Tag Archives: investigation
Right whale found entangled in Canadian lobster fishing gear in U.S. waters
A right whale found entangled in lobster fishing gear in waters off the southern United States was disentangled by U.S. marine mammal rescue responders last weekend. An investigation by U.S. officials and Fisheries and Oceans Canada has determined the gear was from Lobster Fishing Area 33 in Southern Nova Scotia, according to a DFO release. The adult whale is identified officially as North Atlantic right whale 1218 and known as Argo. According to the release, it is the first entanglement connected to Canada’s lobster fishery in five years. The release said the harvester reported the lost gear to DFO. >click to read< 17:58
F/V Villa de Pitanxo: Spanish fishing tragedy survivors appear in court amid negligence claims
The survivors of Spain’s worst fishing tragedy in four decades appeared in court on Monday as part of an investigation into claims the boat’s captain was guilty of negligence. Twenty-one people died when the Villa de Pitanxo, a 50m vessel from the northwestern region of Galicia, sank around 450km off the coast of Newfoundland, in Canada, in February. Three of the 24-strong crew survived and were found floating in a life raft: the boat’s captain, Juan Padín, his nephew, Eduardo Rial, and Samuel Kwesi. Nine bodies were recovered. >click to read< 16:30
Investigation leads to 66 halibut fishing charges in Nova Scotia
As a result of a 24-month major case investigation in the Sambro area of Nova Scotia, Fisheries and Oceans Canada has laid 66 charges related to the illegal possession and sale of harvested halibut. On December 13, a total of 41 charges were laid at the Halifax Provincial Court for offences under the Fisheries Act and the Atlantic Fishery Regulations, 1985. This is in addition to a total of 25 charges which were laid on January 7, 2021. In total, eight individuals and five companies have been charged in relation to this investigation. >click to read< 16:42
Port of Jersey Investigation: Vessel became grounded after crew fell asleep
A fishing boat making its way back to the Island after unloading in Normandy became grounded in Belcroute Bay after the crewman at the helm fell asleep, a marine accident investigation has found. L’Ecume II, one of the largest vessels in the Island’s fleet, had been at sea for 42 hours when the incident occurred. The two-man crew had been unable to rest after offloading their catch in the port of Granville, as authorities had requested the boat move on immediately owing to Covid rules.,, Investigators were told by the deckhand that his last recollection was seeing that there were 28 minutes of the journey left. His next memory was waking in the wheelhouse with the boat having run aground at Belcroute Bay. >click to read< 07:42
F/V Scandies Rose: Investigation Takes a New Look at Crab Boat Stability
Last week’s hearings on the tragic sinking of the ill-fated fishing vessel Scandies Rose have raised questions about the stability booklet requirements for crab boats, which are routinely exposed to severe freezing spray in Alaskan waters. Many crab boat sinkings have been blamed on ice buildup and loss of stability over the decades, but the U.S. Coast Guard design standard for ice accumulation relies on an IMO rule that was not formulated with crab vessels in mind, leading several naval architects who testified last week to question whether it is time for a revision. >click to read< 09:19
A Coast Guard investigation is underway into the capsizing of a Kodiak fishing boat
Lexie Preston, a U-S Coast Guard Petty Officer based in Juneau, said two boats collided near Whale Pass, about 22 nautical miles east of Kodiak. Preston says the Denise Marie rolled after it collided with the Alaska Eagle.,, The owner of the Denise Marie, Michael Patitucci said he and his three crew members were just wrapping up a pink salmon opener on the Denise Marie – but it wasn’t just any opener. Patitucci, who is 65, said he felt a satisfaction he had never experienced before – as if he had finally perfected the art of seining – that the crew, the boat and the fish had all been in sync. Then suddenly, they were all in the water, after the Alaska Eagle hit the stern of the Denise Marie, basically rear-ending it. >click to read< 06:42
Report: 4 of 5 Gulf of St. Lawrence area right whale deaths investigated last year were caused by ship strikes
The report, compiled by the Marine Animal Response Society and Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative, says vessel strikes caused four out of the five whale deaths investigated last year. A total of nine right whales were found dead in and around the Gulf of St. Lawrence in 2019. The report released Wednesday focused on the necropsy results for five right whales, all found dead between June and July 2019. It found vessel strikes caused the death of four of them, but the necropsy investigation could not determine the cause of death of the fifth. >click to read< 14:42
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is investigating the incident involving F/V Sarah Anne
On its website, the TSB said the investigation will consist of three phases. First, investigators will examine the wreckage and site of the incident and collect any pertinent information. The investigation will be led by Shannon Pittman. The Sarah Anne and its crew left early on the morning of May 25 to fish crab but did not return.,, The bodies of Edward Norman, Scott Norman, Jody Norman, and Isaac Kettle have been recovered. It is known that the Sarah Anne didn’t have an emergency position-indicating radio beacon, or an EPIRB, on board. The vessel had a two-way radio instead, as regulations didn’t require it to have an EPIRB. >click to read< 18:40
Nova Scotia lobster boat that sank was modified with tailgate
The Transportation Safety Board says an investigation into the December 2018 sinking of a lobster boat off Boutiliers Cove, N.S., found the vessel had been modified but did not receive a required stability assessment. The board says the Charlene A, a 10 metre longliner with 150 lobster traps aboard, sank in St. Margarets Bay when water started pouring onto the deck through an open tailgate at the rear of the vessel. >click to read< 19:28
December 1, 2018 –Crew safe after boat sinks on 1st day of lobster fishing season – The Charlene A. began taking on water about 1.5 kilometres off Hacketts Cove, N.S., shortly after leaving the wharf at 7 a.m. The crew turned around and started heading back to port, but the vessel sank 300 to 400 metres offshore. >click to read<
Falling Asleep on Watch-Crew Fatigue Led to the Grounding and Loss of F/V Freyja
The vessel was in the Bering Sea near Point Tebenkof, Unalaska Island, Alaska, when she grounded and remained stranded on the rocks. The four crewmembers abandoned the vessel and swam to a nearby Good Samaritan vessel. The vessel was considered a total loss, with damage estimates at $550,000. The NTSB determined that the probable cause of the grounding was the failure of the deckhand on watch to monitor the vessel’s track as a result of falling asleep due to an accumulated sleep deficit and the vessel owner’s lack of countermeasures to mitigate crewmember fatigue. >click to read< to read the NTSB report, >click here< 13:26
“There are a lot more boats coming and bigger boats,” Tensions rise after suspected sabotage of Eskasoni fishing boat
The RCMP are investigating the apparent act of sabotage at the St. Peter’s Canal and have copies of recordings from video cameras there. The Eskasoni fishermen were catching lobster under the banner of a moderate livelihood fishery. While the right was acknowledged by the Supreme Court of Canada in its 1999 Marshall Decision, Fisheries and Oceans Canada has yet to reach an agreement with the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq Chiefs on how to implement it. Meanwhile, tensions rise as First Nations fishermen on the Northumberland Strait, Cape Breton, Eastern Shore and South Shore have started to fish outside of the normal commercial seasons. >click to read< 07:44
F/V Mary B II: Coast Guard to investigate capsizing on Yaquina Bay Bar in Newport, Ore.
The Coast Guard is investigating the capsizing of the commercial fishing vessel Mary B II, which lead to the deaths of three fishermen at the entrance of Yaquina Bay in Newport, Oregon, Tuesday night. The three fishermen were inbound the Yaquina Bay Bar aboard the 42-foot vessel Mary B II when it capsized without warning tossing two of the fishermen overboard into the stormy Pacific Ocean with reported waves of 14 to 16 feet with occasional waves of 20 feet.Prior to the Mary B II capsizing its crew requested a Coast Guard escort across the Yaquina Bay Bar.,,, >click to read<
Catastrophic engine failure on scallop trawler due to broken equipment, human error, says TSB
A combination of maintenance gaps, a broken emergency stop mechanism and the actions of an inexperienced crew member were to blame for the catastrophic engine failure aboard scallop dragger Atlantic Destiny last year, a Transportation Safety Board investigation has found. On March 14, Atlantic Destiny lost main engine power about 370 kilometres south of Yarmmouth, N.S. Thirty-one people were on board the factory freezer trawler, which is based in Riverport, N.S. Atlantic Destiny is part of the fleet owned by Ocean Choice International of Newfoundland and Labrador. >click to read< 13:02
F/V Dianne: Experts work through the wet to get answers
Investigations into the sinking of MV Dianne are continuing today at the Bundaberg Port Marina site. Firefighters were at the scene early yesterday morning to assess the safety of the vessel before investigation teams could go on board. NewsMail photographer Tahlia Stehbens was on the ground and said the area was a hive of emergency services officers.,, “Two ambulance vehicles are also on scene as well as police officers. A cleaning service has just started pumping out waste from the trawler.” The area was cordoned off to media and the public. >click to read< 21:08
Black market lobsters cost man $94k
A WA man has been fined and banned from lobster fishing for two years after selling hundreds of rock lobsters on the black market. Graham Thomas Davies from Yanchep has been ordered to pay a fine and costs of $94,409.35 after pleading guilty to multiple charges following an investigation by the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development Fisheries. “This outcome highlights how serious the court considers these offences,“ compliance manager Todd A’Vard said on Wednesday. The department says Davies sold more than 300 rock lobsters he had caught recreationally between November 2015 and March 2016. click here to read the story 12:51
Engine failure on big scallop trawler investigated by TSB
Canada’s Transportation Safety Board expects to complete its preliminary investigation by Tuesday into an engine failure last week on board the scallop dragger Atlantic Destiny. The TSB dispatched two investigators from Quebec and two from its Ottawa laboratory to Shelburne, N.S., where the 43-metre long vessel was towed after a mechanical failure caused the ship to lose power. According to a timeline provided by Transport Canada spokesperson Stephen Bornais, the Atlantic Destiny lost main engine power 200 kilometres south of Yarmouth on the night of March 14. Clearwater scallop trawler Atlantic Preserver came to her aid and began towing her to Shelburne harbour the next day. Investigators boarded the vessel on March 18, examined the engine room and interviewed crew and witnesses, TSB said Monday. continue reading the story here 18:12
TSB Canada urges Fishermen to run safety drills in wake of tragic death investigation – New rules coming
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada says the crew on board a Nova Scotia fishing boat could have done more to prepare for potential emergencies, and that lack of planning may have played a role in the death of one of their own. Keith Stubbert, a 53-year-old man fisherman from Cape Breton, was dragged overboard from the Cock-a-Wit Lady and died during the first day of lobster season in southwestern Nova Scotia on Nov. 30, 2015. In a report released Thursday, the safety board said the crew of the ship hadn’t ever conducted safety drills and didn’t have a system for on-board risk management, such as meetings to identify safety risks. Transport Canada’s new fishing vessel safety regulations will come into force July 13, 2017. Under these rules small fishing boats will be required to have written safety procedures and familiarize all people on board with those procedures. The regulations also require safety drills be performed, including how to rescue someone who falls overboard. Records are to be kept of every drill, said the Transportation Safety Board. Read the story here 14:10
As anniversary nears, reports on deadly F/V Orin C sinking unfinished
Saturday will mark the one-year anniversary of the sinking of the Orin C and the death of Gloucester fisherman David “Heavy D” Sutherland, but the final federal reports on the deadly incident still will not be released until January. Representatives of the Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board on Monday confirmed the new timetable for releasing the findings of the separate investigations and restated the government’s intention to release the reports simultaneously. “We were really pushing to have a completed report before the anniversary of the tragedy to help bring some closure up here,” said Lt. Karen Kutiewicz of the Coast Guard’s District 1 Headquarters in Boston. “That was our goal. Unfortunately, it’s not the reality.”The draft of the Coast Guard’s internal casualty investigation was completed earlier this year and forwarded during the summer to Washington, D.C., for review by officials at Coast Guard headquarters. In July, the NTSB said it expected to release the conclusions of its investigation “sometime in the fall.” An NTSB spokesman on Monday said the agency has not yet concluded its investigation and does not expect to have the final report until mid-January. Read the story here 09:01
Marine Accident Investigation Branch: Louisa has been raised and is being transported to Glasgow
INVESTIGATORS probing the sinking of a fishing boat off the Western Isles have issued images of the stricken vessel being lifted from the seabed. Three crew members were lost when the Louisa sank while at anchor near the island of Mingulay, south of Barra, early on April 9. The Marine Accident Investigation Branch is carrying out an investigation into the tragedy along with Police Scotland. As part of the probe, the Louisa has been raised and is being transported to Glasgow for further examination. “Our investigation aims to establish why Louisa sank and why lives were lost. A full and detailed report will be published at the end of our investigation. Read the rest here 12:40
Huge USF&WS investigation in northern Michigan and Northeastern Wisconsi- probe Great Lakes commercial fishing – Video
The targets included members of numerous tribes in Wisconsin and Michigan, including the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, the Red Cliff Band of Chippewa Indians and the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians. The investigation also includes non-natives. Read the rest here 10:35
