Daily Archives: January 8, 2023
Preserving our lobstering heritage
When Maine’s lobster industry looks back on 2022, we’ll likely remember the challenges — high bait and fuel prices, low dock prices, shortages of marine supplies, and a complicated legal challenge that threatens to end the fishery as we know it. But we’ll also remember the many heartwarming times when people and communities came together, just as they did in the Harpswell, Orr’s and Bailey islands region in early November. >click to read< 13:24
One by one, shrimp boats are being lifted back into the water on San Carlos Island
They’re lifting a 290,000-pound boat after Hurricane Ian tossed it around and brought it on land. Scott Schofield knows a thing or two about watching the big shrimp boats being lifted and removed because he’s been out here watching, and recording, every move of these boats. Meticulous is one way to describe it. Painstaking is another. The process takes anywhere from a day and a half to two days. For boats like F/V Captain Eddie 99, it’ll be the full two days. Video, >click to read< 11:34
In Connecticut, frustration grows over lack of access to Canadian hydropower
State Sen. Norm Needleman, co-chair of the legislative Energy and Technology Committee, recently said in a radio interview that efforts to diversify the regional grid’s energy supply by importing more hydropower from Canada have been scuttled by New Hampshire and Maine, which turned down plans for more transmission lines through their states. Needleman said his comments about the northern states were made in the context of his general frustration with energy policy, which he finds “mind-numbingly complicated” and frequently contentious. “People are going to find fault with solar on farmland; there is consternation around offshore wind because it may impact the fisheries,” he said. >click to read< 10:16
‘Another nail in the coffin of Ireland’s indigenous fishing industry’
That Norway wants more access to Ireland’s fish than it already has is something that has probably passed most people by. So too the fact that this became a red-line issue for the Irish fishing industry. At stake is the future of thousands of jobs in fishing villages and towns across the country. Also at stake is ultimately the chance of the average punter getting fresh Irish fish with their chips. Why? Because if the Norwegians succeed in their bid, it will cement a perception in the industry that Ireland cannot protect its own waters at EU level and the current exodus from the industry will, according to industry chiefs, continue as a consequence. >click to read< 09:32
Dongara Blessing of the Fleet festival marks 50 years of celebrating the community’s fishing industry
The Blessing of the Fleet tradition has evolved over time and was first introduced in Western Australia at Fremantle in 1948. Decades later, the local chamber of commerce and industry hosted Dongara’s first Blessing of the Fleet in 1973 on the Denison foreshore. But blessing is a centuries-old tradition, with roots in southern Europe. Saturday marked 50 years since the event started in the Midwest coastal town, with about a dozen decorated vessels parading the Port Denison marina in front of hundreds of people. photos, >click to read< 09:05
Looking to get into lobster fishing? You’ll need deep pockets
Mark Hackett is a broker who works with people looking to buy and sell fishing licences, boats and gear, such as traps. He recently retired after 50 years of fishing for lobster out of Seacow Pond in western P.E.I. Hackett said these are the highest prices he’s ever seen — up to $1.8 million in some cases. “I never ever thought they’d be as high as they are now. It could start dropping, or it could go higher. I have no idea. Seems like there’s no downturn yet. It could drop right down, depending on the interest rate,” he said. It was different when Hackett got into the fishery. >click to read< 07:56
