Daily Archives: February 10, 2024
Coast Guard responds to grounded vessel near Bodega Bay
The Coast Guard responded to a report of a grounded vessel Friday night at Sonoma Coast State Park. This position is two miles southwest of Bodega Bay and is located within the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary. Coast Guard Sector San Francisco watchstanders received a call via VHF-FM Channel 16 from the captain of the 58-foot commercial fishing vessel Aleutian Storm reporting that the vessel had run aground and needed assistance ungrounding. The captain also reported that all four crew aboard were uninjured and had immersion suits. more, >>click to read<< 20:08
The Fishing Vessel of the Future
Project Octopus, the brainchild of Walter van Harberden, naval architect and one of the directors of Padmos, is more than just a fishing vessel. It is a vessel powered by a diesel-electric engine but could be entirely electric or powered by another energy source in the future. This could be possible thanks to its ‘modular’ structure. In concrete terms, the boat will have a basic hull with removable containers in which batteries or hydrogen can be stored. This principle of modularity will also enable the vessel to be versatile, so that it can be used for purposes other than fishing. ‘When the fishing season is over, we can replace the containers for storing fish with containers for other types of equipment,’ explains Walter van Harberden. Like a real octopus, the vessel will have several strings to its bow. It can be adapted to different fishing techniques: fly-shooter, single trawl or twin rig trawl. Photos, more, >>click to read<<
CA Coastal Types Singing Wind Turbine Blues: Help, Help Me, Rhonda! Get ‘Em Outta My Park!
I’m not really sure if there’s anything much funnier than when touchy-feely progressive types wake up one morning and realize what they’ve foisted on everyone else is suddenly coming home to roost in someplace they consider breathtakingly beautiful and ever so special. Two of President Joe Biden’s biggest priorities — conservation and the switch to clean energy — are colliding in the ocean off California’s quiet Central Coast. Located halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles, Morro Bay boasts a rich ecosystem of fish, otters and migrating whales that the Indigenous Chumash people want to protect with a new marine sanctuary. They’d also neglected to check in with fisherfolk who ply the area or, probably more importantly because no one gives a rat’s patootie about working folks, they neglected to consult with any of the CA tribes who call that area home. They weren’t happy in 2022. more, >>click to read<< By Seege Welborn 14:50
Scotian Shelf shrimp fishery braces for another cut
For a third straight year, the shrimp fishery off eastern Nova Scotia is facing a big quota cut with ocean conditions to blame. The recent scientific assessment for northern shrimp on the eastern Scotian Shelf showed environmental factors — including warmer ocean water due to climate change — are contributing to the poor condition of the stock, he says. And the response, he predicts, will be a reduction in the total allowable catch. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) is expected to announce the 2024 shrimp quota in several weeks. more, >>click to read<< 10:59
‘Wicked Tuna’ star meets Kaua‘i fishermen, scientist eager to resume local ahi research
Reality television star Dave Marciano, captain of the fishing vessel Hard Merchandise on the long-running National Geographic series “Wicked Tuna”, has spent the last two weeks on a whirlwind tour of Kaua. The famous fisherman, who visited with his family, was on vacation. However, he was also excited to reignite a long-running initiative between local commercial fishermen and marine biologists – which has all but stopped in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and a lack of funding. The local fishermen are more than Marciano’s colleagues: They’re also some of his biggest fans. When not discussing their shared profession, some could not resist taking a selfie or getting an autograph from the avuncular East Coast captain. Photos, more, >>click to read<< 08:46
Six offshore wind turbine sites planned off Barnegat Light, draw large crowd to Toms River
A plan to place wind turbine farms in six areas of ocean off the Jersey Shore brought a crowd to the Clarion Hotel and Conference Center on Thursday, where the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management fielded questions and concerns. Federal personnel met with more than 100 offshore wind supporters, critics and curious residents over a plan to develop an area of the Atlantic known as the New York Bight. Gus Lovgren, a fourth-generation fisherman, has a vessel named the Lilly Rose docked in Pleasant Beach. Lovgren worries that his family’s century-long fishing heritage in the United States is coming to an end. He said offshore wind farms could block his access to more than half of his usual fishing grounds. The wind farms will bring “devastation and the extinction of our industry,” Lovgren said. photos, more, >>click to read<< 07:29
Why it’s crucial that my generation remembers the men who were lost on the Fishing Trawler Gaul
I come from a long line of people who worked at sea. At the age of 16, my dad followed in his own dad’s footsteps. My other grandad was a ship’s welder. Growing up, when my dad was at home in his month off the ships, he would drag me anywhere and everywhere that had something to do with Hull’s maritime history: the Arctic Corsair, the Marina, The Deep. “You should’ve seen it in its prime, before the cod wars and her,” he would say. “Her” being Margaret Thatcher. One thing that I was never told about back then, understandably, was the danger of working at sea. Dad would only tell me about the glories of travelling the world and the comradery among the crew. It’s only now that I’m older and have started to look into Hull’s history for myself that that I understand why it was one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. more, >>click to read<< 06:42
