Tag Archives: commercial fishing
Lifelong Commercial Fisherman Army Veteran Theodore “Ted” Reed Merrell III, of Juneau, has passed away
Theodore “Ted” Reed Merrell III, 76, died at his Fritz Cove home on October 16, 2024 after a long struggle with Progressive Supranuc Palsy (PSP). Ted and Lucy were engaged while Ted was on R&R in Hawaii and after discharge, they were married in Minnesota. They headed to Juneau as soon as Lucy graduated, driving Ted’s hot orange 1970 stick-shift Dodge Charger R/T. Ted soon got his own boat–an open 19-footer –and began a lifelong career in commercial fishing. Other boats followed: Diamondtooth (an ancient wooden gillnetter), Onni (a fast bowpicker with troublesome twin Volvo engines), Invictus, and for most of his career, the 45-foot Dundas. Ted had permits in many fisheries and tried crab, herring, and salmon gillnetting and finally settled into longlining and trolling, often accompanied by his son, Nelson. He fished all over the Northern Panhandle and especially liked downtime with friends in the fishing village, Elfin Cove. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 15:44
Fishermen Fight Bureaucrats to Defend Their Way of Life
Fishermen are going to court in Portland, Maine, on Tuesday to protect their businesses and communities from an unconstitutional regulatory commission that is a menace to our iconic industry. Overregulation has taken the joy out of fishing, and the prosperity too. That inevitably follows when powerful bureaucrats aren’t accountable to anyone, as is the case with the unconstitutional regional management councils that set policy for our fisheries. America’s fishing fleet is steadily retracting. Fishing is a generational trade passed within families. Many fishermen I know are vectoring their sons and daughters away from the family business. There are many reasons for that, but overregulation is one of them. By Jerry Leeman. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 13:21
Clifton Thomas continues 40-year lobster trapping legacy
Clifton “Fluffy” Thomas has found a lucrative career as a lobster fisherman. For nearly 40 years he’s provided BVI hotels with fresh lobster from his more than 50 traps, and ahead of the season opening on Nov. 1, he and his son Clevan, better known as “Tito”, are prepping to begin their daily lobster hauls. Prior to the season closing in June, the pair pulled their traps from the sea to begin inspecting them and have been busy making repairs here and there. Thomas, 62, was a marine mechanic prior to his decision to be self-employed in 1985. He sells his lobsters for $9 a pound and recalled once that in a single haul he had 120 pounds of lobster. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:38
How a death spurred change for a SouthCoast fleet
In the summer of 2021, a Mayday call went out from the captain aboard a fishing vessel who needed Narcan to help save a life due to an overdose on board. There happened to be another vessel in the vicinity that was able to respond, and they tossed a box of the over-the-counter drug on board. The captain administered one dose, but nothing happened. He gets back on the radio. A second vessel was carrying Narcan and tossed it on board. The captain, after the fourth dose, sent his crew member back onshore alive. “That day there were three fishermen first responders that saved a life at sea,” said Debra Kelsey, with Fishing Partnership Support Services. photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:53
Could offshore wind plan hurt scallop fishermen? New Bedford official has ‘grave concerns’
New Bedford Port Authority Executive Director Gordon Carr has “grave concern” for the scallop fishing industry in the face of a potential new call area to be leased out to offshore wind projects. The 13,476,805-acre area off of New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina, dubbed the “Central Atlantic 2” call area, encompasses a large portion of key scalloping grounds, Carr wrote. Scalloper Keith Uzzell, who’s fished out of New Bedford and Fairhaven for 16 years, says he and others that frequent fishing grounds around the northeast started noticing “more survey boats, more offshore wind vessel activity” around the same time they noticed an uptick in things like dead whale sightings and empty scallop shells. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:46
Do you know where your fish comes from? It’s probably not Hawaiʻi
Fish is a significant part of Hawaiʻi’s food culture, and residents eat up to three times more of it per capita than the rest of the U.S. But where does all that fish come from? That’s information local commercial fishers and their advocates want more people to know. In Hawaiʻi, there’s a growing push to require stores and restaurants to label fish as locally caught or imported, including the country of origin. “I think a major misconception is what is portrayed as locally made (or) freshly made, but it’s not, and the fish is not from Hawaiʻi,” said Eric Kingma, the executive director for the Hawaiʻi Longline Association. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:48
The 10 Wildest ‘Deadliest Catch’ Moments, Ranked
Since its premiere in 2005, Deadliest Catch has thrilled audiences by pulling back the curtain on the perilous world of Alaskan crab fishing. The icy waters, unpredictable weather, and extreme physical demands show how the Bering Sea can be one of the most dangerous workplaces in the world. The grueling nature of the show, therefore, has produced some of the wildest moments ever caught on camera over the years. Episodes featuring deadly waves, boat fires, and catastrophic sinkings like that of one of the F/V Destination serve as grim reminders of what working at the sea can be like! more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:04
2024 Maine Scallop License Lottery Winners Announced
The Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) has announced the latest winners of the state’s scallop license lotteries. Each winner is responsible for applying for a license within 30 days of notification. The new licenses are the result of a limited entry system established by the legislature and implemented through regulation in June 2018 that allows someone who did not hold a scallop license in the previous year to be eligible for one. This year there were 74 entries for dive licenses and 1,095 entries for drag licenses. With $35 of each lottery entry fee deposited into DMR’s Scallop Research Fund, a total of $40,915 was raised to support scallop research and management. The winners include the following. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:24
New Federal Report: Offshore Wind Farm Construction Can Harm Whales, Birds, Fisheries
The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) on Monday released a new report that said whales, dolphins, birds and more can indeed be harmed — and killed —by offshore wind farms. BOEM also warned commercial fishing could be disrupted by wind farms. The report is an environmental impact statement BOEM was required to conduct of these six existing wind farm sites that were previously approved off New Jersey/Long Island. Wind turbine construction actually does increase the risk of injury to whales, particularly the underwater noise from pile-driving during construction, the federal report found. Turbine construction can permanently damage whales’ hearing. Turbines can also lead to an “increased risk of individual injury and mortality due to vessel strikes” and entanglement in fishing gear. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:36
Red king crab harvest looking ‘very good’ so far for Bristol Bay fleet
The Bering Sea’s biggest and most lucrative crab fisheries opened last week, and so far, fishing is looking good. “Fishing has been very good for the [Bristol Bay red king crab] fleet this season and the crab delivered so far has been of high quality — new shell, large size, good meat-fill,” said Alaska Department of Fish and Game Area Management Biologist Ethan Nichols. As of Wednesday afternoon, about 29% of the total allowable catch (TAC), for the Bristol Bay red king crab fishery had been harvested, according to Nichols. He said so far, reports from captains and from observer catch reports show signs of productive fishing. Nichols said 14 vessels had landed about 680,000 pounds of king crab. The average weight is 6.84 pounds, and the catch rate is 35 legal males per pot. Both of those numbers are up slightly from last year. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:14
Wild Things: State of the Commercial Fishery
At its monthly meeting in Madison Wednesday, Door County’s Charlie Henriksen told the state Natural Resources Board that the Lake Michigan and Green Bay commercial fishery is still struggling, with some bright spots but many ongoing concerns. Henriksen, chair of the state’s Lake Michigan Commercial Fishing Board, said the ecological challenges of the last 20 years have not abated, and added that fishers are still overcoming the effects of the economic difficulties from the pandemic that limited their opportunities. more, >>CLICK TO READ<<08:17
EU to demand continued fishing rights in British waters
The European Union (EU) will demand to keep its fishing rights in British waters, the bloc’s Brexit negotiator has told MEPs. The post-Brexit deal agreed by the EU saw its fishing quota in British waters cut by 25 per cent, but European fishermen were allowed continued access to parts of the UK’s coastal waters. As the deal nears its expiry in 2026, the EU is keen to start negotiating as soon as possible to keep its access to the UK’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), which extends by up to 200 nautical miles from the coast. Government officials fear the EU will only renegotiate the Brexit trade agreement – a key part of Labour’s manifesto – if the UK guarantees European fishermen full access to its seas after 2026. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:27
Offshore wind looked like a sure thing for Oregon — until it wasn’t.
A push to bring floating offshore wind technology to the Southern Oregon coast was gaining momentum. The Oregon Department of Energy saw floating offshore wind playing a critical role in the state’s, and the region’s renewable energy goals. The Biden administration had ambitious national goals for developing offshore wind, and the Oregon Coast played a key role. For the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, or BOEM, the years-long process of identifying areas for development and selecting potential bidders to see if the technology would work off the coast was coming to a close. And then, in a single week in late September — after years of effort, and less than three weeks before BOEM officials expected to choose a company to develop offshore wind — everything fell apart. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 13:09
Bayou La Batre mayor hopes new label law causes consumers to demand locally-caught shrimp
The leader of the “Seafood Capital of Alabama” says imported shrimp is destroying Bayou La Batre’s economy. Mayor Henry Barnes says it’s gotten to the point that he questions how much longer the small fishing community can remain a city. He says tax revenue is down 40%-50%. “I’m probably the last mayor because the way it looks, the city’s dying. We’ll probably wind up under the county if it keeps going like it’s going,” said Barnes. The flood of foreign seafood gained attention this week when a third-party commercial seafood consulting company, SeaD, said only one out of five vendors tested at the recent shrimp festival in Gulf Shores was selling Gulf wild-caught shrimp. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 11:46
Grounding and loss of the F/V Ocean Maid on Cairnbulg Point, Aberdeenshire, Scotland on 24 October 2022
At 05491 on the 24 October 2022, the UK registered fishing vessel Ocean Maid grounded on Cairnbulg Point to the east of Fraserburgh, Scotland. The four crew evacuated to a liferaft and were subsequently rescued by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. Two of the crew sustained minor injuries and the vessel later broke up and sank. There was no significant pollution. The investigation found that: more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:27
The fatal truth about commercial fishing
A note from the authors: Dear readers, we have wanted to cover this story for a long time. Given the fishing tragedies this province has endured, we acknowledge this is a difficult subject. This reporting honours those lost at sea, doing what they loved most: fishing. We recognize the collective grief of families, communities and the entire province. We hope this work illuminates what’s going wrong on the water and helps bring more fish harvesters home safely. Inshore harvesters dealing with trauma after incidents like the ones we describe can access PTSD coverage through workers’ compensation (WorkplaceNL). For anyone else, 811 can connect you with mental health supports in your community.
“My god, what are you doing to me?” says Brenda Gould, remembering the words she shouted into the sky that fateful day in 1989. The Port au Choix woman had just learned that her 22-year-old son Brendan, known as Ben, drowned while fishing off the coast of the Northern Peninsula. It wasn’t the first time tragedy knocked at Gould’s door. Eleven years earlier, in 1978, her husband Gabriel, 35, also drowned while fishing. Photos, Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 17:41
Groundfish: Council Signs off on Amendment 25; Prepares for December Final Action on Framework 69 Under Cod Phase 1
The New England Fishery Management Council took final action on Amendment 25 to the Northeast Multispecies (Groundfish) Fishery Management Plan (FMP) when it met September 24-26, 2024 in Gloucester, Massachusetts. The Council is now focused on Framework Adjustment 69 to the FMP. The framework is being developed to establish measures for the 2025 groundfish fishing year and, for certain stocks, 2026 and 2027 as well. The Council is scheduled to take final action on the framework at its December 3-5, 2024 meeting in Newport, Rhode Island. The 2025 groundfish fishing year begins on May 1. Charts, links, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 13:32
Regulators delay increase in minimum lobster size till July
Regulators formally delayed increasing the minimum size of lobsters harvested in the Gulf of Maine to July. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, the regulatory body that oversees the fishing industry, voted Monday to delay the resolution by six months. The changes were previously slated to take effect in January, but opponents have argued it would give Canadian lobstermen – unimpacted by the change, though they share the waters – an unfair advantage in the market. Lobstermen also have claimed the change could practically eliminate the harvest of some of the industry’s most popular lobster sizes. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 21:06
Commercial salmon fishers struggle with low prices
With the commercial salmon season coming to an end, 2024 is shaping up to be a lean year for commercial salmon fishers up and down the West Coast. That’s largely because prices for salmon that fishers receive at the dock are at an unusual low. Warren “Buck” Gibbons lives in Bellingham and has been fishing for sockeye in Bristol Bay, Alaska, since 1976. In a good year, Gibbons said, a Bristol Bay sockeye fisher can gross $300,000–400,000 (they take home less after expenses). But when prices are as low as they were this summer, they’ll gross about $100,000 (again, the take-home pay is less). For a fisher working on a smaller scale, including many tribal fishers, the situation is even grimmer. Dana Wilson of the Lummi Nation said that with prices so low, it hasn’t been worth selling salmon for the last couple years. He now keeps his entire catch to feed his own family and relies mostly on crab for income. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 13:25
Anxiety, depression are top issues faced by people who make their living on the sea
The number of people working in fisheries and aquaculture who are calling a dedicated industry counselling service on Prince Edward Island has more than doubled over the last fiscal year. From May 2022 to May 2023, the service counselled 24 people. That jumped to 64 people in the 2023-24 fiscal year. “The stigma for reaching out [about] mental health, I think that’s decreasing in our society generally. So it becomes more socially acceptable and people give themselves permission to reach out,” said social worker Frank Bulger. The program has been offered since 2019 by Frank Bulger Personal and Family Counselling, on behalf of the P.E.I. Fishermen’s Association and the P.E.I. Aquaculture Alliance. Bulger administers the program, along with a counsellor in Summerside and one who works remotely from Alberta. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:29
How fishing rights could prove key to the UK’s new negotiations with the EU
Over eight years after the Brexit referendum, crucial decisions about the UK’s future relationship with the bloc are about to be made. Decisions over softened immigration rules, the future of Gibraltar and wider economic access are all likely to be discussed as Labour prepares to negotiate in earnest for the first time with the EU as the Trade and Cooperation Agreement reaches its five-year renegotiation mark. Sir Keir Starmer, whose political career was catapulted into the limelight by his prominent support for a 2nd referendum on Brexit and an overall closer relationship with Europe, has sought to reset relations with the EU since becoming Prime Minister and will be scrutinized heavily over his choices in the negotiations. The discussions over fishing have seemingly jumped to the top of the EU’s priority list, following a number of disputes since the Trade and Co-operation Agreement. Despite relatively cordial relations between the UK and EU over the past few years, fishing has remained controversial. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:47
Cortez fishing village works to recover after hurricanes Helene and Milton
There is devastation on every corner in Cortez Village, a quaint fishing village off the coast of Manatee County. Hurricanes Helene and Milton hit this community hard, and now they are working to pick up the pieces and preserve their historic village. Captain Kathy Fannon showed us the damage to her home. She said it is hard to see the reality that lies ahead. “We lost everything. Everyone on this block had four feet of water through their house, so we lost all the contents. We have absolutely nothing left inside,” Captain Kathy said. Captain Kathy’s family works in the fishing industry, and her daughter, Katie Tupin, lives across the street. Tupin said, “My dad runs a shrimping boat. He’s a commercial fisherman. I’ve been doing charters for 14 years and my mom for 25. Both lost everything during the storm. Video, more, >> CLICK TO READ<< 14:09
Fishermen say future of boatyard under threat
A fishing community say its future is being threatened by new rules. Cullercoats Fishermens Association fears its members are being prevented from carrying out maintenance of their vessels at the boat park in the village. North Tyneside Council said it has responded to local complaints about the yard’s appearance and has updated its regulations, meaning boat repairs must be completed off site. But the fishermen say there is nowhere else for the work to be done. Paul Robinson, from the association, said: “The earliest record of fishing here is 1279 but this could end it. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:37
‘I make nothing’: Local fishers weigh leaving the industry as inflation drives up costs
Troy Pack, the captain of the Itasca, a Hawaiʻi-based longline fishing boat, had a different outlook on his job just a few years ago. “I loved being a captain. I loved my job. I love fishing, but it’s like I was making good money and it was worth it. It was worth being away from my family and worth being away and being out at sea for 25 days a month,” Pack said. After a recent fishing trip, the Itasca was docked at Oʻahu’s Pier 38. On one afternoon, Pack, some of his crew and Peter Webster, who owns the Itasca, were taking a break aboard the vessel before heading out on another fishing trip. There, Pack said he’s been rethinking his career. After 20 years of fishing, he said he couldn’t live on the pay anymore. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:09
Connecticut Fisherman Sentenced for Tax Evasion
A Connecticut man was sentenced today to one year and one day in prison for evading taxes on income he earned from commercial fishing in Massachusetts. According to court documents and statements made in court, Brian Kobus, of Durham, worked as a commercial fisherman and deckhand for various fishing companies in Massachusetts. After each fishing trip, the companies paid Kobus by check. Despite receiving over $1.2 million in fishing income between 2011 through 2013, and 2017 through 2021, Kobus never filed a federal income tax return or paid the taxes that he owed. To conceal the source and disposition of his income from the IRS, Kobus regularly cashed his paychecks from the fishing companies and used the cash to fund his personal lifestyle. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:58
50 years plus: Village Belle IV
This 1970 Noble’s vessel – the last of the series of Village Maids and Village Belles, built for the Jackson family of Tarbert – is still going strong. Over the years, the family owned two Village Maids and four Village Belles. The survivor – yard number 65 from Alexander Noble & Sons of Girvan – is the canoe-sterned Village Belle IV, built in 1970 and registered as TT 
74. At 60ft in overall length, she was built as a ringer/trawler with a 240-cran capacity in her hold and a T8 Kelvin 240hp in her engineroom. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:14
Alaska’s “Imploding” Fishing Industry Has Shed 38,000 Jobs
In an economic review requested by fishermen and processors, NOAA found that profitability dropped by half from 2021-23, and wholesale prices dropped by a quarter in 2022-23. This left the Alaskan seafood industry with a total direct loss of $1.8 billion in 2022-3 and the loss of about 38,000 jobs. “For many Alaskans the decline of their seafood industry affects their pocketbooks, presents food security concerns, and impacts their way of life, sense of place, community, and identity,” NOAA noted. “In the face of evolving climate-driven impacts to ecosystems and fisheries in the region, these recent market disruptions undermine the capacity of all segments of the seafood industry and associated fishing communities to be resilient and survive in fisheries.” more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 11:47
Spirit in the Sound: Fishing with Mattituck’s Sea Queen
Plenty of commercial fishermen are still plying the waters of the East End despite the occupation’s stressful nature: High operating costs, climate change, onerous regulations and physically exhausting work are all part of the job description. But one fisherman has made a practice of staying positive and recognizing the spiritual element of working on the water. Regina Migdalski works as a deckhand out of Mattituck Inlet. She and her husband, Rob (who she fondly calls “the Cranky Captain”), have a lobster boat named after her, the Regina Ann — outfitted for conch and fish pots (a die-off in the late 1990s resulted in too-few lobsters left in the Sound to fish for). They also work on a dragger, a type of fishing boat that tows a net, called the Stinky, owned by the pair and their partner Teddy Szczotka, a fellow fisherman. They work year-round catching fluke, scup, sea bass, blackfish, conchs and striped bass, depending on the season. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 15:37
Burning fishing vessel presumed sunk off Cape coast – 20 crew members rscued
A large South African fishing vessel that caught alight in deep sea at the weekend is presumed to have sunk off the Cape coast, the SA Maritime Safety Authority (Samsa) said on Monday. All 20 crew of the MFV Armana are safely back on shore after being rescued by another fishing vessel. The incident on Sunday night took place about 60 nautical miles south of Gansbaai in the Western Cape. Samsa said they had discontinued the search after losing sight of the stricken vessel. “[Samsa] herewith confirms the safe arrival and disembarkation of all 20 crew members of the abandoned fishing vessel, MFV Armana, at the port of Cape Town last night, as well as the discontinuation of a search for the vessel after sight was lost of it early on Monday. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 13:01
Fisherman’s Wharf future divides SF boaters, port
The Port of San Francisco and Fisherman’s Wharf business owners agree parts of the area need maintenance and repair. That’s where the agreement ends. The Port Commission voted Tuesday to endorse the term sheet for a $550 million revitalization of Pier 45 and a parking lot currently operated by SP+ Parking, beginning progress on an effort that would construct a seafood market, food hall, and events center and performing arts space that port officials say will revitalize the wharf’s surrounding area. “As working fishing families, we can’t simply relocate for the sake of an amusement park,” Bates said. “Fisherman’s Wharf should be for fishing.” The wharf currently supports nearly 90 commercial vessels, 21 charter fishing boats and nine historic vessels. As the only sizable commercial fishing port remaining in San Francisco Bay, boats from other ports occasionally rely on its fuel, ice and bait facilities. Bates said that out-of-town crews and vessels will also take up space along the wharf during abundant salmon and crab seasons. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:42
