Monthly Archives: December 2022
Doomed to Fail: In the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, a quiet reckoning over offshore wind
Crippling European electricity prices, soaring Northeastern heating bills, looming diesel-fuel shortages, and OPEC+ drama have captured headlines for months. More quietly, offshore-wind energy developers are discovering their projects’ economic infeasibility, undermining states’ offshore-wind goal of generating 40,000 MW by 2040. The Biden Administration must recognize this is a pipe dream, or it will cost Americans billions trying to salvage an industry doomed to fail. October brought the first sign of troubles,,, Massachusetts’ Commonwealth Wind, Mayflower Wind project, New Jersey Ocean Wind. All three project developers originally negotiated prices far above wholesale market prices. All three qualified for a production tax credit and additional offshore-wind state tax credits. All three will qualify for a new 30 percent offshore wind investment tax credit which was not available when they made their initial bids. Yet this federal and state largesse has still failed to keep the projects afloat. >click to read this< 18:17
Photo Update: Coast Guard responds to fishing vessel aground on Santa Cruz Island
The Coast Guard, state, and local agencies are responding to a fishing vessel that ran aground on Santa Cruz Island Thursday morning. Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles/Long Beach watchstanders received a report from Vessel Assist Ventura that the fishing vessel Speranza Marie, a 60-foot fishing vessel with six people aboard and carrying roughly 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel, ran aground in Chinese Harbor on Santa Cruz Island at approximately 2 a.m. A good Samaritan fishing vessel responded to the incident and safely transferred the six crewmembers to their boat without injury and transported them to Ventura. Photos, >click to read the rest< 13:46
Lummi Nation member sold illegally taken Columbia River salmon
A member of the Lummi Nation and former owner of a wholesale fish processor was sentenced Wednesday, Dec. 14, in U.S. District Court to three years of probation for violating the Lacey Act by selling illegally caught Columbia River salmon. Scott Kinley knew the spring Chinook Columbia fishery was only open to Yakama Nation enrollees who were limited to fishing for subsistence and ceremonial purposes, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. From 2013 to 2019 Kinley operated Native American Fisheries, Inc., a seafood processing plant registered with the American Indian Food Program that was administered by the Intertribal Agricultural Council and funded through the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service. >click to read< 12:31
UK reaches agreement on key fish stocks for 2023
The UK has reached agreements with the EU and Norway, and wider coastal states, to secure valuable fishing opportunities for the UK fishing industry. Negotiating as an independent coastal State, the UK agreed catch levels for 2023 for six important fish stocks in the North Sea including North Sea cod, haddock and herring. This comes as the UK also concluded negotiations on catch limits with coastal States in the North East Atlantic on three more key stocks to the UK fishing fleet – blue whiting, mackerel and atlanto-Scandian herring. In total, UK quota in these stocks will be worth around £256m to the UK fishing industry next year. >click to read< 11:15
Washburn & Doughty boat with East Boothbay chief mate rescue 2 drifting fishermen
At the 11:30 watch change, Goodwin had just come to the pilothouse to relieve the captain, when the captain noticed something in the distance. “Is that a flare?” he asked. Goodwin checked using binoculars and answered, “It’s a life raft.” The small life raft with two fishermen from Destin, Florida was 1.25 nautical miles away. One of the men was standing up in the raft waving a flare. As the Linda Moran’s crew would later learn, that flare was the last of six the fishermen had. The rest were already used to try to signal ships during the two and a half days they drifted in the Gulf of Mexico. 11 photos, >click to read< 08:08
‘Wicked Tuna’ captain pays $13K in tuna sale plea deal
The captain of the fishing vessel Hot Tuna, featured in the hit reality television show “Wicked Tuna,” found himself in some wicked hot water in October 2021 and recently paid for it. The case on nine counts of violation of a commercial fishing license against Capt. Timothy J. “TJ” Ott of Great Neck, New York, was disposed of on Oct. 28, 2022, according to Essex District Attorney spokesperson Carrie Kimball and court documents. Kimball said Ott was ordered to pay $13,500 in restitution. According to a district court clerk, the money goes to the state’s environmental trust fund. >click to read< 07:12
Angry fishermen stage protest at Tees dredging plans including one who’s lost all his crew
Fishermen from Hartlepool, Redcar and Whitby who have seen their livelihoods “decimated” by the shellfish die-offs along the North-east coast joined the rally. Fishermen fear chemicals released by dredging work to develop the Teesside freeport are to blame for the die-offs. Joe Redfern, a fisherman and founder of Whitby’s lobster hatchery, said: “The freeport is a massive government agenda. We are all for the jobs and regeneration and want to see this part of the world flourish and prosper. “But if you are going to do a big dredging operation in the most toxic river in the whole country, take the sediment to landfill. Don’t dump it in the sea. >click to read< 13:06
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 38’x15.5 Novi Scalloper/Lobster boat W/NGOM Scallop Permit
To review specifications, information, and 30 photos’, >click here<, To see all the boats in this series >click here< 11:15
Transport Canada must be ‘more vigilant,’ relatives say two years after N.S. sinking
“My father said, ‘After this trip, this was it,’ because it was quite dangerous,” Michael Francis said during a recent interview at his home in Milton, N.S., a few weeks before the second anniversary of the sinking of the Chief William Saulis. The bodies of Eugene (Geno)Michael Francis, Aaron Cogswell, Leonard Gabriel, Dan Forbes and captain Charles Roberts were never recovered after the 17-metre vessel capsized on Dec. 15, 2020, just off Delaps 
Cove, about 50 kilometres north of Digby, N.S. The body of crew member Michael Drake was swept up on the rocky shoreline. Two years later, Francis and Lori Phillips, the mother of Cogswell, say Dec. 15 is a date that provokes painful memories, unanswered questions and frustration over a Transportation Safety Board investigation that still hasn’t officially delivered its findings. >click to read< 08:43 >Search Results for Chief William Saulis<
Virginia Agrees to Compensate Fishing Industry for Damage from Offshore Wind Farms
Nine states, including Virginia, have agreed to establish a major compensation fund to pay their private commercial and recreational fishing companies for damages caused by offshore wind turbines. Three guesses where the money comes from. The announcement, made December 12, hints at it coming from project developers, but in Virginia of course that is a monopoly utility guaranteed by law to collect all costs from its customers. If the worst fears over CVOW’s impact on commercial fishing prove correct, a shrinking supply of seafood from the continental shelf will likely raise the prices on what is still coming to stores and restaurants. People may pay more both ways. >click to read< 07:31
Lobster season opens with lower catches, $7 shore price
Lobster landings are estimated to be down by as much as up to 40 per cent in some areas of Lobster Fishing Area (LFA) 34 after the first week of the six-month commercial lobster fishery in southwestern Nova Scotia. “Catches are down in our area (LFA 33) 20 to 30 percent, and in LFA 34, I’m hearing they are down as low as 40 percent in some areas,” said Lockeport lobster buyer Mike Cotter, owner of Cotters Seafood Products. “Catches seem to be a little bit stronger the further you go east compared to catches in the west,” he said. The opening shore price was set at $7 a pound compared to a record-setting opening shore price last season of $11 a pound in LFAs 33 and 34 Photos, >click to read< 06:33
Vessel Review – DMITRY KONOPLEV – Newbuild Vivier Crabber Trio for Russian Far East Fishing Company
Russian fishing company the Antey Group will soon take delivery of three new crab boats in a series built by local company Nakhodka Ship Repair Yard (NSRY). Sister vessels Kapitan, Dmitry Konoplev, and Kapitan Khazan are the first three of a planned series of eight vivier crab vessels built by NSRY and designed by the Damen Shipyards Group’s Damen Engineering Saint Petersburg division for operation by various owners in the Okhotsk, Barents, and Bering Seas. Antey said the acquisition of these new crab boats – which are among the first new crab boats to be built in Russia’s Far East in over 30 years – is in line with the goal of modernising the country’s fishing fleet while providing comfortable at-sea living and working conditions for crews. Photos, >click to read< 17:55
‘Without us, you don’t have Louisiana:’ Struggling shrimpers warn lawmakers industry is on brink of collapse
For longtime shrimp boat captain Kip Marquize, it’s a race against time. “We are the heart of Louisiana. Without us, you don’t have Louisiana,” Marquize said as he navigated the channels out of Delacroix and deep into the bayous of St. Bernard Parish. “What I see is our whole state losing its identity on the world stage.” The biggest challenge they face is the sheer mass of shrimp currently being imported by the United States. “The importers, they got so much coming in, they’re starting to buy infrastructure,” Cooper said. “They’re buying freezers. They’re trying to buy processing plants. When they do that, you’re pushing us completely out. “We’re about to lose this industry.” video, >click to read< 14:34
Two bodies found near sunken fishing boat in Jersey
Skipper Michael Michieli and crewmen Larry Simyunn and Jervis Baligat were onboard the L’Ecume II when it collided with a freight ferry on Thursday. A search and recovery operation is ongoing, with specialist equipment being used to inspect the vessel. The fishing trawler collided with the Commodore Goodwill at about 05:30 GMT and sank in about 131ft (40m) of water. A large offshore support vessel was commissioned by the Ports of Jersey to survey the site. Police have not confirmed which of the three men have been found. >click to read< 12:59
Questions over Teesside Freeport’s role when it comes to washed up fish – Andy Brown
A new deep water port is being created to service the offshore wind industry and new facilities are being established to build the turbines. In theory a bustling freeport will usher in a new age of industrial prosperity for a long-neglected part of the north with pesky regulations being swept away so that they don’t delay progress. There is, of course, much to be admired about the project. Unfortunately rushing to build without worrying too much about the consequences for others can also bring big problems. In this case those downsides are having a huge impact on the livelihoods of Yorkshire fishing communities and on the health of a huge area of our coastline. >click to read< 11:26
Maine lobstermen protest Whole Foods after product ban
Lobstermen and women protested Whole Foods in Portland on Monday, after they decided to stop selling Maine lobster. “It’s unfair, it’s unjust and the collateral damage is when others follow the lead that is not found in science and is based on fear,” Rep. Jim Thorne (R-Carmel) said. This is all stemming from the federal government’s stance on Maine lobstermen being a root cause in the endangerment of the Atlantic right whale. “Maine lobster industry is the gold standard of sustainability, and we don’t harm whales,” Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham (R-Winter Harbor) said. Photos, Video, >click to read< 10:07
Tagging along on the secret life of the lobster – tagging them to find out where they go
To the average consumer, a lobster is just a meal sitting on a plate waiting to be eaten. Most have no idea that that meal has wandered hundreds of kilometres on the ocean floor before winding up on the menu. But researchers who have been tagging the crustaceans know the average lobster in the Bay of Fundy can crisscross that bay several times over the course of a year. A lobster caught on Grand Manan can easily make its way to Nova Scotia in a month or two. Many go hundreds of kilometers further. “Some of them go south to George’s bank, some of them go over to Maine, and some of them go up the bay,” said Heather Koopman, Photos, Video, >click to read< 08:52
N.J., N.E., to Consider Fund to Compensate Fishermen for Revenue Lost to Offshore Wind Development
New Jersey is one of nine states that will consider a plan to establish a fund that would compensate commercial fishermen for losses that could be sustained due to impending offshore wind development. The states – Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia – on Monday released a Request for Information (RFI) aimed at receiving input from impacted members of the fishing industry, offshore wind developers, corporate and financial management entities, as well as interested members of the public, to inform efforts to establish a regional fisheries compensatory mitigation fund administrator. “Mark off the area and then compensate us,” commercial fisherman Jim Lovgren, of Point Pleasant, said at a meeting on the topic five years ago,,, Photos, >click to read< 07:38
Surprising Blue Crab Population Develops In Maine
Up in the Gulf of Maine, outside the crabs’ historic range, these creatures are a source of surprise. But over the past few years, it has become more and more common for people to find blue crabs. Lobster fishermen and women are catching them in their lobster pots. Divers are seeing them when they search for scallops. Beachgoers are spotting them in tide pools. “We don’t want to make claims yet that this is a permanent population,” Crane said. “If we’re finding blue crabs for five or ten years in the same locations, that starts to be a more compelling argument that this is a permanent population.” >click to read< 15:24
Kauai Fishermen Bring Deep-Sea Shrimp Back to the Dinner Table
Hawaii’s sweeping variety of seafood is the stuff of greatness. But consumers know some local seafood is hard to come by. A Kauai-based vessel is now pursuing one such delicacy of the deep: “amaebi,” certain marine shrimp belonging to the genus Heterocarpus. “They’re more delicate than other shrimp you can buy,” said Devin Silva, who sails out of Nawiliwili Harbor with his father Vinnie Silva. “They’re very juicy … they’re coming up from (1,500 to 3,000) feet deep.” Amaebi are indeed prized for their sweet flesh and large size. However, only a handful of boats now participate in the Hawaii fishery. Devin persuaded his father to hunt the little-known crustacean in late 2021, after learning the craft from Kauai’s last-known shrimper, retired commercial fisherman Ernest Caires. Photos, >click to read< 13:31
Jerry Leeman: So, let’s plug in what we know.
So, let’s run a logical thought, based on what our governments assumption on fish stocks is, with what we know. NOAA says there is nothing wrong with the biomass of white hake, but they cannot find adolescent hake. Well ask any lobstermen along the shorelines, they are seeing abundance of juvenile hake and cod in their traps. Imagine Lobstermen and inshore fishermen across a vast area all saying the same thing? NOAA says there’s nothing wrong with the biomass of haddock but same thing, they can’t find small fish. Well, what do we know?!! >click to continue reading< 08:33
New Bedford mayor calls for closed scallop grounds to reopen to fishermen
“Recent research by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and others demonstrates that the Northern Edge can sustain scallop fishing. Given this research, I do not see a pressing need to conduct additional research before opening the Northern Edge,” Mitchell stated in written testimony submitted to the NEFMC. While New Bedford fishing vessels harvest multiple species, he said, “scallops are the prime drivers” of the Port of New Bedford’s economy, the most valuable commercial fishing port in the United States. >click to read< 06:31
Bailiff of Jersey’s appeal after flats blast and trawler sinking
An appeal has been set up to provide support for those affected by two tragedies in Jersey. It comes after three people were confirmed dead with more bodies expected to be found after explosion in a block of flats, in St Helier. And three fishermen who were involved in a maritime collision with a freight vessel are still missing after their fishing boat sank on Thursday. The Bailiff’s Island Appeal aims to help people affected by both events. Bailiff Sir Timothy Le Cocq said the appeal would help “meet the needs of those individuals as they arise in the coming days”. >click to read< 15:34
Built to be Versatile
The latest delivery from the Parkol Marine Engineering yard in Whitby is multi-purpose trawler Green Isle, built for Greencastle skipper Michael Cavanagh. Launched at Parkol’s Teeside yard and brought to Whitby for outfitting, F/V Green Isle has been designed for versatility, able to switch between pelagic pair trawling for mackerel, herring and scad through the autumn and winter, pelagic trawling for tuna off the south-west of Ireland for part of the summer and alternating this with twin-rigging for the rest of the year for prawns and whitefish in the Celtic Sea and grounds to the north-west of Ireland. Lots of photos, >click to read< 11:25
Alaska task force’s final report calls for new rules and more research to address seafood bycatch
Gov. Mike Dunleavy, who created the task force a year ago, released the group’s final report late Thursday. “I look forward to working with task force members and stakeholders to do everything we can to get more fish to return to Alaska’s waters,” Dunleavy said in a statement. The collapse of salmon runs vital to western Alaska — and public complaints that too many salmon were being intercepted at sea before returning to spawning grounds — triggered the creation of the Alaska Bycatch Task Force. However, its work extended to bycatch of various crab species and halibut. To some degree, bycatch is unavoidable, the task force said. >click to read< 09:10
Two shark divers freed 19 sharks from a commercial longline. They’re facing five years in prison
The men, boat captain John R. Moore Jr., 56, and mate Tanner Mansell, 29, gathered up the three miles of line and freed 19 sharks and a Goliath grouper, a state-protected species. The three-hour effort was done with the help of their charter passengers, telling them the line was an abandoned “ghost set” of line, U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecutors said. Two years later, a grand jury indicted Moore and Mansell of theft of commercial fishing gear in federal waters. A jury convicted the men last week, and they now face five years each in federal prison. The line, prosecutors said, belonged to a commercial fishing operator that was licensed to catch all the species of shark that were hooked that day. >click to read< 07:48
Jersey fishing boat sinking: Two crewmen named
Two crewmen missing after their fishing boat was involved in a collision with a freight vessel off Jersey have been named. Larry Simyun and Jervis Baligat were on board the L’Ecume II when it sank off Jersey at about 05:30 GMT on Thursday, Ports of Jersey (POJ) said. Both men had been on the boat with skipper Michael Michieli. A search operation for the men was called off on Friday with attention switching to recovery of the vessel. Mr Michieli and the two crew members were on the L’Ecume II when it collided with the Commodore Goodwill. >click to read< 12:16
New study proposes to uncover where chinook salmon could be dying en route to Yukon
The state of Alaska is proposing new research to track dwindling chinook salmon numbers this spring, and it’s possible the study could eventually extend into the Yukon. This week, members of the bilateral Yukon River Panel met in Anchorage, Alaska, to brainstorm ways to help the salmon, which undertake one of the longest salmon migrations in the world. It’s during this migration, though, that tens of thousands of salmon seem to go missing every year. >click to read< 10:23
Fleet reduction is a signal that local economies will be hit hard
“It is appalling that we have the best, most-productive fishing waters in Europe, but the government has again failed the Irish fishing industry. Other member states in the EU have been given the biggest catching rights in Irish waters and the Government has failed to achieve this. Boats are leaving the industry because owners say they cannot continue to make a living from fishing, which has suffered repeated blows. Industry organisations have been warning for months that the crisis it faced was not being adequately responded to by government. Now what they have warned about is happening. >click to read< 08:07
Coast Guard Coast Guard medevacs fisherman 23 miles off the coast of San Francisco
The Coast Guard medically evacuated a 63-year-old male off the fishing vessel F/V New Huck Finn approximately 23 miles southwest of Point Reyes, Friday. (Video, click the image) Crewmembers from the fishing vessel F/V New Huck Finn contacted Coast Guard Sector San Francisco watchstanders around 10:15 a.m., reporting a crew member was in need of medical assistance due to symptoms relating to a cardiac event. Video, >click to read/watch< 21:23
