Daily Archives: March 18, 2025
‘It made me feel crazy’ | Filipino fishermen spent nearly 2 months trapped aboard fishing vessels in Westport
In the Pacific waters off Washington’s coast, fishermen work 18-hour shifts, hauling fish that can weigh up to 80 pounds. Commercial Albacore fishing was what drew Reyner Dagalea, Ray Sevella and Norberto Zebrele and dozens of other men to the United States from the Philippines. They agreed to work a contract with a U.S. fishing company in the summer of 2023. After spending time at sea, fishermen contracted by U.S.-based McAdams Fish and its Filipino counterpart Pescadores docked in Westport. There were 24 men, in all, across multiple boats. U.S. law does not require that foreign fishermen have visas to work aboard vessels owned by U.S. companies. But once the boats docked, the men were told that if they got off the ships, they would be arrested, fined and then deported. Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 12:50
N.L. succeeding in finding markets outside U.S. at seafood expo in Boston, minister says
Newfoundland and Labrador Fisheries Minister Gerry Byrne says efforts to diversify to markets beyond the United States have been successful at Seafood Expo North America in Boston but isn’t ready to share exactly where provincial products could be going. Byrne is part of a Newfoundland and Labrador delegation attending the ongoing seafood expo, which includes unions, plant representatives and more. Representatives from 50 countries make up the largest seafood gathering on the continent which is giving Canadian operations the chance to explore new markets as the threat of tariffs from the United States and China loom. Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 11:03
EPA Halts Atlantic Shores Wind Farm Construction as Trump Administration Reviews Projects
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has suspended permits for the Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind Project off New Jersey’s coast following a January 2025 Presidential directive that ordered an immediate halt to offshore wind development. The Environmental Appeals Board (EAB) granted EPA Region 2’s request to remand permits for the project, which had previously received approval to construct up to 200 wind turbines capable of generating 2,800 megawatts of power – enough electricity to power one million homes. The suspension comes amid broader industry challenges, including Shell’s recent withdrawal from the project with a $996 million impairment and the cancellation of New Jersey’s fourth offshore wind solicitation. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:38
Maritime seafood industry officials looking for new buyers at Boston expo
The Seafood Expo North America is the largest event of its kind on the continent. With importers, exporters, wholesalers and hotel operators from 50 countries in attendance, it’s the perfect place to pitch Nova Scotia seafood to the world. “I was expecting doom and gloom when I came down here and it is not that. There’s a lot more optimism for the demand for our product and will be able to get through this storm,” says Fisheries Minister Kent Smith. Smith says Nova Scotia companies have a deal with a new contact in the Philippines and one is in the works with an existing importer in Spain to expand that market. Lobster seller Shawn Landry has been busy, too. “Singapore was one of the ones that we talked with. Southeast Asia, Italy, and Europe,” he says. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:47
Boat tours and ash scatterings help beleaguered California salmon fleet stay afloat
“The bills keep going, whether I’ve got a fishery or not,” said Smith, who runs Riptide Sportfishing in Half Moon Bay, California. “There’s no season on when people die.” California’s sport and commercial fishermen have been walloped by two years of salmon closures and are bracing for a potential third, which they blame on a years-earlier drought and state and federal water management policies they say have made it tough for the species to thrive. The closures have taken a toll on people’s livelihoods in coastal communities where salmon, fishermen say, is a special fish. “We are people that are hardworking and it’s our jobs on the line,” said Sarah Bates, a commercial fishing captain in San Francisco. She said local markets have been devastated by the salmon closures and Bay Area restaurants aren’t snapping up halibut or other catch as they did salmon. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:36
