Daily Archives: June 14, 2023

Canadian Wildfire Season Is Upon Us (A Few Engineering Notes on the Season)

In case you haven’t noticed the smell of burnt flannel and soft wood in the air, it is definitely Canadian fire season. This French fried time of year is accompanied by acrid smoke, heavy fog like conditions, and a feeling of having smoked a pack of non-filtered camels without actually being a smoker. With the ocean looking like the backstage of a Snoop Dogg concert it is time to take stock of a few issues that may occur. By JJ Johnson, photos, >click to read< 18:44

Coast Guard rescues 3 from fishing vessel taking on water near Pascagoula, Miss.

The Coast Guard rescued three fishermen from a vessel taking on water 8 miles south of Pascagoula, Mississippi, Wednesday. Coast Guard Sector Mobile watchstanders received notification via VHF-FM channel 16 at approximately 1:30 a.m. from the crew of the 55-foot fishing vessel F/V Capt Quintinn  stating they were taking on water. Photos, >click to read< 16:49

Nova Scotia judge rejects $170K compensation claim over seized lobster

The owner of a lobster pound has failed in his bid to be compensated for lobster that were seized by fisheries officers and dumped back into the ocean. A Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge has ruled the lobster were not caught or sold by someone who possessed a commercial licence to sell the catch. Rockville Carriers Ltd. operates a pound in Town Point, Yarmouth County. The company sued the federal government for compensation. On Nov. 15, 2019, fisheries officers raided the Rockville compound and seized more than 5,200 kilograms of lobster that had been delivered that morning. The lobster came from Kylie and Boys Fisheries Ltd., which is owned by David Pictou. >click to read< 15:27

Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 55’x19′ Wesmac Lobster/Tuna, 803HP Yanmar Diesel, Northern Lights -12 KW

To review specifications, information, and 35 photos’, >click here<, To see all the boats in this series >click here<  12:04

Get your motor running: Lobster boat racing season is here!

The season opener of Maine lobster boat racing season 2023 shifts into high gear Saturday, June 17 in Boothbay Harbor with the Charlie Begin Memorial Lobster Boat Races. Boat captains can sign up at Brown’s Wharf on Atlantic Avenue between 9 and 10 a.m. There is an entry fee of $20, but that fee will be waived for boat captains 18 or under to encourage younger participation in the event. The races start at 10 a.m. All entry fees collected will go to Maine Lobstermen’s Association. Ashleeann Lowery has been organizing the Boothbay Harbor races for well over a decade and has been a member of the racing committee since 2007. “I heard, although you never know until these guys show up,” said Lowery, “but I heard David Taylor’s Misty was re-powered this year, and that just might give Blue Eyed Girl a little run for her money.” >click to read< 11:31

NC joins pact to cover offshore wind farm related fisheries losses

North Carolina has joined nearly a dozen other East Coast states to create a financial compensation program that would cover economic losses within the fisheries industry caused by Atlantic offshore wind development. The Fisheries Mitigation Project aims to establish a regional administrator to oversee the process of reviewing claims and making payouts collected through a fund paid for by wind developers to commercial and for-hire recreational fisheries industries to mitigate financial loss associated with offshore wind farms. The goal first and foremost of the states is to ensure wind energy areas and the cable systems that will run from wind farms to land are developed in way that would result in minimal impacts to the fisheries industry. >click to read< 10:22

Kotek calls for pause on offshore wind turbines

Gov. Tina Kotek is joining a chorus of voices, including tribes and commercial fishermen, urging the Biden administration to slow down its push for floating wind farms in the Pacific Ocean off the state’s southern coast. Regulators are now preparing a draft report outlining where in the areas turbines may be built safely while minimizing harm to fisheries and marine life. Members of the West Coast fishing industry, however, claim that the bureau is ignoring their concerns. They worry that floating offshore wind farms will displace boats from highly productive fishing grounds and could irreversibly damage the California Current ecosystem. >click to read< 09:20

Eastern Shore fisherman pleads guilty to overharvesting, trafficking of striped bass

A commercial fisherman from the Eastern Shore pleaded guilty Monday to violating a federal law by selling striped bass he caught in Virginia waterways in excess of his quota over the course of three years. Keith James Martin, 52, of Saxis, was legally allowed to harvest 4,010 pounds of striped bass per year from 2018 to 2020 under Virginia code, according to a news release from the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Virginia. However, in 2018, Martin sold more than 6,700 pounds of striped bass to a Maryland seafood business and more than 4,300 pounds to the same business in 2019, according to the statement of facts filed with the plea agreement. >click to read< 08:33

Cork fishermen find what they believe to be failed Virgin rocket ship motor

While fishing for monkfish, the group of fishermen from Keelbeg, Union Hall hauled what they now believe is a part of the Virgin rocket ship. Virgin Orbit, a company created by business tycoon Richard Branson, made their debut launch of the LauncherOne rocket off the coast of Cornwall in January. The launch was the first of its kind off of UK soil. However, just two hours after the first rocket launch, it was revealed that the Virgin Orbit ship had suffered an anomaly and had crashed into the sea following an engine failure. >click to read< 07:50