Daily Archives: December 30, 2022
Storm seas hampers Dungeness crab harvest for North Bay consumers
The latest hitch in the thrice-delayed crab season for the North Bay is the weather forecast, with encroaching storms making the Saturday season opener miserable if not outright hazardous for the crab fleet. “We have a collision of two masses,” meteorologist Rick Canepa said. Bodega Bay crab fisherman Dick Ogg labeled the forecast “treacherous.” The series of storms could make the “first reasonable” day to go to sea and lay crab pots to Jan. 3, Ogg said. As for heading out Saturday, “Some guys will try. It’s possible. God bless ‘em,” Ogg said. “But even if they get the crab, it may not reach the market until (January) second.” Sal Svedise, general manager of Santa Rosa Seafood, agreed. >click to read< 18:05
Doug Dixon, Pacific Fishermen Shipyard, Receives King Neptune Award
To recognize his life-long contribution to the North Pacific Fishing Industry and his countless hours of community service, the Norwegian Commercial Club (NCC) presented John Douglas Dixon, Pacific Fishermen Shipyard, with its highest honor, the King Neptune Award, during the 70th Annual Fishermen’s Night in December. In 1977, when the king crab biomass and value rose dramatically, Dixon headed north to MARCO Shipyard to Seattle to design and build crab boats. He was able to guide fishermen on what they wanted in their new boats. Mr. Dixon worked with Norwegian-American fishing pioneers of the day, including highliners and their vessels like the F/V NORTHWESTERN of Deadliest Catch fame, together with sales of the multitude of different types of hydraulic machinery MARCO invented. >click to read< 13:04
Follow the Science? US Ignored Own Scientists’ Warning in Backing Atlantic Wind Farm
US government scientists warned federal regulators the South Fork offshore wind farm near the Rhode Island coast threatened the Southern New England Cod, a species so venerated in the region a wooden carving of it hangs in the Massachusetts state house. The warnings were delivered in unpublished correspondence weeks before Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management authorized the 12-turbine South Fork plan in November 2021. And they serve to underscore the potential ecological consequences and environmental tradeoff of a coming offshore wind boom along the US East Coast. President Joe Biden wants the US to deploy 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by the end of the decade. >click to read< 10:15
Crab season opens with frustration in San Mateo County – late start and half pots
Commercial crab fishing out of Half Moon Bay will open at midnight on New Year’s Eve following several delays over concerns about humpback whales in the area but a late start on top of other restrictions have cut into profits for frustrated local fishers. Local fishermen like Brittany Binkley, who fishes out of Pillar Point Harbor with her husband Adam Johnson, are worried the combination of the late start and half pots will make it difficult to turn a profit. Daniel Thoresen, who also fishes out of Pillar Point, said he is frustrated because he and his crew are not sure how much the crab will sell for and the delayed season pushed the fishermen deeper into winter. >click to read< 08:33
