Daily Archives: May 11, 2025
Salvage operation begins for sunken fishing boat; captain still missing
A commercial salvage team is working on a plan to recover a sunken fishing boat near Grays Harbor. On Friday night, the Coast Guard suspended a search for its missing captain. Earlier in day, a lifeboat crew from Grays Harbor and an air crew from Astoria, Oregon rescued three others who were on board. The 68-foot fishing boat known as the “Captain Raleigh” capsized at around 8:15 a.m. near the bar at the entrance to Grays Harbor. The fishing boat crew told rescuers the captain was still aboard the ship when it sank near the Grays Harbor bar entrance. The Coast Guard actively searched for the captain for several hours, but called off the search at 8:40 p.m. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 15:27
Lost fishermen remembered at UK services
Fishermen who lost their lives at sea are being remembered at special services around the UK. National Fishing Remembrance Day was created in 2024 by maritime organisations including the Hampshire-based Fishermen’s Mission. The charity said Sunday’s services – including Brixham, Kilkeel and Peterhead which have been designated as national services for England, Northern Ireland and Scotland – were a reminder that fishing remained one of the most dangerous peacetime occupations. A total of 26 deaths involving fishing vessels were recorded in the five years from 2019 to 2023, according to the Marine Accident Investigation Board. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 11:50
Investigating Shrimp Fraud Is an Urgent Matter on the Gulf Coast
Imagine sitting down for a meal at a restaurant with a view of the ocean. You are on vacation, and the restaurant’s décor includes fishnets, pictures of boats and taxidermied exemplars of the local catch. You order a plate of shrimp, reasonably expecting it to have come from nearby waters. Way too often it comes from thousands of miles away, Dave Williams told a small crowd at the Louisiana Shrimp Festival on a summer-hot day in New Orleans last fall. “And that’s despicable,” he said. Mr. Williams is a commercial fisheries scientist who was in New Orleans to shed light on what he considers an epidemic problem: restaurants and festivals misrepresenting imported shrimp as locally caught. In many cases, diners are paying for what they think is more expensive, high-quality wild Gulf shrimp, but is actually an inferior product produced by an aquaculture industry that has a history of labor abuse. A 2020 study by Louisiana State University found two thirds of imported shrimp samples purchased in Baton Rouge contained banned veterinary drugs. Photos,Links, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:50
John Anthony “Captain Tony” Geisman of James Island, S.C. has passed away
John Anthony Geisman, known and revered as “Captain Tony”, was born on September 18, 1948, and raised in Cocoa Beach, FL and Cape Canaveral. From the beginning, he always had a rod and a fish in his hand; his father and grandfather were involved in fishing, which led to him working on party boats in Cape Canaveral at the early ages of 10 and 11. He was such a natural boatsman that they would have him refuel the boat on his own, foreshadowing what would become a legendary career as “a wildly successful pioneer in the fledgling Distant Water Longline Fishery, fishing the seven seas” (as quoted by fellow fisherman James Budi). His long career at sea began with the merchant marines, traveling around the world carrying his surfboard; when he returned, he acquired his first small boat called the Blue Waters, with which he bottom-fished until Marty taught him to handline swordfish on the Penob Scott Gulf (imagine that!). more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:03
Historic Japanese Canadian boat project sailing along in Slocan
Seven years after acquiring a last-of-its kind Japanese Canadian fishing boat, the Slocan Valley Historical Society (SVHS) is excited to share that construction of the vessel’s shelter is underway. “After many unexpected delays, we have finally broken ground on the next step in this project,” says Joyce Johnson, president of the SVHS. “The Merriwake has been restored to the condition she was in when she was confiscated during WWII. We are excited to display the boat and share her history, as well as tell part of the internment story.” Built in 1929 by Matsumoto Boatworks, the 31-foot gillnetter was impounded by the Canadian government during WWII. After being acquired by the SVHS, Eric Chevalier of the Copper Nail Boat Shop began restoring the vessel. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:58
Coast Guard medevacs captain from fishing vessel offshore Hawaii
The Coast Guard medevaced the captain of a commercial fishing vessel 80 miles offshore Hilo, Hawaii, Friday. Joint Rescue Coordination Center Honolulu watchstanders received a phone call at 6:50 a.m. Tuesday from the captain of the 78-foot fishing vessel Sea Angel, which was approximately 675 miles northeast of Hilo. The captain, a 68-year-old man, had reportedly been experiencing severe symptoms, such as abdominal pain and fever, for the past 10 days. After conferring with the duty flight surgeon, watchstanders established a regular communication schedule with the vessel’s crew and directed them to transit toward Hawaii. Coast Guard Fourteenth District and Coast Guard Base Honolulu personnel procured antibiotics, which an HC-130 Hercules airplane crew from Coast Guard Air Station Barbers successfully dropped to the Sea Angel at 1:07 p.m. Wednesday. Photos, vide, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:53
