By the time Robbie Roberge spotted the fire consuming his boat’s galley last August, he knew he had just minutes to evacuate his beloved Three Girls fishing vessel, named for his daughters. As the flames spread up the boat’s walls, he helped his crew into safety suits, deployed a life raft and made a mayday call to alert nearby mariners and the U.S. Coast Guard that he was abandoning ship more than 100 miles offshore. Roberge, a commercial fisherman from South Portland, Maine, learned how to handle such an emergency just three months earlier at a workshop held by Fishing Partnership Support Services, a nonprofit that has trained thousands of East Coast fishermen in safety practices. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 12:06Tag Archives: Fishermen
This is too cool! With simple tools and a big field, fishermen mend purse seine to harvest baitfish
There is camaraderie in the air early one May morning in a field off Knight Way in West Harpswell as Mark Cota, Larry and Avery Anderson, and Alan Auclair patiently crisscross a purse seine, a type of fishing net, looking for holes to mend. Between the four, they have more than 100 years of experience in commercial fishing. Stretched out, the net would cover nearly four football fields. And despite the march of technology, their tools are simple netting needles, knives and twine. With practiced finesse, their hands rhythmically find holes, lace the strands together and move on to the next. As far back as history can be traced, fishing has been a core part of Harpswell’s fabric.11 Photos, links, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 14:40
HB 442 and the imperiled future of N.C. shrimping By Morty Gaskill
As many of the readers of this publication are aware, there is currently a bill before the NC House of Representatives, HB442, that would ban shrimp trawling in all inshore waters out to half a mile from the beach. Considering that the vast majority of shrimp in North Carolina are harvested within these areas, if passed, this bill will all but end shrimping within North Carolina waters. In this letter, I intend to explore how and why this bill has made it this far, along with why the logic behind the bill is faulty and as such should not be made into law. HB 442 originally concerned only restoring access to flounder and red snapper. After this bill was passed in March, it moved to the NC Senate for consideration. It was only on Monday last week that an amendment to this bill was added on, which would prohibit all shrimp trawling in the sounds and ocean out to half a mile. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:23
Trump cuts threaten safety training for America’s most dangerous jobs
By the time Robbie Roberge spotted the fire consuming his boat’s galley last August, he knew he had just minutes to evacuate his beloved Three Girls fishing vessel, named for his daughters. As the flames spread up the boat’s walls, he helped his crew into safety suits, deployed a life raft and made a mayday call to alert nearby mariners and the U.S. Coast Guard that he was abandoning ship more than 100 miles offshore. Roberge, a commercial fisherman from South Portland, Maine, learned how to handle such an emergency just three months earlier at a workshop held by Fishing Partnership Support Services, a nonprofit that has trained thousands of East Coast fishermen in safety practices. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 12:06North Rustico charter boats say low tides in silted-in harbour will cost them big this season
With spring lobster fishing crews already navigating extremely low tides in North Rustico’s harbour, the problems may just be starting for tourism boats in the community on P.E.I.’s North Shore. Getting vessels in and out of the harbour is always a tricky challenge — it’s narrow and has lots of twists and turns. But back on April 29, a combination of very low tides, gusty winds and sand accumulation on the seabed left more than a dozen lobster boats stranded in the harbour. It was well into the evening before the tides rose enough for them to get back to the wharf without bottoming out in the sandy channel. Julie Ann Gauthier was on one of those stranded lobster boats, but her concerns about water depth go beyond the end of the commercial fishery on June 25. Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:39
Tragedy avoided: Three rescued from car that plunged into water in Gloucester
Firefighters, fishermen and other bystanders helped rescue three people from a car that plunged into the water at a park in Gloucester, Massachusetts, on Sunday. The car plunged into the water at St. Peter’s Park in Harbor Cove on Sunday morning. Two off-duty firefighters on a boat nearby witnessed the crash, and one immediately jumped into the water to help. Their rescue efforts were joined by several local fishermen and other bystanders at the scene. The pair of off-duty Gloucester firefighters, Deputy Chief Andrew McRobb and Lt. William Doucette called the incident in to dispatch at 10:49 a.m. Doucette entered the water to help several crew members from F/V Tight Lines, a Gloucester-based lobster boat who had broken one of the car windows with a hammer to help free the occupants. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 19:04
Mobile Baykeepers meeting organizes public to ‘mitigate’ Mobile Bay dumping
Some were fishermen, shrimpers, oystermen and their families. Some were those with environmental concerns. Some were people who liked to eat seafood. They met Thursday night at St. Philip Neri Church in Belle Fountaine on the western (Mobile) side of Mobile Bay. They heard a two-part plan to “fix” the dumping of mud into the bay. Mobile Bay Keepers organized the meeting, and 178 people attended. The leaders and speakers’ major concern is a project by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to pump sediment into the Bay from dredging the Mobile ship channel. The deepening and widening of the ship channel is necessary for larger ships to utilize the Port of Mobile. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:15
P.E.I. lobster fishers navigate low tides, shallow waters in North Rustico
Shallow waters in the North Rustico area means lobster fishers have been forced to watch the tides so their boats don’t hit bottom. Thomas Griffin, a P.E.I. lobster fisherman, says it’s a good idea to stay away from sailing in and out of the harbour during low tides. “It’s just a little stressful. We’ve got to keep an eye on the tide all the time,” he said. There have been 11 fishers who have ruined propellers on their boats already this year, Griffin added. The low water levels around the harbour have caused more problems than just wrecked propellers this spring. More than a dozen lobster vessels sailing in and out of North Rustico Harbour were stuck offshore for some time as they struggled to land their catches on April 29. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 11:14
P.E.I. harbours need major dredging, not ‘putting little bandages on it,’ DFO is told
Some P.E.I. fishermen are calling for more thorough dredging of the Island’s harbours after a challenging start to the lobster fishing season on the North Shore. More than a dozen North Rustico lobster fishing boats were stranded offshore by a combination of sandbars, high winds and an extremely low tide on Tuesday afternoon, and issues were also reported in Naufrage and Milligan’s Wharf. That led some fishers to hit the water early Wednesday, with some rushing through their gear to ensure they made it back into the harbour before low tide. “Personally, myself, I missed two full days due to wind and because of the tides,” said Blake Buote, who has been fishing in North Rustico for about 25 years. “I missed about a third of a day because we had to rush the hauled gear to get in before the tides were too low.” Video, photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 12:26
Fishermen, MLAs raise concerns about need for more dredging on the North Shore
Fishers in North Rustico hit the water earlier than usual Wednesday morning after more than a dozen boats were stranded offshore on Tuesday. Extremely low tides and strong winds combined with extra sand in the channel meant about half the boats that went out Tuesday morning couldn’t get back to the wharf at the usual time and had to either wait for high tide to return or seek other harbours. “I’d never seen the tide that low as it was yesterday,” said Ian Gauthier, a fisherman who was stuck offshore for about five hours Tuesday. “I’ve never experienced that before,” he said. “That’s the first time in about 40 years.” The issue was raised in the provincial legislature on Wednesday. Backbench PC MLA Brad Trivers asked whether Minister of Fisheries, Tourism, Sport and Culture Zack Bell would prioritize emergency dredging in the North Shore harbour. Video, photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:58
Many Maine fishermen applaud Trump order calling for deregulation
Many Maine fishermen are applauding a new executive order from President Trump, which calls on the federal government to identify and roll back regulations that are overly burdensome to the commercial fishing industry. The order signals that the Trump administration wants to listen to commercial harvesters and involve them in decision-making and research, said Ben Martens, executive director of the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association. Jerry Leeman, CEO of the New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association, described the order as a “long time coming.” Many of his members have long questioned the data that federal fisheries regulators use to conduct stock assessments and set stock limits. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 14:07
Fishermen, scientists differ on whale mortality, wind energy
At first glance, the stretch of coast near the Bennett Street beach access point in Kitty Hawk blends seamlessly with the rest of the coastline. It’s impossible to tell that, just a few months ago, this sand cradled the lifeless, 19,000-pound carcass of a humpback whale. North Carolina coastal communities are actively debating the cause of the increase in whale mortalities, with concerns surrounding political agendas at the heart of the discussion. Marine scientists have identified human interaction with ships as the leading cause of these whale mortalities, causing the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to attempt tightening vessel speed restrictions. Fishermen have largely opposed stricter regulations, blaming numerous economic struggles on what they see as a mountain of NOAA rules. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:50
Our fishermen cannot afford another disastrous deal
The promises made to fishermen in the Brexit campaign were bold. The delivery has been anything but. Many predicted that the Conservative government would sell out the fishing industry on leaving the EU, much like an earlier Conservative government had done when joining the EU and the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) decades before. Despite this, our fishermen still showed up en-masse to support and campaign for Brexit – under the promise of exclusive use of our 12 nautical miles and a better share of fishing opportunities. In places like Cornwall, the CFP had given the lion’s share of all our catches to other EU states, leaving our local fleets to struggle on shares as low as eight to 10 per cent of the total allowable catch. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< By Anna Gelderd, Labour MP for South East Cornwall 10:45
Nova Scotia (Canada) Identifies Five Areas for Offshore Wind Development
The Nova Scotian government has identified five areas it considers suitable for installing wind turbines in offshore wind farms. The government issued a statement Friday indicating that the next step is to solicit input from Nova Scotians before granting official designations, a process that will conclude on April 14. “Canada, with the world’s longest coastline, a stable regulatory environment, and decades of experience in offshore wind development, is well positioned to enter the trillion-dollar global offshore wind market,” the provincial government stated in a discussion paper released Friday. The province’s goal is to license up to five gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:50
From boat sizes to waitlists, what lobster industry changes say about where fishery is headed
Wait times for a lobster fishing license, especially for those not born into a family of fishermen, used to exceed a decade in some parts of Maine, but the queues are getting shorter as fewer young people enter the fishery. Lobster boat captains often struggle to find enough sternmen to help and used lobster boats are taking longer to sell than they used to. The threat of climate change and more restrictive right whale protections, as well as several years of more modest landing totals, have some in the lobster industry second-guessing their future in the business, yielding subtle, but real, changes in the makeup of the fishery. In conversations with fishermen, a sense of uncertainty permeates. “It’s such an unstable way of life and it’s not getting any better,” said Nick Perreault, a fifth generation fisherman who captains a lobster boat out of Jonesport. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:25
Canada’s largest lobster fishery set to begin amid threat of Trump tariffs
Trump’s inauguration is still a couple of months away, he officially takes office on Jan. 20, but fishermen are trying to take the threat in stride while preparing for the season to open Nov. 25. “People are concerned, but until it happens, we’ll just carry on,” Geoff Irvine, executive director of the Lobster Council of Canada, said. “There’s not a lot we can do to prepare and speculating on what it could mean doesn’t really get us anywhere.” As a result, the stakes are high if U.S. president-elect Donald Trump makes good on his campaign promise to impose duties of between 10 per cent and 20 per cent on all imported goods. While fishermen are worried about how this will play out, he said they have more immediate concerns on their minds. “What’s the catch going to be like?” he said. “What’s the price of lobster going to be like? What’s the weather going to be like? “more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 15:26
It’s Time to Abandon UMaine’s Offshore Wind Scheme in Favor of Cheaper Alternatives
The federal government this week blocked a proposal that would have allowed the Mills Administration and labor unions to bulldoze Sears Island into an industrial wind power port. Although this hard-fought victory is good news for fishermen, ratepayers, taxpayers, and the environment, it’s only temporary. The Mills Administration has given no indication that it will stop its relentless pursuit of expensive and unworkable offshore wind schemes. Depending on how Election Day turns out, the Legislature could be back at the drawing board devising other ways to enrich the wind turbine industry and destroy pristine ocean environments. So it’s worth remembering how we got here, and how Maine’s institutions and media became witting and unwitting pawns in an expensive game of crony capitalism. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:35
Now or never
Fishermen in Newfoundland and Labrador may have acquired a reputation of getting riled up and rowdy when things aren’t going their way: crashing news conferences, for instance, or blocking the doors to Confederation Building in St. John’s. Carl Hedderson and the handful of harvesters left on the northern tip of Newfoundland say they are not those kinds of fishermen. “Nobody hears us because I guess we’re not complaining enough,” says Hedderson. Since 2022, Carl Hedderson has been quietly but diligently advocating to the federal government to issue new lobster permits so he and the other fishermen in the area can both assess and access the lobster stock and save a way of life that Hedderson says will die with his generation. “That’s the only thing that’s going to save us,” said Hedderson. photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:01
‘We’ve Been Steamrolled’: Fishermen Protest Offshore Wind Following Turbine Failure That Shed Debris Into Atlantic
Scores of fishermen took to the seas Sunday to protest offshore wind developments after a damaged wind blade scattered toxic debris off the coast of Massachusetts. The blade, a part of the Vineyard Wind development, broke on July 13, spilling Styrofoam, fiberglass and other debris, some of which ended up on Nantucket’s pristine beaches. The flotilla protested the effects of offshore wind on fish stocks and ocean navigation, with roughly 20 ships making a sixty-mile round trip from New Bedford, Massachusetts, to the site of the broken turbine, Jerry Leeman, CEO of the New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association (NEFSA) and captain of the fishing vessel Teresa Marie. “Vineyard Wind was supposed to be one of the premier offshore wind locations in the United States, and it failed before it even got started,” Leeman said. Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 15:04
“We’re not getting the full value out of it”: The future of local seafood in Louisiana
“Industries change over time, like anywhere you are, and so we’re just adapting to the new realities of the seafood supply chain.” LSU’s Seafood Processing Demonstration Lab is a hub for research and innovation. “Our main focus is in underutilized species and byproduct recovery,” said. As the only facility of its kind in-state, this Louisiana Sea Grant-sponsored program works with local processors, restaurateurs, and fishermen, to build local connections. “Louisiana is the #2 seafood state in the nation,” said co-director Thomas Hymel, “but a lot of our product is uh–we’re not getting the full value out of it.” Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:10
Fishermen organizing ‘flotilla’ protest against offshore wind
In response to recent concerns over offshore wind and with debris washing up on Nantucket and Island beaches from a fractured turbine blade, the New England Fisherman’s Stewardship Association (NEFSA) has organized a “flotilla” for this Sunday, bringing fishing boats together to peacefully protest in unison against the offshore wind industry. Boats will be joining together in a “boat parade” from various areas of the east coast, said NEFSA founder and CEO Jerry Leeman, including the Vineyard, Nantucket, parts of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and potentially New Jersey. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:03
The Vietnamese Impact on Jefferson Parish’s Seafood Industry
For centuries, the Port of New Orleans has been the entry point for immigrants arriving in the country. Many of those immigrants took jobs in local industries, like fishing. Perhaps no other immigrant community has contributed more to the fishing industry in Louisiana than Vietnamese Americans. Among the more recent ethnic groups to settle in the state, many came as refugees, fleeing their war-torn homeland after the fall of Saigon in 1975. For many newcomers, the fishing industry was an easy transition. They simply had to adapt their knowledge of fishing in Vietnam’s swamps and coastlines to those of Louisiana. Today, almost two-thirds of Southeast Louisiana’s commercial shrimping fleets are made up of Vietnamese Americans. Their contributions didn’t stop at simply being laborers, though. Vietnamese immigrants also brought with them their recipes and cooking techniques, infusing them with traditional Southeast Louisiana cuisine. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:50
Lifting Up the Patron Saint of Netmakers, Shipbuilders, and Fishermen
The 28th Provincetown Portuguese Festival begins Friday, June 28 with live music and dancing in Portuguese Square on Ryder Street. During the three-day-long celebration, Capt. Kenny Silva will lead a fishing derby on MacMillan Pier, fishermen will tell stories on Ryder Street where there will also be a crafts fair and poetry, and the Knights of Columbus will hold a soup tasting under a tent at the Bas Relief Park behind Provincetown Town Hall. But for at least some people, none of this will compare to the event happening for the 77th time, the Blessing of the Fleet at MacMillan Pier. “Everyone confuses the festival for the blessing,” says Provincetown fisherman Alex Brown. “The festival leads into the blessing, but the blessing is a separate event — it’s always the last Sunday of the month.” Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 13:14
The seafood industry is in trouble. Processors and policy makers blame Russia.
Alaska waters produce the most seafood in the country, and many of the state’s coastal communities depend on commercial fisheries to sustain their economy. But Alaska’s fisheries are facing a massive economic slump right now and policymakers are increasingly blaming flooded global markets. The private sector and federal policymakers are teaming up to try to stop the bleeding. Last year was brutal on the seafood industry. Processing companies and fishermen alike suffered amid cratering prices, and they blamed Russia for flooding markets. Republican U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, from Alaska, pointed his finger at the country at a news conference on May 23. “Russians have essentially admitted they’re not just at war in Ukraine, they’re at war with the American fishing industry,” he said. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 16:03
OPINION: Fighting for our lives in King Cove
I am a fisherman; one of my grandfathers was a fisherman and the other one was a lifelong employee of Peter Pan Seafoods. My father was a fisherman, my brother is a fisherman and my mother, for much of her working life, worked for Peter Pan. We live in the southwest Aleut community of King Cove. For my extended family and all the other families like mine, we rely upon our knowledge of the ocean, our skills in the harvesting of fish, and a fish processor that pays a fair price. At the end of each day, we enjoy the satisfaction of hard work paying off. As King Cove’s mayor, it hurts my heart to say that it has taken only a few short months for me to no longer recognize my world. Events have conspired to threaten our very existence. A collapse of our incomes, individually and citywide, the shock of realizing that municipal projects, many years in the making, may grind to a halt. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 20:35
Swordfish are moving north in Canadian waters
“It’s still unclear whether this is becoming the new normal due to climate change or if the biomass will eventually shift back again as we think it did historically,” said Fisheries and Oceans Canada biologist Kyle Gillespie. Nineteen-hundred tonnes of swordfish were landed in Canada last year. Nearly a third of the swordfish were taken off Newfoundland, where longline fishing boats from Nova Scotia trailed kilometres of baited hooks throughout much of the summer. Gillespie said this is a rapid shift from the previous decade, when the entire Canadian catch was concentrated along the Scotian Shelf and Georges Bank off southern Nova Scotia. more, >>click to read<< 08:46
Louisiana fishermen take their fight against coastal project to court
The $3 billion Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion aims to mimic the river’s power to build land by channeling Mississippi River water into the bay. However, a lawsuit by fishing companies, fishermen and the Earth Island Institute argues the state’s largest coastal project would “introduce contaminants and hazardous materials” into Barataria Bay and “adversely affect human health” and other species. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in New Orleans, also claims the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers bought into “largely unproven benefits” of pouring massive amounts of river water into the basin. The suit also names the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It argues the Corps violated federal laws in awarding a permit for the diversion, including the Endangered Species Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and the Administrative Procedures Act. more, >>click to read<< 17:11
Gloucester: During protest in harbor, fishermen say fish rules need more leeway
More than 50 people, including fishermen, their families and supporters, stood along Stacy Boulevard in the cold at dusk Wednesday to watch the 96-foot dragger F/V Miss Trish II steam into the Outer Harbor with its crew waving flares in a protest. A couple of smaller fishing vessels followed. The short and peaceful protest was called by Russo, after two trips this fall during which the Massachusetts Environmental Police allege a small percentage of the vessel’s catch was below minimum size, despite, he says, taking steps to follow the rules, including using at-sea monitors and installing cameras on the vessel for a second trip. Russo’s father and owner of the Miss Trish II, Capt. Enzo Russo, and some of the Miss Trish II crew stood along the boulevard in support. “And now the law says we’ve got 100% observers the whole time,” Enzo Russo said. 7 Photos, more, >>click to read<< 10:05
Crisis Hotline: New option for farmers, ranchers, loggers and fishermen in Oregon
A new hotline, the Agristress Helpline, launched in Oregon in September. It is tailored to support those who work in agriculture, forestry or the fishing industry through a phone and text service that operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The helpline is free and has trained counselors with experience in those industries who can take phone calls in 160 languages, with English, Spanish and Vietnamese professionals available to respond by text. Experts say the line is sorely needed. Although the 988 crisis line provides a similar service, the Agristress line is specialized to address the needs of farmers, ranchers, loggers and fishermen. They often work in social and geographic isolation and in areas with limited access to health care services. These professions also have to grapple with extreme weather conditions, such as flash flooding or drought, and they face fluctuating commodity prices. >>click to read<< 18:06
Nova Scotia Fishermen happy with aid offer but not with timing of announcement
The largest wildfire ever in Nova Scotia hit fishermen Kasey DeMings hard. “I built something for 10 years and I watched it all get taken from me in about four hours,” he recalled. The Shelburne Forest fire tore through the gear he was storing outside, next to his home in Carleton Village, N.S. He estimated he lost nearly 400 traps, over 100 herring nets and related gear along with this house. “It wiped one fishery right out,” he said. Fishing gear stored outside is not eligible for insurance. Although he still had about 240 traps that were in the water the day the fire swept through his home community, DeMings said he has been unable to head back out on the water since then. >>click to read<< 16:32
‘They’re not listening’: Fishermen, tribes voice concerns on two Oregon coast sites eyed for offshore wind farms
Last week, the Federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced two draft Wind Energy Areas off the southern Oregon coast. One of them is offshore of Brookings, near the California border, the other off the coast of Coos Bay. The areas also represent prime fishing grounds and important cultural areas to local Indigenous tribes. Heather Mann, executive director of the Newport-based Midwater Trawlers Cooperative, said it feels like a lot of stakeholders’ concerns are being left unheard. “They’re not listening to coastal communities. They’re not listening to the fishing industry. They’re not listening to congressional representatives,” said Mann, whose organization represents 32 vessels that fish in the area. “Fishermen are not just concerned about being displaced from fishing grounds, though that is a critical piece. ” Video, >click to read< 11:35
