Saving Seafood

New Bedford Fishing Vessel Collides With Loaded Tankship

May 15, 2018 — NEW YORK — The Coast Guard Sector New York responded to a report of a collision at sea Saturday evening, involving the loaded tankship Tofteviken and the commercial fishing vessel Polaris.

The collision allegedly occurred nearly 30 miles southeast of Bridgehampton, New York.

The Tofteviken was transiting to New York, while the Polaris was transiting back to its homeport in Massachusetts after a night of fishing.

The Polaris, an 84-foot steel vessel built in 2007, suffered damage to its bow and outrigger. There were seven people aboard at the time of collision with no report of injuries. The vessel was able to return to its homeport safely.

The Polaris is homeported in New Bedford, and according to the Boat Database, is owned by the O’Hara Corporation.

The Tofteviken suffered an approximate 30-foot gash along its portside hull. There were no injuries reported to the crew aboard the tankship.

Read the full story at WBSM

 

Fishing company to pay $400,000 penalty following 4,200 gallon fuel spill into New Bedford Harbor

May 8, 2018 — A fishing company will pay $400,000 in penalties after spilling thousands of gallons of fuel into New Bedford Harbor and routinely dumping oily waste overboard, in violation of the Clean Water Act.

In August of 2017, the Challenge — a fishing boat owned by the New Bedford company Quinn Fisheries — sunk while docked on the city’s waterfront, causing a fuel spill that spread over a mile and killed at least five ducks.

The Coast Guard and the U.S. Department of Justice launched an inquiry, and found that the ship sunk when its captain failed to shut off a valve after illegally dumping bilge into the harbor and leaving the boat for the day, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court.

“Discharges of fuel and oily bilge wastes into our nation’s waters have long been prohibited and will not be condoned,” Captain Richard J. Schultz, Commander of the Coast Guard’s Sector Southeastern New England, said in a statement. “These defendants will pay significant penalties and conduct fleet-wide corrective measures for their discharges of oil into New Bedford Harbor and the ocean.”

Quinn Fisheries signed a consent decree agreeing to pay the penalties and correct violations, but did not admit liability for the discharges. The company could not immediately be reached for comment.

Read the full story at MassLive

 

Massachusetts: Region’s emergency responders drill for danger on the seas

May 4, 2018 — The Coast Guard cutter Key Largo was anchored out past Ten Pound Island on Thursday, near the section of Gloucester’s Outer Harbor known as the Pancake Ground.

But for the purposes of Thursday’s mission, the Key Largo wasn’t the Key Largo and it wasn’t a Coast Guard cutter. On this day, as part of an expansive hazardous materials response drill, the Key Largo played the starring role of a rusting old fishing vessel that had hauled up a load of World War II ordinance — talk about bycatch — along with its fish.

The replicated hazmat incident, which closely mirrored a true event that occurred in New Bedford in 2010, was the springboard to a coordinated marine response involving specially trained first responders, harbormaster personnel and about a dozen vessels from the Coast Guard, Gloucester and several other nearby coastal communities such as Marblehead, Beverly, Newburyport and Salisbury.

The drill, organized by the state Department of Fire Services’ Hazardous Material Response Program, helped team members practice their response to an offshore incident possibly involving hazardous materials. It was an exercise designed to test established response protocols, as well as the levels of cooperation among the array of participating agencies.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

 

As US officials step up to protect the right whale, senators ask about Canadian actions

May 2, 2018 — Over the next two months, federal officials will step up patrols in the northeast Atlantic as they look to do more to save an endangered species.

U.S. Coast Guard and NOAA Law Enforcement personnel will monitor for illegally placed fishing gear in the region through 30 June, according to a USCG news release. The air and sea patrols, which started on Tuesday, 1 May, are being done in accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act to limit interactions with North Atlantic right whales migrating into the region.

Officials estimate only 450 such whales are alive, and just a quarter of those are females in breeding age. Last year, NOAA investigated 17 right whale deaths in U.S. and Canadian waters. Of those, officials determined fishing gear entanglements or boat collisions were responsible for seven fatalities.

Coast Guard officials will also patrol the water and inspect lobster and gillnet gear left unattended to further decrease the chances for interaction with the whales.

While the Coast Guard and NOAA ramp up activities, a group of 11 U.S. senators from the region want to make sure Canada is doing everything it can to prevent right whale deaths as well.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

 

Coast Guard, NOAA Increase Efforts to Protect North Atlantic Right Whale

May 5, 2018 — BOSTON — Northeast Coast Guard units and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of Law Enforcement personnel are increasing focus this year on the enforcement of the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan(ALWTRP), to detect and deter illegally placed fishing gear and reduce the likelihood of fatal whale entanglements from occurring.

Under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and in alignment with whale migration patterns, increased operations will run May 1 through June 30 and compromise of more frequent air and sea patrols in seasonal gear closure areas by NOAA law enforcement personnel and Coast Guard patrol boats, cutter crews, and air assets.

Additionally, Coast Guard units across the First District will engage in an operation taking aim on at-sea inspections of unattended lobster and gillnet gear. The goal is to identify and affect the removal of illegally rigged and improperly marked gear in an effort to decrease whale entanglements within New England’s waters.

Read the full story at Cape Cod Today

 

Coast Guard continues to investigate Misty Blue’s sinking

April 4, 2018 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — The Coast Guard continues to investigate and has not determined the cause of the sinking of the Misty Blue, a New Bedford-based fishing vessel that sank in December, a spokeswoman said.

Two fishermen — Michael Roberts, 49, and Jonathan Saraiva, 32 — died when the 69-foot surf clam harvester sank Dec. 4 about 10 miles southeast of Nantucket. Capt. Eric Arabian, 44, and Colby McMullen, 22, were rescued by a nearby fishing Enterprise.

Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Nicole J. Groll said Sector Southeastern New England Marine Causality Division is handling the investigation. She did not say when the probe will be completed, but said these investigations can take as long as a year, depending on the nature of the case.

“The investigators are doing their best to be thorough. After it is finalized, it will need to be reviewed through the Coast Guard investigation chain of command that culminates at Coast Guard headquarters before publication,” she said in an email to The Standard-Times.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times   

 

Massachusetts: Divers recover bodies of 2 missing men from sunken fishing boat

December 19, 2017 — Divers have recovered the bodies of the two missing crewmen of the Misty Blue, a fishing boat that sank 10 miles off the coast of Nantucket on Dec. 4, authorities said Monday.

The first body was recovered at 10:30 a.m. and the second at 4:20 p.m., State Police spokesman David Procopio said. Relatives of the two men expressed gratitude to those involved in the search. In a statement, the Saraiva family thanked “everyone involved in helping to find and bring their son Jonathan and Mr. Roberts home.”

Michael Flynn, a lawyer for Roberts’s widow, said their “thoughts and prayers go out to” Saraiva’s family.

“Mrs. Roberts looks forward to moving through the grieving process and trying to move forward,” he said.

Danny Cohen, president of Atlantic Capes Fisheries, the New Bedford-based seafood company affiliated with the Misty Blue, said the company was “thankful and saddened” that the men’s bodies had been recovered.

Read the full story at the Boston Globe

 

Police identify New Bedford man reported missing from Miss Shauna

July 6, 2017 — Police identified the New Bedford fisherman, who presumably fell overboard on Monday, as Thomas Quintin Jr.

The 55-year-old was born into a fishing family. Both his grandfathers were fishermen and both were lost at sea, according to police, who also said his father, two nephews and sister all fished.

Quintin entered the fishing industry at 17 and was the captain of a New Bedford-based vessel for more than two decades before working aboard the Miss Shauna, police said.

According to Quintin’s Facebook page, he received a 200 ton masters license from Northeast Maritime Institute in 2014-15. A deeply religious man, he graduated from Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School in 1979.

The Coast Guard suspended a 28-hour search for Quintin on Wednesday.

Sabrina Clarke, of the Coast Guard, said a variety of reasons contribute to a suspension of a search including weather, water temperature and safety equipment the person may have been wearing.

The search for Quintin in the Atlantic Ocean began Monday afternoon after he didn’t report to his post when the Miss Shauna was about 25 miles south of Montauk, New York. He was last seen by the crew at around 4 p.m.

The vessel has since returned to New Bedford, according to an employee at Miss Shauna LCC at 1 Cape St.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Crew member overboard on New Bedford-based fishing vessel Miss Shauna

July 5, 2017 — The search for a man overboard on the New Bedford-based fishing vessel Miss Shauna continued for a second day Tuesday off Long Island, the Coast Guard said through spokesman Petty Officer Steve Strohmeier.

As of 9 p.m. Tuesday four Coast Guard units continued to search the Atlantic, with the help of some nearby fishing boats, a Coast Guard spokesman said.

The unidentified 55-year-old man went overboard Monday afternoon when the boat was about 25 miles south of Montauk, New York. The crew member was last seen at 4 p.m., and according to the Coast Guard he was not wearing a life jacket. He was reported missing a half-hour later, The East Hampton Star reported.

The crew member did not report for watch, could not be found on the Miss Shauna, and was presumed overboard, the star reported.

The search was being coordinated from the sea and air and Coast Guard vessels, private fishing boats and Coast Guard aircraft taking part.

The Miss Shauna is a 51-foot vessel owned by Miss Shauna LLC, with an address on Cape Street in New Bedford’s waterfront, with Paul Weckesser listed as manager.

No one answered the phone at Weckesser’s office or Acushnet home on Tuesday afternoon.

The Coast Guard deployed a number of assets in the search for the crewmember. They include a 470-foot motor lifeboat from station Montauk; a second one from Station Shinnecock; an MH-60 Jayhawk Helicopter from Air Station Cape Cod; an HC-144 Ocean Sentry plan from Air Station Cape Cod; an HC Hercules plane from Air Station Elizabeth City; the Coast Guard Cutter Shrike; and the Coast Guard Cutter Juniper.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Maine Marine Patrol to Focus on Boating Under the Influence

June 29, 2017 — The following was released by the Maine Department of Marine Resources:

The Maine Marine Patrol will be on heightened alert for those violating Maine’s boating under the influence laws during the national Operation Drywater weekend, June 30-July 2.

Operation Dry Water is a national awareness and enforcement campaign coordinated by the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA) that focuses on deterring boaters from boating under the influence (BUI) of drugs or alcohol.

“Marine Patrol Officers will be conducting patrols on Maine’s coastal waters from Kittery to the Canadian border focused on boaters who may be under the influence of alcohol or drugs,” said Maine Marine Patrol Major Rene Cloutier.

“They will also be taking every opportunity possible to provide information on safe boating practices and the importance of wearing life jackets.” According to US Coast Guard statistics, 83 percent of drowning victims in 2016 were not wearing a life jacket.

Nationally, alcohol use is the leading contributing factor in fatal boating accidents. According to the US Coast Guard, in 2016, where the primary cause was known, alcohol use was the leading factor in 15 percent of boater deaths.

“Boating under the influence is a 100 percent preventable crime,” said Major Cloutier. “The Maine Marine Patrol strongly encourages boaters to stay safe by staying sober while boating.”

“Environmental stressors such as wind, noise, and the movement of the boat while on the water intensify the effects of alcohol or drug use on an individual while boating. Boaters can become impaired more quickly on the water than on land.”

Operating a boat with a blood alcohol content (BAC) of .08 or higher is against the law in Maine. BUI laws pertain to all vessels, from canoes and rowboats to the largest ships.

In 2016, 538 local, state, and federal agencies participated in Operation Drywater. Over the three days law enforcement officers contacted 131,054 boaters, made 367 BUI arrests, and issued 18,659 citations and warnings for safety violations.

In 2016 the Maine Marine Patrol participated in Operation Drywater details in the Saco River, Portland Harbor, the Sheepscot, Kennebec, St. George, and Penobscot Rivers, Southwest Harbor, Northeast Harbor, Swan’s Island, Frenchboro, and Bass Harbor.  A total of 115 boats were checked with 305 people on board.

“Fortunately we didn’t have to remove anyone from the water for BUI,” said Major Cloutier. “But it provided us with an opportunity to communicate with a lot of people about the importance of boating sober and safely.”

For more information on Operation Dry Water, please visit operationdrywater.org.