Tag Archives: Oregon
F/V Western Breeze has been raised
A Newport fishing vessel featured on a spinoff of the documentary series “Deadliest Catch” is back on top of the water, and presumably bound for dry dock, after sinking at the Port Dock 5 fuel dock on Thursday. The Western Breeze is owned by Gary Ripka, who also operates the similarly painted, smaller F/V Redeemer, and in 2016 was featured on the Discovery Channel’s “Deadliest Catch: Dungeon Cove,” a Newport-based spinoff of the Emmy-winning series. Ripka purchased the Western Breeze, previously named Miss Melanie, as a bank repossession and rebuilt it, according to a testimonial on the Oregon Coast Bank website. Photos, >click to read< 07:27
Most folks along the Oregon Coast don’t want huge wind farms that threaten fishing areas
On June 15th the federal government, aka Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, will be in Newport to hear public comment on plans to install huge wind farms right off the Oregon Coast. Although BOEM, a federal agency, is angling for major quantities of wind-generated electricity for those living and working along the coast, especially in the fishing industry, don’t want any twirling wind turbines because, they say, energy can be developed on land far cheaper and more reliably. Commercial fishermen are absolutely opposed to placing windmills offshore because they will take fishing areas that are now devoted to commercial fishing. Public meeting details, >click to read< 10:14
Power to Port Dock 5 has been restored. F/V Western Breeze still on the bottom
12:03pm: Report of someone falling into the Yaquina River at Port Dock 5 in downtown Newport. Fire-Rescue and the Coast Guard are racing to the scene. 12:09pm: Unconfirmed report that a fishing boat leaned over in one direction, tossing occupant(s) into the river. The boat now has no one aboard. Reports from the scene say the boat is the Western Breeze. Photos, >click to read< 12:50
Newport Fishing Vessel sinking at Port Dock 5
At 12:02 PM on Thursday, June 9, 2022, Newport Fire Department was dispatched to a report of vessel sinking at Port Dock 5 on Newport’s Bay front. Upon arrival, units observed a commercial fishing vessel tied up near the fuel dock listing to its port side and sinking in water. After ensuring no lives were at risk, fire crews worked with officials from the Port of Newport and USCG Yaquina Bay to set containment and absorbing buoys around the vessel. The cause of the vessel sinking was under investigation. Representatives of the vessel owner are working with Port of Newport Officials to raise the vessel. >click to read< 19:36
Seafood Industry Professions Raise Concerns About Reintroduction Of Sea Otters
West Coast Seafood processors says that their membership is concerned about a study on the impacts of sea otters on coastal fishing. The West Coast Seafood Processors Association says that they join other ocean stakeholders in a lack of confidence about concerns raised about the otters. “We remain very concerned that the issues we identified in our letter last year will not be adequately addressed in the Fish and Wildlife Service’s cost and feasibility study,” West Coast Seafood Processors Association Executive Director Lori Steele said. >click to read< 18:24
Let’s save Maine’s lobster industry from death by regulation
If you’ve ever been to the state of Oregon – home of the “other” Portland – you only need to drive south of the big city to see the human impact of overzealous conservationism. This is the habitat of the Spotted Owl, whose inclusion to the endangered species list in 1990 shut down the timber industry there, eliminating 32,000 jobs in the process. Something eerily similar is about to happen to iconic Maine lobstermen in an effort to save the Right Whale. >click to read< 08:07
Oregon: Return to evenhanded salmon management
In Astoria in April, the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission learned there’s still plenty of life in commercial fishing. This may have come as a surprise, considering how some sport fishing groups have mischaracterized the industry as irrelevant. Since Washington state and Oregon co-manage Columbia River fisheries, the commission’s policies take on great importance for all who value the continuing economic and social benefits of traditional industries. Of these, salmon fishing is so deeply entwined in local culture that it may be said to comprise a key element of our heritage. Still in need of a course correction are misguided policies dictated by former Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber. >click to read< 07:55
Fishermen rally in Coos Bay against offshore wind farm
Fishermen along Oregon’s coast traveled great distances to get to Coos Bay Tuesday. They’re hoping to bring awareness to their beloved industry in the face of coming offshore wind farms. Fishermen and seafood processors are taking to the streets in support of the slogan, “Protect U.S. Fishermen.” The seafood community was joined by their families and supporters to rally at the Coos Bay Boardwalk ahead of a march down Front St. to the Coos Museum. “A lot of these wind farms that are coming in are right in the middle of prime commercial fishing grounds,” says Justin Johnson, a Newport fisherman. >click to read< 09:49
Community meeting sees scathing opposition to offshore wind farm in Coos Bay and Brookings
Between one to two hundred concerned residents and stakeholders packed the Salmon Conference room of the Mill Casino last night in the small coastal town of North Bend expressing opposition to over one million acres of wind farms slated for the offshore areas of Coos Bay and Brookings. Concerns raised came mainly from commercial fishers that live and/or fish in the area and worry about impacts to the industry. Several residents that are not involved in the industry also expressed concerns about impacts to the environment and wildlife. Last week the agency announced the Brookings and Coos Bay call areas where it plans to open leases for 1,158,400 acres of wind turbines that would be put in at least 12 nautical miles offshore. >click to read< 17:12
Sites off Coos Bay, Brookings targeted for offshore wind farms by Biden Administration
Two areas off the Oregon Coast are being targeted to host offshore wind farms as the Biden administration seeks to ramp up renewable energy production. The U.S. Department of the Interior announced Wednesday that the locations being identified to potentially host wind farms are about 12 nautical miles offshore Coos Bay and Brookings. The areas comprise about 1.16 million acres (468,787 hectares) in total. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland described the upcoming steps taken toward possible leasing off the coast of Oregon as “another opportunity to strengthen the clean energy industry while creating good-paying union jobs.” Bullshit, Lady. >click to read< 12:39
Oregon: From the boat to the food truck
It’s a family affair for David and Amabelle Kimball, who own and operate Oregon Fishmongers, a food truck that serves Newport and Waldport. Their children, Gracie, 18, Sven, 17, and Jules, 13, help their parents on the truck, with Gracie taking orders and working the window while Sven and Jules help with cooking. “It’s a lot of fun,” Gracie said. “You can make your own hours and don’t have to work for the man. It’s great.” David worked as a chef for several years all over the country, so he has a background in the culinary field. The family boat, F/V Gracie Arlene, is a commercial vessel based out of Newport. He said opening the food truck was a logical step. >click to read< 17:49
Fishermen urge Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission to revisit regulations
Several local commercial fishermen have asked the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission to reconsider Columbia River fishing regulations. During the public forum section of the commission’s meeting in Astoria on Friday, commercial fishermen and those connected with the industry asked the commission to revisit gillnetting regulations and salmon buyback options. Jim Coleman, a fisherman from St. Helens, asked commissioners to add gillnetting to a future agenda or to work with Washington state to ensure the option of a 6-inch gillnet in the fall. “The gillnet-caught Copper River King salmon is flown from Alaska to Seattle on a chartered jet with great fanfare, demanding $70 to $80 a pound, while commercial fishing on the Columbia River is a political football,” >click to read< 12:18
Newport Fishermen’s Wives Preparing for the annual Blessing of the Fleet
It’s that time of year; Newport Fishermen’s Wives have started our planning for our 2022 Blessing of the Fleet. Everyone is welcome to join us. The recent tragedy of losing two lives on the White Swan III show us the importance of community support for our fleet and the loved ones that have lost someone to the sea or worry about losing a loved one to the sea. The Blessing of the Fleet is a community ceremony honoring local fishermen and their families. The blessing is open to any and all who wish to ask blessings on their fishing vessel, charter vessel, pleasure craft or research vessel. >click to read< 11:31
ODFW releases first-of-its-kind crab fishery plan
The Oregon Dungeness Crab Fishery Management Plan is a 177-page document released last week by ODFW, which spent the last four years developing it to be the most comprehensive catalog of Oregon’s ocean commercial, bay commercial and recreational crab fisheries to date. It includes overviews of the fishery’s history, regulation, sustainability and more. “The purpose of the Oregon Dungeness Crab Fishery Management Plan (FMP) is to provide management transparency and facilitate good governance,” a statement accompanying the plan’s release reads. >click to read< 10:18
Fisherwoman who died off Oregon Coast remembered by family
Billie Jo Hooton was on a fishing boat off the coast of Florence last weekend when it went down. Now her family wants to share their memories — remembering her as a strong woman, proud to thrive in a demanding profession. Mollie Gower and Brandi Christner said that their sister, Hooton, was an inspiration. “You don’t hear about a lot of women doing what she did, and she did it good,” said Christner. Hooton was a mother, sister, aunt, friend and made a living fishing. photos, video, >click to read< The family started a >GoFundMe< to help with a memorial for Hooton. Please donate if you can. 08:50
Missing fisherman’s house burns down
Hours after authorities suspended the at-sea search for the captain of a Newport fishing vessel, his Logsden house and an adjacent building caught fire and burned to the ground. The structure fire call came in at 5:13 p.m. Sunday,,, The fire compounded tragedy for a local family. The house and shop, on the site of a Christmas tree farm, were owned by fisherman Mike Morgan, whose boat capsized at around midnight Saturday off the coast of Florence. The body of a crew member, Billie Jo Hooton, was recovered by the U.S. Coast Guard, and a search for Morgan was suspended Sunday morning. >click to read< 13:43
Captain Michael John Morgan of Newport, Oregon has passed away
Michael John Morgan, 68, of Newport, Oregon passed away on March 26, 2022 after his fishing vessel, F/V White Swan III, capsized in the Pacific Ocean. Mike was born in Oakland, California in 1953 to US Coast Guard Lt. Col. Jack Morgan and Beth (both deceased). He would become the oldest of three siblings, followed by Douglas (deceased) and Patricia. At age 12, Mike’s family moved to Newport, when his father was stationed with the Yaquina Bay Coast Guard. Twelve year old Mike took to fishing immediately upon moving to Newport. Mike’s final resting place is at sea with his F/V White Swan III. >click to read< 11:14
Family of woman who died after fishing boat sank near Florence speaks out
The U.S. Coast Guard said a woman has died and a man is missing after F/V White Swan III sank off the coast of Florence on March 26. The Lane County Sheriff’s Office said the man, Mike Morgan, was the captain. The 68-year-old is still missing but the Coast Guard called off the search after 24 hours of searching. The Coast Guard was able to recover the body of Billie Jo Hooton, who was a crew member on the boat. “She did everything, she would drop anything to do anything for anybody else,” Brandi Christner, her sister said. Hooton was close with her nephew, Jeremiah Gower. Video, >click to read< 09:03
Coast Guard suspends search for the Master of a 32-foot sunken fishing vessel off Florence
The Coast Guard suspended search efforts at 12:30 a.m. Sunday for the master of a 32-foot fishing vessel that sank approximately 35 miles offshore Florence late Friday night. The missing man has been identified as Mike Morgan, 68. Rescue crews saturated approximately 232 square-miles of search area over a 24-hour period but were unable to locate Morgan. The Coast Guard recovered an unresponsive female victim early Saturday morning, later discovered to be a crew member aboard the White Swan III. The female victim was pronounced deceased by local emergency crews. >click to read< 14:19
Updated: Coast Guard searches for the Master of a 32-foot sunken fishing vessel off Florence
North Bend, Ore. The U.S. Coast Guard is searching for the master of a 32-foot fishing vessel that sank Saturday morning approximately 35 miles offshore Florence. Missing is Mike Morgan, 68. Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector North Bend received a mayday call at approximately 12 a.m. Saturday from Morgan, the master of the white-and-black fishing vessel F/V White Swan III, reporting that his vessel was sinking in the north end of the Heceta Banks fishing area. Morgan reported that a female crew member was also aboard the vessel. The 13th Coast Guard District Command Center received an emergency position indicating radio beacon alert from F/V White Swan III. >click to read< 18:19
Crew member found ‘unresponsive’- search for ship’s captain ongoing – Searchers have recovered an unresponsive crew member from the Pacific Ocean and continue to scan the waves for a missing man after a fishing boat sank Saturday off the Oregon coast, officials said. They also have not publicly identified the person found unresponsive. >click to read< 19:40
British Columbia: Hooked on halibut: For many commercial fishers, it’s a family affair
The commercial halibut season is underway along the coast of British Columbia and boats are already starting to deliver the flat fish to dinner plates. From now until early December, the B.C. halibut fleet will haul in an estimated 5.7 million pounds of halibut. The Americans will take the lion’s share of this year’s 41-million-pound total allowable catch, nearly 80%, because their territory stretches over California, Oregon, Washington and all of Alaska to the tip of the Aleutian Islands and covers nine of the 10 designated halibut-fishing areas along the Pacific Coast. Tiare Boyes and Cheri Hansen weigh in on what it’s like to work on the water during the halibut fishing season. Photos, >click to read< 11:14
Federal Funding for Killing Sea Lions Might Help Cowlitz River Salmon
Though the actions taken to secure $892,000 in federal funding for the protection of Columbia River system salmon took place thousands of miles from Lewis County, the process could have positive impacts for fishermen of the Upper Cowlitz River and the Columbia basin as a whole. As a result of a joint effort between U.S. Representatives Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Battle Ground, and Kurt Schrader, a Democrat from Oregon, the appropriations bill passed by congress will include funds to continue the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (WDFW) efforts to kill sea lions on the Columbia River, protecting salmon and steelhead. Sea lion extermination has been shown to be effective in protecting fish. >click to read< 11:35
Pacific Coast crabs are suffocating
The crab pots are piled high at the fishing docks in Newport, Oregon. Stacks of tire-sized cages fill the parking lot, festooned with colorful buoys and grimy ropes. By this time in July, most commercial fishers have called it a year for Dungeness crab. But not fisherman Dave Bailey,,, Recent years have also brought outbreaks of domoic acid, which renders crab unsafe to eat, and increasing incidents of humpback whales getting tangled in crab gear. However, there’s another emerging problem that threatens not only Bailey’s livelihood but the very ecosystem that sustains it. I’ve come today to see a tool that could help crabbers manage. On the counter in the kitchenette, amid bowls of instant noodles and tinned oysters, Bailey shows me a sturdy black tube, about 60 centimeters long, that fits neatly inside a crab pot. Photos, video, >click to read< 13:25
Fishermen Land $20 Million in Dungeness Crab in Crescent City, $51.1 million statewide
It’s not quite as high as the $40 million in crab the Crescent City Harbormaster reported Tuesday, but it’s a significant improvement from last year when local fishermen landed roughly $1.7 million worth of crab at Citizens Dock,,, Commercial fishermen statewide have landed $51.1 million worth of Dungeness crab as of Feb. 28, Juhasz said, though that is subject to change. Harbor Commissioner Rick Shepherd, who is also president of the Del Norte Commercial Fishermans Marketing Association, said the high price he and other fishermen are receiving for their catch is due to a high demand in crab. Shepherd said he did have concerns about crab caught in California but winds up being brought ashore in Brookings, Oregon. >click to read< 16:45
Blown of the water? West Coast offshore wind farm area announcement raises concerns
Offshore wind energy is coming to Oregon, according to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, but the seafood industry says it’s an oncoming windstorm. These massive areas, covering 2,181 square miles, already are utilized by the fishermen to harvest nutritious, sustainable seafood proteins. As part of its process, BOEM will solicit interest from wind energy developers before doing a basic environmental assessment of the areas. Comprehensive environmental studies will be completed later, after leases are already issued and enormous investments are already made. Fishermen already are questioning the value of placing turbines in areas off Morro Bay and Humboldt Bay, Calif. >click to read< 10:53
NPFMC ponders changes in the halibut catch sharing plan
When the North Pacific Fishery Management Council adopted its halibut Catch Share Plan back 2014, charter operators were granted 125% of their historic catch at low levels of abundance, with that additional 25% coming out of quota for the commercial longline sector. Commercial longliners were assured that no further uncompensated reallocations would be considered, but now federal fisheries managers are doing just that. The Halibut Coalition is urging its membership of commercial harvesters to write to the governors of Alaska, Washington and Oregon expressing their views, as the representatives of those states on the NPFMC voted in favor of considering changes to halibut allocations. >click to read< 13:41
F/V Winona J: Catching up with ‘Deadliest Catch Dungeon Cove’ crew
Captain Mike Retherford Jr. says he’s never been afraid for his life fishing off the Oregon Coast, but he’s witnessed some close calls in his lifetime of commercial fishing. Retherford, his family and crew were featured in the 2016 “Deadliest Catch” spin-off, “Dungeon Cove.” The F/V Winona J is just one of the vessels responsible for the Dungeness crab season’s record-breaking revenue. Video, photos, >click to read< 16:55
“It was a mad scramble!” Dungeness crab season in Oregon reaches record-breaking value
The commercial Dungeness crab season opened up and down the Oregon coast on time last year. It’s the first time in years the season wasn’t delayed. And crabbers have been reaping the benefits. Kyle Retherford is the captain of the fishing vessel F/V Excalibur. “It was record-breaking for us,” he said. “Financially, it was the best year we’ve ever had in comparison to previous years. Last year was really poor.” Listen to the conversation, >click to read< 12:13
International Pacific Halibut commission raises most Alaska harvest limits for 2022
An uptick in halibut stocks along much of the Pacific coast means increases in total catch limits in every region of Alaska this year. The International Pacific Halibut Commission decided in its annual meeting last week to increase catch limits in every management region except for 2A, which covers the California, Oregon, and Washington coast, with an overall coastwide increase of nearly 6%. The increase comes after IPHC researchers informed the commission that halibut stocks were showing signs of rebounding from lows in the last five years, in part due to a large age class from 2012 becoming mature. The long-term trends of decline seemed to end in 2013, when the stocks began to climb again. >click to read< 14:37