Daily Archives: December 16, 2024
Vessel Review: F/V Ingeborg Arntsen – Norwegian fishing family acquires hybrid longliner/netter
Danish shipbuilder Vestværftet recently handed over a new longliner/gillnetter to Nordsten, a company owned by brothers Jack-Allan and Hans-Michael Arntsen of Lofoten in northern Norway. Named F/V Ingeborg Arntsen after their mother, the newbuild replaces the brothers’ current boat F/V Tommy Junior, which was built in 1991 and had been in operation with Nordsten since 2007 until recently being sold to a sister company also owned by the family. The Arntsens decided to purchase a new boat upon realising the earlier Tommy Junior had reached its limits in terms of providing safe living and working conditions for crews. With a new boat offering improvements in such conditions, the brothers believed it would be possible to land catches of even higher quality. Photos, specifications, information, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:45
Washington state poised to set precedent as first government in the world to successfully remove and permanently ban commercial net-pen aquaculture
Washington state recently garnered international attention for its successful removal of all polluting and hazardous commercial net pens from Puget Sound. Now, the state is on the verge of adopting a statute that would prohibit this commercial industry from ever returning to Puget Sound. Washington would be the first place in the world to both entirely remove the existing industry and permanently ban future operation of commercial net pens in marine waters. In 2022, responding to the concerns of the public and the well-documented record of ecological harm, Washington’s Commissioner of Public Lands, Hilary Franz, rejected applications from seafood giant Cooke Aquaculture seeking new leases to continue operating their commercial net pens in Puget Sound. Concurrently, she issued a new executive order prohibiting commercial net pen aquaculture in Washington marine waters. Cooke Aquaculture is the company responsible for the catastrophic Cypress Island net pen collapse in 2017, which released over 260,000 nonnative, virus-infected Atlantic salmon into Puget Sound. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:26
Midcoast Maine organization awarded grant to tackle abandoned fishing gear cleanup
It’s a mission for cleaner oceans- a large grant awarded to one midcoast organization in Maine, will go towards the cleanup of lost fishing gear in Maine waters. The president of OceansWide, Buzz Scott, says this cleanup is a step in the right direction in clearing the state’s ocean floors. “We want to make it possible for the fisherman to continue fishing for generations to come,” said Scott. The Newcastle non-profit is taking on a 5-week mission to clean up abandoned fishing gear around Vinalhaven island. OceansWide is one of 11 organizations awarded a grant for the project through the National Fishing Trap Removal Program. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:39
