Tag Archives: Fishing crews
Fishing crews targeted in vaccination push
Fishing boat crews are being targeted as part of efforts to reduce Covid infection rates in south west Scotland. NHS Dumfries and Galloway said it was offering drop-in vaccination clinics to those working on boats berthed at harbours including Kirkcudbright and Stranraer. Public health consultant Dr Nigel Calvert said receiving both doses of the vaccine was the best way to protect your health. He said they were keen to offer everyone vaccination – including the crews of fishing boats coming to the area. >click to read< 10:41
Home and Dry: Safety campaign to get fishing crews ‘Home and Dry’ following deaths in Brixham
A safety campaign has begun to reduce the ‘alarming’ number of deaths among fishing crews. It comes as more than 10% of fatalities in the fishing industry over the last decade have happened in the last six months. In the past six months, seven fishermen across the country, including two on a trawler from Brixham, have lost their lives at sea. Six of the men who died ended up in the water. Now the industry’s safety group is launching the Home and Dry campaign aims to help those on vessels stay safe by educating them on practices they can use to reduce risks. >Video, click to read< 08:12 Shetland fisherman’s death highlighted in new man overboard prevention campaign – The lives lost included Shetland fisherman Joseph Lacaste, 45, who died while working on the trawler Copious in February. >click to read<
Brexit has left us all at sea – even the fishing industry
Teething troubles? Bumps in the road? Pull the other one, Mr Gove. As the daily news from fishing crews, farmers, road hauliers, wine merchants, musicians and thousands of businesses up and down the land, not least in Northern Ireland, confirms, Brexit tier 3 is indeed a disaster. Far from having teething troubles that disappear, many of these businesses are having their commercial teeth extracted. It becomes increasingly manifest by the day that this is a Conservative act of conscious economic self-harm which, in an ideal world, would be rescinded before things get a lot worse. >click to read< 08:50
Trident Seafoods to close Alaska plant for three weeks after COVID-19 outbreak
Seattle based Trident Seafoods is shutting down its largest Alaska seafood plant for three weeks after a COVID-19 outbreak, a difficult decision that points to a renewed assault by the coronavirus on the ranks of workers in a key part of the nation’s food-processing industry. Trident is suspending operation at its Akutan facility just at the start of major winter harvests for pollock, North America’s biggest single-species seafood harvest, as well as cod and crab. At Akutan, some 700 employees have stopped working amid a new round of testing, and a fleet of boats that would normally be delivering their catch is now tied to docks. >click to read< 16:39
Coronavirus: Port of New Bedford, Southcoast Health to pilot COVID-19 testing for fishing industry
Using the Southcoast Mobile Health Van, testing began Friday afternoon for fishing crews whose vessels are slated to leave the port after their results are available. The testing Friday is a trial run to prepare for expanded testing capability by Southcoast Health as more COVID-19 testing becomes available. Targeted testing for essential and high-risk employees will be key to continuing to plan for reopening of the local economy and adjusting social distancing in the workplace. Medical interpreters will be on site, and literature in multiple languages will be available at the mobile testing site. This site will pilot best practices for mobile testing as more tests become available to healthcare providers, preparing Southcoast Health and the City of New Bedford for expanded testing capabilities, including for targeted essential workers. >click to read< 16:42
Bernadette Jordan says harvesters have requested delays, and resists calls to shut down lobster fishery
The federal fisheries minister is resisting calls to close the Atlantic Canadian lobster fishery down completely this year in response to COVID-19. The pandemic shut down the market for luxury food on cruise ships and in restaurants, leading to the collapse of sales in Asian markets and leaving a glut of inventory that has increased with the lobster fishery ongoing in southwestern Nova Scotia.,, “There have been a handful of delays that have been asked for, but at this point the plan still is to open all fisheries.” >click to read< 15:18
Legal dispute causing tension between fishing crews in Strait of Belle Isle
A fisherman from Flower’s Cove says the legal dispute over who will benefit from a scallop compensation fund is causing tension in the Strait of Belle Isle area. “Me, I got no bad friends with anyone, but you knows it’s drawing some tension between families and crews,” said Jarvis Walsh. Walsh was in St. John’s to observe the trial in the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador. Read the rest here 10:26
Bureaucratic Run Around – Fishing crews still playing waiting game for disaster aid
“It’s just not right that these guys are having to wait as long as they have,” said longtime Gloucester boat owner Joe Orlando said. Peter Lorenz, spokesman for the state Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, which oversees the Division of Marine Fisheries, said DMF hopes to begin supplying applications for the crew and shore-side portions of the financial assistance by the end of March.”The crews were told they would have money for Christmas,” said Manchester captain and boat owner Richard Burgess. Read the rest here 20:41
