Daily Archives: October 4, 2024
Bottom Trawl Survey of the Maine Research Array Wind Energy Area Postponed to Allow for Testing of Survey Method
This notice is to inform you that the bottom trawl survey of the Maine Research Array Wind Energy (MeRA) Area previously scheduled to begin on October 15, 2024, has been postponed until a date to be determined in early 2025. DMR will use this additional time to continue to test and refine our survey methodology. Between October 15 and November 27, DMR will spend 2-5 days testing the trawl vessel’s gear configuration and performance. This will include a one-day test cruise to the MeRA area and an additional one to four days of test tows as needed to assess and optimize the survey’s gear performance. Any additional testing will occur in federal waters outside of the proposed MeRA sampling area. Links, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 16:16
Local man helping auction relics from Western Flyer, a boat famously connected to Steinbeck
How much would you pay to own one-of-a-kind pieces of fishing, environmental, scientific and literary history? Could you be an “angel?” Those are questions inspired by a Wauna man’s quest. Michael Hemp, a vibrant, engaging and consistently curious 81-year-old whose business card lists him as “Historian, Heritage Marketing & Communications Consultant, Researcher, 
Archivist, Lecturer, Novelist,” seeks a buyer for a brass steering wheel, a hefty engine shift lever and two gimballed compasses. The items are original pieces from a 76-foot-long purse seiner fishing boat built in Tacoma 87 years ago. It is similar in design and purpose to hundreds launched there, in Gig Harbor, and in other Northwest boatyards during the 20th century. One big distinction: All four artifacts once were crucial and original parts of arguably the world’s most famous purse seiner, a title earned because a couple of friends chartered it in Monterey, California, in 1940 for a six-week cruise of research and exploration in Mexico. Video, Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 13:39
UK Government Launches Remote Electronic Monitoring on Fishing Vessels
The UK Government has begun rolling out Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM) systems on fishing vessels, marking a significant step towards modernising the monitoring of fishing activities and promoting sustainability. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), in collaboration with key partners, is implementing this technology to collect real-time data on fishing activities and catches, supporting both the industry and environmental conservation efforts. The REM system, comprising sensors and cameras, will provide data on the location and timing of fishing operations and what species are being caught. Defra’s Fisheries Act (2020) and the Joint Fisheries Statement form the legal basis for this initiative, aimed at ensuring a sustainable future for UK fisheries. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 11:47
Gov. Mills to lead trip to Norway and Denmark to talk offshore wind
Gov. Janet Mills and a group of state officials will travel to Norway and Denmark next week to learn more about offshore wind development in those two countries. During the six-day trip, Mills and her delegation plan to visit floating offshore wind turbines in the North Sea and meet with Norwegian and Danish government officials as well as energy industry representatives. The group plans to speak with Denmark’s top minister for climate initiatives and representatives for the operator of that country’s electricity grid. Mills has said the Gulf of Maine’s abundant wind resources offer a “historic opportunity” to generate more electricity from renewable sources while creating good-paying jobs. But her efforts to jumpstart an offshore wind industry face stiff opposition from some groups, most notably Maine’s powerful lobster industry. Fishermen contend that the floating platforms could bar them from important lobstering grounds. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:26
Floating wind farms threaten to destroy Scotland’s fishing sector
The Scottish Fishermen’s Federation (SFF) said despite efforts to find a solution to the problem, mobile fishing, and floating offshore wind farms “are simply not able to co-exist”. Speaking at the SFF’s annual dinner in Edinburgh – which was attended by First Minister John Swinney – Elspeth Macdonald said the renewable projects are an existential threat to jobs in the sector. She warned the Scottish Government about “sleep-walking” into supporting an industry that she claimed could “destroy our world-class food production”. She told the audience at the Scotsman Hotel: “Our businesses will be completely excluded from areas that have been fished for generations, and the consequences of that – on businesses, on people, on the environment – are simply not known. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:01
Federal fisheries officers refusing duties because of violence on the water in N.S.
Federal fisheries officers in Nova Scotia say they’re refusing some enforcement duties because of threats to their safety, as they await Ottawa’s response to their complaints. The union representing the officers says its members have been shot at, that people have tried to steal their firearms, and that officers — and their families — have been threatened for trying to stop illegal fishing. Commercial fishers, meanwhile, are calling for increased enforcement, saying that illegal and unregulated fishing is becoming more frequent across the province. “We want real, tangible enforcement activity placed upon the illegal, black market lobster activity that’s ongoing throughout the Maritimes,” said Dan Fleck, executive director of the Brazil Rock 33/34 Lobster Association, in a recent telephone interview. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:52
Rare whale died of chronic entanglement in Maine fishing gear
The North Atlantic right whale was found dead off Martha’s Vineyard in January. The whales are declining in population and are at the center of efforts to more tightly regulate shipping and commercial fishing off the East Coast. “The fact is we know that entanglement in Maine gear is extremely rare. This is the first reported entanglement of a right whale in Maine lobster gear in 20 years and the first death attributed to the fishery,” the Maine Lobstermen’s Association said in a statement. “Maine lobstermen have made significant changes to how they fish over the last 25 years to avoid entanglement.” more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:55
