Monthly Archives: May 2023
P.E.I. fishers call spring lobster prices ‘a slap in the face’
Harvesters say they’re getting between $6.50 and $7 per pound from processors — less than last year, and about half what they were getting a few years ago. “That price we got in 2006, and you could buy a fishing fleet in 2006 for $200,000 and now they’re $1.5 million to $2 million. Everything has gone up … bait, fuel, engines, pickup trucks, rope, traps, buoys, everything,” McGeoghegan said. “So to expect us to go fishing for a price that’s 18 years old is a slap in the face. And we know for a fact … that the demand is high, higher than it’s been in the last 10 years, and supply is the lowest it’s been in 10 years.” Photos, >click to read< 07:52
SEA-NL demands province order ‘serious,’ sweeping review of fish-price setting system
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) demands the provincial government order a “serious” and sweeping investigation into the broken fish price-setting system after last year’s token review failed to fix it. “This province’s three largest commercial fisheries — snow crab, northern shrimp, and lobster — are all in chaos this season, and two of them for the second year in a row,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director. “It’s obvious that last year’s lightning fast, three-month review of the price-setting system — a review that didn’t even bother to consult with inshore enterprise owners — was a token attempt at reform by a government unwilling and unprepared to act.” >click to read< 20:09
Deadliest Catch: Where is Captain Casey McManus anyway?!!
High-stakes reality series “Deadliest Catch” is back on Discovery Channel for its 19th season. But a few familiar faces are missing from the popular show. Former cast member Josh Harris does not appear in the new episodes. Nor does his one-time partner Captain Casey McManus of the F/V Cornelia Marie. Instead, McManus has taken a job that keeps him a bit closer to shore. While Discovery Channel had cut ties with Harris, McManus’ future on the show was unclear. However, when details about the currently airing 19th season were released, his name was missing from the list of captains. Video, >click to read< 17:49
Charity calls on government to help Teesside fishermen
Just over 18 months ago, waves of dead and dying shellfish began washing up on mile after mile of shoreline in the north-east of England. No-one knew why they were dying or what had killed them and, despite a series of investigations, there is still no definitive answer. The sun is shining on Hartlepool harbour. A couple of fishermen are working on their nets and another is looking out at sea. It’s calm, but he’s asking himself, “Is it worth going out today?” It’s a question more and more local fishermen are contemplating. The industry they were born into was hit hard in 2021 when thousands of dead crabs and lobsters were washed up on the north-east coast. They say wash ups continue today and something new is happening – prawn catches have plummeted by up to 90%. >click to read< 15:12
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 38’6″x14’6″ David MacDonald Lobster Boat, 300HP, Cummins C Series Diesel
To review specifications, information, and 17 photos’, >click here<, To see all the boats in this series >click here< 12:25
Fishing industry reels over government’s HPMA plans
A statement on behalf of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation, Seafood Scotland, Salmon Scotland, Scottish Association of Fish Producers Organisation and Community Fisheries Inshore Alliance was released after politicians debated the issue in Holyrood on Tuesday. The motion, put forward by Beatrice Wishart MSP, was highly emotive with politicians and industry leaders calling the government’s proposal baseless. The statement said: “We call on the Government to listen to those whose livelihoods depend on putting Scottish seafood on people’s plates; those who would be most impacted. >click to read< 11:23
Retired lobsterman Charles Rogers Sr. of Matinicus Island has passed away
Charles Rogers Sr. of Matinicus Island, crossed the bar on the morning of January 20, 2023. He was born on October 29, 1939 in Owls Head, Maine. After working in Rockland at National Sea Products, Charlie and Donna moved to Matinicus Island where Charlie was a lobsterman until he retired at the age of 80. In those early years he also was a member of a seining crew. Charlie owned several boats over the years and had the distinction of having the first blue boat in the harbor when the C. Kristy Lee was built in 1978. It was thought at the time to be bad luck to have a blue boat and many of the old timers refused to ride in her. That superstition didn’t hold however, as several of the next shiny new lobster boats built for Matinicus fishermen were painted blue. At 67, when Charlie’s wife suggested he consider retiring, his answer was to have a new boat built, and Miss Sunshine became the latest addition to the harbor in 2007. >click to read< 10:26
Luke McFadden Will Chart His Own Course
I’m a commercial crabber, or a waterman as they call us, here on the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. People ask me, “What would you do if you weren’t a waterman? What would you do if you weren’t crabbing?” And I say, “I don’t even know. I’ve never considered it.” I’m an outlier in my industry. I’m Asian American. I’m also young; I’m 26. I started my business when I was 18. I’m also a first generation fisherman, meaning I didn’t come from a family of fishermen, which is very uncommon among watermen here, but really everywhere. I had a lot of resistance from a lot of other watermen, and they were not bashful about letting me know. >click to read< 09:30
ASP calls out alleged ‘intimidation’ of crab harvesters who want to fish for $2.20 per pound
The 2023 snow crab season started with a promise between the fisheries union and the processors association to work together — something akin to the Hatfields and McCoys striking a truce. It did not last long. Now three weeks into the snow crab fishery, not a single pound of the 10-legged species has been taken from the water, as fishermen protest what they consider a catastrophic price of $2.20 per pound. On Tuesday, Association of Seafood Producers executive director Jeff Loder called on the fish harvesters to get their boats in the water before it was too late. The FFAW held a news conference of its own on Tuesday where president Greg Pretty said he was disappointed by Loder’s comments. “What he’s outlined here is a recipe for absolute economic disaster for the province,” Pretty said. >click to read< 07:54
The Cornelia Marie Fishing Vessel Was a Big Part of ‘Deadliest Catch’ for Years. Where is She Now?!
On a show like Deadliest Catch, the fishing boats are as important as the main cast members and crew. Since the Cornelia Marie was with the series since nearly the beginning, but no longer appears to be part of the Discovery series, fans are curious. Where is the Cornelia Marie? And, perhaps more importantly, what happened to it? The Cornelia Marie fishing boat was introduced in Season 2 of Deadliest Catch. From there, viewers met the boat’s crew and got to know Captain Phil Harris. He later passed away in Season 6. The Cornelia Marie continued to be part of the series, however, and different captains took control of the vessel. That’s no longer the case. >click to read< 19:40
ASP Attempts to Light Fuse to Crab Fishery
Earlier today, the Association of Seafood Producers (ASP) held a press conference where they attempted to further drive a wedge between fishing fleets in order to get a crab fishery started at bottom of the barrel prices. FFAW-Unifor, the union that represents all 10,000 inshore fish harvesters as well as over 3000 onshore processing workers, continues to call for changes to the price setting structure in Newfoundland and Labrador, which currently puts all of the market risk and downturn onto harvesters and coastal communities. “The Negotiating Committee was clear that 2.20 was not a viable price to fish at. It wasn’t a viable price 2 weeks ago, on Friday, or today, and it won’t be viable tomorrow or next week,” says FFAW-Unifor President Greg Pretty. >click to read< 16:24
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for May 1st, 2023
DMF Call-in Observer Program Meetings and ASMFC Spring Meeting – We at NCFA want to emphasize the importance of attending one of the five public outreach meetings about the new automated call-in system that will be used to schedule observer trips in our state anchored gill net fisheries. Once this new call-in system for the anchored gill net fisheries is in place, the Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) will NO longer be calling individual fishermen to try to set up observer trips. If you want to set anchored gill nets YOU will have to call-in and declare your intent and if chosen to carry an observer, YOU will be responsible for setting up the observer trip. >click to read< 14:50
‘Deadliest Catch’ boat owner sues production company over former deckhand’s medical care
The owners of a fishing vessel featured in “Deadliest Catch” are suing the reality TV show’s production company and a contractor after a former crew member blamed a lack of prompt care during the pandemic for leaving him with serious medical problems. The civil lawsuit, filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Alaska by attorneys for the F/V Northwestern, centers on 58-year-old former deckhand Nick Mavar Jr., a longtime cast member of the show that debuted in 2005 on the Discovery Channel. The suit references a separate complaint Mavar filed in December in Washington’s King County Superior Court seeking more than $1 million in damages from the Northwestern’s owners, listed by Washington state records as Sig Hansen, the boat’s captain, and his wife, June. F/V Northwestern LLC is licensed in Alaska. >click to read<, and, ‘Deadliest Catch’ Lawsuit: Why Nick Mavar Jr. Sued Sig Hansen Over Medical Care >click to read< 12:02
Smugglers dumped millions in drugs off Maine’s coast. Struggling fishermen saw a jackpot.
One cold night in April 1983, narcotics officers arrived at the Northeast Harbor Marina on Mount Desert Island. The drug-sniffing dog with them strained at the end of a leash. They’d received an anonymous tip that some of the scallop boats in the area had been carrying illegal drugs along with their catches. They waited in the shadows, preparing to pounce on the evidence that would confirm the rumors. Out on the dark waters, a 42-foot scallop dragger named F/V Joshua’s Delight glided toward the harbor. One of the fishermen aboard that night was my father, Frank Ryan, then 34. That night, my father hoped his luck was changing. But he wasn’t thinking about scallops. While dredging the ocean floor that afternoon, their nets had caught something else. When they hauled them up, among thousands of scallops were chunks of a sticky, leathery substance shaped like the sole of a shoe. Dense and potent, you could smell it the instant it came on deck: hashish. >click to read< 11:11
Proposed bill, Senate Bill 687, could stymy North Carolina’s offshore wind development
Offshore wind may have strong support in the White House and in the Governor’s Mansion in Raleigh, but it remains clear that support for the “green” power alternative to traditional fossil fuel power sources remains far from unanimous in North Carolina. Fishermen also have raised concerns about the wind farms placing rich fishing grounds out of bounds, and from some environmentalists worried about them negatively impacting marine life, especially the highly endangered North Atlantic right whale. Those lingering concerns have resurfaced in a proposed bill in Raleigh. Senate Bill 687, sponsored by Republican Sens. Tim Moffitt from Henderson County and Bobby Hanig from Currituck County, calls for a 10-year moratorium,,, >click to read< 09:49
New fishermen’s alliance seeks to fight back against Biden admin’s ‘hostile’ attacks
Marine industry stakeholders are joining forces this week to establish the New England Fishermen Stewardship Association (NEFSA), a first-of-its-kind effort to fight back against federal regulations targeting fishermen. “Fishermen and fishing communities are facing oblivion thanks to their own government,” Jerry Leeman, who will serve as NEFSA’s executive director, told Fox News Digital. “Hostile regulators are steadily eroding our ability to make a living, while the offshore wind industry threatens the fleet’s access to productive fishing grounds and disrupts the aquatic environment.” “Almost no one is standing up for New England’s working families, so NEFSA will,” said Leeman. >click to read< 08:38
Fishers crabby over Japan’s Russian imports, but Tokyo says Canada exports negligible
Atlantic fishers are feeling the pinch as Japan brings in cheap Russian product rather than Canadian snow crabs, with federal ministers and provincial premiers saying they are raising the issue with Japanese officials. Snow crab prices have dropped in Newfoundland and Labrador from $7.60 per pound at the start of last year’s season to an opening price of $2.20 this year. Fishers in the province have refused to start harvesting this year as they scramble to sell off last year’s surplus, although the price could still rise. Meanwhile, Moscow has flooded other parts of the international market with cheap product. >click to read< 07:58
Cause of Action Institute: Supreme Court to Hear Fishermen’s Chevron Challenge
The justices will review Loper Bright v. Raimondo. The fishermen, represented by former Solicitor General Paul Clement and lawyers from Cause of Action Institute, petitioned the Court in November to overrule a funding scheme that would force them to hand over 20 percent of their pay to third-party at-sea monitors they must bring on their boats—a mandate that Congress never approved by statute. Amicus briefs in support of the fishermen’s case were filed by 38 organizations and individuals, including one signed by 18 state attorneys general. “The Supreme Court has an opportunity to correct one of the most consequential judicial errors in a generation. Video, lots of noteworthy links with lots of info. >click to read< 19:00
New Brunswick: Fire significantly damages lobster fishery on Grand Manan
Mayor Bonnie Morse said the Special K Fisheries caught fire early in the day on Monday, adding it appears everyone inside made it out of the fire OK. “Which is obviously the main thing,” she said. “This is a pretty significant fire so they have their hands full up there.” The island is isolated and cannot call on mutual aid to assist in fires or significant events. “We are on our own,” Morse said. Morse said she hasn’t been able to get an update from the fire department yet, adding that crews will likely be there for several more hours. >click to read< 18:09
A Correction, and an Apology
Good afternoon. We posted a submitted article called Enough is Enough, regarding the crab fishery in 3ps. We were not aware that this person was not genuine. It appears it is a fake account, which is extremely disturbing. We have a bad habit. If a fisherman wants to submit material, we do our best to accommodate them. However, to get hosed doing it is unacceptable. To the fisherman that reached out to us, and bringing this to our attention, we apologize to you, and thank you. The post has been removed. Fisherynation.com 16:45
At-Sea-Monitoring: U.S. Supreme Court takes up fishermen’s fight over US conservation funding
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to decide whether the government can require commercial fishermen to help fund a program monitoring herring catches off New England’s coast in a case that could undercut the regulatory power of federal agencies. The justices took up an appeal by New Jersey-based fishing companies of a lower court’s ruling in favor of the U.S. government in a challenge to a conservation program overseen by the National Marine Fisheries Service. The case is the latest bid asking the Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, to rein in the authority of federal agencies. The companies are asking the Supreme Court to overturn its own decades-old precedent calling for judges to defer to federal agency interpretation of U.S. laws, a doctrine called “Chevron deference.” >click to read< 14:09
Wind-power auction at Morro Bay shows how money matters in climate projects
This head-scratching story is centered on Morro Bay. When offshore wind development became a public issue there nearly a decade ago, citizens expressed concerns about the impacts of turbines on birds, fisheries, or, even at a distance of 20 miles from land, the natural beauty of the coast. But in 2015, Castle Wind LLC — a joint venture between Washington state-based Trident Winds and the subsidiary of a Germany utility — started a dialogue with residents and stakeholders. Castle Wind, following local leaders’ advice, talked first with fishermen, whose struggles are well-known. After two-plus years of discussions, Castle Wind and two fishermen’s associations forged a novel mutual benefits agreement. >click to read< 10:34
Commercial fishing business/vessel owner Jewell Thomas “Tom” English III of Oak Island, Texas, has passed away
Jewell Thomas “Tom” English III, 75, of Oak Island, Texas, passed away peacefully, on Wednesday, April 26, 2023, at his home, with his loving family by his side. He was born on May 12, 1947, in Oceanside, California, to the late Margaret Emily Powers and Jewell Thomas English, Jr. He enlisted in the United States Navy and proudly served his country during the Vietnam Era. Tom was the owner and operator of a commercial fishing business and the fishing vessel F/V M&M (“you know where it melts”) for many years. He also received his captain’s license as a tugboat driver and for pushing barges. >click to read< 09:47
A windy celebration: The 36th annual ‘Blessing of the Fleet’ and seafood festival
It was the 36th annual Blessing of the Fleet and Seafood festival in Mount Pleasant Sunday. The events bring nearly 10,000 seafood lovers together to enjoy local shrimp and fish. The Blessing of the Fleet is how the town of Mount Pleasant sends good wishes to local shrimpers. “What we’re here for is to ask God’s blessing on their shrimpers and families,” said Mount Pleasant Mayor Will Haynie. “It’s hard work, they’re out there in bad weather and good weather and they bring us the best shrimp in America.” >click to read< 08:50
Video Update:1 injured after shrimp boat catches fire on way to ‘Blessing of the Fleet’ Sunday
A shrimp boat on the way to the annual “Blessing of the Fleet” festival Sunday ended up catching fire and leaving a sailor injured, according to Mount Pleasant Fire officials. Fire officials said the boater attempted to extinguish the fire before abandoning ship. He was the only person onboard at the time and was rescued from pluff mud nearby. He was transported to the Medical University of South Carolina for treatment of unknown injuries, fire officials said. >click to read< 07:43
Shrimp Boat Burns During ‘Blessing of the Fleet’ off SC Coast – Fire decimated a boat during a celebration to kick off shrimping season along the South Carolina coast, photos show. >click for video<
