Tag Archives: F/V Nellie Row
My mom made waves as captain of her lobster boat. I’m proud to be her deckhand
A sou’easter blew with force, stronger by the second, making the waves choppy and short. My mom, laughing as she tends to in these situations, said, “Ya gotta drive ‘er it like you stole ‘er!” We were sailing at a good clip to keep her lobster boat steady and skip over the waves. A bit nervously, I laughed along with her, somewhat glad that we were cutting our fishing day short as we bounced among the tumultuous whitecaps. I was sitting at the lunch table where we sometimes enjoy a meal together as a break from the day. All seemed relatively fine, albeit a bit rough, until we had to turn starboard at a point where one current meets the other in the gully. Rather than taking the waves head-on, we were suddenly being slammed port side. photos, Video, more, >>click to read<< 07:46
High lobster prices push fishermen to take risk, the Captain of an all-female crew pushes for change
The F/V Nellie Row was making her return to Lunenburg, N.S., after a long night at sea, loaded with another haul of lobster, when captain Gail Atkinson lost sight of one of her crew members. When that happens, a fisherman’s mind instantly goes to dark places – out here, off the southern coast of Nova Scotia, a novice deckhand can easily be knocked off their feet, swept overboard and swallowed up by the endless black sea. Ms. Atkinson, skipper of Canada’s only all-female lobster crew, didn’t know her new employee had just gone up on top of the boat’s wheelhouse to get the docking lines ready. “I just freaked out and lost my mind,” she said. “On my boat, I need to know where everyone is at all times. I told her, ‘I’m 57 years old. You almost killed me right now.’” Commercial fishing has always been dangerous work,,, >click to read< 17:02
Coronavirus: Lunenburg lobster boat captain sells directly to consumers to stay afloat
It was shaping up to be one of Gail Atkinson’s best seasons ever, but then COVID-19 struck and the Lunenburg, N.S., lobster fisher had to get creative. Atkinson, who captains the Nellie Row, decided to keep her traps in the water even as prices plummeted. Now, she not only catches lobster, she also delivers it to customers in the Lunenburg area.,,, Atkinson is selling lobster for $8 a pound at the wharf and offering “contactless” delivery for customers near Lunenburg.,, Stephen Bond, co-chair of the Lobster Fishery Area 33 advisory committee, is taking the opposite approach. He applauds what Atkinson is doing, but said it’s not feasible for him given the size of his boat and crew. “There’s the select few, I’ll call them, that are able to follow Gail’s model or a smaller business model working with some of the local community, but it certainly doesn’t cover off the market that we’re missing,” >click to read< 19:55
All-female lobster crew making waves
The Nellie Row looks just like any other boat slicing through the waves and darkness of the North Atlantic on the first day of Canada’s most lucrative lobster fishery. But the cheerful red and white vessel is distinct from hundreds of other boats racing out to sea Tuesday morning in one crucial aspect: there are no men aboard. Gail Atkinson is captain of the boat, named after her grandmother — a trailblazer like herself — and is leading what they believe to be Nova Scotia’s first all-female lobster crew. >click to read< 08:32
Charting new waters aboard the Nellie Row
There will be an all-female crew aboard the Nellie Row when the LFA 33 lobster fishery opens this fall. “They want the opportunity and its hard to get the opportunity when you’re a woman,” says Captain Gail Atkinson, who along with her partner Kath Moore are going into their fifth season at the helm of the Nellie Row. Joining Moore on deck this season will be fellow sea salts Annie Featherstone and Sophie Mantel. Both have experience on the water in the tall ship world, said Atkinson, but not on fishing boats. “I don’t know if they can do it or not. I don’t know if they know whether they can but I want them to have a chance,” said Atkinson. >click to read< 06:46
