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How can Southeast Asia benefit from the new U.S. policy on illegal fishing?

January 11, 2021 — In September 2020, the United States Coast Guard (USCG) released a new USCG IUUF Strategic Outlook. The USCG created such a comprehensive position and strategy in reiterating the U.S.’s strong commitment to the war against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, known as IUUF, all over the world. The document recognizes IUUF as the biggest threat to maritime security, even more dangerous than piracy.

The document shows that IUUF has a huge impact not only on fisheries in the U.S. but also on fisheries stocks all over the world. For instance, it shows that 93% of the world’s major marine fish stocks are classified as fully exploited, overexploited, or significantly depleted, and that it also results in tens of billions of dollars of lost revenue for legal fishers every year.

Indeed, IUUF has been a huge threat to all countries all over the world. In Southeast Asia particularly, IUUF has been a major challenge. In Indonesia alone, there are several estimates for how Indonesia suffers from IUUF. It is estimated that Indonesia suffers $3 billion in losses annually from IUUF. Mas Achmad Santosa, CEO of the Indonesian Ocean Justice Initiative (IOJI), an NGO, argues that the huge prevalence of IUUF in Indonesia is because of the economic benefit from IUUF, and weak governance and law enforcement.

During Susi Pudjiastuti’s tenure as Indonesia’s minister of maritime affairs and fisheries, Indonesia took serious measures in combating IUUF. The policy of sinking foreign fishing vessels that conduct IUUF in Indonesian waters was claimed to be effective in reducing IUUF practices in Indonesia. Susi, who left office in 2019, also actively championed globally at many international conferences for IUUF to be recognized as a form of transnational organized crime.

Read the full story at Mongabay News

Senator Cantwell Touts Coast Guard Wins in Final NDAA Bill, Provisions Supporting USCG Women and Families

December 11, 2020 — The following was released by The Office of Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA):

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) authored and helped secure key Coast Guard and environmental priorities in the Coast Guard Reauthorization Act, which passed the Senate today by a vote of 84-13 as part of the final National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2021. The Coast Guard Reauthorization Act includes provisions to promote the recruitment and retention of women in the Coast Guard, formally authorize six polar icebreakers, strengthen oil spill prevention measures, and establish new protections for Southern resident orcas. The legislation was passed by the Senate Commerce Committee last July and included in this year’s NDAA. The NDAA passed the House of Representatives earlier this week by a vote of 335-78.

Provisions Cantwell helped secure as part of the Coast Guard Reauthorization Act will:

Support Coast Guard women and families

  • The legislation makes significant improvements to the Coast Guard policies needed to recruit, retain, and invest in women in the Coast Guard. A 2019 report titled Why Do Women Leave the Coast Guard, and What Can Be Done to Encourage Them to Stay? made a number of recommendations to help improve retention of women in the Coast Guard. The bill requires the Commandant implement these recommendations.
  • The bill creates two new advisory boards to support women throughout their Coast Guard careers, from the academy to leadership. Both advisory boards would bring recommendations to support women serving in the Coast Guard directly to the Commandant to ensure women’s voices are heard.
  • The legislation requires the Coast Guard to create a public strategy to improve leadership development and improve the culture of inclusion and diversity in the Coast Guard. The bill also includes a number of reforms to improve diversity and inclusion at the Coast Guard Academy.
  • It also creates new programs and resources to improve access to child care for Coast Guard families, which women have identified as a key barrier to long-term success in the Coast Guard.
  • The bill establishes a public-private partnership pilot program to expand access to childcare facilities for Coast Guard children in underserved areas.
  • It also establishes procedures to enable more Coast Guard family child care centers to be established in off base housing, creating entrepreneurship opportunities for interested spouses as well as additional childcare options for Coast Guard families.
  • Senator Cantwell has worked to improve access to medical care for Coast Guard members and families, especially for members serving in remote locations. This directs the Government Accountability Office to do a thorough analysis to identify access barriers to medical care for all Coast Guard members and families, especially members stationed in remote areas.

In a speech on the Senate floor on Tuesday, Cantwell highlighted the impact these reforms could have on women serving in the Coast Guard: “[We are] Instituting new reforms within the Coast Guard to really help and empower women… and to make sure that they have what they need, [including] vital child care opportunities for Coast Guard families. And to make sure there is zero tolerance in the approach to any kind of sexual assault or sexual harassment.”

Authorize six icebreakers and advance U.S. Arctic leadership

  • The legislation formally authorizes six icebreakers, including three heavy icebreakers that the Coast Guard intends to homeport in Seattle.
  • U.S. currently has only has two operational polar icebreakers, while Russia has fifty-three icebreakers and Canada has seven.
  • Icebreakers are critical to protecting U.S. interests in the polar regions, gathering data for scientific research, and responding to oil spills in some of the world’s most remote areas. And as climate change has increasingly melted Arctic sea ice, the Arctic regions have increasingly become important to commercial activity—shipping via the Northern Sea route can decrease shipping transit times by as much as two weeks.

Read the full release here

People from Maine to Alaska raise thousands for families of fishermen lost at sea

December 4, 2020 — More than $100,000 has been raised to support the families of four Maine fishermen who were lost at sea last week.

The Coast Guard suspended its search off the coast of Provincetown, Mass. last Tuesday night.

Jeff Matthews, Ethan Ward, Mikey Porper, and Bobby Blethen were all on board, according to officials.

A GoFundMe page set up by the family that owned the vessel has raised upwards of $110,000.

“We have set up this page to support the families of the F/V EmmyRose and to ease their financial burden,” Rosalee Varian, whose father owns the boat, wrote on the page. “These four families lost a husband, a father, a son, a grandson, a brother, and a nephew right before the holidays. These families need all the love and support that our community can give.”

Read the full story at News Center Maine

BANGOR DAILY NEWS: Supporting Maine fishermen in tragedy and triumph

November 30, 2020 — “They that go 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.”

Those words are from the Bible’s Psalm 107. Some of them are also engraved on the Fisherman’s Memorial in Gloucester, Massachusetts, honoring lives lost at sea.

Tragically, it seems that four more Maine fishermen have been lost. The Coast Guard suspended its search on Nov. 24 for the missing crew of the Emmy Rose, a Portland-based commercial fishing vessel that was en route to Gloucester when it sank in the early hours of Monday, Nov. 23.

All four of those crewmembers are from Maine: skipper Robert Blethen, Jeffrey Matthews, Michael Porper and Ethan Ward.

“The decision to suspend a search is never an easy one,” said Capt. Wesley Hester, search and rescue mission coordinator for the Coast Guard’s First District. “We extend our condolences to the friends and loved ones of these fishermen during this trying time.

A candlelit vigil was held in Portland Wednesday night. Thousands of dollars have already been raised to support their families. Public officials have spoken out.

Read the full opinion piece at the Bangor Daily News

MAINE: Portland fishing community mourns the crew of the Emmy Rose

November 27, 2020 — Members of Portland’s fishing community gathered on the city’s waterfront Wednesday night to remember and honor the four Maine men who were lost at sea when the Emmy Rose sank off Cape Cod early Monday.

Candlelight vigils were held on the Maine State Pier and on the Portland Fish Pier, with roughly 100 people between both sites talking about the men, their lives and their devotion to fishing.

At the Maine State Pier, family and friends placed candles around a makeshift memorial that said, “Family is the anchor that holds us through life’s storms.” At the Portland Fish Pier, candles were placed in front of the fishermen’s memorial that says, “In memory of those lost at sea.”

The 82-foot Emmy Rose, which was based in Portland, sank early Monday roughly 22 miles northeast of Provincetown, Massachusetts, where 30-knot winds were whipping up 6- to 8-foot waves.

The Coast Guard suspended its search for the boat Tuesday evening.

Read the full story at Central Maine

EAGLE-TRIBUNE: Another tragedy underscores fishing’s dangers

November 25, 2020 — It was almost exactly a year ago that a scalloper out of New Bedford sank, taking the lives of three men on board and adding to the long roll call of people who die each year to put flounder, scallops and haddock on the table.

Tragically, that toll continued to go up this week with word the Emmy Rose, a Portland-based fishing boat, sank in high winds and rough seas off the coast of Provincetown. Although the U.S. Coast Guard was continuing to search for the four crew members, the empty life raft and debris found Monday morning near the last known location of the vessel left little reason for hope.

Fishing has always been a dangerous job. Even with improvements in technology, emergency location devices, life rafts and survival suits, the quest for seafood has pushed fishermen and some women farther out to sea in often treacherous and unpredictable weather. The Emmy Rose disappeared at a time when the wind was gusting to 30 mph or more, and seas were reportedly 6 to 8 feet – conditions severe enough to force a rescue helicopter to return to base.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health regularly documents the dangers of working conditions in many industries. Working on a commercial fishing boat means working in a hazardous environment. It’s strenuous work with long hours and in all kinds of weather – often on a slippery, rolling work surface with heavy equipment and many moving parts.

Read the full opinion piece at The Eagle-Tribune

Coast Guard suspends search for missing fishing vessel crew

November 25, 2020 — The Coast Guard said Tuesday it called off the search for the four-member crew of a Maine fishing boat that sank off Massachusetts.

The Coast Guard searched an area of approximately 2,066 square miles for more than 38 hours, Capt. Wesley Hester said in a release.

“The decision to suspend a search is never an easy one,” Hester said. “We extend our condolences to the friends and loved ones of these fishermen during this trying time.”

The 82-foot (25-meter) Emmy Rose, based in Portland, Maine, went down about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northeast of Provincetown, Massachusetts, around 1:30 a.m. Monday. It was heading for Gloucester, Massachusetts.

Read the full story at ABC News

Maine Fishing Community Mourns Loss of 4 Fishermen at Sea

November 25, 2020 — Maine‘s commercial fishing community is mourning the loss of four fishermen who went missing when an 82-foot (25-meter) fishing vessel sank off Provincetown, Massachusetts.

The Coast Guard said Tuesday it called off the search for the crew of the Portland-based Emmy Rose that sank early Monday morning while en route to Gloucester, Massachusetts. The four men aboard were all Maine fishermen, authorities said.

The Sustainable Harvest Sector, a group of 100 fishing vessel owners and operators, identified the crew members as Robert Blethen; Jeff Matthews; Michael Porper and Ethan Ward. Members of the fishing community contributed to a GoFundMe for the men’s families that had attracted dozen of donations by Wednesday afternoon.

The fishermen were harvesting groundfish such as haddock. The cause of the vessel’s sinking remains undetermined.

“My heart goes out to the family and community of the fishermen aboard the F/V Emmy Rose,” said Maine Rep. Genevieve McDonald, who is a lobster boat captain.

The Sustainable Harvest Sector said in a statement that it would release information about memorial services for the fishermen when they are available.

Read the full story at U.S. News

Portland-based fishing boat sinks off Massachusetts coast with 4 aboard

November 24, 2020 — The Coast Guard was searching overnight for four crew members who were aboard a Portland-based fishing boat that sank off the coast of Massachusetts early Monday.

The Coast Guard cutter Vigorous, which is home-ported in Virginia Beach, Virginia, would search through the night for the crew members of the 82-foot Emmy Rose, and an HC-144 Ocean Sentry fixed-wing aircraft based at Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod was scheduled to fly over the search area at first light Tuesday, Coast Guard spokeswoman Amanda Wyrick said on Monday night.

The Coast Guard had not released the names of the boat’s captain, its crew, and the boat’s owner by Monday night, but the daughter of one of the crewmen told News Center Maine (WCSH/WLBZ) that she was not giving up hope.

“I just know if he’s out there. He won’t give up,” Reyann Matthews said of her father, Jeff Matthews.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Search on for 4-member crew of sunken Atlantic fishing boat

November 23, 2020 — The Coast Guard is searching for the four-member crew of a Maine fishing boat that sank off Massachusetts early Monday.

The 82-foot Emmy Rose went down about 20 miles northeast of Provincetown, Massachusetts, the Coast Guard said in an emailed statement.

The Coast Guard got the emergency alert around 1:30 a.m. and was on the scene by about 2:30 a.m., Petty Officer Ryan Noel said in a phone interview.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at WPRI

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