Standing next to a 30-square-foot sand drawing of a humpback whale and her calf, U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew and other speakers made a call to “save the whales” Sunday afternoon. Van Drew, R-2nd, and state Sen. Vince Polistina, R-Atlantic, headlined a half-dozen speakers who once again opposed proposals for wind turbines off the coast of New Jersey and other Eastern states, claiming the sonar testing has led to a rise in marine mammal deaths over the past four months. They spoke to about 500 people on the beach at Suffolk Avenue. “Those whales — and I don’t mean to sound corny — were a divine blessing from God to wake us the hell up and say we’ve got to do something. This is the real thing. We are really in trouble with this and we’ve got to fight,” Van Drew said. Video, and a pile of photos! >click to read< 21:22
Daily Archives: April 2, 2023
Remembering the Milford Knight crew
This week in TRM “Old Trawler Corner” is the Milford Knight M127 (see photo) built in Selby in 1950, a steel-sided, diesel, crabber class trawler, that sailed out of Milford from 1950 to 1955, when it moved to Lowestoft and became the Trinidad. We’ve also got a snap of one of her crews (see photo) which Ethel Clark described as follows: “Genial Skipper Thompson was affectionately known as “Womps” in the Milford industry. A member of a well-known Lowestoft born fishing family, with five brothers, all Skippers.”It was in the Second World War that Skipper Thompson won the MBE, after his trawler the Slebech saved Skipper Billy Burgoyne and his crew when his ship, the Fort Rona, was bombed and sunk in the Irish Sea. Photos, >click to read< 17:39
Blue Lobsters Have Better Luck, so PETA Releases Dye Kit to Save Them All
Because many fishers have chosen to spare rare blue lobsters after catching them off the coasts of Maine, New Hampshire, and New Jersey and around the world, PETA is releasing a new dye kit that makes it possible to give all lobsters the same blue hue. Now available for sale, the chemical-free dye binds to lobster shells for up to six months when squeezed into water—making it look like the animals have a rare genetic trait that occurs in just one out of an estimated every 2 million lobsters. >click to read< 14:28
The Case: Defamation suit marks shift in fight over lobstering – MLA says Seafood Watch assessment intentionally misstates facts
A University of Maine Law School professor says it’s unlikely a judge or jury will actually settle the science around lobstering’s impact on North Atlantic right whale mortality in a recently filed defamation lawsuit against Seafood Watch and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation. Instead, Dmitry Bam explained, the case—if it ever reaches trial—will probably turn on whether the aquarium’s seafood sustainability program was negligent or reckless about the evidence it actually used to claim that scientific data demonstrate that lobstering harms the endangered whale species. Last fall, Seafood Watch put American lobsters on its red list of foods to avoid because it “is caught or farmed in ways that have a high risk of causing harm to wildlife or the environment.” >click to read< 11:45
Up to 70 North Atlantic right whales were spotted in Cape Cod Bay
About one-fifth of the world’s entire population of North Atlantic right whales were all spotted hanging out in Cape Cod, Mass., heading into the weekend. Between 60 to 70 right whales, including a mother and calf, were seen feeding outside the east end of the Cape Cod Canal in the Cape Cod Bay on Friday, according to the Massachusetts Environmental Police. The wildlife officials sent out two patrol vessels to protect the whales from boat traffic. By Saturday, the whales had seemingly moved on. >click to read< 11:00
Atlantic City, N.J. Tells Boat Businesses That They Can’t Operate
Last Spring, 2022 Atlantic City, New Jersey Mayor Marty Small had Dredgie Wood’s Fish Heads Restaurant towed away from Gardner’s Basin. This was despite the fact that New Jersey Senator Vince Polistina had successfully negotiated with the state of New Jersey to keep Fish Heads open for the 2022 season. Small waited until a rain-soaked, blustery Saturday to do this dirty deed. It was political retaliation by Small against Wood. Like a bad horror movie, Marty Small now strikes again on April Fool’s Day, 2023. All of the Atlantic City businesses that utilize the water at Gardner’s Basin have received letters from the Small administration that they will not be permitted to open for business. >click to read< 09:13
“Dead Days” In French Ports To Protest Against Fuel Prices And The Limitation Of Fishing Areas
Not a boat at sea, not a fish sold, no fish trade, no processing. For the first time, the National Fisheries Committee calls for dead days in French ports to demand from the government answers to a series of“attacks” weakening the sector, in a climate of tensions never seen since the Brexit crisis. From Boulogne-sur-Mer to Sète via Brest, hundreds of fishermen angry at the regulations launched an unprecedented “dead sector” operation on Thursday. For several days, the anger has been mounting: muscular demonstrations in Rennes or even Lorient, blockages in Boulogne-sur-Mer since Sunday then closure of the auction, awareness-raising operations, with distribution of fish in Capbreton … >click to read< 07:49
