Tag Archives: Brookings

Army Vet/Commercial Fisherman Dale F Baines “Whaler” of Brookings, Oregon, has passed away

Dale was born on May 18, 1952, in Sacramento, CA to Vern and Marie (Barclay) Baines. At the age of 13 his mother and stepfather Leland Holmes moved the family to Gold Beach. Dale attended and graduated from Gold Beach High School in 1971. Soon after graduation he was drafted into the Army. Dale loved to fish from a young age. It was not surprising he became a commercial fisherman and in 1976 he bought his first F/V the TAKU a small salmon trawler which he fell overboard while fishing by himself off Eureka CA. Thankfully the Lord was not ready for him and saved him so that he could marry Mindy Payne on September 26, 1987. Dale spent many years working on others boats, until 2003 when he and his wife purchased the F/V Innisfree. >click to read< 13:04

After the storm: Survivor recounts Pelican Bay storm 50 years later

David Alan Shinkle vividly remembers the day he lost his grandfather. It was 50 years ago, on Aug. 16, 1972 – a day that would change the course of his life. It was the day a tragic storm took the lives of 13 fishermen in Pelican Bay. Shinkle, like many young men and women, had the pleasure of spending summers with his grandparents. He remembers beachcombing, shooting guns and just doing the things that young boys do. When he was a teenager, he started fishing with his grandfather Clayton Dooley. Dooley was captain of the “Dixie Lee,” a 35-foot diesel-powered trawler based out of Brookings. When he and his grandfather left the Brookings boat basin early the morning of the storm, the skies were overcast and it was lightly raining. 2 photos, >click to read< 12:08

Sites off Coos Bay, Brookings targeted for offshore wind farms by Biden Administration

Two areas off the Oregon Coast are being targeted to host offshore wind farms as the Biden administration seeks to ramp up renewable energy production. The U.S. Department of the Interior announced Wednesday that the locations being identified to potentially host wind farms are about 12 nautical miles offshore Coos Bay and Brookings. The areas comprise about 1.16 million acres (468,787 hectares) in total. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland described the upcoming steps taken toward possible leasing off the coast of Oregon as “another opportunity to strengthen the clean energy industry while creating good-paying union jobs.” Bullshit, Lady. >click to read< 12:39

Del Norte County commercial fishermen will drop their pots Thursday

The first Dungeness crab of the season is expected to hit Citizens Dock on Saturday,,, Following a meeting Monday morning, fishermen in Oregon and California and wholesalers agreed on $2.75 per pound of Dungeness crab,,, Seafood processors, including Pacific Choice Seafood, Bornsteins Seafoods and Hallmark Fisheries had offered $2.50 per pound,,, The discussion Monday involved fishermen in Brookings, Crescent City, Trinidad, Eureka and Fort Bragg, Shepherd said. Fishermen agreed to set their pots starting at 8 a.m. Thursday for a 48-hour soak and bring their catch in on Saturday, he said. >click to read< 07:39

Rough Seas Delaying Crab Pot Deployment – A gale warning from the Eureka office of the National Weather Service, in effect now until 3 a.m. Wednesday from Point St. George to Cape Mendocino, states “strong winds will cause hazardous seas which could capsize or damage vessels and reduce visibility.” >click to read<

First month of Dungeness crabbing disappointing

Crabbing season is off to a slow start in Crescent City and Brookings, Ore. “We’ve had a lot of bad weather, not too many days out fishing,”,, Fishermen were anxious to begin crab fishing when the season opened on Dec. 31, after being delayed twice due to the crab quality. So far, the season has been disappointing, yielding a low overall poundage of crabs, according to Crescent City Harbor Commissioner Rick Shepherd and Burkman.  It is not the worst year Crescent City and Brookings has seen, but it’s certainly not the best. >click to read< 11:55

Brookings gets innovative seafood processing plant

57bf8f35c70ae.imageBC Fisheries owner Mike Manning cut the ribbon Aug. 19 on a $9.6 million seafood processing facility that will benefit southern Oregon coast crabbers and shrimpers. The facility will create 30 new jobs, eliminate the need for long-distance shipping of locally-caught seafood for processing, and is the first of its kind to use cool steam technology on the West Coast.  Established in 2007, BC Fisheries is a family-owned company that ships cold-water pink shrimp and crab worldwide, offloading about 1.5 million pounds per month. It was unable to process shrimp locally though, leading to high transportation costs. A $6.3 million loan from Craft3, a nonprofit that makes loans for business development, allowed BC Fisheries to build an insulated processing building next to the docks at the Port of Brookings Harbor, purchase equipment, and have adequate working capital. The new facility will be able to process up to 2.4 million pounds of shrimp per month. Read the story here 20:37

Coast Guard rescues 4 from F/V Jo Marie near Brookings, Ore.

uscg-logoSEATTLE — A Coast Guard boatcrew from Station Chetco River, in Brookings, Ore., rescued four people after a 62-foot fishing vessel allided (collided?) with the Chetco River South Jetty, Monday evening. The crew of the fishing vessel Jo Marie contacted the Coast Guard via VHF-FM radio at 8:16 p.m. Read more@usdgnews  06:46

Oregon – Brookings, Newport lead Dungeness crab totals – ranks sixth in the last 15 years.

Preliminary numbers show landings in excess of 18.1 million pounds for the season, which officially ended Wednesday. The record, set back in the 2004-05 season, stands at 33.7 million pounds. In the most recent 10-year period, Oregon  landings have averaged 20.3 million pounds annually. more@dailyastorian 14:19