Daily Archives: July 26, 2023
Who is Canada’s newest fisheries minister and what tasks lie ahead for Diane Lebouthillier?
With a marine coastline that measures 243,042 kilometers—the most of any country in the world—Canada’s fishing grounds and Coast Guard service areas touch the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic Oceans. The mandate of the fisheries minister, as outlined on the Department of Fisheries and Oceans website, is wide-reaching and complex. Her department’s job is to protect Canada’s oceans and waterways and provide economic opportunities to Canadians and coastal communities. Drill down to local issues, however, and there are hundreds. Here’s a look at some of them. >click to read< 19:55
Coast Guard, good Samaritans assist 4 aboard shrimping vessel taking on water near St. Simons Island
The Coast Guard and good Samaritans assisted four people Tuesday after their shrimping vessel began taking on water near St. Simons Island, Georgia. Coast Guard Sector Charleston watchstanders received a notification at 10:33 p.m, via VHF-FM channel 16 marine radio, from the Joann B, a 75-foot shrimping vessel, stating their vessel was taking on water 4 miles east of St. Simons Island. The boat crew and air crew arrived on scene and began rendering assistance with three dewatering pumps. Good Samaritans from the fishing vessel Miss Vicky and commercial salvage also assisted with dewatering efforts. Photos, video. >click to read< 16:37
Meet the Women Making Waves in Maine’s Tough Lobster Industry
When Krista Tripp was 18, she’d completed all of the hours at sea necessary to get her captain’s license, but her parents submitted her brother’s paperwork to the State of Maine and not hers. Why? Even though Krista had been hauling traps since she was eight years old and running her own boat since 15, the expectation was that now she’d settle down and start having babies. “My brother and I shared the boat, we had 150 traps, and I became obsessed at an early age,” Tripp recalls. “I knew that was what I wanted to do. But, as a girl, my parents didn’t really take me seriously.” Tripp would spend the next few years working as a sternman off of a scallop boat in Massachusetts. Eventually, she returned to Maine, and after 14 years, she got herself off the waiting list and became the captain of her own lobster boat. Today, she has been captaining her own lobster boat for more than eight years. Photos, >click to read< 14:23
FFAW Welcomes New Federal Fisheries Minister
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s federal cabinet shuffle today has announced Diane Lebouthillier as the new Minister for Fisheries and Oceans, replacing the Joyce Murray as the federal head of fisheries management. The Union that represents all inshore fish harvesters in Newfoundland and Labrador looks forward to working with Minister Lebouthillier, hoping for a renewed focus on robust science and economically sustainable management. >click to read< 12:53
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 38′ Young Brothers Tuna/Charter, Caterpillar 3126
To review specifications, information, and 34 photos’, >click here<, To see all the boats in this series >click here< 11:45
Fisherman missing on Okanagan Lake identified by family
Maddy Pool identified the missing man as her step-father, Travis Van Hill. She says Van Hill was working last night on a boat that fishes for shrimp at night. According to Pool, no storm was forecasted last night, which is why the boats went out. She said the company is “really smart” about storms. “There were two boats out there last night. The one boat made it in safe and the other one didn’t, which was the one that my stepdad was on.” The boat capsized near Ellison Provincial Park at the north end of the lake, and being that Van Hill was working, WorkSafeBC has been called in. >click to read< , and here. 10:50
Fisherman’s friend: Blue lobster caught for second time is released into the sea
What do you call a once in a lifetime experience when it happens for a second time? Perhaps Bangor fisherman Stuart Brown is the man to ask. Catching an extremely rare blue lobster is said to be a one in two million chance. Doing it again just a few months later and the odds soar. Same lobster, same boat, same location off the Belfast coastline. The second catch, from the waters close to Blackhead Lighthouse on the northern shores of Belfast Lough, was even more unlikely because lobsters do not usually remain in the same area. Photos, >click to read< 10:18
Community mourns young lobsterman lost at sea
Tylar Michaud’s boat, F/V Top Gun, was found Friday, July 21, southwest of Petit Manan Bar, with its engine running but no one on board. “The whole community is shaken by this,” said state Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham, a Winter Harbor resident and himself a lobsterman. “I don’t think there’s anyone in this community that isn’t somehow connected to Tylar by family or friendship.” Michaud, a Steuben resident, was fishing alone, which carries inherent risks, but relative Michael Faulkingham said Tylar had fished for about five years on his own. He had also worked on Michael’s boat last year. “I know how careful he was and how smart he was on the boat, and how vigilant he was about paying attention and being careful,” Michael said. “He’s been a part of our family for about 11, 12 years. He was exceptionally responsible and wise on the water beyond his years.” >click to read< 08:59
Young fishing crews question future of fishery
Wesley Blough and Jordan Manor are childhood friends, growing up crewing on their fathers’ boats in Bristol Bay. Now in their mid twenties, they live in Hoonah, Alaska and Bainbridge Island, Washington respectively but they return each season to deckhand. For the young fishermen, it’s like a family reunion. “Jordan and I have known each other now for nine years. And this is the only time we see each other,” Blough said, “Four weeks into the fishing season, processors posted a record-low base price of 50 cents per pound – less than half of last year’s price – igniting outrage and frustration among crews across the fishery. Jordan and Wesley’s fathers Darren Manor and Cheyne Blough helped organize the protest in the Naknek River on July 20, where over one hundred boats anchored up in a demonstration, calling on processors to increase the base price and transparency in the fishery. >click to read< 07:55
