Monthly Archives: September 2021
Selling Whale Poop
The stone is waxy, gritty, and leaves on the skin a trace of oily resin not unlike cannabidiol. Its smell, which so many have labelled “indescribable,” is an olfactory kaleidoscope: tobacco, wood, damp leaves, live animals. It smells like the sea, which is where it comes from, and shit, which is what it is. It seems absurd that people have been shot at, run over and threatened by a territorial mob known as the Beach Mafia… for this. Ambergris. One of the world’s most mysterious substances, these hardened little lumps of bodily fluid have been misidentified over the centuries as everything from meteorites to mushrooms, dragon spit to fish liver.,, In reality, the precious stones are a digestive byproduct of one of the largest animals on Earth. And to the right buyer, namely, someone who knows the right people in the luxury perfume industry, they’re worth a small fortune Video, >click to read< 10:33
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for September 17, 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< 08:48 
Rhode Island Fishermen Eligible to Apply For $255 Million in Coronavirus Relief Funds
The Rhode Island Congressional Delegation and the Department of Environmental Management (DEM) today announce that commercial fishing and charter/for hire businesses, qualified aquaculture operators, seafood processors, and dealers are eligible to apply for an additional $255 million in assistance funding provided by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021. The funding will support activities previously authorized under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. >click to read< 21:37
William D. Stinson, Sr., of Owls Head, Maine has passed away
William D. “Bill” Stinson, Sr., 78, died peacefully at home with his beloved wife and daughter by his side. Born in Stonington, August 8, 1943, he was the son of Norman and Gladys Smith Stinson. Bill lived his whole life in Owls Head, Following graduation, Bill enlisted in the U.S. Navy, serving aboard the USS Providence. Returning home, Bill married the love of his life, Mary Myrick in 1972. Throughout his life, Bill worked tirelessly to provide for his family so that his wife could stay at home and raise their two beautiful children. He had a love of the ocean, and worked for many years, fishing for FJ O’Hara’s aboard the vessel captained by his father Norman Stinson. When not out on the water, he worked for a lobster buying business, a bait business and as a night watchman. >click to read< 20:51
U.S. Coast Guard continues to support Hurricane Ida recovery efforts across Southeast Louisiana
The Coast Guard continues to respond to impacts to the waterways and assess the environmental threats across Southeast Louisiana Thursday, post-Hurricane Ida. In partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Navy Supervisor of Salvage and Diving (SUPSALV), the Coast Guard is continuing efforts to re-open waterways impacted by Hurricane Ida in the areas of Bayou Lafourche, Houma Navigation Canal, and portions of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. To date, 25 obstructions comprised primarily of fishing vessels, crew vessels, and offshore supply vessels have been identified in the Bayou Lafourche channel. Photos, more info, >click to read< 18:06
He was the best of us. Kenneth Dale Burns,1954-2021 has passed away
On September 6, four days after his 67th birthday, Kenneth Dale Burns passed in the night. He was the best of us. Whether donned in neoprene in the crashing waves, or atop of his fishing boat off Humboldt Bay, he was the best of us. He loved his wife with a sincerity and devotion that only a man with his capacity for love could achieve. He was the best of us. He had a quiet soul and a stoic presence that made us all feel safe. He was the best of us. His boys adored him and his grandchildren loved him because he was the best of us. He was a captain, a husband, a father, and a grandfather. >click to read< 14:09
EPA Blocked Bristol Bay’s Proposed Pebble Mine
After two decades of legal wrangling, the EPA asked a court to restore environmental protections to Alaska’s Bristol Bay last week, shutting down a proposed gold mine that environmental activists contended would wreak havoc on an important salmon run and pollute an important watershed on the state’s southwestern coast. The agency made the ruling in response to a lawsuit brought by the mine’s opponents, including commercial fishermen, several Bristol Bay Native villages, and environmental organizations, putting an end to a controversy that dates back to the discovery of minerals in the region in the late 1980s. >click to read< – To read more about everything leading up to this, click here for Search Results for “Pebble Mine” – fisherynation.com 13:26
Stephen P. Ryan, 63, Commercial Fisherman, Photographer, and Craftsman
Stephen Paul Ryan died on Sept. 9, 2021 at his home in North Truro. He was 63. His death, of natural causes, was confirmed by his sister Nancy. The son of the late John J. and Isabel (Shea) Ryan, Stephen was born the eighth of nine siblings in Milford and raised in Medway. He began work as a commercial fisherman, serving as mate on several boats, including the F/V Susan Lynn, and F/V Rolex. He worked on one of the tuna boats featured in the television series Wicked Tuna, and he tried his hand as a lobsterman. He was a longtime mate on the F/V Sea Wolf, Capt. Tommy Smith’s strike-net boat of bluefish fame. “He loved nature,” explained Capt. Smith, “and during slack time he would photograph the sunrise.” He would also carve quahogs into the shape of whales’ tails, Smith added. He made “really nice stuff.” >click to read< 11:43
Hurricane Ida: “The supply chain is completely broken” – Restaurants can’t recover if suppliers don’t recover
Two weeks after Hurricane Ida, New Orleans restaurants aim to shift attention down the Bayou. Next week, two of New Orleans’s most highly acclaimed chefs and restaurant owners, Nina Compton and Melissa Martin, join forces to fund Hurricane Ida relief, and a primary goal, in addition to raising money, is to direct the public’s attention to New Orleans’s neighbors down the bayou. >click to read< 10:12
NOAA Ok’s plan to cut West Coast nontribal salmon fishing when fish are needed to feed orca
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries adopted the plan Tuesday as recommended by the Pacific Fishery Management Council. It calls for restricting commercial and recreational salmon fishing when chinook salmon numbers are especially low. It’s one of the the first times a federal agency has restricted hunting or fishing one species to benefit a predator that relies on it. The fishing restrictions would extend from Puget Sound in Washington to Monterey Bay in central California, and they would be triggered when fewer than 966,000 chinook are forecast to return to Northwest rivers. >click to read< 08:57
U.S. Shipowners Back Jones Act Penalties for “Canadian Rail” Scheme
ASC and its logistics affiliate Alaska Reefer Management have access to a 100-foot-long “railway” in New Brunswick, Canada, which they use as part of a foreign-flag shipping route between two U.S. markets. Last month, U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Jones Act enforcement office issued penalties totaling about $350 million dollars to the firms involved in this novel supply network, including tens of millions in fines for foreign-flag shipowners. The action has effectively halted ASC shipments of pollock to East Coast customers, and ASC says that the shutdown threatens to cause significant harm to its business, along with regional shortages of pollock, an affordable staple for schools, institutions and government nutrition programs. ARM and terminal subsidiary Kloosterboer have filed suit against CBP, seeking to block the penalties. Video, >click to read< 07:41
B.C. fish harvesters protest salmon fisheries closures
The Canadian Independent Fish Harvesters’ Association addressed the media near Vancouver’s Granville Island on Sep. 15. The organization is upset over DFO’s salmon closures at the end of June. According to Bernadette Jordan, the move was made as “an initial step towards longer term reductions in fishing pressure on stocks of conservation concern.” DFO’s Salmon Integrated Fisheries Management Plan will likely reduce B.C.’s commercial harvest by 60 per cent this year. Commercial fisher James Lawson says “I started behind almost $70,000 and at the last second I found out I’m not going to be able to fish; so that’s not a great position to be in and there’s no light at the end of the tunnel.” Video, >click to read< 19:14
Why Offshore Wind Farms Face Lawsuits – The American Coalition for Ocean Protection
Nantucket residents have filed a landmark lawsuit over federal approval of Vineyard Wind, the first industrial scale offshore wind project in the U.S. Federal law protects existing ocean uses: commercial fishing, vessel traffic, the viewshed, and endangered species from new energy projects. Since federal approvals of all offshore wind projects will likely use the same flawed process, a court win for this lawsuit may stop all the projects. Specifically, Ackrats is the group filing the complaint and is concerned about Vineyard Wind’s negative impact on the North Atlantic right whale, “one of the most critically endangered species on the entire planet.” Those Nantucket residents are not alone. Beach communities from North Carolina to Maine and the Great Lakes joined together to form the American Coalition for Ocean Protection. >click to read< 16:13
Normandy and Brittany Fishermen to protest Saturday
Fishermen from Normandy and Brittany are due to stage a protest at the French end of one of the undersea cables that supplies Jersey with electricity on Saturday. The demonstration is due to take place on the beach at Pirou, a few miles south of Portbail, ahead of the 30 September deadline for fishermen to submit data required to operate in Jersey waters beyond the end of this month. Earlier this year, French Minister of the Sea Annick Girardin, threatened that France could cut off Jersey’s connection with the French grid over the row on fishing rights. >click to read< 13:53
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 91′ Steel Shrimper, 625 HP Cat, Federal Permits
To review specifications, information, and 12 photo’s >click here< , To see all the boats in this series >click here< 11:16
SEA-NL questions federal candidate Mary Shortall’s commitment to inshore fish harvesters
“As a labour leader Mary Shortall turned her back on the fishermen and women of Newfoundland and Labrador in favour of the union executive,” says Ryan Cleary. “The question must be asked, who will Mary Shortall stand for if she’s elected to Parliament: workers or the union and party executive?” Cleary points out that as President of the Federation of Labour, Shortall failed to react to a 2016 Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court decision, later upheld on appeal in favour of inshore scallop harvesters who took their union to court over a compensation fund for lost fishing grounds in the Strait of Belle Isle. In the court case, it was revealed the FFAW-Unifor had negotiated a compensation package with Nalcor without permission of scallop harvesters. >click to read< 09:41
Bering Sea crab fleet braces for another blow
The commercial fishery has been around since 1966. In the 55 years since then, there have been just two other closures: once in the 1980s and again in the 1990s. The species is world-renowned and was largely made famous by the popular reality tv show “Deadliest Catch.” “It’s big news, and it’s hitting our industry really hard,” said Jamie Goen, executive director for Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers,,, “We’re disappointed and deeply concerned.” But, she said, it’s not only the fishermen who will be impacted. This hit affects everyone in the industry, roughly 70 vessels and over 400 fishermen and their families, along with the processors and fishing communities that rely on crab revenues. “We could kind of see a closure was coming, we just didn’t quite know when,” she said. >click to read< 08:36
F/V Clo-Anne hauls up a rare orange lobster off Nauset
Paul Davis has been a commercial lobsterman for 12 years, and the orange lobster he pulled out of a trap just east of Nauset Beach Sept. 7 was the first time he’d seen one of that color. “I’ve never seen anyone else catch one,” he added. Davis, an Orleans resident who fishes on the F/V Clo-Anne that he launches from Town Cove, was pulling his traps off Nauset Beach last Tuesday. “We weren’t having the best day in the world, when all of a sudden my steering stern man said, ‘Look, we’ve got an orange lobster!’” Daniel Hohner held up the creature, and sure enough, it was bright orange, almost pumpkin colored, rather than the typical dark greenish blue or brown. >click to read< 07:57
Lobsterman Paul T. Farrin of South Bristol has passed away
Paul T. Farrin, 85, of South Bristol, died peacefully at home on his birthday, Sept. 5, 2021, surrounded by his loving family. Born on Sept. 5, 1936, in Damariscotta, he was the son of Afton and Annie May Farrin. At the age of 15, he began his long career as a lobsterman off the coast of South Bristol, retiring in 1986. During that time, he caught a lot of his own bait and built his own wooden traps each winter. He spent 13 years seining/trapping mackerel and herring with his brothers. He went shrimping with his brother David many winters, fished for crabs in the Damariscotta River, and rarely missed a season dragging for scallops. He was also one of the founding members of the South Bristol Fisherman’s Co-op, serving as the first president in 1972. Paul had a wonderful and active life. He loved the outdoors and spent more time outside, than inside. >click to read< 22:31
Mississippi shrimp season in state of uncertainty thanks to storms, heavy rains
At Forte Seafood in Pass Christian, they say ever since Hurricane Ida came through, the white shrimp have been pretty big and plentiful. That makes up for an awful brown shrimp season, as those shrimp never got a chance to grow due to low salinity from heavy rains. “Starting out, the brown shrimp never really grew. They were all around 50-60 to 60-70 count for the majority of the summer,” said Jeremy Forte. “Once the storm came through, it actually made them bigger. I don’t know if it’s different shrimp from somewhere else or what,,, Video, >click to read< 14:50
Fishing group’s lawsuit challenges fed review of offshore wind project
A second group has filed a federal lawsuit challenging the government’s approval of the offshore wind project that is expected to generate cleaner electricity for more than 400,000 homes and businesses in Massachusetts starting in late 2023. A coalition of fishing industry groups called the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit on Monday to review the Department of the Interior and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s approval of the Vineyard Wind I project, arguing that the green light “adds unacceptable risk” to the fishing industry without addressing its long-held concerns. >click to read< 12:18
Here’s what fish look like under the Squamish River and its tributaries
For several years, Fernando Lessa has been dipping his camera into the Squamish River and its tributaries to capture fish. The professional photographer creates stunning underwater images of salmon that make viewers feel like they are swimming alongside the fish. He began capturing these pictures in the Squamish Valley in 2017. He will walk the length of the river looking for unique images to jump in front of his lens,,, 14 photos, >click to read< 10:34
Historic fishing vessel Lydia Eva wins golden ticket to star in a Hollywood movie!
A floating museum is set to play a starring role in a Hollywood movie. The Lydia Eva has arrived in Lyme Regis ready to play the passenger steamer that brings young Willy to England,,, The 91-year-old vessel, usually moored at Great Yarmouth’s South Quay, was towed by tug at the movie makers’ expense to the south coast, a journey of four days. Acting ship’s manager Ernie Artis said she was likely to be there until at least the end of October. Mr Artis said when they were first approached about casting the ship they thought it was a hoax. photos, >click to read< 09:38
EPIRB Alert triggers rescue of 3 and a dog adrift in a life raft from a sunken fishing vessel
The Coast Guard rescued 2 men, a woman and a dog found adrift in a life raft after their fishing vessel sank Sunday afternoon approximately 45 miles off Lincoln City. At 2 p.m., watchstanders at Sector North Bend received a distress signal from an electronic position indicating radio beacon [EPIRB]. The beacon was registered to the 44-foot gray and blue commercial fishing vessel F/V Royal.’ Video, >click to read< 08:06
Mi’kmaw vow to keep fishing despite harassment from DFO officials
The crew of the Sadie C, a Sipekne’katik Mi’kmaw lobster boat was out on the bay exercising their treaty rights when it was surrounded by six zodiacs and one large coast guard vessel. The crew dropped ten traps, which the fisheries officers immediately seized. Marcel Marr, captain of the Sadie C, says he will keep fishing. “Someone’s got to stand here and fight the fight so it might as well be me if I want further generations or my children to participate in our aboriginal fisheries,” says Marr. >click to read< 19:54
Hurricane Ida: Bayou Community Foundation Assisting Lafourche, Terrebonne Recovery
The executive director of the Bayou Community Foundation says the organization has raised several million dollars thus far. She says they have begun issuing grants “to local non-profits who are providing critical relief services on the ground.” Jennifer Armand says money keeps pouring into the foundation’s fund that has helped pay for fuel, food and the various other needs of residents who remain in recovery mode more than two weeks after Ida slammed the two parishes, including Grand Isle. She says that about three million dollars have come into the fund thus far “and we know that every cent will be needed as we look to the weeks, months and year ahead.” If you’d like to donate to the fund you can visit the website bayoucf.org and click on the banner Bayou Recovery Fund. >click to read< visit bayoucf.org 10:44
DFO is responding to allegations from the Sipekne’katik First Nation
On Thursday, the band said they had lobster traps tagged ‘Food, Social and Ceremonial,’ confiscated by DFO officers in St. Mary’s Bay. DFO says of the 10 traps they seized that day, none had FSC tags, and no vessels were seized. The department says respectful, constructive dialogue is the best way to advance reconciliation, and implement rights-based fisheries. They say their officers take a progressive approach on the water, including education, issuing warnings and laying charges, while using discretion as they take situational factors into consideration. >click to read< 08:36
Shipping container traffic making waves on St. Lawrence/Great Lakes system
On Monday, the container ship Peyton Lynn C, which loaded in Antwerp, Belgium, passed through the locks in Massena and Iroquois, Ontario, on her way upriver on the St. Lawrence heading for the Great Lakes. In her wake, her owners believe, may be a new era in regards to a shipping method for the international waterway. Industry experts say that about 90% of non-bulk cargo worldwide is transported by container ships, with large coastal ports along the Atlantic and Pacific oceans the hubs of that activity. But the container vessel business model has begun to create ripples in the St. Lawrence and Great Lakes. photos, >click to read< 18:19
Fishing Vessel Orion is the latest new trawler from Macduff Shipyards
The steel-hulled Orion has an aluminium wheelhouse and mast, and is laid out on largely conventional lines with the cabins, engine room, fishroom and fresh water tank below deck level, the forward winch room, galley/mess, catch handling area and after shelter above deck. The yard also delivered the complete hydraulic package for Orion, including a triple-barrel winch powered by dual motors located forward and two split net drums aft, plus 
two bagging winches, two small gear handling winches, a cod end winch and a dedicated anchor windlass. The MFB8 landing crane and MBK13 powerblock crane, both featuring a slew ring base, are supplied by Thistle Marine. Orion is fishing with trawl gear supplied by Faithlie Trawl (International) Ltd, Seaforth Trawls Ltd and Caley Fisheries, with the trawl gear spread using a 72-inch pair of Thyborøn Type 11 trawl doors. photos, >click to read< 17:06
Peconic Bay Scallop: After disappointing seasons in 2019, ’20, the outlook remains bleak
Last week, Steve Tettelbach, head of Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Peconic Bay Scallop Restoration Program, finished up a series of dives at the seven sites from Flanders to Montauk,,, “At six of our seven sites, the average density declined by 64% to 99% between May and late August, and the highest die-off occurred at the three sites with the highest initial densities in spring 2021,” Mr. Tettelbach said. Only the site in Napeague Harbor saw an increase in bay scallop numbers over the course of the summer. Bay scallops in New York waters are supposed to live about 18 months. Why have bay scallops in the Peconic Bay system died months prematurely en masse for three years in a row? >click to read< 16:04
