Daily Archives: October 8, 2024
$42M New Bedford waterfront port project could attract commercial fishing, offshore wind
There’s a maritime version of the old Mark Twain adage to buy land because they’re not making any more of it. New Bedford Port Authority Executive Director Gordon Carr said it goes something like this: “Waterfront industrial property needs to be preserved at all costs because they’re not making any more of it.” He added with a smile, “And while I tend to agree with that, today, welcome to New Bedford — because we did make more of it.” The remark drew applause from the crowd gathered under a tent at 242 Herman Melville Blvd. on the New Bedford waterfront Tuesday to celebrate the completion of the North Terminal Extension Project. Among the celebrants were Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Edward Markey, and U.S. Rep. William Keating, D-9th District. Keating said, “You know those people who say the private sector can do things better than the government can do? I can say in this instance, with 100% certainty, that’s just not true. The private sector, if tasked with this achievement we’re celebrating today, would fail because it wouldn’t even try. No one in the private sector would have taken on the risk of putting together such a complicated project.” Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 19:14
Call for Changes to Gulf of St. Lawrence Redfish Fishery Management, Inshore Fleet Demands Immediate Action
The 4R inshore fleet is calling on the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) to implement immediate changes to the management of the Gulf of St. Lawrence Unit 1 Redfish Fishery. Dozens of harvesters rallied outside the Barry Group plant in Curling today as members look to the federal government for urgent changes to access the small, time sensitive fishery. “DFO has not established harvest control rules that allow for a sustainable fishery for the 4R fleet, despite the critical importance of this resource to local communities,” explains Jason Spingle, FFAW-Unifor Secretary-Treasurer. “Minister Lebouthillier’s decision to allocate the majority of the fishery to the corporate dragger fleet has left the inshore fleet struggling to survive, and current rules mean they cannot access the small bit of quota do they have,” Spingle says. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 14:09
Retired Commercial Fisherman Reginald Carl Knowles of Winter Harbor, Maine, has passed away
Reginald Carl Knowles entered eternity and found the peace he had longed for on Sept. 28, 2024. His last week was spent surrounded by family and goodbyes after having a stroke. He was born in Machiasport, Maine, as the firstborn son of Carl and Grace Knowles on “6/22/42” — the one thing he always remembered despite the vascular dementia. During his grade school years, Carl Bryant had given Regie a handful of traps that he hauled from a punt. He had been bitten by the lobster fishing bug in those early years! So, after returning from Germany and a short stint driving a truck for McQuinn’s, he set out be a successful lobsterman. He also went scalloping, shrimping and fish dragging, but lobstering was always his passion. It was a trade he took pride in teaching his sons. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 11:14
Milton remains an ‘extremely dangerous’ hurricane after weakening to Cat 4, forecasters warn
Hurricane Milton weakened slightly to a powerful Category 4 storm Tuesday morning while spiraling through the southern Gulf of Mexico and closer to Florida, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. Milton rapidly intensified from a tropical storm to a Category 5 hurricane on Monday, peaking with rare, sustained winds of 180 mph and becoming the strongest storm to ever form this late in the Atlantic season. Now, the hurricane is moving east-northeast at 12 mph with maximum sustained winds of 145 mph, NHC said in its latest update. However, forecasters warned that Milton’s change in strength doesn’t make it any less dangerous, adding that the storm will likely grow in size as it approaches Florida’s west coast and makes landfall Wednesday. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:46
Invasive blob-like creatures are clogging Maine fishing gear – “They’re a pain in the ass.”
The small invertebrates, several species of which are invasive, are attaching themselves in large numbers to lobster traps and aquaculture equipment, at times creating a major hassle for harvesters as they try to tend to their gear. “The month of September, they come on like gangbusters,” Hilton Turner, a lobsterman and chair of Stonington’s harbor committee, said about the tunicates, which are better known as sea squirts. “Every year gets a little worse,” he said. Lobstermen use different techniques to try to remove the squirts. Some set the traps in boiling hot water tanks on their boats, some try immersing them in salt-saturated water, and still others blast them with a power washer, which can be time-consuming, Turner said. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:25
Swinney gives commitment to ensure that fishing and offshore wind can co-exist
First minister John Swinney has given a commitment to ensuring the fishing industry and the offshore marine energy sector can exist together. It followed a stark warning by Elspeth Macdonald, the chief executive of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation, that floating wind farms and the fishing sector are “simply not able to co-exist”. Speaking at last week’s SFF dinner, Macdonald call on the government to actively protect the fishing industry from the encroaching offshore wind industry. One example quoted by the industry is the proposed 500MW Stoura wind farm, 40 miles to east of Shetland, which could be built on top of prime fishing grounds for both the whitefish and the pelagic sector. Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:47
