Monthly Archives: December 2021
Fisheries management isn’t supposed to be robbing Peter to pay Paul
MAFMC and ASMFC Approve Changes to Commercial and Recreational Allocations of Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass,,, For all three species, these changes result in a shift in allocation from the commercial to the recreational sector. At the same time, using the same “scientific” rationale to disguise what seems nothing more than a blatantly political decision, the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management has recommended that the red grouper fishery also be reallocated,,, If NOAA/NMFS is allowed to continue using the new MRIP Fishing Effort Survey, every mixed use fishery from Maine through Texas should expect attempts at quota allocation shifts from the commercial to the recreational sector. >click to read< By Nils Stolpe/FishnetUSA 13:52
Georgia shrimping season to end
The 2021 commercial and recreational shrimping season officially comes to an end Friday night in Georgia. That affects shrimping operations from the coastline to three miles out to sea. Pat Mathews has operated Lazaretto Packing for decades. Over the years he’s seen the fleet of shrimp boats that pull up to his dock dwindle as operation costs increase faster than the price of shrimp, forcing many owners out of the business. For those captains able to stick around, less competition off Georgia’s coast means more shrimp for them. Video, >click to read< 10:16
Maine Granted Intervenor Status in Lawsuit Challenging Federal Regulations
Governor Janet Mills announced today that the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) has been granted intervenor status in Maine Lobstermen’s Association v National Marine Fisheries Service, a lawsuit before the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. that challenges Federal regulations hurting Maine’s vital lobster industry. It is the Mills Administration’s latest effort to stand up for the lobster industry and its hard working men and women in the face of the Federal government’s burdensome proposal. >click to read< 09:26
Sonoma Coast Dungeness crab arrives in local markets
Dick Ogg seemed to be relieved to be bringing in a haul of Dungeness crab now that the season has started after a delay of more than a month. “It’s OK,” Ogg said when asked about the haul he had on his boat, Karen Jeanne, which was about 2 miles from shore. “I’m not going to say it’s great. But it’s OK.” Ogg noted that the season provides an economic shot-in-the-arm for those tied to fisheries, especially the estimated 30 crabbers docked in Bodega Bay, the processors who transport the crustaceans, and the markets and restaurants that sell the product. photos, >click to read< 08:43
Crew of Cork trawler escaped a minute before vessel sank
The crew of a Cork-registered trawler had a lucky escape after their vessel sank off the Wexford coast earlier this year within one minute of abandoning ship after a 350kg weight punctured a large hole in its deck. A report by the Marine Casualty Investigation Board has revealed how the accident caused F/V Aztec to swiftly submerge off Duncannon, Co. Wexford, on January 11 last after taking in water. The fishing vessel with four crew on board had been engaged in pair trawling with another vessel, F/V Western Down. >click to read<11:26
Premium prices no problem for shrimp, crab, lobster consumers
Global supply chain issues are affecting supplies of some crustaceans sold in US grocery stores, and driving some prices up, but consumers seem willing to pay extra for their “must have” shrimp, crab, lobster and other products. “Red king crab availability is very tight, so look for more snow crab or even golden king crab in its place,” Shrimp is far and away the best-selling seafood item in the United States, and Amdahl doesn’t see that changing anytime soon.,, Despite the logistics headaches that are slowing shipments of foods worldwide, US retailers can expect to have volumes of a variety of crustacean products from Norwegian fisheries,,, >click to read< 10:38
Half Moon Bay fishermen optimistic about Dungeness crab season opening
“I’m a little optimistic. Everyone thinks there is a little more this year than last year, and the weather the next handful of days look really nice,” crab fisherman Scott Edson said. Edson, who will be fishing out of Point Reyes this year with a crew of two on his 36-foot boat, has spent the last few days getting ready for the upcoming crab season the next few months. He has less pressure this season after a great salmon season,,,“I think it’s gonna be better than last year, maybe a little better,” Edson said. Porter McHenry, who fishes out of Pillar Point in Half Moon Bay, agreed. >click to read< 08:50
P.E.I. lobster fishermen vote to move up setting day in the spring
“We’re coming off back-to-back seasons here where the season was extended into July,’’ said Mike Dixon, co-chair of LFA26A lobster advisory committee, which represents close to 400 fishmen between Souris and Victoria. “As commercial fishermen, we recognize the resource becomes vulnerable at certain times of the year when the water temperature reaches a certain degree so that puts the lobster into their reproductive stages.’’ This vote was strictly meant to address the issue of not fishing for lobster when the animals are molting. >click to read< 07:58
No conflict here! New Jersey ocean enviro studies to be paid for by offshore wind farm developers
New Jersey’s offshore wind developers will help fund research on marine life, paying $10,000 per megawatt of capacity to help New Jersey scientists better understand the impacts of wind farms on the Atlantic Ocean’s ecosystem. The state’s Research Monitoring Initiative will direct a total of $26 million from the power companies toward the study of wind turbines’ impacts on ocean wildlife and commercial fisheries, according to state officials. >click to read< 16:24
Whirling ‘Triffids’ are now cluttering our coastlines
For years now, subsidised wind energy investors have been razing ridgelines, felling forests, and slicing birds, bats, and insects. But neighbours and nature-lovers are fighting back. So now the wind speculators race for off-shore space in shallow seas. ‘The Day of the Triffids’ is coming for coastal communities as these towers of whirling knives accelerate their invasion of shallow coastal waters. They pose a lethal danger to sea birds – beheading or de-winging pelicans and petrels, seagulls and sea eagles, gannets and grebes, kites and gliders. They also endanger coastal shipping, barges, helicopters, fishermen, and tourists. And the noise pollution from pile driving and turbine whine is affecting whales and seals. >click to read< 15:22
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week:42′ Bruno (solid glass) Lobster/Scallop/Tuna, CAT 3306
To review specifications, information, with 31 photos, >click here<, To see all the boats in this series >click here< 11:32
Fisherman’s lobster boat sinks in Southwest Harbor
Wednesday, Dec. 22, was a disappointing day for local fisherman Nahum Kelley. It was the day that his lobster boat sank in Southwest Harbor. On Monday morning, Curry had Charles Bradley Marine Construction use its barge to salvage the boat, which was still on its mooring in Southwest Harbor. The boat was then brought to the Hinckley Company boatyard, where it was removed with a travel lift. >click to read< A GoFundMe has been set up, Kelly Family Support Fund, >click here<, and please, donate if you can!
‘Friend of the Fleet’ Jim Moore reflects on 50 years of trolling in Southeast
Jim Moore grew up in the state of California, but he says he didn’t really grow up until he came to Alaska. He says he moved to Sitka in 1970 with a steamer trunk full of art supplies, a violin and $1 to his name. That summer he fell in love with commercial fishing…and someone else. “After I’d been up here about two weeks, a friend of mine, her name was Pam, contacted me and asked if she could come up and see Alaska. And so I had arranged with the skipper that she could come out on the boat and be our cook for a couple of weeks,,, “For some strange reason, though, even though we’d known each other several years, in California, we just sort of…” And that was 50 years ago.” Moore’s Southeast Alaska story has several chapters. >click to read< 08:51
Finally! Commercial Dungeness Crab Season opens in the Bay Area
“We’ve been delayed here because of the whales being present,” said John Barnett who owns the crabbing boat, The F/V Amigo, docked at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco. California Fish and Wildlife pushed the Dungeness crab season back to December 29th to give whales in the area more time to leave the fishing grounds, and now they’re gone. “We’re ready to go fishing,” >video, >click to read< 07:40
Fishermen drowned after ‘unstable’ trawler capsized and sank despite rescuer efforts
The deaths of two fishermen who drowned after their boat sank on the west coast could have been avoided had the boat not been “intrinsically unstable”, a sheriff has ruled. Przemyslaw Krawczyk and Duncan MacDougall both died when the fishing boat they were working on, the Nancy Glen, capsized and sank in Loch Fyne on January 18, 2018. Skipper Mr MacDougall, 46, and crewman Mr Krawczyk, 38, both fathers and husbands who lived in Tarbert, were trapped on board and drowned when the trawler sank. A third fisherman, John Miller, raised the alarm and was the sole survivor after he was pulled from the water by the crew of a passing boat. >click to read< 15:16
Retired Lobsterman Dennis R. Young, Sr., of Cushing, Maine has passed away
Dennis R. Young, Sr., 84, passed away peacefully on December 8, 2021. Born March 5, 1937 in Cushing, he was the son of Walter D. and Lucy A. (Sukeforth) Young. Dennis was a lifelong resident of Cushing and descended from a long line of fishermen that have called the area home since the 18th century. He graduated from Thomaston High School and captained the F/V Denise D. out of Pleasant Point Gut. Dennis learned a great many things from his father (known as “Bump”) including the value of hard work. He passed these lessons down to his own children and grandchildren in large part by showing them how to lobster and through his willingness to lend a hand. >click to read< 12:20
Caretakers of their waterways: Two Nova Scotians granted visionary awards
Dec. 9 Darren and Erica Porter were freezing their keesters off in their aluminum dory as academics and fisheries managers with the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment bestowed a Visionary Award on him via Zoom. The other Nova Scotian recipient of the award was further up the Bay of Fundy. Like Porter, through his years working with the Clean Annapolis River Project, Levi Cliché has learned as much about working with people and institutions as he has about the ecosystem he cares for. >click to read< 10:38 More posts of Darren Porter and real activism to stop tidal turbines and fighting for the safe passage of fish, >click to read them all<.
The Cromer crab is a Norfolk staple – but does it have feelings?
According to a report by the London School of Economics, there is strong scientific evidence to suggest crabs do feel and that they should be treated more humanely. The government’s Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill, currently passing through parliament, is set to recognise crabs, lobsters and octopuses as ‘sentient beings’. Fisherman Mr Lee said the report’s suggestion that lobsters should not be boiled was “a total bloody nonsense”. Sue Riseborough, who served as Wells-next-the-Sea’s first and last gillying warden from 2016 to 2019, the recognition of crabs’ sentience is “brilliant” and “can’t be ignored”. >click to read< 08:55
Stormy weather triggers 1st mullet run in ‘nick of time’ for a Christmas payday
It was the first substantial mullet run of the 2021-22 season and, by late morning, dozens of boats and anxious fishers were on the Intracoastal Waterway pursuing mullet near the Cortez Bridge. Along the way, fishers race and jostle to net them and unload their catch at the Cortez fish houses, which pay higher prices for egg-bearing females. Around 11 a.m. Dec. 21, Brett Dowdy, Shawn Childers and Ryan Sloan, mullet fishers with about 39 years of combined experience, unloaded their first haul of the day at John Banyas’ fish processing plant, Cortez Bait and Seafood. Photos! >click to read< 07:40
Örfirisey’s skipper Thór Thórarinsson ending a successful 50-year career at sea.
Brim’s freezer trawler Örfirisey docked in Reykjavík before Christmas after a good trip on fishing grounds to the south and west of Iceland and off the Westfjords. This was the final trip for Örfirisey’s skipper Thór Thórarinsson, ending a successful 50-year career at sea. Of this time, he has been on Örfirisey for around thirty years, since the trawler came to Iceland in 1992 from its previous owners in the Faroe Islands. >click to read< 22:35
Lobster fishing being threatened
Commercial fishing, in particular, lobster fishing is an integral part of our local community and the economy of our state. This way of life is being threatened by new burdensome federal regulations. Over time, this will drive many fishermen out of business and forever change the character of the Maine lobster industry and our community. These regulations are championed as a way to help protect the North Atlantic right whale but will fail to do so. We have to fight back against this regulatory onslaught. >click to read< by Troy Plummer and Mark Jones, and please click and donate to www.savemainelobstermen.org, if you can!
Letter: Offshore wind
A lot of important information was omitted from a recent article touting Massachusetts’ commitment to 1600 megawatts of offshore wind turbines (“Bay State Windfall” 12/19/2021). The article failed to mention that the turbines won’t come close to generating 1600 MW day-to-day over a year’s time, falling about 55% short. Or that European experience shows that the winds can stop for up to a week’s time, meaning that the wind turbines cannot replace a single megawatt of conventional power. >click to read<, By Robert Pease 12:57
4 years later, the 4 large fish farms planned for Maine haven’t started construction
This year will be remembered in Maine, at least in part, as when interest in developing four large-scale fish farms on the state’s eastern coastline continued to intensify. It also will be remembered by some as yet another year during which, nearly four years since plans for the first proposal were announced, none of the four separate projects began construction. The projects are at various stages of the permitting process, with some being fully approved and others not yet having any permits. All have shied away from announcing specific timetables for when they hope to start to build. Nordic Aquafarms, Kingfish Maine, American Aquafarms, and Whole Oceans, >click to read< 10:39
Lest We Forget: The USCG Lifeboat Triumph-F/V Mermaid tragedy 60 years ago
At approximately 4:15 p.m., on Thursday, Jan. 12, 1961, Coast Guard Station Cape Disappointment, at the mouth of the Columbia River, received a radio call from Roy Gunnari, skipper of the fishing vessel Jana Jo. Gunnari advised that he was relaying a mayday call from the fishing vessel Mermaid, a 34-foot crab-fishing boat from Ilwaco, Wash., owned and operated by brothers Bert and Stanley Bergman. While approaching the mouth of the Columbia River from the Pacific Ocean, the Mermaid lost its rudder near treacherous Peacock Spit. Photos, >click to read< 08:41
UK: Fishing industry promised ‘bright future’ with £75m funding boost
The funding, which will be used to modernise UK ports and processing facilities, has been welcomed by industry bodies who have faced challenges in the sector following Brexit. Announcing the funding, the UK Government said it would go towards better infrastructure, strengthened supply chains, new jobs, and an investment in skills. The move will see £65m go to modernising ports and harbours, while £10m will encourage new entrants into the sector, and train and upskill those already working in it. >click to read< 07:47
Commercial Fisherman Benjamin Eric Boyok has passed away
Benjamin Eric Boyok set sail for the last time on Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2021, in Cloverdale. Benjamin was born July 7, 1978, to Philip (Otis) Boyok and Paula (Parmelee) Boyok. He attended East High School in Sioux City. He then moved to Oregon and worked as a commercial fisherman in the Bering Sea for over 20 years where he was well respected by his peers. He was the loving and devoted father of his son George and daughter Otilja. >click to read< 19: 47
Buckie Harbour round-up
As the festive season got under way, there was a dip in fish landings at Buckie Harbour. Four vessels landed 346 boxes of fish/prawns/Squid and no bags of clams. This is down from 536 boxes the previous week. The boats bringing their catches ashore were F/V Boy Sam, F/V Flourish, F/V Lily Oak VI and F/V Lee Rose II. >click to read the rest< 16:50
Frenchman Bay falsehoods
I am a lifelong fisherman of Frenchman Bay. I have fished the bay for over 50 years. I am familiar with the huge tides and winds that frequently occur here. American Aquafarms wants to put a 120-acre salmon farm in Frenchman Bay. American Aquafarms CEO Keith Decker says the company’s proposed 30 salmon pens will not affect those of us who fish in the bay. That shows either how little he knows, or wants to know, about the bay. Hard to tell. >click to read< By Jerry Potter, South Gouldsboro. Maine. To read more on American Aquafarms, >click here< 14:16
Little piece of gold tradition in $6m boat build
Construction of a new $6 million fishing vessel in Nelson is well underway, with a keel laying ceremony held in line with tradition. The $6 million longline fishing vessel Te Runanga is being built for Westfleet by Nelson-based Aimex Service Group. Newly appointed Aimex general manager Andy Smith said that following tradition a ceremony was held this month to place a gold coin under the keel to keep everybody involved with the vessel safe, from during construction to when it was at sea. The “massive” steel keel block was lowered onto the coin. >click to read< 08:10
‘Bonfires on the Levee’ – A Christmas Eve Spectacular!
The Louisiana River Parishes Tourist Commission, along with Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser, culminated the Christmas season with ‘Bonfires on the Levee’ in St. Charles, St. James and St. John the Baptist on Friday, Dec. 24. The Christmas Eve spectacular was canceled last year due to COVID-19. But the tradition is back, and this year features a 67-foot Louisiana Blue Crab bonfire in Garyville. Lots of happy people attended this over three-hundred-year-old Christmas Eve tradition. >click to watch< 14:42
