Tag Archives: Santa Barbara
Fisherman is seriously injured when boat runs aground in Santa Barbara
A fisherman suffered a serious head laceration and was taken to the hospital Wednesday evening after his lobster boat ran aground in Santa Barbara, according to the Santa Barbara City Fire Department. Only one person was aboard the 25- to 30-foot Martha Jane, which ended up on the shoreline below Mesa Lane, fire Battalion Chief Jim McCoy told Noozhawk. The details of the incident were unclear, McCoy said, but the man apparently became trapped somewhere on board and was unable to control the vessel, McCoy said. more, >>click to read<< 11:17
Santa Barbara Commercial Lobster Fisherman Convicted for Abandoning Traps
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has announced the successful prosecution and conviction of a Santa Barbara commercial lobster fisherman on a multitude of commercial lobster fishing violations. Christopher Miller, 67, of Los Alamos, was recently convicted in Santa Barbara Superior Court. Miller pled guilty to falsifying commercial fishing records, harvesting lobster out of season, then abandoning at least 156 commercial lobster traps around Santa Cruz Island and the Santa Barbara Harbor. It was Miller’s third commercial lobster poaching conviction since 2014. After closure of the 2021-22 commercial lobster season, and after being ordered to remove his lobster traps by CDFW wildlife officers, Miller failed to retrieve any of his traps from state waters. more, >>click to read<< 09:48
We used AI and satellite imagery to map ocean activities that take place out of sight, including fishing, shipping and energy development
A newly published study in the journal Nature combines satellite images, vessel GPS data and artificial intelligence to reveal human industrial activities across the ocean over a five-year period. Researchers at Global Fishing Watch, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing ocean governance through increased transparency of human activity at sea, led this study, in collaboration with me and our colleagues at Duke University, University of California, Santa Barbara and Sky Truth. We found that a remarkable amount of activity occurs outside of public monitoring systems. Our new map and data provide the most comprehensive public picture available of industrial uses of the ocean. more, >>click to read<< 15:52
Fisherman Rescued from Capsized Boat off Santa Barbara Coast
It was the early-morning hours of Thursday, November 2, and Santa Barbara–based fisherman Travis Meyer was asleep aboard his anchored 24-foot Privateer fishing boat Obsessed, which he had just purchased in late August and spent the past few months repairing and restoring for the Central Coast waters, and while he slept, his bait tank clogged and began to leak water for nearly three hours. He woke up in shock to see that his recently refurbished boat was already leaning over to one side, and by the time he stepped on the deck, he said, the corner of the boat began to go under — he was going down fast, and without much time, he made a desperate attempt to call for help. >>click to read<< 06:32
Fishermen come out to clean Summerland beach of old lobster traps and other random items
At the request of the Summerland Beautiful organization, Santa Barbara area fishermen rallied to help clean up a beach. The Commercial Fishermen of Santa Barbara responded to the call for cleanup efforts. The traps were tied up and towed out to a boat and loaded up. Other discarded fishing items were also gathered up. In addition, the group collected three bags of trash a stroller and other random items. The CFSB has been involved in other cleanup operations mainly to collect lobster traps. video, >click to read< 11:31
Obituary: Commercial Fisherman Ron Ellis
Our friend, fellow fisherman, brother Ron Ellis, was lost to the ocean on February 20th, while swordfishing off San Diego. His fishing vessel, Defiance, was found drifting at idle, by another fisherman, with no one on board. Ron has spent much of his commercial fishing career in Santa Barbara, initially as a deckhand, then as a top producing skipper in the crab industry. He pioneered the experimental Box Crab fishery, establishing a new fishery, while providing data and research, yet was then denied access to this important fishery by CA F&W. >click to read< 17:13
Correcting our Lobster Mistake
To Our Heal the Ocean Supporters: This notice is an important correction – and apology – to our HTO members, and to Santa Barbara’s commercial lobster fleet for errors made in our Thursday 3/9 E-Letter “Bad Rap for Lobster Traps.” Due to the numerous traps that landed on our beaches in the last severe storm, HTO had suggested that lobster fishermen pull their traps when anticipating impending storms. Additionally, we proposed the development of a protocol in collaboration with the Department of Fish and Wildlife for managing such storm situations. Our verbiage raised considerable ire amongst the lobster fleet, and for good reason. Pulling lobster traps takes weeks. Our suggestion was one of impossibility. >click to read< 20:44
Fishing industry gets hooked up again after Santa Barbara harbor was closed by sand
With the weekend reopening of the Santa Barbara harbor, the fishing industry is getting back on schedule, and some are calculating losses. While weather conditions are always a variable, the sand blockade was said to be one of the biggest and fastest hits to the harbor entrance in recent memory. The commercial fishing industry saw many boats docked instead of out in the Santa Barbara Channel. Island Hooker boat owner Robert Church was asked about the harbor issues while working on his vessel in a harbor slip. “Nobody likes to see the sandbar shutting anyone out. There’s a lot of commercial fishermen in the harbor and it affects everybody who is a commercial fisherman.” >click to read< 07:53
Fisherman Seriously Injured as Boat Runs Aground in Santa Barbara
A fisherman who suffered a serious head laceration was taken to the hospital Wednesday evening after his lobster fishing boat ran aground below the Mesa in Santa Barbara, according to the Santa Barbara City Fire Department. Only one person was aboard the 25- to 30-foot Martha Jane, which ended up on the shoreline below Mesa Lane. A witness, who asked not to be identified, said he found the boat on the sand being battered by the surf, with the prop still running. >click to read< —>updated story< 14:56
Saturday Fishermen’s Market: Commercial fisherman Joe Garrigan sells fresh caught seafood
At 7:30 a.m., the plastic tub is full, stacked with several dozen lobsters. By the end of the day, all will be gone, fresh spiny lobsters captured off the Santa Barbara coast, straight into people’s homes. It’s a spot where people can buy fresh fish caught by commercial fishermen. There’s no middle distributor.,, Joe and Melissa Garrigan have been selling lobster every Saturday morning for the past 11 years. >click to read< 10:52
California lobstermen ride high-price wave from China
Since it became home to California’s first lobster fishery in the early 1870s, the coastal city of Santa Barbara has established a long and proud history of lobster fishing. The industry is now experiencing a surge in demand because of a trade war between nations that are thousands of miles across the Pacific Ocean. Almost all of the lobsters caught in the waters off of Santa Barbara’s coast this season will end up in China, where an ongoing dispute with Australia has worked to the advantage of California’s lobster fishing community. The surge in demand from Chinese markets has resulted in high prices that fishermen and distributors here say are without precedent, as well as plenty of uncertainty. >click to read< 08:36
Lobster season fast approaching – International market struggles could prove for huge domestic boost this year
With lobster season fast approaching, for some it means the return of one of the best seafood delicacies out there. But for Ray Kennedy, it’s a chance to return to the ocean one more time and enjoy doing what he’s loved nearly his whole life: catching lobsters. “I’ve been doing this for 30 years now and I believe I was fish in a former life, so I just always gravitate back to the ocean,” Mr. Kennedy, CEO of Defiance Seafoods and the man who runs the fishing vessel “Rain Man,” said with a laugh. >click to read< 20:59
“Food security is right here”: Sea-to-table sales keep fishing business afloat
For 18 years Hodge was a partner in an auto mechanic shop. About 10 years ago, he got back into commercial fishing. Today he operates two fishing boats, the Rough Draft and the Just Enough, that are launched from Oxnard, Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz. His haul, with a federal long-line permit, is mainly four species: vermillion rockfish, blackgill rockfish, ling cod and black cod. “It’s fished on Monday, on Wednesday morning it’s packed and we are delivering 600 pounds of fish,” Hodge explained. He hasn’t had to lay anyone off, and in fact has promoted from within to meet the demand. “My daughters help as deckhands. Orders are growing every week.” He’s catching and selling about 4,000 pounds a month, about half of which is now sold direct and delivered to customers’ doorsteps. >click to read< 09:44
Coronavirus: ‘We’re trying to stay alive’ – Santa Barbara fishermen sell straight to the consumer
Instead of selling to fish processors, who then sell to restaurants, Mr. Cheverez resolved to get his product out to the public directly. With the help of other fishermen who have joined the operation, Mr. Cheverez now offers fresh seafood immediately out of Santa Barbara Harbor – no restaurant, grocery store or processor needed. “We’re trying to stay alive,” said Mr. Cheverez. “We’re selling what we sold before, just without the middle-man. We have one- to two-day old products that we’re selling, and the local community is buying from us right away.” >click to read< 14:39
Matt Becker: From Maverick’s to Commercial Fishing and Back
Matt Becker doesn’t remember his first wave. He grew up at the beach with a surfing family in Santa Barbara. Dad taught him to surf as soon as he could swim. Did Junior Lifeguards, water polo, competed in NSSA events — “a typical Southern California beach rat kid,” he laughs.,,, But even if you’re living in a truck, you still need money to eat. Enter commercial fishing. “I took a job up there on a 70-foot crab fishing boat out of Half Moon Bay for a couple years,” said Becker.” >click to read,<11:55
Advocates Hope Seafood Marketing Campaign Will Net More Business for Local Fishing Industry
It took something terrible to turn Santa Barbara business advocates onto the idea of doing some good for the local commercial fishing industry. That awful thing — the May 2015 oil pipeline leak near Refugio State Beach — scared customers of all sorts away from seafood caught locally, crippling some fishing operations long after officials said the fare was safe to eat. Around that time, the Santa Barbara Chamber of Commerce realized it could do a better job serving fishermen by coming up with a collective campaign to brand local catch sold outside the area. Read the rest here 07:34
