Daily Archives: December 8, 2021
Scrapping fishing boats will ‘destroy industry and communities’
The State’s smaller fishing trawlers and the communities depending on them will become part of folklore under the Government’s plans to scrap some of the fleet, the Oireachtas has been warned. Under the plan from Minister for Agriculture and the Marine Charlie McConalogue, backed by European Union funds, 60 small and medium-sized trawlers would be permanently decommissioned. “We will see the complete destruction of our fishing industry resulting from [this], as it is requires the wiping out of a third of the 180 vessels operating in Ireland’s offshore demersal/whitefish fleet, leading to the ultimate destruction of our Irish demersal fishing fleet,” >click to read< 22:38
‘Let’s Go Brandon’ boat wins holiday parade contest, then is stripped of award
“Let’s go, Brandon”, a boat bedecked with a coded insult to President Joe Biden, won the Yorktown Lighted Boat Parade contest Saturday evening. At least initially. Hours after the festive event, the Yorktown Foundation, the non-profit organization that sponsors the parade, disqualified the winning vessel for its “overt political message” and stripped it of its award. A member of the Yorktown Foundation’s board of directors, Walt Akers, apologized to the community and event sponsors Monday for what he called “a huge mistake,,, “And we’re going to take actions to make sure it doesn’t happen in the future.” >click to read< 22:00 The mistake is all yours, Walt!
Coast Guard interrupts suspected illegal shrimp harvest off Key West
Coast Guard Cutter Isaac Mayo’s law enforcement crew detained a U.S. flagged fishing vessel Saturday for suspected shrimp fishing in the Dry Tortugas shrimp sanctuary during an annual closure period. The law enforcement team boarded the F/V Double E at approximately 7:30 p.m. and also discovered two safety violations. The vessel was escorted to Station Fort Myers Beach for further investigation by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries, Office of Law Enforcement, Southeast Division. >click to read< 19:31
Oh sure! Trowels, Not Traps: PETA Proposes New Jobs for People in the Lobster Industry
The U.S. Supreme Court just denied a request by the Maine Lobstering Union to lift a ban on lobster fishing in the Gulf of Maine between October and January, which was enacted to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales from becoming fatally entangled in fishing gear and ultimately going extinct, so this morning, PETA sent a letter to the union’s CEO, Mike Yohe, dangling a lifeline. Because people in the lobster industry complained that the ban threatens their livelihood, PETA is offering to help cover the cost of retraining them in nonviolent occupations, including photography and gardening. >click to read< 14:55
Numerous safety escorts, vessel tows during first week of Dungeness crab season
Coast Guard crews across the Pacific Northwest have towed 10 disabled or distressed commercial fishing vessels back to port in the first week of the Dungeness crab season which began Dec. 1. These tow operations, along with numerous safety escorts, have ensured the safe passage of several fishing crews and more than 100,000 pounds of crab, (Thank You CG!) through hazardous bar conditions. Coast Guard crews stationed in Grays Harbor, Cape Disappointment, Coos Bay, and Chetco River, have contributed to the total of 10 tows. Other vessels have also been escorted across the bar. These safety escorts are conducted when dictated by hazardous conditions. The start of the Dungeness crab season has coincided with several bar restrictions as a result of rough conditions encountered at the bar. photos, video,>click to read< 14:10
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 49’6”X16’6” Glass over Wood Lobster/Gillnetter, 300HP Cummins, Bulbous Bow
To review specifications, information, with 28 photos, >click here<, To see all the boats in this series >click here< 12:10
New England: Fishery groups question cod limits
Two fishing industry trade associations are asking the New England Fishery Management Council to reevaluate its drastically reduced catch limit recommendations on Georges Bank cod. The groups, the Gloucester-based Northeast Seafood Coalition and the Associated Fisheries of Maine, say the New England Fishery Management Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee lacked “relevant information” to make its determination on an Acceptable Biological Catch for Georges Bank cod. They are asking for a remand. >click to read< 09:25
Death of a Lobsterman
On a remote island in Maine, a group of friends thought they witnessed one man killing another with an ax. But no one was ever arrested. In a small town far out at sea, justice sometimes works a little differently. It all happened so fast. Less than twenty minutes after leaving the parking lot, Roger was bleeding to death in the back seat of Isles’s car outside the island’s medical center. The group of friends, stunned, believed they had just witnessed a homicide—one lobsterman killing another with an ax in a bloody brawl. But did they? A man died—was killed, in what the state itself said was a homicide—and yet to this day, no one has been charged with a single crime related to his death. >click to read< 08:38
Financially Ruined: Arklow skipper CJ Gaffney launches petition calling for investigation into fishing vessel
Arklow skipper CJ Gaffney has launched an online petition calling for an official and impartial investigation into the three EU countries involved in the former Irish fishing boat “Mary Kate – WD30’’. Mr Gaffney has been left in debt after purchasing the trawler in 2007, only for it to be subsequently found to be unsafe. “We are now financially ruined. We have lost our boat, our fishing quota, our fishing license. We have lost our good name. We 
have lost respect within our fishing community. We have no credit worthiness with financial institutions. “We have lost a proud fishing heritage spanning 5 generations of my family. “Please sign our petition. Help us get justice and compensation for a damning error which has financially ruined us.” >click to read< 07:31 – IRISH FAMILY’S LAST S.O.S. IN THEIR FIGHT FOR JUSTICE- This is the link to the Petition >click to sign<
