Monthly Archives: July 2022
Harpswell Lobster Boat Races draw a crowd at new location, with race results
Spectators crowded onto the waterfront at Mitchell Field and boats in Middle Bay on July 24 to watch the Harpswell Lobster Boat Races. There were 25 races this year, with boats divided into classes based on factors that include size and horsepower. The races moved to Middle Bay this year from Potts Harbor. According to Ashley Lenz, a member of the committee that organizes the races, the new location allows more people to watch from land, with a better view. >click to read< 10:29
Fishermen’s memorial planned for Unalaska
Across the island plaques and statues commemorate the Aleutians’ World War II history, but there’s nothing to honor the legacy of fishermen lost at sea. Local sculpture artist Karel Machálek wants to change that. He’s currently at work on a life-sized fishermen’s memorial. The piece will include three fishermen cast in bronze, a longliner, crab, and cod fisherman. Karel made a model of the memorial and proposed the project to the City of Unalaska earlier this year. Marie says the proposal was approved, but the location has not yet been confirmed. The current plan is to erect the memorial in the Carl E. Moses Boat Harbor. >click to read< 09:11
We’re not going anywhere — FFAW
According to Mr. Butler, fish harvesters in Newfoundland and Labrador are living like kings and queens while the poor processing companies struggle to balance the books. It’s a tale that’s been spun by Butler and his cronies with the Association of Seafood Producers since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ah yes, Derek Butler, champion of corporate profits, knows much about the rich shrimp harvesters of the Northern Peninsula (who, by the way, have no access to crab). They haven’t been able to sell their shrimp for enough to make ends meet, while the same companies buy the exact same product for over 50 per cent more at their facilities in Quebec. >click to read< 07:44
The Controversial Plan to Unleash the Mississippi River
“There’s not a son of a bitch in this parish, or within this industry, that doesn’t want coastal restoration,” Acy Cooper, the president of the Louisiana Shrimp Association tells me when I find him repairing his boat in Venice, the southernmost harbor on the Mississippi River. Cooper is a third-generation shrimper; he knows that if the marshland is not saved, that chain will come to an end. The necessary gradient of water will disappear, replaced by salty ocean. So Cooper supports some projects—using dredged mud to build marsh, for instance—but worries that the diversion will make the water near Venice too fresh, pushing shrimp out into the Gulf. The small boats used by many shrimpers can’t travel that far. He compares the diversion to a gun held to his head: “Either let me die slowly and I can adapt, or you just pull the trigger and kill me now. That’s the way I feel about it,” he says. “If you pull the trigger now, I’m dead.” The Army Corps’ draft environmental impact statement, released in spring 2021, confirmed many of Cooper’s worst fears,,, Big article, big read. >click to read< 19:22
Coast Guard medevacs man from fishing vessel near Cold Bay, Alaska
The Coast Guard medevac’d a 28-year-old man from the fishing vessel F/V Phoenix approximately 160 nautical miles northwest of Cold Bay, Alaska, Sunday. Watchstanders at the 17th Coast Guard District command center received a report at 11:24 p.m. Saturday from the Phoenix crew that a crewmember was suffering severe abdominal pain. A Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrew from forward operating location Cold Bay arrived on scene at 6:13 a.m. Sunday, hoisted the patient, and transported the man to Cold Bay to an awaiting Guardian flight who transported him to Anchorage, Alaska for further medical care. “The aircrews we have deployed to our seasonal forward operating locations help us to respond to these types of cases throughout Alaska,” said Lt. Lindsay Wheeler 17th District command duty officer. 16:23
Shark Stories Stir the Memories for Retired Lobsterman Brian Sawyer
The story of a shark attacking a seal off Pemaquid Point earlier in July caused little alarm but prompted a great deal of interest among local readers. New Harbor native Brian Sawyer took a particular interest, having played a role in a shark story that made the front page of The Lincoln County News in 1961.The front page of the July 27, 1961 edition featured a photo of the shark, hanging upside down at what is now Shaw’s Wharf in New Harbor. According to the article, “Man-eater caught off New (Harbor),” Gerald “Jerry” and Douglas Brackett harpooned the shark and hauled it aboard their 
28-foot lobster boat following a five-hour struggle. Bernard E. Skeed, then director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Biological Laboratory at Boothbay Harbor, confirmed it was a great white shark, “not common in Maine waters.” “Doug Brackett harvested it.” Sawyer said, who was 14 years old at the time. Photos, >click to read< 12:48
Facing industry challenges, Harpswell Lobster Boat Races take center stage
Thousands gathered to unwind at the Harpswell Lobster Boat Races. “Today is a day for them to just kick back and relax,” said Mary Coombs, a committee member of the Harpswell Lobster Boat Races. Heats broken down by boat size, and cash prizes awaiting the winners. In 2020 the races were cancelled and last year weather dampened the festivities. “This year we moved it to Mitchell Field so we’ve got more space, more people can view it by land and there’s just more energy behind it,” said Coombs. Video, photos, >click to read< 10:14
Islanders pitch in after P.E.I. ferry fire, offer up homes to stranded passengers
Ferry crossings between Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island will be cancelled again Monday as officials grapple with the aftermath of a fire aboard the MV Holiday Island. The fourth day of cancellations during a period of peak demand comes as a blow to the region’s tourism industry as it continues to recover from pandemic shutdowns. Yet it also shines a light on the ability for Maritimers to come together in difficult times, with even the chief executive of the ferry company opening his door to stranded passengers. Prince Edward Islanders rallied together over the weekend to help passengers left stranded,,, >click to read< 09:23
Body found on West Island, believed to be missing fisherman
The U.S. Coast Guard says a body found on West Island yesterday, is believed to be the body of a missing fisherman. Around 1:30 a.m. on July 1st, crew members of the commercial fishing vessel F/V Susan Rose noticed one person wasn’t on board, according to Petty Officer Ryan Noel. F/V Susan Rose is a 77-foot fishing vessel based out of Point Judith that normally has four crew members on board, Noel said. Massachusetts State Police and the Medical Examiner are investigating. The victim has not been officially identified at this time. >click to read< 20:26
Injured F/V Patricia Lee fisherman medevac’d 200 miles southwest of Dutch Harbor, Alaska
The Coast Guard medevaced a man from a fishing boat Tuesday approximately 200 miles southwest of Dutch Harbor. A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Air Station Kodiak hoisted an injured fisherman from the 117-foot, commercial fishing vessel F/V Patricia Lee at about 11:50 p.m. He was flown to Dutch Harbor and placed in the care of LifeMed personnel. Watchstanders in the 17th District command center in Juneau received the initial request for the the medevac from the F/V Patricia Lee at about 4 p.m. Tuesday. The master reported a crew member had sustained serious injuries to his pelvic region after becoming pinned by a crab pot about 225 miles west of Dutch Harbor. >Video, click to read< 15:39
Evidence of invasive green crab that could wreak havoc on Alaska fisheries found near Metlakatla
An invasive species that could wreak havoc on commercial and subsistence fisheries has been found in Alaska for the first time. Biologists with Metlakatla Indian Community say they found the first evidence of European green crabs on Annette Island, near the southern tip of Southeast Alaska, in mid-July. NOAA Fisheries biologist Linda Shaw says they’re a particular threat to fellow shellfish. “They compete with juvenile Dungeness crab. They are shellfish predators, so things like clams, they would directly eat,” she said. “And then there’s also anecdotal information from British Columbia that they predate on juvenile salmon.” >click to read< 11:49
Day without Ahi affects restaurants and customers
A Manoa Poke Shop is back in business after an Ahi shortage forced them to close for a day earlier this week. “I got a call from the guy who goes to the auction for us. He said there was no boats in that day. So, I called my staff and told them there’s no boats, which means there’s no fish. Which means we are closed that day,” said Off the Hook Poke Market co-owner JP Lam. “We’ve seen this maybe once a year. Maybe less than that. Maybe 3 or 4 times over the last 5 years.,” said Lam. “I wouldn’t think the cause was ocean conditions or atmospheric conditions. It’s more of the uncertainty of fishing itself. The fish are not always where we think they are,” said Hawaii Longline Fishing Association President Sean Martin. >click to read< 09:50
Man Sees What He Pulled Out of Water, Frantically Calls Wife
A lobsterman got a major surprise when he caught a bright blue lobster during a fishing trip. Wayne Nickerson is a commercial lobsterman from Plymouth, Massachusetts, and was behind the wheel of his boat when the lobster’s incredible color caught his eye. ABC News reports that the first thing he did was call his wife, telling her to meet him at the dock as soon as possible. “He let out a loud exclamation of excitement,” Oddly, this is Nickerson’s second time catching a blue lobster. >click to read< 08:05
Old shrimp boat goes down in Battery Creek in Port Royal
An old shrimp boat has sunk while anchored in Battery Creek near the city-owned dock in Port Royal, which is in the process of evicting boats, many of them in disrepair, in order to build a new dock. The F/V Josie N had been tied to the Port Royal dock, but recently it was moved and anchored about 100 yards out in a channel. “It must have gone down overnight,” Van Willis, Port Royal’s town manager, said early Friday afternoon. The owner, 
he said, was on his way to the location with another shrimper to bring it back up and “drag it out of here.” Includes a video, Woody Collins knew William North for years. He walked the shrimp docks in Port Royal on Wednesday recalling the man the Lowcountry came to know as “Captain Billy.” >click to read< 15:58
Santa Barbara oil spill $230M class action settlement
Plains All American Pipeline agreed to pay $230 million to resolve claims its negligence caused a 2015 oil spill near Santa Barbara, California. The settlement benefits two classes: the Fisher Class and the Property Class: Under the terms of the settlement, class members in both classes are eligible for cash payments. Payments to Fisher Class members will be determined based on their landing records obtained from the CDFW. Each class member will be eligible for a share of the settlement fund proportional to the number of fish landed or purchased. Payments to the Property Class members will be determined based on the severity of oiling experienced by each coastal property, >click to read< 10:47
Crackpot Alert! Replace Lobsterman Statue With Lobster Crushing a Trap, PETA Urges Mayor
“Lobsters feel pain and fear, and since they can’t go into shock to escape pain, they suffer greatly when they’re dragged out of their watery homes to be boiled or broiled alive,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA urges the mayor to greenlight a statue that would shellebrate these remarkable sea beings for who they are, not for how humans exploit them.” PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. >click to read the foolish fetishism< 09:24
P.E.I.-N.S. ferry cancelled for a 2nd day after fire aboard ship forced evacuation Friday
Ferry trips on the route connecting Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island have been cancelled for a second day after a fire on Friday forced an emergency evacuation of a vessel’s passengers. More than 200 people were safely evacuated from MV Holiday Island after a fire broke out in the vessel’s engine room at around 11 a.m. Cormier said there were no injuries to passengers or crew. Myles MacDonald, an auxiliary Coast Guard member who also fishes crab and scallops out of Wood Islands, rushed to the scene in his boat when he heard the ferry had caught fire. He pulled up alongside the Holiday Island as passengers hopped down an evacuation chute into a rubber dinghy. From there, they climbed onto his fishing boat. photos, >click to read< 08:27
Fish and Game closes part of the Upper Cook Inlet to gillnet fishing
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game closed all set gillnet fishing in the Kenai, Kasilof, and East Forelands sections of Upper Cook Inlet after low counts of large king salmon passages. This is the third year in a row that the department has closed this fishery, with Ken Coleman saying it’s becoming a strain on some of those who set gillnets for a living. “We watch the fish jump by, watch everybody else having a good time doing what they do and we’re all losing money,” Coleman said. This closure impacts businesses collectively as it’s a chain reaction effect across the area. Video, >click to read< 15:07
Bodega Bay salmon fishing ‘very productive’ so far this season
On a late morning in early July, Dick Ogg stared off into a sea of gray. The 69-year-old Sonoma County local had just departed from Bodega Bay for five days of commercial salmon fishing off the coast. Heavy fog, rough waves and strong winds made this a bad time for a phone call with a reporter. He was able to talk for a few minutes though. Ogg, vice president of the Bodega Bay Fisherman’s Marketing Association, has lived in Sonoma County for 62 years and has fished for crab and salmon along the coast for more than 40 of those years. “The ocean conditions right now are probably the best we’ve seen in the last 10 years,” he said. Ogg unloaded his five-day catch in Bodega Bay on a Wednesday, about 3,500 pounds or so, “right in the middle” of the pack, he said. At $6.50 per pound, the haul comes out to more than $20,000. So far this season, “everybody’s done very well … this has been a very productive year.” Video, photos, >click to read< 12:15
Senators Demand Federal Scrutiny of Private Equity’s Incursion Into Fishing
Three U.S. senators, including two members of a Senate subcommittee that oversees the fishing industry, are calling for greater federal scrutiny of private equity’s incursion into East Coast commercial fishing. The ProPublica/New Bedford Light investigation found that a federal regulatory system known as “catch shares,” which was adopted in 2010 to reduce overfishing, has fostered private equity’s consolidation of the industry at the expense of independent fishermen. The single largest permit holder in the New England groundfish industry is Blue Harvest Fisheries, which has rights to catch 12% of groundfish, approaching the antitrust cap of 15.5%. The current antitrust cap “fails to prevent excessive consolidation in the fishery,” said Geoff Smith, one of 18 members of the New England Fishery Management Council, which advises NOAA. >click to read< 10:23
P.E.I. snow crab fishers fined for underreporting catch
Judge Nancy Orr expressed frustration at the low fines set out in the sentencing guidelines for this type of charge, saying the fines aren’t much of a disincentive if someone ends up being able to sell 20,000 pounds of snow crab that didn’t get reported as counting toward their quota. She made the remarks in relation to the sentencing of James Gavin. Court heard Gavin had an extensive record, with convictions dating back to 1995. Gavin was fined $2,500. The cases in Georgetown court Thursday followed a Department of Fisheries and Oceans investigation in Souris dating back to 2019 and 2020. It was called Operation Gannet. Both fishers and dockside monitors ended up being charged. >click to read< 08:57
Trawler tanker fire; TAIC orders Talley’s to review its maintenance procedures
Languishing in the water off the West Coast, the boat had to be towed back to shore after suffering extensive heat and smoke damage despite a quick response from the crew to bring the blaze under control. Amaltal Enterprises crew were fishing near Hokitika on July 2, last year when the main engine was shut down to fix repairs to a low-pressure fuel pipe. About 50 minutes after being restarted, an accumulator installed in the engine unwound and dislodged from its pipe connector, spraying marine diesel “at 8 bar pressure to jet upwards” all over the hot engine exhaust, sparking the fire. >click to read< 08:03
Captain Happy
He got his first boat in 1969; he named it Miss Tina. It was old, needed lots of work, and was small. He was young, somewhat handy when it came to fixing things, and she was big enough to get him started. For the next seven years he and she were part of the commercial fishing fleet that called the port of Cape May/Wildwood in New Jersey home. With a great deal of hard work, no small measure of persistence, and a clear savings plan, he positioned himself to finance a new boat. He named her Lady Christine. He is an optimistic sort by nature. His outgoing, sometimes gregarious, optimism won him the nickname Captain Happy. Shortly after Lady Christine was launched, he began training a second mate. This mate was new to the port, and she was pleased to be hired by a captain with Happy’s reputation. >click to read< 18:21
Mi’kmaw fisherman using 1752 treaty, ancestry in legal battle with DFO
Matthew Cope, 36, of the Millbrook First Nation near Truro, N.S. says he has proof Mi’kmaw Grand Chief Jean Baptiste Cope, who signed the Peace and Friendship Treaty of 1752 on behalf of the Mi’kmaq, is his direct relative. “So I have a 50-page lineage that was done up by the Confederacy (of Mainland Mi’kmaq). And it took years to make where it shows that I’m a direct descendant of Jean Baptiste Cope. So I am, in fact, the tribe of Indians that 1752 treaty signed for,” Cope explained. The Mi’kmaw fisherman says he intends to use this evidence to fight federal fishery charges against him in Digby Provincial Court. He is currently representing himself against charges that he illegally fished for lobster in waters near Digby during a closed commercial fishery. >click to read< 14:40
A fundraiser for the family of Christopher Vargas
On July 16, 2022 at 4am my brother Christopher Vargas was lost as sea. Our hearts are aching, and his children are taking the biggest hit. My brother was a shrimper and would stay out in the ocean for 30-45 days at a time to support his babies. Christopher has 6 children and 3 step children who he was all providing for and his wife. Anything would be greatly appreciated. >Please click to read< and donate whatever you can. Thank you. 11:31
Labour Minister Bernard Davis to launch review of N.L.’s price-setting system
The review follows weeks of bickering, including several harvester-led protests in recent days on the Northern Peninsula between harvesters and processors over a stalemate in the shrimp fishery that has delayed the harvest. It also comes on the heels of a decision by the provincial government to provide mediation services between the Fish, Food & Allied Workers union and the Association of Seafood Producers in hopes of resolving friction in the shrimp fishery. “It is incumbent on me, as minister responsible for labour, to ensure that we have legislation that is responsive to the needs of 
the industry,” said Davis in the release. Also in the release, Fisheries Minister Derrick Bragg said an efficient and effective price-setting system is “key to ensuring fisheries commence in a timely manner for the maximum benefit of the province’s fishing industry.” >click to read< 10:26
Ocean Choice to Purchase Shrimp at Competitive Price – Ocean Choice’s processing facility in Port aux Choix will be purchasing shrimp at a rate above the minimum price set by the Standing Fish Price-Setting Panel. >click to read<
Vessel runs aground near Naknek, prompts temporary fishing closure
After a fishing vessel washed up on shore in the Bristol Bay area near Naknek and leaked diesel fuel, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game temporarily closed commercial salmon fishing. The closure went into effect at 6 p.m. Monday and has since been rescinded. According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in King Salmon, there is a salvage crew working on the fishing tender on Naknek Beach south of Pederson Point Cannery. ADFG announced that they have removed major sources of pollutants, but a small residual sheen has been left behind. Video, >click to read< 09:24
Why are NL fishers going out of province to land their catch?
Although Port au Choix has a growing tourism industry, the fish plant is still the focal point of the harbour and it depends significantly on the fishers and their fishing boats to keep it going. The arrival of the summer shrimp fishery would usually mean this port would be buzzing with activity,,, But today, the usual thrum at the wharf is replaced with a murmur, as participants get ready to take the mic. Together, they’re rebuffing this year’s minimum price offered to fishers landing their shrimp at this plant, operated by Ocean Choice International L.P. “I was one of the first ones to land shrimp to this plant,” says long-time Flowers Cove fisher, Ren Genge, stepping up to speak. “I see people here, who were the first to shell that shrimp by hand. I’ve been here for 55 years fishing shrimp, and I’m not about to let three companies take me out of business.” Video, >click to read< 07:46
Madelinot elected officials concerned about the situation of LA Renaissance transformer
The mayor of the Magdalen Islands, Jonathan Lapierre, and the provincial deputy, Joël Arseneau, claim to have questioned the Quebec Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, André Lamontagne, about pay that the processor LA Renaissance would not have given to 67 lobster fishermen. business with the lobster fishermen amounts to a minimum of $3.7 million for their last two weeks of fishing. LA Renaissance has two processing plants in the archipelago, in Gros-Cap and Grande-Entrée. It processes and markets various products, including lobster, snow crab and scallops. >click to read< 17:33
Fishermen fear Hudson Canyon sanctuary will mean more restrictions
The canyon is a prolific fishing ground that starts about 90 miles offshore from Manasquan Inlet and is in the crosshairs of a public debate over the sanctuary designation, which would give NOAA more leverage managing the resources of the largest submarine canyon off the Atlantic Coast. Commercial vessels fish for tunas, squid and lobster, while the state’s recreational fishing fleet of for-hire vessels continually run anglers out to the canyon to catch fresh tuna and tilefish. “We’re probably the greatest and strictest fishery management country in the world. Why do we need this extra layer on top of everything we have now?” said Jason Bahr, a seafood wholesaler and vice president of Blue Water Fisherman’s Association, a trade group of commercial longline fishermen who fish for pelagic species such as tuna and swordfish in the Hudson Canyon. >click to read< 07:50
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