Daily Archives: January 31, 2024

Vessel Review: Ginneton – Sweden’s Gifico Acquires Forth Herring and Mackerel Trawler

January 31, 2024   International, International News

Swedish family-owned fishing company Gifico recently welcomed a newbuild vessel to its fleet of pelagic trawlers that focus on herring, mackerel, and a number of industrial species. Designed and built by Karstensens Skibsværft of Denmark, the DNV-classed trawler is Gifico’s third vessel to bear the name Ginneton. The 63.8- by 13.5-metre, 2,800DWT vessel boasts a number of custom features including an optimized hull design and technologies that will help minimise fuel consumption and emissions in line with the owner’s requirements. The 4,920kW main engine drives a 3,800mm controllable-pitch propeller and is fitted with a heat recovery system, as are the Mitsubishi 600kW and 150kW auxiliary engines. For added lateral maneuverability, the trawler relies on two 700kW side thrusters supplied by Brunvoll. The propulsion allows the trawler to reach speeds of up to 16 knots, while a remote-control system incorporates levers as well as touchscreen for user-friendly operation of the engines. Photos, specifications,  Photos, Specifications, more, >>click to read<< 18:00

 

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Pallone, Environmentalists Want Shipping Speeding Rules Enforced

January 31, 2024   National

Is the sonar activity related to offshore wind farms leading to whale deaths? The debate rages on. The Long Branch-based environmental group Clean Ocean Action suspects a possible connection between a spate of at least nine whales being stranded on the beaches of New Jersey and New York in December 2022  and January 2023 and wind farm activity, with COA Executive Director Cindy Zipf saying a moratorium is necessary “until an investigation is completed into why whales and the dolphins have been dying and to make sure it’s nothing to do with the intense amount of offshore wind pre-construction activity. However, other environmental groups, such as the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters and the Sierra Club, which are supporters of the wind farms and government agencies such as the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, say they have found no evidence of whale deaths being linked to offshore wind activity. more, >>click to read<< 14:23

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From Bubba Gump to bust? American shrimpers face extinction.

January 31, 2024   Gulf of Mexico, Mid Atlantic, National, South Atlantic

On a chilly December morning, the captain of the Miss Patti is ready to throw his lines and go shrimping – well, almost. Brian Jordan’s deckhand is in a foul mood, and it’s no wonder why. Is any of this worth it?  Here on the tiny working waterfront of Tybee Island, Georgia, the hesitancy is logical. Shrimp prices cratered this year, and hundreds of boats from Brownsville, Texas, to Harkers Island, North Carolina, remained dockside. The problem hasn’t been a lack of shrimp or the price of diesel. Instead, freezers across the United States are filled to the gills. A glut of imported shrimp has dropped the price to about half of what shrimp boats received in the 1980s. At stake is the livelihood of Mr. Jordan and shrimpers like him nationwide. They can’t compete with overseas rivals who raise and harvest shrimp in lower-cost “aquaculture’’ farms. more, >>click to read<< 13:06

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Importer of Belizean Lobster Faces $5 Million Fine and Probation for Labeling Fraud

January 31, 2024   International, International News, National, South Atlantic

An importer of Belize’s lobster is facing harsh consequences after a federal judge in Key West, Florida, ordered that Elite Sky International, Inc. pay five million dollars in fines, plus be placed on a 5-year probation.  The judgment follows findings that the company was exporting inaccurately labeled spiny lobster and shark fins from Florida to China. According to court documents, the illegal activities took place over a span of approximately one year, from November 2018 to October 2019. more, >>click to read<< 12:06

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MCIB Report Recommends Measures After Fishing Crewman Sustains Crush Injury in Deck Incident Off Cork Coast

January 31, 2024   International, International News

The MCIB recommendation is one of a number issued in its report inquiring into a crush injury sustained by a crewman on board a fishing vessel off the Cork coast in November 2021. Recommendations in relation to risk assessments, safety legislation, hazard warnings and training for use of articulated deck cranes are also published in the report. The incident occurred on board the 21 metre-long fishing vessel Aquila which was fishing south of the Kinsale gas rigs on November 7th, 2021. The vessel with five crew onboard had left the fishing port of Union Hall, Co Cork, the night before. Wind at the time was force three, westerly, with a moderate sea. more, >>click to read<< 10:57

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Atlantic Groundfish Council Pleased With Redfish Allocation

January 31, 2024   Canada

The shrimp biomass is declining significantly, and FFAW Secretary-Treasurer Jason Spingle fully expected DFO to give shrimpers access to a meaningful allocation of redfish. The year-round harvesters are generally pleased with the amount of redfish allocated to them. For the first time in decades, Ottawa is opening the redfish fishery in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The Atlantic Groundfish Council says their sector lost 20 per cent of their historical share in the decision. Generally though, they praise DFO for resisting more drastic change in the total allowable catch. more, >>click to read<< 10:01

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Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 36′ Calvin Beal Lobster/Scalloper, 550HP Iveco Cursor 9 Diesel

January 31, 2024   Canada, Mid Atlantic, National, New England

To review specifications, information, and 35 photos’,>click here<, To see all the boats in this series, >click here< 08:31

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Crabbers rebound from Southwest Washington seafood facility fire

January 31, 2024   Featured, Pacific

On Monday, commercial crabbers in Oregon and Washington state started dropping baited circular steel crab pots into the ocean. On Thursday, they will start hauling them back up, hopefully full of Dungeness crab. It’s a critical and fast-paced time. The bulk of the crab caught in the lucrative fishery is typically landed in the early weeks of the season. On the water this week are fishermen who saw hundreds of their crab pots burn up in a fire at a seafood landing facility in Ilwaco, Washington, a week before the fishery was set to open. An estimated 4,000 pots were lost in the Jan. 22 fire at the Bornstein Seafoods facility. Now, almost as many are back in the fishermen’s hands. more, >>click to read<< 07:21

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