Nantucket Archives - Page 16 of 19

Massachusetts: Jack Spillane: In gratitude for fishermen

December 11, 2017 — “They that do down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;

These see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep.”

— Psalm 107

Misty Blue.

In the wake of its tragic destiny, even the name seems to betoken sadness.

Misty Blue, of course, could also bring to mind peace and beauty. And surely there was a time when the rugged guys who worked the surf clammer on a gentle Atlantic day thought about their boat that way.

In New Bedford, we’re well familiar with the ever-present danger of making a living on the sea. And yet, every time it happens, every time a boat goes down, it takes our breath away.

How? How? How?

Did they have time to get away? No. Could we have possibly done more for them? No.

The initial reports Monday night were that two fishermen had been rescued 10 miles southeast of Nantucket, but two remained missing.

The 69-foot Misty had put out a distress call at 6:10 p.m. and by 6:30 she was said to have rolled over and sunk. The public details of what happened are still sketchy.

Eric Arabian, 44, Michael Roberts, 44, Jonathan Saraiva, 32, and Colby McMullen, 22, were a crew and they should be listed together as a crew.

Arabian, the captain, and McMullen, were rescued by the fishing boat Enterprise and physically are said to be fine. Or as fine as they can ever be after such catastrophe.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

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

Massachusetts: 2 rescued, 2 missing as Coast Guard searches for Misty Blue off Nantucket

December 5, 2017 — NANTUCKET, Mass. — Two crew members of a New Bedford-based clammer were rescued and two remain missing Monday night, as the Coast Guard continues its search for the 69-foot vessel that went down in the waters off Nantucket earlier in the evening.

A distress call was received at 6:10 p.m. from the Misty Blue out of New Bedford, according to Coast Guard Petty Officer Andrew Barresi.

A good Samaritan in the area picked up two crew who may have been in a life raft, Barresi said. The Coast Guard said as of 10:30 p.m. the other two crew members were still missing.

The vessel is owned by Atlantic Capes Fisheries Inc, which is headquartered in Cape May, New Jersey and operates facilities in Massachusetts, according to Bob Vanasse of Saving Seafood who said he spoke with an Atlantic Capes official who confirmed it was a part of its fleet. The official told Vanasse that two crew members were wearing survival suits before the vessel “went over” and the other two were putting their survival suits on as the incident occurred.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard Times

Federal Regulators Conduct Fishing Net Testing for Flounder

September 15, 2017 — WASHINGTON — A National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research project in the Northeast was recently conducted to test the efficiency of different sweep types of fishing nets.

The team targeted summer flounder from Long Island to Nantucket and red hake in the western Gulf of Maine off Cape Ann.

Preliminary results show that smaller fish were caught more often using a chain sweep.

Read the full story at CapeCod.com

Access to Surfclam (Spisula solidissima) Fishing Grounds Studied by SCeMFiS Scientists in Research Survey Cruise Southeast of Nantucket Island

August 15, 2017 — BOSTON — The following was released by SCeMFiS:

The scientists of the Science Center for Marine Fisheries (SCeMFiS) recently completed a survey of the surfclam fishery area southeast of Nantucket Island to provide information regarding surfclam stock status and habitat to ensure continued resource access by local surfclam vessels. Surveys were successfully conducted in 4 days aboard the F/V Mariette sailing from New Bedford, MA.

Chris Shriver of Galilean Seafoods in Bristol, Rhode Island commented – “We believe this survey will assist the federal managers of the surfclam industry to preserve traditional surfclam fishing areas and to assist in opening new areas for the vessels to harvest surfclams so we can supply the public with sustainable and healthy clam chowders and clam strips, while protecting the marine habitat.”

Data will be reported to the SCeMFiS Industry Advisory Board at the Fall 2017 meeting in Cape May, New Jersey, with a final report by Spring 2018 and will be considered by the National Marine Fisheries Service Northeast Fisheries Science Center (“NEFSC”) Survey Design Working Group at their September meeting. If necessary, reporting will be accelerated as required to provide input to the New England Fisheries Management Council (“NEFMC”) Omnibus Habitat Amendment 2 (OHA2) decision making process. Data collected from this cruise will contribute both to ongoing efforts to (1) preserve access to the local resource by the small boat surfclam fishermen, and (2) ensure a well informed and scientifically based decision by the NEFMC concerning delineation of Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) area closures.

SCeMFiS scientific projects are unique in that they respond directly to the scientific needs of the fisheries managers in collaboration with the commercial fishing industry while upholding strict quality scientific standards and procedures. SCeMFiS partnerships include academia, government agencies, non-profits, trade organizations, and industry members. The Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS), the University of Southern Mississippi (USM) are lead academic institutions and SCeMfiS is part of the National Science Foundation’s Industry/University Cooperative Research Center program. Other participating partners include Atlantic Capes Fisheries, Bumble Bee Seafoods Incorporated, Garden State Seafood Association, Intershell International Corporation, LaMonica Fine Foods, Lund’s Fisheries Incorporated, National Fisheries Institute Clam Committee, National Fisheries Institute Scientific Monitoring Committee, National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Northeast Fisheries Science Center, Omega Protein, Seafreeze Limited, Sea Watch International, Surfside Seafood Products, and The Town Dock.

Read the release at SCeMFiS

Endangered right whales seeing catastrophic die-off in New England, Canadian waters

The deaths of dozens of whales may be the result of a migration to less-protected areas because of lack of food in the Gulf of Maine.

August 15, 2017 — The North Atlantic right whale, the world’s second most endangered marine mammal, is having a catastrophic year in the waters off New England and Atlantic Canada, and scientists from Maine to Newfoundland are scrambling to figure out why.

At least a dozen right whales have been found dead this summer in the worst die-off researchers have recorded, a disastrous development for a species with a worldwide population of about 500.

“Just imagine you put 500 dollars in the bank, and every time you put five in, the bank takes 15 out,” says Moira Brown, a right whale researcher with the New England Aquarium who is based in Campobello Island, New Brunswick. “This is a species that has not been doing well, even before we had all the dead whales this summer.”

Canadian authorities have documented 12 dead whales in the Gulf of St. Lawrence since June 7, though it’s possible that two carcasses that weren’t recovered after their initial sighting were counted twice. Two more of the rare, slow-moving whales were found dead off Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, bringing this summer’s mortality to between 12 and 14 whales, more than 3 percent of their total population.

Humans appear to have been the immediate cause of at least some of the deaths. Necropsy results have been issued for just four of the whales found off Canada, showing one had become entangled in snow crab fishing gear and three were apparently struck by ships.

The whales deaths have prompted Canadian officials to impose emergency restrictionson shipping and snow crab fishermen in parts of the Gulf of St. Lawrence – the vast body of water bounded by New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Labrador and eastern Quebec – and an urgent effort by researchers to figure out what happened.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

NOAA Fisheries Announces Extension of Voluntary Speed Restriction Zone South of Nantucket to Protect Right Whales

July 31, 2017 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The voluntary vessel speed restriction zone south of Nantucket, MA has been extended and enlarged to protected an aggregation of four right whales sighted in this area on July 28, 2017.

Mariners, please avoid or transit at 10 knots or less inside the area.

Nantucket, MA zone coordinates:

41 33 N
40 54 N
070 35 W
069 42 W

This voluntary speed restriction zone is in effect through August 12.

Find out more about all the dynamic and seasonal management areas where speed is restricted.

Learn more about how to reduce vessels strikes of whales.

You can also get recent right whale sightings and the latest acoustic detections of right whales in Cape Cod Bay and the Boston shipping lanes. Or, download the Whale Alert app for iPad and iPhone.

Remember that approaching a right whale closer than 500 yards is a violation of federal and state law. Please report all right whale sightings to 866-755-NOAA (6622)

DON CUDDY: An independent fisherman struggles to hang on in an uncertain fishery

July 24, 2017 — It was 4 a.m. as I crossed a deserted Sagamore bridge but the night sky was already beginning to lighten.

When I turned into the lot on School St. in Hyannis I could see the boat, its white hull splashed with green from the glow of the starboard running light. I clambered aboard.

On the Angenette, a 40-foot wooden dragger built in 1946, Captain Ron Borjeson waited along with his grandson Trent Garzoni. Lost amongst the tourist hordes and tricked-out sportfishing boats crowding the Hyannis docks these are guys you don’t notice anymore — independent commercial fishermen, struggling to pursue their traditional livelihood. Reductions in the catch limits and rising expenses are constant worries. The fluke quota was cut by 30 percent last year and again this year, while just to tie up in Hyannis for the season costs eleven grand.

We headed out to Nantucket Sound just as dawn broke. The inshore squid season ended on June 1. Ron got eighty-six days out of that and now he is into fluke. In state waters, he can take three hundred pounds daily though no fishing is permitted on Fridays or Saturdays.

After steaming for about an hour to the chosen ground we made the first tow. It was quiet except for the throb of the diesel. The sky was clear, the sea sparkled and the breeze was like a caress. On such a morning it was easy to feel the tug of the seafaring life. We hauled back and a representative cross-section of our multispecies New England fishery spilled from the dripping net.

We easily filled two totes with fluke, white side up to keep them pristine. There were baskets for keeping sea bass, conch and scup. There is no limit on scup but if Angenette lands 500 pounds the price is 65 cents per pound and if they bring in 1400 pounds it drops to 50 cents so there you go.

Read the full opinion piece at the New Bedford Standard-Times

NOAA Fisheries Announces Continuation of Voluntary Speed Restriction Zone South of Nantucket to Protect Right Whales

July 18, 2017 — The following was released by NOAA:

The voluntary vessel speed restriction zone south of Nantucket, MA has been extended to protected an aggregation of three right whales sighted in this area on July 16, 2017.

Mariners, please avoid or transit at 10 knots or less inside the area (map below).

Nantucket, MA zone coordinates:

41 32 N

40 53 N

070 29 W

069 36 W

This voluntary speed restriction zone is in effect through July 30.

Find out more about all the dynamic and seasonal management areas where speed is restricted.

Learn more about how to reduce vessels strikes of whales.

You can also get recent right whale sightings and the latest acoustic detections of right whales in Cape Cod Bay and the Boston shipping lanes. Or, download the Whale Alert app for iPad and iPhone.

Remember that approaching a right whale closer than 500 yards is a violation of federal and state law. Please report all right whale sightings to 866-755-NOAA (6622)

Questions? Contact Jennifer Goebel at 978-281-9175 or jennifer.goebel@noaa.gov