Daily Archives: November 29, 2022
MCIB Investigation: Trawl door in wrong position causes serious injury
The Irish Marine Casualty Investigation Board published its reports regarding a serious injury onboard on the fishing vessel FV Marliona, while alongside Greencastle Harbour, Co Donegal, on 3 February 2021. At approximately 14.00 hrs the Skipper (Casualty) and crew were working the fishing gear onboard the vessel for the day and were getting the gear ready for the next voyage to sea. The Casualty was working in the wheelhouse, when he was asked by Crewmember B to slack out the starboard winch as he and Crewmember C were changing a chain-link on the starboard trawl door. Photos, >click to read< 16:32
Forcing fishermen to pay for the privilege of being monitored
Imagine you live somewhere in small-town America where residents routinely exceed the posted speed limits. To address this problem, the town council votes to require a police officer to ride along with each member of the community every time they venture out in an automobile. You might think something like that could never happen. Yet that is precisely the position into which the Department of Commerce has placed the nation’s deep-sea fishermen. For more than 30 years, the Magnuson-Stevens Act has authorized the Commerce Department’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to require commercial fishing boats to carry observers with them to monitor their adherence to federal fishing regulations. When NOAA ran out of the money it needed to keep this program going to the extent it deemed necessary in the U.S. Atlantic Coast herring fisheries, the agency decided without congressional authorization to shift the responsibility of paying for these third-party observers to the fishermen themselves. >click to read< 14:54
Video: Coast Guard medevacs commercial fisherman 40 miles northwest of Johns Pass, Florida
The Coast Guard medevaced a 65-year-old man from a commercial fishing vessel 40 miles northwest of Johns Pass, Florida, Monday. A Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew responded and safely transported the man to Tampa General Hospital in stable condition. Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg watchstanders received a VHF marine radio call on channel 16 at approximately 2:23 p.m. from the fishing vessel F/V Rachel Nicole, stating the captain was suffering from abdominal pain. A sister vessel met the Rachel Nicole and escorted the rest of the crew back to port. “Having an VHF-FM radio on board allowed us to get our resources to the correct location within ample time,” said pilot Lt. Weston Dodson. >Video< -USCG- U.S. Coast Guard 7th District PA Detachment Tampa Bay
The Honolulu Fish Auction Celebrates Its 70th Anniversary
Commercial fishing in Hawai’i was banned during World War II and slowly resurfaced by the early 1950s. The United Fishing Agency launched the Honolulu Fish Auction on Aug. 5, 1952, and it celebrated its 70th anniversary this year at Honolulu’s Pier 38. The agency says it’s the only fish auction in Hawaii and the only large-scale tuna auction in the Pacific this side of Tokyo. Michael Goto, who has been running the auction for a decade, says seafood is a much bigger industry in Hawaii than many people might realize. >click to read< 10:42
Twin-rigging yields results
Brim’s fresher trawler F/V Akurey is fishing now on the Hali grounds and according to skipper Jón Frímann Eiríksson, they were a few days into the trip before the weather improved enough to work both trawls. ‘To start with there wasn’t weather for fishing, practically blowing a storm, but it’s dropped away now. Today it’s been fine. We’ve been able to tow two trawls all day and fishing has been good,’ he said, and estimated that the catch so far is around 80 tonnes. The bulk of the catch is cod, plus some other species such as saithe. >click to read< 09:24
N.S. lobster season kicks off in one fishing area after one-day delay
The lobster season kicked off in one of Nova Scotia’s most lucrative fisheries Tuesday morning after a one-day delay. Opening day, referred to as dumping day, was delayed Monday in Lobster Fishing Area 33 due to bad weather. LFA 33 extends from Cow Bay in Halifax County south to Port La Tour, in Shelburne County. Lobster boats were finally able to leave Eastern Passage, N.S., and Sambro, N.S., before sunrise Tuesday. Lobster season is still delayed for at least another day in Lobster Fishing Area 34 due to weather conditions. >click to read< 08:51
Port Orford has $2.3-million for dock cranes upgrades project
Port Orford’s port is looking for a new dock crane or two, and it’s planning to spend more than $2,000,000 for upgrades. The Port says its crane replacement project involves two 50-ton cranes used to launch vessels going to sea and retrieve them when they return. The project also includes new product handling hoists and other seafood product handling equipment. The Port says it, “lands an average $5,000,000 in ex-vessel value seafood each year, contributing an average of $7,000,000 to Oregon’s economy, and employing approximately 30% of the local workforce in commercial fishing, processing, and related jobs.” >click to read< 08:05
