Daily Archives: May 7, 2023
‘It’s so sad’: Acadian Peninsula mourns deaths of 2 lobster fishermen
New Brunswick’s Acadian Peninsula is in mourning after two local fishermen died Saturday on the first day of the lobster season in the area. The fishermen died after falling overboard in the waters off Miscou Island. Radio-Canada confirmed the names of the two men Sunday. They are 58-year-old Eugene Beaudin and his nephew, 23-year-old Normand Beaudin. Both men are from Miscou. Gilles Hebert, a former fisherman of 22 years, said the deaths will hit the community hard. “It’s so sad,” he said Sunday. “We’re all people who know each other. When we hear that someone drowned, we’re all touched by that.” >click to read< 19:43
Hope vs. rope: Can technology save the whales, and Maine’s lobster industry, too?
Along the coasts of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, scientists, engineers, and fishermen are working feverishly to develop a new, high-tech way to harvest lobster – and the result could be the key to the survival of both the U.S. lobster fishery and the imperiled North Atlantic right whale. But farther north in Maine, the epicenter of the fishery, it’s unusually quiet. Only one Maine business is working on the technology, and only a handful of Maine lobstermen will test it. Many won’t even discuss it. The ropeless part is being worked out, but another critical component – an interoperable, open platform to track gear – is far from ready. The new equipment also is, at least for now, prohibitively expensive. One lobsterman said it would cost him nearly $500,000 upfront. >click to read< 16:20
‘A Crisis of epic proportions’: FFAW rejects latest deal amidst crab fishery stalemate
The Fish Food & Allied Workers Union has rejected the most recent deal with the Association of Seafood Producers. Crab harvesters have stayed off the water since the original offer of $2.20 per pound was set by the provincial price setting panel on April 6. Since that time, the FFAW and the ASP have been stuck in a stalemate, with harvesters refusing to go out for the low price. On Saturday evening, a news release from the union stated that the tie-on would continue, after members voted to oppose the current proposal. >click to read< 11:37
‘Losing my fishing boat is like losing a limb, or my identity’
Caitlín Uí Aodha doesn’t cry easily but tears aren’t far from her eyes when she talks about Dearbhla. While this is the name of her youngest daughter, it was also the name of her 25-metre trawler. “It hurts, it really hurts,” she says through stifled sobs when she talks about it. She is upset because late last year, she closed a door on a proud fishing tradition that has been in her family for more than 150 years. She did what she never thought she would do: she applied to decommission the boat. >click to read< 09:34
Shipwrecked ‘ghost boat’ looms on SLO County coast. Where did it come from?
Rumors circulate about how the so-called “ghost boat” came to rest off the coast of Estero Bluffs, with some claiming that its owner fell asleep at the helm while returning home from a fishing trip. According to a U.S. Coast Guard incident report, boat owner Jonathan Smith was fishing on July 28, 2017, when his boat drifted too close to the Estero Bay shore. Smith’s deckhand wasn’t feeling well and “went below deck to rest” — leaving Smith to fend for himself, the incident report said. At about 3:45 a.m., the boat’s propeller caught on a crab pot line, so Smith stopped the engine to try to untangle the line, the report said. photos, >click to read< 08:15
