Monthly Archives: June 2024
OPINION: Peltola pulls for Alaska fishermen, By Linda Behnken
Wild seafood provides food security and livelihoods across the country, but nowhere is that more true than in Alaska. We are fortunate to have a leader who not only has her own boots in fisheries but is bold enough to drive hard conversations around our biggest challenges. In the North Pacific, that includes bycatch management and habitat protection — not only as a foundation for sustainable management, but as a critical part of climate resilience. We’ve seen the complete collapse of two iconic Alaska crab species, and elimination of subsistence fishing on major rivers with communities highly dependent upon that food resource. We’ve witnessed the abrupt crash of Gulf of Alaska cod following the 2014-2016 marine heat wave. As fish stocks and ocean conditions change more quickly and more substantially than ever before, we need conservation tools that match the pace with that change to safeguard ocean health. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:33
Irish Fishing Family to Welcome New Trawler
Irish fisherman Eric Murphy and his family will soon welcome a new trawler into their fleet. Built locally by Mooney Boats to a design by Vestværftet of Denmark, Eilean Croineis a sister vessel of Sparkling Star, which was completed and delivered to another owner in 2023. Both vessels will be operated out of Castletownbere in County Cork, mainly performing pelagic trawling, though they may also be configured for demersal trawling for whitefish. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:24
‘Deadliest Catch’: Wild Bill Opens Up About Cancer Diagnosis
Captain Wild Bill Wichrowski of ‘Deadliest Catch’ refused to ‘crawl into a shell’ when he learned he had prostate cancer. Deadliest Catch star Wild Bill Wichrowski is opening up about his experience with prostate cancer, in the hopes that sharing his journey will help others in a similar situation. “The fact that I allowed the news to be broadcast, I heard from a million people, ‘Oh, I hope you’re all right,’ he says. “I was hoping that the fact that I kept going, it would show people that if you have this, you can keep working. You can keep your life moving. I wasn’t going to stop unless I had to.” Fortunately for Wichrowski, his treatment seems to be going well. Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 17:01
Houseboat Dwellers Can Now Generate All the Electricity They Need From the Ocean
The oceans contain nearly unimaginable amount of power. Engineers have long dreamed of transforming some of it into electricity. Complex past concepts have ranged from “tide farms” that include hundreds of rising floats moored to the ocean bottom to huge hydro-electric dams blocking off harbors. Now, a startup in Alaska has a new personal hydrogenerator design so simple it is 3D-printable. You can lower it over the side of a boat, just like an anchor. Whether the tides are coming in or going out, the water spins the turbine and generates 1.6 kW of power. When would this be useful? Anytime a boat is anchored or docked for an extended time. Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 11:26
Newly released data reveals record number of cetacean deaths in UK waters
Tragically, more than 1000 whales, dolphins and porpoises were stranded around the UK in 2018 – and it was a similar number the following year with 980 cetaceans reported to the Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP) in 2019. What is causing the huge upturn in cetacean deaths around the UK? There could be a number of factors of course, there are many theories out there, but at least in the case of the Sperm whales in Yorkshire, we can largely rule out ship strike and entanglement, often casually blamed for the deaths of marine mammals. Whatever your hypothesis, whether you choose to blame climate change, naval sonar, fishing, pollution or plastics, don’t ignore the elephant in the room – industrial offshore wind farms. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:37
Rare 7-foot fish washed ashore on Oregon’s coast garners worldwide attention
A massive, rare fish thought to only live in temperate waters in the southern hemisphere has washed up on Oregon’s northern coast, drawing crowds of curious onlookers intrigued by the unusual sight. The 7.3-foot (2.2 meter) hoodwinker sunfish first appeared on the beach in Gearhart on Monday, the Seaside Aquarium said in a media release. It was still on the beach on Friday and may remain there for weeks, the aquarium said, as it is difficult for scavengers to puncture its tough skin. Photos provided by the aquarium showed a flat, round, gray fish lying on its side in the sand. Photos of a person kneeling next to it, and another of a pickup truck parked next to it, gave a sense of its large scale and size. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 20:32
Speed on the water!: The Charlie Begin Memorial Lobster Boat Races
The official start to Maine’s lobster boat racing season happens every year in Boothbay Harbor over Father’s Day weekend. This year, that date is Saturday, June 15. In 2005, the race event became the Charlie Begin Memorial Lobster Boat Races, in honor of the beloved native lobsterman and racing participant. These races have been thrilling lobstermen, their passengers and spectators since the official start in 1964. Over the past 10 years or so, 35-45 boats have participated from all over the coast. Race categories include gas classes based on length and cubic inches, diesel classes based on horsepower and length, a wooden boat race, gas and diesel free-for-alls, and four races just for Boothbay Region boats, including Fastest Working Lobster Boat. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 15:41
FF&WC assessing spiny lobster’s role in protecting state’s coral reef
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission acknowledged Friday they are researching if the eating habits of the spiny lobster can help preserve the state’s fragile coral reef ecosystem. “We are looking into whether spiny lobsters, especially the spotted spiny lobster, because it feeds directly on the reef, while the Caribbean spiny lobster, feeds mostly off of the reef in the surrounding seagrass and hardbottom habitats, can be used as a form of biocontrol of the invertebrates like fireworms and corallivorous snails that eat coral,” more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 13:22
The 10 Best Deadliest Catch Boats Ranked
Deadliest Catch showcases real, massive crab fishing vessels battling the freezing Bering Sea, adding nostalgia and drama to the series. Fishing vessels like F/V Southern Wind, F/V Aleutian Lady, and F/V Seabrooke bring unique stories and personalities to the show’s lineup. Captained by industry veterans like Sig Hansen and Keith Colburn, boats like Northwestern and Wizard are iconic symbols of the series. My favorite is #10 on the list, while F/V Northwestern is the quintessential Deadliest Catch fishing boat. It’s appeared in every season of the show and its captain, Sig Hansen, is the unofficial main character of the series. Lots of Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:11
SC shrimp season fully opened but fewer local shrimpers are on the waters.
Two words and one action can help South Carolina’s storied and struggling shrimping industry: Eat local. For some, it’s a culinary click-phrase that goes unpracticed. For others, it’s a habitual routine at farmers markets, grocery stores and restaurants. But for Cameron Reaves, who captains a shrimp boat with Beaufort-based Sea Eagle Market, his family’s livelihood depends on people eating locally. “The shrimp market is kind of a mess right now,” Reaves said. “It’s hard for a lot of shrimpers to make it.” Fuel prices – at over $3 dollars a gallon – are slightly lower than last year, but they are still high for what the boats burn through in a day. Reaves’ 70-foot boat that can hold up to 30,000 pounds of shrimp averages 200 gallons daily. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:12
Oregon Coast closed to harvesting of 4 types of shellfish in ‘unprecedented’ move after widespread contamination
Oregon officials are barring all razor-clam, bay-clam and mussel harvesting along the state’s coast due to historically high levels of a potentially deadly toxin in local shellfish, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife reported. The ban affects commercial fisheries producing oysters, razor clams and bay clams, according to the ODFW. The toxin causes paralytic shellfish poisoning, the most common and severe form of shellfish poisoning. The food-borne illness can cause hospitalization and occasionally death. Symptoms typically appear 30 to 60 minutes after eating contaminated shellfish and include numbness of the mouth and lips, tingling, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, weakness and, in severe cases, shortness of breath or irregular heartbeat, according to the Oregon Health Authority. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:50
Crews pull dead whale from Casco Bay
A dead whale which appeared to be wrapped in nets was pulled from Casco Bay on Thursday, officials say. Crews were attempting to load the whale onto a flatbed truck using a boat lift as of 3 p.m. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said on social media Marine Mammals of Maine and the Maine Marine Patrol were notified of a 40-foot humpback whale in a net off the coast of Cape Elizabeth on Wednesday. NOAA said the whale is known as “Chunk” and was first seen in 2015, the same year she was found in a “severe entanglement. “Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 16:35
Sunrise Wind on the Horizon
At a May 29 open house addressing the new Sunrise Wind project, consisting of up to 84 turbines to be built 26.5 miles off the coast of Montauk, its corporate parents, Orsted and Eversource, projected the new wind farm will yield 924 megawatts of energy. enough potentially to power hundreds of thousands of houses. The company’s officials said they expect their construction and operations plan to be approved by the federal Department of the Interior by the end of the summer. The proposal is to connect the turbines to the mainland through Smith Point County Park, at the eastern end of Fire Island. From there the cable would run under the Great South Bay and up to the Long Island Power Authority station in Holbrook. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 11:49
Canadian Independent Redfish Harvesters Trash Minister’s Harvest Plan: Disconnect Has Never Been More Evident
Following the announcement of the Unit 1 Redfish Management Plan and a follow-up to the Redfish Advisory Committee on Wednesday, the 3Pn4R Advisory Committee convened on Thursday night to review the proceedings. The consensus was unanimous in support of a resolution from FFAW President Greg Pretty: “Shred the document and appoint a recovery team including industry experts to ensure we have a plan that can work.” Earlier this spring, the original announcement made by Minister Lebouthillier gave away nearly 60% of the Canadian redfish quota to the corporate fleet, despite the inshore, owner-operator fleet having taken the lead on science and sustainability measures in recent years. New measures announced this week further limit harvesters by implementing unreasonable seasons, depths, gear, observer coverage, and by-catch rules. The restrictions effectively limit owner-operator participation from the inshore fleet. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:11
Imported seafood is killing a MS Coast industry. Could truth in restaurant menus help?
The last of the fishermen whose boats once dotted the Mississippi Coast’s warm waters are worried. Their customers are leaving. Their sales are down. “I don’t see a future,” said Bethany Fayard, a fourth-generation processor and distributor who is fighting to withstand the pressure and sell to customers, same as always. “The industry is on life support.” The problem, fishermen and processors say, is this: foreign imports have won. There is one thing, fishermen say, that might help them hold their own in the David and Goliath battle against importing giants like India and Indonesia: Mississippi’s government could force restaurants to tell customers the truth. more. Video, photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:49
Maines Lobster Lady Turns 104 Years Young!
Happy Birthday, rock on, Virginia! Most days it can be a struggle for all us to get up early in the morning and go through the grind of a work week, but imagine doing exactly what you love to do, well beyond the point you could have retired and just kicked back and enjoyed life? And imagine having done the same job since you were 8 years old. The ageless Virginia Oliver is known as Maine’s Lobster Woman. She just turned an astounding 104 years of age on June 6th, and shows no signs of slowing down, and has no plans to stop. And based on how much she enjoys her job, who could blame her? Videos, more,>>CLICK TO READ<< 07:14
The Mayday Call: How One Death at Sea Transformed a Fishing Fleet
About 40 miles east-southeast of Barnegat Light, N.J., the Jersey Pride, a 116-foot fishing vessel with a distinctive royal blue hull, was towing a harvesting dredge through clam beds 20 fathoms down when its crew found a deckhand unresponsive in a bunk. The captain suspected an overdose. After trying to revive the man, he rushed to the radio. “Yes, Coast Guard, uh, I just tried to wake a guy up and he’s got black blood in his nose,” he said, sounding short of breath on Channel 16, “I got guys working on him. Come in.” About 17 miles to the Jersey Pride’s southeast, the fishing vessel Karen Nicole was hauling back its two scallop dredges and preparing to swing aboard its catch. Mate Hollis Nevells listened to the conversation crackling over a wheelhouse radio. Nevells had lost a brother-in-law and about 15 peers to fatal overdoses. When the Jersey Pride’s captain broadcast details of his imperiled deckhand. “His last name is Murphy,” he said. Nevells understood what he heard in human terms. That’s someone’s son or brother, he thought. more,>>CLICK TO READ<< 17:08
OPINION: The desk-bound green groups that dictate fishing policy
Shetland skippers have worked in harmony with the sea for thousands of years; the maritime world in general and fishing in particular are vital to the very existence of our community and way of life. In contrast, the corporately funded, desk-bound staff of environmental campaign groups operate in a fluorescently lit, urban world of computer screens and utterly misplaced conceptions about our industry. Yet so warped has our political system become that, despite their having no stake whatsoever in our future, they are the ones being allowed to dictate fisheries policy and regulations. It would be ridiculous if it wasn’t so dangerous. It jeopardises the jobs of hundreds of people and poses a genuine threat to our community. Why? more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 13:46
Falklands Trawler Launched In Marín
The Nodosa Shipyard at Marín in the Galician region of Spain has floated off one of the three large factory vessels it has under construction. The 85-metre F/V Argos Berbés is being built for the Orion Fishing Company, a joint venture between Vigo-based Armadora Pereira and the Argos Group in the Falklands. Outfitting will now continue at the yard’s quayside and Argos Berbés is scheduled for completion at the end of this year, ready for the early fishing season around the Falklands in 2025. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 11:50
Hello Mayors: FOIA Emails Suggest US Wind Requested Coastal Towns Keep Initial Offshore Wind Talks Private
New light is being shed on offshore wind company US Wind’s talks with the mayors comprising the Association of Coastal Towns (ACT) with the release of email correspondence between the two. US Wind and the ACT have been in talks over US Wind’s proposed offshore projects off the coast of Maryland that would potentially see a power cable landing in Delaware Seashore State Park. US Wind has also presented community benefits packages to the Coastal Towns which include proposed annual payments over twenty years worth $2 million to each town. Following a Freedom of Information Act request (FOIA) submitted to the ACT, WBOC has received copies of the emails between ACT and US Wind that suggest the offshore wind company’s desire to keep the initial discussions shielded from the public. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:55
Letter: No. 1 Concern Is Offshore Wind Impact on Ocean
I am the fourth generation of residents, homeowners, business owners and taxpayers on Long Beach Island, as well as the granddaughter of a commercial fisherman and scalloper out of Barnegat Light. I take offense when someone says I have a case of the NIMBYs (Not In My Back Yard). This is the country’s entire coastal backyard. I am not opposed to “green” energy or for fossil fuels. I am against the destruction of our ocean. Period. The amount of resources the world receives from the ocean is immeasurable. I am not concerned with the view or real estate, tourism and the rest. Of course, all of that will be colossally impacted. My main concern is with the destruction of one of the world’s most precious resources, our ocean. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:43
06:32
Climate change forces 3rd gen fisherman to rethink this year
Every June, fisherman Scott Hawkins and his small crew set sail from a marina in San Diego and travel hundreds of miles, scouring the water, hoping for a good catch of albacore tuna. It can take hours or days to stumble upon a school of them. But when they do, everyone springs into action at once. The men grab fishing poles taller than they are, stand in a row on the edge of the boat and cast their lines into the water. Every few seconds, one of them pulls up a fat, two-foot-long albacore tuna and hoists it over his shoulder onto the pile. Every thud is another one landing atop the dozens already flapping on deck. They do this 17 hour per day for five months. “It’s the exact same that my grandfather did in the 50s,” Hawkins says. But this June, the boat isn’t leaving the marina. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 15:16
Fisherman remembered as ‘hero’ for saving deckhand after shrimp boat capsizes in Mobile Bay
Boat captain and shrimper, Mike Bishop, was killed when a waterspout Saturday flipped over his boat, trapping him inside. His deckhand Mark Henderson survived the horror after floating in the water for seven hours. Bishop tried to save Henderson before several others pulled together. Now, he’s being called a hero…and he’s not the only one. Mike’s son Brandon Bishop says this was a team effort from many heroes. “The shrimping community is tight and everybody comes together,” Brandon said. “Especially in these hard times like this. And shrimping is not a job. It’s a way of life and my dad loved it.” “When I went and spoke to Mark his deckhand this morning in the hospital he was still pretty shaken up,” Brandon said. “But he said that my dad gave him a lifejacket and told him to go out back. They were hit by the waterspout, and my dad’s a hero, he saved someone’s life….” Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 12:27
GCIFA calls for seal population controls
The head of the Guysborough County Inshore Fisherman’s Association (GCIFA) is calling on the federal government to bring in aggressive, new “controls” on millions of hungry grey and harp seals whose sheer numbers, she says, are weakening the east coast fishery. GCIFA Executive Director Ginny Boudreau made the comment to The Journal in an interview after the release last week of the Standing Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans’ report, Sealing the Future, which criticized federal authorities for mismanaging the rising numbers of the animals over the years and called for an increase in their annual harvest. “It’s huge that scientists are now considering the impact of [the more than] seven million seals in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the [nearly] 500,000 here in the Scotia-Fundy region,” Boudreau said. “It’s only ever been about the impact of the harvesters. As more accurate data comes in, I think we’re going to see the seals as the main predator.” more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:42
Gov. DeSantis awards $7.5M to Lee County for shrimp dock rebuild
Nearly two years after Hurricane Ian bashed into Southwest Florida, the area is continuing to recover. Gov. Ron DeSantis is pitching in with $7.5 million to rebuild and refurbish the shrimp dock at San Carlos Maritime Park in Fort Myers. The structure is important not just for commercial fishing but to help in emergency situations after a storm, DeSantis said. “This dual-purpose facility serves as emergency operations site to launch barges and provide a place for shrimp barges to dock,” DeSantis said during a press event at a Home Depot in Fort Myers. “If it’s needed for disaster response it’s going to be able to serve that purpose as well.” more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:50
Northline Seafoods barge embarks on maiden trip to Bristol Bay
A new state-of-the-art seafood barge is enroute to Bristol Bay, with a freezer capacity to hold over one-million pounds of frozen salmon. The vessel is on its way to Clarks Point in the Nushagak District and will be buying fish from throughout the Bay during the fishery. The 400-by-100-foot barge, a vertically integrated vessel more than three years in the making including 15 months of construction, is designed for purchase, freezing, shipping, storing and distributing wild Alaska salmon. The innovative supply chain platform will improve quality, increase efficiency and preserve the value of wild salmon at the source, company officials said. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:02
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 40′ X 16′ Novi Lobster/Gillnetter
To review specifications, information, and 28 photos’, >click here<, To see all the boats in this series, >click here< 07:32
Meet one of the young faces of Steveston’s spot prawn industry
The best part of spot prawn season, according to Reid Thornton, is the “tight-knit” community. Now in his fifth season, the 21-year-old Steveston resident started working in the industry fresh out of high school. Thornton is the sales manager and a deckhand at Steveston Spot Prawns & Seafood. With the exception of Thornton himself, most employees in the company are third-generation Japanese-Canadian fishermen. He had heard of spot prawns prior to starting his job, but he had no idea about the extent of its popularity. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:38
A STAR is Reborn: Fishing boat’s long journey back to original condition, family
When Paul von Goertz first heard that a boat built by the historic Kivela Boatworks Company was being used as a lawn ornament, he knew he had to do something. The “STAR” was built by Jacob Kivela in 1934, for fisherman Sivert Andewson. It was built with the intention of being used to fish the waters of Isle Royale, and so required some special design. “My guess is that Sivert and Jacob Kivela collaborated on the design for the special needs of fishing the exposed waters of Isle Royale,” von Goertz explained. “It was built as a double ender to break following seas, with the beam of the boat forward of amidships so the bow would pop up in a following sea. One does not want to get buried in a following sea as the next wave would push the boat sideways into the trough and from there into a capsize. Pretty smart boat designers!” more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 15:38
