Tag Archives: Fishermen
Fishermen are ‘heroes’ after finding newborn kittens onboard and caring of them for four days at sea
Fishermen who found a litter of newborn kittens on their boat and then looked after them for four days at sea have been dubbed ‘heroes’. The three-man crew of the Koł-148 boat had set off from Kołobrzeg when they stumbled upon the six bundles of fur tangled up in their fishing nets. Taking a spare fish box and lining it with cloth, the crew carefully dried the kittens before placing them inside. photo’s, >click to read< 08:13
Fishermen protest at Karachi harbour
Fishermen in Karachi on Saturday staged a protest after docking their boats at the harbour and Keamari Jetty. However, after assurance from Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Marine Affairs Mahmood Moulvi, fishermen called off the protest. Fishermen started to protest against unnecessary checking of their boats in the open sea and misbehaviour of the government and maritime officials. The fishermen also staged a sit-in on the main Maripur Road, blocked the traffic for several hours. Asif Bhatti, a representative of the fishermen community, said that fishermen had been unable to do fishing for the last two months and now they are facing problems in feeding their families. “A large number of women and children also joined the protest.” >click to read< 17:11
Dunmore East fishermen tell Minister: “All the problems go away if you get more quota.”
The Marine Minister visited the picturesque Dunmore East harbour on one of the hottest days of the year, he faced some searing questions about the future of the fishing fleet, including from a young fisherman who asked him to fight for more quota. “Every year it’s getting harder,” another fisherman said. A fifth generation Dunmore East fisherman told the Minister: “All the problems go away if you get more quota.” Around 20 fishermen gathered at the famous Co Waterford harbour to air their grievances with the minister,,, >click to read< 07:38
Used. Fishermen say MPs who hyped Brexit fishing benefits have abandoned them
Conservative MPs who hyped the potential benefits of Brexit for the fishing industry have been accused of quietly abandoning any mention of the issue after promised gains failed to materialise. “Those Conservative MPs that were our most vociferous supporters were very quiet, about the implications of the TCA [trade and cooperation agreement]. That’s the world that we’re having to adjust to,” said Barrie Deas, chief executive of the NFFO in a briefing with journalists on Wednesday. “The European Research Group, for example quite often referred to fishing as a poster child [for Brexit] but I don’t think any of them came out and said this is a bad deal for fishing. Their eye was on the main prize, which of course was the trade agreement.” >click to read< 15:30
Higher shrimp prices causing problems for packers and retailers
The inflated price of shrimp in Southeast Texas has had a varying economic impact for both consumers and industry professionals. While restaurants were closed during the pandemic, consumers flocked to grocery stores and markets. Great news for packers, fishermen and seafood market owners, but not so good for consumers who saw prices increase. video, >click to watch< 10:45
Harvesting the sea
Working out of six major fishing ports, New Jersey fishermen rank No. 1 in the nation when it comes to landing clams, scallops, squid and Atlantic mackerel. “It supports thousands of jobs.’’ Fishermen are the heart and soul of this industry, risking both life and livelihood to land the fish that feed their families, and millions of Americans. “Commercial fishermen are some of the hardest working people,’’ said Wayne Reichle, president, Lund’s Fisheries in Cape May. “They are paid on what they harvest. If they go out to sea and don’t catch anything, they don’t make anything. They take a lot 
of risk both financially and personally.’’ “In the winter, our guys go anywhere from 75 to 150 miles offshore,’’ said Dave Tauro, manager of Belford Seafood Co-Op in Highlands. “It takes them sometimes 18 hours. Imagine what the fuel cost is. They spend three grand before they leave the dock.’’ photos, >click to read< 13:45
Ireland’s fishing industry: A post-Brexit quandary
Fishermen and women are in a quandary over sharp Brexit cuts to their catch in the EU-UK trade agreement. The deal eliminates some €20 million from mackerel and prawn quotas this year. By 2026 the annual value of all stocks will drop €43 million, a 15 per cent cut from 2020. For the fishing industry, this is the opposite of the decisive European solidarity that buttressed Ireland’s efforts to keep the Border open after Brexit. Trawlers sailed into Dublin port last week to protest outside a meeting of the Dáil in the convention centre. After huge price cuts because of coronavirus, the mood is grim in coastal communities. The Seafood Task Force, a Government-appointed group that includes the industry, reports a “deep sense of grievance”. >click to read< 13:35
Fishermen drive trenching support vessel out of Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm
The International Offshore Wind Farm media is outraged! Too bad. Trenching support vessel Aethra was forced to leave the Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm,,, The Aethra was deployed on the site when a large number of fishing boats surrounded the vessel. The fishermen then proceeded to breach the 500-metre safety zone around the Aethra, fire distress flares, and threaten to board the vessel and sabotage the propulsion and hurl insults at the captain of the Aethra via VHF, according to Préfecture maritime de l’Atlantique. >click to read< 11:01
Green Appeasement? To gain from those they would deceive? Fishermen and tax-paying workers will lose.
Is the SNP government trying to appease the Green Party by attempting to enhance their own environmental credentials and profit from selling or renting off the Scottish seabed to the highest bidding wind farm developer; who appear to depend on our taxes providing subsidies for their profits Oh, what a tangled web could they weave, to gain from those they would deceive? In order for the SNP government and the developers to gain, someone else must lose. The losers possibly being every tax-paying worker in the country, plus the fishermen who will lose the seabed they depend on for a living; where they work in some of the most inhospitable and dangerous working environments in the world, the North Sea and Atlantic Ocean. >click to read< 07:33
Here is another nail in our Commercial Fishing coffin. Offshore wind farms.
Our fisherman are having enough problems as it is, starting with NOAA, Monument area’s, Monitoring, SK Grant money not going to our fishermen, closed fishing grounds to save the whales, and politicians that are ignoring the issues of the fishermen, all of the fishermen, including the boots on deck fisherman that earns only a share for his skills, loyalty, and labor. The proposed Vineyard Wind 1 area off of Cape Cod is about 18,000 acres of rich fishing grounds. Fishermen from Maine to Rhode Island fish on those grounds. The President and Governor Baker are for it, but it still needs to go to Congress. Together we could stop this. >click to read< Thank you, Sam Parisi, Gloucester, Mass. 18:33
Commercial fishermen being ignored on wind farm projects
For the past three decades, Town Dock fishermen and their counterparts across the Northeast have struggled to stay afloat in the face of strict regulations designed to rebuild depleted stocks of cod, flounder and other species. But now that many of the species have rebounded and government regulators are increasing the amounts of fish they can land, the fishermen face a new threat: offshore wind farms. Longtime Town Dock fisherman Bob Guzzo said the federal government is giving away land that fishermen have used to feed people for more than 300 years. “I’d like to pass this on to someone else who wants to go fishing,” he said. >click to read< 18:54
This comment is excellent-Seems like we can add to the list of lies from big wind, if anyone is keeping score. I would doubt it, their whole industry is based on lies!
Fishermen accuse wind farm giant of bullying in compensation row
North Norfolk fishermen say they are fearful for their future, after Ørsted, the Danish energy giant behind Hornsea Project Three took out a High Court injunction to prevent them from temporarily fishing in certain areas while it carried out surveys. The energy giant says it has always aimed to “work collaboratively with fishermen” held numerous discussions with the fishing community and legal action was a “last resort.” ,,, John Davies, chairman of the NNFS, who had been involved in talks with Ørsted on behalf of the society said: “We’re just pushed and sidelined out the way by the big multinational company. >click to read< 09:10
Fishermen should be listened to
It’s a typical story of David versus Goliath,,, That appears to be the case as prawn fishers on the Island take a stand against what looks to me to be an arbitrary and bureaucratic decision by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada to change regulations regarding the harvesting of spot prawns, which now makes the sale of frozen-at-sea spot prawns illegal. Thanks to the efforts of many, has agreed to conduct an emergency review of 
the regulations and, hopefully, common sense will prevail and the new rules will be reversed. Unfortunately, that kind of common sense just didn’t appear to exist in DFO when the northern cod stocks collapsed off Canada’s east coast in the early 1990s. >click to read< 07:25
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
Fishermen, DMR: New North Atlantic Right Whale regulations could cripple lobster industry
The proposal, released in late December 2020, includes measures like regional gear marking, breakaway rope, extra traps per trawl line and restrictions on certain fishing areas. But it is the emphasis placed on ropeless fishing traps that has officials at the Maine Department of Marine Resources most concerned. In its Biological Opinion regarding right whales and the fishing industry, NMFS identifies ropeless fishing as a solution, among others, to reduce whale entanglements that cause death or serious injury. DMR argues that ropeless gear is largely under-researched and unaffordable. DMR used EdgeTech traps to estimate cost increases associated with converting to ropeless fishing,,, An EdgeTech fishing unit costs $3,750, >click to read< 19:36
Selling Direct to the Public: What looked like disaster for Haworth Fish Co. has turned into new business
After a week at sea, Nick Haworth returned to port with 30,000 pounds of big eye tuna and opah aboard Kaylee H,,, Having been hundreds of miles offshore, the crew had not heard the news: On March 17, 2020, fearing a surge of coronavirus cases, the county health department shut down all indoor dining, instantly destroying the restaurant industry’s appetite for the fresh investment sitting on ice below deck in the fishing boat’s hold. “We had nowhere to sell our catch,,, photos, >click to read<,09:17
Good news for Newfoundland fishermen, plant workers, and processors in the snow crab fishery
The snow crab fishery should continue to be an economic bright spot for the Newfoundland and Labrador economy in 2021. The latest report from Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) science shows modest improvements in snow crab biomass in several fishing zones around the province. The good news from science is that the snow crab stocks appear to be recovering in some areas.,, Julia Pantin, DFO’s lead biologist for snow crab in the Newfoundland region, said the population of crabs becoming available to the fishery is expected to increase over the new two to four years in most areas. >click to read< 11:30
This Year’s Dungeness Crab Fishery a Shell of its Former Self
New regulations and price strikes delayed the start of the season. Dungeness crab fishermen face the worst catch numbers in decades. CDFW monitors for whales, and sea turtles and can delay or halt Dungeness crab commercial fishing if they determine that the risk of entanglement is high. That happened twice at the beginning of this season. The presence of humpback whales kept the fishermen out of the water from the originally scheduled start date of Nov. 15 until Dec. 23. Some fishermen, like Ben Platt, president of the California Coast Crab Association, worry that the new regulations will squeeze the season into a few months every year. Half Moon Bay-based fisherman Tim Obert agrees. “The Thanksgiving market’s huge for us,” he says. “The RAMP has taken that out.” >click to read< 21:10
Maine Governor proposes offshore wind farm moratorium
Gov. Janet Mills on Monday proposed a 10 year moratorium (just say no!) on new offshore wind projects in state-managed waters and other actions aimed at calming concerns among the fishing industry about her plan to create the nation’s first floating offshore wind research farm in the Gulf of Maine. In a letter Friday to licensed commercial fishermen, the Democratic governor said she would propose the moratorium to the Legislature. >click to read< 12:38
Massachusetts Launches ‘Ropeless’ Fishing Feasibility Study
The Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) has launched a comprehensive scoping project to assess ‘ropeless’ fishing gear in the New England lobster fishery. A first of its kind on an accelerated timeline, the project will interview dozens of fishermen, technologists, policy experts, and scientists to fully evaluate the challenges and opportunities of the new gear type. The twelve-month project will evaluate fishing, legal, regulatory, technological challenges and opportunities of alternative lobster gear, which could reduce whale entanglements. >click to read< 12:47
Renewables and unions: Biden rounds out energy Cabinet
President-elect Joe Biden closed out his Cabinet picks last week with the choice of Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo (D) for Commerce secretary and Boston Mayor Marty Walsh for Labor secretary,,, Offshore wind insiders say Raimondo appears to be an answer to the growing friction between a burgeoning renewable sector and the fishermen who have long been the ocean’s dominant users.,, Raimondo would oversee NOAA Fisheries, a critical gatekeeper to the growing line of offshore wind projects awaiting approval from the incoming Biden government. >click to read< 17:08
Five Days Into Commercial Dungeness Season, Seafood Buyers, Fishermen Haggle Over Price
Though California’s commercial Dungeness season opened five days ago, Crescent City’s commercial fleet has yet to drop pots as fishermen and buyers haggle over price. Fishermen are asking for $3.25 per pound while Pacific Choice Seafoods, of Eureka, is offering $2.50 per pound, Rick Shepherd, Crescent City Commercial Fisherman’s Association,,, “Pacific Choice has stayed on $2.50 and the boats in Oregon and California have not accepted that offer,” Shepherd said, adding that fishermen continue to negotiate with buyers. >click to read< 07:07
Warm tribute paid to an island’s legendary last blacksmith
The life and work of Calum “Steallag” MacLeod is remembered in An Gobha, The Last Blacksmith, which will screen on Hogmanay. It features footage of MacLeod, who died last year aged 84 and who was known for his hard work, kind spirit and great storytelling skills, being interviewed in his Stornoway smithy. There, he talks of a life at the forge and anvil with his skills first learned from his father, John, who shoed horses in the trenches during World War One. Between the two men, more than 100 years of service was given to island homes, crofters, fishermen and building businesses. >click to read< 09:12
Fishing community, others respond to tragedy of lost Portland vessel
Two weeks since the sinking of a Portland fishing boat with all four crew seem to have little eased the loss for members of the maritime community and others. But businesses, fishermen and hundreds of individual donors are trying to help family members of the four men, three of whom were from Maine.,,, “The crew on the F/V Emmy Rose were honorable men. All were extremely passionate about the fishing industry, but most importantly, they loved and cared for their families more than anything in the world,” Rosalee Varian wrote. “These four men were the best out there. They will be deeply missed, but they will never be forgotten.” >click to read< 10:23
Spiny dogfish eat small Atlantic codfish! DNA may provide some answers
Conventional observations show that spiny dogfish in the western North Atlantic rarely eat Atlantic cod. However, some believe the rebuilding dogfish populations are limiting depleted cod numbers by competition or predation. To find out what is going on, NOAA Fisheries scientists looked to genetic testing to confirm cod presence in dogfish stomachs. >click to read< 13:10
North Carolina shrimpers, fishermen concerned about mislabeled seafood
While brown shrimp, the most abundant of North Carolina’s shrimp landings, are typically harvested in the summer, now is the time for the whites, or green tails. “They are sweeter,” said Corey Galloway, with High Rider. “And when the water cools they are even better.” For Galloway, fall and winter weather improves a lot of local seafood. Breece Gahl of Fresh2U Seafood in Wrightsville Beach, for example, is looking forward to the wild oyster season, which begins Oct. 15. Until the pandemic, he often supplied seafood to restaurants. Earlier this year, Gahl switched to a “shore to door” delivery service and has been a regular at local farmers markets,, Pandemic related concerns aren’t at the forefront for this industry, though. Local shrimpers and fishermen are instead still being challenged by ongoing issues. >click to read< 07:35
CARES Act: Lobstermen may get up to $50 million in pandemic relief funds
Whatever the relationship between China and the United States — particularly the lobster industry — may be, Maine lobstermen are certainly living in interesting times. Last week, a scant two months before the upcoming presidential election, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that it 
would soon release some $530 million appropriated by Congress last March under the CARES Act to assist the U.S. seafood industry and fishermen damaged by retaliatory tariffs. Those tariffs have been imposed primarily by China and the European Union on imports of U.S. live and processed seafood. >click to read< 16:58
Florida fisheries wait for federal aid as prices take a deep dive – fisheries across the nation have experienced steep sales decline
Federal officials Wednesday defended the delay in releasing $300 million on fisheries assistance funding, including $23.4 million for Florida, saying the pandemic has set them behind in analyzing data to determine how much each fishery is due. Senators on the Commerce, Science, & Transportation Committee urged faster action to offset the impacts of COVID-19 on the seafood industry. Committee Chairman Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., noted that fisheries across the nation have experienced up to a 90 percent decline in sales.,, In May, the CARES Act allocated $300 million for fisheries assistance funding. Florida received $23,447,815, according to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. However, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has not approved the state’s plan. >click to read< 13:03
Spanish F/V Pesorsa Dos detained in Irish waters and escorted to Killybegs
The F/V Pesorsa Dos was detained by the Irish Naval Service for alleged breaches to fishing regulations in Irish waters around 25 miles off Malin Head on Friday. She arrived at Killybegs on Tuesday morning after it had taken a few days to recover all of her gear. The Spanish owned gill-netter stands accused of attempting to foul the propeller of the local trawler F/V Alison Kay at the end of June during a confrontation 30 miles to the west of Shetland. At the time fishermen shared a number of video clips showing the incident,,, >click to read< 15:50
With demands for an investigation, Skipper describes how local boats are pushed out of fishing grounds – >click to read<
Harvesters remain resilient in facing economic challenges of Coronavirus
No one reading this needs to be reminded that we are in uncharted waters as thousands of Alaska fishermen set out to sea for the salmon season. As a fisherman with two young boys, I felt a deep sense of both privilege and responsibility as I set my nets in the glacier-fed waters of Taku Inlet in late June. Most fishing seasons the biggest questions are: Will the salmon come early or late? Will they be swimming deep or along the shoreline? This summer the questions are: Will Alaska’s independent fishermen financially survive the coronavirus? Will there be buyers willing to pay a decent price for their catch? Will fishermen get access to the personal protective equipment and testing that they need to avoid the spread of coronavirus? Will the long-fought Pebble mine be permitted while Bristol Bay’s fishing fleet is out risking their lives? By Tyson Fick >click to read< 14:47
