Two weeks ago, a fisherman from Bay Center was lost at sea when the crabbing boat he was working on started to sink. Since then, Washingtonians have shown up in droves to help his loved ones search the area in Pacific County. Unfortunately, Bryson Fitch, 23, has still not been found, according to his sister Kelsea Broddy. “We still would love to bring him home, no matter what the condition is,” Broddy said. “That’s just our main goal, is to find him, so we have answers.” Fitch is both a beloved husband and a father of three young children. The boat he was working on, the Ethel May, capsized on Feb. 5 due to rough sea conditions. He reached for the life raft, and he and his two crewmates struggled to get on. Video, >click to read< 11:18
Monthly Archives: February 2023
Crabbers seek solutions as harvest closures impact business
An amount of emergency relief is being sent to help crabbers affected by the historic closure of the Bering Sea snow crab fishing and the Bristol Bay red crab harvest in Alaska. However, the Washington-based fisherman says more long-term care, research and action is needed to preserve the industry as a sustainable way of life for small businesses for generations. Mark Casto owns the fishing boat Pinnacle and says he’s been fishing since graduating from high school in 1986. “I grew up in it, when I was a kid, I used to do it when I was growing up, it was in my blood and it was just my way of life,” said Casto. He’s been grappling with the same teammates for years – some decades – and they’ve become a team that can predict each other’s next move. When the Bering Sea snow crabs were cancelled, they were scattered – all forced to find other ways to make a living during the season. >click to read< 16:50
EU running riot in British waters as UK fishermen ‘betrayed’ over broken Brexit promises
UK fishermen have lashed out at the Government and accused it of “betrayal” over broken Brexit promises, with European vessels still allowed to run riot in British waters. Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Conservative Party Government had promised fishermen they would be fully protected in the event of any trade deal with the European Union. This was signed at the eleventh hour on December 30, 2020, with fishing rights, which had been a major bone of contention in often bitter negotiations between the two sides, one of the last issues to be resolved. >click to read<
Part II: F/V St. Jude – A Taste for Tuna
Joe Malley has reeled in a lot of different fish in his over 40-year commercial fishing career, but tuna has a special place in his heart. And on his plate. “When I’m fishing halibut, the last thing I want to see on my plate is halibut,” he said. “If I’m fishing salmon, I don’t want even a beautiful King salmon. But when I’m fishing tuna, you can serve it to me all day, every day.” Tuna doesn’t have a big statement to make, Malley said. “It’s the perfect American fish – odorless, colorless, and tasteless. And tuna can be incorporated into dishes in so many ways; for instance, you can stir fry it just like chicken. ”For Malley, his wife Joyce, and their five-person crew, tuna is a way of life. The F/V St. Jude crew spends 12 months a year on a quest for albacore tuna — from the North Pacific in summer to the South Pacific in fall. >click to read< 12:37
Stonington Fisherman’s Dock to Receive Federal Funding for Infrastructure Upgrades
Stonington is home to the Connecticut’s last commercial fishing fleet and, now, its aging dock will undergo much needed upgrades. Included in the 2023 federal budget is $900,000 to support major maintenance and upgrades to the dock’s North Pier. Rep. Joe Courtney requested the targeting funding. “This project, which made it all the way through last year’s congressional appropriations process, really stood out as a smart one-time investment that can really result in years of good jobs and economic activity,” Courtney said during a visit to the Town Dock Wednesday. Video, >click to read< 11:12
NOAA, ADFG, Bering Sea Crabbers Teaming Up On Red Crab Fishery Research
Tempestuous weather and icy seas make winter research on Bristol Bay red king crab challenging. This winter, crab fishermen are working together with scientists to make it possible. The Bering Sea crab industry is partnering with NOAA Fisheries’ Alaska Fisheries Science Center and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to meet a critical need for winter data on Bristol Bay Red king crab. Scientists and fishermen will work together on the month-long field research, set to launch in March. The research responds directly to data requests from the North Pacific Fishery Management Council to inform their management decisions. Photos, >click to read< 10:12
Marine Safety Alert: Engine Room Exhaust Hazards on Fishing Vessels
This Safety Alert addresses the importance of installing noncombustible materials in machinery space boundaries with dry exhaust systems. A recent marine casualty resulting in an engine room fire onboard a commercial fishing vessel identified significant hazards associated with main engine dry exhaust systems coming in direct contact with combustible materials, such as general-purpose resin on a wood Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic (FRP) vessel. >click to read< 09:14
Proposed bill would make offshore wind developers create compensation fund
The fund would provide compensation if construction or operation of a facility damages fisheries or the marine environment, and if the developer creates fewer jobs than promised in an agreement. Sen. Heather Somers, R-Groton, co-introduced House Bill 5223 with four Democratic state representatives, while three Republicans and two Democrats are co-sponsors. “This is new territory,” Somers said. “It’s an industrialization underneath the ocean that we have not seen before, and we do not have the data.” Somers’ district has the last commercial fishing fleet in the state, in Stonington, and she said “if the impact is such that they can no longer fish or their career is not viable, it was important for us on the committee to not prioritize one industry over another.” >click to read< 08:02
‘Our fish first!’ Post-Brexit fisheries deal signed by Macron sparks furious Frexit calls
Calls for France to leave the EU have reignited as Emmanuel Macron’s government fails to safeguard the interest of French fishermen after Brexit. Brussels has been accused of “organising the disappearance of the small-scale fishing industry” in France as a post-Brexit deal signed by Emmanuel Macron will force French fishermen’s catches out of their own markets to the advantage of British ones. Emmanuel Macron’s government has agreed to open up the Breton fish markets to fish caught by British vessels, something that infuriated French right-wing politicians. >click to read< 15:47
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 36′ Wayne Beal Lobster Boat, 500HP Cummins
To review specifications, information, and 30 photos’, >click here<, To see all the boats in this series >click here< 11:39
Woman captain joins ‘Wicked Tuna’ for 12th season
Filmed on location in Gloucester and on the North Atlantic Ocean, the show follows experienced fishermen from the nation’s oldest seaport, chronicling their triumphs, challenges and the ones that get away. Of the eight captains, four are from Gloucester, two are from Beverly and two are from New Hampshire. The newcomer up against the veteran competitors is Capt. Michelle Bancewicz of the 31-foot No Limits, who joins the fleet with her first mate Lea Pinaud. Bancewicz had an epic catch in October 2021 that made the news and went viral around the globe when she single-handedly brought in an 800-pound tuna. Bancewicz, of Seabrook, New Hampshire, has been fishing recreationally since she was a youngster. Photos, >click to read< 10:52
The Adventure of an Unconventional Career
Joe Malley keeps a faded but well-loved copy of the December 1, 1999 edition of the Magnolia News as a reminder of his family’s commercial fishing journey over the last two-plus decades. The photo and headline above the fold features Malley, his wife Joyce, and their young son Liam (now 24) standing in front of their new (at the time) fishing vessel, moored at the Port of Seattle’s Fishermen’s Terminal, as they prepared to embark on a new journey. The St. Jude, a 95-foot-troller, still makes its home at Fishermen’s Terminal today. Some things haven’t changed in the 23 years since the Magnolia News article was written. The St. Jude crew still fishes 12 months a year, chasing Albacore tuna from the North Pacific in summer to the South Pacific in fall. In between journeys they sell their catch off the St. Jude at Fishermen’s Terminal. >Photos, Video, click to read< 09:17
Trawler which sank after colliding with Condor ferry off Jersey’s coast to be raised
The wreck of the F/V L’Ecume II fishing trawler is to be raised from the seabed, the government has announced. During a media briefing to provide an update on three major incidents that recently struck the Island, senior civil servant Richard Corrigan said that the decision to raise the vessel had been taken for both ‘evidential gain and for humanitarian reasons’. The trawler, skippered by Michael Michieli, sank after colliding with Condor’s Commodore Goodwill freight ship off Jersey’s west coast at around 5.30am on Thursday 8 December. >click to read< 08:05
Search for Missing Fisherman Off San Diego Coast Hampered Due to Storm: USCG
An incoming storm forced the United States Coast Guard (USCG) to suspend its search for a fisherman reported missing off the coast of San Diego two days ago. Sunday afternoon, USCG San Diego received reports that the 42-foot commercial fishing vessel “Defiance” was adrift and unmanned roughly 19 miles west of Point Loma. The Defiance was found around 4:30 p.m. Sunday by a friend of the missing fisherman, according to PO1 Adam Stanton, a spokesperson for USCG San Diego. At USCG’s request, the man searched the vessel for his friend but did not find him, according to Stanton. >click to read< 07:29
Offshore Wind Supporters Angered by ‘Misleading’ Information from R.I.-Based Opposition Group
A handful of property owners in the East Bay has been publicizing a torrent of data arguing against offshore wind projects, causing alarm and anger from oceanographers, environmental regulators, and climate activists who say the group’s arguments are wrong, misleading, and tainted with negative innuendo, false linkages, and guilt by association. The small group, called Green Oceans and organized last December as a nonprofit, believes offshore wind projects are the “industrialization of the ocean” and “100% destructive,” said one member, Bill Thompson, who owns a house in Tiverton. The group includes five other members, four of whom own houses in Little Compton and one with a Boston address. Green Oceans has produced a white paper against offshore wind, presenting 31 objections:,, >click to read< 21:00
Flooded market has Dungeness crab prices way down
After waiting more than six weeks for the Dungeness crab season to finally open in early January, customers have no doubt noticed that prices are lower than they have been in recent years. At H&H Fresh Fish Co. in the Santa Cruz Harbor, which prioritizes sourcing crab from local fishermen, the price for cooked Dungeness crab is $15 per pound and $9 per pound for live crabs. That’s half as much as the 2021-22 crab season, when the price for live crab hovered between $14 to $18 per pound and rose above $20 around that holiday season, while cooked crab was around $18 per pound. An excess of Dungeness crab in the California market is lowering prices, explains Hans Haveman, a co-owner of H&H Fresh Fish Co, especially on the north coast. >click to read< 12:06
In Cod’s Shadow, Redfish Rise
In the North Atlantic, the trajectory following fisheries collapse has not been forgiving. Even decades after overfishing drove seemingly inexhaustible species like Atlantic cod off a precipice, many populations—most notably, of Atlantic cod—have remained stubbornly low. But in Canada’s Gulf of St. Lawrence, an exception to the rule is emerging from the depths. Redfish, a deep-dwelling species found in the western Atlantic from Baffin Island to New Jersey, is an unlikely hero: a scarlet groundfish the length of a bulldog sporting a faintly outraged expression and a line of spines sharp enough to draw blood. More to the point: aside from readers of Dr. Seuss, who’s even heard of a redfish? >click to read< 10:10
How Many More Whales Need To Wash Up Before We Wake Up? NOAA Shrugs Responsibility Regarding Spike In Whale Deaths
If you’ve taken the time to read anything the NOAA has published to address the spontaneous spike in whale deaths, and whales washing up on East Coast beaches, you may have noticed that the report skirts around the cause of the whales’ deaths. While they do acknowledge the public’s concerns connecting the whales’ health and the recent establishment of offshore wind energy development, they say, “At this point, there is no evidence that noise resulting from wind development-related site characterization surveys could potentially cause mortality of whales, and no specific links between recent large whale mortalities and currently ongoing surveys.” (All sources are linked below – I highly encourage you to look into them!) >click to read< 08:41
Mother Jones Joins the Anti-Maine Lobster Bandwagon
Mother Jones magazine, a cornerstone of the progressive establishment, ran a lengthy piece today entitled: “To Save Whales, Should We Stop Eating Lobster?” The 2,300-word article can be seen as a reconsideration of the radical environment push to “red list” and otherwise boycott the iconic Maine fishery, and it included some surprise praise for the industry from a federal regulator. But the Monterey Bay Aquarium, sponsors of the left-wing group Seafood Watch, which red-listed the Maine lobster as non-sustainable last summer, is pressuring NOAA to come down harder on the lobster fishery. >click to read< 07:52
Fisherman finds huge megalodon tooth in oysters pulled from Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay
Another ancient shark tooth has been found along Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay, only this time it’s even bigger. The 5.5-inch megalodon tooth came out of the bay Feb. 10 hidden in a load of oysters, according to Stephen Rollins, captain of the fishing boat Undertaker. That makes the tooth about a half-inch longer than the one found Christmas Day by a 9-year-old girl at Maryland’s Calvert Cliffs State Park. >click to read< 21: 52
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for February 20, 2023
The following public comments were sent to several members of the NC Marine Fisheries Commission by Glenn Skinner, Executive Director of the NCFA, also, The North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission (MFC) is meeting this week to vote on a supplement to the current Striped Mullet Fisheries Management Plan,,, >click to read the weekly update< 17:55
Canada Shuts Down 15 Fish Farms in B.C., Citing Risks to Wild Salmon
After years of concerns over the impact of aquaculture on wild sockeye salmon, Canada’s fisheries department has decided not to renew the operating permits of 15 Atlantic salmon farms in an environmentally sensitive area of British Columbia. In a news release, Fisheries Minister Joyce Murray noted that B.C.’s salmon runs are in “serious, long-term decline,” and some are at risk of collapse if action is not taken. Ten years have passed since the Cohen commission’s report, and more recent research indicates that the diseases associated with salmon-farming may have an impact on wild salmon in general and on Fraser River salmon smolts in particular. >click to read< 16:00
Opinion: Mad Max, where are you now that we need you? By Joel Hovanesian
For decades, Richard Max Strahan has fought for and succeeded many times and was front and center in his quest to save the severely endangered right whales. He was a very outspoken critic of the commercial fisherman and the fishing industry in general, claiming that they were responsible for the dwindling number of whales along the Atlantic seaboard. Your actions and ideas have helped pave the way for many regulations that possibly helped this iconic animal, the jury’s still out on that. Regulations that cost millions of dollars to implement. Today, the right whales and all marine life for that matter are under assault from a much more sinister threat. Ocean wind farms. >click to read< 13:34
Maine’s oldest town, Kittery, rallying around state’s lobster industry
As Maine’s iconic lobster industry faces challenges to its very survival, the state’s oldest town is rallying behind the men and women fighting for their livelihood. Recent efforts by the state’s small but formidable congressional delegation and Gov. Janet Mills resulted in a six-year hold on new rules to allow time for new research to be considered. “This is one of the most perilous moments ever faced by Maine’s lobster industry,” Kevin Kelley of the Maine Lobsterman’s Association said recently, “but the six-year regulatory pause gives the industry a little bit of time and some hope that whatever rules are implemented by the federal government make sense.” >click to read< 12:19
Risking it all in the Blizzard of ’78
In early February 1978, the Joseph & Lucia III had been fishing for about a week. Despite storm warnings, Capt. Gaetano “Tom” Brancaleone decided to continue fishing. His crew of seven included his brother and engineer, Antonio “The Chief” Brancaleone; first mate Frank D’Amico; cook Gil Roderick; fish hold man Gaspar Palazola; and deckhands Joe Charlie Brancaleone and Santo Aloi. At the tail end of the blizzard, after days of worry — “we could just look out the window to see the wind whipping up snow drifts 7 or 8 feet high,” recalled Tom — the family finally received a call on the radio. The Joseph & Lucia III had made it! But Tom now needed to get to the Boston Fish Pier to help lump (unload) the boat. >click to read< 10:58
Dungeness crab at $5.99/lb. Nice! But crab fishers get $2/lb. Tough deal.
Remember a year ago, and the $18.99 up to $24.50 a pound prices? When you hear about a “market correction,” here it is in a dramatic display: a plunge of two-thirds or more. There are plenty of reasons why. For the Dungeness crab fishers, a number of them small operators, it’s tough days. They’re getting $2 a pound, maybe $2.25 a pound wholesale for the crabs. In last winter’s boom times they were getting $5.50 a pound from processors. “I haven’t seen this low a price in over a decade. It’d probably be cheaper not to fish. But we can’t not fish, if that makes sense. We have to keep making our payments or we’ll end up in a loss,” says Jennifer Custer, who does the bookkeeping while her husband, Chuck Custer, runs their 46-foot fishing boat, the Miss Kathleen, out of Westport. >click to read< 09:43
“Save Our Whales” Rally on “World Whale Day” in Point Plesant Over Concerns of Recent Whale Deaths
Rep. Chris Smith (R-Manchester) called for immediate answers from the Biden Administration and Governor Murphy to the growing questions raised by him, county and local officials, environmental leaders, and concerned Jersey Shore residents over the massive offshore wind projects along the New Jersey-New York coastline in light of the recent unprecedented surge in whale deaths. The rally comes less than a week after a dead whale washed ashore in Manasquan and just two days after another dead whale washed ashore in New York, marking the ninth and tenth whale deaths in the area since early December. Photos, >click to read< 08:54
Benefit to support Orr’s Island lobsterman
Orr’s Island lobsterman Mark Wilson suffered a stroke recently while at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He received immediate care but remains hospitalized at Mass General. Wilson is well known in the Harpswell fishing community and a regular supplier of lobster to a variety of businesses, including Cook’s Lobster and Ale House on Bailey Island. To support Wilson and his family in their time of need, Cook’s, in partnership with the Orr’s and Bailey Islands Fire Department, will hold a benefit dinner on Tuesday, March 7. >click to read< for details with access to the gofundme page. 07:37
The New Multi-Role Leinebris
Longliner Leinebris was built to a Skipsteknisk design at the Tersan yard – and the Fosnavåg company is sticking with the same combination of yard and designer for its new vessel, scheduled to be delivered in 2025. What is different is that the new Leinebris isn’t a dedicated longliner like its predecessor but will be outfitted to be able to switch between longlining, gillnetting and seine netting. This new vessel design gets an ST-158 designation, and it’ll be a vessel with a 64.90 metre overall length and a 15 metre beam, with double cargo decks, covered working decks and a moonpool for hauling static gear. The crew’s accommodation facilties will be of a very high standard. Photos, video, >click to read< 17:10
Fishing group accepting applicants for crew training program
The Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association (ALFA), a Sitka-based fishing group, and partner organization Alaska Sustainable Fisheries Trust (ASFT) are seeking applicants for its crew training program. The program aims to provide young people an opportunity to gain experience in, as well as an understanding of, commercial fishing and its role in coastal communities, according to a release from the ALFA. Since 2015, more than 100 apprentices have been trained and placed on local fishing vessels in Southeast Alaska, and in late 2017 ALFA was awarded funds to get more boots on deck statewide. >click to read< 11:39
