobstering through Paul Vuilleumier. Pat was proud to have built his own beautiful 46 ft. fiberglass lobster boat F/V Katie Pat, in which he fished up until 5 years ago. >click to read< 12:50
The Irish Coast Guard helicopter forced to abandon a maritime rescue mission is back in operation
The Sikorsky S-92 aircraft was evacuating an injured fisherman from a trawler off the coast of Kerry when a warning light appeared in the cockpit. It was forced to reroute immediately to the closest landing spot, at Valentia coast guard station, leaving its winchman and the fisherman aboard the boat. They were later picked up by another coastguard helicopter from Waterford. The incident started early on Sunday morning when the coastguard was responding to a distress call,,, >click to read< 11:55
Maine: Residents rise up against industrial scale aquaculture
American Aquafarms intends to “establish a hatchery, fish farm facilities, and a state-of-the-art processing plant in coastal Maine,” according to its website. “There are so many things wrong with this project,” said Sarah Redmond, a local oyster farmer. “Nobody around here thinks this is a good idea.” The fight over the farms is emblematic of the national debate over how to expand aquaculture in the United States. “I see a storm on the horizon for lobstermen and the future of this industry,” wrote Maine State Rep. Robert Alley in a recent op-ed,,, >click to read< 09:24
Frenchman Bay United has sent a letter to Interior Secretary Haaland around the proposed project in Frenchman Bay – Opponents of industrial salmon farm near Acadia National Park urge Interior Secretary Haaland to oppose project following her recent visit to Maine, >click to read<,To the The Honorable Deb Haaland, Secretary Department of the Interior >click to read<
The Deadliest Catch has been a huge success story for Captain Sig Hansen
American captain Sig Hansen is the leading figure behind the fishing vessel named F/V Northwestern. Sig Hansen’s net worth is estimated to be $4 million. Sig came under huge prominence after starring in each season of the popular documentary television series Deadliest Catch. Later Hansen served as technical advisor for the production team. Sig Hansen has been a constant in the show while entertaining fans with their daily life adventures on the sea. While he later stunned fans by announcing that he is not going to be a part of the television show anymore, he later did return for season 8 of Deadliest Catch.,, >click to read< 09:33
Tropical Storm Elsa Public Advisory – 800 AM EDT
The center of Tropical Storm Elsa was located near latitude 24.5 North, longitude 82.6 West. Elsa is moving toward the north-northwest near 12 mph (19 km/h) and this general motion is expected to continue today, followed by a turn toward the north by tonight. A north-northeastward motion is expected on Wednesday. On the forecast track, Elsa will continue to pass near the Florida Keys this morning, and move near or over portions of the west coast of Florida later today through tonight. On Wednesday morning, Elsa is forecast to make landfall along the north Florida Gulf coast and then move northeastward across the southeastern United States through Thursday. >click to read< 08:25
Along Georgia’s coast, shrimping remains an important industry
Shrimpers are known to be the heart of McIntosh County. However, they face significant challenges leading some to wonder if the industry will survive. “There’s a lot of work that goes into it, and long hours, at times, that goes into it,” Robert Todd said. It’s 4 a.m., as the Sundown and its crew leave the Wait-N-Sea dock in Townsend. “On our vessel right now, there’s three of us on the back deck.,, Todd and McKinzie say it’s a dwindling industry and look toward the younger generation to keep it afloat. “We don’t see the State of Georgia pushing commercial fishermen. This is still a trade. It is a complicated trade because you don’t learn how to commercial fish in a classroom,” >click to read< 16:26
Canada has a Helicopter problem. Fed plan to upgrade choppers is,,, ‘unaffordable’?
The Liberal government announced plans to refurbish the CH-149 Cormorant fleet to keep the 14 aircraft flying and saving lives until 2042. It chose to sole-source the project with European aircraft manufacturer Leonardo. Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan announced that an additional two helicopters would be added to the fleet. But newly-released DND docs show that the company came back with a sky-high cost estimate,,, The document did not cite the cost estimate. Just over $1.03 billion had been set aside by defence planners,,, Department awarded the contract before negotiating price,,, >click to read< 13:50
F/V Scandies Rose: Inaccurate Stability Instructions, Ice Accumulation Led to Fatal Sinking
NTSB issues 7 Safety Recommendations from its investigation into the F/V Scandies Rose sinking. The 130-foot crab fishing vessel capsized and sank on December 31, 2019, The investigation found that although the crew loaded the Scandies Rose per the stability instructions on board, the instructions were inaccurate and, as a result, the vessel did not meet regulatory stability criteria and was more susceptible to capsizing. The NTSB made seven recommendations, including four to the Coast Guard, one to the North Pacific Fishing Vessel Owners’ Association, one to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and one to the National Weather Service. The agency also reiterated two safety recommendations previously issued to the U.S. Coast Guard. >click to read<,– to review all related articles, >click here<10:32
Bristol Bay Fisheries Report: July 4, 2021
A message to Captain Mike “Fishhead” Fourtner and crew on the F/V Bonnie B. They say another Independence Day fishing the bay and thinking “salmon fireworks” are more awe inspiring in their own special way. They hope you’re earning your share and keeping the tenders happy. From a friend in far-away Charleston, South Carolina. The Numbers, The bay-wide run is now over 19.5 million sockeye. Almost 1.2 million fish escaped yesterday, >click to read< 09:33
Ireland has a helicopter problem. Coast Guard leaves winch operator with injured fisherman at sea
An Irish Coast Guard helicopter was forced to leave a crew member and an injured fisherman on a trawler off the coast of Kerry on Sunday after encountering mechanical trouble. The Air Corps put its aircraft on standby amid fears Rescue 115, a Sikorsky S92 helicopter, would have to ditch in the sea on its way back to base. The S92 was the same helicopter model involved in the Rescue 116 disaster in 2017, which resulted in the deaths of the four crew members aboard. >click to read< 08:38
Organizers tell of fundraiser ‘success’ for fishermen lost at sea
Organizers of a fundraiser for a new memorial to remember a group of fishermen who tragically died at sea have described it as a “success”. Old Bills Valeting, Seaford, raised a total of £500 through a raffle and donating 10 per cent of their earnings from June as part of efforts to remember those lost at sea. Robert Morley and Adam Harper lost their lives after their boat, the Joanna C, sank in November last year. Robert’s family launched an appeal for a memorial to placed in the harbour – to remember those who have lost their lives at sea. >click to read< 07:50
Six tiny lobsters born to save species in Mediterranean
Commonly known as the Mediterranean lobster, it is a vulnerable species. Today a research team from the University’s Stella Mare Laboratory Corsica And the French National Center for Scientific Research has managed to control the breeding of this species. In the picture above a newborn lobster. In the project launched in early 2021, researchers have already obtained six samples of lobster, 83 days after hatching, with encouraging data. >click to read< 18:23
‘Eye of fire’ Near Offshore Platform in Mexico Extinguished
Bright orange flames jumping out of water resembling molten lava was dubbed an “eye of fire” on social media due to the blaze’s circular shape, as it raged a short distance from a Pemex oil platform. The fire took more than five hours to fully put out, according to Pemex. The fire began in an underwater pipeline that connects to a platform at Pemex’s flagship Ku Maloob Zaap oil development, the company’s most important, four sources told Reuters earlier. >click to read< 12:49
Lobster industry is anxious over upcoming North Atlantic right whale protection rules
The federal government is working on new rules designed to reduce risk to North Atlantic right whales,,, One of the threats the whales face is entanglement in ropes that connect to lobster and crab traps in the ocean. Early indications show that the changes required by the rules could be significant. They’re also vulnerable to ship strikes, and face the looming threat of warming oceans. Acting NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator Paul Doremus said in June that the U.S. and Canada, which also harvests lobsters, must “take and sustain additional efforts to reduce right whale mortalities and serious injuries.” >click to read< 10:39
From Doryman to Trawlerman: Maurice Kearley reflects on “the days of wooden ships and iron men.”
He started cod fishing with his father at age eight and then lobster fishing with his brother, Art, at age 12, when he earned enough money to buy his first suit of clothes. Maurice Kearley was 16 when he first went fishing on the Grand Banks in 1944,,, During the next 36 years, until he retired from the sea to work on land at age 52, he fished on vessels that evolved from the wooden schooners to steel-side trawlers and then to steel-stern trawlers. At 16, he signed on as a doryman, onboard the 12-dory schooner Tweedsmuir, owned by the Warehams of Harbour Buffett, with his father, Thomas, as 
his dorymate. He spent nine years as a doryman,,, The late 1940s and early 1950s saw a major shift in the offshore fishery with the building of fresh-fish filleting plants around the island, ushering in the end of the schooner salt-fishery and the arrival of steel side-trawlers.,, The introduction of stern trawlers in the mid-1960s was a real game-changer for the men who had previously manned the smaller side trawlers in the 1940s and ’50s. >click to read< 08:42
One of the last great Gloucester schooners: The L.A. Dunton of Grand Bank celebrates 100 years – One of the last great Gloucester schooners: The L.A. Dunton of Grand Bank celebrates 100 years – She was a 10-dory schooner, with two men to a dory while fishing a crew of 22 men, including captain and cook, who lived in very cramped quarters. >click to read<
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Ray Jones, well-known leader in the seafood industry, has passed away in Brunswick, Georgia
Raymond Lee Jones, 72, died on June 21, 2021, in Brunswick, Georgia, after a brief battle with pancreatic cancer. He was a loving father, grandfather, a well-known leader in the seafood industry and a genuinely good soul who shall be deeply missed. In 1988, he accepted a position at Rich Products Corp., working for its SeaPak Shrimp and Seafood division on St. Simons Island, Georgia. Over the next three decades, Ray would have a huge influence on the company, and on the seafood industry at large. He was a genuine advocate for seafood and a trusted voice in meeting with members of the House, Senate and regulatory agencies. Ray served as chairman of the National Fisheries Institute’s technical committee from 1994 to 1996, and was the technical chairman of the National Shrimp Industry Association from 1998 to 2005. >click to read< 17:30
Harvesting the sea
Working out of six major fishing ports, New Jersey fishermen rank No. 1 in the nation when it comes to landing clams, scallops, squid and Atlantic mackerel. “It supports thousands of jobs.’’ Fishermen are the heart and soul of this industry, risking both life and livelihood to land the fish that feed their families, and millions of Americans. “Commercial fishermen are some of the hardest working people,’’ said Wayne Reichle, president, Lund’s Fisheries in Cape May. “They are paid on what they harvest. If they go out to sea and don’t catch anything, they don’t make anything. They take a lot 
of risk both financially and personally.’’ “In the winter, our guys go anywhere from 75 to 150 miles offshore,’’ said Dave Tauro, manager of Belford Seafood Co-Op in Highlands. “It takes them sometimes 18 hours. Imagine what the fuel cost is. They spend three grand before they leave the dock.’’ photos, >click to read< 13:45
California Fishermen mark a pleasant surprise after preparing for a grim summer. An abundance of fish.
Scott Edson, who fishes out of Half Moon Bay, said this season has been great for everyone, with an abundance of fish in the water not seen in years. “This year is something guys say they haven’t seen in 15 to 20 years. It’s been a pretty good season so far,” Edson said.,,, Don Marshall, who fishes out of Half Moon Bay, said the salmon season had been a lot better than expected, and he had seen more fish than in the last 10 to 15 years. He recently caught 180 salmon totaling around 2,000 pounds, a daily catch worth $13,000 at $6 a pound pricing. “I had the best day I have ever had,,, Nobody expected this many fish, and many fishermen were preparing for a grim summer and other options,” >click to read< 11:17
Perkins Cove Fisherman Richard “Rick” Smith Knight Jr. of York, Maine, has passed away
Rick was born on March 28, 1945 in York, Maine, the son of the late Richard S. Knight, Sr. and Barbara Helen Weare. He died June 27, 2021. Rick served as a marine engineer in the Merchant Marine, traveling the world nine times. This period, as well as his time at Maine Maritime Academy, provided ample material for many interesting stories, which he loved to tell to his friends and family. Fishing out of Perkins Cove in Ogunquit for over 40 years, Rick first had a dragger, the “Barbara Helen”, and later his lobster boat, the “Michelle D”. Rick loved being on the water, and deeply treasured the friendships and brotherhood that he had with the other fishermen in the cove. >click to read< 10:20
Tasmania: King Island lobster fishers fear seismic testing plans could damage the local industry
Wayne Coombe casts his mind back about 15 years when seismic testing was conducted off the island’s south west. “There was an abundance of lobster there and after that survey, it was almost like they died overnight of old age,” he said. “Lobsters just disappeared, they didn’t crawl, they were not there.” Gas giant ConocoPhillips is hoping to conduct seismic testing in mid-August at the Otway Basin to the west of King Island to assess its natural gas reservoirs. >click to read< 09:08
Time to stand with fishermen
Sinn Féin TD for Louth Imelda Munster has urged the government to stand up for Irish fishermen and end the long-running injustices in the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy. Her comments come after a protest of fishing families took place outside the Convention Cen tre in Dublin. ‘I am calling on the government to stand up for Irish fishermen and end the injustice of the current Common Fisheries Policy. This terrible policy has devastated Ireland’s fishing communities,’ >click to read< 08:02
“Our industry is quite happy,,, Lobster prices are back up just as 2021 season ends
Charlie McGeoghegan, chair of the P.E.I. Lobster Marketing Board, said overall it was a “very good year” for lobster fishers. “Our industry is quite happy with the way things went when you compare it to last year and many other years actually,” McGeoghegan said. “It’s a welcome change for sure.” The season was delayed two weeks due to COVID-19 concerns for the safety of boat crews, and questions over the demand for lobster. The season was extended by four days, but losing 10 days still negatively affected last year’s overall catch numbers and prices. >click to read< 16:12
Captain dead, 2 crewmen survive sinking of F/V Pneuma in Nushagak Bay
The captain of a commercial fishing vessel died and two other crew members apparently escaped uninjured when it sank in southwest Alaska, authorities said. Lance Eric Norby, 45, of Texas, was identified as the captain, Alaska State Troopers said Friday. His remains were being sent to the State Medical Examiner in Anchorage. Two other people on board survived the incident, said the online dispatch report. The two survivors declined medical attention after being saved by Alaska Wildlife Troopers patrolling the area. >click to read< 14:14
Grounded 90-foot vessel American Challenger to be refloated
Hopes are to have the 90-foot American Challenger refloated and towed away later this summer, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response. The decommissioned commercial vessel grounded north of Dillon Beach on March 6 after running adrift under tow from Puget Sound to Mexico, where it was to have been scuttled. The tugboat operator towing the decommissioned vessel said later that a steel shackle connecting the boats failed in Bodega Bay, ultimately causing the American Challenger to drift into shore, though a Coast Guard crew was monitoring it at the time. photos, >click to read< 13:40
Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg sets port condition Whiskey for Port of Tampa for Hurricane Elsa
Effective 12 p.m. Friday, the Coast Guard Captain of the Port set port condition Whiskey for the ports of Tampa, St. Petersburg, Manatee, and Ft. Myers due to the expectation of sustained gale force winds of 25 mph and gusts up to 40 mph generated from Hurricane Elsa that may arrive within 72 hours. These ports and facilities are currently open to all commercial traffic and all transfer operations may continue while Whiskey remains in effect. Sustained winds between 39 and 73 mph are possible within 72 hours. For information on Hurricane Elsa progress and hurricane preparedness, please >click to read< 12:55
29 years of northern cod moratorium have cost NL at least $26 billion
In his 1992 book, No Fish and Our Lives, Some Survival Notes for Newfoundland, Cabot Martin wrote that a rebuilt northern cod stock could support annual harvesters of 400,000 tonnes (881 million/lbs).The moratorium remains the biggest layoff in Canadian history, and while there’s a small-scale inshore stewardship fishery, Fisheries and Oceans does not set a total-allowable catch (TAC), and it’s not considered a full-fledged commercial fishery. Where are we today? All three commercial cod stocks adjacent to Newfoundland and Labrador are categorized by DFO scientists as in the critical zone, meaning removals are to be kept to a minimum. >click to read< – 25 Years ago Today – The Northern Cod Moratorium – Sunday, July 2, 
marks a quarter of a century since then federal fisheries minster John Crosbie announced what was planned to be a two-year moratorium on the northern cod fishery. It continues on today, though it has often seemed lost in the wake of a lucrative crab and shrimp fishery that remarkably saved the industry and many communities. But back in 1992, a province settled and built on the back of the mighty cod fishery, >click to read< 11:20
