Tag Archives: commercial fishermen
Commercial fisherman frustrated by red tide fish kills destroying his livelihood
Dead fish by the thousands are causing a smelly mess in the water and on the shorelines around parts of Tampa Bay. Commercial fisherman David Gill was shocked when he first saw it Monday morning near the mouth of the Alafia River. “I wanted to scream and rip my hair out because I watched my livelihood die right in front of me,” says Gill, who has been fishing these waters since he was a boy. For years, Gill and other fishermen have traveled miles to get away from red tide, which he believes is exacerbated by pollution, including the release from Piney Point. He’s angry about it. video, >click to read< 10:59
Senate Approves Bill Exempting Commercial Fishermen from State Unemployment Tax
“Currently, New Jersey’s commercial fishermen are on the hook for unemployment taxes, but they are not paid hourly wages, and they have never been able to collect unemployment benefits,” stated Testa. “This bill will have significant impact on the state’s vital fishing industry that has been extremely hard-hit by the pandemic.” According to a release, Testa’s bill (S-3501) would exempt commercial fishermen who are paid on the percentage of fish caught or a percentage of the selling price of those fish from the state unemployment law and its costly tax on earnings. >click to read< 07:52
An Organized Act of Civil Disobedience: East Hampton Baymen Take to ‘Truck Beach’ to Protest Court Ruling
East Hampton baymen and their supporters drove a caravan of 39 trucks onto what is popularly known as Truck Beach on Napeague on Sunday morning to assert what they believe is their right to use, and drive on, the ocean beach there. A panel of four New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division judges determined in February that the 4,000-foot stretch of beach is owned by landward residential property owners. Baymen had promised such action in the wake of a June 4 injunction reiterating the Appellate Division panel’s Feb. 3 affirmation,,, >click to read< 07:39
What do Deckhands earn and get paid on ‘Deadliest Catch’ and in the commercial crab industry?
There’s definitely money to be made in crab fishing, more if you star in a popular show about crab fishing. And the crab fishing industry is lucrative. While this is just a snapshot, it’s a pretty eye-opening one. According to a 2006 report, 505 commercial fishermen brought in over $127 million worth in crab loot. If that was evenly divided, it’d be $250,000 per person, but of course, things don’t work out that way. “Wages are often based on a share or percentage of harvest earnings. Newcomer deckhand earnings range from 1.5% to 10% of the adjusted gross catch, depending on location and type of fishery and the skills the worker possesses.” And it’s also situational: some crab fishers can make $50 to $100 a day as a flat rate if they want to play it safe. >click to read< 15:45
Commercial fishers fined for potentially disturbing migrating whales in Scarborough
Two commercial fishers who potentially disturbed migrating whales off Scarborough with their unsecured lines were the first to be prosecuted under new lobster regulations. The fishers, a 72-year-old from Beaconsfield and a 44-year-old from Bateman, pleaded guilty and were each ordered to pay $7453.90 in fines and court costs at Perth Magistrate’s Court on June 9. According to the amended Management Plan for Commercial rock lobster fishing introduced in 2014, the top third of the length of the pot lines must be held vertically in the water. The officers seized nine lobster pots as a part of the lines of each pot were trailing across the surface of the water. >click to read< 10:25
Opinion: As seafarers, we’ve been thrown overboard by the NZ Government
Your shift starts at midnight. It finishes at midday. You’ve done this before. This is the 68th day straight, or is it the 69th day? Who knows? They all begin to blur together at this point. You try calling home to your loved ones, get about five minutes into the chat you’ve so desperately needed, before the connection is lost mid-sentence. You’re on a container ship, or a fishing trawler, or a support vessel for oil and gas platforms. Working alongside the same people, eating the same food, day in day out. You stay focused, you have to – one mistake can spell disaster. Lives can be lost. You don’t complain, because you’re needed. It’s your job. If you don’t do the work, who will? >click to read< By Nathan Schumacher
Father and son keep their family fishing tradition alive
Like a lot of things on the old boat, the starter was beat up and broken. To get underway, Nick Nieuwkerk connected the electrical terminals with the metal end of a screwdriver. Then, with a zap and spark, the ancient Detroit Diesel engine roared to life. But then the throttle wouldn’t stay put, so Nick’s father, Knoep Nieuwkerk, rigged it open with a spoon and piece of string. Eventually, the pair were steaming out of Woods Harbor, Nova Scotia, on their way to Portland on April 7, aboard a 44-foot fishing boat that had seen better days since it first hit the water, 42 years earlier. There was no guarantee they’d make it, but they had to try. >video, photos, click to read< 07:38
US Embargo Hits Mexican Shrimp Industry Hard
The United States has suspended certification of wild-caught Mexican shrimp, preventing producers from export part of their production to the USA. Already financially weakened Mexican shrimp exporters are confident that the decision will be reversed soon, but have concerns about the severe economic consequences. US inspectors identified non-conformities in the turtle excluder devices (TEDs) in dozens of fishing gears inspected at Sonora, Sinaloa, Tamaulipas and Campeche ports. News of the embargo was received with concern by the shrimp fishermen all over Mexico. ‘But we haven’t felt any impact yet, given that we had already exported all stocks and we’re now waiting for the next shrimp season to start in September,’ >photos, click to read< 13:13
Sri Lanka: Plastic, chemicals and a devastating environmental hit for commercial fishermen and their communities
The X-Press Pearl is lying half sunken off the coast of Sri Lanka. Images of the ship burning for days have gone around the world,,, Tons of tiny plastic pellets have already washed up on the local beach nearby. Aside from the environmental threats, there are also devastating consequences for the 
local communities, fishermen who overnight lost their livelihoods and will likely suffer for years to come. Plastic pellets, also called nurdles, are tiny round pieces of plastic, used to make nearly all plastic goods. They will wash up on beaches or end up in the guts of fish and other ocean animals. “More hazardous than the plastic are the chemicals,” >Video, photos, click to read< 14:35
With the Ocean Wind Offshore Wind Farm on the horizon, a storm is building
Ocean Wind, according to those closely following the project, is headed for a series of turf wars, loud debates and protracted legal battles, even before the first turbine is sited off the coast of southern New Jersey.,, even supporters and opponents of the proposed wind farm at times disagree among themselves on how to move forward. Environmentalists, commercial fishermen, recreational boaters, labor unions, homeowners, boardwalk businesses, NIMBYs and ratepayer advocates are all circling Orsted, the Dutch wind power company behind what could be one of the largest wind farms in North America. Local, state and federal officials are also starting to feel the heat. Just about everyone involved, including David Hardy, CEO of Orsted US, worries the project could devolve into chaos. >click to read< 13:11
‘Hang your heads in shame’, Flotilla of 50 trawlers protest Brexit fishing quotas at Cork Harbour, a “direct assault” on their incomes
A flotilla of up to 50 trawlers formed at Cork Harbour on Wednesday morning calling for a fair fishing quota for Irish fishermen. A rally is due to take place later and fishermen will march to the Cork office of Taoiseach Micheál Martin in the city. >click to read< Fishermen say that their livelihoods have been decimated as a result of Brexit and fish quota cutbacks. Further protests are planned in Dublin, Donegal and Galway to highlight fears of Irish fishermen that they face being driven out of business over the coming months and years. >click to read<, ‘Hang your heads in shame’ – “Irish fishermen and women are seeking public support to save our fishing industry. >click to read< 07:30
Mass commercial fishermen fear offshore wind farm ‘dead zones’, while some do the science for money thing
The 62 wind turbines will be located 15 miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard and generate enough electricity to power approximately 400,000 homes by the time the project is completed in 2023, Vineyard Wind CEO Lars Pedersen said. He also said it also will create about 3,600 jobs — half of them permanent, the other half construction jobs. (Lars is pulling,,,) But what worries Ed Barrett of Marshfield is what it might do to his livelihood.,, while New Bedford Lobsterman Jarrett Drake supports renewable energy sources like wind energy, if it’s done correctly (yes,,, of course!). Drake uses his 47-foot lobster boat to work for Vineyard Wind and with University of Massachusetts marine biologists,,, >click to read< 12:46
Hawaii’s Fishermen Are Worried About China’s Fleet. So Is The Military
Hawaii’s commercial fishermen and the U.S. military have a potential threat in common, China’s fleet of government-subsidized ships that has been straying into more distant waters in search of seafood and more influence. Local longliners have reported seeing increasing numbers of Chinese vessels near the islands, accusing them of overfishing and intimidation tactics. Sometimes the ships are fishing, sometimes they’re making their way into the eastern Pacific and sometimes they’re seemingly just sitting at sea, says Eric Kingma, executive director of the Hawaii Longline Association. >click to read< 08:05
North Carolina Commercial Fishermen can’t stay afloat under biased regulations
Many commercial fishermen feel like they’ve been playing defense for a decade, fighting for their livelihood. “It’s a hard day to fight when you get up and you know you’re fighting for your survival every day, and you’re regulated to the point where you can barely make it,” said Doug Cross. Cross runs Pamlico Packing Company with his brother.,, The storms and bad seasons come with the territory, but there’s another issue tangling these nets. “Regulation is the single biggest wild card,” said Cross. “How do you plan in the future without knowing what you’re going to be facing. >click to read< 17:00
U.S. Commercial fishermen are frustrated by mask mandates from Maine to Alaska
Commercial fishing crews must be masked at all times, regardless of the number of people. The requirement stems from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention rule issued in February saying all those on public transportation must be masked. The Coast Guard interpreted the rule to apply to all vessels, including commercial fisherman who sometimes work with crews of just three to five people. There are around 39,000 commercial fishermen in the United States. In a hearing with top administration health officials yesterday, Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) brought this up. saying they’ve heard deep frustration from fishermen who argue that wearing a mask while doing their work is unsafe. >click to read< 12:43
The Last of the Port Clyde Groundfishermen – Once robust, Maine’s groundfishery is on the ropes
When Randy Cushman was growing up in Port Clyde, some 300 trawlers were moored up and down Maine’s coast,,, Today, Cushman is 59 years old and might be Maine’s most knowledgeable commercial fishermen.,, But Cushman is barely scraping by. Prices for cod, flounder, and other groundfish have all but collapsed in Maine. The combination of rock-bottom prices, the need to protect the state’s fish stocks, and a dearth of fishing infrastructure make it harder than ever to be a fisherman here. Today, the robust Maine trawler fleet of Cushman’s youth has been reduced to around 30 boats. photos, >click to read< 14:21
The last cowboys – a replay of the story of cattle in the American West
Norway, a country less than a quarter the size of Alaska, is on pace to bring 1.2 million tonnes of salmon to market this year, and the technologists in that country are talking about the potential to grow their production to 3 million tonnes per year by 2030. Chile, Scotland, the Faroe Islands, and Canada are all significant producers with lesser production in Australia, New Zealand, Iceland, France, Ireland and Finland. Meanwhile, land-based, recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) farms are threatening to lead to an explosion in salmon aquaculture almost everywhere. To truly understand the threat these farmers pose to the future of one of Alaska’s oldest and still largest industries,,, >click to read< 08:52
New Jersey: Testa Bill that Exempts Commercial Fishermen from State Unemployment Tax Advances
The bill, S-3501, would exempt commercial fisherman who are paid on the percentage of fish caught or a percentage of the selling price of those fish from the state unemployment law and its costly tax on earnings. “This bill will be a big help for New Jersey fisheries, an industry that has been hit hard by the pandemic and one that the state’s economy depends on,” said Michael Testa (R-1). “It will allow hard working, skilled fisherman to keep more of their hard-earned income, a change that suits the independent nature of the proud individuals who make their living at sea.” >click to read< 18:34
L.D. 101: Commercial fishermen and their supporters seek total ban on offshore wind farms
The bill would prohibit any state agency from permitting or approving any offshore wind energy project regardless of its location. It was introduced by Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham, R-Winter Harbor, a commercial fisherman,,, The testimony on L.D. 101 from lobstermen, their families and town officials from fishing communities drew a clear line in the sand,,, In his testimony, Rep. Faulkingham said offshore wind was the worst kind of green energy, calling it up to five times more expensive than market prices, a threat to sea birds and mammals that would eventually take up an area four times larger than Casco Bay and enrich foreign corporations with taxpayer money. Nuclear power and Canadian hydro are better options,, >click to read< 19:23
A push to boost commercial fishing industry, post-Coronavirus on Long Island
With the pandemics, the industry suffered on Long Island as restaurants all but shut down, wiping away an important client base for commercial fishing. As the economy continues to reopen, Suffolk County has launched a survey aimed at developing a real-time snapshot of the Long Island commercial fishing industry, which officials say has been “especially hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic,” according to a press release from the county. The survey is available here. The information and data collected through the survey will highlight the needs of local fishermen and will guide and assist agencies in providing the resources necessary to continue to support a viable and sustainable fishing industry. >click to read< 11:48
Brexit: how it started, how it’s going
The European Parliament votes Tuesday on the EU’s divorce settlement with Britain, the 1,246-page Trade and Cooperation Agreement. The deal averted tariffs or quotas on almost all goods produced in the UK and EU. The new standards and attendant bureaucracy are having an impact on trade. UK exports of live mussels, cockles, oysters and other shellfish are no longer allowed to enter the EU. Most come from Scotland, and the industry says it is staring at collapse. Britain’s government, however, says the coronavirus pandemic has been the bigger factor affecting trade since the Brexit deal took effect. >click to read< 07:32
Women of New Bedford’s Waterfront
Captain Jessica Walker, 34, first stepped foot on a commercial fishing vessel, which happened to be the Legacy, when she was 19. The college history major was looking for a summer job and this one was far from “potato country”, the place in Northern Maine she called home. She started with summer trips that eventually became full-time work. She worked her way up to mate and learned everything from the boat owner and previous captain, David Wilhelmsen. When he stepped down, Walker assumed the role of captain in the summer of 2013. Further up in the harbor, fishing vessel Reliance was docked earlier in the week for maintenance before departing for the next scalloping trip. Two men with welding helmets sat on the deck repairing the metal gear while Crystal Vaughan stood up in the wheelhouse attending to inventory. 21 photos, >click to read< 10:20
Frustration as F/V Pesorsa Dos returns to local fishing grounds
Local fishermen are up in arms after the German registered gill-netter F/V Pesorsa Dos reappeared in the waters to the west of Shetland. Last year, the Spanish owned vessel was in the centre of a huge controversy after the crew of the Alison Kay (LK57) posted a video that appeared to show the gill netter trying to foul the local trawler’s propeller. Following Brexit and the “hugely disappointing” trade deal, the UK has become an independent coastal state, but EU vessels continue to have full access to UK waters until 2026. >click to read< 18:26
Tight-Knit Fishing Communities Navigate Drugs
Johnnie*, a salt-and-pepper fisherman in his late 50s, is smiling as he tells me what happened one dark night last year. “It was like a movie star, dropping down from the sky off the helicopter to get to my crewmate, pitch of night,” he says. “The Coast Guard—this handsome guy, my wife would’ve loved him, like Rock Hudson—dropped down from the moon. Felt like hours after we had given him all the Narcan we had. The Coast Guard still didn’t carry it back then, did you know that? So they pulled him up into the clouds and we all were left below at sea.”, “It’s not the first time that’s happened on our boat,” Johnnie says. “If we didn’t have that Narcan on board though, kid probably wouldn’t have made it.” >click to read< 19:13
After two-year break, seiners hopeful herring fishery will continue into future
The Sitka Sound Sac Roe Herring Fishery opened in late March, after a two-year hiatus. Less than half the fleet is fishing this spring, but the seiners who have stuck around have hauled in catches every day over the last week and a half. KCAW spoke with two commercial fishermen shortly before the fishery opened about the importance of herring to their businesses and lives. Justin Peeler is standing on the deck of his boat, the F/V Defiant, Matt Kinney runs the F/V Hukilau. audio, >click to read< 11:08
Commercial fishing binds communities, is dangerous livelihood
The Port Clyde fishing community is a tight-knit group with families and friends connected by the sea. That sea, however, can be cruel as it was March 26, when Travis Thorbjornson became the latest in a long list of fishermen to die in its waters. Thorbjornson died Friday, March 26. His lifelong friends, Gerry Cushman, Raymie Upham and Justin ‘Buzza’ Libby, recovered him from the sea. He is the second member of his family to die on the waters. In July 2005, his brother and best friend 40-year-old Gary Thorbjornson, captain of the fishing vessel Sirius, was lost at sea when his 50-foot wooden trawler sank 30 miles southeast of Rockland. A shiny, black granite memorial bearing the name of 11 fishermen lost at sea stands on the grounds of the Marshall Point Lighthouse. Gary Thorbjornson’s image is depicted on the other side of the monument that was dedicated in May 2008. >click to read< 12:27
Catch of the day – Suspected World War II anti-aircraft gun hauled back!
The crew on the Waterford-based fishing vessel F/V Saltees Quest were astounded when they spotted a badly rusted metal object tangled in their nets as they operated off the south-east coast. It was most likely mounted on either a merchant vessel or coastal patrol craft for defence during World War II. However, such is the badly rusted nature of the object that it may very well date to World War I. One theory, as outlined by WLRFM presenter, fisheries author and local resident Damien Tiernan, is that the object is some kind of anti-aircraft gun. >click to read< 11:16
“Every crack was a stab in my heart,” – The Death of the Kaiki, Greece’s Traditional Fishing Boat
He sits sad-eyed on a bench in front of the Neos Pyrgos pier in North Evia, watching some of the few remaining kaikia go to and fro. Just a few years ago, his own kaiki was tied there next to them. Tzevelekos’ beloved boat was one of about 13,000 kaikia which have been deliberately destroyed since 1994, after a European Union directive called for the demolition of the small wooden fishing boats,, The directive aims at putting a stop to 
overfishing,,, “Every crack was a stab in my heart,” said Dimitris Livanos of Agiopyrgos, also in North Evia, describing the boat demolition that he was forced to witness. The Traditional Boat Association of Greece is a private organization which is making concerted efforts to save traditional boats from extinction. “There are about 15,000 fishing boats left, based on the number of current licenses. We don’t know how many of these are traditional,” says Nikos Kavallieros, president of the Association. >click to read< 11:53
F/V Ellie Ádhamh: Imperiled fishing trawler goes down off Cork coast
The Coastguard at Valentia has confirmed that the fishing trawler, the Ellie Ádhamh, which spent a second night adrift off the Cork coast sank shortly before midday. Yesterday evening, the skipper and six crewmen were winched to safety by the Waterford-based Irish Coast Guard helicopter Rescue 117. The naval vessel LÉ George Bernard Shaw had attempted to tow the trawler to shore. However, the tow came adrift in heavy sea and swell conditions after the crew were taken off the trawler. >click to read< 08:31
F/V Ellie Ádhamh: Captain and 6 crewmen winched to safety by Irish Coast Guard Helicopter Rescue 117
An operation to tow the vessel to shore has been abandoned due to poor conditions. The trawler lost power and steering 80km off the west Cork coast yesterday. It was drifting for several hours in rough seas until the naval vessel LÉ George Bernard Shaw attached a tow earlier today. They were rescued 50km west of Mizen Head at around 7pm, in sea conditions described as “horrendous”. There was a six-metre swell and winds gusting at between 74 and 92kmph. >click to read< 21:28 Crew of stricken fishing vessel rescued in dramatic airlift operation off West Cork – Strong south westerly winds of up to 90kph and six metre swell were buffeting the fishing vessel under tow and a decision was taken around 5.30pm to airlift all seven crew members off the boat. a short video, >click to read<
