Monthly Archives: September 2022
Your questions answered about sinking of FV Aleutian Isle; what we know so far
What is the current situation with the wreck? The sunken vessel remains in place on the West side of San Juan Island in over 200 feet of water. The boat is resting on its side, perched bow facing uphill on a slope that runs steeply down into the deepest waters of Haro Strait. Divers have secured the fuel tank vents, however occasional small and rapidly dissipating sheens have been observed over the site of the wreck, which indicates that pockets of fuel have likely collected within the hull of the vessel. Why is it taking so long, when will this be over? >click to read< 07:37
Togue Brawn – The Scallop Evangelist of Maine
Twelve years ago, Brawn started her company, Downeast Dayboat, to introduce dayboat-harvested Maine scallops to the masses. Brawn buys from small boats that often drag the bottoms of inshore crags along the Gulf of Maine and land their bounty a few hours later — as opposed to the bulk of sea scallops eaten in the U.S., which are often sourced from large trip boats that work federally managed offshore waters three or more miles off the Atlantic coast from Massachusetts to Virginia, staying at sea for a week or more. Because of the challenges and expense of quickly shipping out her fresh dayboat scallops, comparatively few people outside of Maine have gotten to sample Brawn’s. “I started this business to show that [our] scallops are truly different,” >click to read< 15:47
NOAA must show proof of right whale claims
A port association that includes the Georgia Ports Authority and a large organization in South Carolina that represents hundreds of anglers and others associated with the recreational and commercial fishing industry have submitted a simple request to the federal agencies that regulate U.S. waters. The request: Provide the data behind an amended regulation that could lead to dire consequences for industries that generate billions of dollars in revenue and thousands of jobs. The National Marine Fisheries Service and its mothership, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, are proposing to amend the Atlantic Right Whale Strike Reduction Rule. If adopted, fishing craft between 35 and 65 feet in length will be required to follow the same speed mandate as large vessels. From Nov. 1 to April 15, none would be allowed to exceed 10 knots, roughly 11.5 mph, when in waters frequented by right whales. >click to read< 12:43
Spanish mackerel catch quota reduction ‘catastrophic’ for north Queensland fishers, industry says
New quotas that will dramatically reduce the number of Spanish mackerel commercial fishers can catch will “devastate” the industry, according to north Queensland fishers. The Queensland government has unveiled a suite of changes that slash the total catch quota for the state from 570 tonnes to 165 tonnes for commercial fishers. Chloe Bauer’s family business, Bowen Fisherman Seafood Company, has been supplying Spanish mackerel to restaurants up and down the Queensland coast for 40 years. She said the new quotas would “devastate” the industry. >click to read< 11:22
Naming ceremony for new fishing vessels held at Macduff
A special naming ceremony took place on the quays of Macduff Harbour celebrating the building of two new fishing trawlers – Endeavour V and Venture IV. Owned and operated by Whitehills-based brothers Peter and Mark Lovie and partners, these trawlers have the distinction of being the largest produced by Macduff Shipyards to date. The memorable day was organised by the Lovie family and included a large group of guests including many of the businesses involved in both the building and operation of the vessels. Photos, >click to read< 10:03
On The Ropes – Federal court rules against lobster industry in appeal of whale protection regulations
“Obviously, it’s devastating to the lobster industry,” Stonington Town Manager Kathleen Billings told the Islander. Stonington lands by far the most lobsters in the state. In total, Maine lobstermen added an estimated $724,949,426 worth of lobster landings to the state commercial fishery in 2021. “We have a lot at stake,” Billings continued. “[Lobstering] makes up $60 [million] to $70 million to our economy and to have this recent ruling, and also too with the Seafood Watch list designation, they pretty much put a torch to our industry and burnt it to the ground for us.” >click to read< 08:55
California Offshore Wind Projects Face Hurdles as Pressure Groups, Industry Interests Weigh In
As the Biden administration plans for the country’s first West Coast offshore wind turbines, interests ranging from commercial fishing fleets to powerful environmental groups are complicating the road ahead for the California projects. Some fishermen are worried about losing access to swaths of rich fishing grounds, where they would have to stop towing nets that could get caught on underwater cables. Lori Steele, executive director of the West Coast Seafood Processors Association, said offshore wind power projects threaten an industry that also must deal with depleted fish stocks and soaring coastal real-estate prices. “We’re struggling to make sure that people understand that, just because you can’t see it, that doesn’t mean it’s not having an impact,” she said. There is early discussion about creating fishing compensation funds, similar to ones created by East Coast projects for financial losses, “but the industry doesn’t want to be bought out,” she said. >click to read< 08:08
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 52′ PMI Lobster Boat, Cat 3406
To review specifications, information, and 36 photos’, >click here<, To see all the boats in this series >click here< 12:33
NTSB Reiterates Call for Mandatory Personal Locator Beacons Following Investigation Into F/V Emmy Rose Sinking
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board is reiterating calls for a personal locator beacon requirement following its investigation into the 2020 sinking of the F/V Emmy Rose that claimed the lives of four crew members off of Cape Cod. NTSB also reiterated an earlier safety recommendation to the Coast Guard to require all vessel personnel be provided with a personal locator beacon (PLB). NTSB issued that recommendation following the sinking of the cargo vessel El Faro in 2015 in which all 33 crewmembers perished. NTSB also reiterated the recommendation after the fishing vessel F/V Scandies Rose sank off Sutwik Island, Alaska, in 2019. Two of the vessel’s crewmembers were rescued; the other five were never found. >click to read< 10:37
Maine Delegation Presses Fisheries Agency for Fair Treatment of Maine Lobster Fishery
After the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) gave lobster industry participants just two business days to submit proposals for a new risk reduction plan to protect right whales and denied lobstermen and their allies access to a key data tool, Maine’s congressional delegation pushed back today against these decisions by the agency. In their letter to NMFS, Congressman Jared Golden (ME-02), Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Angus King (I-ME), and Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (ME-01) called out the agency for drastically accelerating the timeline for proposals in the aftermath of a recent decision by the U.S. District Court invalidating a biological opinion for the North Atlantic Right Whale. >click to read< 09:21
I’m for the local guys
Just to let you know, in case you might have forgotten, that I am a Hoosier. I was born and raised in Indiana. I am from away. I tell you this stuff to let you know that while I am from away, my bride convinced me to adopt this state and switch my allegiance to reflect the views of my friends and neighbors. So, I think it is a damn shame that a scientific organization, from away, from California, no less, declared war on my local friends, the lobster fishermen. Somehow, without evidence, a respected marine scientific institution encouraged the nation to eliminate lobsters from stores and menus. Despite their statistical evidence to the contrary, they decreed that lobster fishing gear is the main reason the population of the mighty right whale is in peril. >click to read< 07:36
Loose Hatch Cover May Have Caused the Loss of the F/V Emmy Rose
The National Transportation Safety Board has concluded that the capsizing of the fishing vessel F/V Emmy Rose, which went down with all hands off Massachusetts in late 2020, was likely due to an unsecured hatch cover on its lazarette, which could have allowed rapid flooding when water accumulated on deck. In the early hours of November 23, 2020, The Emmy Rose was under way off Provincetown, Massachusetts with about 50,000 pounds of fish in her holds. She was headed to Gloucester, with winds of 20 knots and following seas of about six feet in height. >click to read< 21:18
Fisherman forfeits boat after entering guilty pleas
A fishing company and its director will forfeit a fishing boat after entering guilty pleas in court on Tuesday. A lawyer acting for Cando Fishing Ltd. and its director Campbell McManaway entered guilty pleas to Fisheries Act and Fisheries Regulations charges in the Invercargill District Court on Tuesday. The company admitted 11 charges related to exceedingly long set nets, selling fish contrary to law, and record keeping. McManaway pleaded guilty to five charges related to failing to provide reports and omitting information from reports. >click to read< 13:48
Biologist’s concern as lobster eggs ‘turn to slime’ off Yorkshire coast
Joe Redfern, manager of Whitby Lobster Hatchery, said stress may have caused the lobsters to release eggs prematurely but “but nobody seems to really have a definite answer”. “It’s not something I’ve seen before. It’s not like anything any of the fishermen have seen before, which is concerning,” he said. Samples have been sent to the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture for analysis, after the eggs were found in Whitby and Hartlepool. It comes almost a year after dead lobsters and crabs began washing ashore in Yorkshire and the North East, but Mr Redfern said he does not want to jump to conclusions and claim there is any link to the mass die off until the analysis has been completed. >click to read< 10:27
Canadian funding to improve onboard handling of lobster
The Government of Canada and the Province of Nova Scotia (NS) has announced funding support to the Maritime Fishermen’s Union Inc.’s Nova Scotia members through the Atlantic Fisheries Fund. On behalf of the Honourable Joyce Murray, the Honourable Sean Fraser, and the Honourable Steve Craig, Nova Scotia Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, announced a total contribution of over $400,000 to help the Maritime Fishermen’s Union deliver a project to its members that will improve the quality, vitality and value of harvested lobster. >click to read< 09:14
Fishing Fleet Brexit Voluntary Permanent Cessation Scheme Open for Applications
The purpose of the scheme is to restore balance between the fishing fleet capacity and available quotas following quota reductions arising from the Brexit Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) between the EU and the UK. The scheme follows from a recommendation of the Seafood Task Force, established by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue TD, in 2021. The scheme will support vessels in the polyvalent and beam trawl segments to permanently cease all fishing activity, increasing the quota available for remaining vessels, and thereby ensuring the sustainable profitability of the Irish fishing fleet. >click to read< 08:34
U.S. Coast Guard rescues 2 fishermen off Oregon coast
The Coast Guard rescued two fishermen from a disabled vessel offshore Oregon Sunday. Watchstanders at the 13th Coast Guard District command center in Seattle received a report at 9:21 p.m. Friday that the 66-foot fishing vessel, F/V Lodestar, lost all means of propulsion and was stranded in a storm battling 8-to-12-foot waves and over 40-knot winds approximately 180 miles offshore Coos Bay. >click to read< 06:59
Maine’s lobster industry and its supporters are fighting back after Seafood Watch placed lobster on a list
Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch on Sept. 5 added the U.S. lobster fishery to a “red list” of seafood to avoid because it’s harvested in ways that are likely to harm wildlife or the environment. American lobster was included because of the risk that endangered North Atlantic right whales can become entangled in vertical lobstering lines. Fourteen types of seafood were added to the list. Members and supporters of the Maine lobster industry, which landed 108 million pounds of lobster in 2021 at a value of $735 million, immediately denounced the listing as unfair. No right whale deaths can be attributed to Maine gear, the industry backers said, and there have been no documented entanglements in Maine gear since 2004. >click to read< 19:17
Ida grounded this shrimper’s boat, then thieves raided it. Now a fundraiser aims to help.
Rita Verdin of Golden Meadow said her husband, Rodney, returns to the marsh to check on his boat, La Belle Idee, and each week finds more is missing. She estimates thieves have stolen about $20,000 so far, including the propeller, rudder, generator and other electronics. Rita said she reached out to the news industry after the family couldn’t find help anywhere else. Hearing the news, Lt. Gov. Nungesser and the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board reached out to New Orleans Chef Amy Sins, who is also president of Fill the Needs, a nonprofit that aids with ongoing hurricane-recovery efforts. >click to read< 17:32 >click here Hurricane Ida- Louisiana Shrimper – Fill the Needs and please donate if you can.
Hawaii Longline Fishery Achieves Global Sustainability Certification
The Hawaii Longline Association’s swordfish, bigeye, and yellowfin tuna fishery has achieved certification for sustainable fishing practices, the Marine Stewardship Council announced today. The fishery is the first Hawaii fishery to enter the MSC program. The MSC Fisheries Standard is a globally recognized standard used to assess if a fishery is well-managed and reflects the most up-to-date understanding of internationally accepted fisheries science and management. The certification follows a rigorous 16-month review carried out by third-party assessment body Control Union UK Limited. >click to read< 16:09
Florida Keys spiny lobster industry hit by housing crisis, labor shortage
Living where you work in Florida is a real problem for thousands of state residents, and it’s causing problems across industries. Harvesting spiny lobster, also known as the rock lobster, is bigger in the Keys than in most places, but folks can’t get crews to fully staff their boats. “Keys housing is too expensive for crew members to typically live, so they’re having to commute from places like Homestead, Florida, all the way out to the Keys. The fishermen really talked a lot about how important it is to have knowledgeable crew on these boats to make sure you’re avoiding citations.” A silver lining on the labor issue is that while older fishers are getting out of the fishery, experts are seeing more younger fishers coming in. >click to read< 14:20
Fishermen Unable to Sustain Rocketing Fuel Costs
The Killybegs Fishermen’s Organisation (KFO) has called for immediate political action to alleviate the soaring cost of fuel which has many fishermen on the brink and is causing untold hardship and anxiety for the industry. Chief Executive, Seán O’Donoghue said that the Irish Government has been given approval for such a support scheme for the sector, which is already in place in many other EU member states. Governments in those countries have acted swiftly to provide a beleaguered industry with financial support to offset the huge spike in fuel costs. >click to read< 13:14
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update September 12, 2022
For decades now, the CCA has done their best to turn “bycatch” into a four-letter word, especially commercial bycatch. They’ve used the term “bycatch” to justify their failed attempts to enact net bans and gamefish bills! They’ve used the term “bycatch” to justify banning shrimp trawling in North Carolina! They’ve used the term “bycatch” to justify almost every current restriction on commercial fishermen and commercial fishing gear! >click to read<. To read all the updates >click here<, for older updates listed as NCFA >click here< 09:18
My View – Back to proven port basics
The future of our 399-year-old port community, our ocean-centric culture, is bring maltreated by astonishing contradictions, some plain self-serving against the good of our community, others just embarrassingly incoherent. There are folks who will claim that fishing is “near the end” with “not enough biomass,” with some fishers even declaring near tears that “we are the last generation,” while the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth School for Marine Science & Technology offers science that lucrative fish species are actually dying of old age in the fertile Atlantic, as the industry remains without advanced catch technology to very selectively harvest only those species in ample abundance. >click to read< 07:52
The day the Queen came to Hull’s Fish Dock
As the Royal train steamed slowly into the station, the sun shone suddenly through the grey clouds and misty rain that had darkened the day. The Queen’s first visit to Hull was made on Saturday May 18, 1957, and accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, she was cheered every step of the way. The city was the departure point for the Royal Yacht Britannia for the couple’s state visit to Denmark, but before that they spent a total of seven hours in the city. A highlight of the tour was a trip to the (St Andrew’s) Fish Dock. Bobbers were discharging the catch of the trawler Princess Elizabeth, and Prince Philip jumped from the dock on to the deck of the vessel to watch the fish being hauled out of the hold. >click to read< 21:11
Norh Carolina: Commercial fishermen are not yet alarmed by court ruling
Although the N.C. Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that the state can be sued for alleged failure to protect North Carolina’s fisheries, state officials and advocates for commercial fishermen are not yet alarmed. Glenn Skinner, executive director of the N.C. Fisheries Association, a trade and lobbying group for North Carolina commercial fishermen, said Tuesday it’s his understanding the appeals court verdict only rules that the CCA and its 86 individual plaintiffs have “standing,” which is the right to bring the suit. “This ruling was not based on factual evidence in the case, it just says it can move forward,” Skinner said. “We’re not shocked by this. >click to read< 13:36
Maine lobstermen, politicians rally in protest of fishing restrictions and Seafood Watch’s recommended boycott
At a rally in Portland’s Old Port on Friday, they protested a federal judge’s ruling issue Thursday allowing the National Marine Fisheries Service, a branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association to impose limits on where and how lobstermen fish in order to protect endangered North Atlantic Right Whales. The rally was also protesting Seafood Watch, a California-based sustainable seafood advocacy group affiliated with the Monterey Bay Aquarium, now recommending food distributors and restaurants boycott Maine lobster in the name of saving the whales. Video, >click to read< 09:55
Greenpeace UK blocked in Poole Harbour ahead of protest
Greenpeace UK has been thwarted in their attempts to extend its boulder barrier in the South West Deeps to block industrial fishing, which it says damages marine habitats by dragging heavy nets across the seafloor. On Thursday, September 8, activists and crew members attempting to load eight more boulders onto the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise while docked at Poole Quay were blocked after threats of legal action were allegedly made by the Marine Management Organisation (MMO). It is understood, after the MMO liaised with Poole Harbour Commissioners, the gates to Bulwark Quay where the ship is berthed were locked. >click to read< 09:00
FFAW Responds to Seafood Watch “Avoid” Placement of Snow Crab, Norther American Lobster
The FFAW is responding to the US-based Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch which has placed North American lobster and Canadian snow crab among seafood species to “avoid.” The reason is based on the potential impact of gear on the North Atlantic right whale which is prone to entanglements with surface gear. The Fisheries Union says the North Atlantic right whale is not commonly found in waters around Newfoundland and Labrador. According to the union, there have only been three sightings of North Atlantic right whales in waters around this province in the last number of years, and no reports of entanglements. >click to read< 07:59
Maine’s leaders seek more time on whale protection rules
Maine Gov. Janet Mills is seeking to delay new federal whale protection rules, citing fears the state’s commercial lobstermen won’t be able to comply. In a letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Mills urges federal fisheries regulators to extend the period for collecting public comment on the new regulations, which are aimed at protecting critically endangered north Atlantic right whales by setting a seasonal closure and requiring modifications to gear. Mills said she believes it is “unconscionable” that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration only plans to hold one remote public hearing on the new regulations, which call for reducing by 90% the number of Atlantic Coast fixed gear fisheries, including lobster industry. >click to read< 15:14
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