Monthly Archives: November 2022
Fishermen’s ‘terrifying’ ordeal on sinking boat off Lizard point – crewman and skipper are now unable to work
Two fishermen who survived a terrifying ordeal when a fishing vessel started to sink are still struggling to keep their heads above water financially due to the loss of his boat. Crewman Callum Hardwick, of Ottery St Mary, Devon, and skipper Brett Jose, of Cadgwith, Cornwall, were dramatically rescued at sea when their boat F/V Crig A Tana sunk off Lizard Point on November 12. The boat was the youngest vessel in the Cadgwith fishing fleet. The local community in Cadgwith Cove is rallying around to help the pair get back on their feet and an online Crowdfunder has been set up. The target is to raise £10,000 and half of it has already been achieved in a short space of time. >click to read< 08:18
Fall fish stock surveys won’t happen again
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans says 2022 will be another year without fish stock surveys, as it prioritizes transition work needed to replace older vessels in an aging fleet. The scientific surveys are used to assess the health of major fish stocks and are critical in determining quotas for commercial fisheries worth hundreds of millions of dollars in Atlantic Canada. Those inside the industry say DFO is falling short on their mandate and can’t make the most informed decisions on future quotas due to the limited data. >click to read< 07:33
A fisherman has died in the hospital after he was rescued from a sinking fishing boat
Emergency crews raced to Luce Bay near to Port William, Newton Stewart, yesterday afternoon. Officers also scrambled to the area after the alarm was raised at around 4.30pm. The man was rushed to Galloway Community Hospital in an ambulance. But police confirmed that he tragically passed away this morning. They have launched a probe into the incident to establish the full circumstances behind the death. Photos, >click to read< 12:19
Court decision offers new hope for Maine lobstermen fighting new regulations
A small sign of hope for Maine Lobstermen as a federal judge in D.C. District Court has ruled that new lobster fishing restrictions designed to protect North Atlantic Right Whales will be delayed until 2024 to give the government time to draft more effective regulations. “We need to have time to get this done right,” said Maine Lobstering Union Executive Director Virginia Olsen. Judge Boasberg had previously ruled that fishing restrictions issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA didn’t go far enough to protect the whales. His new ruling sends the current biological opinion, which is the document containing the rules and the science behind them, back to NOAA. >click to read< 10:43
What a transformation! Before and after photos as Ross Tiger deck works complete
Vital renovation works to the deck of historic trawler Ross Tiger are now complete. The scheme, which started on Monday 5 September, has included removing the rotten timber deck to reveal the steel deck below which was then inspected, grit blasted and painted. Some of the timber was able to be removed for conservation and will return to the museum’s collection. The visual and ultrasound inspections revealed the steelwork to be in much better condition than it could have been, with only minor repairs required. Photos, >click to read< 10:08
Did climate change really kill billions of snow crabs in Alaska? Here’s what experts say
Some fishers and crab experts have put forward a different idea: They’ve suggested that fishing, particularly the unintentional capture of crabs in fishing gear known as trawls, also contributed to the loss of the snow crab, or at the very least, impeded the species’ recovery from low population levels. The snow crab fishing season closure has amplified a chorus of concerns around Alaska’s trawling industry — mainly from within the fishery sector itself — and the knowledge gaps around its potential impact on fisheries. >click to read< 08:29
WA crayfish are about to turn in unison and head for deeper waters on ‘whites run’
Millions of crayfish are set to descend into deep waters off WA’s coast this week, in a “unique” migratory march. The annual “whites run” is a natural phenomenon in which juvenile western rock lobsters from Bunbury to Kalbarri moult their red shells, becoming pale and soft. They then turn to exactly 283 degrees north-west and move from shallow coastal reefs to deep water. “And once they get into that loop and current, they turn and walk into the current and they walk northwards.” Dr de Lestang said lobsters tapped into magnetic forces in much the same way as homing pigeons. >click to read< 15:55
Disaster requests for Bering Sea crabbers highlight difficulty of getting financial relief to fishermen
The current process of getting financial relief to fishermen is cumbersome and takes a long time, but Bering Sea crabbers are hoping the plight of the snow crab population might change the way financial relief is delivered to fishermen. Gabriel Prout is a second-generation Bering Sea crab fisherman from Kodiak; he owns the F/V Silver Spray with his dad and brothers. He said there’s one big problem with the current process for handing out fishery disaster funding. “If you’re going to have a fishery disaster request program, you should be able to make it so the money is getting into the hands of those affected very quickly,” said Prout. Right now, it takes years for money to reach skippers and their crews. >click to read< 13:44
Oregon: Ocean commercial Dungeness crab season delayed
The ocean commercial Dungeness crab season opener is delayed until at least Dec. 16 for the entire Oregon coast. Pre-season testing shows crabs are too low in meat yield in some areas. Elevated domoic acid also was detected in some crab viscera (guts). Targeted to open Dec. 1, Oregon’s ocean commercial Dungeness crab season can be delayed so consumers get a high-quality product and crabs are not wasted. The next round of crab meat yield and biotoxin testing will occur in the coming weeks. Results help determine if the season opens Dec. 16 or is further delayed or split into areas with different opening dates. >click to read< 11:41
Jerry Leeman: 350 years of experience
15 captains showed up today in Gloucester, Mass., and their total experience together was over 350 years of knowledge. We discussed the white hake issue. They say the biomass isn’t the problem they’re just not seeing small hake. Well, fishermen don’t see small white hake very often due to us using 6.5″ diamond cod ends. The fish are small and slimy they slide right out the meshes. Hell, a medium pollock can swim out the mesh’s and they are twice to three times the size of small hake. Besides the point is a regulatory community that has never asked anyone in the room anything about fishing, have never asked what we were seeing, nor our thoughts about any species. Please >click to read the rest here< 10:27
Fishermen warn Jersey’s marine industry ‘cannot survive’ without assistance
Jersey‘s fishing industry is at risk as long-standing fishermen leave the job, saying they simply ‘cannot survive anymore’. In the last few years, the fleet has dropped from around 60 to 30 boats, and some have even moved to the UK where they can make more money. Fishermen blame ongoing tensions with France over licences and the rising cost of bait and fuel for the industry now reaching ‘crisis point’. Video, >click to read< 08:48
Scuttled Offshore Wind Plans Are Good News For Ratepayers, North Atlantic Right Whales
The hype about offshore wind energy keeps getting scuttled by reality. That’s the clear conclusion from last month’s announcement that Spanish utility company, Avangrid, was halting work on the proposed 1,200-megawatt Commonwealth Wind project because it was “no longer viable.” The company also announced it was delaying the start of another offshore project, the 800-megawatt Park City Wind project. While Avangrid has since said it would still move forward on the Commonwealth project, here’s the undeniable truth: the fewer offshore wind turbines get built, the better it will be for ratepayers, the commercial fishing industry, and the critically endangered North Atlantic Right Whale. >click to read< 07:48
New Bedford Fishermen Hand out 50 Turkeys to Families in Need
If you ask me what my favorite time of year is, I’ll gladly tell you it’s Thanksgiving without hesitation. Surprisingly it has nothing to do with the food and everything to do with paying it forward. That’s precisely what three local fishermen did. On the evening of Thursday, November 17th around 5:15 PM, a few crew members from the F/V E.S.S. Pursuit posted up by the docks with a truckbed full of frozen turkeys. They had just left the Kings Highway Stop & Shop in New Bedford with 50 frozen turkeys they had purchased with their hard-earned money. The plan was to give to any family in need of a turkey this year, the motif was the urge to pay it forward. Leading the charge was New Bedford native Ryun Coleman alongside his crew members Taylor Newton and Robert Pina. Together they pitched in so 50 families can have a Thanksgiving they’ll never forget. >click to read< 18:20
Conch is Big Business but Still a Mystery
On a blustery November day, in choppy waters somewhere off the western shore of the Island, Capt. Otto Osmers winched in his first conch pot of the day. It was a disappointing haul: only one conch was a keeper. “They’re such a weird animal,” said Mr. Osmers. “You’d think that, since they’re just a snail, they’d be easier to figure out.” At 22, Mr. Osmers is one of the youngest captains on Island, having saved up his teenage shellfishing earnings to purchase his uncle Tom Osmers’s old boat, A. D. Thor. When the weather is good during the active spring and fall conch season, he might spend all day on the water, pulling up conch pots, sorting out catches and refilling the mesh bait bags with chunks of horseshoe crab and herring. >click to read< 15:47
N.L. asks federal government for ‘immediate’ improvements to Labrador search and rescue
Labrador Affairs Minister Lisa Dempster said Friday the statement was about following up on the 17 recommendations made by the provincial public inquiry into ground search and rescue operations, in its report released in November 2021. “This statement is applying pressure for the federal government to come forward and address some of the gaps that were identified in the inquiry that was just finished,” Dempster said. “We have around 9,000 kilometres of coastline on the island, for example, and we have more than 17,000 kilometres of coastline around Labrador and we have no resources based in Labrador.” >click to read< 14:09
Maine Lobstermen’s Association Statement on Recent Court Decision
On November 17, Judge James Boasberg issued a remedy order in the lawsuit, Center for Biological Diversity v. Raimondo. Following is a statement from Patrice McCarron, executive director of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association. “While the Court’s decision offers lobstermen some hope, it by no means resolves the issues facing our industry. We appreciate that the Judge recognizes the need to avoid massive disruption of the fishery, but the simple truth is lobstermen are still mandated to achieve a 90% risk reduction in 2 years which cannot happen without causing significant harm to the fishery. Please >click here to read the press release< 10:12
Alaska, Washington senators team up to seek disaster declaration for closed crab harvests
Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan of Alaska and Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell of Washington sent the request to U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. The senators asked the secretary to act “as quickly as possible” to invoke the disaster declaration provision of the primary law governing marine fisheries, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. “Many of these fishermen and businesses hail from both Alaska and Washington, and the impacts of these fishery disasters extend far beyond our states to consumers across the United States and the world,” the senators’ letter said. The State of Alaska puts the estimated loss of ex-vessel value – the amount paid directly to fishers for their catches – at $287.7 million,,, >click to read< 09:16
Lobster industry leaders vow to continue fight to protect Maine’s iconic fishery
Maine lobster industry officials told business leaders Thursday that they will continue to fight what they see as unfair and unnecessary federal rules meant to protect endangered right whales. “We are well over a $2 billion industry to the state primarily operating in communities without other job prospects,” Patrice McCarron, head of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association said. “It cannot be overstated.” Lobsterman Curt Brown, who is also a marine biologist, said the industry has been taking steps to protect the whales since the 1990s, including replacing floating ropes, using weak links so ropes break more easily and removing 30,000 miles of rope from the Gulf of Maine. >click to read< 07:34
Hull’s once mighty deep-sea fleet down to one, as MP says Tories have ‘betrayed’ fishing industry
One of the two remaining Hull-based deep-sea trawlers will retire before the end of the year, as a city MP said the Government had “betrayed” the fishing industry over distant-water quotas in the wake of Brexit. The Farnella is owned by UK Fisheries, which also operates the supertrawler Kirkella. The company said a dozen “skilled and loyal” crew members were set to lose their jobs and it was working to find them other roles in the industry. “This is a sad day for us,” said Jane Sandell, the company’s chief executive. “The UK’s failure to negotiate adequate quotas for us in our traditional grounds in the northern external waters has led to this difficult decision.” Video, >click to read< 06:46
Judge rules two-year extension before lobster industry regulation changes
A Thursday afternoon opinion was confirmed with bipartisan agreement between environmental groups and Maine lobstermen intervenors to allow the federal government to come up with new regulations to reduce right whale entanglements. Judge James Boasberg of D.C. ruled in favor of the two-year extension as new rules from National Marine Fisheries Service were set to be released this fall. Video, >click to read< 20:43
Rock the Shrimpers Relief Benefit Sunday
Restore Fort Myers Beach Arches will be hosting a “Rock the Shrimpers Relief Benefit” on Sunday at Torched Bar & Grill in Cape Coral. The concert will benefit the Fort Myers Beach shrimping industry, with the proceeds going delivered to Trico Shrimp Company, Erickson & Jenson Shrimp Company “and independent shrimpers on Fort Myers Beach equally depending on the number of boats they own,” Restore Fort Myers Beach Arches President Steven Ray McDonald said. >click to read, with schedule< 17:24
Sunday benefit for Fort Myers Beach shrimpers hard hit by Hurricane Ian – Only two of the 40-plus boats registered to Fort Myers Beach have been capable of fishing since September when Hurricane Ian pushed most of the fleet onshore and decimated the industry’s infrastructure, shrimpers said. “We may not ever recover from this,” said shrimper Blaine Green, a few weeks after the storm. “It could all go away. And it wouldn’t surprise me but I hope it doesn’t.” Photos, Video, >click to read<
What’s wrong with the management?!! By Jerry Leeman
So, I’m using this piece of artwork, because I’m not driving 3 states away to pull up all my tracks. This is only a piece of artwork depicting a small percentage of the ground I’ve covered in the Gulf of Maine and George’s Bank. We all talk about the best science, while the best science is done when you have the best observations. That is the whole basis of science is study thru observations. How come a man like me who has over 14 years documented at sea in 21 years not have a voice in the management of our nation’s fishery? No one has ever asked me what I am seeing. They just hand me a piece of paper every time there’s a rule change. Then I figure out how I’m going to manage what little abundance they allot me. Please click to read the rest. >click to read< 15:07
Video Update: Coast Guard rescues crew of sinking fishing vessel
The Coast Guard rescued two people from a sinking commercial fishing vessel Thursday approximately five miles from Engelhard, North Carolina, in the Pamlico Sound. Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector North Carolina received notification at approximately 2 a.m. from the 35-foot fishing vessel, Heathers Breeze, stating they were taking on water. A Coast Guard Station Hatteras Inlet 47-foot Motor Lifeboat responded and transferred a crew member to the vessel to assist. The fishing vessel sank despite attempts to dewater and the mariners were taken to Station Hatteras Inlet. Video, >click here< -USCG- 13:24
US regulators to vote on removal of four dams on lower Klamath River
The largest dam demolition and river restoration plan in the world could be close to reality Thursday as U.S. regulators vote on a plan to remove four aging hydro-electric structures, reopening hundreds of miles of California river habitat to imperiled salmon. The vote by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on the lower Klamath River dams is the last major regulatory hurdle and the biggest milestone facing a $500 million demolition proposal championed by Native American tribes and environmentalists for years. But plans to remove the dams have been controversial. “The whole question is, will this add to the increased production of salmon? It has everything to do with what’s going on in the ocean (and) we think this will turn out to be a futile effort,” >click to read< 11:10
How Did Gulf of Maine Lobster Get Canceled?
No one confessed to knowing that, just a few weeks before, the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch, an agenda setting program for sustainability-minded seafood buyers and chefs, had shocked the industry by placing Gulf of Maine lobster on its “red list” of species to avoid. Not Dodie Neo, an Ohioan retiree who’d been in line for 45 minutes when I approached her. Knowing about the red listing, however, wouldn’t have stopped her from ordering. “The aquarium has a right to put lobster on whatever list it wants,” she told me. “And I have a right to eat it.” Way down the road, at Highroller Lobster Co., in Portland’s Old Port, the crowd skewed younger and hipper, but wait times were just as long and customers just as surprised to hear about lobster getting canceled. After some discussion, most in line seemed to agree with Rick Conlin, visiting from western Massachusetts, that it didn’t much matter. “I vote for the lobstermen,” he said. >click to read< 10:23
Newfoundland’s fishing towns were built to survive, but Fiona changed the game
For generations, Cory Munden’s family has been building and living on the same piece of oceanside land in the southwestern Newfoundland town of Port aux Basques. The town is a former fishing village, and like many of the houses destroyed by post-tropical storm Fiona on the morning of Sept. 24, the Munden family home was built by fishers. The land on which it stood was bought by Munden’s fisherman grandfather because it was close to where he worked, and it was protected by an offshore island. For 70 years, the houses on that land withstood the worst weather Newfoundland had to offer. Then Fiona hit. >click to read< 09:41
Fishing jobs declined in Alaska in 2021
Last year brought another series of job losses for the Alaskan fishing industry, even after the massive declines in 2020. Thet’ Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development’s analysis of fishing jobs, which it releases annually, shows that 2021 did not bring a full recovery back to the industry the way it did to others after the low during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Overall, the industry lost another 134 jobs, on top of the approximately 1,000 it lost in 2020. “While some harvests were notably large in 2021, no fishery significantly boosted its employment,” wrote Joshua Warren, an economist for the Alaska Department of Labor, in the report. “Larger harvests don’t necessarily translate to job growth.” Though there are commercial fisheries operating all over Alaska year-round, employment usually spikes from May through September for salmon harvesting. >click to read< 08:55
Public comment period opens on draft offshore wind areas
The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on Wednesday announced that a 30-day public comment period has begun on eight draft offshore wind energy areas, including off the North Carolina coast. BOEM said it will hold virtual public meetings to engage the fishing community and environmental organizations to gather more information on the proposed areas and discuss next steps. The proposed areas cover about 1.7 million acres off North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. The distances to their closest points range from about 19 to 77 nautical miles offshore. >click to read< 08:10
Sustainability group pulls lobster certification over whales
Representatives for Marine Stewardship Council, which is based in London, said Wednesday that the suspension of the Gulf of Maine lobster fishery’s certificate will go into effect on Dec. 15. The organization said in a statement that the danger North Atlantic right whales face from entanglement in fishing gear is a “serious and tragic situation” of “grave concern to all those involved in the fishing industry.” The Maine Lobstermen’s Association feels the MSC decertification is the “direct result of the federal government’s overreach and its misuse of science in overestimating risk from the Maine lobster fishery,” MLA Executive Director Patrice McCarron said Wednesday. >click to read< 17:42
Estero Bay captains concerned over slow progress in stranded shrimp boat removal
Almost two months after Hurricane Ian, shrimp boat captains say not much has changed with the mangled mess of boats on Estero Bay. Approximately 50 boats are either lodged ashore or sitting at the bottom of the bay. Almost two weeks ago, a 160-foot crane was brought in to help move the boats and help them float once again. “Nothing is getting done out here. As far as I know, they have the one crane out here. This is the second boat in two weeks,” said shrimp boat Captain Roger Schmall. This week the crane finally began to refloat a second shrimp boat called “Lexi Joe”. Video, >click to read< 16:51
