Daily Archives: December 26, 2023
Firefighters pull deceased male from harbor on Christmas Eve
The Gloucester Fire Department pulled a body from the Inner Harbor in the waters off Jodrey State Fish Pier on Parker Street on Christmas Eve. Fire Deputy Chief Phil Harvey confirmed firefighters removed a deceased person (a male) from the water around 12:14 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 24, after a call came into the department for a person in the water. Harvey said they encountered a language barrier with the caller and the department dispatched its normal rescue response. When firefighters arrived, they found the victim and two firefighters pulled the male from the water in the vicinity of 11 Parker St., a large dockside commercial building on the State Fish Pier. more, >>click to read<< 16:20
Fishermen Feeding Mainers reaches one-million-meal milestone
Fresh Maine-caught fish for local families has filled food pantry coolers since October 2020, through Fishermen Feeding Mainers. Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association (MCFA) started the program late in 2020 during the COVID pandemic to support both hungry families and ground fleet fishermen whose earnings were hit when restaurants and other seafood buyers shut down. Since then, the Brunswick-based nonprofit’s arms have reached across Maine, serving more than one million meals to families through 250 food pantries and more than 30 school districts — and giving boots-on-the-ground backing to the notion that “Mainers always unite in difficult times,” in the words of Mary Hudson, director of fisheries programs at MCFA. more, >>click to read<< 12:46
Fishing foundation pushes back against electronic tracking
Three days before a federal electronic tracking requirement took effect for all lobster boats fishing in federal waters, the Sustainable Maine Fishing Foundation (SMFF), a nonprofit that shares headquarters on Bar Harbor Road with the Maine Lobstermen’s Union and Lobster 207, sent a letter through its attorneys to Patrick Keliher, commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources. The Dec. 15 deadline to start using electronic “black box” tracking devices has come and gone, but the Foundation is busy raising funds for legal expenses, raising more than $46,000 in its first week toward a goal of $250,000. more, >>click to read<< 10:39
In St. John’s 150 years ago, a giant squid had its picture taken. That photo would ignite the world’s imagination
Before one remarkable moment in downtown St. John’s a century and a half ago, the giant squid lived only in the tall tales of sailors and fishermen. Then, thanks to a single photograph, the massive cephalopod immediately moved from the realm of fantasy to reality. And today “squid spirits” — as enthusiasts consider themselves — continue to marvel at the fact that there’s still so much mystery and awe around the creature 150 years later. “It was seminal. It pushed science’s understanding of giant squid ahead by leaps and bounds, and No. 1: it proved they were real,” says Jenny Higgins, a writer who works with the Maritime History Archive at Memorial University. This story starts in November 1873, when a group of fishermen in Logy Bay out on the water came across something much bigger than herring. Video,Images, photos, more, >>click to read<< 09:48
New Ring Netter Joins Newlyn Fleet
Built by G Smyth Boats in Kilkeel, new ring netter Inter-Nos PZ-46 made its delivery trip home to Newlyn to dock in its home port before Christmas. The Maxus Fast Cat has been designed and outfitted to fish for pilchards and is powered by a pair of Volvo Penta D8A5-A-MH main engines. The deck is laid out with a Spencer Carter 3000lb slave hauler with a MV500 motor and a Thistle Lift crane with a telescopic extension. more, >>click to read<< 08:31
Filmmaker Helgeland drew on his New Bedford fishing past for ‘Finestkind’
In a final scene of the film “Finestkind,” as the New Bedford-Fairhaven Bridge slowly pivots open, a father and son cross paths for what might be the last time. One is handcuffed in the back of a police van. The other is outward bound on a fishing trip. Most in New Bedford know the bridge as little more than a morning traffic jam. But for Brian Helgeland, the 62-year-old New Bedford-raised screenwriter who returned to his hometown to shoot his newest film, the bridge is a symbol of his childhood and his development as a writer. As a boy, Helgeland rode his bicycle over the bridge. As a young man working on scallop boats, he passed through the bridge as the first leg of a long voyage out to sea. And now, three decades later, the same bridge is also a set in his own film. Photos, more, >>click to read<< 06:45
