Daily Archives: June 7, 2022
Video: U.S. Coast Guard medevacs crewmember from fishing vessel near Morgan City, La.
The Coast Guard medevaced a crewmember Monday from a commercial fishing vessel 21 miles offshore Morgan City, Louisiana. Coast Guard Sector New Orleans watchstanders received a notification at 7:46 p.m. from the commercial fishing vessel F/V GP Amelia of a crewmember suffering from abdominal pain. Watchstanders diverted a Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans MH-60 Jayhawk aircrew to assist. The helicopter crew arrived on scene, hoisted the crewmember, and transferred them to University Medical Center in New Orleans. The crewmember was last reported to be in stable condition. >click for video< 18:25
F/V Villa de Pitanxo: Spanish fishing tragedy survivors appear in court amid negligence claims
The survivors of Spain’s worst fishing tragedy in four decades appeared in court on Monday as part of an investigation into claims the boat’s captain was guilty of negligence. Twenty-one people died when the Villa de Pitanxo, a 50m vessel from the northwestern region of Galicia, sank around 450km off the coast of Newfoundland, in Canada, in February. Three of the 24-strong crew survived and were found floating in a life raft: the boat’s captain, Juan Padín, his nephew, Eduardo Rial, and Samuel Kwesi. Nine bodies were recovered. >click to read< 16:30
Breakable lines, remote control traps: Maine lobstermen grapple with an onslaught of new rules
Last week federal officials announced they aim to deploy high-tech fishing gear on as many as 100 lobster and crab boats in New England. It’s the latest move to bring Maine’s lobster fleet into a new era, as an onslaught of potentially transformative federal regulations intended to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales take effect. At a Damariscotta River wharf piled high with gleaming yellow lobster traps, boat captain Eben Wilson and his sternman, Daniel Barter, deftly pull strands of colored rope apart, then knot plastic links in between. “I think the next five years from the lobster industry perspective is going to be difficult,” says Patrick Keliher, Commissioner of Maine’s Department of Marine Resources. >click to read< 15:13
NC fishermen concerned about uncertain impacts of offshore wind farms
Recreational and commercial fishermen alike have a lot of questions about these projects. The main ones: how much access will fishermen have to wind farms, and how will the wind farms impact the fish? Unfortunately, information is limited because offshore wind is still new in the United States. There are currently two offshore wind farms in various planning stages off North Carolina’s coast. One is off Kitty Hawk along the Outer Banks; the other, called Wilmington East, is off Wilmington. Avangrid Renewables is developing the wind farm off Kitty Hawk. Construction there is expected to start in 2026. >click to read< 11:17
Lobster industry and lawmakers await court decision to determine legality of new restrictions
Maine and Massachusetts harvest more than 90% of the American lobsters sold in the U.S. and most lobstermen and New England lawmakers want to keep it that way. Over the past year, a dispute over new federal regulations on Maine’s lobster industry, intended to protect the endangered North Atlantic Right Whale,,, Mike Sargent became the captain of his own boat at 15. The 29-year-old is worried, however, that if regulations adopted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in 2021 are ruled lawful by the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia, that more expensive and stricter regulations could follow. “There’s talks of ropeless fishing and so on, and those are astronomically expensive and quite frankly could bankrupt this industry at the stroke of a pen,” Sargent said. Massachusetts lobsterman Dave Casoni said that it would cost lobstermen between $500,000-$600,000 to make the switch to ropeless traps, and if passed Casoni believes it could bankrupt the industry. Video, >click to read< 09:16
Aboard the Lake Erie fishing tug Lady Anna II (Part 4)
It’s 7 a.m. on Tuesday, March 29, 2022. The Lady Anna II is about 10 miles due south of Kingsville heading north-by-northwest, and home. It’s all hands at the starboard midship “picking” station. The crew – Craig Adamson, James “Marty” Martin, Curtis Mummery and Josh Mummery – carefully remove the 2,000 pounds of pickerel from the nets hauled aboard one hour and 20 minutes ago. The first “set,” and all the hawk-like attention it requires of Captain Mummery, is done. So I take a chance, and walk up the two steps into the wheelhouse. Captain Mummery stands motionless, eyes 
glued to the horizon, snacking on brunch – a chocolate chip cookie. Laughing quietly, he tells me, “I always have chocolate chip cookies in my pail. It’s a bad day if I don’t have my chocolate chip cookies.” And then he tells me that even though the Lady Anna II is pointed toward home, the work is only half finished. Another “pull” and set will be done before getting back to Kingsville. >click to read< 08:25
