Tag Archives: Casco Bay
In Maine, a Father-Daughter Team Wins a Lobster Boat Race
Dozens of boats zipped across Casco Bay during the Maine Lobster Boat Races on Saturday. Only one had a purple bottom. That boat, a 32-footer with a powerful diesel engine, belonged to Jeremy Beal, 45, a large, soft-spoken man who comes from a long line of boat builders and lobstermen. “See, I grew up right in it,” he said between drags of a cigarette while leaning against the rail of his boat on the evening before the big race. For decades, Mr. Beal’s father, Wayne Beal, and an uncle, Calvin Beal, have built boats used by commercial fishers up and down the Maine coast. After years spent learning the family trade, Jeremy took over his dad’s business, Wayne Beal’s Boat Shop, in Jonesport, a seaside town more than 200 miles northeast of Portland. “I bought the boat off my father,” Mr. Beal said. “It was his last power boat. He’s retired out of the boat shop. I won’t sell the boat unless I have to. Just for the fact that it was my dad’s.” Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 11:33
Crews pull dead whale from Casco Bay
A dead whale which appeared to be wrapped in nets was pulled from Casco Bay on Thursday, officials say. Crews were attempting to load the whale onto a flatbed truck using a boat lift as of 3 p.m. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said on social media Marine Mammals of Maine and the Maine Marine Patrol were notified of a 40-foot humpback whale in a net off the coast of Cape Elizabeth on Wednesday. NOAA said the whale is known as “Chunk” and was first seen in 2015, the same year she was found in a “severe entanglement. “Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 16:35
A day on the ocean with Maine’s tough winter scallopers
Their day began in the 5:30 a.m. darkness, when Josh Todd and his father, Alex Todd, steamed the F/V Jacob & Joshua from Chebeague Island to Littlejohn Island, where they picked up Blanchard. As Alex Todd piloted his boat to the day’s fishing ground west of Eagle Island, Josh Todd and Blanchard readied the vessel’s eight-foot, 1,500-pound dredge where it hung from scaffolding at the stern. Once in position, Blanchard lowered the dredge on a quarter-inch steel cable. The Jacob & Joshua shuddered, and the rigging groaned, as the dredge bit into the graveled sea floor, roughly 80 feet below. 8 photos, more, >>click to read<< 08:15
Dozens of boats race through Casco Bay for annual Lobster Boat Races
Sunday was the final day of lobster boat races for the season. From Boothbay, to Portland fishermen traveled the coast to compete. Jon Johansen helps run the races. He says each boat pays $20 to compete which goes towards helping high school graduates attend college through the fishermen’s scholarship fund. “The party started on Friday and in certain places it hasn’t stopped yet,” >Video, photos, click to read< 10:03
A possible resurgence of invasive green crabs poses a threat to Casco Bay’s soft-shell clams
Soft-shell clams are a summer tradition around Casco Bay, both for the tourists and residents who love steamers and for the clam diggers who turn long, backbreaking hours on the mud flats into cold, hard cash. But an infestation of invasive green crabs ravaged juvenile clam stocks in the past four years, adding to ecological changes, competition for coastal access and other pressures facing the state’s second most valuable fishery. Clam landings in the Casco Bay communities of Freeport, Harpswell and Brunswick, some of the state’s leading clam producers, plummeted to historic lows in 2015, and the scarcity of soft-shell clams contributed to all-time high prices. Read the rest here 09:21
Mutant lobsters in Casco Bay
They’re actually a lot more common than one might think, sometimes they come up with multiple claws, sometimes they’re different colors, and sometimes they’re so riddled with shell disease that they’re almost unrecognizable. Here’s some of the more unusual mutants that have come up in my Captain’s traps over the past year. Hope you like ‘em folks! Read more here BDN 08:14
