Daily Archives: September 28, 2022
Island’s fate tied to fishing, residents say: “I think we’re being pushed out”
Make way for windmills. That was one of the worries aired by Deer Isle-Stonington fishermen and small business owners who attended a breakfast economic development meeting at the Stonington town office Friday. A few residents and small business owners said they think the fishing industry is being pushed out to make room for windmills, thus further advancing green energy agendas that Governor Janet Mills and the federal government have adopted. Mike Shepard said he started fishing at age 10 in a “little outboard.” “I’m almost 70 now,” the lobsterman said. “I fished all my life out here. All that time I’ve been fishing. I’ve never seen a whale. It has nothing to do with the whale, it has to do with what they want to do with our waters out here. They want to go green and it’s killing the lobster industry, which is our way of life.” >click to read< 19:36
Hurricane Ian makes landfall, causes ‘catastrophic storm surge, winds and flooding’ in southwest Florida
Hurricane Ian weakened slightly again late Wednesday afternoon but remained a dangerous Category 4 storm with top winds of 140 mph. The storm. which previously produced top winds of 155 mph, is forecast to weaken further as it travels up the Florida peninsula, according to a 5 p.m. update from the National Hurricane Center. In 12 hours, the storm’s winds are expected to fall to 85 mph, making the storm a Category 1 hurricane. “It will still pack a formidable punch as it moves across the state of Florida along the I-4 corridor in the next couple of days,” Video, photos, >click to read< 17:57
North Carolina: New quota cuts Southern flounder fishing off in one week, frustrating fishermen
Maurice Mann, a commercial fisherman, expressed his frustration. Maurice and his son Jasper Mann were geared up for a good season of flounder fishing, getting new nets and catching around 100 pounds of Eastern Carolina’s popular sea dwellers. After less than a week on the water, they found themselves thousands of dollars in the hole when their buyer told them the Division of Marine Fisheries said to reel it in. They were told the number of flounder they allowed to be caught commercially in September had already been met. Video, >click to read< 14:34
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 72′ Shrimper with freezer hold, Cat 3412
To review specifications, information, and 23 photos’, >click here<, To see all the boats in this series >click here< 12:00
Newfoundland fishers face livelihood questions after Fiona storm damage
Colourful fishing stages bobbed in the water by Rose Blanche-Harbour Le Cou Tuesday as Cliff Bateman watched from his property. Days earlier, the picturesque buildings that are used to land and process fish were upright before post-tropical storm Fiona swept them into the ocean by the southwestern Newfoundland town. Bateman watched the storm toss them through the water. “It’s a big loss, I tell you that,” he said from inside his kitchen. The now-retired fisherman said he stored a priceless accumulation of gear and history inside the structures that were passed down through his family, some built over 100 years ago. >click to read< 10:08
During lone scoping webinar, lobstermen tell NOAA cuts will devastate communities
State officials and Maine lobstermen were not shy when they addressed officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Tuesday night in a scoping webinar held to take public comment after NOAA accelerated the timeline for cuts to the industry. The scoping webinar was the only opportunity provided by NOAA for stakeholders to communicate directly with the agency during the development of additional new measures meant to protect right whales. NOAA accelerated the timeline for risk reduction over what was initially presented in the finalized biological opinion. That document spelled out major cuts to the industry over what was supposed to be a decade. Now, the lobster fishery will need to achieve a 90% risk reduction under phase two of the plan, instead of phase three…much earlier than previously expected. >click to read< 09:14
Fishing regulators shoot down scallop leasing plan
In a ballroom overlooking Gloucester Harbor, the council regulating New England’s fisheries rejected a controversial proposal on Tuesday to develop a leasing program in the region’s lucrative scallop fishery after failing to agree on the presented motions. The New England Fishery Management Council deliberated on three motions for more than two hours, with all three failing. The latest leasing push comes 12 years after a proposal to allow it was defeated in a close 9-to-7 council vote, with one member abstaining. New Bedford fishermen and permit owners were at the hotel hours before the council took up the leasing issue. The opposition has been largely centralized in the city, driven by the crew and some vessel owners who fear leasing is the first step toward further consolidation. Photos, >click to read< 07:40
