Tag Archives: commercial fisherman
A graveside service will be held at Soule Cemetery, Saturday, for F.G. Gibbs
Floyd Guy “F.G.” Gibbs, Jr., 66, of Engelhard, died, Tuesday, January 7, 2020. F.G. was born in Beaufort County, October 21, 1953 to the late Floyd Guy, Sr. and Nina Way Cuthrell Gibbs. He was married to the former Beverly Hodges who survives. F.G. worked as a commercial fisherman and was the owner and captain of the vessel Papa’s Girl. A graveside service will be held at Soule Cemetery, Saturday, January 11, 2020 at 2:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers memorial contributions can be made to the online fundraiser for the families here, https://tinyurl.com/PapasGirl >click to read< 08:44
A commercial fisherman, Stephen E. McCullough, passes away
Stephen E. McCullough, 48 of Cape May, New Jersey, passed away on Thursday, January 2, 2020 after an extended illness. With a passion for being on the water, Steve worked as a commercial fisherman since his teenage years. Steve is dearly missed and forever loved by his family. Steve’s family will receive friends from 10am until 11am on Thursday, Jan. 9th, at the Spilker Funeral Home in Cape May. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions are suggested through “In Memory Of” online at www.inmemof.org/steve-mccullough – These funds, in honor of Steve, will be distributed by Steve’s family to a future distressed family (or families) within the commercial fishing industry. >click to read< 07:18
Commercial Fisherman James Wallace “JW” Cicchitti, 33, of Cape May has passed away
James Wallace “JW”Cicchitti , – 33, of Cape May passed away on December 20, 2019. JW truly was a “jack of all trades” but his true passion regarding his working career was fishing, he worked on his father’s fishing boats from the time he could walk and later became a commercial fisherman. He not only went fishing for work but also for fun. He had a passion for the water whether he was working on it or just enjoying the view. He had the biggest heart and kindest soul; he loved his family more than anything and spent his life trying to do his best for them. >click to read< 07:56
Randy Babich has been fishing Puget Sound and southeast Alaska for 54 years. A lot has changed in that time.
The Paragon is a 56-foot commercial purse seiner moored at Longbranch Marina, a seagoing workhorse that dwarfs the pleasure boats around it. “I was going to be a dentist,” said the owner, Randy Babich, who just turned 70. “I went through pre-med, pre-dent. My dad always said, ‘Get into a profession.’ ” Babich grew up in Gig Harbor and “got into fishing because my family was into fishing,” >click to read< 07:16
Hawke’s Bay commercial fisherman Karl Warr wants the public to see the job for what it is.
He’s installed a camera on board his boat to live stream what he’s doing to a website. “Personally it’s about, you know, showing the provenance of the product to our customers so rather than me tell them how it is, it’s right there on film to have a look yourself.” He’s broadcasting his methods to the world. Even his bycatch, the species he doesn’t intend to take, will be seen. It’s a risk he’s willing to take. Video, >click to read< 14:32
Drowned Fisherman’s Mom: ‘I Want To Know What Happened To My Son’
Services have been set for the young commercial fisherman who died Monday off the coast of Montauk. Justin Charles Zinno, 26, of Narragansett, Rhode Island, passed away unexpectedly on, October 14, his obituary said. Born in South Kingstown, he was the loving son of Karen Darke and Charles Zinno and his wife Emmeline (Westcott) Zinno. Justin was a hardworking commercial fisherman working beside his father and brother his whole life, his family said. Please >click here for services details, and the rest of the story< In lieu of flowers donations in Justin’s name may be made to the Pt. Judith Fisherman’s Scholarship Fund, PO Box 386, Narragansett, RI, 02882.
North Carolina’s First Lady pays visit to hurting fishermen
It’s been a difficult year for commercial fisherman Down East which is why Crystal Coast Waterkeeper hosted First Lady Kristin Cooper in Harkers Island Saturday, Cooper was able to see first hand the struggles many commercial fisherman are facing as a result of Hurricane Florence. “Everything that goes in upstream is eventually going to come down here and it’s impacting the environment and the water quality in this area,” says Crystal Waterkeeper Larry Baldwin. Because of Hurricane Florence’s impact on water quality and commercial fishing, the industry, economy, and many communities are now suffering. Video, >click to read< 08:06
Nation’s first mega-offshore wind project stalled for additional study
On most afternoons in Point Judith, Rhode Island, commercial fisherman Brian Loftus steers his trawler back into port after a 12-hour day. Loftus unloaded some 1,500 pounds of whiting, scup, skate and squid. Estimated revenue: $3,000. Loftus has fished for three decades here, but to him there’s a looming problem: Offshore wind developers plan to plop turbines more than 70 stories high into his fishing grounds. >click to read< 08:46
Commercial Fisherman Sentenced in Federal Court for Assault with Intent to Murder
Christopher Shane Dreiling was sentenced in federal court on two counts of assault with intent to murder within the special maritime jurisdiction of the United States. Dreiling received a thirty year prison sentence, consisting of fifteen years on each count of assault to run consecutive to each other. At trial, a jury found that at dusk on August 20, 2017, Dreiling attacked the captain and another crew member of the Billy B. a commercial fishing vessel. After stabbing both victims multiple times with a fillet knife, Dreiling forced the victims off the boat and into the Gulf of Mexico >click to read< Original December 5, 2018 post, >click to read< 12:22
Commercial Fisherman John Christian “Chris” Strawser
John Christian “Chris” Strawser, 64, of Glen Rock, Pa., formerly of Wanchese, NC, passed away Wednesday, June 19, 2019, doing what he loved, aboard the longline fishing vessel, Alexandra Dawn.,,, He attended the United States Military Academy West Point and the University of Maryland. Mating on the F/V Lollypop with Captain Chick Craddock, Chris fell in love with fishing and the sea. When Captain Chick retired and sold the boat, Chris determined to attain his own commercial fishing boat, and name it the F/V Lollipop,,, Chris left behind his best friend, soulmate and beloved wife of 20 years, Marilyn Strawser. Other survivors include his four daughters >click to read<21:28
GoFundMe Established For Gravely Injured Hampton Bays Man
Matthew Raynor, 29, and a resident of Hampton Bays, was gravely injured in a diving accident doing just that near Towd Point in North Sea. Matthew is a commercial fisherman, clammer, bayman, world traveler and photographer. According to Jonathan, his older brother by four years, “Matthew is a devotee of nature and is more comfortable and connected outdoors than indoors.” The accident occurred on April 18,,, >click to read<19:34
Jonathan established a GoFundMe page, Help Matthew Raynor recover from a spinal injury. >click here< and please donate if you can.
Blended Waters: It’s simply unbelievable!
It’s safe to assume that most of our population enjoys seafood and it’s likely that if you’re reading this, you do as well. I know I do. But not everyone who enjoys a plate of fish, shrimp, crab etc. realizes what goes into retrieving the delicious seafood we eat. Please let me enlighten you just a bit.,, Most of the fishermen I know are very serious about what they do. They work hard . . . always, but when the weather’s against them . . . they hardly work. It isn’t because they’re lazy or irresponsible, it’s because no vessel owner or operator in their right mind will venture off shore if he/she feels the risk is too great; not to mention the expenditures just laid out for the “trip.” If a nor’easter is headed our way, leaving the dock isn’t wise. >click to read<
Charles Schnacker, Come to the Edge: Arrival and Survival in Del Norte County
Charles Schnacker reveals an intense tenacity and love for fishing, one that goes deeper than profit. But his essay also reveals hidden gems about scarcity and abundance in Del Norte County: I was born in Nashville, Tennessee, and I grew up in Idaho—Lewiston, Craigmount, Nez Perce. And then we moved here in 1984, when I was in grade school. I enrolled in Crescent Elk. Then I went to Del Norte High but transferred to Sunset High School because they let me use math classes as my electives, and I really liked math. When we first moved out here my mom, my dad, me, my five brothers, Grandma, three cousins, two aunts and two uncles lived at Pacific Shores, near Kellogg Beach. We camped out on the dunes for two months until my dad got a job at Las Palmas Trailer Park. We lived there for a short time in one of the trailers until we bought a house on Cooper in the 700 block. It was the first house I remember my family owning. I liked it here. I grew up fishing. My dad started out beach fishing for smelt at night and for perch during the day. Then he bought a boat and crabbed. I pretty much did the same thing. >click to read<12:27
Matt Becker: From Maverick’s to Commercial Fishing and Back
Matt Becker doesn’t remember his first wave. He grew up at the beach with a surfing family in Santa Barbara. Dad taught him to surf as soon as he could swim. Did Junior Lifeguards, water polo, competed in NSSA events — “a typical Southern California beach rat kid,” he laughs.,,, But even if you’re living in a truck, you still need money to eat. Enter commercial fishing. “I took a job up there on a 70-foot crab fishing boat out of Half Moon Bay for a couple years,” said Becker.” >click to read,<11:55
Fisherman jumps on humpback whale to free it from rope, not everyone is impressed
A commercial fisherman jumped on a humpback whale off the Central California coast to free it from being entangled in a rope, reports said this week, citing a video capturing the event in September. A rope was wrapped around the whale’s back and tail when Sam Synstelien jumped onto the mammal off Morro Bay,,, The crew initially reported the problem to the Coast Guard, who “kind of finally said there’s nothing else you can do,” Taron said. He said he was told that the Coast Guard couldn’t respond for hours,,, >click to read<12:25
Fisherman Doug Evans is back on dry land after F/V Rose Marie caught fire at sea
Black smoke billowed from the portside of the Fairhaven-based Rose Marie as flames engulfed the steel hull of the 90-foot trawler. Cell phone video captures this from the life raft to which the four-hand crew of the fiery fishing vessel had made their escape. Though he admits it was scary, longtime Provincetown resident and commercial fisherman Doug Evans kept his wits about him. “I’ve been through this before, so I grabbed my keys, my wallet, my phone,” he says, and told his mates to do the same. “And a pair of shoes.” The men were dragging for flounder and lobster 60 to 70 miles east of Chatham on what was supposed to be a six-to-seven-day trip. It ended on Aug. 23, after they’d been out for one night, when the cook saw smoke coming out of a ventilator and went to investigate. >click to read<09:49
Coast Guard law enforcement assists injured woman, investigates fisherman for BUI off of Oregon Coast
A Coast Guard law enforcement team assisted an injured woman and are investigating the circumstances surrounding a commercial fisherman allegedly boating under the influence 12 miles off the Oregon Coast, Friday morning. A Coast Guard boat crew and law enforcement team aboard a 47-foot Motor Life Boat from Station Umpqua River removed the woman, reportedly suffering from a head laceration, bruising and swelling in the facial region, off the commercial fishing vessel Pescadero and transferred her to emergency medical services awaiting at Station Umpqua River, which transported her to Lower Umpqua River Hospital. >click to read<20:04
Robert Henry Smith, Jr.
Robert Henry Smith Jr. of Lincoln City, Oregon, passed away on May 30, 2018. Better known as Bob (or Burly and or Bobby by many in the family). Bob was born Sept. 12, 1941 in Portland Oregon to his parents of Mary Frances (Murphy) Smith and Robert Henry Smith.,, Bob worked on King Crab boats in Alaska. I love to tell the story of him likely being the only person you would ever know that fell overboard, in the dark, no survival suit and survived! It did not detour him from eventually becoming a full time commercial fisherman. “Burly” loved his time on the sea and was at his best when he was 100 miles out on a clear night, by himself, and pursuing the elusive “Tuna” or “Wild Salmon”. A celebration of Life will be held August 18, 2018 at the Yaquina Bay Yacht Club, Newport, Oregon, between the hours of 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., overlooking the “Norma Jean”. >click to read<09:57
Somers to hold forum on commercial fishing Wednesday in Mystic, a free, open forum event
“Commercial fishing has been an integral part of Southeastern Connecticut’s way of life since before there were colonies. Local families going back generations have worked the sea to provide fresh seafood and feed the Eastern seaboard. These small proud family businesses are now on the verge of closing forever. I am looking forward to this panel discussion so that we can bring awareness to the problem, listen to first-hand experiences and work together to take steps to remedy it and help fishermen prosper in our state again. I want to encourage residents in Southeastern Connecticut to come to this free, open forum event.” >click to read<16:28
For longtime Wakulla fisherman, mullet is still the perfect catch
About 8:30 a.m. in 20-degree weather on 2018’s first Saturday, 80-year-old commercial fisherman Jonas Porter was catching mullet along Wakulla County’s coastline. Nothing stops him from fishing for a living, and since 1994, nothing has stopped him from challenging Florida’s net ban that dealt a life-altering blow to commercial fishing. “I told him not to go,” said Jonas’ wife, Bernice, handing him a cup of coffee,“ but he wouldn’t listen and now he’s sick.” And that’s the way it’s been throughout the Porter’s 57-year marriage,,, >click to read< 14:43
North Carolina: Commercial fishing under ‘assault,’ say Dare County Commissioners.
Calling it an “ongoing assault on the commercial fishing industry,” the Dare County Commissioners this week unanimously approved a resolution opposing the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission’s (MFC) proposed changes to the definition of a “commercial fisherman.” Commissioner Steve House, who made a brief presentation on the proposed changes to the board at its Jan. 22 meeting, said, “We’re in the battle again, and I’m proud to take on the fight.” Under the proposed new definition, in order to qualify as a “commercial fisherman”,,, >click here to read< 18:32
Death of Maine fisherman found in his burned home being investigated as homicide
The death of a Whitneyville man found dead inside his burned home on Saturday is being investigated as a homicide. Maine State Police have identified the dead man as Wayne Foss, 48. Foss was a commercial fisherman who lived with his wife and son in the mobile home that burned, although his family was not home at the time of the fire, Maine Department of Public Safety spokesman Steve McCausland said in a news release Monday. click here to read the story 17:08
Three Run for Two Seats on Barnegat Light Council
This fall’s Nov. 7 general election in Barnegat Light is contested. Two three-year seats on Barnegat Light Borough Council are sought by three candidates.,,, Eric Svelling. “I am running because I am being urged to do so from supporters,” said Svelling. “I am a third-generation lifelong resident, 30-year business owner, 22-year taxpayer. I have a unique historical connection to Barnegat Light,” he said. As qualifications, he has also pointed to his work ethic and decision-making amid the uncertainties and dangers of making a living by commercial fishing. He helped build his fishing boat Native Son, and also owns the Edge Runner and Sea Beast, operating from Lighthouse Marina. click here to read the story 08:28
After 32 summers fishing with his dad, Cambria songwriter says goodbye to Alaska
Songwriter-singer Van William, a Cambria native son, says his recently released music video and the new songs he performs are deeply, profoundly personal.,, He says the music is a reflection of who and where he’s been, and his life’s successes, upheavals and heartbreaks, which — as is the case for most folks — helped to shape the person he is now. He said his summers spent in Alaska have “always been a huge part of who I am,” but “I’ve never been able to share much of it with anyone other than my immediate family. This video highlights how life feels up there and how heartbreaking it is to say goodbye to my years as a commercial fisherman.” Excellent video, photos, click here 20:53
Drone adds modern twist to an age-old fishing method for fourth generation Eden fisherman
His great grandfather arrived in Eden in the mid 1800s, and each successive generation has entered the fishing industry — from trapping and beach fishing to pioneering the lucrative bluefin tuna fishery using pole and live bait, then later purse seine trawling using light aircraft for fish spotting. After a long career as a commercial fisherman, Mr Fourter has now returned to his childhood passion catching salmon and mullet off the beaches of Twofold Bay and the Eden coast using the traditional beach seine method. He shoots a 300-metre-long net from a 16-foot rowboat around a patch of schooling fish. Excellent video, click here to read the story 10:05
Death of deckhand in Hurricane Irma leaves void in Tarpon Springs
The boat was 32 feet, white fiberglass, with sails stretching up, up, up. It was, Carl Shepherd decided that day, the boat he would retire in. “What are you going to do?” asked his friend, Michael Ellzey, who drove him to Fort Myers in August to check out the vessel. Sail everywhere, Shepherd told him. Live out the rest of his life on the water. But Shepherd didn’t get to spend his last years peacefully on a sailboat. Instead, he spent his final moments in chaos on a shrimp trawler in the middle of one of the most powerful hurricanes in recent history. click here to read the story 11:28
Riding out Hurricane Irma – A reprieve in Dry Tortugas
Richie Stiglitz is having a sleepover on Key Colony Beach, grilling for his crew and friends six days post-Irma, telling stories of the past week. His story is a little different from most. He, with a fleet of nine commercial Marathon boats, rode the storm out 60 miles offshore in the Dry Tortugas. His home, on Cudjoe Key, was destroyed in the storm. “At first the storm was looking like it was going up the east coast of Florida,” said Stiglitz, boat owner and commercial fisherman. “We were on the seat of our pants for a little bit.” The crew included Marathon residents Justin Bruland with first mate Riley Young, and Raymond Bruland with grandson Jayden, 14, Randolf and Cole Daniels, Ray Salidino, Justin Woodward, and Stiglitz’s sons Deme and Peder, who, at 16 years old, each captained their own boats on the way down. click here to read the story 20:26
Chandler, Arizona man missing at sea; Coast Guard calls off search for 6 fishermen on crab boat
A Valley man is believed to be one of six people on board a missing fishing boat in the Bering Sea off of Alaska. Kai Hamik, of Chandler, is a commercial fisherman who neighbors say loves his job. “I see him off and on, depending on the season,” said Gabriel D’Zordo, who lives right next door to Hamik. “Sometimes he tells me the season is bad so he comes back early. He loves it. He loves it. He always tells me he loves it.” The U.S. Coast Guard in Alaska said the crew sent out a beacon alert 2 miles northwest of St. George, Alaska, on Saturday morning. The boat, a 98-foot crab boat named “Destination,” had six people on it and is owned by a company based in Seattle. D’Zordo had no idea Hamik might be lost at sea. He said he will stay hopeful. “My goodness, my prayers. Every time he goes out I always say a pray because I know what he does,” D’Zordo said. Read the story here 12:23
The early shift: New Jersey People working while you’re still asleep
The early bird may catch the worm. But it certainly isn’t catching enough zzz’s. That’s the moral of the story for those who work during the wee hours. We caught up with a few New Jersey residents who regularly rise before the sun – a commercial fisherman, a waitress and an ER nurse – to chat about the challenges that come with working while the rest of us are in bed and find out why they stick with it. To make a profit as a commercial gillnet fisherman, you’ve got to sacrifice sleep. For 35 years, Kevin Wark’s schedule has been roughly the same: two nights at sea, one on land. But no matter how many times he toils through his 30-hour shifts, with little more than a 15-minute nap, Wark’s body has never grown accustomed to the effects of sleep deprivation. Read the story here 09:25
End of era for Naples fishing industry? Commentary by Tom Marvel, commercial fisherman, Naples
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