Monthly Archives: November 2021
Canadian Coast Guard knocks down Hardy Bay boat fire
The Canadian Coast Guard stopped a blaze from ravaging a small fishing boat in Hardy Bay. According to Brian Salisbury with Marine Search and Rescue, the call came in at 12:30 pm yesterday (Thursday), with Coast Guard crews able to knock the fire down and rescue passengers. Reports point to the small boat belonging to a bigger boat called The Blue Dragger, and in a Facebook post, Port Hardy Fire Rescue said the flames were “highly visible.” >click to read< 09:37
The 40 year old fishing boat feeding a town in regional Victoria
The 15-member strong Apollo Bay Fishermen’s Co-op has invested nearly $500,000 in a small, 40-year-old fishing boat to fish along the coast every few days and provide the town with fresh seafood.,, The F/V Tambo Bay has since been modified to fish waters just off the rugged coast of Western Victoria. Her captain is Russell “Frosty” Frost, who retired from lobster fishing several years ago. The call of the sea was too strong for Frost and when approached by fellow members of the co-op, he agreed to take on the role of skipper. >click to read< 08:51
Oregon: Dungeness crab season starts Dec.1!
It’s the first time in seven years that the season has not been delayed by low meat yields, high levels of domoic acid, or both.,, But the scheduled opening has been delayed in recent years. In some years, parts of the coast have remained closed into late January. This year, commercial crab vessels can set gear Nov. 28, and begin pulling pots on Dec. 1. >click to read< 07:37
Minister reaffirms DFO’s authority to regulate Mi’kmaw fishery, while also addressing other issues
Joyce Murray reaffirmed the federal government has the authority to regulate M’ikmaw moderate livelihood fishing as she made her first visit to Atlantic Canada this week as the minister of fisheries and oceans. The Vancouver MP used her time on the East Coast to meet with provincial governments, industry, Indigenous leaders and environmentalists. Murray also touched on the reopening of the commercial redfish fishery, the fish harvester benefit repayment, and also discusses MPA’s. >click to read< 18:18
Non-Fishing Mortality Remains Key Concern in South Coast Cod Update
Today’s 3Ps cod stock assessment update delivered some good news for harvesters on the province’s south coast, but significant concerns regarding natural mortality and the untold impact of seal predation remain. “Fish harvesters on the south coast are looking for better science on this cod stock,” says FFAW-Unifor President Keith Sullivan. “Natural mortality has been driving the stock for many years. We already know that seals are eating a large amount of cod, but DFO needs their scientists to prove it first. Yet several years into this and we’ve made very little headway,” >click to read< 16:39
Southern Newfoundland cod stocks expected to be in ‘critical zone’ until early 2024
In a presentation of the assessment’s findings on Friday, stock assessment biologist Karen Dwyer said cod born in 2011 have been supporting the 3PS stock, between southern Newfoundland and St-Pierre-Miquelon, and the fishery over the last few years. She said “recruitment”, fish younger than two years old, have dropped to historically low levels. Very few fish have been born in any one year since 2011,,, Some factors affecting the health of the cod stock could be the changes in the ecosystem, said Dwyer. Meanwhile, the debate over whether seals are among the biggest reasons for the deterioration of the cod stock in 3Ps is far from over. >click to read< 15:50
Mullet fishermen: A journey from Carteret County to Florida
The salt mullet trade to Cuba began to fade at the end of the 19th century, however. In the 1880s and 1890s, the first railroads reached Tampa. The railroads then began to inch further into southwest Florida, opening up the fresh fish trade to other parts of the United States for the first time. Like so many in Carteret County, Miss Lela’s husband wasn’t going to miss out on the opportunity. “So in July of 1911 we come on the sharpie to Morehead (City), me and him and our first two children, and then we got on the train to New Bern and stayed the night,” Miss Lela told Ben Green. They took the train to Tampa, boarded a steamer down the coast to Bradenton and then took a taxi to Cortez. “Once we got settled I liked it,” Miss Lela remembered. “But that first year I was still so homesick for North Carolina that I cried all Christmas Day.” photos, >click to read< 13:15
French fisherman fear Paris is ready to surrender to the UK over access to British waters
France’s Maritime Minister Annick Girardin said French fisherman who have not been given a licence by the UK will get up to 60million euros (£50million) to cover their lost earnings. But the French skippers have lashed out at the plans, accusing the government of ‘abandoning them’ and ‘lowering its pants’ to Britain over the post-Brexit fishing row. They also accused France of admitting defeat, despite Girardin insisting that the government will continue its ‘fight every day’ to get 150 post-Brexit fishing licences Paris claims it is still short of. >click to read< 09:41
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Newsletter/Update for November 19, 2021
Shrimp FMP, Amendment 2:, The MFC meeting in Emerald Isle started out with a public comment period on Wednesday evening that lasted about 2 hours. The comments were limited to 3 minutes with overwhelming opposition to the DMF proposal to close certain areas to shrimping. The comments came from shrimpers, NCFA, county commissioners, a state Senator and consumers. We’ll offer a public thank you to the groups and individuals in the next update. >click to read<, to read all the updates >click here<, for older updates listed as NCFA >click here<-08:40
NCFC votes down controversial shrimp FMP recommendations, hand-pick preferred measures
The amendment, particularly recommended closures, has faced considerable opposition, including from commercial shrimpers, consumers and government officials. The DMF recommended to the MFC a suite of management measures that included closing 315,206 acres of coastal waters to shrimp trawling to reduce bycatch. Combined with existing areas closed to trawling, the division recommendations would have closed 62.1% of the state’s estuarine waters to such activity. After lengthy deliberation, about 55 speakers during two public comment periods and a motion on the DMF recommendations failing 4-5, the commission selected it’s preferred management measures,,, >click to read< 21:49
Operation One-Way Chandelier – Two members of Gosman family plead guilty in over-quota fish plot
Two members of the Gosman family pleaded guilty on Thursday to one count each of criminal conspiracy for their role, and that of their Montauk company, in an alleged plot to buy over-quota fish from a local trawler captain,,, Bryan and Asa Gosman pleaded guilty to the single conspiracy count,,, A Montauk fisherman also named in the case, Christopher Winkler, has pleaded not guilty. Peter Smith, a Northport attorney for Winkler, said the Montauk trawler-boat captain of the New Age “maintains his innocence.” >click to read< – Gosman’s Market Owners Admit 250K Fish Fraud – The indictments were part of Operation One-Way Chandelier, an ongoing multi-year investigation into fisheries fraud on Long Island being led by NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement. >click to read< 17:47
U.S. agrees to $725,000 settlement in fishing vessel pollution case
San Diego-based JM Fisheries LLC, G.S. Fisheries Inc., the companies’ manager, and the chief engineer of the commercial fishing vessel F.V. Capt. Vincent Gann have agreed to pay a total of $725,000 in civil penalties to settle federal Clean Water Act claims related to oil pollution violations.,, San Diego-based JM Fisheries LLC, G.S. Fisheries Inc., the companies’ manager, and the chief engineer of the commercial fishing vessel Capt. Vincent Gann have agreed to pay a total of $725,000 in civil penalties to settle federal Clean Water Act claims related to oil pollution violations. >click to read< 17:09
Commercial Lobsterman Michael Furlong, of Kingston, MA, has died unexpectedly at sea
Michael Furlong, age 65, of Kingston, MA died unexpectedly at sea on November 14, 2021 in Plymouth, MA. He was the husband of Dina (Brock) Furlong for 32 years. Michael was a beloved son of Rose and the late Edward Furlong. He was brother to Rickard Furlong. He was raised in Easton, MA and graduated from Oliver Ames High School. He was a self-employed commercial lobsterman/crabber for over 50 years. F/V Rose Marie lost her captain to the sea. There is a photo gallery of Michael with beautiful his family. >click to read< 15:04
Shrimpers, citizens voice concerns at meeting with N.C. Marine Fisheries officials
People from across Eastern North Carolina who want shrimp trawling to remain open showed up in Emerald Isle Wednesday night for a public hearing. Shrimpers, fishermen, business owners and customers were out in full force to plead with the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission. “I feel like this is not a shrimp fishery management plan, neither is it a bycatch management plan. I feel like this is a commercial fisherman elimination plan,” said Ted Smith. “If you proceed with what you’re doing, you will not only affect the fisheries, you will affect the schools, you will affect the hospitals, you will affect the crime rate,” said one New Bern woman. >Video, click to read< 12:58
DFO Policy Puts Harvester Lives and Livelihoods at Risk
A new ‘weak rope’ gear policy being implemented in Newfoundland and Labrador will have negative implications for fish harvesters in this province, including risks to safety, an unknown cost burden, and significant potential for increased environmental waste. Weak rope measures are being implemented with the goal of preventing right whale entanglements. While these entanglements may be a concern for fisheries in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, there has never been a right whale entanglement in the Newfoundland and Labrador fishery.,, “The death of one right whale could have a disastrous impact on seafood exports to the United States. Fish harvesters know this and will gladly take all reasonable steps to protect the species and their livelihoods but implementing this policy without any due diligence is entirely unreasonable,” >click to read< 10:55
Captain Angus M. Crosby of Georgetown, Maine, has passed away
On the morning of Sunday, Nov. 14, 2021, the community of Georgetown lost a much loved, colorful character. Capt. Angus McGregor Crosby was born on Sept. 9, 1966 in Brunswick. Angus started clamming in high school and bought his own lobster boat shortly after and began a career as a commercial lobsterman. He lobstered up until his untimely death and enjoyed every second of being on the water. As a stubborn and hard working Scotsman, he enjoyed the freedom of working on the water and being his own boss throughout the years. Angus lived life to the fullest and on his own terms, working like a captain and playing like a pirate. >click to read<09:50
Mills & Keliher Respond to First Circuit Court Decision Reinstating Lobster Fishery Closure
Governor Mills and Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher issued the following statements today on the U.S. Court of Appeals’ decision to reinstate a 967 square mile fisheries closure off the Maine coast. “This is a deeply disappointing result. This sudden closure will cause significant economic hardship for Maine’s lobster industry,,, Patrick Keliher noted the operational and safety challenges posed by the recent court decisions. “This industry is suffering from whiplash, trying to change plans based on these rapidly evolving court decisions,” said Commissioner Keliher. “Moving gear around 30 miles off-shore at this time of the year also poses a serious safety risk for fishermen. Fishermen’s lives are at stake and NOAA and the courts have an obligation to take fisherman safety into concern when they make these decisions.” >click to read< 08:41
Irish fishing fleet to be gutted by one third to make Brexit quota – “This is a very sad day.”
Sixty trawlers will be decommissioned and taken out of business by the end of next year leaving just 100 vessels left in the whole country. The Government is to pay out €63.5 million in compensation from EU funds to the fishermen who are leaving the industry. All of the country’s fishing groups agreed to the deal except the West and South Fish Producers Association. Precise details are expected to be given to the Dail in the next week or two. >click to read< 07:30
Northeast Lobster Fishermen: LMA 1 Restricted Area Now in Effect
On November 16, 2021, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit stayed the preliminary injunction issued by the lower court, that prevented the roughly 967-square-mile LMA 1 Restricted Area, established by the 2021 amendments to the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan, from going into effect. Lobster and Jonah crab trap/pot fishermen fishing in the LMA 1 Restricted Area must remove all trap/pot gear from this area, and may not reset trawls,,, Given the capacity of offshore fishing vessels to remove and relocate trawls as well as potential weather and safety concerns, we anticipate it could take up to two weeks for all lobster and Jonah crab trap/pot gear to be removed from the LMA 1 Restricted Area. >click to read< 14:47
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 85′ Steel Scalloper/Trawler, Cat 3412, 2 gensets
To review specifications, information, with 12 photos, >click here< , To see all the boats in this series >click here< 11:35
Fed appeals court reinstates lobster gear restrictions off Maine’s coast
A federal appeals court is reinstating restrictions on fishing gear in a nearly 1,000-square-mile swathe of ocean off Maine’s coast. In October, in an effort to protect the roughly 340 right whales remaining on the planet from potentially deadly entanglements with fishing gear, the federal government imposed a four-month restriction on the use of trap-rope in the area. Before the restrictions took effect, the Maine Lobstering Union won a stay from a U.S. district judge in Bangor. But Late Tuesday, a federal appeals court in Boston ruled that the lower court overstepped its authority. >click to read< 10:16
Democrats And Republicans Debate Changes To Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Act
Everyone needs to watch this. You should be alarmed. >click to watch. 09:33
A year after sinking of Maine fishing boat, lawsuits near ruling, but questions remain
Next Tuesday makes exactly one year since a Portland-ported fishing boat, the F/V Emmy Rose, sank off the coast of Massachusetts, with all four crew later presumed dead. Also potentially within days, a federal judge is expected to rule in a case involving lawsuits by the crewmen’s families. The Emmy Rose, an 82-foot groundfish dragger, sank in the early morning of Nov. 23, 2020, about 25 miles northeast of Provincetown, Mass. There was no distress call from the vessel, only a signal at 1:30 a.m. from the boat’s emergency radio beacon, a device that automatically activates when a boat founders. >click to read< 08:31
Coast Guard urges safety, preparedness for the 2021-2022 Dungeness crab season in NorCal
The Coast Guard urges commercial fishermen throughout Northern California to review their safety equipment and seek out Coast Guard dockside examinations to identify safety hazards in order to prevent maritime emergencies during the Dungeness crab season. California Coast Guard personnel conducted dockside exams and safety spot-checks last week to identify discrepancies aboard fishing boats prior to the Dungeness crab season from Crescent City to Monterey. The checks are part of the Coast Guard’s Operation Safe Crab, which is an annual outreach initiative aimed to reduce the loss of lives and fishing boats in the West Coast crab fleet. photos, >click to read< 19:43
Maine lobstermen appeal to the public to fund legal fight against federal regulations
Without the financial means to fight both the government and environmental activists, lobstermen said their very existence is at stake. Lobstermen speaking at the press conference (today) said they feared the offshore regulations currently proposed would creep inshore, where most of them fish, eventually choking off their livelihoods. They also stressed how much money their industry brings into the state and how it supports communities beyond fishermen. According to the Maine Department of Marine Resources, Maine’s 2020 lobster catch was worth $406 million. That was down from $491 million in 2019. “That’s why we need everyone to step up and help us save the fishery,” photos, >click to read< 17:59
Coast Guard retrieve 5 fishermen from life raft after fishing vessel sinks off Oregon coast
The U.S. Coast Guard rescued five people from a life raft late Monday after a fishing boat sank approximately 20 miles offshore from the mouth of the Umpqua River. The captain aboard the 67-foot fishing vessel F/V Desire, homeported in Neah Bay, Washington, used a VHF-FM marine-band radio to hail Coast Guard Sector North Bend watchstanders at about 9 p.m. Monday and report their vessel was taking on water. He also reported the five people aboard were preparing to abandon ship into a life raft. >click to read< 16:28
California officials vie to improve response after oil spill
California officials on Monday said better communication and detection technologies could improve the state’s response to an oil spill like last month’s crude pipeline leak off the Orange County coast. The hearing came six weeks after the leak in a pipeline owned by Houston-based Amplify Energy Corp. that ferried crude from offshore platforms to the Southern California coast. The cause of the spill is under investigation, but federal officials have said the pipeline was likely initially damaged by a ship’s anchor. >click to read< 15:25 Of note, more than 645 square miles (1,671 square kilometers) off the coast are still off limits to fishing pending testing.
Overwhelming Majority Approve 6 Month Moratorium in Gouldsboro on Large Finfish Aquaculture Proposals
The moratorium gives the Planning Board time to shore up its ordinances to address projects as large as the 120-acre salmon farm proposed by American Aquafarms, which is largely made up of Norwegian investors. Veteran lobster fisherman Jerry Potter said that although this vote does not kill the project, it does send a strong message to the company that the majority of residents do not back the salmon farm project. American Aquafarms has said it needs the support of the community. “I have been opposed to this project since the first time I heard about it,” said Potter, 75, who has been fishing in Frenchman Bay since he was a teenager. >click to read< 11:59
‘In the Eye of the Storm’: McConalogue Presents Memo on Seafood Task Force Report to Cabinet
The task force report, published in early October, is recommending just over €423 million be given to the Irish fishing industry to help weather the impact of Brexit. Highlights include awarding €66 million for a whitefish decommissioning scheme, €6 million to reduce the inshore fleet, and €3.7 million to remove inactive or off-register inshore vessels. It also recommends €90 million for seafood processors, and a series of short term measures, including a €12 million annual tie-up of polyvalent vessels over two years. >click to read< 09:55
Watermen tackle offshore wind farm development concerns, company pushes (subsidized) economic benefit
“I just want to be able to go fishing.” Those were fisherman Jimmy Hahn’s words as he is one of many who are concerned about U.S. Wind offshore wind developments. Now with political leaders on their side, watermen hope to see some change moving forward. “Those guys have really stepped up to the plate. “People who buy electricity in the state are paying an extra amount in order to subsidize the windmills. That means that someone should stand up for these taxpayers. If we’re going to spend taxpayer dollars to build these windmills and subsidize them there should be proper oversight,” Representative Harris said. Another concern that came up Wednesday by waterman and Congressman Harris was the possibility of U.S. Wind not being an actual U.S. based company. >click to read< 09:03
