Monthly Archives: November 2021
Maine: Fire roars through fishing boat in Rockland
A commercial fishing boat was heavily damaged Tuesday night when a fire roared through the vessel while parked at a boatyard. The F/V Dark Star was ablaze when the first crews arrived shortly before 9:30 p.m. Nov. 30 in a parking lot of Journey’s End Marina on Tillson Avenue. Flames were shooting high in the sky and thick smoke was pouring from the vessel. Photos, >click to read< 22:21
Fishing vessel operator cited for negligence on Columbia River, OR, navigation channel
The Coast Guard issued a Notice of Violation to the owner and master aboard a 48-foot commercial fishing vessel for negligence while operating in conditions of restricted visibility and a failure to maintain a proper lookout Monday in the vicinity of Buoy No. 8 of the Columbia River navigation channel. The commercial fishing vessel was operating outbound on the Oregon side of the Columbia River navigation channel as the 587-foot motor vessel Grand Race, a Ro-Ro cargo ship, was transiting inbound, also in the vicinity of Buoy No. 8. The commercial fishing vessel, without providing notice or sound signal to the inbound Grand Race, adjusted course to move to the Washington side of the channel; and, in doing so, cut across the bow of the Grand Race, creating serious risk of collision. >click to read< 21:35
Commercial Fishing Vessel Runs Aground off Truro
A fishing vessel ran aground in Truro Tuesday. The 78 foot F/V Carrabassett, home ported in New Bedford, came ashore in the area of Long Nook Beach. No injuries were reported. The cause of the grounding was under investigation. >click to read<, and enlarge image. 17:42
From DFO: Routine fishery inspection leads to significant penalties for a North Coast commercial salmon harvester
On July 2, 2021, Garry Dean Stoner was sentenced in Terrace Provincial Court after pleading guilty to 12 counts under the Fisheries Act for violations that occurred between June and September 2017, and in July and August 2018, in waters north of Haida Gwaii. The Honourable Justice Calvin Struyk ordered the commercial salmon harvester to pay $1,200 in court fines, plus $42,800 in penalties,,, Justice Struyk included an additional $44,644 penalty to recover revenue obtained through the sales of the illegally caught Chinook salmon. Mr. Stoner was also prohibited from commercial salmon fishing for 18 months. >click to read< 15:39
St. John’s company’s technology a game-changer for the wheelhouse
Trawlmaster allows fishing captains to see where shrimp are congregating, and spot problems with gear. Daniel Genge keeps his eye on a computer monitor that gives him “eyes” underwater. As the shrimp trawl moves through the water, he can actually see the shrimp are moving into the sock-like net and how the trawl is behaving. Having the underwater visual has been a game-changer,,, While the technology being used by Genge is just attracting the attention of the East Coast fishing industry, customers in the United States have already embraced it, said Brad Henderson. “We had a lot of success in Washington and Oregon state,” he said, explaining that in those states they fish a different kind of shrimp, which “clump up” more. Video, >click to read< 12:08
Southern California Fisheries Closure Lifted – Fishing to reopen following oil spill off Huntington Beach coast
At noon Tuesday, Nov. 30, waters along a 45-mile stretch of coastline that were closed to fishing because of last month’s oil spill off Huntington Beach, will welcome anglers again, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced Monday, (click to read) saying testing showed consuming seafood from the area poses no risk to the public. Terese Pearson, whose family runs Pearson’s Port in the Newport Back Bay, said Monday evening she was “elated” to hear the news that its fishing business could resume after weeks of going without the income,,, >click to read< 09:21
Grounded fishing vessel stranded at Cape Hatteras National Seashore is now free
A fishing vessel previously grounded at Cape Hatteras National Seashore is now free. Officials posted about the stranded fishing vessel on Monday, although it is unclear how long the vessel has been grounded in the Seashore. The vessel named F/V Jonathan Ryan was found near off-road vehicle ramp 48 which is approximately 1.25 miles southeast of the Frisco Campground. >click to read< 08: 46
It’s a Go! Dumping Day On For Tomorrow In LFA 33/34
Dumping Day is a go for tomorrow, with LFA 34 beginning at 6 a.m. A weather call with port reps and DFO was held this morning, and Environment Canada says the marine forecast is looking favourable, as fishers will set the traps to begin the commercial lobster fishing season. LFA 33 will go one hour later, at 7 a.m. >click to read< 08:02
LFA 33 and 34 – No Decision For Wednesday Dumping Day
Port Reps for LFA 33 and 34 held another round of pre-season weather calls this afternoon. The Coldwater Lobster Association says not vote was held and no decision has been made at this point for a Wednesday Dumping Day. The lobster fishing season was originally scheduled to start this morning, the call to delay was made over the weekend. >click to read< 15:31
UPDATED: Fishing trawler aground near Frisco
A fishing trawler has run aground on the Outer Banks. The Cape Hatteras National Seashore says the F/V Jonathan Ryan is stuck in the surf about a mile south of the Frisco Campground. The trawler is 65 feet long and weighs some 113 tons. >click to read< and Fishing Vessel Grounds At Cape Hatteras National Seashore – National Park Service staff are monitoring a commercial fishing vessel that grounded at Cape Hatteras National 
Seashore (Seashore). The F/V JONATHAN RYAN is located near off-road vehicle ramp 48, approximately 1.25 miles southeast of the Frisco Campground. >click to read<, 11:55 Fishing trawler runs aground along southern Hatteras Island – The Jonathon Ryan fishing boat ran aground near Frisco NC. I have no information n what happened but there are still people on the ship and I’m sure it will get pulled back out. Authorities are on the scene. Video, >click to read< 13:29
Anti-salmon farming activist Alexandra Morton to give special presentation for Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory
Alexandra Morton has been called “the Jane Goodall of Canada” because of her passionate thirty-year fight to save British Columbia’s wild salmon from salmon farms. Her account of that fight is both inspiring and a roadmap for resistance to industrial-scale aquaculture. Morton has agreed to give a special lecture virtually from her home in British Columbia on December 06, 2021, at 5:00 p.m. (EST) as part of the MDIBL Science Café series. This event is free and open to the public, but attendees must register in advance. A question-and-answer session will follow. “This important conversation comes at a critical time for Frenchman Bay and Maine as we face the rising challenge of industrial-scale aquaculture,”,,,, >click to read<, and register! 10:55
Oregon: Crab season to begin December 1st without delay for first time in six years
For the first time in six years, Oregon’s commercial crab season is set to begin without delay following low domoic acid and high meat yield indicated by tests conducted by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife earlier in the month. Commercial crab vessels and their crews can begin setting their gear as soon as this Sunday, Nov. 28, for the pre-soak period, after which they’ll be able to pull in their first hauls of the season on Dec. 1, assuming weather holds clear and a price arrangement between the fishing fleet and Oregon seafood processors is reached. >click to read< 10:05
Jean Lafitte-area fishermen struggle with wrecked boats, lost businesses and lots of mud
When Hurricane Ida blew through lower Jefferson Parish in late August, it brought wind, rain and surge. What it left behind was mud,,, Larry Helmer, 70, who’s been fishing local waters his whole life, can’t get either of his boats out from where they’re docked at his home on Anthony Lane in Barataria. “If I can’t get out on my boat, I can’t go fish, and at my age, I can’t go on no job hunt,” he said, chuckling ruefully. Helmer’s son, who lives two canals away, is in the same position. “He can’t even go to work. His boat is just about on bottom,” Helmer said. “It’s terrible, man — it’s just terrible. The mud from this hurricane just filled these canals in.” >click to read< 07:36
No Go: High winds again delay start of lobster fishery in southwestern NS
High winds have once again forced a delay in the opening of the commercial lobster fishery in southwestern Nova Scotia and along the province’s south shore in both LFAs 33 and 34. The season will not open on Nov. 29, the traditional ‘last Monday of November’ opening day. Due to the forecast, things are also a no-go for Tuesday, Nov. 30. Industry conference calls in the fishing districts were held with port reps and DFO on Sunday morning to discuss the marine forecast, which called for high winds and has a gale warning in effect. The wind was forecasted to increase to 35 knots southeast on Monday, Nov. 29, with seas building to three to four metres by the afternoon. >click to read< 17:32
Fundraiser established for a man that lost his shrimp boat on Thanksgiving Day
McClellanville, S.C., Hello all, My name is Pressley Kellum, Noe Kellum’s daughter. November 25th, 2021, Thanksgiving Day; my dad left his boat for an hour and a half to have dinner with family friends. Everything was fine before he left and he had no concerns about his boat while he was gone. However, just within that hour he went back to the dock to get something for a friend and that’s when he walked upon every shrimpers fear. >click to read<, and please donate if you can. 15:46
Commercial Crab Season: Boats out, baskets ready
For the first time since the 2014-15 season, the ocean commercial Dungeness crab fishery opens as scheduled Dec. 1 along the Oregon Coast. Commercial crab vessels were able to set gear Nov. 28. the pre soak period, in anticipation of the first pull of ocean crab pots on Dec. 1. In partnership with the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission and the commercial Dungeness crab industry, ODFW tests crabs out of Oregon’s six major crabbing ports beginning in early November. This year, crab tested from Oregon’s crab harvest areas have high meat yield and are well below domoic acid alert levels. >click to read<12:16
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef erupts in color as corals spawn
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is spawning in an explosion of color as the World Heritage-listed natural wonder recovers from life-threatening coral bleaching episodes. Scientists on Tuesday night recorded the corals fertilizing billions of offspring by casting sperm and eggs into the Pacific Ocean off the Queensland state coastal city of Cairns. The spawning event lasts for two or three days. The network of 2,500 reefs covering 348,000 square kilometers (134,000 square miles) suffered significantly from coral bleaching caused by unusually warm ocean temperatures in 2016, 2017 and last year. The bleaching damaged two-thirds of the coral. >click to read< 11:13
Meet the families working to keep fisheries alive on Lake Ontario and Lake Erie
Lake Erie fisherman Tim Martin knows that his business has helped strengthen local food systems. He and his four family members harvest and process their own fish, then sell it at their retail location in Port Burwell, Ont. During the pandemic, when global supply chains buckled and grocery store shelves were wiped clean, the family was able to stay in business. They experienced a heavy rush of local customers, most of whom, Martin says, have become loyal regulars. Yet in Port Burwell, where the Martins have operated for more than 30 years, they are the only permanent commercial fishing business that remains. Deteriorating infrastructure on the waterfront and a high cost of entry into the fishery fails to support any aspiring newcomers. Here are three families still working in the Great Lakes commercial fishing industry in Ontario,,, photos, >click to read< 09:23
Right whale coalition calls for moratorium of offshore wind farm turbines
A local citizens group has announced the creation of the Save Right Whales Coalition, which is determined to stop offshore wind turbine projects that members say could harm whales. “Any species whose numbers are this low requires that we not take any additional action that could harm these whales,” political and environmental author and activist Michael Shellenberger said of the endangered North Atlantic right whales. “Particularly given that we have an abundance of nuclear and natural gas resources that would provide a sufficient alternative to these large industrial wind turbines.” >click to read< 13:49
Setting sail on a fishing voyage of discovery
Matty and Ally, who are cousins, alternate between who is lead skipper for each trip, and this time around Matty, 41, was in charge. “When possible, we prefer to shoot the trawl when it is daylight, as the mackerel tend to shoal closer together during the day, and it is also safer for the crew,” he said. As the flickering light of dawn gradually took hold over a grey-ruffled sea, the 10 other crew members scrambled down to the lower stern deck to prepare the trawl for shooting. It is a complicated task; shackles were attached here and there, ropes prepared, and the tail-end of the net was hauled up from the winch by a specially designed crane, before being hung over the stern. >click to read< 10:09
Nova Scotia: Stakeholders Share Thoughts On Potential Price of Lobster
So far the window for the season to open early in LFA 33 and 34 has closed, they’re reassessing conditions this weekend. Brazil Rock 33/34 Lobster Association Executive Director Dan Fleck discussed potential prices this year and the demand for local lobster. “There’s lots of rumours and I’ve heard different prices from different areas that are open, it’s looking good,” says Fleck. “I do know that the demand around the world is great for lobster, LFA 33 and 34 lobster.” >click to read< 09:16
‘French fishermen want direct talks with Jersey’
Chris Le Masurier, of the Jersey Oyster Company, who delivered produce to St Malo yesterday, said that the fishers were protesting against the political process going through the EU and UK rather than being settled locally.,, ‘I was delayed for an hour because I was allotted a slot at the time of the protest, which was at 8am. I was skippering the vessel. After that I moved alongside one of the French boats for a chat. I spoke to Pascal Lecler, the chairman of the fisheries committee in Brittany. He said that he wanted me to pass a message to the Jersey government and that was to come and talk directly with Normandy and Brittany. He gave me a Breton flag and I then dropped off all my seafood and returned to the Island,’ >click to read< 08:39
A fishing boat ferries health-care workers to Neils Harbour, Nova Scotia
The fishing community has stepped up to help deliver health-care workers to the hospital in northern Cape Breton after a storm limited access by leaving washouts on a section of the Cabot Trail. The weather has settled down and, on Friday morning, a fishing boat was able to shuttle people from the community of Ingonish to Buchanan Memorial Hospital in Neils Harbour. The Grace ‘n’ George, owned by Tommy Simms and captained by Adam Sams, left Ingonish in the fog and delivered four hospital workers to Neils Harbour a little over an hour later. >click to read< 07:42 More stories, >click to read<
U.S. Coast Guard urges safety, preparedness for upcoming Oregon Dungeness crab season
The Coast Guard urges commercial fishermen to ensure vessel safety to prevent maritime emergencies before the opening of the commercial Dungeness crab season scheduled to begin Sunday with the Pre-Soak.,, The Coast Guard will notify the public of bar restrictions and bar closures via a Broadcast Notice to Mariners on VHF-FM channel 16 and 22A. Monitoring cameras and associated websites prior to setting out to sea may provide mariners with additional information in certain locations. The Coast Guard reminds all commercial fishermen that prior to crossing a restricted bar between sunset and sunrise, they must notify the Coast Guard on VHF-FM channel 16 or 22A,,, >click to read< 18:55
Devastating Damage from B.C., Atlantic storms no easy fix
The rainstorms in British Columbia and Atlantic Canada have impacted livelihoods, with damaged highways and rail lines cutting off communities and hampering key supply chain routes. Unprecedented rainfall from atmospheric rivers in B.C. and the Maritimes has dropped hundreds of millimetres worth of rain — surpassing in days the totals some regions see in a whole month. Video, photos, >click to read< For a page of some amazing stories from both coasts, with more being added as we find them. >click to read< 14:16
Surge in baitfish catch is a boon to Maine’s lobstermen
Maine’s lobster fishermen typically bait their traps with dead herring, but a scientific assessment in 2020 found that herring are overfished, and quotas for the fish were reduced dramatically. The loss of herring has increased the price of bait and made it harder for many fishermen to trap lobsters. However, losing herring has been offset somewhat by swelling catches of menhaden. Maine’s catch of menhaden, also called pogies or bunker, grew from about 6 million pounds in 2016 to more than 24 million pounds last year. >click to read< 11:28
Lobsterman John Joseph “Johnny” Crane III, of Port Clyde has passed away
John Joseph “Johnny” Crane III, 80, died November 18, 2021 at the Sussman House in Rockport following an extended period of declining health. Johnny grew up in Waldoboro and attended local schools. His entire life was centered around fishing beginning as a clam digger in high school. He also went seining with Hugo & Sonny Lehtinen before becoming a lobster fisherman until his retirement a few years ago for health reasons. He had his first new lobster boat “Sylvia C” built in 1982 followed by a second new “Sylvia C” in 1998 still being fished in Port Clyde by his grandson Johnny V. >click to read< 09:36
Happy Thanksgiving! Giblet Joe and his flock of turkey’s just stuffed your bird!
The Biden administration approved an offshore wind farm off the coasts of Rhode Island and New York on Wednesday as part of a plan to deploy 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030. The U.S. Department of the Interior announced it approved the construction and operations of the South Fork Wind project, the department’s second approval of a commercial-scale, offshore wind energy project in the United States. Last week, the department marked the groundbreaking off the coast of Massachusetts for the first commercial-scale offshore wind project. >click to read< 08:44
French fisherman blockading British ships over Brexit licenses
French fisherman have blockaded British ships after feeling ‘humiliated’ by Britain over post-Brexit operating licences. The fisherman lined their boats across the entrance to St Malo port from dawn to stop the British Normandy Trader getting into the Brittany port from Jersey. The disgruntled men aim to target ferries arriving in Ouistreham and Calais,,, Pascal Lecler, one of the fishermen said: “We’re hostage to politics. It doesn’t make us happy to be here, but it can’t go on.’ >click to read< 07:45
My Friend’s Stage IV Cancer Diagnosis Showed His Remarkable Strength
Tom Hoxsie, captain of the fishing vessel North Star, sat cross-legged beside a woodstove in his toolshed. It was late February in coastal Rhode Island, gray inside and out,,, The last phase of his life had begun in pain and misjudgment. Tom was used to discomfort; his hands were a mass of calluses and scars; he labored in an industry of endless punctures, cuts, and strains, where the mentality is to wrap a wound in electrical tape and get back to it.,, This meant cancer crept up on a man with high tolerances for hardship and pain. He had had a chronic cough since at least early 2018, But that summer, he delayed getting a chest X-ray because, in the inshore fishing business around here, the warmer months are when a commercial fishing operation makes much of its money. “We were working,”,,, >click to read< 15:41
