Daily Archives: September 12, 2024
Fifty years plus: Jeniska KY 253
It was a still night after the previous day’s gale, the darkness reduced by the lights from the town, a slight smirr damping all around. The boats were in alongside Campbeltown quay, and unloading had begun. Four boats, each with boxes of prawns sitting on the deck or being hauled up to the waiting hands. The four boats – Silver Fern OB 84, Silver Lining III TT 37 (built as Emulate KY 44), Adoration II CN 78 and Jeniska CN 153 are all over 50 years old, with one, Adoration II, being almost 60. All are now working at the prawns, with a chequered history. But it was Jeniska I’d really come to see and here she was, water gently lapping at her old hull as her crew unloaded their catch. Jeniska was built by JN Miller and Sons of St Monans in 1971 and was commissioned by William H Anderson and John Fleming of Kilrenny in Fife. At 15.66m (56ft) in length, she was fitted with a Gardner 8L3B 229hp. She was one the dual- purpose seiner/trawlers for which Miller’s was renowned, all with the classic transom sterns. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 17:19
Hammond crab fisherman serving jail time for illegal pots
A North Coast man recently found guilty following a 2007 commercial crab enforcement operation off the Oregon Coast began serving his sentence last week in Tillamook County. Dennis Sturgell, 56, of Hammond was lodged in Tillamook County Jail to serve a 30-day sentence after he pleaded guilty in Tillamook County Circuit Court Feb. 6 to two counts of unlawful use of commercial crab pots. Tillamook County Circuit Court Judge Rick Roll handed down a sentence of 30 days and $41,200 in restitution to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Commercial Fish Fund. The conviction was the result of a 2007 case when the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and Oregon State Police Fish and Wildlife Division conducted a joint enforcement operation. That was the first year the state of Oregon introduced a limit on the number of commercial crab pots that any one vessel could fish. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 14:05
Fiercest fisherman roils crabbing world – He has filled boats with crab and fish, and he has kept law enforcement busy. more, >>CLICK TO READ<<
Shrimp scurry from Hurricane Francine storm surge, filling fishing nets of struggling shrimpers
Hurricane Francine closed in on Terrebonne and Lafourche with 100 mph winds Sept. 11. As the storm pushed tidal waters toward land, shrimp scurried for inland waters. Shrimpers took advantage of the migration, dropping nets and pulling in thousands of pounds in a short timeframe. The hauls were great, but the low prices meant what would have been a drop in the bucket, instead fell in an empty pail. “We did good last night and the night before,” Jonathan Guidry said. “The shrimp was jumpin’ all over. They had some land nets on side of us. They was startin’ to pick up every 10 minutes, and they had maybe 120 to 130 pounds every 10 to 30 minutes.” Guidry said with all the flood gates closed, he thinks the shrimp were funneled through the Bubba Dove lock gate as they sought safety from the storm. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 12:11
Tidal power junk: N.S. village wants huge, abandoned moorings moved from fishing area
An unusual scene emerges every time the bay’s record-setting tides recede to reveal the hulks, along with massive chains that were supposed to be used as moorings for Occurrent Power’s experimental tidal turbine. The company, formerly BigMoon Power, was planning to move the anchors to a testing site on the other side of the Minas Basin. But last week, news broke that the company had filed for bankruptcy. That’s left locals wondering whether the company’s $20,000 deposit with the province will be enough to pay for a proper cleanup. Meanwhile, the boxcars disappear underwater every time the tide comes in, rising 21 feet in the harbour. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:22
In cod we trust: Newfoundland’s famous fish aims at a comeback, but not everyone’s happy
By 1992, the mighty cod had been fished to near oblivion, and the federal government declared a moratorium, indefinitely closing the industry in the hopes that the cod stock could rebuild itself over time. Some 30,000 Newfoundlanders lost their jobs and 10 per cent of the population headed west to Ontario, Alberta and beyond to find work in a mass outmigration the province has never fully recovered from. But if there is one truth in this life, it is that it is hard not to root for a good comeback story. Cod, in theory, was positioned to be such a comeback kid this summer when the federal government in June announced that the moratorium on the commercial cod fishery was being lifted after 32 years. Yet instead of parades, parties and fireworks, the announcement was met with discontent, particularly among small, inshore fish harvesters. That is, the skippers and salty olde sea dogs and their crews, wresting a living from the sea in small, 15-metre boats or less, who claim the end of the moratorium and return of the massive offshore “draggers” to the cod fishery is the beginning of the end for the North Atlantic cod 2.0. photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:10
Coos County Commissioners question offshore wind farms
Coos County commissioners have a number of questions and concerns about a proposed offshore wind farm. In a letter dated Sept. 3 to Gov. Tina Kotek, Commissioners Rod Taylor, John Sweet and Robert “Bob” Main have posed several questions they would like the state to ask the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). On Aug. 29, the U.S. Department of Interior, which encompasses BOEM, announced the final sale notice for offshore wind leasing for one site offshore 10-15 miles between Reedsport and Florence and another 6-10 miles offshore between Brookings and Gold Beach. Commissioners are raising their questions as the result of the “current environmental crisis” that has occurred off Nantucket, MA, resulting from wind turbine blade failures and breakage. The commissioners also are sending their questions to other coastal county commissioners “in hope that they too will voice their concerns with BOEM’s offshore wind plan in Oregon.” more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:49
Fire at sea: US Coast Guard rescues two from commercial boat fire near Salish Sea
The U.S. Coast Guard, Puget Sound Sector rescued two from a life raft after a fire broke out on the commercial boat they were on. On Tuesday, the Sector Command Center of the U.S. Coast Guard received a call from a boat about 3 nautical miles from Cape Flattery reporting a fire on board. Five miles off Tatoosh Island, near the Makah Tribal Reservation, the F/V Tarka II reported an emergency before abandoning the boat and getting onto a life raft. A Motor Lifeboat from Coast Guard Station Neah Bay rescued the two people in the raft and brought them back to shore. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:24
