Daily Archives: August 16, 2024
‘Wicked Tuna’ to End With Season 13 on National Geographic
“Wicked Tuna” has been canceled by National Geographic following the conclusion of its Season 13 run. “After thirteen seasons on the high seas and more than 200 incredible episodes, the long-running series ‘Wicked Tuna’ has concluded its run on National Geographic,” the cable channel said in a statement Friday. “The series celebrated one of America’s oldest industries since first premiering on National Geographic in 2012 and made internationally recognizable stars out of the intrepid commercial fishermen who brave the unrelenting North Atlantic waters to catch the elusive bluefin tuna. The cancellation of “Wicked Tuna” comes amid major cost cutting at National Geographic parent company Disney, which is consolidating operations among its linear TV networks. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 18:01
Alaska Trollers Association takes a swing at Fish and Game and Alaska sport fishery over shortened season
Commercial trolling for Southeast king salmon closed for the season in July and will not reopen this month. That marks the second summer in a row their season has ended before they could catch all of their yearly king allocation under an international agreement. Now, the trade group representing them — the Alaska Trollers Association — is outraged. Southeast trollers have around 15,000 kings left in their annual allocation. That’s the number of kings trollers get to catch under an agreement between the United States and Canada known as the Pacific Salmon Treaty. The trollers caught most of their allocation — 83%, or 82,000 fish — during the first and longest opener in July. Typically, the rest of the allocation would be caught in a mid-August opening. But that second opening won’t be happening. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 16:02
Van Drew Holds Third Hearing on ‘Offshore Wind Industrialization’
U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew (NJ-02), supported by U.S. Rep. Scott Perry (PA-10), held a field hearing in Brigantine on Tuesday, Aug. 13, to continue his public opposition to the Garden State’s efforts to build large offshore wind farms off the New Jersey coast. Brigantine Mayor Vince Sera played host for the hearing and introduced the event by calling offshore wind “one of the most important issues facing us on the East Coast.” He said state and federal officials pushing the offshore wind agenda “lied to us” in order to move ahead with projects that “make no sense.” Sera’s remarks set the tone of a meeting that was uniformly against the current offshore wind agenda. Picking up on those remarks Van Drew described the long oceanfront along the New Jersey coast as “a gift from God,” which he asserted is being squandered so a few people can make money off it. “That is what this is all about,” Van Drew added. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 13:57
New Gillnetter/longliner for Lofoten family
New netter/longliner F/V Ingeborg Arntsen, built by Vestværft for Lofoten brothers Jack-Allan and Hans-Michael Arntsen, represents a serious step up over their older vessel in terms of both operational efficiency and the living and working conditions on board. Ingeborg Arntsen has a 735kW MAN D2862LE447 main engine, and auxiliary engines are also from MAN. All engines are equipped with SCR systems meeting IMO Tier III requirements. The propeller and gear are from Finnøy, and there are two electric thrusters from Hundested A/S. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:47
N.B. fishermen test new gear in bid to stay on the water when right whales spotted
As of Aug. 13, fishermen in New Brunswick were forced to pull their traps and stop fishing on 35 separate occasions this year after North Atlantic right whales were spotted. But a new pilot program in the southwest is trying to keep lobster and crab boats on the water. Crab fisherman Greg Beckerton and two lobster fishermen, Judson Mitchell and Peter Mawhinney, are testing five new types of ropeless gear, with the goal of choosing two for a wider test in the spring. Beckerton hopes that alternative fishing gear that limits the use of traditional rope will allow fishing to continue when whales are in the area. “In a closed-area situation we could use this gear, and it would definitely be an advantage,” he said. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:31
Scientists and Fishermen Agree About Uncertainty of Offshore Wind’s Impact
Newport’s Energy and Environment Commission hosted a panel discussion on Aug. 8, “The Effect of Climate Change and Offshore Wind on Fisheries and Ocean Ecosystems,” where representatives from NOAA, the URI Graduate School of Oceanography, The Commercial Fisheries Center of Rhode Island, and the Kingston -based Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation responded to a series of prompts posed by commission Vice Chair Emily Conklin. A Q&A session followed, with about 60 people gathered at City Hall to participate. Many in attendance brought strong opinions both for and against the large- scale offshore wind development projects being built off the coast of Newport and Little Compton. Fred Mattera, a retired commercial fisherman who now serves as the president of the Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation and the executive director of the Commercial Fisheries Center of Rhode Island, gave voice to some of the skepticism felt by local commercial fishermen about the nature and scale of offshore wind development in New England. “I’m tired of the deceitfulness and this driven agenda of ‘it has to be done yesterday,’” he said. “We don’t want to look at hydrogen, we don’t want to even consider nuclear, the cleanest and best way to do it, but it’s all going to be offshore wind.” more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:31
Three Rescued From Burning Vessel Off Brookings Tuesday Evening; GoFundMe Set Up For Survivor
Three people are in a San Francisco-area hospital after their fishing vessel caught on fire about 50 nautical miles off the coast of Brookings on Tuesday. According to Petty Officer Briana Carter, a public affairs officer for the U.S. Coast Guard 13th District, a good Samaritan got the three survivors out of the water and transferred them to a Coast Guard vessel, which brought them to shore for care. According to a GoFundMe page set up on behalf of Emanuel Silveira, the Mariah K is “gone due to the engine exploding.” The campaign was created by Jaimie Ouellette, who said Silveira is his/her son-in-law. Silveira has burns covering 60 percent of his body and is expected to stay in the hospital for about three months “due to many estimated surgeries.” Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:33
