Monthly Archives: November 2021
Focus is on safety as lobster season opening nears in southwestern NS
Wharves are full of lobster fishing gear waiting to be loaded aboard the more than 1,600 vessels in Lobster Fishing Areas 33 and 34, which will head to sea on dumping day to set their gear. The season is scheduled to open on Nov. 29 in both LFAs, but an early two-day weather window flexibility agreement granted to the industry this year by DFO would allow for the season to open as early as Nov. 27 if the forecast is calling for strong winds on Monday. Saturday, Nov. 27 has already been called as a no-go due to the weather. The next conference call to discuss the weather is set for Friday morning, Nov. 25. >click to read< 11:52
NOAA orders lobster fishing gear out of offshore zone
After a month-long court battle, an appeals court upheld the closure on November 16 U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, a Maine Democrat, said that the annual closure from October 1 to January 31 sets a dangerous precedent. It “will give federal agencies a green light to pursue regulatory actions that could devastate communities without any regard for whether or not those efforts are grounded in facts and data,” he said in a statement. “It’s regulations like this one that make people distrust government. Instead of looking out for hardworking people, our government cares more about appeasing deep-pocketed environmental groups that can litigate our lobster fishery out of existence,” Golden said. >click to read< 09:19
Bering Sea fishermen press NPFMC on halibut bycatch
After years of deliberations, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council is inching toward a decision on whether to tie halibut bycatch limits in the Bering Sea to abundance indices. The action, known formally as Bering Sea-Aleutian Islands halibut abundance-based management, or ABM, is intended to reduce bycatch of halibut in the Bering Sea by the Amendment 80 trawl fleet when the fish stocks are lower. The Amendment 80 fleet is a group of catcher-processor vessels that are allocated a portion of groundfish harvest. Each year, the fleet is bound to a hard limit on how many halibut they can take as bycatch, known as the prohibited species catch, or PSC limit. >click to read< 08:34
Commercial Fisherman Mark Wells of Phippsburg, Maine, has passed away
Mark Wells, 67, passed away on Nov. 13, 2021 after diabetic issues complicated by Covid. He was born in Kittery, Maine on June 24, 1954 to Bert Wells and Faye Albertson. In 1986, Mark met and married the love of his life, Mary “Betsy” Wells. He adopted her son, William, as his own, and they lived in Arundel, Searsmont and finally settled in Phippsburg. Mark had worked with his grandfather, Dutch Albertson, lobstering as a teenager. His love of commercial fishing stayed with him, and he worked in the industry for many years, before he bought his boat F/V Miss Betsy. He has fished her for the past 26 years out of Sebasco Harbor with his son William lobstering and tuna fishing. Mark also participated in the Maine Lobster Boat Races, where he won several trophies. >click to read< 15:37
Seafood processor accuses Nova Scotia government of revoking licence over clerical error
The Nova Scotia government has postponed its decision to terminate the operating licences for a family-owned fish processing company,,, SeaBrook Fisheries says it’s being shut down as the result of a clerical error during succession planning. The company failed to notify the provincial Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture that control of the company had been passed to the son of the founders. The department earlier this year ordered the company’s fish buyers and fish processors licences to be terminated this Friday, effectively putting the company, which primarily processes lobster, out of business. SeaBrook was scheduled for an emergency hearing Wednesday,,, >click to read<, and Seafood processor accuses Nova Scotia government of revoking licence over clerical error – >click here< 14:17
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 64′ Dixon Fiberglass Longliner, 425HP Mitsubishi
To review specifications, information, with 15 photos, >click here< , To see all the boats in this series >click here< 12:03
Another Thanksgiving, another crab season delay
On a foggy morning in early November, Dan Kammerer hauled a crab trap onto a fishing boat,,, Kammerer, a retired fisherman, is playing a small role in aiding California’s crab fishing industry, On that day, he was selecting crabs to be tested for domoic acid. The toxin is not the only unwanted presence: In the past few years, a handful of migrating whales have been tangled in crab traps. Now, the season cannot open until a majority of the whales are gone. “We’ve gone from a seven-month-long crab season to one that is going to be three months, at best,” said Ben Platt, president of the California Coast Crab Association, which advocates for the fishery. If the regulations keep tightening, Platt said, “there’s a good chance that the Dungeness fishing industry won’t survive.” >click to read< 10:55
Reflection on the Minderoo Foundation’s Global Fishing Index by Ray Hilborn
This Monday, the Minderoo Foundation released their 2021 Global Fishing Index report meant to give a global picture of fisheries status. I have collaborated with the Minderoo Foundation in the past, but this report is highly flawed and should be viewed skeptically. The report claims over 50% of stocks are overfished and no country gets an “A” or a “B” grade for their management efforts—just six get a “C.” Countries that have essentially eliminated overfishing and are clearly delivering near maximum benefits to their countries are graded a “C.” Why is that not an A? >click to read<
How governments finance the ruin of our oceans – Our oceans were once believed to be an endless source of fish,,, Yet, different governments around the world, including the United States, not only allow extreme overfishing but actually pay fishing boats to turn the oceans into so-called “dead zones.”,, Meanwhile, a well-known marine biologist, Daniel Pauly, says the oceans are reaching a tipping point. >click to read< 09:38
Commercial Fisherman Gregory Allan Bray of Perryville, R.I., has passed away
Gregory Allan Bray, beloved husband, dad, grandpa, brother, uncle, and friend passed away on November 17, 2021, surrounded by his family at South County Hospital after a courageous battle with pancreatic cancer. Greg was a second-generation commercial fisherman aboard many boats including the F/V “Valiant Lady” and the F/V “Provider”. Most recently, he worked as the Captain of the F/V “Relentless” for more than 30 years. He was well liked and highly respected by all his crew and colleagues. He was a modest man, genuine and honorable, and he loved rock and roll. >click to read< 07:37
Government ‘disappointed’ by French fishermen’s threats to block exports to UK
The Government has said it is “disappointed” by threats of protest action by French fishermen amid the escalating dispute over post-Brexit fishing rights,,, Talks are ongoing between Britain, France and the European Commission to settle the main source of contention, which is the number of licences to fish in waters around the British coastline for smaller French vessels which can prove they have historically operated there. But French fishermen are “exasperated” by the “endless months of waiting” and are ready to “exert more pressure” on the UK, according to the fishing committee for the northern Hauts-de-France region. >click to read< 19:15
Commercial Fisherman Michael F. Champlin, of Narragansett, R.I. has passed away
Michael F. Champlin 70, of Narragansett, passed away on Thursday, November 18th, 2021 at home. Mike was a Commercial Fisherman for many years and retired from the Bait Company in 2015 after 20 years of dedicated attention and care. Michael had the “old school” work ethic, get the job done and get it right. >click to read< – The Funeral Service will be private. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Pt. Judith Fishermen’s Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 386, Narragansett, RI 02882 or Gloria Gemma Breast Cancer Resource Foundation, 249 Roosevelt Ave, S uite 201 Pawtucket, RI 02860 12;48
Totally Torched: Low-Cost Offshore Wind Farm Power Claims Go Up In Smoke
Europe’s great wind drought continues, unabated. Adding to the wind industry’s woes, its claims that offshore wind power is ‘free’ and getting cheaper all the time have been totally torched – again. Over the last two years, Andrew Montford has been keeping a close eye on the financial reports produced by the UK’s offshore wind power outfits. What the books reveal runs counter to the spin and propaganda dished up in the media about the cost of offshore wind power. Andrew provides another helpful update,,, >click to read< 11:40
Huge demand pushes record lobster prices - “The price is probably the highest it’s ever been”
Local lobster retailers were selling large lobsters at $9.99 a pound during the first week of November in 2018, 2019 and 2020. This year, the price climbed to $16.99 a pound, a price point it has stayed at since July. ”I think catch price being up has helped,” said Ginny Olsen, a Stonington lobsterman and a board member with the Maine Lobstering Union. For her and other lobstermen in the region, they felt like this moment was a long time coming. “It’s about time,” said David Horner, a Southwest Harbor lobsterman. “We like to make money, too. The amount of risk and investment is enormous.” >click to read< 10:04
Record crab and lobster prices drive value of N.L. landings past billion-dollar mark
“It was remarkable,” Doyle says, referring to the $7.60 per pound, more than double last year’s price, Doyle and his son Thomas received for the roughly 16,000 pounds of snow crab they landed with their under-40-foot vessel, Tango Delta, this year. “In regard to prices, it’s better than I’ve ever seen it,” adds Doyle, adding that they also received record prices for their lobster landings. It’s not hard to hear upbeat language like that when talking to Newfoundland and Labrador fish harvesters this year, because their bank accounts were likely swollen by incomes of 40 to 50 per cent higher than past years. >click to read< 09:33
Shrimp industry vital to Eastern North Carolina economy
A recent proposal from the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries is shining new light on the impact the shrimping industry has on eastern North Carolina.,, That original proposition was voted down by state commissioners Thursday,,, Yet many shrimpers, and other county residents, are still reeling from the close call. One of those is 5th generation Shrimper, Cayton Daniels, who makes his entire living off of shrimping. He says he wouldn’t have survived the proposal’s closures. photos, >click to read< 08:41
Commercial crab season delayed again but set to start Dec. 1 north of Sonoma County
It’s a bitter pill for those who own smaller fishing boats and those for whom the trek north would not pay off, however. They’ve already missed the lucrative Thanksgiving market due to the initial delay of the Central Coast’s usual Nov. 15 commercial start. “The little guys are suffering big time,” said veteran Bodega Bay fishermen Tony Anello, who said he knows three young, newer additions to the fleet who “have no way of making it right now.” In the meantime, ‘We’ve got to find a way for this Nov. 15 date to occur, for us to fish with these animals,” said Dick Ogg, vice president of the Bodega Bay Fishermens Marketing Association. >click to read< 07:41
NLGIDC provides commentary on the latest scientific assessment for 3Ps Cod
The stock is currently at a low level and growth of this important resource is being impeded by high natural mortality. Jim Baird, The Chairman of the NLGIDC said, “The level of natural mortality has been at the highest levels ever recorded for this stock in the most recent time period.” Baird continued, “Having a better understanding of the processes related to natural mortality is important to provide scientists the ability to make accurate projections related to stock growth.” It is clear that seals eat substantial quantities of cod and many industry representatives believe that seal consumption is likely contributing to this high natural mortality, however DFO scientists are not convinced this is the case. >click to read< 19:56
Ratepayer Lawsuit! Review of South Fork Wind Farm project found power shortfalls during peak summer periods
LIPA in 2017 decided to move ahead with the South Fork Wind Farm project despite internal findings that its ability to produce energy during critical summer-peak times would be limited to around half the days it was needed, according to a confidential review done for LIPA. Last Thursday, the nonprofit Government Justice Center filed a lawsuit on behalf of two Long Island ratepayers alleging that LIPA “ignored its own criteria for power production resources” in entering into a contract for the South Fork Wind Farm. In a statement, LIPA said its evaluation of the project, “took all technical considerations into account, including those described in the report, as well as the environmental benefits” of offshore wind. “As with all wind projects, it was determined that the totality of benefits outweighed the variable nature of wind power,”,,, >click to read< 13:40
Hundreds of thousands of pounds of herring dumped last week due to backward DFO policy
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador condemns the Department of Fisheries and Oceans policy that allowed for the dumping of hundreds of thousands of pounds of herring last week alone. “Any DFO policy that allows for the dumping of fish is a backward policy that must end immediately,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s interim Executive Director. “Fishermen should be permitted to land the herring they catch, with the total amount subtracted from the overall quota.” Herring fishermen here in the province say hundreds of thousands of pounds were dumped last week alone as the result of federal policy that sets the small-fish tolerance at 20%. >click to read< 12:35
Research Team Supports Reinstatement of Maine Lobster Fishing Ban
The New England Aquarium’s Right Whale Research Team recently voiced their support of a recent ruling by a federal appeals court which reinstated protective measures for critically endangered North Atlantic Right Whales off the coast of Maine. Despite objections from the Maine Lobstering Union, the ban of lobster fishing in hundreds of miles of waters off the coast of Maine was upheld by the First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In their statement, the Right Whale Research Team said,,, >click to read< 11:17
Lobsterman who died in apparent drowning remembered as fixture on the Plymouth waterfront
Michael Furlong was a fixture on Town Pier, a longstanding member of the harbor community who was always on the lookout to help others. “He was definitely a character figure on the pier and among the harbormasters. Everybody knew him,” Harbormaster Chad Hunter said of Furlong,,, “He was a really nice guy who loved to talk to everybody. One of those guys that got along with just about everyone on the pier, who was always looking out for other people,”, >click to read< 09:43
‘Not work, it’s a passion’: Commercial fisherman Santo La Macchia still hooked at 101
Australia’s oldest commercial fisherman, and his son, “Young Bobbie”, planned to have left their mooring in Avalon’s Careel Bay about 1pm on Monday, pointing their 70-year-old trawler Joyce towards the prime squid fishing waters off Patonga on the Central Coast.,, “We like to do the afternoon shift,” explains “Young Bobbie” (to distinguish him from Santo’s late father who started the fishing dynasty in 1924). “Young Bobbie” joined his father on Joyce in 1972, and now trawler, licence and trading company are in his name. So which of them is skipper? “He is,” says Santo, pointing at his son. “But sometimes, when he does something wrong, I’m the skipper.” >click to read< 07:50
For B.C.’s salmon, floods represent another challenge to survival
James Reinheller stared down his flooded street in Clayburn on Monday, he said he saw a bizarre sight: a salmon making its way up the water-logged road. “It was quite the sight to see. You just don’t expect to see salmon swimming up your road.” But the damage from what Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth called a “once in a century” storm could be another stressor for salmon on B.C.’s South Coast after decades of fishing, habitat destruction and development that have sent salmon stocks spiraling into decline, >click to read< 18:12
Deck Boss offers relief for hard-working hands and joints
Blue Hill company Downeast Maine LLC developed the new product line this year, testing its pain balm, recovery stick and hand scrub with commercial fishermen in mind. “After hauling through 800 lobster traps twice a week, I was left with incredibly swollen hands to start the season. Ice nor heat would make me feel comfortable,” Blue Hill sternman Blake Wessel said. “After a few applications the swelling started to recede, and I could get through the day adequately. Deck Boss is the real deal.” Wessel was talking about Deck Boss Pain Balm, which is infused with CBD, the hemp extract whose proponents claim a wide range of health and wellness benefits. Pain relief is a major one. >click to read< 15:01
Dunleavy administration announces formation of bycatch task force
“We’ve had a reduction in or closure of the crab fisheries in the Bering Sea. The [North Pacific Fishery Management] Council is discussing how to deal with halibut bycatch, and I think there’s a lot of perception that there are bycatch issues associated with what’s happened with salmon in Western Alaska systems,” said Alaska Fish & Game Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang. And, he says, his boss has taken notice. “I think the governor was hearing loud and clear that there was just a lot of noise around the issue of bycatch,” >click to read< 12:52
A “shot across the bow”: Shrimp trawl decision was a close call for consumers
After two days of public hearings during which few participants voiced any support for the proposed closures, the commission voted 5-4 to include an additional 10,000 acres to the existing 1 million acres already closed to shrimp trawling. Ostensibly the proposed closure, had it been approved, would have shut down approximately 119 small independent commercial shrimpers whose vessels, ranging 35-50 feet in length, are too small to trawl in the open ocean. But, as the large number of speakers noted during the Marine Fisheries Commission meeting noted, the closure would have far greater impact. >click to read< 09:19
Sussex RNLI remember F/V Joanna C tragedy on first anniversary
38-year-old Robert Morley and 26-year-old Adam Harper drowned when their boat sank on the 21st of November 2020. The captain of the boat, Dave Bickerstaff, was pulled from the water after he was found clinging to a lifebuoy. The 45ft scalloping boat put out an emergency distress beacon at around 6am, with two RNLI lifeboats and a helicopter joining the search, which at one point involved 17 vessels and was one of the largest ever undertaken on the Newhaven coast. photos, >click to read<08:11
Umar Papalia Uses Handline Fishing Method to Catch Big Tuna
The 42-year-old man has got himself prepared to go to the sea since 3:00 a.m. His wife assists him in preparing some fishing bait and lunch. Waepure fishermen believe that blessing from wife, children, and parents will invite the grace of God, which means a big catch. Umar turns on the boat engine and sails through the Seram Sea, where he can witness a horde of dolphins and seagulls. He has knowledge passed on to him by his ancestors that beneath the sea crowd there are tunas. He uses handline tuna fishing method with a single fishing line and a barbed hook. >click to read< 16:40
Newport, Oregon: Motor Lifeboat Victory’s last voyage
At about 2 a.m. Wednesday, the 52-foot motor lifeboat Victory left the boathouse at U.S. Coast Guard Station Yaquina Bay for the final time — nearly 65 years to the day of when she first arrived in Newport. The storied vessel did not leave under her own power but was towed behind a 47-foot motor lifeboat.,, For decades after arriving in Newport at the end of 1956, she was the station’s workhorse, capable of towing more than 750 tons and holding 40 survivors. She is self-righting and self-bailing and could motor through towering seas in hurricane-force winds, and countless local fisherman and other mariners owe their lives to her crews over the past seven decades. >Video, photos, click to read< 12:11
World’s Largest Offshore Wind Farm Grossly ‘Unprofitable’, Essentially Worthless
A new report commissioned by the Norwegian government contradicts Boris Johnson’s recent claim in Parliament that offshore wind costs have fallen by 70% in a decade. It confirms that the UK’s newest offshore wind farms remain high-cost operations. Indeed, the academics who produced the report have said the forthcoming Dogger Bank Wind Farm will be unprofitable, and is essentially worthless, with a value of around minus £1 billion in current terms. Remarkably, the findings have not been disputed by the developers. >click to read< 10:27
