Tag Archives: Whitby
Offshore industry hails LED scallop fishing drive
The Offshore Wind Industry Council has welcomed plans to fund a new environmentally friendly method of catching scallops – using underwater LED lights. It is one of five projects announced by the Offshore Wind Evidence and Change Programme (OWEC) as part of its 2024 funding round, and the aim is to enable more diversified fishing around offshore wind farms. The 18-month project will explore ways to co-locate scallop fisheries and offshore wind farms together, using alternative fishing methods to the traditional practice of dredging along the seabed which disturbs marine habitats and species. These will now be rolled out at a regional level by fishing crews in Scarborough, Bridlington and Whitby who fish around and within offshore windfarms. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:20
Whitby Fishing School calls for fishermen of future to apply for next intake of maritime courses
Whitby Fishing School is calling for the young fishermen of tomorrow to take a first step towards an “exciting and rewarding” career in the fishing industry. The fishing school, based at The Mission to Seafarers building on Haggersgate, offers a variety of maritime courses aimed at preparing individuals for a career in the fishing industry. With courses ranging from Basic Sea Survival and First Aid to Skippers qualifications, the school provides a comprehensive education for students of all ages. This course is fully funded, to include training, PPE, and food/accommodation where living away from home. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:29
‘The job’s f****d’ – Fishers slam local MP for comments
The North East Fishing Collective (NEFC), which represents fishers from Hartlepool to Whitby, was established to support fishers along that stretch of coast after unexplained mass deaths of shellfish in the area in several events from September 2021 onwards left them without catches. Hartlepool MP, Jill Mortimer, last week shared a photo of her in a meeting with Environment Minister Mark Spencer in Parliament where she described how “prawners have experienced a temporary but significant reduction in their catches due to prawns burrowing into sands.” “The prawns and catches returned,” she wrote, however the NEFC has disputed this in no uncertain terms. >click to read< 14:57
‘It’s a shocker’ – Fishermen stage demonstration in Whitby to raise awareness of shellfish deaths on Yorkshire and North East coast
On Thursday, February 23, around 100 fishermen, environmental activists, and local business owners gathered in Whitby to raise awareness of thousands of dead crustaceans that have been washing up on the Yorkshire and North East coast since 2021. The demonstration included a lively march through Whitby with music and drums as well as beach art and speeches. Local fishermen have said that their livelihoods are at risk due to significantly reduced catches which they blame on dredging in the Tees, and have called on the Government for further testing. >click to read< 11:41
BBC documentary examines mass crab die off on Teesside coast and what has happened since
A TV documentary examining the impact of the mass crab and lobster die off on the Teesside coast is set to air. We Are England: Trouble at Sea looks at the events of last October and what has happened since. In it, film makers speak to fishermen, conservationists, the Tees port authority PD Ports and scientists to document the effects of the worrying occurrence, the subsequent investigation and the theories on its cause that have been an ongoing source of dispute. Teessiders will know huge piles of crabs, lobsters and shellfish began to wash up on beaches around the Redcar and Markse areas as well as Hartlepool a year ago before washing down the coast as far as Whitby. They were seen in piles that were waist deep in some places and most were dead or dying.>click to read< 21:32
Whitby’s 103-year-old lifeboat Robert and Ellen Robson pulled through streets
Whitby’s RNLI crew and other volunteers gathered at Coates Marine to pull Whitby’s old rowing lifeboat, the Robert and Ellen Robson, back to its home at the lifeboat museum on Pier Road. The boat has been at Coates Marine undergoing restoration work but will now get a final lick of paint at the lifeboat museum – the RNLI hopes to reopen the museum this summer. Until 1957 RNLB Robert & Ellen Robson was still in service in Whitby with 10 members of crew providing the muscle power on the oars. Video, >click to read< 22:35
Yorkshire crab and lobster deaths: Government closes investigation for second time
The North Sea around the Tees Estuary has been affected by the issue as far south as Staithes and Whitby since last autumn, when large numbers of dead crustaceans washed up on beaches. An investigation was launched and after causes such as pollution, disease and undersea cable disturbance were ruled out, it was eventually announced that toxic algae was responsible. Yet fishermen are still reporting poor catches,,, >click to read< 11:29
Government agrees to re-investigate dead crab and lobster after fishermen conduct their own probe
Earlier this month DEFRA announced that after extensive testing following the first reports of mass crab and lobster deaths around the Tees Estuary last autumn, they had traced the cause to toxic algae which had been dispersed naturally by a storm in October. A fishermen’s union called the North East Commercial Fishing Collective, which includes members of the Whitby Fishermen’s Association, had refused to accept the investigation’s outcome and crowdfunded a £5,000 fee to hire marine pollution consultant Tim Deere-Jones to independently analyse samples. >click to read< 08:46
Biggest trawler to date built at Parkol Marine is launched in Whitby
Onlookers assembled aloing the riverside in the autumn sunshine to see the 27m twin rig trawler Valhalla being launched into the water. The vessel, made at Parkol, will be fishing out of Fraserburgh, Scotland, with a crew.of eight. Michael Smith commented on Parkol’s Facebook page: “Some boat her, well done Parkol and good fishing to the skipper and crew.” >photo’s, click here< 22:31
Whitby fisherman saved by “strength and determination” after dramatic rescue
A Whitby fisherman’s mental and physical strength saved his life after a dramatic rescue. The fisherman was pulled into the water by his fishing gear and sustained a broken arm after being in the water for some time. He was rescued by a nearby pleasure boat called the Summer Queen, who responded to a mayday call put out by another passenger on the fisherman’s boat. “The outcome to this could have been very different, I would like to praise the fisherman for his strength and determination keeping hold of his lobster pot end despite having substantial injuries. >click to read< 15:36
New Whitby lobster boat launches on choppy post-Brexit waters
“Our Henry” is owned by business partners Terry Pearson and Luke Russell. Mr Pearson is the merchant for the local shellfishing fleet, while Mr Russell will skipper the catamaran, the first new boat to join the Whitby fleet for a decade, along with two other crew and a trainee. Delivered a couple of weeks ago the potter has been undergoing sea trials, but should make its first fishing trip later this week. “Then with Covid, the build was delayed, and it has only just arrived when we are in the middle of the winter fishery, “Then of course there has been Brexit,,, >click to read< 16:31
In nearly 50 years as a fisherman Arnold Locker has seen it all – ‘crews will be worse off in 2021 than before they left the EU’
The outcome of the Brexit trade deal has left him and many others bitterly disappointed. Mr Locker, chairman of Locker Trawlers in Whitby, and former chairman of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations, believes Environment Secretary George Eustice should resign. He says this time the betrayal of fishing communities is worse, because politicians like Mr Eustice, Michael Gove and Prime Minister Boris Johnson “knew exactly what they were doing when they devastated coastal communities.”>click to read< 11:43
