Daily Archives: June 25, 2023
Last Voyage of Two Irish Fishing Vessels Before Break-Up in Denmark
Two Aran Island fishing vessels which were approved for Irelands decommissioning scheme, recently completed their last trip before being broken up. The 17-metre Connacht Ranger and the 20-metre Conquest were photographed on their journey from Ireland to Denmark. Skipper-owner John Conneely, from the Aran Island of Inis Mór, opted to take the vessels to Denmark for scrapping. “Beautiful but poignant images of MFV Connacht Ranger and Conquest waiting to go up Neptune’s Staircase on the Caledonian Canal en route to Denmark for decommissioning. A stairway to heaven of sorts for two boats whose time is sadly up,” read a post on Twitter by Conneely’s partner, Mary-Frances Beatty.Photos, >click to read< 20:14
Shutting down salmon trollers won’t save endangered orcas
Throughout my conservation career, Southeast Alaska’s salmon trollers have been front-line allies in efforts to stop unsustainable logging in the Tongass National Forest, address climate change and prevent large-scale mining in British Columbia’s Transboundary Rivers. That’s why it’s deeply troubling for me and other conservation leaders to read Danny Westneat’s column “To save the killer whales, the real apex predator gets some pushback” and subsequently Jennifer McCausland’s Op-Ed calling for a boycott of buying, catching or eating Chinook salmon as an effective way to save southern resident orcas. Both pieces hail the decision this spring by the Seattle U.S. District Court rewarding the Wild Fish Conservancy’s latest legal attack on fishermen, this time Southeast Alaska’s troll fishery, which comprises hundreds of fishing families that are much like small family farmers. >click to read< 16:46
Oil Company con game exposed; the old switcheroo by Jim Lovgren
Oil companies developed techniques to not only locate oil and gas reserves thousands of feet below the ocean bottom, but to drill and recover them. Unfortunately, the tools used to locate oil reserves under the ocean floor, primarily seismic air gun arrays, have left a trail of dead sea creatures in its wake. Just like the US Navy, who for years denied the growing body of evidence linking military sonar usage to localized marine mammal strandings, the oil industry has denied any link of seismic research to the marine mammal strandings that invariably occur near their operations. Along comes Biden’s green new deal, and the east coast is now swamped with offshore research vessels using both sonar and seismic devises to map the sea floor and thousands of feet underneath it, for wind development. The same vessels in many cases that would have been involved with the 2012 proposed marine mammal massacre in search of oil reserves. These vessels are not only surveying the area in the lease site, but for many miles away from them, in many cases overlapping into other lease sites, or just mapping bottom that will never be available. Why? >click to read< 11:11
Offshore Windfarms Threaten to Pull Out of Uneconomical Contracts
A string of offshore wind projects meant to power Britain are in jeopardy after the global race to net zero sent costs soaring, casting doubt over the industry’s future as a cheap source of energy. A surge in supply chain costs has pushed up the price of wind turbines, while increases in global interest rates have raised refinancing costs substantially. It has made several projects unviable just a year after they won government subsidy contracts – leading to fears from industry insiders that Britain’s future is in jeopardy as the “Saudi Arabia of wind”. Schemes developed by Danish company Ørsted and Swedish player Vattenfall are among other projects understood to be at risk, as the industry seeks more government help to ensure projects remain viable. >click to read< 09:30
This fishing gear can help save whales. What will it take for fishermen to use it?
Fishing boats would normally still be unloading Dungeness crabs at San Francisco’s fisherman’s wharf in May. This year, the docks were quiet, except for one berth. “We’re the only boat right now,” says Brand Little, standing next to a large tank of bright red crabs on the deck of his boat, the Pale Horse. State regulators closed the Dungeness season two months early this year, due to the arrival of humpback whales in the area. On both the East and West Coasts, crab and lobster fishermen are seeing their fishing seasons shrink over concerns that whales are getting entangled in the long ropes attached to their gear, accidents that often end up injuring or killing the animals. Photos, >click to read< 08:08
Ross Greer accused of ‘outrageous slur’ with ‘disgraceful’ comment about fishermen over marine area controversy
A Greens backbencher has been accused of a “outrageous slur” when he claimed that those who stand against the Scottish Governments fishing ban “are not interested in securing the future of families who have relied on fishing for employment for generations.” West of Scotland MSP Ross Greer said his accusations applied to “some” in the industry who he feels are to blame for the widespread backlash to plans for Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs). Scottish Conservative shadow rural affairs secretary Rachael Hamilton MSP, said: “These disgraceful remarks from Ross Greer once again highlight how out-of-touch the Greens are with the needs of our fishermen and coastal communities. >click to read< 13:57
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