Monthly Archives: July 2022
Trudeau launches expanded oceans protection plan, with aim to reach more regions
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced new details about the federal government’s $3.5-billion plan to protect the oceans and boost coast guard facilities on the world’s longest national coastline. In its most recent budget, the government pledged to add $2 billion over nine years to the $1.5 billion already set aside for ocean protection. Speaking at a news conference on Bowen Island, B.C., Trudeau said the government had now launched an extended version of the Oceans Protection Plan. Initiatives already funded by the program include the opening of six coast guard stations in British Columbia and Newfoundland and Labrador, establishing an Indigenous-led coast guard auxiliary in B.C., the restoration of coastal aquatic habitats, and the removal and disposal of hundreds of abandoned boats. >click to read< 15:56
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 68′ Desco Dragger, Cat 3408 (2022 Complete/Major rebuild) with Permits
To review specifications, information, and 64 photos’, and video tour, >click here<, To see all the boats in this series >click here< 13:48
SEA-NL: Fish price-setting ‘fiasco’; minister did not refer complaint to labour board
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador says the province’s failure to have reports investigated that some processors may have paid less than the “binding” snow crab price further undermines government’s fish price-setting system. “Paying even one cent less than the binding price undermines government’s pricing system over the entire $1 billion-plus commercial fishing industry,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director. “Every other day there’s another example of how the fish pricing system in this province has become a fiasco.” Provincial Fisheries Minster Derrick Bragg told at least one enterprise owner late last month the province’s labour relations board was looking into reports that some processors were paying less than the minimum $6.15/lb snow crab price. >click to read< 13:12
Bristol Bay’s sockeye run is already the biggest on record
Bristol Bay’s 2022 sockeye run is now the biggest on record: 69.7 million fish have returned this summer. That surpasses the previous record of 67.7 million fish, which was set last year. Bristol Bay’s commercial fleet hauled in the most fish on record this year. More than 3 million sockeye have swum up the Wood River to spawn in the tributaries around Lake Aleknagik, about 20 miles from Dillingham, according to the state’s counting tower on the river. Sherol Mershon lives along the lake near the head of the river. She owns a bed and breakfast there and has hung commercial fishing nets for 45 years. She said this year’s runs are remarkable. >click to read< 12:10
F/V Lone Star sinks at Fisherman’s Terminal on Tuesday morning
According to Harbormaster Matt Creswell, the fishing boat Lone Star was reported to be sinking at around 5 a.m. “We received a report that there was a vessel sunk at the crane dock between Aurora and Harris harbors, we refer to it as Fisherman’s Terminal,” Creswell said. “Harbor staff responded before 6 a.m. and found the large fishing vessel, a little over 40 feet I believe, named the Lone Star, was completely sunk in the crane docks.” >click to read<
USCG seeks information on vessel leaking oily substance into Alaskan waters – The USCG is seeking info about a vessel photographed July 14, at approximately 4 p.m., in northeastern vicinity of Valdez Narrows. The position on that date is indicated by encircled yellow triangle on the chart below. Photos, >click to read< 10:50
Texas: Local shrimpers stay in the bays catching live bait
Local shrimpers spend their morning in the bays catching shrimp for live bait not for people to eat. “Since Gulf King is gone. Everything started going downhill,” said one local shrimp boat captain. Gulf King Seafood, once called Aransas Pass its home with the largest fleet of Gulf Coast shrimp boats in the United States. Over 20 years ago, Gulf King moved locations. Soon after local shrimpers followed trying to find more opportunities. Now the only place selling gulf shrimp in Aransas Pass is Erikson and Jensen Seafood. Right now, their fleet is stationed in Florida. Catching gulf shrimp from Florida to Texas. Video, >click to read< 09:23
Lobstermen take break from industry worries to race and ‘raise some hell’
Harpswell’s annual lobster boat race returns this Sunday, when Maine lobstermen and fishermen compete in a mile-long, full-throttle boat race for a chance to win a cash prize and bragging rights. “They want everybody else to see what their boats can do. They are all supportive, but competitive,” said race volunteer Mary Coombs. Coombs said the best part as a spectator is to see the lobstermen taking a break from their work and enjoying themselves. “It’s nice to see one day where they aren’t worried about whales, or lines and they just go,” said Coombs. “It’s fun to see them not in their oil gear, but in their bare feet behind the wheel.” >click to read< 08:24
Massachusetts: New relief fund would buoy lobster industry
A proposed state fund would provide financial relief to commercial lobstermen whose livelihoods are being impacted by state and federal regulations aimed at protecting critically endangered north Atlantic right whales. Tucked into a $52.7 billion state budget awaiting action by Gov. Charlie Baker is a proposal to create a new grant program with $500,000 in initial funding. The plan calls for providing grants of up to $5,000 to licensed lobstermen to help offset the cost of purchasing new gear and equipment needed to comply with the new whale protection rules. The grant money must be distributed in a “geographically equitable manner” under the proposal. Senate minority leader Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, who pushed for the funding, said it will help buoy lobstermen who are struggling to afford the expense of upgrading their gear and equipment. >click to read< 17:50
Maggie Helen gets a new lease of life
A former fishing boat is returning to the water after being taken over by an enthusiast team of skilled shipwrights and sailors who intend to use her to sail around Europe. They are planning to set sail later this week. The Maggie Helen had been sitting in storage since 2007 after the historic vessel, then known as Loki, had been bought by Shetland Amenity Trust for an undisclosed sum and in somewhat controversial circumstances. Shetland Museum curator Ian Tait said the restoration team have managed to complete “three years” work in three months after working non-stop seven days a week from around 8am to 11pm. “It’s an immense number of working hours that have gone into it. They’ve done the most unbelievably intense job,” he said. >click to read< 15:28
Fisheries report brings hope to Indigenous communities, sparks anger in industry
“I was pleasantly surprised, to be honest,” said Rosalie Francis, a member of the Sipekne’katik First Nation in Nova Scotia. But elsewhere in the province, the surprise has been significantly less pleasant. There are concerns the report titled “Peace on the Water” is instead stoking anger in communities where lobster is a livelihood. Representatives of the commercial fishing industry say they’re frustrated they weren’t invited to speak to the Senate as it drafted the report on Indigenous rights. It’s “throwing fuel on a fire” in an area where tensions have remained high since 2020, said Colin Sproul, president of the Unified Fisheries Conservation Alliance, which has about 1,900 members. >click to read< 12:09
Fisherman indicted on attempted murder charges after attacks with fishing gaff
A federal grand jury indicted an Andrews man Wednesday in connection to the attack of a crewmate and his captain after they refused to go back to port so he could buy more alcohol. Matthew Kelly, 49, was indicted on two counts of Assault with Intent to Commit Murder, two counts of Assault with a Dangerous Weapon, and one count of Act of Violence against Persons on a Vessel. The victims of the alleged crime told investigators that Kelly brought two large bottles of alcohol with him when he boarded the boat. He consumed the alcohol over the course of five days until he ran out on June 16. That’s when the other two men noticed Kelly beginning to talk to himself and act irrationally. >click to read< 10:01
Coast Guard finds serious defect in popular survival suits
Scott Wilwert is the commercial fishing vessel safety program manager for the Coast Guard in Alaska. He says the problem was discovered during a routine inspection in June. “Inspectors that were out in Bristol Bay a few weeks ago reported finding issues with relatively newly manufactured immersion suits,” Wilwert said. “And what they were finding was an area of what appeared to be a delamination, or a lack of adhesion of the glue that’s used to fix the zipper assembly to the neoprene part of the suit.” The suits are Imperial Immersion Suits manufactured by Survitec Group, a safety equipment manufacturer based in the United Kingdom,,, Wilwert says the Coast Guard isn’t sure how widespread the issue is. The problem became apparent in late June; After the Coast Guard notified Survitec, the company told the Coast Guard they had seen suits in Canada with a similar defect. >click to read< 08:02
Missing shrimper identified as La Feria resident
A missing shrimper last seen on South Padre Island has been identified as 35-year-old Christopher Vargas from La Feria. According to a release from the U.S. Coast Guard, Vargas fell from a shrimp trawler 35 miles off the coast of South Padre Island early Saturday morning. Vargas was last seen wearing a tank top and shorts. He was not wearing a life vest when he fell overboard. His aunt Leticia Vargas said it is uncertain what happened to Christopher. She said going offshore to catch shrimp was a traditional job for him. “This was his way of getting money for back to school, that’s what his wife was waiting for, that’s what the kids were waiting for, that’s what his intentions were for him to go out there, he’s been doing this for years,” she said. >Video, click to read< 07:00
DFO Accused of Coverup. DFO suppressing research on steelhead
Thompson River and Chilcotin steelhead populations are teetering on the brink of extinction, according to the BC Wildlife Federation (BCWF), while the Department of Fisheries and Oceans continues to supress research that the BCWF believes would confirm that seals and bycatch are a big part of the problem. The BCWF has been hounding DFO since 2019 to release peer reviewed research upon which a special assessment by the Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat (CSAS) in 2018 was based. That assessment, Recovery potential assessment for Chilcotin and Thompson River Steelhead trout, is publicly available. The peer-reviewed research upon which it based is not, according to the BCWF. >click to read< 18:41
Decline in Chesapeake crab population sparks hunt for answers
Commercial crabbers in Maryland and Virginia aren’t catching their limits, and the harvest in the first few months of the season was so meager that some gave up trying. “Crabs are so scarce that me and my son are still catfishing,” Billy Rice, a Charles County, MD, waterman, said in June. “We’re making more money catfishing than we would be crabbing.” Based on what they see on the water, crabbers have no shortage of theories about why the Bay’s most prized catch is hard to find: Changes in water quality, climate change and an influx of crab-eating fish top the list. Whatever the case, said J. C. Hudgins, president of the Virginia Waterman’s Association. “Mother Nature has throwed a wrench in the barrel.” >click to read< 14:23
Bristol Bay Fisheries Report: July 17, 2022
Harvests slowed down Saturday. The bay-wide haul was 851,000. This year’s all-time biggest harvest now totals 55.6 million fish. But escapement is still below the record. 17 million fish have made it to spawning grounds across the bay – short of last year’s bay-wide escapement of 25.6 million. Still, the runs up a few rivers have exceeded their maximum escapement goals, and many others have met escapement. >click to read< 12:10
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for July 18, 2022
Does CPR Work on Fish? The Coastal Conservation Association Seems to Think SO! – After reading this title you’re probably envisioning a forty-pound Red Drum lying on the deck of a boat, straddled by an angler, receiving mouth to mouth followed by a round of rapid chest compressions, but that’s not the CPR I’m referring to. The CPR I’m talking about is the Coastal Conservation Association’s (CCA) Catch, Photo, and Release (CPR) Initiative. In Coastal States across the Country, including North Carolina, the CCA is holding CPR fishing tournaments where anglers can win big prizes for catching, photographing, and releasing numerous species of coastal finfish. The rules are simple, pay your entry fee, receive your wristband, catch a qualifying species of fish, photograph the fish lying on a ruler with your wristband visible, release the fish, and the longest fish or combination of fish wins. And of course, you have to be a CCA member to win! >click to read, to read all the updates >click here<, for older updates listed as NCFA >click here< 11:15
A thank-you letter from the owners of ‘Band Wagon’
To the Camden and Penobscot Bay Waterfront Community: As the owners of Band Wagon, we wanted to extend our sincere thanks to all those involved in our rescue on Wednesday, July 13. While we are heartbroken about our boat, we are incredibly lucky that no one was hurt thanks to all those involved. Someone was certainly looking out for us that morning as we could have been cruising at a much faster rate, further out at sea, or in inclement weather or fog. Special thanks to: Good Samaritans Brad Scott and his crew Charlie Garrigan, aboard the lobster boat Web, who heard our distress call and were first on the scene. >click to read< 09:50
Andy Robertson surprises Child of Courage Keiran Reid with his Pride of Scotland award
Keiran Reid got the shock of his life when his footballing hero Andy Robertson surprised him with the news he had won a Pride of Scotland Award. Keiran’s jaw hit the floor when Andy approached him and handed him an envelope containing a ticket which declared he was the winner of the Child of Courage Award. The 12-year-old schoolboy from Avoch, on the Black Isle has raised thousands for his local RNLI in memory of his fisherman father who was tragically taken by the sea. The schoolboy was just six when fisherman Craig, 25, was washed overboard from the trawler Apollo in a gale-force storm off Orkney. Photos, >click to read< 08:46
U.S. Coast Guard: Search suspended for missing commercial fisherman off South Padre Island, Texas
The Coast Guard has suspended its search Sunday for a 35-year-old fisherman who went missing off South Padre Island, Texas, Saturday. Coast Guard crews searched approximately 1,903 square miles for over 32 combined hours. Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi command center watchstanders received a call at 5 a.m. Saturday on VHF-FM channel 16 from the master of the 65-foot commercial fishing vessel F/V Santa Fe stating one of his crew members was missing 35 miles offshore Land Cut. The man was reportedly not wearing a life jacket at the time of his disappearance. >click to read< 18:21
I was a kid when the moratorium started. As a union leader, I’m still fighting for change
Three decades have come and gone since the cod moratorium in Newfoundland and Labrador was announced on that fateful day in 1992. I was just 12 years old growing up in Calvert at the time, and the cod fishery was the heart and soul of the Southern Shore from Trepassey to Bay Bulls, just like the communities so many of you called home. My family remained in the fishery after the moratorium, but many others did not. More than 30,000 people lost their livelihoods that day and the landscape of our province was forever changed. By Keith Sullivan >click to read< 13:57
How did a captain survive? – The mysterious death of 21 men on a Spanish fishing boat
On 15 February, the Villa de Pitanxo, a Galician fishing boat sank off the coast of Canada in mysterious circumstances. The families of 21 men who lost their lives that night are campaigning to ensure the truth of the tragedy is revealed and that those responsible face justice. Investigators have been trying to understand what caused the accident and surviving crew members have very different versions of what went wrong. Video, >click to watch< 10:49
New memorial for six men killed in sunken trawler off Queensland coast
A permanent memorial will be built for the six crewmen killed when the fishing trawler F/V Dianne capsized and sank in wild seas off the central Queensland coast. One crew member survived, the bodies of two men were found in the sunken vessel by a police diver, and the bodies of the remaining four crewmen have never been recovered. “It has been nearly five years since the tragedy, but it is important we get this right,” Transport Minister Mark Bailey said. “An artist’s impression of the memorial was designed with guidance from the families of the FV Dianne crew. >click to read< 08:43
The fishery is worth more than ever. If the fisheries were meant to save rural N.L., what gives?
It’s 2022. It’s hard to believe, for a number of reasons. Time is flying by, and things inevitably change. But for the cod fishery in Newfoundland and Labrador, and in too many ways for the fishery generally, “plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose,” or, the more things change, they more they stay the same. We are 30 years out from the initial groundfish moratorium of July 1992. As we reflect, there are reasons to be grateful. By Derek Butler >click to read< 07:42
NOAA ups observers in commercial snapper-grouper fishery from NC to east Florida
The federal government plans to increase observation of the commercial snapper-grouper fishery from North Carolina to east Florida, with an eye to improving population assessments. “Historically the observer data have been lacking from the South Atlantic snapper-grouper fishery,” the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s fisheries division said in a news release Friday. Information gathered will verify coastal logbook catch rates, counts and measurements of discarded fish, and the catch per unit effort for the commercial sector. >click to read< 18:39
Petition: More Time Needed to Review 1st NJ Offshore Wind Facility
Only 45 days were provided to the public to review a massive 1400+ page Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) on “Ocean Wind 1,” Ørsted & PSE&G’s industrial-scale wind energy project just 13 miles off Atlantic City, NJ. That is not enough time for responsible review of the first-ever offshore wind energy project off New Jersey’s coast. The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) issued the bare minimum requirement for public review of the lengthy & highly technical document. It is clear to any reasonable person, the 45-day timeframe is unjust and unrealistic. The public, who is the rightful owner of these underwater public lands, needs more time to review and comment. >Please click to read, and sign the petition< 14:30
New Crewing Mandate Could Be a ‘Gut Punch’ to U.S. Offshore Wind Projects
The U.S. House has this week passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), in which it attached a provision that would change rules for manning offshore vessels in U.S. waters, with the goal of fostering American jobs in the U.S. offshore wind sector, however, the move could be counterproductive. Worth noting, the U.S. has a long-standing federal law called the Jones Act that regulates maritime commerce in the U.S. and requires goods shipped between U.S. ports to be transported on ships that are built, owned, and operated by U.S. citizens or permanent residents. >click to read< 13:07
Coast Guard searching for missing commercial fisherman off South Padre Island, Texas
The Coast Guard is searching for a missing 35-year-old fisherman in the water off South Padre Island, Texas, Saturday. Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi command center watchstanders received a call at 5 a.m. on VHF-FM channel 16 from the master of the 65-foot commercial fishing vessel F/V Santa Fe stating one of his crew members was missing 35 miles offshore Land Cut. Missing is a 5-foot, 10-inch tall, 150-pound Latino male last seen wearing a tank top and shorts. The man was reportedly not wearing a life jacket. >click to read< 11:41
‘On its knees’ – Public meeting to look at how to support Hartlepool’s fishing industry
Councillors unanimously backed the move at the latest Hartlepool full council meeting, pledging to do all they can to support the sector after the mass deaths of crabs and lobsters in the area. The motion was raised by Labour’s Cllr Rachel Creevy, who highlighted how the region’s fishing industry has been decimated since the issue first occurred in autumn 2021. A Hartlepool fisherman invited to speak at the meeting said the industry is “part of their heritage” and their “lifetime’s work”. But they are now “desperate” with the “ecosystem wiped out”. >click to read< 10:55
Fraud, breach of trust charges dropped against former Baffin Fisheries Coalition CEO
Garth Reid, 52, was charged in March 2021 with fraud over $5,000 and criminal breach of trust, stemming from his time as the company’s leader between October 2016 and April 2017. In the fall of 2017, Baffin Fisheries terminated Reid and sued him in civil court for $1.4 million, alleging that he built on his private property in Winterton, N.L. and billed the company for the work. In a statement of defence, Reid denied the allegations against him and said if any payments were made by Baffin Fisheries for his own property, he didn’t know about it and they were done out of negligence by the company. He counter sued for $20 million over breach of contract and defamation. >click to read< 09:35
