Saving Seafood

Safety training is a must for all who go to sea

May 14, 2018 — On December 20, 2004 the 75-foot New Bedford scalloper Northern Edge went down in the Nantucket Lightship Closed Area. Five men perished. It was a loss that rocked the city. Pedro Furtado, the only survivor, was a 22 year-old man who had been through safety training in his native Portugal before coming to the United States. He had the presence of mind to jump into the wintry sea while the other men froze. It was this disaster that prompted the city to introduce safety training for those who earn their livelihood from commercial fishing, the most dangerous occupation in the United States.

It has been very successful, according to Ed Dennehy, director of safety training for the Fishing Partnership which runs these one and two-day programs in fishing harbors up and down the coast. “We’ve been all over, from Jonesport, Maine to Jones Beach, Long Island, he said. “We like to bring the program to where the fishermen are and it has grown over the years.”

In response to the loss of the Northern Edge the city received some funds from National Marine Fisheries in 2005 in order to develop safety and survival training. At the time Dennehy, a retired Coast Guard captain, was running New Directions in New Bedford and with the help of SMAST and others, like Rodney Avila, along the waterfront the program began. Since then more than 3500 fishermen have taken the safety classes which are offered free. The Fishing Partnership began running the program in 2012.

I had the opportunity to participate in the training myself on Thursday last. It was held at UConn’s Avery Point campus in Groton and there were 40 participants, a testament to the growing awareness and demand for this vital service.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

 

Dartmouth, MA is working with UMass Boston to map the future of Padanaram Harbor

April 4, 2018 — DARTMOUTH, Mass. — Several subcommittees studying a new harbor management plan being prepared for the town on Monday provided input to the consulting team from the Urban Harbors Institute at UMass Boston on issues dealing with docks, piers and seawalls, and the local, state and federal regulations of such waterfront structures.

The afternoon’s first discussion session dealt with the draft summary of communication and coordination issues between the various town boards, committees and appointed officials who exercise varying degrees of control over the public and private uses of Padanaram Harbor and its shoreline.

On the local level, those official entities include the Select Board, the Waterways Management Commission, the Harbormaster’s Office, the Shellfish Warden, the Conservation Commission, and the Planning Board. Representatives from many of those town departments and agencies were on hand to review draft portions of the plan.

Since the Parks & Recreation Department has two public parks on two different harbors, Parks Superintendent Tim Lancaster also attended the first review session. Lancaster noted that to complicate matters, both the town’s master plan and open space and recreation plan also address some harbor and waterways issues.

Marshall Marine Corp. owner Geoff Marshall was on hand to provide input from the waterfront business sector, and civil engineer Alan Heureux provided insights on use regulations from the perspective of a consultant who regularly deals with all town boards and departments involved in the oversight of waterfront development.

Consultant Steve Blevin told attendees that public input provided last year made it clear that there is no single agency or department in overall charge of harbor or waterfront uses. Survey results also pointed out that there is a public perception that all of the different entities involved in supervising or regulating those varied uses don’t always communicate with each other or coordinate their efforts.

At the state level, oversight over the harbor and coastal shoreline also comes from the Department of Environmental Protection and Division of Marine Fisheries. Federal government involvement sometimes includes the Army Corps of Engineers and the Coast Guard.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

 

CALIFORNIA: Search suspended for Eureka fisherman missing after falling overboard

February 6, 2018 — The North Coast commercial crab season had an “alarming” start for the Coast Guard this past weekend, with two search-and-rescue missions in Humboldt Bay being conducted including one where a search was suspended for a missing crabber who fell overboard.

“Essentially we’ve had two search-and-rescue cases in two days of the crab season,” Coast Guard Petty Officer Sarah Wilson said Monday morning. “That’s always alarming for us.”

The first hauls of the North Coast crab season began Monday morning.

Eureka crab fisherman Aaron Newman of the vessel Maria Isabel was heading back to the Humboldt Bay jetty on Monday afternoon to unload at Caito Fisheries, one of the local processing facilities in Eureka.

“It appears to be kind of spotty,” Newman said describing the first day’s catch. “Not everyone is catching crabs, but there definitely are some spots.”

Read the full story at the Eureka Times-Standard

 

Massachusetts: Boats owned by jailed ‘Codfather’ sink in New Bedford

February 5, 2018 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Two Carlos Rafael vessels will remain submerged under about 25 feet of water until at least Tuesday, the earliest a lifting machine can arrive, according to the New Bedford Fire Department.

The fishing vessels Dinah Jane and Nemesis sank early Monday morning. New Bedford police and fire responded to Homer’s Wharf at 1:24 a.m. after the vessels’ emergency position radio beacons transmitted a signal to the Coast Guard at about 1 a.m. No one was onboard the vessels.

The two vessels were tied to each other and one pulled down the other, according to Edward-Anthes Washburn, the executive director of the Harbor Development Commission.

The cause of the sinkings won’t be known until the fishing vessels are raised, Fire Chief Michael Gomes said.

After arriving, New Bedford Fire deployed about 400 feet of oil containment boom. At least one of the vessels did leak fuel oil, but Gomes said a diver plugged the vents, which leaked. The situation continues to be monitored.

According to the Coast Guard, the 65-foot Dinah Jane and 67-foot Nemesis contain a combined capacity of 9,500 gallons of fuel.

Carlos Seafood Inc. didn’t return requests for comment on Monday. Rafael, also known by some as “Codfather,” was sentenced last year to 46 months in prison for falsifying fishing quota, bulk cash smuggling and tax evasion.

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and the New Bedford Harbor Development Commission also arrived on scene Monday morning. The vessels were already submerged when all agencies reported.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

 

First dead right whale of 2018 found off Virginia

January 26, 2018 — A whale carcass tangled in fishing line that was reported off Virginia Monday is confirmed as the first documented death of a North Atlantic right whale this year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The imperiled right whales, which lost nearly 4 percent of their total population last year in Canadian and U.S. waters, and with only five documented births, faces significant man-made threats from both fishing gear and ship strikes, according to researchers.

“This isn’t just a crisis, this is a countdown to extinction,” said Regina Asmutis-Silvia, executive director of Whale and Dolphin Conservation, which has an office in Plymouth.

A stranding response team with the Virginia Aquarium received notice and a photo of the carcass Wednesday, at which point the whale was identified as a North Atlantic right whale that appeared to show it was was alive and swimming when it ran into the line.

Entanglements of whales in ropes prevents them from surfacing for air, leading to drowning, or creates a drag that hampers feeding, movement and reproduction, and reduces energy stores, according to scientists.

NOAA requested a drift analysis from the Coast Guard to determine where the carcass might be, and to determine if it can be towed to shore for a necropsy.

The sex and identify of the dead whale has not be determined.

“Disaster, depressing,” said Charles “Stormy” Mayo, who directs right whale research at the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown, said of the latest whale carcass. “These are our whales, the humans who live along the Gulf of Maine. We are obviously not doing a very good job as stewards. Something’s got to change soon.”

In addition to a voluntary ship slow-down announced this week for 30 miles south of Nantucket, NOAA announced Thursday another voluntary slow-down 100 miles east-southeast of Virginia Beach, where a U.S. military ship crew had seen the carcass and four other live right whales.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

 

NOAA Fisheries is Investigating Report of Dead Entangled Right Whale off Virginia and Has Declared New Voluntary Slow Speed Zone for Right Whales in Mid-Atlantic

January 25, 2018 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Dead North Atlantic Right Whale 

We are investigating a report of a dead North Atlantic right whale off the coast of Virginia/North Carolina on Monday, January 22.

The Virginia Aquarium Stranding Response Program received notification of the whale, along with a photo of the carcass, on the evening of Wednesday, January 24. The whale has been positively identified as a North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis), and appears to be wrapped in line in a manner that, based on past observations of entanglements, suggests the whale was alive and swimming when it encountered the line.

NOAA Fisheries requested a drift analysis from the Coast Guard to determine where the carcass might be, and to determine whether the whale can be towed to shore and necropsied. At this point, we are not able to confirm the whale’s sex or match its identity with the photo-id catalog of known individuals that scientists maintain for the population.

This is the first reported mortality of a North Atlantic right whale in 2018.

New Dynamic Management Area

Shortly after receiving the report of the dead right whale, we were alerted to the presence of four live right whales in the same general area, prompting the establishment of a voluntary vessel speed restriction zone (Dynamic Management Area or DMA). The DMA has been established 86 nm east-southeast of Virginia Beach, VA to protect the aggregation of right whales sighted in this area by a U.S. military ship on January 23, 2018.

This DMA is in effect immediately through February 7.

Mariners are requested to route around this area or transit through it at 10 knots or less.

East-Southeast of Virginia Beach, Virginia DMA — in effect through February 7, 2018

36 54 N
36 12 N
074 47W
073 55 W

2017 Was a Devastating Year for Right Whales

The year 2017 was devastating for North Atlantic right whales, which suffered a loss of 17 whales–about 4 percent of their population–an alarming number for such a critically endangered species with a population currently estimated at about 450 animals.

Of the 17 dead whales, 12 were found in Canadian waters and 5 were found in U.S. waters. The whales in Canada were discovered in the  Gulf of St. Lawrence between June and September. Canadian officials performed necropsies on seven of these whales, and found that five died to blunt force trauma (often associated with vessel strikes) and two died due to entanglements from fishing gear.

Of the five dead right whales found in U.S. waters in 2017, all were found in waters off the coast of Massachusetts. One (a young calf) was confirmed to have died of blunt force trauma. We were unable to determine a cause of death for the other four (all adults) because they were in advanced states of decomposition.

There are currently only about 100 females of breeding age in the population and more females seem to be dying than males. Births have also been declining in recent years, and to date, no new calves have been spotted in the calving grounds off Florida this year.

In August 2017, NOAA Fisheries declared the increase in right whale mortalities an “Unusual Mortality Event,” which helps the agency direct additional scientific and financial resources to investigating, understanding, and reducing the mortalities in partnership with the Marine Mammal Stranding Network, Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and outside experts from the scientific research community.

Taking Action to Protect Right Whales

While the North Atlantic right whale population has increased since we began our recovery efforts more than two decades ago, this most recent decline and the large number of recent mortalities are a serious concern, and reminds us that we still have a long way to go to recover this species.

Read more about our Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan, our Large Whale Disentanglement Program and our Ship Strike Reduction program, which has helped reduce serious injuries and mortalities caused by vessel strikes. Find out about the actions we are currently taking to help right whales.

Next month, the first meetings of two Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team subgroups investigating the feasibility of ropeless gear and whale-release rope and gear marking will be convened. John Bullard’s (former Regional Administrator for the Greater Atlantic Region) guest column, which begins on page three of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association January Newsletter, provides context on the challenges and urgency surrounding this and our other efforts.

On Tuesday, Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans Minister Dominic LeBlanc announced four measures for the snow crab fishery in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence to protect North Atlantic right whales from entanglement. These measures complement several measures in place in the U.S., including gear marking for trap/pot gear and reducing the amount of floating rope on the water’s surface.

Report a Stranded Marine Mammal

If you see or have any information about a stranded marine mammal, please report it to our stranding hotline 866-755-NOAA (6622) or to your local stranding response organization.

Learn more about NOAA Fisheries’ Great Atlantic Region by visiting their site here.

 

Coast Guard on the Hook in Killer Whale Lawsuit

January 19, 2018 — SEATTLE — The Coast Guard must face claims by two Northwest tribes that a plan for oil tanker traffic threatens the habitat of southern resident killer whales, a federal judge ruled this week.

The Tulalip and Suquamish Tribes sued the Coast Guard last year over its adoption of a traffic-separation plan off the coast of Washington state.

The tribes say the Coast Guard did not consult with the National Marine Fisheries Service before adopting the plan. The “seven-fold increase” in oil tanker traffic en route to Canada threatens the southern resident killer whales, according to the lawsuit.

That particular group of killer whales, also called orcas, is the only population of killer whales protected under the Endangered Species Act.

There are fewer than 80 orcas in the population, and they spend a large part of each year in the waters of Puget Sound, the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Georgia Strait.

The tribes sought a court order requiring the Coast Guard to consult with the Fisheries Service on a new shipping traffic plan, with permanent measures to “ensure against jeopardy, prevent adverse modification of critical habitat, and minimize incidental take.”

“Killer whales are revered by our people. They are part of our ancestral marine ecology and continue to be very important to our culture. They now face their biggest threat to date: the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline,” Marie Zackuse, Tulalip Tribes chairwoman, said last year.

Read the full story at the Courthouse News Service

 

Coast Guard cites fishing boat for illegal foreign captain

January 1, 2018 — HONOLULU — The U.S. Coast Guard said Friday it found a foreign worker acting as the captain of an American-flagged commercial fishing vessel in federal waters off Hawaii.

The crew of the U.S. Cutter Oliver Berry boarded the unnamed vessel on Dec. 19 and issued a citation after they suspected a foreign national was acting as the captain and operating the boat, the Coast Guard said in a statement .

It’s illegal for a foreign national to operate a U.S.-flagged commercial vessel.

The Coast Guard said the vessel was cited for a violation known as a “paper captain.” The Coast Guard Hearing Office will review the violation and consider further legal action.

Officials boarded a total of six Hawaii-based commercial fishing vessels during a 10-day patrol. They issued eight violations.

A 2016 Associated Press investigation revealed the Hawaii fleet operates under a loophole in federal law that allows owners to use foreign laborers with no U.S. visas to work in the fleet.

While most U.S. fishing fleets are required to have 75 percent U.S. citizens as crews, the Pacific boats that target highly migratory species like tuna are allowed to have only one American, the captain, aboard.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at AM970

 

Search called off for missing fishermen from the Misty Blue

December 9, 2017 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — The Coast Guard has suspended the search for two missing fishermen near Nantucket, announcing tonight they searched a 1,605 square-nautical-mile area but could not find the men.

A state police dive team may have also discovered the sunken boat, the Misty Blue, department spokesman Dave Procopio said.

“Through the use of … sonar search teams located a large object underwater believed to be the vessel,” Procopio said in a statement.

“Weather and ocean conditions prevented troopers from diving onto the target. Conditions tomorrow are expected to be similar and will preclude diving. The current plan is for State Police divers to return to that area on Thursday and dive onto the target detected by sonar to confirm whether it is the vessel and assist further as needed,” he added.

Less than one month before the Misty Blue sank in the frigid waters of the Atlantic, a Fairhaven fisherman filed a $1.5 million lawsuit charging he was seriously injured in September as a result of the captain and crew’s negligence and the commercial vessel’s “unseaworthiness.”

Read the full story at Boston Herald

An emotional day for family, friends of lost Misty Blue crew

December 6, 2017 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Authorities believe they have located the Misty Blue underwater but not the two crew members who went missing after the 69-foot surf clam harvester overturned Monday night, according to Chad Brayton, the vessel manager for Atlantic Capes Fisheries Inc.

Details of what happened remained scarce Tuesday as the Coast Guard and four fishing vessels continued scouring the waters about 10 miles off Nantucket looking for the two Misty Blue crew members.

Misty Blue’s Captain Eric Arabian, 44, and a crew member, Colby McMullen 22, were rescued by the fishing vessel Enterprise on Monday night and are “fine,” Brayton said. Arabian and McMullen were taken to St. Luke’s Hospital Tuesday evening to be checked out after the Coast Guard brought them back to shore.

The search for Michael Roberts, 44, and Jonathan Saraiva, 32, continued throughout Tuesday as the Coast Guard kept assets in the water overnight. Coast Guard Petty Officer Andrew Barresi said at first light Tuesday, the Cape Cod air station launched an ocean sentry aircraft to aid in the search.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard Times