Daily Archives: January 15, 2024
Pilot describes ‘surreal’ rescue of 3 Halibut fishermen off N.S. coast
The pilot of a Canadian Armed Forces helicopter that rescued three fishermen from their burning boat in the Atlantic Ocean Sunday says the fishermen should be praised for the way they responded to the situation. “They got into a raft right away and made a radio distress call and brought the gear they needed,” said Capt. Evan Southern, who is based at 14 Wing Greenwood in the Annapolis Valley. Southern said he learned around 8:30 a.m. AT Sunday that a fishing boat around 110 kilometres off Nova Scotia’s South Shore was in flames, forcing the three halibut fishermen on board to get into a life raft. more, >>click to read<< 20:52
Fishing for Scallops When the Scallops Are Nearly All Dead
Mike Tehan pilots a fishing boat called Nibbles out of Shelter Island. An hour before sunrise on the first day of scallop season in November, as he unwound the ropes, started the outboard motor and piloted the 25-foot fiberglass boat from an island cove into the open waters of Peconic Bay, Mr. Tehan knew just what he’d find. “I didn’t come out here with big plans to get rich today,” he said. “You can’t say it’s depressing, because you already know. But you hope. “He bashed north against the waves, toward the protected bay off Orient, at the far northeast corner of Long Island. He dropped four rusty dredges into the water, just as the bay turned pink with sunrise. He let the outboard rumble the boat around for five minutes. Then he pulled the dredges back up and dumped the contents into a sorting tray. “Let’s see, we got seaweed, rocks, conch shells, lots of dead scallops and one good scallop,” he said, picking through the dreck with bright orange gloves. more, >>click to read<< 14:36
The boat belonging to a fisherman who fell overboard off the Coromandel Peninsula has been found.
Will Fransen, the owner of Betty Gee, was rescued on January 3 after spending nearly 24 hours in the water without a lifejacket. The boat was missing until today, when it was found at the Raukokore River mouth, south of Waihau Bay on East Cape. “The 12 metre long vessel was located today off East Cape. ” Fransen said he was hooked in a gimbal fishing harness with safety rails on the port and starboard side, which “enclosed” him, however he wasn’t wearing a lifejacket or Personal Locator Beacon when he was yanked off the boat while attempting to reel in a marlin. photos, more, >>click to read<< 12:54
Commercial Fishers Say Biden Admin’s ‘Ocean Justice’ Initiative Totally Ignores Their Concerns
The Biden Administration announced the “ocean justice” strategy in December 2023 during the United Nations (UN) climate summit, known as COP28, in order “to advance environmental justice for communities that rely on the ocean and Great Lakes for economic, cultural, spiritual, recreational and food security purposes.” However, several stakeholders in the commercial fishing industry who depend on the fruits of America’s waters to make a living and are therefore interested in sustainable use of the oceans, say that the administration is overlooking their concerns about how the oceans are managed, especially with regard to the administration’s extensive efforts to fast track industrial scale offshore wind. more, >>click to read<< 10:19
How the Boldt decision 50 years ago remade Pacific Northwest fishing
Louie Ungaro waited out the turn of the tide, when chum salmon — he hoped — would hit his net. Fishing here is his tradition, a practice and a way of life as old as his people, the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe.“Elliott Bay ain’t going nowhere, and neither are we,” said Ungaro, a member of the tribe’s council and lifelong hunter and fisher. Yet it took violent protests and a decision appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court to affirm their right to fish, explicitly stated in treaties signed by their ancestors nearly 170 years ago as settlers colonized the Pacific Northwest. The decision handed down by U.S. District Court Judge George Boldt 50 years ago next month was the result of sacrifices made by Native fishers and their families jailed and beaten while defending these rights. And yet now another threat looms over all they fought for: scarcity of the fish themselves. Photos, more, >>click to read< 08:53
Cornwall revealed as UK’s flagship for seafood economy
New figures have revealed Cornwall is home to more seafood restaurants than anywhere else in the country outside of London. According to an independent research report titled the True Value of Seafood to Cornwall, 16% of Cornwall’s table-service restaurants, not including fish and chip shops, specialise in seafood, which is the highest concentration in the UK outside the capital. Around 8,000 people in Cornwall work in seafood, according to the report, which means for every Cornish fisherman at sea there are 15 more jobs on shore, five of those are also linked to tourism. more, >>click to read<< 07:33
