Daily Archives: March 15, 2022

F/V Mucktown Girl: TSB weighing what steps they will take next, including opening an investigation

The F/V Mucktown Girl halibut boat went down off the coast of Canso, N.S., on Sunday. Four of its five crew members were rescued by the Canadian Coast Guard, but the fifth man fell off a life raft as the crew was being transferred to a coast guard vessel around 6:30 a.m. Sunday. The fisherman, Jeremy Hart of Windsor Junction, N.S., was eventually pulled out after spending five hours in the ocean but died in a hospital on Sunday. Board spokesperson Chris Krepski said Tuesday the TSB has been notified of the situation and is assessing what the next steps will be. >click to read<  22:17

Safety kit saves the life of a fisherman

What had started out as an ordinary working day for commercial fisherman Paul Reed turned into his worst nightmare when he went overboard from the >F/V Sidney Rose<, miles from land. But his decision to put on a lifejacket that morning, equipped with a locator beacon, likely saved his life. He’s been fishing for 38-years and has had just the one man overboard experience. But once is all it takes to never return to shore again. Paul activated his PLB,,, His skipper then raised the alarm with a Mayday, confirming to authorities that the alert they were searching for was, in fact, a man overboard. >click to read< 17:51

Eastern Canada: Engineers say ditching length limits would mean safer, ‘greener’ fishing boats

Engineers Canada, a national organization that represents professional engineers and engineering associations in each province has declared federal regulations of fishing vessel design an issue of importance. The Fisheries and Oceans rules that were built on the logic of limiting catch capacity have had “unintended consequences”, Vessel proportions have become extreme, with some boats more than half as wide as they are long. McDonald said if Canada is sincere about the goal of fighting climate change and is interested in enabling the fishing industry to adopt fuel-reduction strategies, the vessel length rule needs to be changed. Then there’s the safety issue. photos, >click to read< 14:51

Captain: Monster waves wrecked ideal fishing trip and boat

When Captain James Kirwan, 59, and his crew set sail from Chaguaramas aboard Crystal Eye on Thursday for a week of fishing in Tobago waters, the only thing on their minds was the number of shark and tuna they intended to catch. However, just a few days into the trip, Kirwan and four fishermen had to abandon ship and jump into the Caribbean Sea on Saturday night, after huge waves crashed into the 55-foot trawler causing it to sink. “Everything was all right. The weather wasn’t bad. We already had 3,400 pounds of shark and some other big fish. I decided to let the crew pack up the gears and take a rest.” Moments later the sea turned rough,,, >click to read< 12:37

Marshfield Selectmen Recognize Resident after 911 Call Led to Rescue of Three Fishermen

Pam Harght was working from her Marshfield home in February, when she saw smoke coming from a boat, about a mile away. The boat disappeared from view, and she called 9-1-1. Police Chief Phil Tavares says if it was not for that phone call, three people would have been dead. First responders from Scituate and Marshfield rushed to the area and rescued three men from the 55-foot fishing vessel, the “Bing Bing” out of Gloucester. Audio, >click to read< 12:05

Tributes to Dorset’s sustainable fisherman David Sales who was honoured by the Queen

Tributes have been paid to a West Bay fisherman who was awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM) for his services to commercial fishing and the environment. David Sales spent 63 years in the fishing industry and worked to promote more sustainable practices, including policy to increase the minimum size of lobsters caught so that they could breed before capture. “Not long after introducing the regulation, we started catching berried female lobsters, a wonderful sight. At last, the lobster stock was being given a chance to recover.” Video, >click to read< 10:37

Boat captain charged with fishing violations

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said Offshore Patrol Vessel Program officers stopped the 48-foot commercial vessel, named Legacy, in the Pompano Endorsement Zone in federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico. They found the captain, Ronald Birren, had a monofilament entanglement net, known as a gill net, which has been illegal in Florida waters since 1995. Birren, of Hernando Beach, was cited for 2,611 pompano over the limit, possession of 76 undersized pompano, and having the gill net. >click to read< 08:22