Monthly Archives: January 2023

Brexit three years on: The fishing industry says ‘It’s killing us’

Of all the many Brexit battlegrounds, fishing was one of the hardest-fought. It moved beyond political promises and threats into legal action, angry blockades and trawlers being seized. Having spent almost 50 years as a fisherman, Ian Perkes was at the heart of the matter. Fishing out of Brixham, south-west England, Perkes voted ‘Leave’ in order to rid himself of EU competition and quotas. When CGTN Europe spoke to him in 2021, it was already proving difficult, with extra paperwork and costs eliminating profits. Two years on, has the situation improved? It’s a far cry from the post-Brexit dream that Perkes was sold by former UK prime minister Boris Johnson and other members of the ‘Leave’ campaign. >click to read< 21:00

Feds push ignorance defense for whale killing by offshore wind development

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the NOAA Fisheries agency have both put out what amount to “arguments from ignorance” claiming that offshore wind development has nothing to do with the recent whale deaths. “We know nothing about it so it must not be happening” is a ridiculous defense to the charge of offshore wind development causing the death of a lot of whales. But this is exactly what the Feds are now saying. NOAA Fisheries is a scientific agency and their version is more scientific, which is important because this is really a scientific issue. Let us look at their arguments. >click to read< 17:38

Biden blocks Pebble copper-gold mine in Alaska

The Biden Administration banned the dumping of mining waste near Bristol Bay, Alaska, issuing a decree that thwarts longstanding plans to extract gold, copper and molybdenum because of potential harm to the region’s thriving sockeye salmon industry. The Environmental Protection Agency’s final determination, announced Tuesday, effectively blocks the mine planned by Pebble Limited Partnership as well as future mining of the same deposit in headwaters of Bristol Bay, home to the world’s largest sockeye harvest. Katherine Carscallen, director of Commercial Fishermen for Bristol Bay, called EPA’s final action “surreal,” because it “will finally put an end to the threat of Pebble.” Critics said the decision conflicts with the Biden administration’s commitment to accelerating the deployment of renewable power and electric vehicles that rely on critical minerals. >click to read< 15:54

North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for January 31, 2023

Snapper Grouper Discard Mortality Reduction & Private Rec. Permitting (Amendments 35 & 46)/REMINDER: Southern Shrimp Alliance Needs Your Help/Legislative Update. The last year or so the South Atlantic Fisheries Management Council (SAFMC) has been working on multiple Snapper Grouper Amendments. Amendments 35 and 46 were voted on and approved for scoping and public comment at the December SAFMC meeting. Informational webinars with opportunities to provide public comment for both amendments are scheduled soon (Amendment 46 webinar is scheduled for January 30th and February 6th at 6pm and Amendment 35 webinar is scheduled for January 31st at 6pm). Links >click to read< 12:04

12 Jersey Shore mayors call for moratorium on offshore wind following whale deaths

The announcement followed news that another humpback whale had died off of the coasts of New Jersey and New York and washed ashore in Lido Beach, Nassau County, New York, according to numerous reports. “While we are not opposed to clean energy, we are concerned about the impacts these (offshore wind) projects may already be having on our environment,” the 12 New Jersey mayors wrote in a joint letter to Washington officials. On Saturday, a dead humpback was seen floating about 12 miles off Long Beach Island, said Andrea Gomez, a spokeswoman for the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA. It was not clear Monday if the Lido Beach whale could be the same one spotted off Long Beach Island. >click to read< 10:48

MLA back in court this month over federal lobstering rules

The Maine Lobstermen’s Association continues its court fight against the National Marine Fisheries Service, challenging its biological opinion for the endangered right whale, released in May 2021, and the science used to inform it. The MLA lost its original lawsuit in Sept. 2022 but was granted the right to appeal. Oral arguments are scheduled for Feb. 24 in the U.S. Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia. The Maine Department of Marine Resources and the Maine Lobstering Union Lodge 207, the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association, are intervenors in the case. “[The six-year delay] just really amplifies the concerns that the MLA has had,” MLA executive director Patrice McCarron said. “It highlights and exemplifies the importance of the work we’ve done and the importance of letting the lawsuit run its course.” >click to read< 09:23

Hull headscarf parade to raise money for trawler statue

A parade through Hull will raise funds to build a statue honouring four women who campaigned for trawler safety measures in the 1960s. The Headscarf Revolutionaries took on the fishing industry and the government after three boats sank in 1968 with the loss of 58 crew. Now campaigners are aiming to raise £100,000 for a memorial to them. The four women – Lillian Bilocca, Yvonne Blenkinsop, Mary Denness and Christine Jensen – fought for tougher safety laws. The trawlers – St Romanus, Kingston Peridot and Ross Cleveland – all sank within two weeks of each other off the Icelandic coast, with only one survivor. >click to read< 08;38

Storm clouds gather over local crabbing fleet

The morning was frozen, clear and calm, far better than many “dump days.” Sunday marked a first chance to start making some money after two months stuck in port. Most crabbers wouldn’t have been to bed overnight before placing their first pots. Some squeeze in more dump runs before Wednesday morning, Feb. 1, when a nearly nonstop frenzy of harvest and delivery will commence and last for weeks. With little or no sleep leading to exhaustion, the Dungeness fishery off Washington and Oregon is among the most dangerous jobs in the country. Winter weather and ocean conditions can be crazy. Fatalities are all too common, while crabbers barely bother mentioning all the back injuries, damaged fingers and a litany of other mishaps. Even so, there are plenty of local guys who don’t want it any other way. They see risk as the price of freedom. >click to read< 07:48

Coast Guard rescues 3 boaters near Pascagoula, Mississippi

The Coast Guard rescued three boaters Monday after their vessel began taking on water near Pascagoula, Mississippi. Eighth Coast Guard District watchstanders received a distress alert at 8:11 a.m. Monday from an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) approximately 11 miles southeast of Pascagoula. The EPIRB was registered to a 50-foot commercial fishing vessel, F/V Dat Parker. The boatcrew located the sinking vessel with one boater in a life raft and the other two boaters standing on the bow. Photos, >click to read< 21:45

Stonington Tradition: Blessing Of The Last Commercial CT Fishing Fleet

This year will mark the 70th Blessing of the Fleet. A tradition for decades, the blessing of Stonington fishing fleet is also a memorial to those who have died at sea. A fisherman’s mass, parade, and procession of decorated fishing vessels are part of the annual July event in Stonington Borough. The blessing, given for many years by The Most Rev. Michael R. Cote, D.D., Bishop of Norwich, has him walk the line of quays conferring the blessing on every fishing vessel and their captains and crews. After boarding the flagship, they will put to sea and once outside the harbor entrance, past the breakwater in Long Island Sound, the Stonington Fishermen’s Association will place a wreath in the shape of an anchor on the water in remembrance of those gone before. As of 2022, 40 members of the Stonington Fishermen Association have perished at sea. >click to read< 19:05

New Bedford’s Pope’s Island will play a key role in Vineyard Wind construction

A new partnership will meet the demand for fuel for New Bedford’s fishing industry as well as Vineyard Wind, as construction of the offshore wind farm gets under way. Vineyard Wind has signed a partnership with Shoreline Offshore, a joint venture between Quinn Fisheries and SEA.O.G Offshore, a leading integrated logistics provider, to build out a berthing and fueling area on Pope’s Island for crew transfer vessels. Shoreline Offshore was created in 2022 to connect the emerging offshore wind industry with local businesses in and around New Bedford through one central entity. Its mission is to ensure New Bedford’s local marine-based businesses are included in the continued growth of New Bedford’s marine economy. >click to read< 13:21

N.S. Lobster Crawl kicks off with Lucy the Lobster’s Groundhog Day prediction

Lucy the Lobster won’t be the only Lob-Star at her annual Groundhog Day prediction in North East Point by the Cape Sable Island Causeway in the Municipality of Barrington this year. Bridgewater resident Heather Jeffers has been chosen as this year’s Lob-Star for the festival, getting VIP status for many of the signature events the lobster crawl is becoming known for. “My friends and I joked that I’ve been in training for this dream job all my life!” This is the fifth annual Nova Scotia Lobster Crawl, which was started by the SSTC in 2018 as a way to boost winter tourism and to celebrate the region’s economic backbone and heritage, along with the six-month Lobster Fishing Area (LFA) 33 and 34 commercial lobster fishery. Photos, >click to read< 11:28

Fishing vessel Christina S launched

On the weekend of January 20-22, another fishing vessel was launched at Karstensen Shipyard Poland in Gdynia – this time it is a 77-meter pelagic trawler Christina S. Christina S was created in Karstensen for Christina S Fishing from Fraserburgh, Scotland. The process of launching Christina S was very complex and involved several stages. First, special carts on which the unit was located had to position it perpendicular to the quay. A special submersible pontoon was already waiting on the water, to which the hull was transported. 20 photos, video, >click to read< 09:55

With dock closing, Georgetown shrimpers ask if local port could become new home

Waterfront seafood vendor Independent Seafood will close after more than 80 years, leaving Georgetown shrimp boat owners without a long dock that has been key to their livelihoods for generations. The sale of the lot and its brick building at the southern end of Cannon Street comes at a time that Georgetown County is seeing lower seafood sales than years past and fewer trawlers in county waters. An idea to replace the lost dock space to keep remaining shrimp boats in town involves a spot not far away from Independent Seafood’s dock — the dormant Port of Georgetown, soon to be turned over to Georgetown County from the state ports authority. >click to read< 08:25

From the heart of a Hartlepool fisher – to EFRA

Dear EFRA COMMITTEE, MMO, local MPs, councillors and interested parties. Please log the ecosystem rock pool make up life change, with the many other die-offs that you haven’t given me feedback on, since the freeport dredge started in 1 September 2021, and the 145.000 tonnes of capital dredge from the toxic Seaton Channel, that you have allowed to be removed, irrespective of its chemical makeup, and dumped six miles out, in the last two weeks. I eagerly await the MMO answers, please copy the EFRA Committee in, and the feedback [as to] why these creatures are all that’s left in the ponds. >click to read< 07:46

Keeping It Working – Maine’s working waterfronts

Maine’s harbors may seem quieter this time of year, but you might be surprised how much activity continues along our working waterfronts in the dead of winter. Marine terminals, ferries, mailboats, and fish-processing plants continue their daily operations. Shipyards are working on repair jobs put off during the busy summer and fall. The hardcore offshore lobstermen are still fishing, while others are rerigging for winter fisheries like scallops, mussels, urchins, and seaweed. Just what constitutes a working waterfront? In Maine, as in the rest of the country, the definition includes all-tide access, so that vessels don’t have to time their arrival and departure schedules strictly around the tide. >click to read< 17:26

Victory! After a 2 week stand down, Kodiak’s Tanner crab strike is over

Each of Kodiak’s four canneries offered slightly different deals – Alaska Pacific Seafoods agreed to $3.35 per pound plus a retro payment – which can boost the final payout to fishermen after the season. Pacific Seafood also agreed to $3.35 per pound with a possible retro to fishermen. OBI settled with crabbers for $3.25 plus profit sharing, and Trident Seafoods stayed at $3.25 per pound. It wasn’t exactly the deal Kodiak crabbers were hoping for, and some boats from Kodiak may still take their crab out west where processors are offering slightly more per pound. But ultimately, 80% of those in attendance at Saturday’s meeting agreed, it was time to go fishing. “We stuck together, we’re gonna roll this thing out together, and we’re looking at it as a victory,” >click to read< 13:11

Where Does the Camera Crew Sleep on Deadliest Catch’s F/V Northwestern?

Filming a reality show can be hard going; not just on the people who star in the production, but on the crew that must capture it all. The skippers and fishermen who appear on the “Deadliest Catch” are well aware that they’re not the only people in danger while catching crabs. For instance, in 2012 the official “Deadliest Catch” YouTube page posted a video about Shane Moore, a cameraman who would go to extreme lengths to get just the right shot for the show, sometimes to the bemusement of the skippers he worked with. >click to read< 11:24

Go wild and get hooked at Ecola Seafood Restaurant and Market

Jay and Cindy first met in the summer of 1978. While Jay was attending Beaverton High School, at the age of 15 he and his friend John purchased a dory and began commercial fishing off the beach at Gearhart. They had no idea what they were doing, but followed a group of local fishermen as they launched into the surf. After living in other states, Cindy’s love of the north Oregon coast led her back to this area. They were married in 1991, with their first child Ashley born in 1994. In 1993 they were selling their catch to various businesses, including Ecola Seafood in Ecola Square Mall on Hemlock Street. The owners were tired and ready to call it quits. Jay and Cindy became the new owners of the small Ecola Seafood fish market and restaurant. >click to read< 09:47

Skipper in court on 12 fishing regulation charges

The skipper of a Spanish-owned fishing vessel which was detained by the Irish naval authorities has appeared in court in relation to 12 alleged breaches of fishing regulations. The appearance in court by 55-year-old Juan Pablo Docal Rubido, from Coruna in Spain, followed the detention last Monday of the German-registered, Spanish-owned, Pesorsa Dos in Irish fishing waters. The vessel was detained by the LE George Bernard Shaw off the southwest coast and escorted to port at Castletownbere in west Cork, where it remains at the moment. >click to read< 08:04

Fairhaven Fire Department and Harbormaster responds to diesel fuel spill in harbor

The fishing vessel F/V Jack M reported an equipment malfunction that spilled an unknown quantity of diesel fuel into the harbor. The spill located at Union wharf extended as far North as the Seaport Inn and Marina. The spill impacted Fairhaven Shipyard, Blue Harvest Seafoods, Pease Park Boat Ramp, the Coast Guard Auxiliary, and the Seaport Inn. The vessel’s owner is cooperating and has contracted with Frank Corp Environmental, located in New Bedford, Massachusetts, to complete the cleanup. Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and the United States Coast Guard Pollution Control is investigating the cause of the malfunction.” >click to read< 07:11

Grupo Arbumasa’s New Fresher Trawler

Huafeng 882 is the third of six trawlers ordered in 2021 by Dalian Huafeng Aquatic Products, part of Grupo Arbumasa. Earlier in 2022, Contessi launched the first two vessels, which have already been successfully fishing during the recent season. Like its sister vessels, Huafeng 882 is a 24-metre fresher trawler, designed to fish not only Argentine red shrimp but also the several other species outside the shrimp season. Huafeng 882 is a double-decked ship mostly made of steel, with an aluminium superstructure. A fresquero, it does not have freezing capacities, but it has an insulated fishroom, provided by Nautiplast, for landing catches fresh in ice, and a chiller supplied by PM Refrigeración. Video, photos, >click to read< 17:25

Offshore Wind? At Any Scale Safe, Reliable & Affordable Nuclear Is The Natural Energy Choice

There are 30 countries where you’ll find nearly 450 nuclear reactors currently operating, including the French, Americans, Canadians, Japanese and Chinese. Another 15 countries are currently building 60 reactors among them. Nuclear power output accounts for over 11% of global electricity production. But not a lick of it in Australia, thanks to an idiotic legislated ban put in place by a Liberal government back in 1998. STT promotes nuclear power because it works: safe, affordable, reliable and the perfect foil for those worried about human-generated carbon dioxide gas, because it doesn’t generate any, while generating power on demand, irrespective of the weather, unlike the forever unreliables: wind and solar. >click to read< 12:16

Killybegs-Based Fishing Reps say Norway is Holding EU Fishing Deals to Ransom

Irish fishing representatives have accused Norway of stalling EU quota talks because they failed to secure privileged access to blue whiting in Ireland’s EEZ (European Economic Zone) waters. “Norway has a track record of overfishing blue whiting and mackerel ,” says Aodh O Donnell of the Irish Fish Producers Organisation (IFPO). “So, they should not be rewarded with new and additional access to Ireland’s waters to catch their blue whiting quota.” “They already have an inflated 25% of the total catch for blue whiting, compared to just 3% for Ireland. The Irish Box (a key part of our fishing zone) has some of the richest blue whiting grounds – worth around €160m. This is why Norway is targeting our waters. They are still not offering any meaningful reciprocal deal to Ireland in return for our blue whiting.” >click to read< 10:36

Fishing crew catches rare, brightly colored petrale sole

A fishing crew working for a Morgan Hill-based seafood company reeled in “the catch of a lifetime” in Moss Landing Harbor when they pulled a brightly colored petrale sole with a rare skin condition onto the boat, according to the company. The crew was fishing on the F/V Noah’s Ark vessel for Lusamerica Foods,,, “I’ve never seen anything like that, ever, and neither has my captain. And we’ve been fishing for over 100 years between us,”In an industry noted for superstition, Lusamerica and the F/V Noah’s Ark are taking the catch as a “good omen.” Adame said the Jan. 24 expedition was the boat’s first time unloading in Moss Landing, >click to read< 09:47

Simmons Seafood Market Sells Direct to Community in Damariscotta

Simmons Seafood Market opened its doors at 49 Main St. in Damariscotta this month, bringing customers fresh seafood purchased directly from fishermen and processed in house. A grand opening at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 3 and continued expansion will bring prepared meals, wholesale, and local boutique offerings in coming weeks. Owners Amy and Gregory Simmons, of Friendship, have been at work on the former Fisherman’s Catch storefront since early January, along with their three daughters, ages 5, 10, and 12. Gregory Simmons, a fifth-generation lobsterman and all-around fisherman, said opening the market was the result of a snowball effect throughout his years working on the water. >click to read< 08:41

Coast Guard pursues civil penalty for AIS violation

The Coast Guard is pursuing a civil penalty Friday with a maximum punishment of $41,093.00 against a commercial fishing vessel for violating Automated Identification System (AIS) regulations near the mouth of the Columbia River Dec. 3, 2022. Coast Guard Sector Columbia River detected a commercial fishing vessel deactivate its AIS while underway near the mouth of the Columbia River in violation of 33 Code of Federal Regulations 164.46(d)(2). The captain declined to accept the Notice of Violation, issued for $5,000. Now the case has been referred to a Coast Guard Hearing Officer, with a maximum penalty of $41,093.00. As this remains an active investigation, the Coast Guard is not currently releasing the name of the suspected violating vessel. >click to read< 19:29

How offshore wind developers are working around the Jones Act

The U.S. is going to need between four and six gigantic wind turbine installation vessels to support President Joe Biden’s 30 gigawatt-by-2030 offshore wind goal, according to a new Energy Department national lab-led report out this week. It currently has zero finished vessels that comply with the Jones Act, which requires that vessels carrying shipments between points in the United States be owned and crewed by U.S. citizens, registered under the U.S. flag, and built in the United States. Project developers have therefore used, or are planning to use, Jones Act-compliant “feeder” barges to transport wind components from domestic ports out to the project site, where the components are then transferred to a foreign-flagged vessel capable of installing them. >click to read< 14:21

“We’re solid. We’re unified” – Inside Kodiak’s crab standoff

The nearly 6-million-pound quota was the highest in decades. And some people spent more than $100,000 to buy a permit to fish this year, said Kevin Abena, one of the leaders of the Kodiak Crab Alliance Cooperative. But fishermen’s hopes for a banner season are now in limbo, as the 130 boats in the Kodiak tanner crab fleet are on strike, holding out for higher prices from the seafood processors that typically buy, package and resell their catch. But processors and industry experts say the fishermen are fighting larger market forces that make it unlikely they’ll get much more than the $3.25 a pound that Kodiak-based plants have already offered, less than half than last year’s $8 a pound price. >click to read< 10:48

Full on fish landings this #FishyFriday in Newlyn.

Good Morning from Newlyn! 22 photos and a nice video! >click to review< 09:47