Saving Seafood

Navy, Coast Guard deploy on Western Pacific fisheries patrol

March 31, 2023 — The USS Mobile, a 418-foot Navy littoral combat ship, began a joint patrol in the Western Pacific Ocean March 20 to combat illegal fishing and maritime crime, according to Navy officials.

Homeported at San Diego, Calif., as part of the Navy’s Third Fleet, the Mobile carries a Coast Guard team to conduct maritime law enforcement, as part of the Oceania Maritime Security Initiative.

“OMSI is imperative to ensure that the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission Convention (WCPFC) agreement is upheld within the Indo-Pacific region,” said Cmdr. Richard Skinnell, the Mobile’s commanding officer. “This initiative allows us the opportunity to work jointly with other branches of the military as well as our allies and partners.”

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

U.S. Coast Guard Asks for Four More Cutters for Indo-Pacific Missions

March 28, 2023 — The U.S. Coast Guard is taking on an expanded role in the Western Pacific, deploying cutter crews and working with the U.S. Navy to establish an American presence in far-flung island nations. The USCG’s law enforcement and search-and-rescue capabilities dovetail neatly with this mission, and the service wants to double down with four more cutters specifically for the Indo-Pacific.

In its unfunded priorities list for Congress for FY2024 – an indicative set of recommendations for appropriators, above and beyond the budget request – the Coast Guard included a line item for $400 million to fund the acquisition of four more Fast Response Cutters (FRCs), the smallest and most numerous of its seagoing vessels. The FRC has proven itself on long-distance patrols out of Hawaii and Guam, performing tasks above and beyond what might be expected of a 150-foot patrol boat. The class has a nominal range of 2,500 nm, but is capable of 3,500 nm at reduced speed, and it is ideal for fisheries patrols in the wide EEZs of the Pacific islands.

Read the full article at The Maritime Executive

U.S. Navy Sends LCS to Enforce Fishing Laws in Western Pacific

March 28, 2o23 — The U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard have kicked off a joint patrol in the Western Pacific on a mission to enforce fisheries laws, combat transnational crimes, and enhance security in the region.

Participating in the patrol is the U.S. Navy’s Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Mobile (LCS 26) with an embarked Coast Guard law enforcement team.

As a Secretary of Defense program, OMSI enhances maritime security and domain awareness by allowing Coast Guard law enforcement personnel to conduct operations from Navy ships. This collaboration ensures that the U.S. military fulfills its security commitments to its allies, partners, and friends.

Read the full article at gCaptain

Coast Guard, NIOSH offering $6 million in safety funding

December 1, 2022 — Commercial fishing has a reputation as a risky occupation. Being sleep deprived on a boat surrounded by moving machinery on an unpredictable ocean appeals to a certain type of person, but most will reduce risk if they can.

To that end, a Coast Guard program administered by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) aims to assist by offering $6 million in grants to improve safety in the fishing industry.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

MASSACHUSETTS: Investigation continues into fisherman who went overboard on New Bedford scalloper

August 24, 2021 — Blue Harvest Fisheries CEO Keith Decker told the Standard-Times last week that crew members met with Coast Guard officials when they returned to port on Tuesday. He said they were waiting for the investigation to determine what happened.

There were seven crew members on the vessel, including the captain and the man who went overboard. Decker said the man was a first-time crew member with Blue Harvest who had never fished with them before. However, he had heard the man was an experienced fisher.

The man was woken because he had the next watch, but never showed up, according to the Coast Guard. The agency said the man was not wearing a life jacket, which is only required under federal law for children under 13 years of age while the vessel is underway.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Coast Guard Suspends Search For Man Who Fell Overboard Off Nantucket

August 17, 2021 — The Coast Guard said Tuesday it has suspended the search for a man who fell off a fishing vessel southeast of Nantucket late Sunday night.

The search was suspended after combing 1,444 square nautical miles, the Coast Guard said in a tweet.

The fishing vessel Blue Wave out of New Bedford contacted the Coast Guard late Sunday night when the 36-year-old man failed to report for his night watch and could not be found on the boat, Petty Officer Ryan Noel said.

The man was not believed to be wearing a life jacket. His name has not been made public.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at WBUR

Coast Guard Searches For Man Who Went Overboard Off Nantucket

August 16, 2021 — The Coast Guard said Monday it is searching for a man who went overboard southeast of Nantucket.

The Coast Guard in a tweet said the man was on the fishing vessel Blue Wave out of New Bedford.

The vessel contacted the Coast Guard late Sunday night when the 36-year-old man failed to report for his night watch and could not be found on the boat, Petty Officer Ryan Noel said.

The search is taking place about 70 miles southeast of Nantucket.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at WBUR

Coast Guard Hosting NY Bight Port Study Public Meetings

August 6, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

From June 29, 2020, through June 28, 2021, the Coast Guard conducted the Northern New York Bight Port Access Route Study (NNYBPARS) and is requesting public comments on a draft version of the study report. The goal of the study is to evaluate the adequacy of existing vessel routing measures and determine whether additional vessel routing measures are necessary for port approaches to New York and New Jersey and international and domestic transit areas in the First District area of responsibility.

The First Coast Guard District will host three in-person public meetings starting next week and invites the public to provide oral comments.

  • U.S. Coast Guard Station Point Judith Boathouse, Narraganset, RI
    August 10 at 4 p.m. EST
  • Montauk Fire District, Montauk, NY
    August 24 at 4 p.m. EST
  • Portuguese Holy Ghost Society, Stonington, CT
    August 25 at 4 p.m. EST

Meeting details can be accessed here.

Comments on Study Due August 30, 2021

The First Coast Guard District will consider all comments and material received on or before August 30, 2021. To submit your comment online, go to this link on Regulations.Gov and then click “Comment.”

Questions?

Contact Craig Lapiejko, Waterways Management at the First Coast Guard District, (617) 223-8351

How the Fishing Fleet Served the U.S. Coast Guard in WWII

July 26, 2021 — In the early days of World War II, demand skyrocketed for vessels to fill the needs of the U.S. sea services. The Coast Guard was no exception as they competed with the U.S. Navy and U.S. Army for new construction as well as privately owned ships. Facing a high demand for vessels, the service turned to the U.S. fishing industry as a source for its cutters. These emergency acquisitions included East Coast trawlers, whalers from both coasts, and East Coast menhaden fishing vessels, such as the Emergency Manning vessel Dow (WYP 353).

During World War I and World War II, the menhaden fishing fleet became a ready reserve for the Navy and Coast Guard. Both services needed small, shallow draft vessels for coastal convoy escort, mine planting, minesweeping, and anti-submarine net tending duty. Many of these vessels were purchased or leased, while others were loaned to naval forces by fishing businesses as their contribution to the war effort.

Menhaden fishing vessels were designed to harvest schools of small fish in coastal waters, primarily in the Chesapeake Bay. Their very long and narrow design sported a distinctive plumb bow, elevated pilot house to spot large fish schools, a center hold to store the catch and low freeboard to haul full fishing nets on board the vessel. The ungainly design of these vessels was well suited to harvesting large quantities of fish in sheltered waters, but not high seas combat operations.

The Coast Guard patrol vessel EM Dow, formerly the Menhaden-type fishing vessel Annie Dow, was a wartime acquisition under charter (lease) by the Coast Guard. Vessels like the Dow were given the prefix “EM” for “Emergency Manning.” In preparation for military service, these fishing vessels were armed with one or two one-pound cannons fore and aft. This addition usually required sections of iron plating on the deck, which added to the pilothouse and parts of the superstructure for crew protection. Additional communications gear and combat equipment contributed to making the cutter top heavy. These additions had a negative impact on the stability and sea-keeping qualities of these would be fighting vessels. In World War I, the USS James, a menhaden fisherman converted to Navy minesweeper, capsized in a gale off the French Coast.

Read the full story at The Maritime Executive

7 rescued by U.S. Coast Guard from fishing boat off Jersey Shore

July 26, 2021 — The U.S. Coast Guard rescued seven people from a 40-foot sport fishing boat far off the Jersey Shore on Sunday as bad weather moved into the area, officials said.

The crew of the boat activated their Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon, known as EPIRB, just after 1 p.m. as heavy rain, wind and waves of nearly 10 feet began flooding the vessel about 60 miles southeast of Cape May, the U.S. Coast Guard said in a statement Monday.

The Coast Guard at Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina sent an MH-60 Jayhawk and an HC-130 Hercules aircraft, while station Indian River in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware dispatched a a 47-foot motor life boat after being notified by watch standers at Coast Guard Sector Delaware Bay.

All seven people on the fishing boat were hoisted onto the aircraft and brought to Elizabeth City for treatment by local EMS, the Coast Guard said.

Read the full story at NJ.com