Monthly Archives: September 2021

Opposition Forms from N.C. to N.E. to Great Lakes over ocean industrial development all-in consumer cost

A loose coalition of offshore wind opponents is forming from North Carolina to New England to the Great Lakes to question or challenge the expanding list of proposed projects. The Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy has affiliated with the coalition, with our concerns over Dominion Energy Virginia’s proposed 5,280 megawatt project basically being economic. Massive worldwide economic forces are behind this push, most of them positioning the company to earn substantial profits from energy ratepayers. The Virginia State Corporation Commission, basically under orders from the General Assembly to approve the offshore wind proposed by Dominion, has estimated the all-in consumer cost of the Dominion project at more than $37 billion. It accounts for about a third of the $807 annual increase in residential electric bills the SCC has projected by 2030, with the power provided dependent on unreliable wind. >click to read< 11:55

9/11 Boat Evacuation: Greater Than Dunkirk

Romans 8:28 says “all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Twenty years after the 9/11 terror attacks that murdered nearly three thousand people we are beginning to see ‘the good’ that God brought on that day. That someone like Christina Stanton, a regular New Yorker who ran for her life after the second plane came within 500 feet of her apartment balcony… would find a deeper, more real faith in Jesus Christ. That Peter Johansen, the director of Ferry Operations, would become God’s agents in helping to rescue a half million people through a massive boat evacuation and how the two people who were strangers before 9/11, became friends. It was New York’s version of Dunkirk, the mass evacuation of people stranded in what became a war zone on 9-11. audio report,  >click to read< 08:21

Aim High! Turning an elderly trawler into a purse seiner

After an eight-month rebuild, working to plans developed by Coprexma, former trawler Commodore, has become a purse seiner launched at the end of July in Le Guilvinec. Now SanTiago is about to join the fleet in Saint-Guénolé, where it will land sardines and anchovies caught in the Bay of Audierne and off Douarnenez. Work began on the 15.87 metre  5.56 metre beam boat at the end of 2020 at the Hénaff shipyard, which had just completed Les Antilles II. Most of the work to transform the old wooden trawler consisted of modernising the working deck and gunwales to improve crew comfort and adapt to the requirements of its new role. Photos, >click to read<  18:53

For the first time in over 25 years, Bristol Bay red king crab harvest halted for 2021-22

The announcement came as a surprise to many in the crab industry, even those aware of the downward trend in female red king crab since 2012, and a downward trend in Bering Sea snow crab abundance. According to a NOAA survey report the total mature male biomass of commercial crab stocks in the eastern Bering Sea in 2021 was the lowest on record and 2021 biomass estimates continued a declining trend that began in 2015. The decline in crab biomass and abundance was most notable for snow crab, with abundance estimates for mature male and female snow crab down 55% and 70% respectively, the report said.,, In April, PEER filed a complaint on behalf of former NOAA Fisheries biologist Braxton Dew, charging the federal fisheries agency with paving the way for collapse,,, NOAA Fisheries had attributed the sudden loss of millions of crabs to “a drastic increase in natural mortality” and “massive die-offs,” claims for which no evidence has materialized, >click to read< 14:24

Politics: Lobster dispute, frustration with Ottawa could turn the tide on the Liberals in Nova Scotia

“Trudeau had the support of the First Nations in the last election. Not anymore. We’re voting NDP,” In rural Nova Scotia ridings such as South Shore-St. Margarets, where the fishery is a major employer, federal Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan is now fighting to keep her job,,, It’s just past the lunch break inside the main assembly shop at Yarmouth Boat Works, These $1.2-million state-of-the-art vessels, with kitchens, sleeping quarters, flat-screen TVs and showers, are meant to venture far out into the ocean and carry thousands of pounds of lobster back to land. Owner Steve Gee says while demand for new boats has slowed, finding skilled workers is hard, despite a good fibreglass technician getting $28 an hour, a decent wage in Yarmouth County. “I need 23 workers, but three showed up today,” he said. “Our latest job posting had 300 applicants, and not one of them was in Canada.” >click to read< 11:31

Port captains recall heroic mission to evacuate New Yorkers from Ground Zero on 9/11

New York Waterway Port Capt. Michael McPhillips had been standing in the wheelhouse of a ferryboat halfway across the river, when he noticed the South Tower begin to buckle. He’d already made eight round-trip runs ferrying passengers to New Jersey since the first plane hit, while also manning the radio and fielding questions. At 9:45 a.m., when another captain offered to take the helm of the Frank Sinatra so that McPhillips could focus on operations, the overwhelmed port captain had gladly given up the wheel. He soon wound up conducting operations in the wheelhouse of a different ferry, the George Washington. Now, seeing the cloud exploding up and out from the shrinking South Tower, he barked out a warning to a captain who had been lining up for his approach to the World Financial Center terminal: “Get the f–k out of there!” >click to read< 09:01

I will never forget. Please God, Bless America.

Hurricane Ida: A Bad Time on the Bayou

Hurricane Ida struck the heart of Louisiana’s seafood industry as a Category 4 hurricane, wiping out homes, boats, trucks, plants and icehouses…. ‘This is just a bad time to be on the bayou it seems,’ said Venice shrimper Acy Cooper, a member of the Louisiana Shrimp Task Force. ‘Before the storm we were being hit hard by Covid. Covid is still here, but now we have to face the difficulties brought on by Ida,’ he said, adding that he has been fortunate compared to those to the east of him. ‘Here in Venice, we lost three or four shrimp boats, but over in Chauvin and Dulac, it’s more like half that fleet. People have lost their homes, their boats. They don’t have power, gas or food. These are people that aren’t going to ask for anything, but let me tell you they need it, and they need it now.’ Click to read >Pt.1< and >Pt.2< 18:55

Turtle excluders

A federal court in Louisiana granted Attorney General Jeff Landry’s request to preliminarily enjoin implementation of a National Marine Fisheries Service’s rule requiring “Turtle Excluder Devices” on certain skimmer trawl boats operating in inshore waters. Landry’s office called it a “major win” for shrimpers, which were having difficulty complying with the rule due to pandemic-related supply chain issues. >click to read the order<  16:55

Delaware lobsterman ‘Captain Bill’ Melvin Ernest Rice has passed away

Ernest “Bill” Melvin Rice, 81, of Lewes passed away at home Sunday, Aug. 22, 2021. He was born June 17, 1940, in Lewes, son of the late Ernest M. and Charlotte (Smith) Rice. Bill was a proud veteran, having honorably served in the U.S. Marine Corps. After his military service, he started his own business along with his wife, Jean, called Indian River Lobster Co., where they provided seafood to the area. Bill started first clamming commercially, then fishing, and then went on to become one of Delaware’s first lobsterman. >click to read< 15:34

Appeal and application process frustrates – Fish Harvester Benefit and Grant Program extended

The appeal deadline for the Fish Harvester Benefit and Grant Program has been extended by DFO to Oct.1 from Sept.15 following months of delays and online application issues. The appeal process has been plagued by an “online application nightmare” and a “communication cluster,” Problems included multiple vague error messages prompting harvesters to call Service Canada for help. The error messages numbered seven, 10 and 12, offered no definition. This left many harvesters clueless,,, >click to read< 14:20

Due to current expansion, the Dutch fleet faces loss of fishing grounds to offshore wind farms

The number of windmills in Dutch waters is set to increase rapidly, not only in the North Sea, but also in the fresh waters of the IJsselmeer where a fleet of small fishing boats catches eel, perch, pike perch and roach. In a demonstration of their anger and frustration, last month fishermen took their protests against the energy sector to a gathering off the coast along Breezanddijk. This is a remote location in the middle of the huge Afsluitdijk, but close to a huge wind mill park. About sixty fishing vessels gathered for the demonstration. Wind farms have been taking over productive fishing grounds for several years now,,, photo’s, >click to read< 12:55

Lobster captain found guilty on lesser charge in 2018 deaths of 2 men

Justice Gregory Cann has found lobster boat captain Clarence Barry White not guilty on two counts of criminal negligence causing death over a boat collision that left two men dead. He did find White guilty of dangerous operation of a vehicle causing death, however. Sobs broke out in a Charlottetown courtroom on Friday as the judge announced his decision. White’s boat, Forever Chasin’ Tail, collided with Joel ’98, killing two of the five people on that vessel: Justin MacKay and Chris Melanson. During the trial, court heard that White’s boat was on autopilot at the time of the crash, >click to read< 11:42

Accused of poaching crabs in a marine reserve area on Oregon coast

Two men are accused of poaching crab in the protected Cape Falcon Marine Reserve south of Cannon Beach using gear stolen from other crabbers. Scott Giles, most recently of Ilwaco, Wash., and deckhand Travis Westerlund, of Astoria, face criminal charges including theft, criminal mischief, unlawful take and fishing in a prohibited area, following an indictment in August. Given the alleged amount of stolen gear found in his possession, Giles, captain of the commercial fishing vessel The Baranof, faces felony theft charges. >click to read< 10:22

Hurricane Ida: Dozens of Groundings and Sinkings Block Louisiana’s Inland Waterways

Thursday, the U.S. Coast Guard released an update on the full extent of the impact of Hurricane Ida in the vicinity of Bayou Lafourche, the working waterway that leads inland from Port Fourchon. The area was right in the path of the hurricane’s eye, and while Port Fourchon has reopened, navigation remains closed on Bayou Lafourche because of dozens of sunken and grounded vessels.,, So far, 25 vessels requiring salvage and removal – fishing vessels, crew boats and OSVs – have been found in the Bayou Lafourche channel. 30 more submerged targets have been identified in the Houma Navigation Canal, including 15 that have recently been cleared or removed. photos, >click to read< 09:51

Fin whale entangled in a navigation buoy near Grand Manan last week is presumed dead

A fin whale spotted near Grand Manan is believed to have died after becoming entangled in a navigation buoy, something rescuers say they have never seen before. Campobello Whale Rescue Team with the Canadian Whale Institute, said the rescue team responded to a report of an entangled whale spotted from the Grand Manan Ferry at around 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 1. The ferry was travelling from Blacks Harbour to Grand Manan. Brown said the team went searching with two boats, joined by a boat and aircraft from the Fisheries and Oceans Canada team. >click to read< 08:26

Gazans are building a large fishing boat, which it will provide an income for some 15 families

Manufactured in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, the boat is about 21 metres long and between 4-6 metres wide. It is hoped that it will be ready to set sail within a few months if all the necessary tools needed for its completion are available. Funded by Beit Al Khair Foundation, the vessel has had to overcome numerous obstacles,,, Khaled Alwan, the Palestinian contractor supervising the project, said it is hoped the boat will provide 15 families with an income. He indicated that the boat also needs “an electric generator, an engine, fishing nets, spare parts, and other equipment.” Photos, >Click to read< 21:52

Grand Chief of Assembly of First Nations tells DFO – ‘Stop criminalizing our treaty rights’

The Grand Chief of the Assembly of First Nations is calling for an end to what she calls intimidation over the Sipekne’katik First Nation’s lobster fishery. So far this summer, hundreds of traps have been seized from St. Mary’s Bay and Archibald was on a boat that was boarded by DFO officers Thursday afternoon, who then seized the traps of the fisherman she was with. “Two DFO zodiacs with eight enforcement officers encircled and boarded the boat and later traps were pulled, confiscated and loaded onto a Coast Guard boat,” Video >click to read< 19:50

RCMP charge second man in relation to 2020 fish plant fire

RCMP in Nova Scotia have charged a second man with arson in relation to a fire that destroyed a fish plant in 2020 amid tensions over a Mi’kmaq lobster fishery in southwestern Nova Scotia.,, Investigators determined the fire was the result of arson. Police say they arrested Sean Roy Messenger, 29, of Shelburne County without incident on Wednesday. Messenger has been charged with arson. He was released on a promise to appear before a judge in Yarmouth Provincial Court. In July, 24-year-old Brendan Douglas James Porter, of East Pubnico, was also arrested and charged with arson,    >click to read< 17:08

151 Maine legislators call on Biden to rescind new lobster fishing reg’s, while the real threat remains

State legislators have submitted a letter to President Joe Biden requesting (DEMAND!) that his administration take steps to immediately rescind new regulations on lobster fishing. The new regulations, which are intended to protect the endangered North Atlantic right whale,,, Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham, R-Winter Harbor, a lobster fisherman, initiated the letter. Maine Senate President Troy Jackson also criticized the new reg’s,, “The new federal regulations are an affront to the men and women who have made a living on Maine’s working waterfront for generations,,, I’m deeply disappointed that NOAA has decided to dismiss the voices of Maine’s lobstering workforce and chosen to go ahead with damaging regulations that do nothing more than hurt our fishermen, while the real threat to right whales remains, Canadian ships.” Video, >click to read< 16:03

Coos Bay Fisherman Safe After Rescue By Students On Research Ship

A commercial fisherman is alive and well after being rescued by an Oregon State University research vessel carrying University of Oregon students. Frank Akers of Coos Bay was trawling for tuna around 10 p.m. on Aug. 28,,, “I got hit by a wave that was just, it made a crushing blow like I’ve never heard before,” he said. “I think there was a log in it.” >click to read< 12:31

Fishing crews targeted in vaccination push

Fishing boat crews are being targeted as part of efforts to reduce Covid infection rates in south west Scotland. NHS Dumfries and Galloway said it was offering drop-in vaccination clinics to those working on boats berthed at harbours including Kirkcudbright and Stranraer. Public health consultant Dr Nigel Calvert said receiving both doses of the vaccine was the best way to protect your health. He said they were keen to offer everyone vaccination – including the crews of fishing boats coming to the area. >click to read< 10:41

Rep. Sherm Hutchins – Maine’s lobster industry is under siege

Maine’s lobstermen and women are under attack by the Biden Administration after a recent set of rule changes restricting seasonal lobster fishing in 950 square miles of federal waters off Maine’s coast. This is an inflexible and poorly considered attempt to protect the North Atlantic right whale population. The series of rule changes are the most heavy-handed in a long line of attempts to undermine the lobster industry here in Maine. If our fisheries are not protected, and if these rules are not reversed, Maine’s fishermen and women will not recover. >click to read< 09:47

More siege from the non-productive slugs of the enviroscam movement – Zack Klyver, science director with the group Blue Planet Strategies, has a different view on the issue. I’m sympathetic to them and know that they work extremely hard,,, >click to read< 11:25

Hurricane Ida: Shrimper Norman Bouisse survives 13 hours on capsized boat. Grant Bundy came to get him.

As a shrimper, he’s called Lafitte home for seven decades. “To me, it’s the best place,” he said. He thought he’d seen it all. “This is the worst. This is the worst,” he said while looking at what Ida left behind. Bouisse planned to ride out the storm with a friend in Lafitte. He thought he had time to check on his boat in Bayou Barataria, but Ida was too quick and too strong. “I was on my boat and my boat broke loose and rolled over,” he said. “I spent almost 13 hours laying on the boat and the next morning my friend came and rescued me.” His friend’s name is Grant Bundy. Video, >click to read< 08:14

“Oiled: A Fisherman’s Journey” – A deeply personal memoir

Derrell Short, a retired commercial fisherman and handyman, has completed his new book “Oiled: A Fisherman’s Journey”: an exclusive account of the author’s time as a commercial fisherman while raising a family on remote Kodiak Island. It recounts his struggles and experiences while also imparting his unique wisdom that only years of being up against the harsh, yet beautiful landscape of Alaska can provide. As Short states, “In this memoir, various experiences and details are described, including a summary of some of [my] life before and after Alaska, and the trauma and tasks from aiding in cleaning up Exxon’s massive and incompetent oil spill of 1989.” >click to read< 19:35

Hurricane Ida: Department of Commerce Needs to Declare a Fisheries Disaster Immediately

U.S. Congressman Garret Graves is calling for the U.S. Department of Commerce to immediately declare a “Fishery Disaster Determination” due to both the biological resources and fishery infrastructure sustaining major damage related to Hurricane Ida. Commerce is able to declare the disaster provided by the provisions within the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act. The declared disaster would provide targeted relief to one of the most impacted sectors of Louisiana’s economy. The funds would help both commercial and recreational fishers begin to recover. >click to read< 18:31

Commercial fisherman rides out Hurricane Ida in his boat before 140 mph winds flipped it

Kimothy Guy, 57, is one the few people who did not evacuate from the coastal shrimping, crabbing and fishing community ahead of Ida’s arrival Aug. 29. He and three others in the immediate vicinity rode out the storm on their fishing boats in an attempt to save their livelihoods. Instead, the commercial fishers barely lived to tell the tale, as their boats snapped free from the ropes tying them to the shore and flipped over during the Category 4 hurricane. “We had four of us, me and three others, that had stayed to try to save our boats, but we didn’t save none of them,” Guy said, noting that if he knew then what he does now, he would have evacuated. “Now I know we don’t have nothing to stay for. We don’t have no more house. We don’t have no more boat.” “I ain’t got no choice. I have to stay,” Guy said. “That’s all I ever did all my life, commercial fish. That’s what I do for a living. I’m a water person. I need the water to survive.” photos, >click to read< 17:13

Tributes to Scots fisherman who died after tragic accident at sea

Heartfelt tributes have been paid to a ‘hugely respected and well liked’ Scots fisherman after his death in a tragic accident at sea. John Wilson died after going overboard while out hunting white fish and prawns off the east coast on Saturday, August 27. Aberdeen Coastguard were alterted and a huge search until the 64-year-old was found by a fellow fisherman. He was taken by helicopter to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary where he tragically died. John was well known in his community having started his life at sea aged just 15, and was heavily involved with the St Abbs Lifeboat based near Eyemouth in the Scottish Borders for more than 40 years. “Fair winds and following seas John.”  >click to read< 13:43

Fishing boat Captain is grateful for the quick response of his fellow fishermen

Élie Dugas, captain of the fishing boat that sank off Miscou on Monday morning, said he’s grateful for the help from fellow fishermen. Within minutes of his distress call at about 6:30 a.m., about eight boats were in sight, ready to help rescue the crew,,, He said he bought the Maximilien two years ago. “It’s a hard blow,” said Dugas, who is based in Miscou and has been fishing for 46 years. Rescuers first tried to pump out the water and then tow the herring boat, but it was soon determined to be too dangerous. “We couldn’t save the boat,” said Fisherman Steven Hughes,, The four crew members of the Maximilien were taken safely to shore.  >click to read< 12:16

Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 64′ Steel Scallop/Dragger, 350HP Cummins

To review specifications, information, and 12 photo’s >click here< , To see all the boats in this series >click here<  11:14