Monthly Archives: January 2023
Hull’s fishing community unites to remember victims of the Triple Trawler Tragedy
The fishing community gathered together on the corner of Hessle Road and Boulevard to mark the 55th anniversary of the St Romanus trawler sinking. The terrible incident in 1968 that claimed the lives of 20 men was the first in a series of three disasters at sea, known as the Triple Trawler Tragedy. Every year, former fishermen, headscarf revolutionaries and family members of the deceased gather to remember the 58 men who lost their lives on the St Romanus, Kingston Peridot and Ross Cleveland. The memorial service was an emotional one, with many mourning the loss of old colleagues and school friends. The 20 victims’ names were read out before a minute’s silence. Photos>click to read< 18:39
Fisherman sentenced for ‘blatant and overt’ interference in Membertou lobster fishery
A Cape Breton fisherman has been fined $6,200 and ordered off the water for six months for cutting lobster traps fished by the Membertou band and obstructing fishery officers. The sentence was handed down in a Sydney, N.S., courtroom Wednesday after Bernard Douglas MacIntyre pleaded guilty on two charges. Two other counts were dropped. MacIntyre and others on his boat, Kelsey & Mitchell II, were seen cutting traps in Sydney Harbour on the night of Dec. 3, 2020. The only lawful lobster fishery underway in the area was for food, social and ceremonial licence holders. Members of Membertou First Nation were fishing from the Sydport wharf. >click to read< 14:56
North Carolina Fisheries Association Membership, Southern Shrimp Alliance Needs Your Help!
As indicated below, the U.S. International Trade Commission has now issued questionnaires in its sunset review proceeding to the U.S. shrimp industry, U.S. shrimp importers, U.S. shrimp purchasers, and exporters and processors in the Chinese, Indian, Thai, and Vietnamese shrimp industries. The responses to these questionnaires, which are due on or before February 6, 2023, will provide the basis for the Commission’s analysis as to whether to keep the antidumping duty orders on Chinese, Indian, Thai, and Vietnamese shrimp in place for another five years. Thank you, in advance, for your assistance in meeting the U.S. International Trade Commission’s request for information. >Click to read, and access links< 13:11
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 44’x20′ Fiberglass Scalloper, 400HP 3406 Cat
To review specifications, information, and 12 photos’, >click here<, To see all the boats in this series >click here< 12:01
The moment an Ayrshire fishing crew rescue another boat off the coast of Arran in horrific conditions
The moment an Ayrshire fishing crew saved fellow fishermen in horrific conditions has been captured in dramatic footage. The F/V Spes Bona crew from Troon hauled a stricken trawler which had broken down off the coast of Arran on Monday. The failed boat, with three crew members of board, was towed nine miles through ferocious conditions as stormy weather battered the Firth of Clyde. A video showing the hair-raising rescue has gone viral, chalking up more than 4,000 views in just a matter of days, with viewers left stunned by the footage. But Spes Bona captain Donald Gibson says the scenes are a regular occurrence out in the open seas. Video, >click to read< 10:01
A whale of a tale – revisited
Yes, a whale. The carcass of a 30-foot-long juvenile humpback whale washed ashore on Farnham Point. According to Kellee Joost, secretary, Farnham Point Association, on Dec. 23, the storm surge moved the massive carcass from Inner Heron Island, where it had rested for a while, depositing it in the little creek running beside the community shore picnic spot. While the weighty whale (sorry, I couldn’t resist) became an attraction for the few Farnham point winter folk, it would soon begin to decompose with the attendant odors. However, the best news coming out from the Farnham Point whale adventure, especially for our seafaring friends who fish for lobster, was that there was no, I repeat, no lobster fishing line attached to the carcass. In case you have been hiding under a rock, our local lobster fishing community is under attack from a California conservation association which, without any proof, accuses them and their gear of killing northern right whales, an endangered species. >click to read< 09:11
Brixham fish fleet smashes records with amazing £60.8m bonanza
The best ever year of trading in Brixham’s long history of fishing also means a windfall of around £1.5m to Torbay Council. Industry leaders are celebrating their success today, but also warning that the port must expand if that success is going to continue. And the new record comes as a “silver lining” after the UK fishing industry struggled to find ways to cope with the effects of a disappointing Brexit. Brixham Trawler Agents managing director Barry Young said there had been no doubt that Covid, Brexit, record fuel prices and the cost of living crisis meant 2022 would be tough to predict. But, he said, it soon became clear that the value of fish sold on Brixham Fish Market would break existing records. >click to read< 07:59
The Religion of Wokeism. A Fisherman by Any Other Name: Terminology in New Law Sparks Debate
A new law regarding ships’ crews that went into effect at the beginning of the month is sparking considerable debate throughout Iceland, but not because of the content of the law. Rather, critics have taken issue with the choice of wording in it, namely the use of the word fiskari, most easily translatable as ‘fisher,’ in lieu of the term fiskimaður, which literally means ‘fisher+man.’Critics, including some in the industry and current or former politicians, have called the word choice an example of the sterilization of Icelandic, or even an example of the language’s slide into nýlenska, or Orwellian Newspeak. >click to read< 14:41
South Devon College launches fishing apprenticeship
Working alongside regional employers, apprentices on the scheme will learn how to sustainably harvest fish and shellfish as well as learn about fishing methods. Laurence Gilson, who has been working as a fisherman for 16 years, like his father, grandfather and great-grandfather before him is undertaking the apprenticeship. He is one of around 11,000 fishers in the UK. “I work 12 hours a day in the wheelhouse on six hour shifts,” he said. “I spend my life chasing something just like a video game and I know what I’m chasing is worth money and what I’ve chased I’ve done it all myself.” He added: “If you’ve got the drive to make you want to go into the industry there’s no ends to what you can do in this job. Set a goal and achieve the goal. The sky’s the limit.” >click to read< 11:28
6 beached whales in 33 days — NJ groups say offshore wind may be to blame
Advocacy groups believe they know why the New Jersey region has seen half a dozen beached whales over the span of 33 days: offshore wind energy infrastructure. On Monday, two days after a 30-foot humpback washed ashore in Atlantic City, ocean advocacy organizations sent a letter to President Joe Biden, demanding an immediate investigation into the recent whale deaths and calling for a pause on all ongoing wind-energy activity offshore. “Never have we ever heard of six whales washing up within 33 days,” said Cindy Zipf, executive director of Long Branch-based Clean Ocean Action. “We don’t know how many whales may have died offshore.” >click to read< 10:14
Maine lobstermen deal with another new rule, and it’s not about right whales
Until this year, only a fraction of Maine’s lobster fishers were required to report what they caught, including details on when, where and how many. The data went to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, a coalition of 15 East Coast states that regulates fishing for more than two dozen species. But as Jan. 1, all Maine lobstermen now have to report data on their harvests to the state and to the commission. The fishermen, traditionally wary of new regulations on their industry, aren’t saying much. “All the paperwork is always a hassle, but we need to give up the data and hopefully it doesn’t get used against us,” said John Tripp, a lobsterman from Tenants Harbor. Several other members of the lobster industry declined a request for an interview about the mandate. >click to read< 09:15
A New Bedford fishing boat needed a new engine. Cost: $175K. And that was just the start.
Pedro Cura had a decision to make. Last September, Paulo Valente was coming through Butler’s Flat, heading back to the dock, when suddenly the engine blew in the dragger he captains for Cura and his business partner. The wear and tear from the many fishing trips aboard Fisherman, as she’s called, had caused the damage, Valente said. The engine had already been rebuilt a few times over the years. One of the options Cura was entertaining was cutting up the boat for scrap metal and just calling it a day. Another was using parts from another old engine he found to rebuild it. Instead, he decided to buy a new engine from Windward Power Systems in Fairhaven a month later. 19 Photos, >click to read< 08:01
Shrimp and Grit: Fighting to save the Fort Myers Beach shrimping fleet after Ian’s devastation
The Perseverance sunk. The Penny V was crushed. The Pleiades cracked in half. Aces & Eights had five holes. The Babe took a beating. The Capt. Ryan was boxed in. The Kayden Nicole tipped. Boats were scattered along the San Carlos Island waterfront in clusters. Six boats were flung into bushes, sea grape trees and dead mangroves not far from Trico Shrimp Company, the other major shrimp player on the waterfront. Ten floated maybe a quarter mile west, up into an RV park and a boatyard. Most of these boats were old before Ian arrived. They had been built to last one decade but stretched for five, held together with the glue of ingenuity, by owners and mechanics unwilling to concede to those who called it a dying industry. Right after Ian, just one boat was fit for sea. It was the F/V Malolo, the namesake of the boat Anna’s great-grandfather had first brought to Fort Myers. Photos, >click to read< 21:30
Another dead whale washes up on Jersey Shore beach
A third humpback whale in about a month washed up at the Jersey Shore over the weekend, concerning both residents and conservationists. Atlantic City officials say the 30-foot adult humpback whale was discovered on the beach near South Mississippi Avenue Saturday, only a few blocks from where another whale washed ashore on Christmas weekend Spectators watched as scientists began a necropsy on Sunday. Some protesters on the beach Sunday speculate an offshore wind turbine project may have something to do with this. “We’ve never had this number of whale deaths and beaching’s ever as far as I recall,” said Frank Leone from Protect our Coast New Jersey. Video, >click to read< 13:29
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update 01/09/2023 – Fisheries Monitoring and Data Collection/Legislative Update
The number of commercial fishermen in North Carolina has definitely been on a downward trend for some time. We have gone from 4,588 active commercial licenses in 2001 down to 2,170 active licenses in 2021 according to DMF’s most recent statistics. Although numbers of participants in our state have decreased by almost half in the last 20 years commercial fishing monitoring and data collection has not and NC commercial fishermen continue to provide a wealth of useful data that has created a permanent record showing where we came from and how we got there. The first commercial fishing data collection system I will talk about is the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) fish house trip ticket program. This program started in 1994 and since then it has grown into one of the leading fisheries data collection programs in the country. >click to read the update< 12:20
Stonington voters will decide whether to create housing fund
The state’s largest lobster port has seen an increase in properties being used seasonally, making it harder to foster a year-round community. The town now plans to have residents decide at the March annual town meeting whether to create a fund to help develop housing by using cash from tax-acquired properties. An exact dollar amount hasn’t been settled on, but it could be as much as $100,000. Some lobster boat captains say they have fishermen commuting from as far as Appleton and Bangor. >click to read< 11:15
Remains found in P.E.I. those of N.B. teen who fell off fishing boat: RCMP
Police say human remains found in Prince Edward Island in September are those of a teenage boy who fell off a fishing boat in New Brunswick in August. The RCMP responded to a report that human remains had been found in the water near Skinners Pond, P.E.I., around 11:30 a.m. on Sept. 29, 2022. At the time, police said it was possible the remains could be connected to the disappearance of 15-year-old Justin Landry. On Monday, the RCMP confirmed the remains have been positively identified as those of Landry. >click to read< August 30, 2022 – RCMP divers take over search for teen who fell overboard from fishing boat – >click to read<
Trawler operators fear they will lose out to offshore windfarms
Shudders went through the fishing industry just before Christmas with the announcement of Maritime Area Consents for seven offshore windfarms. Environment Minister Eamon Ryan trumpeted the allocation of the seven seabed leases as “a significant milestone on the pathway to decarbonising energy supply”. However, to the fishing industry, the first step of a process to get planning permission to build the windfarms brings their fears closer. Fishers are not just worried they will lose fishing waters, there are also concerns about how the construction and operation of windfarms might scare fish away from some traditional fishing grounds. “This is because areas targeted for windfarms are the main spawning and catching areas.” >click to read< 08:52
From facing off with the Russian navy, to giving up a five-generation fishing tradition
For a brief moment, Alan Carleton was at the centre of a bizarre stand-off between Irish fishermen and the Russian navy. Back in January 2022, he and other fishermen had threatened to peacefully disrupt Russia’s naval plans to hold live firing exercises 240 km off the Cork coast. Himself and the Irish South and West Fish Producers Organisation CEO Patrick Murphy even met the Russian ambassador to demand the exercises be called off. Fast forward a year and a man who was prepared to stand up to the Russian navy is on the verge of giving up his own fight to stay in the Irish fishing industry. >click to read< 07:41
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
Cod: The New England Council has proposed a plan to restore cod by 2033
What that will mean is our fishing fleet would have to reduce their catch by whatever the council thinks will be helpful. Over the years NOAA has made reductions on cod and other species, based on their studies and science. Under law, they do not have to compare their findings. We need to update the Magnuson–Stevens Act that would require them to compare data before making restrictions on species of fish. Put this aside, if we want to bring back the cod, no fishing vessel can land cod over the next ten years. Great! So be it. Pay our fisherman to not catch cod. Farmers have a Farm Bill and pay farmers not to grow certain crops. So why can’t our government create a Fish Bill to do the same for the U.S. fishing industry? This could be paid for by increasing the duty on imported fish. This is a Win-Win solution. Sam Parisi, Gloucester, Mass. 19:27
Scientist calls 6-year delay in Maine lobster rules ‘mind-boggling’
Scientists dedicated to saving North Atlantic right whales from extinction say they are optimistic they can work with the fishing industry to save the species. But they were blindsided last month when Maine’s congressional delegation put language in the federal budget to delay for six years regulations that are designed to protect the whales. Amy Knowlton, a senior scientist at the Boston-based New England Aquarium, said the impact of a six-year delay in regulations could be “dramatic.” “It’s mind-boggling that this would be allowed to happen,” she said. But the Maine lobster industry has fought hard against new regulations designed to protect the whales, saying lobstermen aren’t to blame for the whales’ continued decline. Backed by Gov. Janet Mills and the state’s congressional delegation, the industry won a major victory with the six-year delay. >click to read< 15:20
Whitehall’s eco-zealots are threatening the livelihoods of families who have fished off Holy Island for 1,000 years
Defra, the Whitehall department responsible for fishing, proposes to create a Highly Protected Marine Area of 50 square miles covering the island and parts of the nearby Farne Islands that will have the effect of banning fishing. ‘It will wipe us out and destroy Holy Island as a living and working community,’ says Shaun Brigham, 55, who has been fishing these waters since leaving school at the age of 15. ‘All that’s here is tourism and fishing – so take the fishing away and what would be left? Defra talks about ‘rewilding the sea’ but has produced no evidence that anything here needs rewilding.’ On the contrary, stocks of lobster and brown and velvet crab – which are the only sea-life that can be fished in what is already a highly regulated industry – are greater than they have been for decades, not least because it’s in the long-term interests of the fishermen to abide by strict sustainability rules. >click to read< 13:58
Tomorrow’s lobsterman, today: a look into the future from Eastport
The dockyard in Eastport is quiet this morning. If we listen closely enough, we can hear the ocean less than a half mile from where we circle Elijah’s boat, the Perseverance. In its past life, the vessel was used for chartered whale-watching tours; today, as he runs his hand along the boat’s bright blue hull, Elijah recalls the 12-hour days he spent at his shop, for nearly a year, stripping the boat’s hull down to the bilges, rebuilding the cabin and the deck, replacing the engine, rewiring the electronics, upgrading the plumbing. Elijah spent the first decade of his life growing up on Barnegat Bay, just outside of Lavallette, New Jersey, where his grandfather was a master carpenter. During much of that time, his grandfather was working on boats, and he’d invite young, 4-year-old Elijah to help. “I was a little kid so I could fit underneath the trailer to paint the bottom of a boat,” Elijah recalls. photos, >click to read< 10:55
Commercial Dungeness crab season opens January 15
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife announced Friday that the commercial Dungeness crab fishery season opens from Cape Falcon to Cape Arago January 15. The season opens February 1 from Cape Falcon north to Washington State; in accordance with the Tri-State Protocol. ODFW says that the crabs are ready for harvest after passing all administered tests. Crab meat fill now meets criteria in all areas of Oregon, and biotoxins are below alert levels in all crab tested from Cape Arago north. However, domoic acid testing of crab will continue from Cape Arago south to the California border as test results Thursday showed elevated levels of domoic acid in the area. >click to read< For more information about crabbing season you can visit ODFW’s website. 09:21
