Monthly Archives: September 2021
Prince William Sound harvests exceed 69M salmon
Late season harvesters were still pulling in coho salmon in in mid-September, with the preliminary Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s estimated harvest rising to 224,000 silvers, up from 199,000 a week ago. The Copper River district has been the biggest contributor to the coho catch to date, with 132,462 fish caught in drift gillnets, followed by 33,607 fish brought in Eastern Prince William Sound purse seiners and 16,436 fish from Prince William Sound Southwestern purse seiners, according to ADF&G updates. The average weight of Copper River,,, >click to read< 07:48
No Matter How One Connects the ‘Green Energy’ Dots, America Needs Pebble’s Copper
If President Biden sees electric vehicles in everyone’s future, he ironically will have to rely on copper mines to get there. Consider the current bipartisan infrastructure package, a $1.2 trillion mishmash of boondoggles and eco-centric priorities ostensibly designed to alleviate the “climate crisis,”,, If the $1.2 trillion infrastructure package doesn’t grind your gears, the accompanying $3.5 trillion budget bill surely will. This monstrosity includes another laundry list of ‘green energy’ projects and demand. The simple fact is for every one of those projects, priorities, regulations, jobs and traditional energy transition plans, America will need to have copper. And it just so happens that my home state of Alaska has plenty of copper to support those initiatives, if Biden would just move forward with the Pebble Mine Project. By Rick Whitbeck >click to read< 13:54
Roberto Gonzalez of Key West, Florida has passed away. He found and lived the American dream
Born to his parents, Maria Paula Oliva and Pedro Gonzalez on the 31st day of March, 1933, in Quiebra Hacha, Cuba. At the tender age of 2, he lost his beloved mother, and, shortly after his father followed, leaving him an orphan at the age of 6. At the age of 23, Roberto met his love Benedicta Herrera. Building their home together in Key West, where he worked as Commercial Fisherman for Stock Island Lobster along side of Peter Bacle. After hard work and sacrifice, in 1979, Roberto purchased his pride and joy, a 43ft. Torres, The Thunderbird, which is still up and running, and one of the most well known boats among the industry. >click to read< 10:39
Benedicta Herrera de Gonzalez – She met the love of her life, and later married her best friend, Roberto Gonzalez in 1956. She met the love of her life, and later married her best friend, Roberto Gonzalez in 1956. Together they voyaged into freedom, Although, she and Roberto separated they remained family, involved in their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren’s everyday lives, celebrating all their events together. They were a forever family. >click to read< 11:47
Fishermen take aim at Emmanuel Macron over proposals for wind farms
Protestors had gathered on Friday in an attempt to voice their concerns against the plans for the wind projects. The protests took place in Le Havre and Cherbourg, with the protestors being made up of predominantly fishermen. The protestors believe that the plans for these wind projects are an ecological disaster, having an impact on both marine biodiversity and their economic activity. “They are going to kill everything. They are going to kill an artisanal industry, it’s catastrophic. Marine Le Pen also took to Twitter to stand in unity with the fishermen of France. “All my support for the fishermen who courageously oppose offshore wind projects. “Elected President of the Republic, I will immediately deconstruct wind farms on land and at sea and remove all subsidies for wind power.” >click to read< 09:23
Louisiana: Young fishermen face uncertain future after Hurricane Ida
Devin Verdin kept his boat tied near one of the camps along Bayou Grand Caillou during Hurricane Ida. Despite the widespread destruction, Verdin remains certain he’ll remain a shrimper. Along with Evan Solet and Elise Garibotte, Verdin was heading up to David Chauvin’s Seafood Company to gather ice as they prepared to go shrimping Tuesday night. The company is one of few in Dulac able to operate since Ida hit Aug. 29. Seth Billiot said he has tried to apply for help from FEMA and the U.S. Small Business Administration but was told he doesn’t qualify. >Click to read< 08:16
It’s another fine FishyFriday in Newlyn.
Last few hours for the netting fleet before they leave their berths to take ice and head away for the next tide… with fine weather comes fine fishing and the auction was full of inshore landings this morning… lots of photos, >click to read< 22:09
Nova Scotia fishing industry granted intervenor status in Mi’kmaw treaty rights case
The ruling Friday afternoon by Supreme Court Justice John Keith gives the Unified Fisheries Conservation Alliance standing in a proceeding against the Canadian government by the Potlotek First Nation. The Cape Breton band is seeking an injunction to prevent the Department of Fisheries and Oceans from interfering with its self-regulated moderate livelihood lobster fishery. It wants a court declaration that enforcement of the federal Fisheries Act infringes on its treaty right to earn a moderate living from fishing. In an oral decision, Keith said UFCA’s intervention would not unduly delay, prejudice or politicize Potlotek’s case. He said as a group representing fishers using the same shared and finite resource, UFCA has a direct interest in the case. >click to read< 17:45
USCG medevacs 2 crewmen from fishing vessel 3 miles off South Padre Island, Texas
Coast Guard Sector/Air Station Corpus Christi command center watchstanders received a call on VHF-FM channel 16 at 10:34 a.m. from the commercial fishing vessel F/V Miss Verna stating that two crewmen were unconscious after entering a confined freezer space. Watchstanders consulted with the duty flight surgeon, who recommended a medevac. A Coast Guard Station South Padre Island 45-foot Response Boat–Medium crew launched to assist. Once on scene, the boat crew worked with South Padre Island Fire Department personnel to remove the crew members from the confined space and transfer them to the RB–M. Both men were conscious but exhibiting labored breathing. >click to read< 16:16
Delay Implementation of Gear Marking & Modification in Right Whale Rule
In a letter today to Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, Governor Janet Mills urged swift action by NOAA Fisheries to reduce the unnecessary economic harm to Maine fishermen that the recently announced Federal whale protection rule will cause. “I don’t believe this rule, as written, should take effect at all, and, at the very least, I urge you to direct NOAA Fisheries to delay the rule’s implementation of gear marking and gear modifications (including both trawling up and insertion of weak points) to July 1, 2022,” wrote Governor Mills. “It is entirely unfair that Maine lobstermen continue to be the primary target of burdensome regulations, despite the many effective mitigation measures they have taken and despite the data showing that ship strikes and Canadian fishing gear continue to pose significant risk to right whales,” >click to read< 14:38
Caretakers of a legacy – 1932 H.C. Hanson
Alaska-based fisheries biologists David and Darcy Saiget feel it was fate that brought the U.S. Forest Service ranger boat Sea Bear to them. Today, they see themselves as caretakers of a legacy rather than as boat owners.,, Sea Bear was originally named Forester. She was built in 1932 for the U.S. Forest Service ranger boat fleet in Alaska, where she served from 1932 to 1964. Designed by the famed boatbuilder H.C. Hanson, she has purple heart stem and keel, 5.5-inch-thick oak ribs on 13-inch centers, and Douglas fir decks and planks. In 11 years, Sea Bear will be 100 years old. We hope to be around for that, and hope to continue preserving her in the spirit of H.C. Hanson, the shipwrights past and present, and dedicated caretakers like Bill Clapp. photos, >click to read< 13:12
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for September 24, 2021
Legislative updates, Bill updates, Calendar, >Click here to read the Weekly Update<, to read all the updates >click here<, for older updates listed as NCFA >click here< 12:13
New Jersey fishing industry wonders if it can coexist with Biden’s planned massive wind farms
Clammers like Charlie Quintana are back from two days at sea on the Christy. Quintana worries about climate change: He says he’s noticed a change in the fisheries because of warming oceans. But he also worries that the hundreds of thousands of acres of wind farms planned for the East Coast will limit where he can catch clams,,, Surf clams were the first seafood to be regulated by the federal government, leading the way for what has become one of the most regulated industries in the nation. Where, when, how and how much are harvested is strictly monitored and enforced.,, “We are literally fighting for the existence of the clam industry to remain in the port of Atlantic City.” >click to read< 10:36
300-pound stingray attacks man off NY coast
A boat crewman was jabbed by a 300-pound stingray off the New York coast, forcing the U.S. Coast Guard to launch a daring helicopter rescue in the dark late Sunday. It happened about 40 miles southwest of Montauk, according to a news release. The man was working aboard the Shelby Ann, a commercial fishing boat, when he “was struck by a stingray barb below the knee” and began going into shock, officials said. Video >Click to read< 09:16
Ross Tiger goes digital as visitors can take a virtual tour of Grimsby trawler
Grimsby’s historic trawler the Ross Tiger has gone digital as you can now take a virtual tour around the boat. The new initiative from Grimsby Fishing Heritage Centre lets you explore the ship from the comfort of an armchair. A 3D replica of the ship allows you to see the iconic trawler in new ways, including areas usually hidden below the water line. “The new tour allows users to explore Ross Tiger in a unique way using incredible new technologies which bring the vessel to life through a combination of exciting visuals, interactive activities and information.” >click to read< Visit Grimsby Fishing Heritage Centre >click here< 08:34
Wicked Tuna’s Tyler McLaughlin
National Geographic’s show “Wicked Tuna” has captivated and entertained audiences who not only revel in some good ol’ reality television but are also interested in what life at sea really entails. The show has had a successful run (10 seasons) and people just can’t get enough of these New England tuna fishermen who risk their lives for a promising salary and prestige. One of the show’s favorite OG fisherman is tuna fishing expert and New Hampshire native Tyler McLaughlin. McLaughlin has been on the show since day one ,,, >click to read< 07:50
Should the next fisheries minister come from central Canada?
On election night, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s first cabinet casualty came early as Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan tumbled to defeat in Nova Scotia’s South Shore, St. Margarets riding. Her defeat means her successor will inherit the unresolved dispute over Nova Scotia’s Indigenous moderate livelihood lobster fishery. And that potentially means a clean slate for negotiations between all parties involved. And the chief of the band at the centre of that fishery says maybe the best way to establish that clean slate would be to enlist a fisheries minister from the interior, rather than the coasts, where they would be exposed to the pressures of their community. >click to read< 20:33
Celebrating 140 years of the Fishermen’s Mission
A charity which looks after the welfare of fishermen and their families is celebrating its 140th anniversary with a special eBook. The Fishermen’s Mission was founded in 1881 and has been looking after fishing communities since then. As part of its 140th anniversary the charity has produced am online eBook which looks back to the early days of the charity as well as focussing on their essential work today of caring for UK fishermen and their families. The Fishermen’s Mission 140th eBook can be found here >click to read< 14:12
Search expert applauds provincewide push to keep looking for missing N.L. fishermen
A retired coast guard search and rescue coordinator says he’s impressed with the effort now going into the search for two fishers who went missing off the coast of Labrador last week. Merv Wiseman says the provincewide outpouring of support for the fishermen and their families is likely what pushed officials to bring in so many resources to keeping looking for the men and their vessel. Marc Russell and Joey Jenkins left the small Labrador community of Mary’s Harbour last Friday aboard the Island Lady fishing vessel and never returned home. >click to read< 13:03
After Hurricane Ida: Louisiana’s struggling seafood industry is teetering
The Category 4 hurricane that struck Louisiana late last month fractured some parts of the industry even worse than 2005’s Katrina, which cost seafood businesses more than $1 billion. No one yet knows how many boats, docks and processors were lost because of Ida’s relentless, 150-mph winds. Vessels that made it to the safest harbors fared the best, yet even some of them were destroyed by the storm’s fury. Unable to speak for a decade since cancer surgery, Dale Williams gets by on disability payments of $1,300 a month. Living in a mobile home at Port Sulphur on the west bank of the Mississippi River, he supplements his income by catching shrimp with a little boat he parked in his front yard for Hurricane Ida. Ida’s Category 4 winds flipped Williams’ trawler on its side, bending the frame and tearing nets,,, The goal is to get back on the water by October, he said, either with the damaged boat or another one that fared better. >click to read< 10:44
Nunavut Inuit suing feds over fishing license allocations to Mi’kmaw company
In a lawsuit filed earlier this month, Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated and the Qikiqtani Inuit Association asked the federal court to quash a decision by Canada’s Minister of Fisheries and Oceans to transfer the licences for Greenland halibut and shrimp from seafood company Clearwater Foods to the coalition, after the Mi’kmaw group partnered to buy the company in January. Reached by phone on Wednesday, Jordan, through her staff, declined to comment following her loss in Monday’s federal election. The lawsuit describes how Nunavut fishers have only held about 50 per 
cent of total fishing quotas for all species off Nunavut’s coast, which Inuit argue is disproportionately low compared to the 90 per cent that fisheries in Atlantic provinces have off their own coasts, an acknowledgement the federal government and DFO have made on several occasions. >click to read< 09:28
Sanford fined for crew member’s ‘avoidable’ death
Sanford Limited has been fined $375,000 and ordered to pay $121,860 reparations and $35,000 costs to the family of a crew member who died on one of its fishing vessels,,, Steffan Antony Stewart, 26, of New Plymouth, died after becoming entangled in machinery on the factory fishing vessel, San Granit, on November 14, 2018. Stewart had entered part of an automated freezer system to clear a blockage. When the system activated he became caught and was fatally injured by moving parts of the system. “The factory supervisor checked workers every hour. However, the factory supervisor on Mr Stewart’s shift was unfamiliar with the automated freezer system and therefore limited in their ability to monitor and provide the supervision necessary to help keep workers safe. >click to read< 08:39
Ship Strike: Japanese tanker docks with a 32-foot dead whale stuck on its bow
A 32-foot whale carcass has been found wedged on the bow of a Japanese tanker as it pulled into harbour. Shocking images show the huge creature sprawled over the vessel in the port of Mizushima in Kurashiki city on Tuesday. The coast guard was called out to the harbour after locals caught sight of the dead whale. Local news site Yomiuri reported that the tanker had sailed through the Pacific Ocean on its way to Mizushima port and the crew claimed they had no idea that they had hit a whale. >click to read< 07:46
Potlotek First Nation seeking injunction to prevent DFO from interfering with self-regulated fishery
Nova Scotia commercial fishermen will find out Friday whether they can intervene in a court case that tests the federal government’s authority to regulate a Mi’kmaw lobster fishery. The Potlotek First Nation is seeking an injunction to prevent the DFO from interfering with its self-regulated moderate livelihood lobster fishery. The Cape Breton band wants a court declaration that enforcement of the federal Fisheries Act infringes on its treaty right to earn a moderate living from fishing. Justice John Keith said he will issue a decision Friday afternoon. Colin Sproul, a spokesperson for the Unified Fisheries Conservation Alliance, “All I can say is that we’re really happy to have the opportunity to share our perspectives with the court, but I can’t really comment much more than that while there are the issues before the court,” >click to read< 22:40
Search expands for missing Labrador fishermen, family and friends hold out hope
The search for Marc Russell and Joey Jenkins of Mary’s Harbour is now in its fifth day, with a large dive team from the RCMP’s underwater recovery team and Deer Lake ground search and rescue en route to the community Wednesday afternoon. The Ocean Seeker, a vessel equipped with advanced underwater imaging and owned by Kraken Robotics, has also been greenlighted to join the search and is on its way. “We were very proud yesterday after asking RCMP to to look into that asset, and last night it came true and they should be here tomorrow,” said Dwight Russell, Marc Russell’s father. >click to read< 15:55
NTSB to Host Roundtable on Fishing Vessel Safety
National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy is set to host a virtual roundtable next month on improving fishing vessel safety. The commercial fishing industry remains largely uninspected and is a marine sector of concern.,, The roundtable will feature government officials, industry leaders, fishing vessel operators, safety experts and survivors of fishing vessel accidents to discuss what can be done to address commercial fishing safety concerns, implement NTSB safety recommendations and improve the safety of fishing operations in the U.S. >click to read< – The roundtable is set to take place October 14, 2021. More details can be found here. 13:27
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 104′ RSW Lobster/Crabber/Seiner, 850HP Cat, 2 Deere Auxiliaries
To review specifications, information, and 51photos, >click here<, Vessel in good condition, and would make a great salmon tender seiner or west coast crabber. To see all the boats in this series >click here<
“The industry needs immediate relief,” – B.C. fishermen say Ottawa has cast them adrift
The flotilla of commercial fishing boats was to converge on False Creek harbour to try to raise public awareness about their plight, but winds prevented most boats from getting there. Those who did make it to False Creek said their livelihoods have been threatened by a fiat issued by federal Fisheries and Oceans Minister Bernadette Jordan that closed about 60% of the fishery to commercial fishermen. “At the swipe of a pen, the minister took all these fisheries off the table and eliminated the income for all these fishermen,” said Andy Olson, executive director of the Native Fishing Association. “It was clearly politically motivated. >click to read< 10:48
Maiden Voyage
Stateside, Scania is known for its solid footing in commercial marine industry, Bristol Bay, Alaska’s salmon fisheries and Maine’s lobster boats are longtime proponents of the Swedish manufacturer. Scania engines are also used in trawlers, which often utilize commercial engines rated by the International Organization for Standardization as ICFN, or for continuous use. And now, with the Covid-19 pandemic having limited Scania’s bread-and-butter, North American commercial markets, the engine maker has invested in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency certification needed to enter the American recreational marine space. >click to read< 10:04
Sara Skamser remembered as trailblazer, innovator in the commercial fishing industry
As news of Sara Skamser’s death spread across the community last week, people were mourning her passing but also celebrating the life of the woman who made such a huge impact in the fishing industry and on everyone who knew her.,, Commenting on a social media post from the Fishermen’s Wives about Skamser’s death, dozens of people shared their sadness and condolences. She was called “gutsy,” “a great teacher,” “a bright light in everything she did,” and “a tough cookie.” One commenter said Skamser was the “trawl goddess of the West Coast and one of the smartest, funniest, concerned, compassionate and generous people you would have ever met.” >click to read< 08:56
Taoiseach Micheal Martin asked to intervene to help Arklow fisherman left with debts of €1 million
The Taoiseach should intervene to help an Arklow skipper left with debts of €1 million after purchasing a beam trawler that was later found to be unsafe. Sinn Fein Deputy John Brady called on Taoiseach Micheal Martin to help fisherman CJ Gaffney, who purchased the beam trawler ‘Mary Kate’ in 2007. Although the vessel had been certified as safe by German authorities, it was later found to be dangerously unstable. The ‘Mary Kate’ was subsequently repossessed and sold, leaving debts of around €1 million. >click to read< 08:10
