Saving Seafood

Safety

Sinking of crab boat comes after decades-long push to improve safety of commercial fishing

January 6, 2020 — The sinking of the crab boat Scandies Rose, which left five crew members presumed dead off the Alaska Peninsula on New Year’s Eve, comes after a decades-long push to make commercial fishing in Alaska safer. Regulation changes have helped drive more safety measures for the historically lucrative industry, but some dangers remain inherent, said Scott Wilwert, the commercial fishing vessel safety coordinator for the Coast Guard in Alaska.

“The hazards are endless,” Wilwert said. Equipment, distance from other boats and harrowing weather all pose dangers.

The sinking of the 130-foot Scandies Rose sent a shock wave through Alaska’s commercial fishing industry, especially among those in the relatively small group that fishes the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska.

Greg Alexander, a veteran of those waters, was a close friend of Scandies Rose captain Gary Cobban Jr. He said Cobban Jr. was a “first-class” captain with a sterling safety reputation who ran with an experienced crew.

Read the full story at Anchorage Daily News

5 crew members feared dead after Alaska fishing boat sinks

January 3, 2020 — Five crew members are feared dead after a crab fishing vessel sank in the frigid waters off Alaska. The Coast Guard announced Wednesday that it had called off the search for those working in one of the most dangerous industries in the U.S.

Two other crew members were rescued after the disaster Tuesday, telling authorities they were the only ones who made it into a life raft, the Anchorage Daily News reported. A press release from the Coast Guard identified them as Dean Gribble Jr. and John Lawler. They were hypothermic and have since been released from a hospital.

The Coast Guard also identified the five crew members who remain missing: Gary Cobban Jr., David Lee Cobban, Arthur Ganacias, Brock Rainey, and Seth Rousseau-Gano. The military branch added that it used helicopters, planes and a boat to look for the missing crew members for 20 hours before calling off the search, because they were not likely to have survived.

“The decision to suspend an active search and rescue case is never easy, and it’s only made after careful consideration of a myriad of factors,” said Rear Admiral Matthew Bell, commander of the 17th district. “Our deepest condolences to the friends and families impacted by this tragedy.”

Read the full story at CBS News

Coast Guard Suspends Search for 5 Missing After Fishing Boat Sinks Off Alaska

January 2, 2020 — After a 20-hour search covering 1,400 square miles, the Coast Guard called off a search for five people who were missing after the fishing boat they were on sank off Alaska, officials said.

The search for the missing crew members was suspended at 6:08 p.m. local time on Wednesday, “after exhausting all leads and careful consideration of survival probability,” according to a statement released early Thursday morning.

“The decision to suspend an active search and rescue case is never easy, and it’s only made after careful consideration of a myriad of factors,” said Rear Adm. Matthew Bell, the 17th District Commander. “Our deepest condolences to the friends and families impacted by this tragedy.”

Two crew members were rescued after the boat, a 130-foot-long crab fishing vessel called the Scandies Rose, sank near Sutwik Island around 10 p.m. on Tuesday with seven aboard, the Coast Guard said in an statement.

They were rescued from a life raft by a Coast Guard helicopter, officials said.

The crew members were taken to a hospital and were in stable condition, said Petty Officer Second Class Melissa McKenzie of the 17th District.

Read the full story at The New York Times

U.S. Coast Guard Rescues Four From Grounded Fishing Vessel

December 10, 2019 — On Monday morning, a U.S. Coast Guard aircrew hoisted four fishermen from a grounded commercial fishing boat in Browns Inlet, North Carolina.

Coast Guard Sector North Carolina received a radio distress call at about 0815 hours Monday from a crewmember aboard the fishing vessel Sea Angels. The crewmember reported that they had run aground due to mechanical issues and that the four people on board needed assistance.

A boat crew aboard a response boat from Station Emerald Isle and an aircrew aboard an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Air Station Elizabeth City launched to assist. Once on scene, the aircrew hoisted the four crew members and transported them to Coast Guard Station Emerald Isle.

Read the full story at The Maritime Executive

‘Past point of no return’: Lone fisherman who survived shipwreck off Martha’s Vineyard recalls harrowing ordeal

November 29, 2019 — A fisherman who survived a shipwreck off Martha’s Vineyard spoke Tuesday from his hospital bed about the harrowing ordeal, one day after the United States Coast Guard suspended its search for three of his fellow crewmates.

Ernesto Garcia, 50, was aboard the Leonardo — a 56-foot scallop boat — that capsized and sank on Sunday afternoon as nine-foot swells and gusty winds battered the area. He was later rescued by a helicopter crew.

“We caught a rogue sea,” Garcia told 7’s Jonathan Hall. “A wave came across in the opposite direction in which the waves were running.”

Garcia says the boat was equipped with a device that automatically sends an emergency distress signal when it strikes the water but that three survival suits onboard sunk with the boat.

“We had no time. Half the port side of the boat was down in the water,” Garcia recalled. “We were past the point of no return.”

Crewmate Mark Cormier, 35, was with Garcia when the wave hit.

“The boat took a nice roll and flipped,” Garcia said. “He [Cormier] broke away from me and I ended up in some kind of air pocket.”

Read the full story at WHDH

Lone survivor recalls scallop boat sinking

November 29, 2019 — Three Fishermen were killed at sea this week in a tragedy that will be long remembered by their families and others in New Bedford.

A fourth man survived, and told his harrowing tale to WHDH reporter Jonathan Hall, who interviewed him in his hospital room where he was recovering from hypothermia.

“We took one over the stern,” said 50-year-old Ernesto Garcia, recounting how a “rogue sea” – a big wave moving in a different direction from the others – capsized the 56-foot F/V Leonardo during rough weather on Sunday.

Garcia described how he and his crewmate, 35-year-old Mark Cormier Jr., were plunged into the chilly water. Garcia swam up towards the light, and reached the surface where he found a floatation ring. He and Cormier held onto the ring and swam towards a life raft, but after about 20 minutes Cormier was “face down in the water” and he slipped off the ring, Garcia said.

A signal from the overturned scallop boat had alerted the Coast Guard, and Garcia was pulled out of the water by a helicopter with the help of a rescue swimmer.

The loss is compounded for the family of the boat’s skipper, 51-year-old Jerry Bretal and his 29-year-old stepson Xavier Vega. Those two were near the bridge of the vessel went it went over, according to Garcia, who believes they may still be inside the Leonardo, on the seafloor 250 feet below the surface.

Read the full story at CommonWealth Magazine

Coast Guard ends search for three missing fishermen from capsized boat off Martha’s Vineyard

November 26, 2019 — Scalloper Samuel Pereira was headed back to State Pier on Saturday morning when his boat passed the Leonardo heading out to sea. Over the radio, he said, the two skippers chatted briefly about the forecast, which was predicting fierce conditions.

“The weather was no good for me, because I have a small boat,” Pereira recalled Monday. “He knew it was going to be [sloppy]. But he said he was going to fish slow.”

It was the last Pereira would hear from the boat, a scalloper, or its captain. On Monday, the Coast Guard suspended its search off Martha’s Vineyard for three fishermen missing from the 56-foot Leonardo, which apparently capsized 24 nautical miles from the Vineyard and sank Sunday, with four aboard.

“We will no longer be searching unless a new development happens . . . meaning something is reported that would necessitate reasonable efforts to continue,” said Petty Officer Zachary Hupp, a Coast Guard spokesman.

Read the full story at The Boston Globe

Owner of New Bedford vessel capsized off Martha’s Vineyard fears 3 crew members perished

November 25, 2019 — The owner of a scalloping vessel that capsized and sank in choppy seas southwest of Martha’s Vineyard on Sunday afternoon said the single fisherman found in a lifeboat a few hours after a distress signal was sent is in the hospital.

“The other three fishermen are presumed lost,” Luis Martins, owner of the fishing vessel Leonardo, said Monday morning. “That’s all I can say.”

He declined to provide any names of the crew members.

Coast Guard crews from Air Station Cape Cod were continuing the search for the three missing fishermen Monday morning, with the 87-foot cutter Cobia and 270-foot cutter Escanaba scouring the waters off Martha’s Vineyard while a Jayhawk helicopter searched from the air.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Deadly life at sea: UN partners spotlight depths of danger in fishing industry

November 22, 2019 — The following was released by the United Nations:

“Every hour fishers die doing their job – not just men, women too”, Maria Helena Samedo, chief for Climate and Natural Resources at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), explained at a major conference organized by the agency in Rome, coinciding with World Fisheries Day on 21 November.

“Human rights violations and unacceptable practices at different stages of the value chain are increasing in fisheries and aquaculture”, she added.

Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing leads to over-exploitation of fish stocks, already drained by pollution and climate impacts, and financially burdens honest fishers and the communities that depend on them, FAO and the International Labour Organisation (ILO)  said  in a joint statement at the conclusion of the International Symposium on Fisheries Sustainability.

Beyond injuring biodiversity and economies, IUU casts a dark shadow on already physically-taxing sea labour, with many IUU fishers engaging in transnational crimes, such as human and drug trafficking and piracy.

Read the full release here

Fishing boat burns in Portland, Maine

November 6, 2019 — Just after 9 a.m. EST on the morning of Tuesday, 5 November, the 55-foot steel boat Resolve caught fire at Vessel Services at the Fish Pier in Portland, Maine.

The Portland and South Portland fire departments responded quickly to the 9:30 a.m. EST call and had the fire under control within half an hour.

Read the full story at Seafood Source