Daily Archives: December 28, 2021

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