The crab kings
Near the end of 1991, the residents of Bugøynes, then a village of about 300 people in Norway’s Arctic north, ran an ad in the national newspaper Dagbladet, begging somebody to relocate them en masse. Cod and other whitefish, once Bugøynes’ bread and butter, were disappearing, and no one was quite sure why. One cold afternoon this past February, Leif Ingilæ rolls a cigarette and laughs hoarsely as he recalls the results. “We got offers from French vineyards to move all the residents there to pick grapes,” he says. “But we figured if everyone goes, we would all become alcoholics.” Mostly, the younger generation moved south in search of work, while the lifers survived on unemployment benefits. Ingilæ, whose family goes back generations in Bugøynes, first went to sea in 1967, when he was 15 years old. When the newspaper ad ran, it seemed his time in the area was up; his boat was one of just three anchored in Bugøynes’ harbor. Still, he stayed. photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:55
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 45′ Novi Clammer/Scalloper/Lobster Boat, Cat 3408
To review specifications, information, and 9 photos’, >click here<, To see all the boats in this series, >click here< 06:18
Commercial Fisherman Jimmie “John” Goodwin Jr., 60, of Cedar Island, North Carolina has passed away
Jimmie “John” Goodwin Jr., 60, of Cedar Island, North Carolina, passed away on Sunday, May 26, 2024, at his home. A funeral service to honor John’s life will be held at 11 a.m., Thursday, May 30th, at Pilgrims Rest Free Will Baptist Church on Cedar Island, officiated by Rev. Kevin Stott. Interment will follow at Cedar Island Community Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m., Wednesday, May 29th, at Pilgrims Rest Free Will Baptist Church. John was born on October 16, 1963, in Sea Level, North Carolina, to the late Jimmie and Ellen Goodwin. John had a deep connection to Pilgrims Rest Free Will Baptist Church and cherished his involvement there throughout his life. Known for his love of the salt life, John spent his life on the water as a seasoned commercial fisherman and graduate of Core Sound. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 20:32
Copper River salmon aficionados hail arrival of first fish
In Cordova the first 12-hour opener of the Copper River commercial salmon fishery, with 376 deliveries, yielded a catch of nearly 43,000 sockeye salmon, 1,108 Chinook, 247 chum, and two cohos to processors. The second opener, with 400 deliveries, brought in another 51,994 sockeye, 1,284 Chinook, 2,182 chum, and 62 coho salmon. As of May 21, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s Cordova office said that the overall catch stood at 93,851 sockeye, 2,392 Chinook, 2,433 chum, and 64 coho salmon. Processors were offering $7 a pound for sockeyes and $16 a pound for kings. Meanwhile, a chance to sample the first Copper River sockeye salmon drew some 400 seafood fans to Anchorage ski slopes on Saturday, May 18, where they dined on appetizers prepared by top chefs and bid in an auction that raised $8,350 for the Make A Wish Foundation. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 14:17
Lobsters prices fall. Crates of crustaceans pile up on Cape Breton
There are so many lobsters ready for processing or live sale in some eastern Cape Breton harbours that they’re being stored temporarily in large flotillas of plastic crates. Some seafood buyers have stopped buying altogether and others are implementing daily limits on the amount of lobster they will buy. Fishermen worry the oversupply is driving down the price and while some in the industry say it could be a sign of longer term problems, one buyer says the backlog is evidence that lobster conservation efforts are working, and it will ease off in a couple of weeks. “Our processing facility is maximized daily, seven days a week and our holding facility is pretty darn full as of Saturday night,” said Osborne Burke, general manager of Victoria Co-operative Fisheries in New Haven, northern Cape Breton. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 11:41
From Minnesota to Bristol Bay: Father and sons prepare for another season of wild Alaskan salmon fishing
School is winding down, but for Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop teacher Roger Rogotzke, summer brings another gig, commercial fishing. Rogotzke has been making the trip to Bristol Bay to catch wild Alaskan salmon since 1982. “That’s a couple of years ago already,” he said during a recent conversation with sons Tom and Jay. Together, the three make up Rogotzke Fish Company. Roger first became interested in commercial fishing when he was attending Gustavus Adolphus College. He picked up a magazine in the college’s library and happened to read an article on the topic. He wondered if he could find a way to get to Bristol Bay and eventually, he said, he was able to make it happen. He crewed for a guy from Idaho for a couple of years, and his brother Dave also joined him. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:17
First Nations advocates resolve to put traditional fishing rights under international spotlight
First Nations delegates from Japan, Taiwan, Canada, Alaska, and Australia have met on the lands of Walbunga Yuin people on the NSW far south coast for the International Indigenous Fishing Symposium. Indigenous fishing rights activists in NSW are working with First Nations groups around the world to put a global spotlight on the battle to protect traditional fishing rights and cultural practices. The groups plan to work together to lobby the United Nations. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:56
New cod migration data: Study co-author George Rose says northern cod have returned to historical migration patterns
The co-author of a new study in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences says Newfoundland and Labrador’s northern cod have returned to their historical migration patterns with potentially major implications for the provincial fishery. George Rose, co-author of the study with the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries at the University of British Columbia, says the new data suggests a return to the commercial cod fishery one day is possible. The study followed 90 large northern cod equipped with tags that transmitted data to satellites for over a year. Researchers found northern cod have re-established historical migration patterns and confirmed capelin can influence their timing and duration in inshore waters. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:42
Fisheries commission wants to take ‘broad’ look at fishing impacts on SAV
The N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission voted unanimously last week to request that the state fisheries division work with the commission’s Habitat and Water Quality Advisory Committee and the Department of Environmental Quality to develop more comprehensive options for protecting Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (SAV). The direction is to consider all activities under the commission’s authority, rather than just shrimp trawl area closures. The commission, policy-making arm of the division, acted during its quarterly business meeting Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in the Beaufort Hotel. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 20:16
Inuit inshore harvesters of northern Labrador have scheduled a protest for Tuesday morning, May 28th, at 8 a.m.
Inuit inshore harvesters of northern Labrador have scheduled a protest for Tuesday morning, May 28th, at 8 a.m. (8:30 a.m. in Newfoundland) outside all Nunatsiavut Government buildings in the province. “We encourage all Inuit harvesters, their families, and non-harvesters alike to support us against this grave injustice,” says organizer and Inuit harvester Lisa Blandford. In past years the Nunatsiavut government has distributed its annual federal allocation of shrimp off northern Labrador to more than 20 inshore harvesters or designates. This year, however, seven Inuit harvesters say the Nunatsiavut government has denied them a 2024 share of northern shrimp quota in favour of an Inuit designate with a factory-freezer trawler, displacing as many as 40 inshore harvesters along the north Labrador coast. The inshore harvesters have also raised questions of conflict of interest involving current and past members of the Nunatsiavut government and have DFO documentation from 2003 that dictates shrimp quota to be assigned specifically to the inshore. DFO is expected to open the shrimp fishery off northern Labrador in fishing zones 4 and 5 any day. Contact Lisa Blandford: 709 897 7531 – 13:20
FFAW President Greg Pretty not seeking re-election, will retire
Fish, Food and Allied Workers (FFAW) union president Greg Pretty is retiring after more than 40 years with Newfoundland and Labrador’s largest private sector union. Pretty presided over the fisheries’ union during a tumultuous term that included two contentious tie-ups in back-to-back snow crab seasons. When asked on Friday if he would do anything differently, Pretty said no. “We had to have tie-ups to move this agenda. It was contrary to regulations and legislation, but it had to be done and it paid off,” he said. “We’re in a much better situation right now in 12 short months. So no, I don’t have any regrets.” Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 11:38
Andrew Montford: Politicians must drop their ‘Comical Ali’ approach to offshore wind costs
According to officials at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), offshore wind power is around half the cost of electricity from gas turbines. But in Parliament recently, David Frost exposed the problem with this claim. If what DESNZ says is true, he observed, it is hard to understand why we still have to subsidise windfarms. And harder still to understand why we have just had to give them a 70 per cent increase in the guaranteed price they receive. It was striking that the energy minister Martin Callanan, responding for the Government, failed to answer the question, merely reiterating the claim that wind is cheaper than gas. His evasion tells a story and highlights the great deception at the heart of the Net Zero policy. For years, governments have told us of a revolution in windfarms costs. Developers may even have believed it themselves, submitting extraordinarily low bids into the renewables auctions. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:18
Old Glory convoy headed to Alaska’s Denali National Park in wake of flag ban on construction trucks
Despite a decision by Denali National Park officials to bar construction workers in the park from displaying American flags from their trucks, Old Glory will be on full display on May 26. In the wake of park officials’ decision to ban U.S. flags from construction vehicles, Alaskans are planning a patriotic convoy to the park’s main entrance. News of the flag ban on construction vehicles has spread across the nation ever since the Alaska Watchman first broke the story on May 23, when a construction worker blew the whistle. He said the workers were barred from flying flags atop their trucks and equipment because the sight of Old Glory was deemed to detract from the visitors’ experience. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:52
David Cameron vetoes Rockall fishing agreement between Scotland and Ireland
Foreign Secretary David Cameron has vetoed an agreement between Scotland and Ireland to allow Irish fishermen access to the rich fishing grounds around Rockall. Ownership of the tiny granite islet 230 miles off the coast of the Outer Hebrides in the Atlantic is disputed by the UK and the Republic of Ireland 263 miles to the south. Irish vessels, which traditionally fished the waters around the remote rock for haddock and squid, were barred from a 12-mile territorial zone around it after Brexit, when the UK left the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:39
OPINION: Fighting for our lives in King Cove
I am a fisherman; one of my grandfathers was a fisherman and the other one was a lifelong employee of Peter Pan Seafoods. My father was a fisherman, my brother is a fisherman and my mother, for much of her working life, worked for Peter Pan. We live in the southwest Aleut community of King Cove. For my extended family and all the other families like mine, we rely upon our knowledge of the ocean, our skills in the harvesting of fish, and a fish processor that pays a fair price. At the end of each day, we enjoy the satisfaction of hard work paying off. As King Cove’s mayor, it hurts my heart to say that it has taken only a few short months for me to no longer recognize my world. Events have conspired to threaten our very existence. A collapse of our incomes, individually and citywide, the shock of realizing that municipal projects, many years in the making, may grind to a halt. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 20:35
Triple-Rigger for Iceland on Trial at Turkish Builder
Nautic-designed triple-rigger Sigurbjörg is undergoing trials at the Celiktrans shipyard in Turkey, and it’s soon expected to be embarking on the delivery trip to Iceland.The new fresher trawler is outfitted with four Ibercisa trawl winches, enabling it to tow three trawls. The main engine has a 1795kW output, derated from 2100kW, powering a 3800mm diameter propeller to provide a 45 tonne bollard pull. Auxiliary power is be provided by a pair of 600kW gensets. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 13:18
‘Attacked’ Scottish fishing industry issues plea to John Swinney amid worker shortage
Ever since Brexit, recruiting enough fishermen to sustain the iconic Scottish fishing fleet has been challenging. For a long time, the industry has relied on a huge number of fishermen coming to Scotland from overseas. However, Brexit rule changes now mean they need a skilled workers’ visa to do this. This visa has a very high English language requirement, something very few overseas fishermen are able to meet. The Scottish Fishermen’s Federation now say the new-look Scottish Government needs to do more to attract Scots to become fishermen instead, so the industry doesn’t have to rely so much on overseas recruitment. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:59
Annual Charleston Fisherman’s Memorial “Blessing of the Fleet” – Memorial Day
In honor of the commercial fishing fleet and its importance to the Charleston community, the annual Blessing of the Fleet and Memorial Service will be held at the Charleston Fisherman’s Memorial Garden, near the launch ramp at the Charleston Marina at 10am on Monday, May 27th, 2024. The service honors the local men and women involved in Commercial fishing and the fishing industry who have died since 1941. As part of the event, local marine services firm owner, William Elderkin will speak at the memorial and a Blessing of the Fleet will take place. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:34
Wind farm opponents vow to ‘stay in the fight’
Opponents of offshore wind energy farms warned during a rally Saturday in Ocean City that the legal battle is far from over in their efforts to prevent what they called the “industrialization of our ocean.” Last year, the Danish energy company Orsted scrapped plans to build two wind farms off the South Jersey coast after concluding that the projects would not be worth the enormous development cost. However, opponents stressed during the rally that Orsted still holds the leases giving it rights to build the wind farms and could either revive them or sell them to another company that would develop the projects. “It’s not over. Stay in the fight,” said former Superior Court Judge Michael Donohue, who has headed Cape May County’s legal strategy to block the wind farms. photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:04
Alaska fisherman pleads guilty to federal charges after ordering crew to shoot whale
A Southeast Alaska troll fisherman has agreed to plead guilty to a federal misdemeanor after admitting that he directed the shooting of a sperm whale northwest of Sitka in March 2020. According to federal court filings, fisherman Dugan Daniels ordered a member of his crew to shoot the whale and tried to ram it with his fishing boat, the F/V Pacific Bounty. Daniels also agreed to plead guilty to a felony for lying about a sablefish catch in fall 2020, according to the text of the plea deal. His attorney declined comment on the case.Under the terms of the agreement, Daniels will pay a $25,000 fine and be sentenced to no more than 6 months in prison, with the exact term to be set by a judge. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 16:47
Shrimp season in Mississippi to open on May 29
Beginning at a tentative date of Wednesday at 6 a.m., shrimpers possessing the proper licensure or permits will be able to navigate state territorial waters in hopes of hauling in massive loads of the crustaceans. Opening date could potentially be postponed if sampling conducted by MDMR staff indicates the movement of large swaths of juvenile brown shrimp into Mississippi waterways. Recreational and commercial shrimp season north of the Intracoastal Waterway will close at 12:01 a.m. on Jan. 1, 2025. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 11:15
Lisa Murkowski concerned with NOAA fisheries’ to list Alaska Chinook Salmon as endangered
In Washington D.C. on Thursday, NOAA Fisheries announced a petition to list Gulf of Alaska Chinook Salmon as “threatened or endangered” under the Endangered Species Act. Senator Lisa Murkowski expressed her concern in the following statement: “Incredibly, NOAA is moving ahead even after finding that the Wild Fish Conservancy’s petition ‘contained numerous factual errors, omissions, incomplete references, and unsupported assertions and conclusions.’ As we fight to save our salmon and salmon fisheries alike, we need to rely on the best available science, instead of half-baked petitions intended to get conservation groups a foot in the door to attack our fisheries and resource development.” more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:54
Who Gets to Say What the Rules Are?
Who gets to make the rules in American government? One of the most controversial and important cases before the Supreme Court concerns that crucial question. Congress makes the rules for the federal government in the form of laws. But federal agencies must enforce the law and often must make rules of their own – regulations – to do so. And courts then sometimes must resolve disputes about whether an agency’s regulations are well-grounded in the statutes that Congress produces. About 40 years ago, the Supreme Court tried to make things less confusing by setting some ground rules about who gets to make the rules. The Supreme Court decided to create a rule about rules: It said that if an agency’s rule produced a reasonable interpretation of an ambiguous statute passed by Congress, then courts should defer to the agency. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:08
Three Crews from the UK’s RNLI Coordinate to Save Historic Sailing Vessel
The UK’s volunteer Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is being commended for its operation earlier in the week to assist a historic sailing vessel that was taking on water and requested urgent assistance. It became a 10-hour operation involving three of the RNLI crews to see the historic ship safely to port so that it could be repaired to continue its service as a charity training vessel. The Falmouth Coastguards received the call for assistance on Wednesday, May 22, in the evening from the Leader which operates for the Atlantic Youth Trust. Built in 1892, the vessel is the largest and possibly oldest surviving example of a unique vessel, the Brixham trawler. Once a common design of a wooden hull fishing vessel, there were over 400 of the trawlers in Brixham, but today it is believed that just five remain. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:50
‘To honor the lobstermen,’ Bailey Island artist paints their portraits
“I love Maine. Lobstering’s part of Maine. Lobstering’s threatened. And I just want to honor the lobstermen.” So said Bailey Island artist Dennis Wilkins, who often walks the quarter mile from his home on Abner Point to Glen’s Lobsters, the place where he buys his “critters.” It was there he conceived of the project that he hopes will raise awareness of the ongoing challenges facing the lobster industry. “They’re under multiple stresses — climate change, regulations … It’s like the world’s coming down on them,” Wilkins said. “I want them to see that they’re recognized … they’re appreciated, so much so that I’m going to spend time to paint their portraits and give them to them.” Wilkins, a retired neurologist and self-trained fine artist, started working on the project in June 2023. Portraits, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 15:46
NOAA starts review process to list Alaska Chinooks as threatened or endangered
NOAA Fisheries on Thursday announced a 90-day finding on a petition to list Gulf of Alaska Chinook salmon “or any evolutionarily significant unit that may exist in the petitioned area, as a threatened or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act and to designate critical habitat concurrent with the listing.” The listing proposal comes after pressure from the Wild Fish Conservancy in Seattle, which filed a petition in January calling for federal protection of Alaska Chinook. “For decades, scientists have been sounding the alarm that Alaska’s Chinook are in dire trouble,” said Emma Helverson, executive director of the Wild Fish Conservancy. “Despite existing management plans and years of efforts by the state of Alaska, Chinook salmon continue to decline in abundance, size, diversity, and spatial structure throughout the state. Through this action, we are asking the federal government to undertake a formal status review and implement protections warranted under the Endangered Species Act, including designating critical habitat protections, to ensure the survival of these iconic fish.” more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 12:33
When a massive chemical plant came knocking, it was Hilton Head’s Black fishermen who answered
On a spring day in 1970, a small group of fishermen set sail to take on a giant. Shrimpers with the Hilton Head Fishing Cooperative boarded a 43-foot fishing trawler and headed for Washington, D.C., with protest signs, a petition and a mission to halt the building of a multimillion-dollar industrial plant on the banks of the Colleton River. What happened next is a story of perseverance through unlikely odds: A group of Black fishermen from a backwater sea island faced off against a state-sponsored $200 million chemical-processing plant — and won. It’s a story still told today. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:45
Lobster dispute settled a day after fishermen defy order to remove traps
A brewing battle between the federal government and lobster fishermen in northern New Brunswick appears to have come to an end. A federal closure of lobster fishing zones in the Gulf of St. Lawrence off New Brunswick’s Acadian Peninsula was being defied by hundreds of fishermen refusing to remove their traps. A news release from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans sent Thursday evening says that lobster boats will be able to fish closer to shore. “I am pleased to see DFO has adjusted the closure requirements and harvesters can now set their traps up to the 10 fathom shallow water protocol management line for the remainder of the 15-day period,” said federal Fisheries and Oceans , in the release. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:50
Environmentalism is Dead?
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