Daily Archives: May 17, 2023
Armón Delivers Ultra – Modern Tuna Vessel
The Mexican shipowner Grupomar, owned by the well-known Mexican-Spanish businessman Antonio Suárez Gutiérrez, took delivery at the end of March of the most modern tuna vessel in the Americas. Astilleros Armón built María de Jesús at its facilities in Gijón, Asturias. María de Jesús is a substantial vessel, with a 79.23 metre (259′) overall length and a beam of 13.65 meters (44.7′). It has a top operational speed of 18 knots and tank capacity for 1200 tonnes of frozen tuna and carries a crew of around thirty. photos, >click to read< 21:15
Wind project scope ‘staggering’
It wasn’t “until the whales and the dolphins started washing up that people’s attention was able to focus” on the offshore wind farms, according to Cindy Zipf, and when people looked beyond the whales, they realized what is happening is “staggering.” “I don’t think ever in the history of mankind have we proposed to industrialize an ecosystem this fast and at this magnitude,” she said. Zipf is executive director of Clean Ocean Action, a coalition of groups dedicated to protecting the ocean. Zipf acknowledges the pace at which the plans are moving forward is making efforts to slow or stop them difficult. “It’s challenging considering how fast-tracked everything is and how limited the permitting process is. It’s kind of under the jurisdiction of two people to make it happen, President Biden and Gov. Murphy,” she said. “Hopefully as more is understood there will be some more caution but as it is right now the (state and federal) agencies are very enthusiastic.” >click to read< 16:29
Shrimp trawling season to be ‘typical’ despite December cold snap
Approaching the opening date for commercial shrimp trawling, one of the South Carolina Dept. of Natural Resources (SCDNR) employees sampling the population said there was an initial concern about the cold weather last December, but he doesn’t believe it’s significant enough to affect this year’s season. DNR sets the opening date for all general zones based on shrimp reproduction along the coast, especially making sure white shrimp had enough time to reproduce. Since cold weather affects shrimp migration, this time is especially important to make sure there’s enough for fishermen through the season. >click to read< 14:32
PROVINCIAL PROCESSING SYSTEM BROKEN, OUTSIDE BUYERS FOR ALL SPECIES NOW
Six weeks into a provincial shutdown of the snow crab fishery and no movement on the minimum price from the Association of Seafood Producers (ASP), FFAW-Unifor is calling for a complete overhaul of the province’s processing industry starting with immediately allowing outside buyers for all species. The FFAW-Unifor Snow Crab Bargaining Committee has agreed to sign off to start a crab fishery at the current minimum price on the condition that the provincial government immediately allow outside buyers and permit harvesters to truck-out their own product for all species without restrictions. “This tie-up has become about more than just about a minimum price of 2.20 per pound, it’s about the stranglehold these companies have on our province,” says FFAW-Unifor President Greg Pretty. FFAW-Unifor has requested a response from Premier Furey by 3:00pm today and will hold a press conference at 3:30pm. >click to read the press release< 13:12
Navy Veteran, Commercial Fisherman Thomas Lee Mackie of South Thomaston has passed away
Thomas Lee Mackie, 74, passed away on November 18, 2022, at his home. He was born in Rockland on November 26, 1947, the youngest child of Lawrence and Doris (Eaton) Mackie. In May of 1967, Tom enlisted in the United States Navy. He was initially assigned to the USS T. J. Gary, a destroyer escort. In the spring of 1970, he attended River Patrol Craft Training in California, and then was deployed to Vietnam where he served in River Patrol Force Flotilla Five as both a Boat Engineer and Boat Captain. After his service in the Navy, Tom continued to make his living on the water. He dragged for scallops out of New Bedford, Massachusetts for many years, netted elvers each spring, and was also a successful lobsterman aboard his boat, the River Rat. >click to read< 12:36
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 80’X22′ Steel Scalloper/Dragger, Cat 3412
To review specifications, information, and 31 photos’, >click here<, To see all the boats in this series >click here< 11:30
3 Mi’kmaw First Nations excited about moderate livelihood fisheries
Three Mi’kmaw communities are celebrating their dramatically increased roles in the lobster fishery around Cape Breton Island this spring. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans announced Tuesday it has renewed moderate livelihood understandings with Potlotek and We’koqma’q, and now Eskasoni has joined them. Eskasoni Chief Leroy Denny said he is excited because up to 70 fishers will now be out on the water hauling in traps and earning a living. “It’s a really good thing, a really very big deal for us,” he said. Under interim understandings, the bands will fish during the commercial season, which is open now around Cape Breton and closes in mid-July. >click to read< 10:31
NEFMC asking NOAA to increase catch limit for haddock in Gulf of Maine to protect fishermen
In a statement issued April 20, the New England Fishery Management Council, which oversees fishing issues for the region, said the catch limit for the season that began May 1 is 1,936 metric tons, an 84 percent drop from last year. But now the council wants to give fishermen a reprieve, citing a rebound in haddock stock and after hearing concerns at the panel’s meeting last month in Mystic, Conn. “Fishermen have been encountering Gulf of Maine haddock at very high catch rates,” the council said, adding that several fishermen voiced concern “that an early shutdown of the fishery was highly likely and would have wide-ranging impacts.” “Even without targeting haddock, fishermen need haddock quota to account for bycatch while harvesting other species,” the council said. >click to read< 09:43
Lowcountry is the last ‘wild west’ for blue crabs. Crabbers call for change.
In February, David Richardson drove to Columbia from his home in Charleston to speak to a room of state senators about his life as a South Carolina crabber, which, at the moment, “is kind of miserable.” But it wasn’t always miserable. Which is why he drove two hours to the Statehouse, a place he had never been nor expected to visit. The crabber thought about wearing a Hawaiian shirt, then thought twice: “I wore a suit, thank God.” As crab numbers fell over the past decade across the Eastern Seaboard, South Carolina did nothing, but North Carolina increased its management actions. It designated some areas as “no-fishing” spawning sanctuaries. And Georgia decided to limit the number of commercial crabbing licenses to under 100. Photos, >click to read< 08:39
Sanfilippo invited to Rose Garden for salmon fight
For more than a decade Angela Sanfilippo, president of the Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives Association, has helped advocate for the cause to protect Bristol Bay in Southwest Alaska and the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery from a proposed open-pit gold and copper mining project near the bay’s headwaters. She did so even though Gloucester, the nation’s oldest seaport, and Bristol Bay are some 3,600 miles apart on opposite coasts of the United States. On Thursday at 4 p.m., Sanfilippo attended a celebration in the Rose Garden of the White House that marked the protection of Bristol Bay from the Pebble Mine project. Sanfilippo recalls being contacted by Katherine Carscallen of Dillingham, Alaska, who today is the director of the Commercial Fishermen for Bristol Bay and a salmon fisher as captain of the F/V Sea Hawk. >click to read< 07:33
