Daily Archives: October 18, 2023
Local Legends in Fishing Boots: Founding Viking Village Dock
Utility green, calf-high dockside boots – “Daddy’s boots,” as Barnegat Light Historical Society President Karen Larson knows the sight – were the launch step into gripping stories of two local legendary captains and families who started the now-flourishing Viking Village commercial dock enterprise on a shoestring and a need to keep a town’s industry alive. The tribute program at the Barnegat Light Museum on Sept. 14 centered on the dock’s development by her late father, Barnegat Light Historical Society President Karen Larson the late Louis Puskas Jr. and their wives, Marion Larson, who died this year, and Frances Puskas. Viking Village Inc. Commercial Seafood Producers at the 18th Street bayside grew from Independent Dock, built in the 1920s by first-generation Norwegian fishermen plying their trade. It’s now an industry leader responsibly producing prime sea scallops and fish dinners for restaurant tables in New York, Chicago and internationally. The museum talk covered history but more so pulled up seats to memories told around the table, by no-fear fishermen themselves. Photos, >>click ti read<< 20:57
As the once-lucrative Bering Sea crab harvest resumes, Alaska’s fishers face challenges
In the short term, Alaska crab fishers and the communities that depend on them will get a slight reprieve from the disastrous conditions they have endured for the past two years, with harvests for iconic red king crab to open on Sunday. In the long term, the future for Bering Sea crab and the people who depend on it is clouded by environmental and economic upheaval. The decision by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to open harvests of Bristol Bay red king crab after an unprecedented two-year shutdown was a close call, a state biologist told industry members during a meeting on Thursday. >>click to read<< 16:08
Lowcountry shrimpers say area restaurants buying shrimp from other countries is putting a strain on the industry
Lowcountry shrimpers are concerned that they are going to be priced out by imported shrimp. But there’s one local organization working to promote eating locally. The South Carolina Shrimper’s Association has multiple goals such as advocating for policies that support the shrimping industry, educating the public about the industry, and promoting sustainable shrimping. One of the biggest problems Lowcountry shrimpers are facing right now is local restaurants importing the shrimp. They say some restaurants import shrimp from other countries at extremely low prices that local shrimpers just can’t afford to beat – and it’s impacting their livelihood. Video, “It’s been happening for a long time now, but it’s gotten to where it’s getting out of hand,” said local shrimper Rocky Magwood. >>click to read<< 13:03
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 72′ Steel Shrimp Dragger, 500H Cummins K-19 Diesel
To review specifications, information, and 28 photos’, >click here<, To see all the boats in this series, >click here< 11:35
Commercial Fisherman Mark David Rose of Falmouth has passed away
In Loving Memory: Mark David Rose of Falmouth passed away at home in Falmouth on September 30, 2023, from liver cancer and complications, surrounded by family. A restless spirit, Mark left school and started commercial fishing out of Provincetown on the Silver Mink and other boats in the 1970s and 80s. He loved Provincetown deeply with its fishing and Portuguese heritage. Mark moved to Falmouth in the late 1980s where he fished commercially out of Woods Hole, Fairhaven, and New Bedford. He began his own inshore quahog and scallop fishery in the 1990s and continued to fish offshore from commercial ports. Mark leaves behind his two beautiful children. >>click to read<< 08:56
Decline in young lobsters triggers change in legal catch size
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commissioner approved in May new management measures when the survey of sublegal lobsters declined by 35 percent. The most recent stock survey shows a 39 percent decline. “The fact that we’ve hit the trigger this soon comes as a significant surprise,” DMR Commissioner Patrick Keliher said. “When the Board voted on the Addendum in May, it was anticipated that the trigger would not be hit for a year or two.” Keliher had initially broached to the ASMFC a higher trigger of 38 percent than the 35 percent that passed. But at the latest board meeting, he successfully delayed implementing the first size change from June 1, 2024, as initially set in the Addendum, to Jan. 1, 2025. >>click to read<< 08:08
Another legal challenge to NJ offshore wind farm project
In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in New Jersey, commercial fishing and tourism interests and a conservation group joined Cape May County in accusing federal agencies of ignoring and violating laws designed to protect the environment and marine life. The dispute is the latest that threatens to delay the project, which also faces stiff financial challenges that have led officials from Ørsted, a Danish company, to consider pulling out of building the 98-turbine project. Ørsted’s Ocean Wind I, a 1,100-megawatt project about 15 miles offshore from Atlantic City, is entangled in assorted court battles. Orsted has sued Cape May County and Ocean City over delays in obtaining permits while the state faces challenges over its approval of the project from local groups. >>click to read<< 07:09
