Daily Archives: September 30, 2024
NCFA Weekly Update for – September 30, 2024: URGENT! Assistance for Storm Victims in Western North Carolina
Some issues in need of special attention this week. Our Family and Friends in Western NC – The devastation of Hurricane Helene is unreal and unimaginable. There are many small communities further up the mountain from Asheville that are not getting much news coverage. Speaking with locals in the areas of Yancey, Mitchell, and Avery Counties in particular, they are still very much in the search and rescue stage of recovery. Many people are still unaccounted for and most shelters, schools, and churches do not have any form of communication to let people know they need help or to let loved ones know they are ok. Due to the nature of the area, landslides and canyons created by the flooding has destroyed many roads and made many areas only accessible by helicopter. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 18:47
Navigating Alaska’s stormy seas
Norwegian fishermen settled in Petersburg in the 1800s, drawn to its ideal location for pursuing salmon, crab and halibut. Today, hundreds of vessels dock there, selling their catch to the town’s two major processors. These processors head and gut the fish before canning or freezing them for the journey to dinner tables across the world. One of these plants, built over a century ago, is the town’s largest private employer. Few know the industry better than Glorianne Wollen, a fisherman’s daughter who operates a large crab boat and serves as harbourmaster. From her small office, she has witnessed significant change over the years. “In the good old days, the town was alive with discussion,” Wollen recalls. “Everybody had a stake, everybody knew what was going on, and things happened in real-time.” That energy faded as boats grew larger and more efficient, requiring fewer crew members and leading to a more detached industry. Last year, however, the industry faced a crisis that even seasoned veterans struggled to recall. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 16;20
Video shows inside look at the Portland Fish Exchange, all-display auction for Maine seafood
The Portland Fish Exchange became America’s first all-display fresh seafood auction when it first opened in 1986. The exchange provides multiple services to the Gulf of Maine seafood industry, including live groundfish auctions, product unloading and refrigerated warehousing. Commercial fishing vessels are offloaded in the morning and workers at the exchange separate the catch by species of fish and market grade. Auctions are held every Monday through Thursday, and the products purchased head to restaurants, markets and processing plants within hours of vessel landings. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 14:42
New west Louisville children’s museum AHOY to include historic shrimp boat
Sitting nearly six miles downriver from downtown Jeffersonville, Indiana, in a spot where barges normally occupy the Ohio River, a historic shrimp boat waited to start its final voyage. Suspended by a crane high above the water in which it sat unused for decades, the 70,000-pound shrimp boat was creaking. Katy Delahanty looked on from the bank of Utica Pike in Jeffersonville and watched crane operators, workers on tugboats, and others come together to lift the 75-year-old boat out of the Ohio River so it could be moved to its new home. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:19
Maine Unions Lead on the Green Energy Transition
Maine’s fifteen years long OSW policy debates have been hobbled by entrenched opposition from Maine’s lobstermen. It would also be impossible to convince politicians to pass an OSW law that was oblivious to the interests of Maine’s lobstermen. Governor Mills and her team reached out to Maine Lobstermen’s Association (MLA), but they did not break through the impasse. The MLA continues to oppose OSW by arguing about potential impacts “on the marine environment, commercial fishermen and our fishing heritage.” MLA’s opposition has grown stronger in the past few years under the influence of New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association (NEFSA), which is orchestrating conservative anti-OSW campaigns across the East Coast. To break this logjam, the MLCC worked with the country’s only lobstering union, Lobster 207. Though a small fraction of Maine lobster fishers are unionized, the lobstering union has a crucial role in advocating for improved working conditions within the lobstering industry. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:50
1 In 30 Million: Rare Yellow Lobster Caught Off Nantucket
Jim Sjolund, captain of the Nantucket lobster boat Julie Alice, was hauling traps about 25 miles east of the island on Friday when his sternman Adam Spencer noticed something peculiar come out of the water. “At first, I didn’t think anything of it,” Sjolund said of the strange color inside one of the traps, believing it might be a fish. “But my sternman got excited, and I came over and said ‘holy sh**’!” Inside the trap was an incredibly rare yellow lobster. Sjolund knew right away it was unusual. But it wasn’t until he got back to Nantucket and did some research that Sjolund realized he had essentially hit the lobster lottery. The chances of catching a yellow lobster are 1 in 30 million, according to the University of Maine’s Lobster Institute. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<<06:44
