Monthly Archives: June 2023
Kenai Peninsula fisherman Snooks Moore retires from lifelong participation in Alaska commercial fisheries
Homer’s Snooks Moore has spent her life in Alaska commercial fisheries. After 38 years in the salmon drift fishery, the 79-year-old Kenai Peninsula woman will, for the first time, not be heading to Bristol Bay with the F/V Razor’s Edge. “She wanted to keep fishing, but Grandpa wanted to go travel and enjoy life. It’s been about four years that he’s been pushing for it and she finally agreed,” her grandson Justin Arnold, said. The Moore family has been in the Cook Inlet area for many generations and Moore originally started fishing in setnet operations in the Kasilof region. She also participated in the Cook Inlet drift fisheries and then False Pass for several years before heading to summers in Bristol Bay. “My folks had setnet sites on Kalifornsky Beach, where I spent all my childhood, that they bought from my uncle Jack in 1939. They also had some sites closer to the Kenai River,” Snooks Moore said in a conversation on June 7. >click to read< 16:23
Coast Guard medevacs commercial fishing vessel crewmember near Pass a Loutre, La.
The Coast Guard medevaced a commercial fishing vessel crewmember Thursday near Pass a Loutre, Louisiana. Coast Guard Sector New Orleans watchstanders received a call via VHF-FM channel 16 at 4:30 a.m. from the commercial fishing vessel F/V Danna B stating a crewmember was experiencing suspected drug withdrawals symptoms. Watchstanders diverted a Coast Guard Station Venice Response Boat-Medium rescue crew to assist. The rescue crew arrived on scene, transported the crewmember, and transferred him to awaiting emergency medical services personnel back at Station Venice. The crewmember was last reported to be in stable condition. -USCG 13:07
Peter Cook Tells Stories to Remember
Fishing hundreds of miles off the coast of Provincetown in1979, the F/V Little Infant was caught in a raging tempest. Peter Cook, a crewman on the 90-foot scalloper, could see only one other boat out there, the F/V Leland J. “That boat got in trouble,” says Cook, “and started taking on water.” The Little Infant’s crew watched the other boat sink, “and then,” Cook continues, “we picked six guys out of the life raft. Once the six men were on board our boat, I walked into the wheelhouse and Captain Adams said, ‘Well, Pedro, that went well. How are those men?’ He always called me Pedro. And I said, ‘They are shaken up but lucky to be alive, thanks to you.’ He pointed out the window and said, ‘Take a look out there. I’ll bet you never saw anything like that before.’ And the other boat had turned bottoms up and was upside down, drifting away. And I said, ‘No, I never did, George.’ And he said, ‘Well, that’s a story you can tell your grandchildren someday.’ So, I wrote the story.” >click to read< 11:34
Fishermen To Replace NOAA With NEFSA Due to Reliance on Inaccurate Data to Set Catch Quota
NOAA which has the task of managing and safeguarding the nation’s marine resources, sets catch quotas to ensure sustainable fishing practices annually. However, it has been discovered from an investigation that the agency uses heavily outdated and incomplete information to estimate its fish and marine life population, and subsequently set fish catch quotas’ sets quotas for particular species based on data it collects from its research vessels. NOAA’s research vessel for the Northeast and the Mid-Atlantic is the Henry B. Bigelow, homeported in Newport, Rhode Island, U.S.A. A group called the New England Fishermen Stewardship Association (NEFSA), a new coalition of lobstermen, fishermen, and fishing-adjacent businesses was formed as a replacement due to the reported drawbacks of NOAA. >click to read< 10:5
Fishermen File Lawsuit Against Biden Administration, Claiming Regulations are Threatening Their Business
Two fishermen have filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration, claiming that Congress and unelected councils are unconstitutionally regulating and overseeing fisheries. Commercial fishermen George Arnesen of Louisiana and Ryan Bradley of Mississippi argue that the regulatory authority has been placed in the hands of an “unconstitutional regime” that is detrimental to local fishermen. They claim that these regulations make them “vulnerable to capture by narrow private interests.”The lawsuit specifically cites the 1976 Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act as the primary law governing marine fisheries management in U.S. federal waters. The plaintiffs argue that Congress has converted federal waters into “Constitution-free zones,” in violation of the Constitution. >click to read< 09:52
Lone fisherman who fell overboard and drowned was not wearing life jacket
Skipper John Wilson, 64, was alone on the Harriet J off the coast of the Scottish Borders when he fell into the water on the morning of August 28, 2021. A Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) report found he had probably become entangled in a chain weight in his fishing gear and was pulled through the open door for shooting fishing gear into the sea. The unmanned vessel motored away and shortly afterwards it passed close to another fishing boat, of which one of Mr Wilson’s relatives was the skipper. >click to read< 0855
NJ fishermen told they shouldn’t have received $7M in COVID aid, so give it back
Over three dozen New Jersey fishery-related businesses are being asked to return about $7 million in federal COVID-19 funds that was doled out by the state Department of Environmental Protection, the Office of the State Comptroller said. That number represents 49% of the money that the DEP awarded to fishery businesses for relief money during the peak of the pandemic. The money came out of the CARES Act Marine Fisheries Assistance Grant Program, administered by DEP. The state was given about $14.4 million out of $300 million that the federal government divvied up between 32 states, commonwealths and tribes in the act. It was intended to provide money to fisheries that lost revenue during the height of the pandemic. To qualify, applicants must have experienced at least a 35% loss between March and June of 2020. Video, >click to read< 07:51
Fishing season is on in Southeast Alaska
The 9th U.S. Court of Appeals on Jun. 21 halted the implementation of a U.S. District Court decision that would have shut down the Chinook fishery in Southeast Alaska for the summer. Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy, Attorney General Treg Taylor, and Department of Fish and Game Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang reacted to the Court’s decision. Governor Mike Dunleavy said, “The 9th Circuit got it right when it found that Alaska’s fishing interests outweighed the “speculative environmental threats.” There’s a gauntlet of obstacles before the Chinook reach our fishery. The ruling comes just in time so that our commercial troll fishers in Southeast have a season. And we are grateful for it.” >click to read< 17:20
CEO says over regulation has led to the demise of the fishing industry
The fishing industry is facing the gravest challenges of our time with a decline in the number of young people joining the industry and a serious decline in profits reaped from the the processing and exporting sector, according to the Chief Executive Officer of the Irish Fish Processors and Exporters Association (IFPEA), Brendan Byrne. The Creenveen-based CEO said: “There is no doubt that we are facing the gravest challenges of our time as a result of Brexit and the TCA agreement. I suppose historically we have been treated very unfairly by the Common Fisheries Policy – they only allow us to catch, on average, 15% of all the fish in Irish waters; the other 85% is shared among other EU countries.” >click to read< 15:14
Opinion: Canada failed the N.L. fishery by Harvey Jarvis
The 2023 crash in the price of snow crab and the 1992 moratorium on northern cod have been talked about as the two major catastrophic events in the Newfoundland Labrador inshore fishery. While I totally agree that the two events have inflicted major damage on those who make a living from our ocean’s renewable resources, in my opinion, neither of them is THE major catastrophic event. In 1949, Newfoundland Labrador signed over control and management of the world’s richest renewable resources to Canada. While Canada was supposed to manage those resources to produce maximum benefit to Newfoundland Labrador, the opposite has occurred. >click to read< 13:17
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 101′ Steel Shrimper, 95k capacity freezer hold, 3508 Cat Diesel
To review specifications, information, and 17 photos’, >click here<, To see all the boats in this series >click here< 12:25
There have been 2,600 violations of Louisiana’s imported shrimp law — and no fines
Health inspectors have recorded more than 2,600 violations of a 2019 Louisiana law that requires restaurants and other food establishments to indicate on their menus if they’re selling imported shrimp or crawfish, but the state hasn’t levied a single fine for those violations since the law took effect. It’s a problem local fishermen have been calling attention to for years. Foreign seafood has become so cheap that it is almost ubiquitous. According to the Louisiana Shrimp Association, most restaurants in the state have chosen to serve imported shrimp and crawfish to patrons who are either oblivious to it or believe they’re eating local fare. >click to read< 10:49
Council to reconsider red king crab closure options
Regulators are inching closer to closing areas of Bristol Bay to commercial groundfish fishing in an attempt to help conserve the depleted red king crab there. The North Pacific Fishery Management Council has requested more information for a second evaluation of options for what to do about the Bristol Bay Red King Crab fishery. At its meeting from June 6-11 in Sitka, the council tweaked some of the options for closures and asked its staff to gather more information for another review at its next meeting. The current options issue annual closures for part of Bristol Bay to all commercial groundfish gear types, though one option excludes non-pelagic trawl. >click to read< 09:40
Federal judges: Data does not prove Maine lobstering endangers whales
Friday, a panel of judges ruled that data on entanglements in lobster fishing gear does not support the need for the new strict limits on where and how lobstermen could fish. Those regulations, set by the National Marine Fisheries Service, were put in place under the authority of the Endangered Species Act to protect the 340 North Atlantic Right Whales whales left. The Maine Lobstermen’s Association says there is no evidence of Maine lobster gear ever killing a whale. There has been no documented entanglement of a North Atlantic Right Whale since 2004. “Every lobsterman in Maine was facing a decision of whether or not they would be able to continue in the fishery,” MLA policy director Patrice McCarron said. Video, >click to read< 08:55
Cheers! Local fishing nonprofit receives $50,000 donation
Tito’s Handmade Vodka partnered with the Martha’s Vineyard Fishermen’s Preservation Trust (MVFPT) to fund a new gin boom, a type of hydraulic crane that helps unload heavy catches from fishing vessels. According to Tito’s, the boom will help approximately 25 to 30 commercial fishing businesses, mainly on the Island. But they say it has the potential to help upwards of 100. The boom unveiled in Menemsha during a ceremony last week. MVFPT executive director Shelley Edmundson said that gin booms are critical to the fishing industry. >click to read< 07:52
Bay Port Fish Company part of first Fresh Fish Expo in Lansing
Legislators and residents were gathered on the lawn of the capitol building in Lansing for the first Fresh Fish Expo, where the commercial fishing companies in Michigan provided education on the freshwater resource and were cooking up fish for those in attendance on June 13. The Bay Port Fish Company was present and brought over plenty of fish for the occasion. The company is one of eight commercial fishing license holders in the state. “A lot of people came that didn’t know about commercial fishing,” said Lakon Williams, co-owner of Bay Port Fish Company. “They were able to meet the people who provide the fish in the state and have conversations with them.” 9 photos, >click to read< 17:55
Letter: Lawsuit wrongly accuses salmon trollers
In the fall and winter, you can find me in Eastern Washington, working on building a new 50-foot salmon troller. Every year when June 20th comes, I trek north to my second home, southeast Alaska. From July to September, I can be found commercial fishing on a 40-foot salmon troller out of Sitka, Alaska. I’m not the only one who migrates every summer to southeast Alaska to make my living; other residents in Eastern Washington also head to Alaska to participate in this iconic salmon fishery. This summer is different though. Hundreds of other fishermen and I are left not knowing if we’ll have an income this year due to Wild Fish Conservancy’s attack on small-boat family fishermen through its misguided lawsuit,,, >click to read and comment<14:47
Every Deadliest Catch Captain Ranked from Worst to Best
First airing in 2005, the reality TV show follows a featured fleet of fishing vessels as they try to do battle with the elements, and each other, in order to get the best stock of crab possible. Though its concept might sound mundane, the show has often courted controversy, with sexual harassment claims, legal woes, and jail time all attached to various stars that have appeared throughout the years. 2023 brings viewers the show’s nineteenth season, plenty of captains have been able to establish themselves as fan favorites. From newbie faces appearing in later seasons to those who have weathered the storms since its pilot episode, there’s been a captain to cater to every taste, and then some. But who fares the worst, and who is the best? Grab your waders and read on for a ranking of every “Deadliest Catch” captain. >click to read and comment< 12:39
‘They look at me as an outsider’: Cape Breton fisherman says boat burned, gear vandalized
Adam Morrison said he bought the licence for more than $800,000 and had fished lobster previously in a nearby community, Big Bras d’Or, for an employer. This was a chance to have his own boat, literally in his backyard. “I put my house on the line for this lobster licence,” Morrison told the Cape Breton Post. “They don’t want to let you make a go of it … They refuse to believe I went out on my own and got this.” In early May, Morrison, an early riser due to his profession, managed to stave off disaster when he noticed a fire onboard his boat, docked at the wharf on the rear of the property. Photos, >click to read and comment< 11:06
Eaton, Taylor win Fastest Working Lobster boat at Boothbay Harbor races
Jeff Eaton of Deer Isle/Stonington won Fastest Working Lobster Boat at the Charlie Begin Memorial Lobster Boat Races in Boothbay Harbor Saturday, June 17. Eaton pushed his boat, La Belle Vita, to 40.2 mph for the title. Andrew Taylor of Southport, who won the title in 2021 and 2022, won Fastest Working Lobster Boat in Boothbay Harbor with a speed of 49 mph in Blue Eyed Girl. Taylor did not compete in the overall Fastest Working Lobster Boat but won second place in the Diesel Free for All. Jeremy Beal won first in the free for all in Maria’s Nightmaregoing 57.5 mph. Below are the results as provided by Johansen. >click to read and comment< 10:21
Offshore wind foes in New Jersey gathering force legally and politically
Opponents of offshore wind energy projects in New Jersey are gathering force legally and politically as they seek to snuff out the nascent industry. Within the last week, three residents groups sued New Jersey over a key approval of its first planned wind farm; the research arm of Congress agreed to investigate the impact of offshore wind on the environment and other areas; and lawmakers in two counties most heavily impacted by wind farms stepped up their efforts to block the projects. Save Long Beach Island, Defend Brigantine Beach, and Protect Our Coast NJ filed an appeal Friday in state Superior Court of New Jersey’s determination that the Ocean Wind I project is consistent with state coastal management rules. >click to read and comment< 08:55
Cheap Imports Leave US Shrimpers Struggling to Compete
“We are paying to work. We are paying to feed our nation,” said Kindra Arnesen, at a rally on the steps of Louisiana’s towering capitol in Mid-May. “I ask for immediate emergency action at all levels. Nothing else will be accepted by this group.” The 45 year-old shrimp harvester, who has been hailed as a voice for the Gulf and has fought for decades to sustain the domestic shrimp industry, was surrounded by nearly a hundred other harvesters who had traveled inland from their homes along coastal Louisiana to Baton Rouge to rally for livable shrimp prices. “Nobody can make money,” said Ronald Johnston, a 64-year-old shrimper who came to the U.S. in 1981 as a Vietnamese refugee. At the rally he held a lime-green poster that read: “Shrimp: $.40 cents. Diesel: $3.95” while sitting on a scooter that helps with his mobility. Photos, >click to read and comment< 08:01
Maine lobstermen stirring the pots win bigly in federal court
Back in 2021, the National Marine Fisheries Service, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), issued an opinion in pursuit of preserving the endangered right whale. As these edicts go, this “opinion” has basically force of law when it comes to imposing conservation-based measures, rules and restrictions. The right whale, which has a population hovering at a tad less than 350 individuals, has been a focus of efforts for some years. The lobster industry, reviled by many environmentalists, became an easy target for a revised set of regulations when the Biden administration took over. And they hammered them. >click to read and comment< 18:21
‘No one knows what the risks are,’ say New England fishermen about pending offshore wind farm project
In early May, Revolution Wind’s co-developers, Ørsted and Eversource, welcomed Rhode Island Governor Daniel McKee and other officials at the Port of Providence to celebrate the start of turbine component fabrication. McKee lauded the “the jobs of the 21st century and beyond” created by the project and added that Rhode Island was “lucky to be at the forefront of this revolution,” referring to the generation of clean energy, which helps the nation meet its climate goals and positions the state as a base for offshore wind development. But not everyone was celebrating. Commercial fishermen in the area remain deeply frustrated by the uncertainty of how the turbines will impact their productivity and the long-term impacts they will have on the ecosystem they count on. It leads to a compelling question: Can offshore wind and fisheries co-exist? >click to read< 13:55
23% of P.E.I. lobster boats inspected by DFO in May blitz violated Fisheries Act
Thirty-one out of 135 lobster fishing boats inspected in a blitz investigation in P.E.I. were found to be in violation of the Fisheries Act. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans conducted the inspection in Lobster Fishing Area 24 (North Shore), and 26A and 26B (East Point to Wood Islands to Victoria) between May 30 and 31. Written warnings are given in circumstances like a fisher not having a copy of their fishing licence on the boat at the time of inspection. But four of the violations were for summary offences. >click to read< 12:56
Six crewmembers of sunken Brazilian fishing boat rescued alive
Six crewmembers of a fishing boat that sank off the southeastern State of Santa Catarina have been rescued alive, the Brazilian Navy said. The “BP Safadi Seif” with 8 people onboard lost contact with the port authority on Friday night relatively close to the resort town of Garopaba, it was reported. “The Captaincy of the Ports of Santa Catarina opened a 90-day investigation to determine the causes and responsible for this shipwreck,” said the Navy. The first five survivors were found Saturday night in a drifting lifeboat, all of them “in good health,” the Navy said in a statement. A sixth fisherman was found on Sunday afternoon and was taken to a hospital with hypothermia. Navy rescue teams are continuing their search for the two missing fishermen with the support of the Brazilian Air Force (FAB). Video, >click to read< 12:07
Red Car resto relies on DuFLEX
A classic Sydney trawler that operated for 30 years in Tasmania as Marconi’s Cross out of Hobart is being given a new lease on life by the experts at Red Car Marine in the fortuitously named suburb, Goodwood in Hobart. James Watson runs Red Car Marine and he and his team are meticulously restoring the 14.75-metre timber fishing vessel for its Sydney owners. Built in 1948, the historic vessel is a veteran of tuna fishing, trawling and towing fish pens, before going up for sale. As James explains, “Her new owners have commissioned a total refit, including the wheelhouse, aft lounge, sliding doors and interiors to turn it into a pleasure boat for cruising the Hawkesbury River, and eventually some passage making to Whitsundays.” 3 photos, >click to read< 09:54
Scots fishermen who backed Brexit betrayed after Tories ‘promised a new dawn’
Fuming Scots fishermen who once backed Brexit have said they were promised a “new dawn” before being “sold down the river”. Speaking at Peterhead Harbour, skipper Peter Bruce said the reality of leaving Europe had shattered his trust in Brexiteer politicians. He said: “It’s been a big disappointment, to be quite honest. The politicians came up from London, Boris Johnson came up a couple of times, the highest levels of government came up to Peterhead Harbour, promising this new dawn for the fishing industry. And that new dawn hasn’t come.” >click to read< 08:32
GAO to investigate New Jersey ‘offshore wind industrialisation’
The Government Accountability Office (GAO), an independent congressional watchdog, has agreed to launch an investigation into the impact of the development of windfarms offshore New JerseyThe investigation will examine the potential effects of the development of offshore wind on the environment, fishing industry, military operations, navigational safety and other issues, said Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ). Representative Smith said the GAO would conduct an “aggressive, independent investigation” into what he claimed are the “ocean-altering impacts of the 3,400 offshore wind turbines slated for the Jersey shore” and “address concerns” that, he claimed, “the Biden Administration and Governor Murphy continue to dismiss. >click to read< 07:44
Dutch beam trawlers smuggle cocaine in Danish waters
Poor and non-existent controls in ports such as Hanstholm and Thyborøn give international drug cartels good opportunities to smuggle in Danish waters. At the West Jutland ports, there are stories that one of the locals has been threatened with death in Thyborøn, and that at least three others have been beaten down by the so-called “pirates” in Hanstholm. No one wants to get their name out because they fear reprisals. Someone knows little. Others almost nothing. A Dutch fisherman has agreed to meet, despite the fact that, by his own admission, he risks his life. As we sit down, the fisherman makes it clear that he will in no way be recognizable: “I have to be 100 percent sure. Otherwise, I’m dead. They are ‘crazy’. He emphasizes that not all beam trawlers smuggle drugs, but several of them. The smuggling takes place when the beam trawler far out in the North Sea, where no one sees them, meets a large container ship, typically with fruit from South America. Photos, Videos, >click to read< 16:20
