Daily Archives: February 2, 2022

Collins criticizes onerous, unfair regulations on lobster industry

At a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing, U.S. Senator Susan Collins questioned Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo about several important issues facing the State of Maine, including the unfair right whale rule as well as the implementation of the bipartisan infrastructure bill’s broadband provisions to expand high-speed Internet. Senator Collins has been steadfastly opposed to NOAA’s flawed Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Rule, which is harming Maine’s lobster industry without meaningfully protecting whales. Even though NOAA’s own data show Maine’s lobster industry has never been linked to the death of a right whale, NOAA proceeded to close more than 950 square miles of productive ocean area to lobster fishing this winter. Video, >click to read< 18:29

Oregon Dungeness crab season sets new record for value

The Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission expects the 2021-2022 season to set a new record as the highest grossing season ever. The current record of $74.2 million was set in 2017-2018. This year, the Dungeness crab fleet has already landed $78.1 million, and the season is not yet over. The 20-year average is 17.3 million pounds. As of Tuesday, the fleet had brought 15.3 million pounds ashore, below average, but above last season’s 12.2 million pounds. Video, >click to read< 15:04

F/V Bing Bing: Captain and deckhand recovering in hospital, one released – Vessel to be salvaged

Three fishermen from the Gloucester based fishing vessel Bing Bing are recovering from severe hypothermia after their vessel sank off the South Shore on Tuesday afternoon. Monte Rome of Intershell, the owner of the vessel, said Wednesday morning that the captain remains in the hospital as he swallowed salt water and diesel fuel, as does a deck hand. The other crew member has been released. Rome said none of the fishermen, all in their 50s and whom he did not want to identify, are local to Cape Ann. >click to read< 12:48

Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 127’10″x 30’8″ Steel Freezer Trawler

To review specifications, information, with 86 photos, >click here<, To see all the boats in this series >click here< 11:50

Lucy The Lobster To Make Virtual Groundhog Day Prediction

It won’t be a groundhog determining if there are six more weeks of winter in southern Nova Scotia. Lucy the Lobster will be crawling out of the Atlantic on February second to make a virtual prediction as part of the Nova Scotia Lobster Crawl festival. Lucy will make her prediction at the Cape Sable Island Causeway. >click to read< 10:14

Maine: Lobstering will get more expensive for fishermen

The cost of lobstering in Maine will get a little more expensive this year with the price of mandated identification tags for traps increasing by 50 percent. The Department of Marine Resources has raised the cost from 50 cents to 75 cents per tag for the 2022 season. While it’s the first time in more than a decade that the price has gone up, it’s the latest rising cost for lobstermen, who also face higher fuel and bait prices. “It’s just one more thing,” said David Horner, a Southwest Harbor lobsterman. >click to read< 09:32

Brexit “fails to deliver Government promises on fishing industry”

Benefits to UK fisheries from Brexit “fall far short of government rhetoric”, a new study has revealed. The report, a collaboration between the University of York, New Economics Foundation, University of Lincoln and marine consultancy service ABPmer, found that while the government promised radical reforms to help the industry take back control of UK waters and increase quota shares (all while minimising trade impacts), this is starkly at odds with the reality of what has been achieved.  >click to read< 08:22