Daily Archives: July 12, 2023
Harried shrimpers pessimistic as Gulf season opens
Capt. Trey Branch and deckhand Cliff Dunn were at work Tuesday morning at a Hillman’s Seafood & Fish House dock preparing the shrimp boat Capt. Hunter for the opening Saturday of Gulf shrimp season. Dunn and Branch are lifelong shrimpers, from generations of shrimpers. Once, the days just before the boats took to Gulf waters after shrimp were a time of hard work and keen anticipation of profits to make it all worthwhile. Not so much any more, the shrimpers said. The hard work is still there, but profits have plummeted in part because of cheaper, farm-raised foreign shrimp flooding the market and higher operating costs driven by inflation, especially in fuel prices. 5 photos, >click to read< 20;47
N.S. fishermen rescued by coast guard land safely in St. John’s
Seven Nova Scotia fishermen say they’re happy to be back on solid ground in St. John’s after their boat took on water and they had to be rescued by the Canadian Coast Guard. John Gilkie, part of the crew of the Addie N Ainslie fishing for halibut out of Sambro, N.S., said the crew noticed a shaft vibration on the boat and decided to call their trip short. While coasting back in search of a tow on Tuesday, Gilkie said they heard a loud bang. “When we checked that, there was water pouring in in two different directions,”>click to read< 16:19
Crab season closures ‘devastating’ for Bering Sea fishing family
For Kodiak’s Gabriel Prout, crab fishing is both an occupation and a way of life. “There’s something special about being on the water and being a Bering Sea crab fisherman,” said Prout, whose father spent 45 years fishing on the Bering Sea. “It’s kind of hard to explain. There is a deep appreciation for what we do and the resource and the job and the work we put in.” In the summer of 2020, Prout and his brothers purchased a boat and took out loans to buy fishing rights. But in the fall of 2022, his family was hit with multiple setbacks. Not only had the Alaska Department of Fish and Game canceled the Bristol Bay red king crab season for the second year in a row, the Bering Sea snow crab season was also canceled. Video, >click to read< 14:04
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 35′ Duffy & Duffy Tuna/Charter, 250HP Cummins GBTA-5.9MI
To review specifications, information, and 10 photos’, >click here<, To see all the boats in this series >click here< 11:30
The Whale Killing Study the Feds are Afraid to Do
The Feds have admitted that offshore wind development can cause the death of whales and other marine mammals, but they refuse actually to assess that threat for any wind facilities. So I here outline what such a study should look like. This sort of study is what they are afraid to do because it would give numbers to the deaths that are likely to occur, species by species. First off, here is the Feds’ own description of some of the known deadly threats. In this case, the offshore wind activity is driving the monster piles that support the turbine towers, but there are others. >click to read< 10:02
The Alaskan Mass Murder Thats Remained Unsolved For More Than 30 Years
In 1982, the F/V Investor, a commercial fishing boat, was set ablaze on an island near Craig, a remote fishing village in Southeast Alaska. The charred remains of eight people were later found onboard: The boat’s owner, Mark Coulthurst, his pregnant wife, Irene, their two young children, and four deckhands; all shot and killed before the boat was burned. By 1984, John Kenneth Peel, a boatyard worker, was arrested for the crime, but later acquitted. Speaking with People in 2017, David McNeill, a former Washington state police detective involved in the investigation, said this is less an indication of innocence than a prosecutorial failure to present sufficient evidence against Peel. >click to read< 09:10
Gripes in Grimsby over Brexit fishing failure
Grimsby, perched on the southern side of the River Humber, near Kingston-upon-Hull in northern England, was built on the fishing industry. Some 70 percent of people in the town voted for Brexit, hoping that the UK’s departure from the European Union would boost its flagging fortunes. But seven years on from the landmark referendum, those who banked on a turnaround are disappointed, while those who feared it are not taking it lying down. At 7:00 am, the auction at Grimsby’s wholesale fish market in the heart of the town’s vast docks is in full swing. “We have mackerel. 1.5 (pounds) a kilo? 1.7? 1.8? 1.9?” shouts the auctioneer. >click to read< 08:27
Long-sunken trawler leaks diesel fuel into Mackerel Cove
A trawler that sank to the bottom of Mackerel Cove, Bailey Island, in the 1990s leaked diesel fuel into the cove on Monday, July 10. A local diver plugged the leak late Monday afternoon and the U.S. Coast Guard plans to pump out the rest of the fuel, according to Harpswell Harbor Master Paul Plummer. The Maine Department of Environmental Protection, the Orr’s and Bailey Islands Fire Department, and U.S. Coast Guard Station South Portland responded to assist. But it was local diver Alex Lund who stopped the leak around 5 p.m., using marine putty and other materials. The fishing vessel Miss Plum was the source of the leak, according to Plummer. >click to read< 07:50
