When storms in the Bering Sea bruise and batter the crab fishing boats from the popular Discovery series, “Deadliest Catch,” it’s Ironwood Ridge High School grad Nico Natale who makes sure the footage is broadcast ready. Natale has been on the production crew of the series since 2011. Today, he is an editor on the show, which celebrated its 17th season earlier this year. His work turning weather worn crews on boats with monikers like the Cornelia Marie and Northwestern into household names for viewers around the world has not gone unnoticed. On Sunday, Sept. 19, Natale and members of the team with which he edits are up for Primetime Emmy Awards in the category, “outstanding picture editing for an unstructured reality program.” >click to read< 09:53
Monthly Archives: September 2021
Chip Brown pre-files bill to provide tax cuts to Alabama commercial fishermen
“Alabama law currently provides the agricultural industry with tax exemptions and other benefits that are not currently extended to commercial fishing ventures, which operate, in essence, as the farmers of the Gulf of Mexico,” Brown said. “Simple fairness demands that commercial fishing businesses should enjoy the exact same tax benefits as the rest of the agriculture industry, and my bill simply corrects an inequity that has existed for far too long.” Among the provisions of House Bill 10 include current Alabama law provides an ad valorem tax exemption only to vessels used in the commercial shrimping industry, but Brown’s bill would extend it to include all forms of commercial fishing, more, >click to read< About Brown, and his legislation, >click here< 14:22
Macduff Shipyards completes first new build pair trawl order in more than 30 years
Macduff Shipyards has handed over two new fishing vessels Faithful (FR 129) and the Crystal River (FR 178) to their respective owners Stewart Buchan and David Cardno of Fraserburgh. These boats operate exclusively as a pair trawl team fishing out of their home port, and have the distinction of being the yards first new build pair trawl order in more than 30 years. The previous vessels were the wooden hulled Solitaire and Sonia Jane built in the 1980s. >click to read< 12:22
The changing face of Moss Landing
Weathered by age and the sea, rusted railings mark the path to Bay Fresh Seafoods, a one-room shop where fourth-generation Moss Landing fisherman Jerid Rold has just arrived with a writhing haul of hagfish – one of his few remaining profitable catches. Across the street stands the sleek and sophisticated Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute – a world-renowned center for advanced research in ocean science. Moss Landing, population 200, is rapidly switching identities. The historic town is seeing its commercial fishing roots disappear as Moss Landing secures its status as a prized destination for marine research and ecotourism. >click to read< 11:22
Wife, Mother, Grandmother, Stern Man Susan Amelia Clark of Kennebunkport has passed away
Susan Amelia (Collins) Clark, 81, passed away at home on Sept. 17, 2021, after a long, brave, and often miraculous battle with multiple health issues. She met Edward Russell Clark, Jr. (“Russ”) at a party, and they eloped on Dec. 29, 1967. Susan worked in a wide variety of roles over the years, from administration to accounting to sales. But her fondest (and most surprising) career accomplishment was obtaining her lobstering license and accompanying her husband Russ as his stern man, banding lobsters and baiting traps as they fished out of Cape Porpoise Harbor from the boat he’d named for her. She loved being a mother, and welcomed and celebrated her grandchildren, >click to read< 10:04
F/V Nicola Faith: Families to set up charity to improve sea safety
Alan Minard, Ross Ballantine, and Skipper Carl McGrath died after their boat, the F/V Nicola Faith, sank off Colwyn Bay in January. Their relatives plan to work with organisations and launch a charity to improve safety at sea in their memory. “We will campaign and explore for change,” the men’s families said.,, Nathania Minard, mother of Alan Minard, the youngest crew member, said: “This is in the early stages, we’ve set ourselves a big task and we’re trying to take baby steps towards it. Video, >click to read< 08:50
Canada: Federal election night upsets
Two incumbent Liberal ministers along with two party leaders suffered defeat in the federal election on Monday. Liberal Fisheries and Oceans Minister Bernadette Jordan was defeated in the South Shore—St. Margarets riding in Nova Scotia by Conservative candidate Rick Perkins. Jordan was first elected as a member of Parliament in 2015 and has served as a minister in Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau’s government since 2019. Last year, she was criticized over her handling of the dispute involving Indigenous fishing rights in Nova Scotia when a conflict between commercial fishers and Mi’kmaq fishers escalated and made national headlines. >click to read< 07:50
“Sea Otters To End West Coast Fishing” Huh! fishermen need to suck it up and “find another job?
For decades, Julie Packard has spearheaded a campaign to curtail fishing under the guise of “conservation.” As this campaign has evolved, it has become a tale of precaution. The campaign started as a need to save the sea otter. Did otters really need “saving?” That is entirely debatable, and was, extensively. The result was clearly non-scientific and summarized as a “choice” between fishing or sea otters. Friends Of The Sea Otter shill Steve Schmeck was quoted saying fishermen need to suck it up and “find another job.” The California urchin divers took issue and were represented by Pacific Legal Foundation in litigation. USFWS cited inability to manage the otter population. The result was USFWS having zero oversight and getting away with lying and breaking the law.,,, Fast forward to today: The Monterey Bay Aquarium & Julie Packard have infiltrated the government and the economic chain. The money, influence and placement of persons in nonprofits, universities and government positions has created an oligarchy and a serious ethics problem. This is a big read with links and information from California Sea Urchin Diver Jeff Crumley. > Click to read< 22:01
Offshore windfarms – some of the important actors
While I might have missed some of it, I haven’t seen much discussion of “who’s on first” vis-à-vis offshore windfarm development. Considering this, and considering that their development and the development of other controversial (at least to “historical” users of our nearshore and offshore waters) has the potential to severely impact or perhaps destroy, destroy the domestic commercial fishing industry starting in the mid-Atlantic/New England, I thought it might be instructive to examine some of the corporations who are interested in/committed to this INDUSTRIALIZATION of the ocean areas waters that have fed so many of our citizens and provided onshore and offshore employment for fishing communities since pre-revolutionary times. By Nils Stolpe /FishNet USA >click to read< 19:15
Search resumes for missing Mary’s Harbour fishermen with Canadian Armed Forces, Coast Guard
The search for two missing fishermen from Mary’s Harbour has resumed with the help of the Canadian Armed Forces and the coast guard Monday, after the official search off the coast of southern Labrador was called off Sunday night. The JRCC tweeted around 9 p.m. Sunday that it had suspended the search for the Island Lady,,, Dwight Russell told CBC News on Monday morning his family was told the news around 7 p.m Sunday. After that call, he and his family pressed federal departments like the office of the prime minister, he said, and had been promised the search would resume. But come Monday morning and that promise “has not materialized,,, >click to read< 14:25
Lost Labrador fishermen
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador has called on the National Commissioner of the RCMP to immediately request that the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Halifax, along with the Canadian Coast Guard, continue search efforts for two missing Labrador fishermen. “We’ve asked RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki in her capacity as the lead agency in the now-recovery mission to order the resumption of the maximum level of search and rescue effort to locate the fishermen,” said Merv Wiseman, an outspoken search and rescue advocate and organizer with SEA-NL. “As long as there’s a chance that these men may be found — and there is that chance — we must move heaven and earth to find them,” Wiseman said. >click to read< 12:26
Walter “Skip” Sheppard III of Ipswich, Ma. Owner of “Three Lantern Marine and Fishing” Company
Walter “Skip” Sheppard III, 68, of Ipswich, MA, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, September 14, 2021, with his loving family by his side after a long illness. Skip’s greatest passion was being on the ocean, deep sea fishing and owning his own boat which led him to purchase and open “Three Lantern Marine and Fishing” in Gloucester, MA. This is where Skip found his true calling. In 2017, his son Matt joined the team at Three Lantern where he will now take over and continue his father’s legacy. Skip was very talented and loved to tinker on things. He enjoyed a good game of scrabble or golf and he was an amazing cook. One of Skip’s greatest achievements in life was his sobriety which he maintained for over 30 years and until his death. >click to read< 11:22
The Gig Harbor fishing fleet had a bonanza season in Alaska this year
“This has been our best season in six years,” said Matt Munkres, who skippers the Gig Harbor-based Julien, a 54-foot purse seiner. “And we got good prices, so all in all, it was pretty good.” Fishermen were glad to see it, because the previous two years had been disappointing. Gregg Lovrovich, president of the Gig Harbor Commercial Fishermen’s Club, says fishing “is like farming, you take the good and the not so good, and over the years, it kind of balances out.” Lovrovich, who runs the 58-foot Sea Fury, says he was late leaving for Alaska because of a daughter’s wedding, so he was only able to fish for a month and a half. “Still, it was one of the best months I’ve ever had,” he said. >click to read< 09:52
‘Our boys deserve more time’ – “This is unacceptable! This is absolutely the wrong decision! It is too soon!”
The father of one of the two men aboard a fishing vessel lost in waters off southern Labrador is appealing to the Canadian Coast Guard to reverse its decision to change its mission from one of search and rescue to recovery. Local fishermen began the search, which was later joined by the Coast Guard and aircraft at the direction of the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) in Halifax.,, Dwight Russell said the family learned of Coast Guard’s plans Sunday evening. “But as I write this, the Coast Guard has informed our families that they are pulling out and changing the mission from search & rescue to recovery, and operational control will be turned over to the RCMP. >click to read< 08:36
French fisherman cause Brexit storm on Jersey’s power-supplying beach
French fishermen, angry over fishing rights, have staged a protest on Jersey’s power-supplying beach. On Saturday, September 18, over 100 people from France’s fishing industry gathered on Armanville beach in Normandy to protest the Brexit-inflamed feud. The French beach where they staged the protest is where a power cable supplying Jersey with its electrical needs makes land. The protest comes amid frustration at plans to restrict the number of French fishing vessels which will have access to Jersey’s waters. >click to read< 18:06
Search for Mary’s Harbour fishermen enters 2nd day as N.L. communities hold vigils overnight
The fishermen, Marc Russell and Joey Jenkins, were expected to land in Mary’s Harbour around 5:00 p.m. on Friday. Local fishing crews began the search that evening. The JRCC and the Canadian Coast Guard joined later that night after picking up radio chatter from the ongoing search,,, the provincial government and a significant number of local vessels have also aided in the search, which has greatly enhanced searching capabilities. Several vessels were on the water Saturday evening after Dwight Russell, Marc Russell’s father, made a call to fishers in the area to aid in the search. >photos, click to read< 13:21
Search underway for missing fishers off Mary’s Harbour – The father of a fisherman missing at sea is asking boats from Southern Labrador and Northern Newfoundland to join the search effort for his son and a second crew member. The two-person crew aboard Island Lady was expected to land in Mary’s Harbour around 5:00 p.m. on Friday. >click to read< 17:22
Maine: Next Generation Of Lobstermen Brace For Unprecedented Change
On a boat near Kennebunkport in late July, lobsterman Chris Welch demonstrated new ropeless gear made by a Massachusetts company. It costs about $4,000 per trap, several times more than a traditional lobster trap, which is usually $80-180. “So far it is retrievable,” Welch says. “But the challenge of the Maine fishery is there’s 5,000 lobstermen and we all fish amongst each other and attempt not to fish on top of each other. With these units unless you’re staring at your electronics all day or your iPad, there’s no way of knowing where the next guy is.” The 33-year-old is against going ropeless and thinks the gear is a long way from being practical or affordable for most lobstermen. “I foresee it becoming a big boat fishery,” >click to read< 10:55
England’s biggest fish market at sunrise – Brixham Fish Market is truly the city that never sleeps
At the meek hour of 2am, boxes upon boxes of fish are being sliced, sorted, and shipped, generating thousands in revenue before the sun has begun to rise. The hours are gruelling with 4pm starts that don’t end until the next morning and some boats that land at Brixham spend seven days out at sea.,, “Brixham is a fish town. Tourists love to come here, they love to see the boats, they love to see the market. Despite being one of the worst-hit industries by Brexit and Covid, the market is currently experiencing a boom and earning figures of up to £800,000 in some weeks. 22 photos, >click to read< 09:00
Hurricane Ida: Commercial fishers in Louisiana – “That’s our living. I have nothing to fall back on,,,
“I was just trying to save every little thing I could and ended up losing it anyway,” Darrel Domangue said. “It’s hard to leave when you got nothing else. I know other people will say it’s just material things, but to us poor people, the material things is all we got besides one another. That’s our living.” Domangue didn’t have insurance on his home, boat or bait shop. “I have nothing to fall back on, and I have no education,”,, “I don’t think a minimum wage job is going to help me rebuild my house. I’m going to have to find some way, some how. photos, >click to read< 07:11
Hurricane Ida: In this bayou town, Louisiana fishers team to feed neighbors in need
Milton Naquin would otherwise be running his shrimp boat out of Delcambre with white shrimp season in full swing. But instead last Thursday he and his family and a crew from his Jessica Gail Seafood company rolled into Montegut with a long, covered trailer rigged up to cook huge batches of jambalaya and alligator sauce piquant. Word spread quickly around the small bayou town and soon people were pulling up for a free, hot meal. “I like to cook, cuss, drink and tell lies,” Naquin proclaimed, while doing at least two of those things. photos, >click to read< 19:26
East Hampton Eyes Options After Losing Truck Beach Appeal – Fishermen, “We’re not going away,,,”
New York State’s highest court buried the Town of East Hampton’s bid to overturn a ruling that Truck Beach in Amagansett is private property, but the fight appears to be far from over. Meanwhile the fishermen who’ve been plying the contested waters intend on fighting for their tradition that dates back three centuries to Colonial times. Critics drove on the beach in protest of a prior ruling that barred them from doing so, and are now prepared to go to jail over the issue. “We’re not going away and if we have to go down there every single weekend to make that point we’ll do that,” said Dan Rodgers, a Southampton-based attorney who represents a group of commercial fishermen that are effected by the decision. “And if the homeowners have the courage to stand up and file a trespassing complaint…we’ll go off in handcuffs, my clients will go off to jail and we’ll fight this out in court. They’re willing to do that. >click to read< 14:01
Going Full Crackpot! Sale of live crabs, lobsters and fur banned in Amsterdam markets
Fur and live crabs and lobsters will no longer be allowed to be sold at markets in the Dutch capital from 2022. Amsterdam city council has decided to ban the sale on animal rights grounds, a pledge that was part of the current city coalition agreement. ‘Amsterdam has 34 markets, the most in the country,’ said economic affairs chief Victor Everhardt, a D66 liberal democrat, in a press release. ‘In the interests of animal welfare, there will be a ban on the sale of fur and live crabs and lobsters, and it will be actively enforced.’ The city is not the first to take more action in the interest of animal rights. >click to read< 08:33
Dennis Gaff – ‘Proud to be a Cromer fisherman’
Tributes have been paid to a stalwart of Cromer’s fishing scene, who has died at the age of 90. When Dennis Gaff, who was born in the town, was asked later in life about his many years harvesting the bounty of the seas, he said: “It was something I loved to do and I was proud to be a Cromer fisherman”. On leaving school, his father was keen for him to get a job in the building trade, but Mr Gaff made it clear that his future was to be a fisherman, and after a conversation with Henry ‘Shrimp’ Davies he embarked on a career that lasted a lifetime. >click to read< 07:55
Seine season brings ‘bright light’ to struggling fleet
In a year when the fishery was shut down for 16 days, inflicting economic pain on gillnetters, the seine season proved a bright light overall for commercial salmon harvesters, “Many of us were nervous after the 2019 drought and uncertainties with what that meant for returns in 2021,” “It’s heartbreaking to see our community continue to struggle, to know it’s impacting families, our city’s fish tax revenue, and ultimately the city and school budget.” >click to read< 20:09
DFO returns patrol boats back to the wharf in Meteghan
After a confusing week for both commercial and aboriginal fishers DFO’s patrol vessels have returned to the wharf in Meteghan. After stories on the move ran in The Chronicle Herald and Globe and Mail, the boats were returned on Sunday. Both commercial and First Nations fishers are glad they are back, though for different reasons. Chief Mike Sack said Friday they wanted a federal presence to prevent a repeat of the violence Sipekne’katik’s fishermen were subject to last fall. Commercial fishermen, meanwhile, want DFO to prevent what they allege is a large scale commercial fishery happening outside their season under the guise of a food, social and ceremonial fishery. “There’s a treaty right but where does it end and where does it begin,” said Nathan Cooke, a buyer who owns Atlantic Canada Seafoods. >click to read< 17:26
DMR briefs legislature on impact of NOAA’s new lobstering rules, options for appeal
On September 14, the Maine Legislature’s Committee on Marine Resources met and discussed the impact new rules recently released by the NOAA will have on Maine’s lobster industry, as well as the state’s legal options for appealing the rules.,, The new rules not only close nearly 1,000 square miles to lobstering between October and January, a time of year when lobster prices are at their highest, but changes the kind of gear lobstermen can use. Also discussed were threats to the right whale posed by Canada. As Keliher pointed out, the NMFS’ biological opinion noted that even if Maine is 
100% successful in taking steps to protect right whales, whales will continue to go extinct if they continue to be hurt in Canada. Keliher also stated that he has had conversations with the head of> NOAA, Richard W. Spinrad, Ph.D < who hasn’t yet had a meeting with the Canadian government, but has agreed to raise the issue of including state representatives in Canadian affairs. Keliher also said NOAA’s head considers these conversations to be a government-to-government issue. He stated he disagrees and continues to press the issue. >click to read< 15:51
Published Today: New Regulations for Northeast Lobster and Jonah Crab Trap/Pot Fishery
Changes to Seasonal Restricted Areas Begin October 18, 2021; All Other Changes Effective May 1, 2022. The final rule to Amend the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan to Reduce Risk of Serious Injury and Mortality to North Atlantic Right Whales Caused by Entanglement in Northeast Crab and Lobster Trap/Pot Fisheries announced on August 31 published in the Federal Register this morning. Some measures within the rule go into effect 30 days after today’s publication. The changes to seasonal restricted areas to allow fishing without persistent buoy lines will go into effect on October 18, 2021. In addition, there are changes to restricted areas below: >click to read<14:35
Photo’s! Hoopers Island boat docking competition to benefit Hoopers Island Volunteer Fire Company
The Hoopers Island Boat Docking went off without hitch, and with a lot of hitches as boat captains competed in the annual fundraising competition. The competition to benefit the Hoopers Island Volunteer Fire Company was held on Sunday, Sept. 12, at the P.L. Jones Boatyard in Fishing Creek. Ryan Kastel in Kastel Bros. came in first in the small boats category, Will Watkins took first in medium boats in No Smoke and John Ashton placed first in large boat in Miss Julie. Derrick Hoy and his crew on Crusher took the teams category, and Ashton and Hoy won the shootouts for over 36 foot and under 36 foot boats respectively. 8 photos, >Click to read< 13:26
‘A reckless approach to regulation’ – Aquaculture critic presses for answers after another salmon die-off
More than 90,000 salmon being farmed in an open-net aquaculture pen on Newfoundland’s south coast died over the weekend, the Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture announced in a media release Saturday. The event occurred at a site known as “the gorge,” which is operated by Mowi’s Marine Harvest Atlantic Canada, and was caused by “sudden low dissolved oxygen levels.” The dead fish have been removed from the site. The release said mitigation measures, including deeper nets and aeration equipment, “improved survivability” during the die-off. Friday’s die-off was only the latest in a series of mortality events on Mowi-owned aquaculture farms, White noted. >click to read< 12:40
SAFMC votes to allow rock shrimp harvest adjacent to Oculina coral reefs
Commercial rock shrimpers are one step closer to being allowed to fish on the Oculina coral reef bank that’s been protected from their bottom-raking trawler nets since 2014. The SAFMC Friday morning voted 12-1 to reopen 22 square miles of ocean bottom off Florida’s central Atlantic coast, ending a process that began seven years ago. The decision needs more approvals to be final. Dismayed environmentalists said the measure will allow the destruction of Oculina coral, also known as ivory tree coral, a deep water, slow growing live coral that provides essential habitat to many fish and marine organisms, including the targeted shrimp. >click to read< 12:09
