Daily Archives: August 28, 2023
Coast Guard establishes Area Command Post ahead of Tropical Storm Idalia
The Seventh Coast Guard District has established an Area Command Post in advance of Tropical Storm Idalia, Monday, at Coast Guard Air Station Miami in Opa Locka, Florida. For information and interviews relating to the Coast Guard’s preparations and response to Tropical Storm Idalia, please contact the Joint Information Center at 954-546-4979 or by email >>here<< Updated Port Condition changes by the Captain of the Port will be available on the Homeport website and announced on official unit social media pages throughout the Seventh District. Check below for your local Coast Guard Sector page: >>click to read<< 19:00
P.E.I. fisherman fined for catching both undersized and female lobsters with eggs attached
An eastern P.E.I. fisherman has been fined more than $8,000 for having both undersized and female lobsters with eggs attached in his catch. Thang Quoc Tran, 66, pleaded guilty to the two charges under the federal Fisheries Act on Aug. 24 in provincial court in Georgetown. Federal Crown attorney Matthew Bradley told the court that on May 31, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) officers were at the Launching Harbour (fishing area 26-A) conducting compliance inspections. Tran’s fishing vessel was inspected, and officers located 77 undersized lobsters and three female lobsters with eggs. One of the female lobsters was also undersized. >>click to read<< 14:58
Government of Canada invests over $65M in Marine Search and Rescue services as part of the Oceans Protection Plan
Today, the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, the Honourable Diane Lebouthillier announced $24.29 million in funding, with $3.37 million ongoing, to expand Indigenous search and rescue training and exercising on all coasts, and a $34.1 million investment in the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary, with $4.85 million ongoing, through the Oceans Protection Plan over the next nine years. This funding will increase community-based search and rescue capacity across the country and save critical time during incidents. It will support auxiliary units with training and exercising and purchasing new equipment. This funding will also help with search and rescue training for members of Indigenous coastal communities who play a key role in marine safety, have expertise in navigating local waters, and share ties to Canada’s oceans and waterways that span generations. >>click to read<< 13:53
Green Groups Turn a Blind Eye to Mysterious Increase in Whale Deaths
Several environmentalist groups campaign against offshore oil and gas projects because of their ecological impacts, but those same groups appear to apply less scrutiny to the potential impacts of offshore wind developments. The Sierra Club, the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) and Greenpeace have all advocated for East Coast offshore wind projects amid the increase in whale deaths after slamming offshore oil and gas projects for their environmental impacts. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has declared “unusual mortality events” for humpback and North Atlantic right whales since 2016 and 2017, respectively, a timeline which generally coincides with the start of offshore wind development off of the East Coast in 2016, according to NOAA’s website. >>click to read<< 12:09
New Gov’t plan to track small fishing boats
Proposals to introduce electronic tracking and monitoring technology for small fishing vessels will be consulted on as part of package of new fisheries measures. The consultation proposes that vessel tracking devices will be required by Scottish commercial fishing vessels under 12 metres in length wherever they operate, and by all vessels of the that size when they operate in Scottish waters. It also asks whether Remote Electric Monitoring systems (REM) – which are more sophisticated than vessel tracking – should be required on some inshore vessels. A Scottish Government spokesperson explained: “Rolling out such technology across Scotland’s fishing fleet would show that vessels are operating sustainably and within the law, increasing consumer confidence in Scottish seafood. >click to read< 10:58
Idalia emerges as threat to Florida with potential as category 3 hurricane
The National Weather Service warned on Monday that Tropical Storm Idalia is expected to intensify into a major category 3 hurricane by Wednesday. As of 8 a.m. E.D.T. on Monday, Idalia was about 90 miles south of the western tip of Cuba and was expected to become a hurricane as it approached the coast of Cuba. Idalia had sustained maximum winds of 65 mph and was moving north. While the track of the hurricane remained the same, the expected intensity has increased. Florida’s Division of Emergency Management on Monday morning said its state emergency operations center was activated to a “level 1″ in response to Idalia. >click to read< 09:50
Murray Bridges, NC soft-crab industry pioneer, has passed away
Murray Bridges, the visionary Outer Banks fisherman who remade tiny Colington Island into a behemoth of the soft-shell crab industry in North Carolina, died Tuesday morning after being infected by the Vibrio bacteria two days earlier while tending his crab shedders. Bridges, who owned and operated Endurance Seafood Co. off Colington Road since 1976, was 89. “One week ago, he was setting peeler pots and fishing them,” Willy Phillips, a close friend and a fellow crabber, told Coastal Review Wednesday. “So, he fished to the end. That was Murray — his work ethic was incredible.” A native of Wanchese, Bridges was instrumental in establishing soft-shell crab as a profitable shellfish product in North Carolina, while also insisting on the highest standards. >click to read< 08:40
America Is Finally Spilling Its Shipwreck Secrets
Word had gotten out about a productive patch of scallops in Stellwagen, and a commercial fishing fleet pounced. Smaller coastal boats took to the water, each one dragging a 11.5-foot-wide scallop dredge behind it. So did longer offshore vessels towing two side-by-side dredges, spanning about 30 feet. Over the coming weeks, the armada raked an area of seafloor equal to the size of Boston. Sleeping in shifts, the crews worked nonstop, shucking thousands of scallops released from the dredge in a great clattering whoosh on the wet decks. Watching this all play out, Haskell’s first concern was safety. “They were going back and forth, north and south, basically just barely missing each other,” he recalls. >click to read< 07:48
