Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative to celebrate National Lobster Day
The Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative is celebrating its ninth annual National Lobster Day on Wednesday, Sept. 25. “It’s a time to celebrate the lobstermen that are out on the water every day catching lobster and bringing it to market for us,” said Marianne LaCroix, executive director for Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative. The celebration comes as Maine Lobster Week kicked off across the state Sunday and will be running until Sunday, Sept. 29. The day was moved from June to September to align with the peak lobster harvesting season. The Senate passed a resolution in 2015 officially recognizing the day and the economic impact of the industry. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:45
Urgent MAIB warning following MOB fatality
The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has issued a safety bulletin following the fatal accident onboard the 18.35m crabber Kingfisher DH 110 (FN, 25 July, ‘Fatal MOB from Dartmouth crabber’). The bulletin urges the Home and Dry Safety Forum to immediately communicate through its members the need for owners and crew of potting vessels to review their deck working risk assessments. The Kingfisher tragedy, which occurred 30nm east-north-east of Wick on 12 July this year, saw a deckhand become attached to the backrope and be pulled overboard while manually toggling on creels. The deckhand’s PFD automatically inflated, and he initially surfaced, leading the crew to believe he was clear of the backrope and floating freely. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:06
Is Your ‘Gulf’ Shrimp Actually Farm-Raised Overseas?
Think you love Gulf shrimp? It’s possible you’ve never even tasted it. Last Labor Day weekend, sample genetic testing at the Louisiana Shrimp & Petroleum Festival in Morgan City, Louisiana — where you’d naturally think “Gulf” shrimp was being sold and promoted in a town built on shrimping — revealed that only one of five vendors (Woodreaux’s Cajun Cuisine) was actually serving the real deal. Unaware festival goers never thought to question the source as they consumed imported, farm-raised shrimp right next to the Gulf of Mexico. Shrimp switching is likely happening at your favorite seafood eatery or grocery store, too, despite labeling and signage that may mislead you, just as it did those festival goers. Doug Olander, a commercial shrimp fisherman from Port St. Mary, Louisiana, whose boats have mostly remained docked for two years, says the supply chain needs the transparency that widespread testing provides. “This type of fraud should be a crime,” Olander says. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:38
Lawmakers seek pause in offshore wind energy amid whale deaths
House lawmakers are seeking a pause in offshore wind energy projects amid a string of whale deaths along the coasts of Maryland, New York, New Jersey and Maine. Last week, a deceased whale beached off Maryland’s coast, the second whale carcass discovered in the area in three weeks. In 2023, 37 humpback whales carcasses were discovered along the East Coast. Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.) hosted a public hearing in August in which experts testified about the danger installing wind turbines poses marine wildlife. Harris called for an end to offshore wind energy in Maryland. The Government Accountability Office plans to investigate the impacts of offshore wind development after Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J) requested it look into the issues. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:48
International Whaling Commission meets this week, will they discuss the US whale slaughter? By Jim Lovgren
The International Whaling Commission [IWC] meets this week from September 23 rd to the 27 th , in Lima Peru. The commission was established in 1946 and is a specialized regional fishery management organization created to provide for the proper conservation of various different Whale species, with the goal of supporting the orderly development of the Whaling industry. For two hundred years fishing vessels hunted down Whales bringing some species to the brink of extinction. Unlike the American slaughter of Buffalo, where they were killed solely for their hide, and the carcass left to rot, the Whaling industry utilized almost every part of these animals, with many indigenous populations being dependent on them as their main food source. This brings us to the present marine mammal slaughter being perpetrated by multi-national wind companies along the US east coast. In 2016 NOAA declared an unusual marine mammal mortality event was taking place with Humpback, Minke, and Northern Right Whales. Around that time research and construction was started on the Block Island wind project. more, >>CCLICK TO READ<< 16:11
NOTICE: Bottom Trawl Survey of the Maine Research Array Wind Energy Area
Maine Department of Marine Resources sent this bulletin at 09/23/2024 12:15 PM EDT. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 12:36
Ottawa shirked own guidelines when it reopened commercial cod fishery, say scientists
Fisheries scientists say the federal government ignored its own guidelines when it hiked cod quotas off the northern and eastern coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador last June. The scientists, some of whom worked for Fisheries and Oceans Canada for decades, say they’re struggling to understand the decision to reopen the commercial Northern cod fishery. “I was baffled when I heard the news”, said Noel Cadigan, a long-time DFO scientist who now works at Memorial University’s Marine Institute. “And that hasn’t changed.” A May 6 briefing note obtained by CBC/Radio-Canada shows DFO recommended against reopening the fishery to offshore vessels and increasing quotas. But it also assured Federal Fisheries Minister Diane Lebouthillier that lifting the moratorium and hiking the total allowable catch, as all six Liberal MPs from Newfoundland and Labrador were pushing her to do, would nevertheless align with the Fisheries Act and its rules on stock management. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 11:15
Small Norwegian fishing boat confronted Russian warship during live-shooting exercise
“This is Russian warship, you need to leave the area”, was the message chief mate Øystein Orten got over the radio as his crew was about to take the fishing gear up from the water. But the military exercise and the order to sail away didn’t at first scare the Norwegians. “I replied that it was out of question for us to move. We had longlines to take onboard,” Orten told to FriFagbevegelse. The Admiral Levchenko is an anti-submarine destroyer and one of the largest warships in the Northern Fleet. Øystein Orten and his crew of five onboard the 15-meters small fishing boat saw the huge warship sailing towards them and first stopped at a distance of 200 meters. The warship then blew the powerful horn for about 15 seconds. According to Orten, a warning shot was fired and the Norwegians decided to sail west. The 163-meters long destroyer followed the fishing vessel until she was out of the danger zone. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:07
Proposed wind farms ‘devastating’ for fishers
Proposals to expand planned wind farm sites off the Devon and Cornwall coast could devastate the fishing industry, fishermen have warned. It comes after the Crown Estate, which owns the sea bed, published its latest map of potential development zones. It includes thousands of square miles off Land’s End and the Isles of Scilly, currently prime fishing grounds, and an expanded zone off north Devon. Dave Stevens, who has fished off Newlyn for 30 years, said new offshore wind development would not be good for the industry. “It would be a devastating blow if that went ahead,” he said. “Everyone would be wanting to get out. “I don’t think the industry has been this challenged ever.” more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:35
Humboldt Fisherman’s Wives Holding Burn Recovery Fundraiser for Captain and Two Crews Members of Mariah K
The Humboldt fisherman’s wives has generously offered to put on a Burn recovery fundraiser for my nephew and his 2 crew members that sustained severe burns while commercial fishing off of Oregon Coast a month ago when the boat engine exploded. The 2 crew were released from the hospital a couple weeks ago and are now recovering at home. My nephew Emanuel, the captain of the Mariah K is still in the intensive care unit at St Francis burn center in San Francisco. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:02
Big Fish Offshore Wind Producers Catch Attention Of Texas Fishermen
There is a fight on the open seas in Texas’ Gulf, not between sailors and pirates but between two of America’s most ambitious offshore wind producers. BlackRock-backed RWE Offshore US Gulf LLC recently asked the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to pressure its competitor, Hecate Energy Gulf Wind LLC, to shell out big bucks to compensate Texas fishermen for potential damage to their fishing areas. “RWE urges BOEM to consider including an option for Hecate Energy –- and any future unsolicited proposals in the Gulf of Mexico — to commit funding for a Fisheries Compensatory Mitigation Fund,” the company recently said during a public comment period on a developing offshore wind project in south Texas. RWE also encouraged BOEM to require Hecate to develop a communication plan with fisheries and tribal governments. Texas’ fishing industry vigorously opposes RWE’s offshore wind projects, such as GOM WEA Option M near the TX-LA border. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 16:14
DOCUMENTARY ON THE WAY EXPOSING THE ILLEGAL SINKING OF THE 110’ MV WILD ALASKAN AND COAST GUARD MISCONDUCT
Darren Byler of Kodiak Alaska has been fighting the local Coast Guard Station for almost a decade now for what Byler calls a “Politically Motivated Fraud Filled Phony Poopy Conviction that the United States Government has now spent approximately 1.3 million Dollars to date investigating, prosecuting and defending against Byler’s civil claims. Byler filed a 10 million 
dollar civil lawsuit against the United States Coast Guard approximately two years ago and is still fighting the government for the opportunity to have a civil trial. The Wild Alaskan Story has now caught the attention of internationally acclaimed Producer and Cinematographer Doug Stanley founding Producer and Director of Photography of Discovery Channel’s hit series “Deadliest Catch”. Video, photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 11:21
US offshore wind projects pelted with suits to end, delay progress
There are 13 cases pending in federal courts targeting offshore wind projects, according to the American Clean Power Association, an offshore wind trade group. An undetermined number of additional lawsuits is active in state courts, they said. Robin Shaffer is president of Protect Our Coast NJ, a citizens group that has filed numerous lawsuits in New Jersey against two offshore projects currently or previously proposed. Shaffer said his group was at least partly responsible for scuttling two New Jersey wind farms proposed by Orsted that the Danish wind giant scrapped in October, saying they were no longer financially workable. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:57
Commercial fishing vessel runs aground in Auckland’s Ōrākei Marina after refueling
A commercial fishing vessel has run aground in Auckland’s Ōrākei Marina after its skipper missed tide timings while refueling. “The skipper was just looking to get some cheap fuel at Gull and then he went downstairs and had a cup of tea and missed his timing,” he said. Snashall said this vessel in particular had a “huge” boat draft – the minimum amount of water required to float the vessel without it touching the bottom. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:57
Coast Guard halts voyage for illegal fishing off Key West
A Coast Guard Station Key West law enforcement boat crew boarded a commercial fishing vessel, Thursday, approximately 12 miles off the Marquesas Keys, for a routine commercial fishing vessel safety inspection and discovered the crew was fishing with an expired permit. Working with our National Marine Fisheries Service regional partners, the Coast Guard terminated the vessel’s voyage due to their possession of 45,000 pounds of pink shrimp on board without a valid commercial fishing permit. The vessel is returning to its homeport in Alabama where NMFS officers will meet with captain for further questioning. The name of the vessel is being withheld due to the open investigation. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 13:53
Original Peter Pan Seafood investor wins auction for troubled company’s assets
One of the original investors in a troubled Alaska seafood company has narrowly outbid competitor Silver Bay Seafoods in an auction for the firm’s assets — including a major processing plant in the Alaska Peninsula village of King Cove. Rodger May, an entrepreneur and fish trader, bid $37.3 million for the assets of Peter Pan Seafood, including two other processing plants — one in the Bristol Bay hub town of Dillingham and another in a remote part of the Alaska Peninsula called Port Moller. May’s bid was $257,000 higher than the bid offered by Silver Bay Seafoods, a major Alaska seafood company that’s expanded rapidly in recent years. The sale of Peter Pan, which operates primarily in Alaska with a business headquarters in Washington, isn’t final. A confirmation hearing in Peter Pan’s receivership case — a bankruptcy-like proceeding overseen by a Seattle court — is scheduled for Oct. 3. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 11:36
Filipino fisherman adrift at sea for 47 days, has been rescued
A 49-year-old Filipino fisherman who spent 47 days drifting aimlessly at sea has been rescued after surviving on rainwater, coconuts and fish, the Philippine Coast Guard said on Friday. Robin Dejillo, a native of Quezon province, southeast of Manila, has been reported missing since August 4 after his boat ran out of gas while conducting a fishing venture, Xinhua news agency reported. Dejillo survived for more than a month at sea by drinking rainwater and eating fish. He was also sustained by eating coconuts floating on water. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:32
The Deadliest Catch star Jack Bunnel’s ‘wake up moment’ that finally got him ‘clean’
During the November 1, 2023, episode of Season 19 Captain Jack Bunnell of the Barbara J shared with viewers a heartfelt story about his childhood. This highlighted the profound influence his father had on his life, along with the pivotal moment he decided to “get cleaned up” and become a fisherman. Jack’s high expectations of himself come from a lifelong ambition of wanting to be a captain, a dream he has held since he was a “little boy.” His crew aren’t the only ones Jack feels the need to prove himself to, as we see in this episode, the captain is receiving a special visitor: his father. Bunnell was born in Homer, Alaska, where he grew up with his father, who was a commercial fisherman and crabbed in the Bering Sea. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:22
Feds fund offshore wind study hoping to boost market in Atlantic Canada
Federal funding for a pioneering offshore wind power grid study in the Canadian Maritimes should help draw big-hitting developers to the region’s first project auction next year. But commercialization of the market remains on the far horizon, says a leading industry analyst. Ottawa earlier this week awarded $6 million to Net Zero Atlantic, a low-carbon research and development hub in Nova Scotia, for the Atlantic Canada Offshore Wind Integration and Transmission Study, which aims to show how future offshore wind farms could export power to the onshore electricity network. While $6 million of the funding to Net Zero Atlantic will go toward the grid study, a further $3.25 million will be dedicated to technologies associated with fishing vessels and ferry fleets, agriculture, carbon capture, hydrogen and energy storage. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:38
MPAs and windfarm proposals labelled an ‘absolute attack’ on the fishing industry
Fisherman have condemned plans to introduce MPAs (marine protected areas) and an offshore windfarm on the isles fishing grounds – with a lack of “evidence” at the forefront of concerns. A public exhibition of the Stoura Offshore Windfarm was held on Thursday at Shetland Museum followed by a drop-in consultation yesterday at Lerwick Town Hall to respond to the MPA proposals. Fears for the future of the fishing industry were heard at both events this week. Skerries whitefish fisherman James Anderson said the MPA proposals will “not do any good at all” and continuously closing off areas poses a significant threat to the sector. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:34
Bay of Fundy fishermen see uptick in poaching patrols
Many lobster fishermen say they have seen an uptick in Coast Guard patrols in the Bay of Fundy less than a week after a protest against poaching in Saint Andrews, N.B. “Last spring I didn’t see any fisheries on the water at all,” said Jaret Mawhinney, a sixth-generation fisherman. “Last fall I think I might have saw one boat and that was probably the first day. After that I never really seen too much.” Mawhinney notes lobster catches have dropped in recent years, something he attributes to poaching. Last Saturday, roughly 50 fishing boats from Lobster Fishing Area 36 – which covers waters from Alma to the American border – docked in Saint Andrews to peacefully protest illegal fishing and what they see as a lack of enforcement by the government. Video more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 19:32
James Binniker Named New Director of NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement
Mr. James Binniker has been selected as the new director of the NOAA Office of Law Enforcement. In this new role, Mr. Binniker will lead the agency’s work to enforce laws that conserve and protect our nation’s protected marine resources, places, and habitats, as well as to advance actions to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing and promote sustainable fisheries management. Mr. Binniker will assume his new role on September 23. As the newly appointed head of the Office of Law Enforcement, Mr. Binniker brings a strong combination of skills and experience. The office is responsible for enforcing more than 40 federal statutes over more than 3 million nautical miles of open ocean, 95,000 miles of U.S. coastline, 16 National Marine Sanctuaries, and Marine National Monuments. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 14:47
Thomas Elias: Gov. Newsom committing to big wind power projects risky right now
There weren’t many causes Gov. Gavin Newsom pushed harder during the just-concluded state legislative session than offshore wind power, something that has been tried in only a few places around America. For some in the California Legislature, including state Senate President Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, this seems an easy way to modernize the state’s electric grid without risking much pollution, taking advantage of an inexhaustible natural resource — winds that often gust at 40 mph or more. However, now it’s time for Newsom to go slow before committing California electric customers (who always pay for new generating facilities via their monthly bills) to fund this largely untried renewable energy source. If adopted, a plan to build enough offshore windmills to fill about 6% of California’s electric needs would be America’s largest commitment to offshore wind power. There is not yet any offshore wind power along the Pacific Coast, but yes, there is offshore wind power on the Atlantic Coast. There’s a small (five-turbine) project off Block Island, Rhode Island. Also, there are a few windmills off Virginia and others off Massachusetts’ Nantucket Island. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 12:22
Infrastructure funding from 2018 winter freeze will finally get to shrimpers soon
2018 was a bad year for Lowcountry shrimping, a winter freeze wiped out most of the white shrimp in the Charleston harbor. Six years later, $1 million in grant money for shrimp fishery infrastructure will soon, finally be making its way to those who need it. But not everyone was able to qualify. “The funds are awarded by NOAA,” said Chris McDonough, the program coordinator for the Shrimp Disaster Relief Program. “When they’re awarded, typically we have to go through a grant approval process for us to get the money. It takes some time.” The program was put in place in 2018, but between the slow wheels of government and the pandemic, the first phase wasn’t paid out until last year. Video, photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:28
UPDATE: Enforcement patrols return as frustration over poaching boils over
Enforcement patrols have returned to a stretch of the Bay of Fundy that local fishermen had said was left wide open to illegal fishing, including by foreign vessels. That’s after frustration over poaching had boiled over, grabbing headlines, finding its way onto the floor of Parliament, and resulting in local fishers threatening to “take matters into their own hands” this upcoming lobster season in the absence of federal enforcement. The Fundy North Fishermen’s Association says DFO has now deployed enforcement resources in an area known as Lobster Fishing Area 36 that stretches along New Brunswick’s Bay of Fundy coast from Alma to the American border. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:54
FISHERMEN OPPOSE INDUSTRIALISATION OF OUR OCEANS
“The New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association (NEFSA) remains steadfast in its opposition to the industrialisation of our oceans, despite the shrinking of the original proposed lease area. The final eight lease areas encompass a total of 827,886 acres in the Gulf of Maine and pose an existential threat to all marine species, habitat, and to the livelihoods of current and future generations of sustainable fishermen upon whom their communities rely on for survival. The six lase areas in the southern Gulf of Maine comprise a Great Wall of Windmills that threaten mariners and the marine environment. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:33Tom Anglin of Guemes Island, WA, has passed away
“Tell me a sea story” Tom Anglin would say. He passed peacefully at home on Guemes Island, WA on a beautiful afternoon, September 12, 2024. To say that Tom was a larger than life character is an understatement. He was born in Seattle, WA on July 3, 1943 to (Thomas) Dale and Ila Jean Anglin. Tom grew up in the small town of Coolin on Priest Lake, Idaho, where his love for fishing began. He graduated from Priest River High School in 1962, before joining the US Navy. Tom’s sea story began boarding the USS Burton Island Icebreaker in Seattle bound for Antarctica for Operation Deepfreeze to resupply McMurdo Station and then the Arctic becoming a shellback on the journey. Tom took his electronics training from the Navy to the North Slope of Alaska, forging life-long friendships as an electrician before buying his first boat, the Bubble Cuffer II. Each vessel was a new chapter in the greatest commercial fishing adventure: the little Katrina, Katrina, Baltic Sea and finally the Kona-Kai. Spanning ports from Sausalito to SE AK and Hawaii to SW Alaska, trolling for king salmon to pot fishing king crab in the Bering Sea. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 19:42
Glass fibers – the rest of the story????? by Nils E. Stolpe/FishNet-USA
Floating around (sorry!) is the surprising story that the fiberglass that is being donated gratis to our oceans by the offshore wind industry is harmless because the fibers that make it up are chemically inert. Reassuring, isn’t it? Well, in words made immortal by George and Irwin Gershwin in Porgy and Bess, “it ain’t necessarily so.” To put those immortal words in the proper real world (not NOAA or BOEM scientist’s) perspective, the asbestos fibers that are still being used legally in a whole bunch of manufacturing processes today are chemically inert on their own. You can chomp on and swallow asbestos fibers to your heart’s content, as long as they stay in large chunks, with no ill effects. According to the National Library of Medicine “asbestos fibers are basically chemically inert, or nearly so. They do not evaporate, dissolve, burn, or undergo significant reactions with most chemicals.” So what happens when a huge fiberglass rotor on an offshore generator (300+ feet long and still enlarging as wind generators become larger-and more efficient) delaminates and takes a dive into one of our oceans? more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 15:52
US Coastal Communities Fight for Space for Small-scale Fishermen
U.S. coastal waters are a public good increasingly at risk of privatization, threatening local economies that have depended on the sea for generations, fishermen and environmental advocates warned. Critics point to efforts to open up waters to industrial-scale fish farms, (offshore wind farms), a federal permit system they say is stacked against small or new operators, and even coastal real estate development squeezing out independent businesses. “There is another real estate grab, but it’s in the ocean,” said Jason Jarvis, a commercial fisherman in Rhode Island who has been fishing for three decades and also sits on the board of the North American Marine Alliance (NAMA), a national network that seeks to boost fishing communities. “This is a gold rush,” said Crystal Canney, executive director of Protect Maine’s Fishing Heritage Foundation, which has worked on model legislation to help towns push back. The efforts are prompting inquiries from concerned communities in other coastal states, she said. “The questions are really, do we have any rights?” more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 12:30
N.S. fisheries minister renews call to his federal counterpart for help on illegal fishing
Nova Scotia’s fisheries and aquaculture minister says his federal counterpart’s silence in response to calls for action against illegal fishing in the province’s southwestern region sends a message to the industry and communities affected that she does not care. Kent Smith wrote to federal Fisheries Minister Diane Lebouthillier on Wednesday after receiving no response to a previous letter last month that raised concerns about illegal lobster fishing in the Clare region and public safety concerns tied to that activity. I’m feeling as though there’s not enough priority put on this file from her and her senior leadership,” Smith said in an interview at Province House. Although some First Nations fishers are practising a legal and treaty-recognized food, social and ceremonial fishery in the region, commercial fishing organizations, Smith and other politicians have expressed concern that some people are illegally fishing outside the FSC fishery and that those catches are entering the commercial market. more, >>>CLICK TO READ<< 10:37
