Tag Archives: commercial fishing
Dockside Safety Exam Program – Coast Guard helps commercial fishermen ensure a safe catch
As the nation’s largest estuary, the Chesapeake Bay is a highly valued resource for more than 18 million people who live in its watershed. Producing about 500 million pounds of seafood each year, the Bay supports commercial and recreational fishing and creates one of the most economically significant regions of the Unites States. According to NOAA and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, commercial fishing is one of the country’s most dangerous occupations. “What we do for the local fishing community is support their workplace safety,” said Timothy Diehl, a Coast Guard vessel safety examiner from Sector Maryland-National Capital Region in Baltimore, Maryland. Most of Diehl’s workdays are spent traveling to area marinas where he meets with commercial fishing vessel operators and owners. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:21
A tribute to Herbert (Herbie) Jensen
Herb started commercial fishing at a young age with his Uncle Jerry Clock. From there he grew into his legacy as a Prince William Sound and Copper River Flats fisherman. When Herb was 18, he was drafted into the Vietnam War and spent 18 months on the front line until he was injured and sent back home. Shortly after he met Barb, they became friends and started dating when he was 21 and married her a year later. Together, over the course of 53 years they built a Copper River salmon cannery called Glacier Packing Co., and owned three gillnetters and three seine boats fishing the Copper River Flats, Prince William Sound, Kodiak, Togiak, and the Berring Sea until he retired in 2018. His happiest years were spent fishing with his family and crew who grew to be like family. more, >>click to read<< 09:02
Local fishermen speak out against proposed bill seeking further restrictions on commercial fishing
For Zack Robinson, fishing isn’t just a job. “The ocean’s my life,” he said. Robinson has been gillnetting for 15 years, catching halibut and seabass. “Gillnetting is my passion. I love it. There are a lot of misconceptions about net fishing. It’s not a dirty fishery like they say it is. We are not the bad guys, and that hurts, to work so hard and to be told you’re no good,” Robinson said. He says that if Assembly Bill 2220 passes, it would threaten his livelihood. “Any more regulation might take us out completely. “People don’t stop eating halibut or swordfish, what they do is they’ll get it from another source,” Hyman said. Kimberly Ray suggests gill-netters can find another way to fish. more, >>click to read<< 09:35
Crew School provides a reality sea trial for commercial fishing wanabees
Along Gig Harbor’s waterfront, this vocational trend is gently materializing in the form of a newly organized Crew School for potential commercial fishermen — and women. During March, seven people completed this hands-on training program that essentially offers a reality-based test drive for those interested in commercial fishing aboard a 58-foot purse seiner. Lifelong local fisherman and purse seine captain Gregg Lovrovich is program lead and creator of the crew-in-training curriculum. He coaches rookies through knot skills, gear maintenance, net setting/handling, safety and survival skills, not to mention the realities of living for months in a 58-foot space with 3-4 crew members who get all too familiar with one another. Photos, more, >>click to read<< 13:04
East End fishermen uneasy over wind farm South Fork Wind
Late last year, Gov. Kathy Hochul called South Fork Wind, which is projected to eliminate hundreds of millions of tons of carbon emissions annually, a “major milestone” in the state’s “nation-leading effort to generate reliable, renewable clean energy. “But at least one East End community remains staunchly opposed to wind farms: commercial fishermen — who say that the massive, 50-story turbines could irreparably damage the local marine ecosystem and displace them from areas they’ve fished for decades or even generations. more, >>click to read<< 08:12
Retired Lobsterman Joseph A. Pesce Jr. of Revere, Mass, has passed away
Joseph was born in Revere on September 15, 1938. He was the son of the late Joseph A. and Anna (D’Ambrosio) Pesce. He had been a lifelong resident of Revere and attended Revere Public Schools. Following high school, Joe worked at the Boston Ship Yard as a pipe fitter until he decided to pursue his passion to be a lobsterman. Joe began working as a commercial lobsterman, which was a career that would span over 65 years. His devoted son, David, joined in his passion for lobstering and worked alongside him for the last 30 years. They were the best partners. He was a dedicated and hard-working man who devoted his life to providing for his family. more, >>click to read<< 12:27
Massachusetts fishermen say feds are hypocritical in Gulf of Maine wind energy designation
A move to designate two million acres in the Gulf of Maine as a hub for wind energy is snagging a sharp hook from Massachusetts fishermen who say the development overlooks risks to the North Atlantic right whale. A handful of Bay State fishermen advocacy groups are teaming with counterparts from across New England in criticizing the Biden administration’s plans to industrialize the area off the coasts of Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine. Fishermen, however, say the industrialization of the two-million-acre area is “flatly inconsistent with a policy of endangered species protection.” “Fishermen are disheartened that the WEA designation favors foreign energy developers over marine mammal protection,” the Gulf of Maine Fishing Associations said in a statement last week. “This preferential treatment is in stark contrast to the federal government’s aggressive campaign to burden commercial fishing needlessly with crushing restrictions to protect whales.” more, >>click to read<< 08:43
California’s commercial salmon fishermen face another disaster of a season amid proposed federal restrictions
A regional fishery council is mulling three proposals for commercial salmon season, with one canceling the season entirely and the other two severely limiting how long the season would last and how many salmon could be taken. While two of the proposed options do offer limited commercial fishing opportunities, at least one local fisherman says the restrictions would significantly curb the viability of salmon fishing. “These really aren’t a viable option for anyone,” said Tim Obert, a Ben Lomond resident who’s been fishing salmon commercially for close to 20 years. Obert is president of the Santa Cruz Commercial Fishermen’s Association, sits on the state of California’s Dungeness Crab Task Force and is also a part of several working groups that advised the council in coming up with the alternative proposals. more, >>click to read<< 11:07
Garibaldi – Home of World-Class Dungeness Crab Thanks to Experienced, Professional Commercial Fishing Fleet
Did you know that Garibaldi, Oregon produces some of the best Dungeness crab? This small-town port has taken advantage of its close proximity to the ocean by employing new techniques and using smaller boats to earn the honor of having the lowest Dungeness crab dead loss of any port, anywhere. Experts from around the world have come to Garibaldi to see how they manage it. Dead loss is the almost inevitable result of fishing; some crabs tend to die on the boat before getting to port. Reducing this is good for the fishery and good for the boat. photos, more, >>click to read<< 06:43
‘It’s really scary’: The existential crisis of a Bay Area crabber
On a cloudy January evening, just as the sun lowered in the sky creating a sliver of orange along the horizon, John Mellor pulled his boat into the dock at Fisherman’s Wharf. Mellor’s 40-foot boat has been out at sea for more than 30 hours. There is a sense of excitement and anticipation as two crew members lift a cover, unveiling thousands of crabs in a container. Bucket by bucket, clawing crustaceans are weighed on a giant scale. The haul is a good one, and the success of each outing has become more crucial since the Dungeness crab season is half as long as it used to be. He waited through several anxious months of delays for the season to start. Mellor, 60, grew up in Oakland and began fishing as a teen. He is one of a few hundred commercial Dungeness crabbers in the state who have reluctantly adapted to shorter crabbing seasons. Photos, more, >>click to read<< 16:44
Suffolk teenager chooses career as a fisherman to keep town’s proud tradition alive
A teenage fisherman is hoping to inspire other youngsters to follow in his footsteps after launching his own £300,000 vessel into the North Sea. Alex Wightman, 18, from Lowestoft in Suffolk still believes there is a future in fishing despite government figures showing a decline in registered fishing boats in the UK. His boat, the 10 metre-long Emma Claire, named after his mother, is thought to be the first new vessel in the town’s inshore fleet for nearly 20 years. “Anybody my age, especially coming in to the fishing industry, would absolutely die to have a boat like this.” Alex hails from a fishing family, with his brother Max, 23, and dad Steve also fishing off the east coast. Video, photos, more, >>click to read<< 06:47
On fisheries, Australia must be prepared for New Zealand as opponent rather than ally
On February 1, senior Australian and New Zealand ministers signed a Joint Statement of Cooperation, acknowledging the long history of collaboration between the two nations. The same week, New Zealand rejected an Australian proposal on sustainable fishing at the annual fisheries meeting of nations that fish in the high seas of the South Pacific. The move has driven a wedge between these traditional allies. At stake was an agreement by those nations to protect 70% of special and vulnerable marine ecosystems, such as ancient corals, from destructive fishing practices like bottom-trawling. Until December 2023, NZ was jointly leading the work to implement this agreement with Australia. But New Zealand’s new government, a coalition of conservative parties, rejected the proposed restrictions, citing concerns about jobs and development. more, >>click to read<< 10:53
State fisheries advisory committees to review issue paper on trawling closures to protect submerged aquatic vegetation
A controversial proposal that could lead to shrimp trawling area closures to protect submerged aquatic vegetation took a step toward future consideration by the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission last week. The commission, policy-making arm of the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries, voted during its quarterly business meeting in New Bern to refer an issue paper pertaining to the concept to its northern, southern and shellfish/crustacean advisory committees to get input from the public. Glenn Skinner, executive director of the N.C. Fisheries Association, a Morehead City-based trade and lobbying group for commercial watermen, said he and his members are concerned, in part because the state has already permanently or seasonally closed more than 1.2 million acres of estuarine waters to shrimp trawling. more, >>click to read<< 10:18
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
Assembly introduces bill to further restrict commercial fishing in California
A new bill introduced in the California State Assembly would significantly limit gillnet fishing in the state, and end trafficking of certain species of fish. Would require the Department of Fish and Wildlife to adopt and enforce regulations requiring any commercial fishing vessel operating with a validly issued permit from the State to have an independent third party on board the vessel when operating within the State fishery. The party’s observer will need to be taken. The bill also states that all incidental exceptions to the catch of giant sea bass and great white sharks would also. A complete ban will be imposed on commercial fishing of both these species. Finally, the use of gill nets and gill nets will be completely banned in all ocean waters off California beginning January 1, 2025. more, >>click to read<< 15:38
‘Deadliest Catch’: Will There Be a Season 20?
For nearly two decades, Discovery Channel’s reality series Deadliest Catch has offered TV viewers an inside look at the rough-and-tumble world of commercial fishing. The show, which follows fishermen as they hunt the Bering Sea for crab and other seafood, last aired new episodes in September 2023. Now, fans are wondering if and when it might return with new episodes. Here’s what we know so far about Deadliest Catch Season 20. In recent seasons of Deadliest Catch, viewers have seen the effect dramatic changes in seafood populations in the Bering Sea have had on commercial fishermen. more, >>click to read<< 1o:59
Half Moon Bay Odd Fellows Speakers Series presents “Ernie Koepf – Fish Tales”
Much change has come about to Princeton and the fisheries of the West Coast. The history of the Coastside is also rich with change. Ernie Koepf is here to speak on both. Ernie Koepf was born (1951) and raised in Moss Beach and raised his own family in El Granada. He now resides in the hills of Oakland with his wife of 16 years, Jan Moestue. Early in his life he was initiated into the fishing community and was known as Little Ernie to his father’s Big Ernie, a prominent commercial fisherman in the community. Coming of age, Ernie Koepf (the junior) began his own fishing career. He retired in 2016 after fishing his two boats for 30 years for salmon and crab and 45 years for herring in SF Bay. To his fishing credits he also adds two years in Bristol Bay and two years in Southeast Alaska. VIDEO. From the Half Moon Bay Odd Fellows lecture presented and recorded on September 6th, 2024 at 7:00pm. more, >>click to read & watch<< 15:31
The Adventurous life of commercial fishing
With crabbing season just around the corner, the five-person crew of the fishing vessel Adventurous is about to embark. Led by owner and captain Shon Landon, they face brutally long days prepping and converting the ship from its role as a salmon seiner for the summer season to an efficient crabber for the winter. There is both anticipation and excitement at the start of a new season; a successful haul involves planning, reviewing data, strategic decision-making, skilled teamwork, and a splash of luck. In a word, it is truly adventurous. While Landon does not hail from generations of fishermen, he still came into the industry at a young age, taking on his first job on a troller at just 12 years old. His family had moved up to Alaska after his father took a job in the logging industry. When Landon later got a job seine fishing on another vessel, he knew he had found his true passion. Photos, more, >>click to read<< 18:09
Six offshore wind turbine sites planned off Barnegat Light, draw large crowd to Toms River
A plan to place wind turbine farms in six areas of ocean off the Jersey Shore brought a crowd to the Clarion Hotel and Conference Center on Thursday, where the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management fielded questions and concerns. Federal personnel met with more than 100 offshore wind supporters, critics and curious residents over a plan to develop an area of the Atlantic known as the New York Bight. Gus Lovgren, a fourth-generation fisherman, has a vessel named the Lilly Rose docked in Pleasant Beach. Lovgren worries that his family’s century-long fishing heritage in the United States is coming to an end. He said offshore wind farms could block his access to more than half of his usual fishing grounds. The wind farms will bring “devastation and the extinction of our industry,” Lovgren said. photos, more, >>click to read<< 07:29
Catch-22 on the Baltic: The Twilight of Poland’s Coastal Fishermen
Antoni Struck looks like a casting director’s idea of a fisherman. He also looks very much unlike those members of the Association of Polish Coastal Fishermen who tend to wear a fancy watch and drive a nice set of wheels. In fact, when the Association meets in the local town hall, some of the attendees look less like fishermen and more like businessmen who happen to have a stake in fisheries. Struck sits through these meetings in his unbranded workwear and sturdy boots, arms folded stubbornly across his chest, looking as though he has just stepped off his boat and is in no mood to be pushed around. “A man can put up with a lot of things,” he is fond of saying. “But he needs to know just one thing: what it is for.” Photos, more, >>click to read<< 13:18
France orders rare Atlantic fishing ban to protect dolphins
The French government will temporarily ban almost all commercial fishing in the Bay of Biscay to protect dolphins, much to the dismay of the industry. The month-long ban off the country’s West coast—the first since the end of World War II—is set to begin Monday and applies to both French and foreign fishermen. It follows calls by environmental activists to protect the marine mammals, pointing to a surge in dolphin deaths on the Atlantic coast. From Finistere in the extreme west of Brittany to the Spanish border, fishing will cease almost entirely until February 20. more, >>click to read<< 09:39
Why You Should Eat Wild Caught Fish From the Great Lakes
We have been following the plight of commercial fishing on the Great Lakes for several years. As a result, we have been contacted by folks around the country to let us know that the assault on commercial fishing for wild caught fish is happening not only in Michigan but also in every fishing area in North America. If things don’t change soon, Michigan’s remaining dozen commercial fish operations will cease. This means we must import fish like Walleye and Perch from Canada. This means restaurants, the American Legion, and other pubs offering fresh Great Lakes fish today may be unable to offer it tomorrow. Everheart gives some of the best descriptions of the asinine rules that commercial fishers operate in the Outer Banks as they do here in Michigan. She also outlines some chilling facts about farm-raised seafood that Americans import and consume from Asia and Canada. Photos, Video, >>click to read<< 13:25
The Supreme Court can save working fishermen from Biden regulators
The crew and I had been trawling the Gulf of Maine for several days aboard the F/V Teresa Maria IV, the commercial fishing vessel I captained for 14 years. I had only just settled into my bunk for a few hours of sleep. That’s when the rogue wave hit. Life at sea is never predictable. A promising forecast could give way at any time to a squall with heavy swells. Essential navigation components might break. On that night, circumstances coalesced such that a rogue wave knocked my boat clean over. We were capsized in the black of night. This unsettling experience was front of mind when my organization, the New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association (NEFSA) filed an amicus brief in an upcoming Supreme Court case about the Biden administration’s power over the fishing industry. photos, more, >>click to read<< 06:46
Hook, line and sinking: What’s the future of NC’s commercial fishing industry?
With a well-trained hook of the line by one of the founders and co-owners of Wilmington’s Seaview Crab Company, a few loops around the puller and a flick of a switch, the crab pot soon emerged. Inside the pot, a dozen or so blue crabs scampered around, some using their impressive claws to attach themselves to the mesh-sides of the cage. “It’s not always easy, but this never gets old,” Romano, 44, said as he emptied the crabs into a holding bin before checking to make sure they were all of legal size, the lucky ones getting tossed back into the waterway. The others were divided by size into containers to be sold individually − “These are the ones everyone wants,” Romano joked as he held up a good-sized crab − or to be sent to a crab house to be picked apart for their meat. photos, more, >>click to read<< 07:12
Bristol Bay’s 2023 year in review
January started out with communities contending with an egg shortage, as an outbreak of avian flu in Washington state drastically slowed shipments north. Slavii stars circulated around the region for Orthodox Christmas with some precautions in place to protect community members from the flu virus and Covid-19. Dozens of people attended the Bristol Bay Native Corporation’s free online language classes in Yup’ik, Dena’ina and Alutiiq. The corporation also offered song and dance classes. And at the end of the month, many in Bristol Bay saw a years-long effort validated with the Environmental Protection Agency vetoing the controversial Pebble Mine project. Photos, more, >>click to read<< 12:35
A nostalgic memoir recounts a fishing life, from Southeast Alaska to Bristol Bay
As a teenager in 1964, the adventurous Upton lighted out from his east coast home to Iquique, “a small dusty town on the desert north coast of Chile” and signed on to work on a tuna boat for local wages. There, he met an old-timer who’d fished in Bristol Bay’s sailboat days and filled him with stories — stories he recounts in the book’s first pages. The hook was set. The young man found a boat headed to Seattle and then, like so many others at the time, walked the docks looking for a way north and “just by chance…stumbled into an epic Alaska fishing job: the shady skipper, the grumpy cook, the green deckhand, and the old Alaska salt as mate.” That mate, Mickey Hanson, to whom the book is dedicated, became his good friend and mentor. That summer Upton worked as the engineer on a salmon tender based out of Metlakatla, buying salmon all up and down the Inside Passage. more, >>click to read<< 07:42
Scallop season is underway
In pitch-black morning, the scallop draggers start heading out Penobscot Bay to be ready one-half hour before the sun rises in Augusta to drop their drags overboard and begin a day’s work. Daylight here already broke the horizon as the scallop fishery opens for the day in the Gulf of Maine. “When the season opens, it’s like the first day of school,” said David Tarr, a scalloper off Naskeag Point and a member of the state’s scallop advisory council. Now two weeks into the season, and Tarr says, “I think it’s been a good opening. Boats are keeping local. Whether dragging or diving, the daily limit is 15 gallons of meat that sells anywhere from $12 to $23 per pound, depending on its size. 8 photos, more, >>click to read<< 07:55
Suffolk farming family decide to sell ‘beloved’ farmhouse to fund fishing fleet
In October, the Simper family put their 110-acre asparagus farm with stunning views of the River Deben at Ramsholt, near Woodbridge, on the market through agents Landbridge. But they were originally planning to retain their farmhouse at Lodge Farm with about 38 acres of farmland and woodland – including a 10-acre asparagus field. The family has always combined farming with sailing and fishing, but Harry Simper – the youngest generation – elected early on to devote himself fully to a fishing career. He began it 12 years ago at the age of 16 and by 2019 the venture had grown to a fleet of four small commercial fishing boats. photos, more, >>click to read<< 06:38
Scottish fishing skippers express fear over possible “back door” push for protected marine areas policy
The SFF said that last week, the Scottish Government confirmed it will not be taking forward the controversial HPMAs policy in its current form, which would have led to a loss of around 10 per cent of Scotland’s fishing grounds. However, many fishermen throughout the country remain concerned about the vague wording in the government’s response, and fear supporters of HPMAs will try their best to usher in the policy through another avenue. Fisherman Barry Brunton from Dunbar has welcomed the scrapping of HPMAs but is adamant more collaboration between fishermen and the government is needed to find the best solution for all concerned. Brunton said he was “absolutely terrified” about HPMAs as putting up such an area in the little patch of ground where he works would mean he would lose “everything that [he] worked for.” >>click to read<< 08:19
EDITORIAL: Safety plans for fishing vessels crucial to prevent further deaths in dangerous industry
There have been many tragedies on the water in recent years. During last year’s lobster fishery, Christian Atwood, 27, died when he was lost overboard on Boxing Day from the fishing vessel MV Little Weasel II near Cape Sable Island, N.S. The previous March, Jeremy Hart, 35, died after falling into the water as members of his crew were being transferred from a life raft they had launched from their sinking vessel, Mucktown Girl, off of Canso. But it was the sinking of the scallop vessel Chief William Saulis in December 2020, and the deaths of all six crew aboard, that prompted the changes to the 2023-24 season. Capt. Charles Roberts, Aaron Cogswell, Daniel Forbes, Michael Drake, Geno Francis and Leonard Gabriel were all tragically lost in that event. >>click to read<< 12:29
