Fishing Industry News

Seventy-five years in business is no small feat, especially in an industry that is tougher than most: shipbuilding. Blount Boats is celebrating the impressive milestone this year.Established in 1949, the Warren, R.I. shipbuilder is led today by founder Luther H. Blount’s daughters: president and CFO Marcia Blount and executive vice president / human resources Julie Blount, who see their roles as more than a career. “It’s our vocation,” Julie said. “It’s in our blood!” the sisters said nearly simultaneously.An entrepreneur and inventor by nature, Luther H.

Efren Dominico has been a fisherman in the Bay of Manila in the Philippines for 43 years and survived countless storms, but nothing prepared him for the day when an oil tanker sank off the coast in July and cut him off from his livelihood.The motor tanker Terranova capsized and sank off the tow of Limay, on the western side of Manila Bay, carrying 1.4 million litres of oil, the largest oil spill in the country since 2006.Days later, two more fuel tankers sank off the coast of a neighbouring town…

A Greek-flagged oil tanker carrying 150,000 tonnes of crude that was evacuated by its crew after being attacked in the Red Sea now poses an environmental hazard, the EU's Red Sea naval mission "Aspides" said on Thursday.Houthis, who control Yemen's most populous regions, said on Thursday that they attacked the Sounion oil tanker in the Red Sea, as the Iran-aligned group has been attacking ships in solidarity with Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.Sounion…

Italy on Tuesday appointed a special commissioner to tackle the spread of the blue crab, an aggressive species that is preying on local clams and threatening a lucrative part of national food production.Originally from the western Atlantic, blue crabs have proliferated in several locations around the Italian coast, particularly in the Po river delta in the north, where attempts to curb numbers with large fishing campaigns have had little success.Experts say the blue crabs probably arrived in Italy via shipping ballast water…

The skipper of a U.K. fishing trawler has been been fined and given an eight-month prison sentence after falling asleep during his watch, causing the vessel to collide with another and injuring two crew membersOn January 15, 2022, Maurice Reid of Fraserburgh, Scotland was in charge of the fishing vessel Margaret Anne’s journey when he started to fall asleep. Moments later the vessel collided with anchored fishing vessel Blackbird in the Shoreham area, off the south coast of Sussex…

The U.S. Supreme Court dealt a major blow to federal regulatory power on Friday by overturning a 1984 precedent that had given deference to government agencies in interpreting laws they administer, handing a defeat to President Joe Biden's administration.The justices ruled 6-3 to set aside lower court decisions against fishing companies that challenged a government-run program partly funded by industry that monitored overfishing of herring off New England's coast. It marked the…

The Maritime Safety Committee of the IMO met for its 108th session at IMO Headquarters in London from May 15 to 24, and its outcomes included revising the roadmap for the development of a code to regulate autonomous ships (Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships - MASS).The Committee approved the report of the third session of the Joint MSC-LEG-FAL Working Group on MASS (MASS-JWG 3) and noted the significant progress made to date to develop the draft MASS Code, including the restructuring of chapters and refining the draft provisions.

The Port of Seattle has commenced the renovation of the historic Ship Supply Building at Fishermen’s Terminal, aiming to transform it into a modern Maritime Innovation Center (MInC). This new facility will support the maritime industry by bringing together students, businesses, public agencies, and community stakeholders. The port is partnering with Miller Hull for the construction.“Today’s groundbreaking is a celebration of the Port’s substantial commitment to support innovation as a way to foster the maritime industry’s ability to sustain our region’s blue economy…

The Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) will meet in person for its 108th session at IMO Headquarters in London from May 15 to 24, 2024. The Committee will address the urgent issue of maritime security in the Red Sea area. Since the hijacking of the MV Galaxy Leader in November 2023, which is still detained, there have been over 40 incidents where ships have been threatened or attacked in the Southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. These attacks have targeted seafarers, several of whom have been killed or suffered life-changing injuries.

Equinor has announced the name of its floating offshore wind project off the coast of California, Atlas Wind. The lease area, which lies 60 miles from Morro Bay, has the capacity to provide over 2GW of reliable, renewable power, enough to power 1.7 million California homes once complete.California is poised to become a growing force in the US energy transition with a nation-leading target of 25GW of offshore wind energy by 2045. Approximately two-thirds of the United States’ offshore wind energy potential lies in deep coastal waters…

Belize is developing a pilot project to convert the masses of foul-smelling sargassum seaweed swamping its pristine beaches into biofuel, its prime minister said in a statement published by regional Caribbean bloc CARICOM on Tuesday.Many Caribbean countries depend economically on drawing travelers from around the world to their white sand beaches, but since 2010 heaps of rotting seaweed have been massing on the shores for reasons scientists do not yet fully understand but suspect are related to climate change.Floating sargassum provides shelter and food for marine animals but as it washes asho

Corvus Energy, a company providing zero-emission solutions for the maritime industry, said Monday it had won a contract with Hvide Sande Shipyard in Denmark to supply a complete hydrogen fuel cell system for the training vessel “MS Skulebas.” "This marks a historic milestone for Corvus Energy," Corvus Energy said."The 35-meter fishing and training vessel has the latest technology and commercial fishing systems installed and sets an example of innovation and cooperation within the maritime and education sectors.

Norway/Uruguay-based Pesquera Azul’s has successfully trialed an innovative catch protection cage in whale-rich waters in the southern Indian Ocean. The company says it is a potential game-changer for the longline fishing industry as it grapples with the challenge of whale depredation.The steady increase in the whale population in sub-Antarctic fishing grounds is hampering the longline fishing industry, especially for fatty fish species. Whales have learned to snatch, for example…

Volvo Penta announced it has entered into a new partnership with SVF Panama, part of the SVF Group, to support its customers with marine services in Panama and Costa Rica.In recent years, Volvo Penta has steadily expanded its service and support network, partnering with companies that specialize in marine operations to provide technical support, field service, maintenance operations and parts supply for its customer base across the marine leisure and commercial sectors.“SVF is an ideal partner for Volvo Penta…

A 77-year-old fish factory vessel with a checkered history is reportedly leaking ammonia in Tacoma, Wash.The U.S. Coast Guard said on Wednesday it is responding to the incident on board the U.S.-registered Pacific Producer, a 169-foot-long seafood processing vessel with a long string of health, safety and labor violations.Coast Guard and Washington Department of Ecology crews in HAZMAT suits are currently working to locate leak. The vessel poses no immediate threat to the public…

The UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has highlighted that, on average, crew have under 11 minutes to recover someone who has fallen overboard into cold water before they become unresponsive.An analysis of 20 accidents that occurred between 2017 and 2021 shows that the time decreases as the water becomes colder or the sea state rougher. In some cases, crew had just four or five minutes to coordinate a complex recovery.When examining the rate of successful recoveries…

An emerging technology to fish for lobsters virtually ropeless to prevent whale entanglements is exciting conservationists, but getting a frigid reception from harvesters worried it will drive them out of business and upend their way of life.Injuries to endangered North Atlantic Right Whales ensnared in fishing gear have fueled a prominent campaign by environmental groups to pressure the industry to adopt on-demand equipment that only suspends ropes in the water briefly before traps are pulled from the water.The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch…

Lithuanian ship designer Western Baltic Engineering (WBE) has unveiled its latest trawler design, engineered to meet the demands of the modern fishing industry with an emphasis on high performance, large cargo capacity and crew comfort.WBE’s senior sales manager, Chris Cowan, said, “We’ve created a ‘workhorse’ of a trawler that doesn’t sacrifice crew comfort.”The trawler has a large cargo capacity of 1300m3, LOA of 49,50m and a speed of 12 knots. Designed for 16 crew members, all have single cabins…

Lobsters versus right whales: The latest chapter in a long quest to make fishing more sustainableMaine lobster fishermen received a Christmas gift from Congress at the end of 2022: A six-year delay on new federal regulations designed to protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales.The rules would have required lobstermen to create new seasonal nonfishing zones and further reduce their use of vertical ropes to retrieve lobster traps from the seafloor. Entanglement…

Five developers selected to build the first floating wind farms in U.S. federal watersTo support the California Energy Commission’s planning goals of 2-5 GW of offshore wind by 2030 and 25 GW by 2045 as well as a federal target to deploy 15 GW of floating wind by 2035, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has concluded the auction date for five 33-year leases offshore California. Exhibit 1 summarizes the outcome of the auction and estimates the potential of the lease areas using BOEMs standard power density formula of 3 MW per square kilometer…

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) on Wednesday announced eight draft Wind Energy Areas (WEAs) offshore the U.S. central Atlantic coast for public review and comment. The draft offshore wind areas cover approximately 1.7 million acres offshore North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware The areas' closest points range from about 19 to 77 nautical miles off the U.S. central Atlantic coast. “As BOEM moves forward to identify wind energy areas in the central Atlantic…

The U.S. Coast Guard must do more to improve safety in the extremely dangerous commercial fishing industry, according to a new report from watchdog agency the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).Commercial fishing has one of the highest industry death rates in the U.S., according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Since fiscal year 2011, multiple commercial fishing vessel safety requirements have been enacted. As the principal federal agency for ensuring marine safety, the U.S.

Europe's worst drought in years has pushed the mighty river Danube to one of its lowest levels in almost a century, exposing the hulks of dozens of explosives-laden German warships sunk during World War Two near Serbia's river port town of Prahovo.The vessels were among hundreds scuttled along the Danube by Nazi Germany's Black Sea fleet in 1944 as they retreated from advancing Soviet forces, and still hamper river traffic during low water levels.However, this year's drought…