Daily Archives: November 2, 2022
Coast Guard halts illegal use of “paper captains” in WA-based tuna fishing operation
The Coast Guard said in a statement last week that it intervened Oct. 19 to stop the use of illegal foreign nationals on a commercial fishing vessel that operated out of the state of Washington. A Coast Guard Sector Columbia River law enforcement team inspected an 89-foot fishing vessel and determined that the vessel was in violation of the Jones Act — specifically, they were in violation for utilizing a “paper captain.” Paper captain is a term applied to an individual listed on documents as a U.S.-flagged vessel’s captain but in actuality serves as a deckhand or in a similar lower-level capacity. It is federal law that a documented vessel be under the command of a U.S. citizen. In addition to violating the Jones Act, the vessel had several safety violations, including: Degraded immersion suits; an inoperable Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) hydrostatic release; and failure to conduct safety drills. >click to read< 18:00
The great US offshore wind-power boom has begun to falter
Plans for massive offshore wind farms that President Joe Biden hopes will power as many as 10 million American homes by 2030 are starting to wobble. On Monday, New Jersey utility Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. said it’s deciding whether to pull out of Ocean Wind 1, a proposed project in the Atlantic Ocean that would generate 1.1 gigawatts – enough for 500,000 homes. Less than two weeks earlier, New England utility Avangrid Inc. said its similarly sized Commonwealth Wind project was no longer viable because of higher costs and supply chain woes. Offshore wind projects are “facing a number of headwinds,” Soaring inflation, rising interest rates and supply chain snarls around the world are threatening to hobble the offshore wind boom that both federal and local policy makers have been planning for years off the US East Coast. >click to read< 13:28
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 47’x15′ Novi Lobster Boat, Rebuilt, and Updated
To review specifications, information, and 30 photos’, >click here<, To see all the boats in this series >click here< 11:38
Fishing industry in Lee County ‘wiped out’ by Hurricane Ian
Among the wreckage, a small lime-green building, the Island Seafood Market, is somehow still standing. Owner Casey Streeter has had to tear out everything that was once inside. But the biggest hit was to what’s behind the shop. Streeter said all of their grouper boats were damaged by Ian, and even worse, they lost their docks and ice house to the hurricane. “I couldn’t believe it,” Jesse Clapham recalled seeing the damage for the first time. “It blew my mind.” Clapham is the fleet manager at Erickson and Jensen Seafood company. He’s worked on shrimp boats for 35 years and he’s dealt with hurricanes before – but nothing like this. Video, >click to read< 10:21
Quick Action of Crew Member Saved Fishing Skipper’s Life
The quick action of a crew member on a Donegal fishing vessel probably saved the life of his skipper when his arm was trapped by a trawl door, an investigation has found. The Marine Casualty Investigation Board (MCIB) report into the incident involving the whitefish trawler F/V Marliona has noted that the trawl door was not secured adequately and that it was in the wrong position. This made it prone to movement from side to side. At the time of the incident, the vessel was taking a slight roll,,, >click to read< 08:51
Maine Lobstermen’s Association Assails Inadequate and Inequitable Vessel Speed Rule
KENNEBUNK, Maine – (November 1, 2022), In official comments submitted this week, the Maine Lobstermen’s Association (MLA) called on the federal government to apply the law fairly as it develops new rules that would protect North Atlantic right whales from vessel strikes – which are known to have killed multiple endangered whales in U.S. waters in recent years. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has proposed expanding the current mandatory seasonal speed restrictions of 10 knots or less in designated areas of the ocean and require most vessels measuring 35 to 65 feet in length to comply. Though MLA supports the proposed measures in the speed rule, it objects to NOAA’s continuing pattern of over-regulating U.S. commercial fisheries and under-regulating other sectors, leaving endangered whales inadequately protected from deadly human interactions. >click to read<07:53
