Monthly Archives: August 2021

NOAA Predicts 70 Percent Chance of Rainy La Niña Weather Across the Pacific Northwest

The drought-stricken Pacific Northwest is expected to see heavy rainfall in the coming months, scientists say. The NOAA predicts that the La Niña weather pattern could emerge as early as August, and have the potential to dump heavy rainfall across Pacific Northwest throughout the 2022 winter season. The storms will likely provide relief for much of America’s Northwest, which is currently experiencing various stages of intense drought. Video, >click to read< 10:59

Celebrating 20 Years In The Food Delivery Industry, Vital Choice Wild Seafood & Organics. How It All Began

“Her name was Helen. She really wanted some wild salmon,” With 20 years in business Vital Choice Wild Seafood & Organics explores how it began with a request from a salmon lover. Hartnell, an Alaska fisherman, had seen wild salmon prices collapse due to a new product: cheap farmed salmon. Nearly broke, he and a friend were touring the Midwest cooking up his wild salmon to sell to natural-food store patrons. “We gave presentations and told them it was more nutritious, and when they tried it they could tell it tasted better.” After one such show, “This very insistent woman named Helen, comes up and says, ‘How can I get this when you guys are gone?'” It was a lightbulb moment. If Helen wanted this salmon shipped, then maybe other people wanted seafood shipped to them as well. >click to read< 09:36

Commercial Fisherman & Coast Guard Reserve Veteran, Harold A. Loftes, Jr., Dies

Harold A. Loftes, Jr., 78, passed away on Tuesday, August 24, 2021. He was the husband of Mary (Littlefield) Loftes and the son of the late Virginia (Bossard) Loftes and Harold Loftes, Sr. and brother to the late Bruce Loftes. Harold built and owned many boats during his 60+ years of commercial fishing, including the vessels Mary Elena, Min Terse, Amanda Lee, Kevin + Mandy, and others. Fishing was his life and passion. A graveside ceremony will be held at New Fernwood Cemetery, Rt 138, Kingston Monday, >click to read< 07:33

Coast Guard rescues fishing crew from a rock near grounded fishing vessel off Beaver Inlet, Unalaska

The Coast Guard rescued four people Thursday after a fishing vessel ran aground near Dutch Harbor. A Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew deployed aboard Cutter Bertholf hoisted all four survivors from a rock near the grounded fishing vessel F/V Endurance, approximately one mile west of Egg Island, near the entrance to Beaver Inlet, Unalaska. They were flown to Dutch Harbor and placed in the care of awaiting EMS with no injuries reported at the time of transfer. Watchstanders in the Coast Guard 17th District command center in Juneau received a transferred call via satellite phone emergency dispatch from the Endurance at 10:57 p.m. Wednesday, stating they had run aground, were severely listing, and taking on water. >click to read< 20:50

Russian Fishery Company’s flagship supertrawler F/V Vladimir Limanov arrives in Vladivostok port

After successful fishing trials, the flagship supertrawler “Vladimir Limanov” owned by the Russian Fishery Company arrives in Vladivostok for scheduled customs clearance and presentation to the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping, RFC says in its press release. During the voyage, F/V “Vladimir Limanov” underwent a number of inspections to determine the efficiency and reliability of the new vessel in real operating conditions. Leading Russian and Japanese food companies have already appreciated the first batches of high-quality products. The vessel is ready for operation and can set out on a fishing voyage. >click to read< 18:54

George Carter: Former Caithness skipper has passed away

Caithness skipper George Carter, who witnessed the aftermath of wartime tragedies, landed 378 boxes of cod in one day, and once caught a great white shark in his nets, has died aged 86. He first went to sea as a child and was fishing with creels from his boat Streaker until days before his death. George had also been a Justice of the Peace, was a trustee of Waterline Heritage Centre, Lybster, chairman of Lybster Harbour Society and Wick branch chairman of the Scottish White Fish Producers’ Association. >click to read< 16:19

Video: Shop in Shallotte creates nets for fishermen from the Pamlico Sound to Keys West

It’s one of the last shops of its kind, a little place in Shallotte that makes and repairs big nets fishermen use to catch shrimp. They sew them by hand for shrimpers up and down the coast. >click to watch< 12:15

Humpy surge boosts Prince William Sound harvest to 54.3M

For Prince William Sound alone the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s preliminary harvest report as of Wednesday, Aug. 18, stood at 50.4 million humpies, up from 31.9 million humpies just a week earlier, when the overall PWS commercial harvest totaled 39.8 million fish. Deliveries to PWS processors also reached a cumulative total of 2.6 million chums, 1.3 million sockeyes, 39,000 cohos and 7,000 Chinook salmon.,, In the PWS seine fisheries the egg take underway at the Valdez Fisheries Development Association was 38% complete as of Aug. 17. The Prince William Sound Aquaculture Corp. reported good run entry at Wally Noerenberg Hatchery and minimal run entry at the Armin F. Koernig and Cannery Creek hatcheries.  Future fishing opportunities targeting PWSAC enhanced pink salmon would be contingent on run entry and broodstock acquisition, biologists said.  >click to read< 11:22

A Florence Fable – A 93-year-old fisherman and his 108-year-old fishing boat, Otter

Retired commercial fisherman Walter Fossek, a high school dropout from Springfield, sits portside on his 52-foot boat with a glamorous past, known as the Otter. As people walk by, he says hello and chats with them about the happenings of the dock, where he spends his days maintaining the Otter bow to stern and reminiscing on a life full of crab pots and peach trees. At 93, Fossek has the wizened, tan appearance of someone who has spent decades on the water. He wears a battered baseball cap to protect his bespectacled eyes from the sun, and his hair is pulled back in a thin gray ponytail. photos,  >click to read< 09:02

Climate change: Scotland’s fishing fleet doesn’t deserve to be turned into a water-borne bogeyman by enviros

In fact, official government advice is for people to eat at least two portions of fish per week, one of them oily, and the Scottish government has a dietary goal of increasing fish consumption among the population. Meanwhile, the Scottish fishing industry has a lower carbon footprint than most other forms of food production, such as meat and even many vegetables. Yet with the United Nations’ Cop26 climate change conference due to be held in Glasgow this November, presenting many opportunities for cheap headlines, skippers, crews and coastal communities have been singled out by environmental NGOs for their perceived lack of progress towards achieving net-zero carbon emissions. >click to read< 07:48

‘I’m truly upset’: CA sport fishermen say proposed emissions standards will put them out of business>click to read< 

Rare photos capture Lowestoft trawlermen out at sea in the 1960s

A former photojournalist in the 1960s has shared some rare photos of his time out at sea capturing the lives of trawlermen in Lowestoft. He said: “Lowestoft was alive and teeming with life at that point in time. “I spent three weeks on this tiny little vessel with all the crew. “It was an eight man crew and all of them were such hard workers. “24 hour days, just constantly finding fish, bringing them on board, cutting them up and gutting them and then repeating this process. 11 photo’s, >click to read< 21:33

Feds botched the review of Vineyard Wind, lawsuit alleges – Concern over right whales in lawsuit

A group of Nantucket residents opposed to an offshore wind farm planned for waters south of the island filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday seeking to stop its construction, arguing that several federal agencies violated laws intended to protect endangered species. BOEM and NOAA, which are named in the suit, declined to comment, citing the pending litigation. Vineyard Wind, a joint project of a Danish company and a U.S. subsidiary of the Spanish energy giant, Iberdrola, also declined to comment. Vallorie Oliver, another Nantucket resident and group member, argues federal officials haven’t provided adequate research to back up their claims that the wind project will have minimal impact on the right whales and other marine life. >click to read<Concern about endangered right whales cited in lawsuit over Nantucket Wind Farm – ACK Residents Against Turbines said Vineyard  Wind’s proposed project of some 60 turbines 22 kilometres south of the island is in a crucial area for foraging and nursing for the species, which researchers estimate number less than 400. Mary Chalke, a Nantucket resident and member of the opposition group, said the lawsuit isn’t just about Vineyard Wind, but other turbine projects also in the pipeline up and down the Eastern Seaboard. >click to read< 17:35

Samaritans, U.S.C.G. rescue fishing boat captain from ‘communications dead zone’ near Sitka

A Coast Guard helicopter crew from Air Station Sitka medevaced a man in cardiac distress from a fishing vessel in West Crawfish Inlet on Aug. 19. Watchstanders in Sitka received a call around 1:30 p.m. from the F/V Minke. Crew from the Minke relayed that the 68-year-old captain of another boat, the F/V Lady Cyprus, was experiencing a possible heart attack. West Crawfish Inlet is around 16 miles south of Sitka. Due to the surrounding high terrain, the inlet is considered a “communication dead zone,” and crew from the Lady Cyprus were unable to contact the Coast Guard themselves. >click to read< 14:50

When Sailboats Ruled Bristol Bay

One hundred and thirty-two years ago, the Bristol Bay commercial fishery began on the shores of the Nushagak River when the first cannery went into operation and canned a little more than 4,000 salmon. Within four years, three more canneries appeared on the Nushagak, and within a decade canneries were built on the Naknek and Kvichak rivers. The dawn of the 20th century saw dozens of canneries around Bristol Bay catching, processing and canning millions of pounds of sockeye salmon every summer. By 1910, Bristol Bay accounted for 40 percent of Alaska’s commercially caught salmon. Even today, Bristol Bay makes up about 40 percent of Alaska’s salmon value. photo’s, >click to read< 11:50

Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 81.5′ Steel Scalloper, Cat 3412, excellent electronics, available immediately

To review specifications, information, and >12 photo’s click here<, To see all the boats in this series >click here< 10:37

Call for ‘full investigation’ into alleged bluefin tuna fishing breach

Tensions with France increased again last week after a French vessel was accused of catching about 1.2 tonnes of bluefin tuna off the west coast. There is a ban on targeting or catching the fish in Jersey waters, but the species can be caught in French seas. The government has confirmed it is investigating reports of the species being caught in the Island’s waters. According to the Wildlife (Jersey) Law 2021, anyone found to have killed protected species in Jersey is liable to two years in prison and a fine. The JEP asked the government what was being done to investigate the matter, whether any officers were travelling to France to speak to the skipper involved in the alleged incident and how long the inquiry was expected to take. No response had been received by the time of going to print. >click to read< 09:45

Michael Gove’s startling Brexit admission: ‘EU will continue to have access to UK waters

Despite Downing Street calling a “mutual compromise”, it does seem Prime Minister Boris Johnson capitulated on one of the most contentious areas of Brexit trade talks: fishing rights. The UK wanted any fishing agreement to be separate from the trade deal with access negotiated annually in a similar fashion to Norway’s agreement with the bloc. Norway is an independent coastal state, with the rights and responsibilities under international law associated with that status. Stocks shared with the EU are managed through annual bilateral negotiations. Each autumn these talks set total allowable catches on the basis of scientific advice. This contrasts starkly with the position of the UK fishing industry within the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy, something the EU wanted to maintain at all costs. >click to read< 08:14

SEA-NL: Investigation into foreign control/corporate concentration in fish processing sector required

SEA-NL is calling on Premier Andrew Furey to launch an investigation into foreign control/corporate concentration in the province’s fish processing sector to coincide with a similar ongoing federal review of offshore fishing licences. The federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) is currently reviewing foreign ownership/corporate concentration of offshore licences to prevent foreign interests from establishing effective control over licence-holders. “Ottawa’s review of offshore licences is only half the story, and only half the issues that must be addressed in the province’s fishery,” says Ryan Cleary, interim Executive Director of Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador. “The whole story about potential illegal control of offshore and inshore fish quotas won’t be told until the Premier launches a parallel investigation.” >click to read, including the letter< 20:16

Hitting the Lottery! A small New Brunswick town scores its 2nd big win

A retired crab fisherman won a jackpot online prize of $644,000, making him the second person from Le Goulet, N.B., to win a money prize. In early August, another retired fisherman from the same village won $1 million while playing Lotto 6/49. In a release Monday, Atlantic Lottery said Louis Mallet won a jackpot of $644,380 after he entered his Jackpot Scratch’N Win tickets into Atlantic Lottery’s 2Chance contest website. >click to read< 18:18

Lobster Fisherman is New Brunswick’s newest Millionaire – Atlantic Lottery says Clovis Roussel heard someone in his community had won and found out it was him when he went to the store. >click to read<

Nantucket Residents Against Turbines: Presser Wednesday to announce federal lawsuit to halt construction

The group indicated Tuesday that their suit will be based on efforts to protect the Northern Atlantic right whale. “The MA/RI wind lease areas cover one of the whale’s last strongholds, for migration, foraging and raising their young,” the group says on its website. “We are concerned with the adverse impacts from the increased construction vessel traffic, pile driving, and operational noise on the critically endangered NARW. NOAA fisheries determined the Vineyard Wind project, which is located in one of the last North Atlantic Right Whale foraging and nursery strongholds, and which will involve thousands of miles of vessel trips, will not jeopardize the species. This determination is not supported by the evidence.” >click to read< , and >here< 14:19

Sign The Petition: SAVE OUR OCEAN from the HUGE mistake of offshore windfarms in California!

California is preparing to make a grave mistake by allowing offshore windfarms to be built. The promise of green energy is the driving force behind this decision. The truth is, this is not green at all! The ocean is the last place we need to place windfarms. There are many more disadvantages than advantages to placing these floating wind turbines on the ocean. The environmental impact will be devastating to fish, birds, whales, other sea creatures, sport and commercial fisherman and families, and to the beautiful ocean itself. >Click to read<,  Thank you for signing and help spread the word! By Michael Cohen

The Mi’kmaq fishing dispute: What the treaties said and how the wording could affect a future fishery

“We have a treaty right,” said Chief Mike Sack, wearing a hat emblazoned with Honour Treaties, when asked why the band had renamed their effort from the “moderate livelihood” fishery they launched last fall. The latter term was coined by the Supreme Court of Canada in its 1999 Marshall decision. But the decision that acknowledged a moderate livelihood treaty right also stated the authority to regulate, after consultation with First Nations, is held by the federal fisheries minister. With Sipekne’katik fishers setting traps under a self-regulated treaty fishery and federal officers hauling them and arresting Chief Sack for questioning on suspicion of inciting an illegal fishery, the question is raised: what do the treaties say? >click to read< 10:21

There are only a handful of scallop farms in the United States, but most are in Maine.

Marsden Brewer kicked a 38-foot lobster boat into the middle of Penobscot Bay. Brewer and his son Bob pulled up a long net covered with algae and scooped scallops into a bucket of seawater. There, the bivalves moved much faster than I had imagined. Most go to Gliden Point Oyster Farm. The rest was about to be lunch. Brewer, a third-generation commercial fisherman, has witnessed the instability of the wild fisheries around him, witnessing fluctuations in the catch of red-spotted shrimp and the scarcity of cod, sea urchin and shrimp stocks that were once abundant. I witnessed. >click to read< 09:10

F/V Blue Wave: Investigation continues into overboard New Bedford scalloper

A spokesperson for the U.S. Coast Guard on Monday said there are no additional updates since the agency announced last week it was suspending its search for a 36-year-old man who went overboard a commercial fishing vessel off the coast of Nantucket. The Coast Guard suspended its search and rescue operations on Aug. 17 for a crew member of Blue Wave, a scalloping vessel out of New Bedford owned by Blue Harvest Fisheries. Coast Guard Petty Officer Emma Fliszar said while the agency is normally allowed to release the names of people who are missing, injured or killed, the family of the crew member requested the agency not release the name. >click to read< 08:01

Pushing the Limit: Councillor floats idea of devolving some fisheries control to Shetland

Duncan Anderson, who represents the North Isles, pointed to the Scottish Islands Act which gives scope for local authorities to request more powers or functions. The Scottish Government has the responsibility for managing inshore fishing out to the 12 mile limit. A precedent was set more than 20 years ago when the management of the local commercial shellfish fishery out to the six mile limit was devolved to the Shetland Shellfish Management Organization. Anderson, who is from the fishing community of Whalsay, said he “firmly believes that Shetland should control the fisheries in what would be Shetland’s EEZ, like our Faroese neighbours”. >click to read< 15:47

MEP Calls on Government to “rethink” its refusal to assist Fishing Family

Irish MEP Sean Kelly has called on the government to “rethink” its refusal to assist an Arklow fishing family after it lost substantial funds over a vessel bought abroad which proved to be dangerously unstable. Skipper CJ Gaffney of a well known Arklow fishing family with five generations of service with the RNLI lifeboat, incurred substantial losses over the purchase of the vessel which had been certified as safe by German authorities. The beam trawler Mary Kate was bought in the Netherlands in 2007, with the Gaffneys borrowing 620,000 euro for the purchase. However, when CJ Gaffney began fishing the vessel in January 2008, he noticed that it was significantly more unstable than his previous older boat. Tests showed 20 tonnes of unaccounted steel were in the vessel, and the family opted to lengthen it to make it safer. >click to read< 11:21

Dozens of boats race through Casco Bay for annual Lobster Boat Races

Sunday was the final day of lobster boat races for the season. From Boothbay, to Portland fishermen traveled the coast to compete. Jon Johansen helps run the races. He says each boat pays $20 to compete which goes towards helping high school graduates attend college through the fishermen’s scholarship fund. “The party started on Friday and in certain places it hasn’t stopped yet,” >Video, photos, click to read< 10:03

Dividing the baby

Alaska’s Kenai River is today a textbook example of the problems of managing mixed-stock fisheries right down to commercial set gillnetters protesting they catch comparatively few of the weak stock. The weak stock is in this case Chinook, or what Alaskans usually just call king salmon, and it just happens to be the same fish that gets caught as trawl bycatch in the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea. To date this year, according to National Marine Fisheries Service data, trawlers in the Bering Sea have caught about 11,000 Chinook on their way to a harvest of nearly 1 million metric tons, or about 2.2 billion pounds of pollock. >click to read< 09:04

The last in a long line of Milwaukee commercial fishermen sets course for Alaska

The men have always started their day wondering whether a load of fish is straining the nets that they set the day before. Today their compass doesn’t point them toward any nets at all. The boat’s rumbling 855 Cummins diesel pushes them down the muddy Kinnickinnic River and under the Hoan Bridge. This is the moment when their eyes normally train on the open waters ahead. But today, the 52-year-old man notices his dad, Alvin, is glancing back. I think this is probably going to be the last time I see Milwaukee from the water, 77-year-old Alvin Anderson says. Yeah, his son, Dan, replies glumly. Then Milwaukee’s last working commercial fishing tug – the Alicia Rae – glides through the north gap of the Milwaukee Harbor breakwater. And it is gone. 20 photo’s, >click to read< 08:10