Daily Archives: January 2, 2025
Northstate trucker trades highways for high seas
Howard Salmon, a long haul trucker in his mid-60s, recently traded the highways for the high seas, working as a deckhand on a salmon fishing boat in Alaska. Despite the grueling 12-plus hour days and challenging weather conditions, Salmon said he held his own alongside a crew of 20-somethings. “These guys are tough,” Salmon said. “They take all kinds of waves and weather. Sometimes it can be a nightmare, the waves just throw you around… But it was fun.” Salmon was invited by his longtime friend, Paul Holmberd, the owner and operator of the Sea King fishing boat. Holmberd said he can’t imagine doing anything else. Photos, more, >> CLICK TO READ<< 20:16
Worcester hiring PR firm to fight offshore wind
Sometimes, even David needs a public relations firm in his corner to take on Goliath. In the face of what they described as an apathetic response to Worcester County’s offshore wind concerns, the county’s Board of Commissioners on Dec. 17 voted unanimously to contract with Bedrock Advocacy Communications, a public relations firm based in Virginia. The agency will help with grassroots mobilization, strategic communications, and online engagement for a 2025 campaign to oppose ongoing wind farm development off the Atlantic Coast, according to Worcester County Chief Administrative Officer Weston Young. Young said when it comes to protesting the planned 114-turbine wind farm by developer US Wind, there have been a lot of grassroots efforts, but none that were coordinated. He said Bedrock will serve as the campaign developer and manager, working collaboratively with representatives from Worcester County, Ocean City, and the local business community. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 16:53
Northern Territory’s only commercial bait business battles to stay afloat
The Northern Territory’s only commercial sardine and squid fisherman says he is unlikely to catch them again, meaning the NT will now need to import most of its bait. Biagio Spinella from Austop Fisheries has spent nearly 30 years catching sardines and other bait fish from NT waters. Some of the pro duct was sold to local restaurants, but most of it got sold as bait to a wide range of businesses. Mr Spinella’s boat, the FV Angelina, sank off the Arnhem Land Coast last year. The fisherman has since run into problems while trying to reinvest because he cannot get a permanent fishing licence from the NT government. “There is no security for me because every year I need to fill in an application and they [NT government] give me a bit of paper that says I’m allowed to go and catch more sardines for another year,” he said. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 14:19
Scientists set the record straight on rumors surrounding wind turbines: ‘I want to be unambiguous’
An Australian scientist is debunking some of the more absurd myths concerning wind turbines and their environmental impact, most notably around whales. An article in the Sydney Morning Herald broke down the claims that have been put forth in opposition to offshore wind turbine farms, which include suggestions turbines pose a danger to the lives of whales feeding, migrating, or spawning in the regions where the wind farms are being built. However, Dr. Olaf Meynecke, a research fellow at the Coastal and Marine Research Centre at Griffith University in Australia, was quick to point out these theories have no basis in fact. “The claims that are made by some members of the public or some politicians that it is going to kill whales are absolutely incorrect,” he said. Links, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:16
Fishermen report slow mullet season
With peak mullet season winding down, local fishermen hoping to cash in by selling their catches at the fish houses are reporting a lesser harvest than in recent years. “We’ve had one good day in the last two weeks,” said one fisherman, who asked not to be identified. “I don’t know what it is that’s killing the seagrass, but the three of us have been everywhere and the fish just aren’t there.” According to the University of Florida IFAS website, “Mullet can tolerate a wide range of salinities and can be found in fresh or saltwater. Their diet consists of bacteria and single-celled algae found attached to plants. They pick at the bottom, and scrape seagrasses consuming these. Sarasota Bay Estuary Program Executive Director Dave Tomasko weighed in on possible factors that could account for a slow fishing season. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:02
Fishing industry calls on governments to radically rethink its approach towards sector
The massive growth in offshore wind developments and the resetting of relationships with the EU could threaten the livelihoods of hundreds of fishermen according to the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation (SFF). In a New Year message, the industry body warned that the Scottish fishing industry was at risk of being crushed unless a “radical rethink” of governments’ approach towards the sector was taking place. The SFF’s chief executive Elspeth Macdonald also warned of an “apparent determination of the EU to have it all in a new fisheries access agreement for UK waters”. Her comments coincided with a warning from the Shetland Fishermen’s Association (SFA) that the local industry was now “in a battle for survival against the proliferation of offshore wind farms”. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:38
