Mayday Hoaxes

Mayday!

The word every member of the boating community is familiar with, but also a word they almost dread to hear.

Tragic when it is a true call, appalling when it’s a hoax.

When a mayday is called it stuns the fishing community. “Oh my God. Who? Where? How? Why?” Every nearby vessel immediately joins the search. Personnel are stood up –paramedics, emergency rooms, law enforcement, etc.

Right now, the U.S. Coast Guard is investigating a hoax call that wasted up to $100,000 in taxpayers' money and many hours of rescuers' time early this past week-end.

Bob Coster, a Coast Guard civilian search and rescue controller said that a hoax caller, using a handheld radio, claimed his boat, the "Chum Bucket," was disabled by Buoy 10 at the entrance to the Columbia River.

"For the next three hours he sank, then he made it to shore and was the only survivor, then he said he was going to swim back out, because he could see his boat still partially afloat, and then he changed his mind," Coster said. "We pinned him down to the vicinity of Hammond, but he quit transmitting before we could really pin him down."

The Coast Guard searched for hours in the dark of night with helicopters from Air Station Astoria and motor lifeboats from Station Cape Disappointment, in Ilwaco, Wash., said Coster, only to determine the mayday was false.

"We even put the air crew into fatigue status," he said. Fatigue status is standby mode for a second shift. The Coast Guard investigates many false alarms each year, but only a handful are later classified as hoaxes, he said.

The idiots that call in hoaxes endanger all boaters by reducing the agency's ability to respond to real distress cases. They risk the lives of Coast Guard crews and cost taxpayers millions of dollars in wasted resources. Law enforcement and medical personnel are made ready instead of going about their normal jobs. Time and money are wasted by people who join in the effort, putting their own lives at risk and on hold.

Intelligence specialists investigating the Saturday hoax have a decent chance of catching the caller, because search and rescue coordinators traced his signal to a Hammond neighborhood, Coster said.

If caught convicted, he could face serious time in prison, fines of thousands of dollars and might have to reimburse the agency for the cost of its response.

Then there are the false flare sightings. Well intentioned people will often call in a vessel in distress when in fact it was fireworks. Regardless of the situation, the Coast Guard launches its search and rescue.

Before locking gates, improved lighting and port patrols, vessel break-ins were a fairly common occurrence. Almost every boat owner I know had their boat broken into on multiple occasions. As a rule the perps were teen-age boys and their favorite item to steal? Flares and smoke canisters. Go figure.

Here is a recent press release from the Coast Guard about tracking the callers:

COAST GUARD UNITS IN WASHINGTON STATE USING NEW COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM

On December 22, 2006, Coast Guard units in Puget Sound and along the Washington coast took operational acceptance of a new maritime communications system known as Rescue 21. This system harnesses global positioning and cutting edge communications technology enabling the Coast Guard to perform all its missions with greater agility and efficiency.

This advanced command, control and communications (C3) system provides coverage in the Puget Sound, the Straits of Juan de Fuca, and the west coast of Washington, north of the Quinault Indian Reservation. This maritime "911 "system replaces a 30-year-old legacy communications system and improves the Coast Guard's search and rescue mission capabilities.

Components of the system include advanced direction-finding technology, which helps the Coast Guard identify hoax callers, saving time and taxpayer money and helping prioritize real emergencies. Rescue 21 technology also helps close coverage gaps and will narrow search areas, speeding rescues.

The new C3 system also improves interoperability with local, state and federal agencies as well as with first responders.

Boat Tossed Like Clothes in a Washer

After a season of late starts, spotty catches and lousy weather, the four-man crew of the Starrigavan was returning to port with more than 5,000 pounds of crab. "We were starving, and we finally got crab" said Sam Johnson, a crew member. "After all this season, we were finally catching crab." "And we were actually going to get paid," added Gregory Phillips. Phillips was called "Green," short for greenhorn, because this was his first season at sea.

It was at about 9 p.m. that the Starrigavan started across the bar. The news media has described it as: “the notoriously dangerous stretch of water at the entrance to the jetties where bay waters meet head-on with the churning ocean. At that place, sand tends to build up, making the area shallow and even more volatile.” In the last 3 years there has been a total of 14 lives lost on that bar. In 2004, the charter fishing boat Taki-Tooo went down there, killing 11. And in February 2006, the commercial fishing vessel Catherine M, floundered while heading in, killing three fishermen. Both of these were deemed operator error in the subsequent investigations.

The U.S. Coast Guard closed the bar to recreational and small vessels on Thursday, due to 11-foot seas and 17-mph winds. But that should not have been a problem for the Starrigavan. "It should have been safe enough for a vessel of that size to get through unless something went wrong on the boat," said Shawn Eggert, a Coast Guard spokesman. "That they closed the bar at all indicates the weather was a little rough."

The first of several 25-foot waves set the boat rocking, Phillips said. Then, as the skipper struggled to right the boat and get back out to safer waters, Johnson saw a second wave coming and yelled for his mates to brace themselves. "I was looking it right in the eye," Johnson said. "It was like it was coming after us."

There was just enough time for Opheim to radio one mayday before the wave hit. "Ever see a wave control a 92-ton vessel?" Phillips asked. "Look inside a washing machine and watch the clothing tumble over and over and over."

The third wave sent the Starrigavan over. It has been said that the vessel rolled three times before the waves slammed it up against the south jetty's rocks. Inside the wheelhouse, it was chaos. "Skinny was pinned," Johnson recalled. "Greg and me pushed him out the door."

On deck the men struggled with their survival suits while the ocean kept them pressed against the deck railing. "Skinny was against the rail trying to put his on, and it just sucked it off of him," Johnson said of the waves. "Mine, I was tied up across my chest, just tangled in this mess of wires."

The men managed to get off the rails and up against the wheelhouse bulkhead, which offered some protection from the seas. But the boat was shattered, and the upper deck was slamming into them, Phillips said.

The Coast Guard arrived by boat within a half hour of the call, but reaching the Starrigavan by water was far too dangerous. Waiting for the rescue helicopter en route from Astoria was all that they could do.

Until he was lowered onto the pitching, nearly vertical deck of the crab boat, U.S. Coast Guard rescue swimmer Rob Emley had never saved anyone. But on Thursday night, the lives of the four men aboard the Starrigavan rested squarely in the hands of the 22-year-old newlywed from Southern California.

The rescue team first lowered a radio to the boat and wanted to lower a basket to the men and have them climb into it themselves, but crew member Kenneth "Skinny" Venard was too badly injured. With a cable attached to the harness he wore, Emley was dropped to the deck, fighting breaking waves and 80 mph winds whipped up by the helicopter rotor.

By then, the men, wearing only shirts and jeans, were suffering from hypothermia, and Venard's condition was deteriorating. Both the crew members and rescue swimmer began working to get Venard into the basket. "I had Skinny by the legs," Johnson said. "The diver had him by the arms. We didn't see the wave coming. It ripped Skinny right out of my hands. He smashed into the other side of the boat. When I saw him again, Skinny was in bad shape. I thought if we could just get Skinny out first, we were all going to make it."

The waves kept pounding the boat, but the rescue swimmer just wouldn't quit. "He took a beating like I've never seen before," Johnson said. "He just wouldn't give up. He kept telling us, 'You guys are going to be OK. I'm here, you are going to make it.' He did an amazing job," said Johnson. "To get on the deck of the boat itself, with those waves beating at us, that was a feat in itself. That took a man with braveness like a lion. I am shocked it was his first save."

Currently the boat is on the south side of the south jetty at the bar entrance, about 500 yards from shore. It sits upright in about 12 feet of water. Divers have checked the boat. While there is some fuel leakage, no environmental impact is feared.

As Johnson recalled the events that claimed his buddy, his voice gave way to emotion. "He was a good spirit, always willing to offer his shirt off his back," Johnson said. "On New Year's Eve, we were on the boat. No one had any money. He spent his last $5 to get me a calling card to call my wife."

Debra Burrus, owner of a boat Venard had worked aboard for 11/2 years says friends in Newport have started a collection for Venard's three children in Colorado. "He was the most awesome kind of guy," she said. "He was the kind of guy who put all his friends first. He gave all and took nothing."

Greenhorn Gregory Phillips wants to go back out fishing. Johnson isn't so sure. "To tell you the truth, at this moment I'm afraid to even step on a dock," Johnson said. "I'm tired of walking by benches and seeing my friend's names on them. I thought I was next. Skinny didn't deserve that. I wish it would have been me."

Stay tuned.

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F/V Starrigavan Wrecked on Tillamook Jetty

Sad news today Fishies.

From various news accounts:

50-year-old fisherman, Kenneth Venard of Newport, died after the F/V Starrigavan wrecked on the south jetty of Tillamook Bay near Garibaldi on the Oregon Coast. The three other crew members had hypothermia but were in good condition early today. The survivors are the skipper, Kirk Opheim, 23, of Burlington, Wash., and crew members Gregory Phillips, 23, of Siletz, and Sam Johnson, 39, of Seattle.

The boat was trying to cross the Tillamook bar about 9:30 p.m. Thursday. A witness saw it list heavily and its lights go out. A survivor reported the vessel was hit by three 20-foot waves and rolled three times, said Petty Officer Shawn Eggert.

The witness called 911, and at about the same time an emergency signal was transmitted from the EPIRB aboard the Starrigavan to the Coast Guard. “All of a sudden a big wave hit his boat and the lights went out and that’s when we called 911. And didn’t hear anything else until the chopper got here and found them,” said Josh Cravenho, a witness.

A helicopter lifted the injured Venard from the boat. He was taken to the hospital, where he went into cardiac arrest and died. Early reports stated that Venard was in his 70’s and had suffered severe head and chest injuries.

According to Coast Guard records, the steel-hulled vessel is homeported in Garibaldi. It's owned by Fire Island Fisheries Corp. out of Kirkland, Wash. You may also remember this boat and its skipper from an earlier blog. The 23 year old skipper was arrested for operating the vessel under the influence of intoxicants last month.

A survivor reported the vessel was hit by three 20-foot waves and rolled three times, said Petty Officer Shawn Eggert of the Coast Guard. Eggert said the winds at the time were reported at about 17 miles an hour, waves at 11 feet. "It's possible they were hit by rogue waves," he said. Eggert said that at the time of the wreck, the bar was closed to recreational boaters and uninspected passenger vessels, but open to commercial fishing vessels such as the Starrigavan.

Bars are buildups of sediment where a river slows as it meets the ocean, often creating treacherous conditions for skippers.

Deputies and investigators from the Coast Guard were interviewing the survivors, said Lt. Adam Birst, the senior investigative officer in Portland.

A Coast Guard environmental team that planned to inspect the vessel found Friday that it had apparently broken loose from the jetty and sunk, said Coast Guard Petty Officer Chris Buehl of Astoria. "They did locate some debris," he said, and a helicopter was to be dispatched to investigate.

When it was hit Thursday night, the boat was returning to port at about low tide. When the water rose toward high tide on Friday morning, it might have gotten high enough to free the boat from the jetty. It isn't surprising that a steel-hulled vessel the size of the Starrigavan could be tossed about. "You get sideways and get hit by a couple of waves, and that's all it takes,” said Tillamook Co. Sheriff Anderson.

From the US Coast Guard Press Release:

Coast Guard Station Tillamook Bay has dispatched a 47-foot motor lifeboat crew and Air Station Astoria has launched an HH-60 helicopter crew to respond to the emergency. Station Tillamook Bay is located on the north side of Tillamook Bay in the town of Garibaldi, Ore. Tillamook Bay is home to a moderate size fishing fleet and has a tricky entrance bar that breaks frequently.

The station has five search and rescue boats, including: two 47-foot motor lifeboats , a 25-foot response boat, a 23-foot utility boat and an 18-foot flood response skiff. The 47-foot motor lifeboats have been designed for operations in heavy surf conditions and are capable of being rolled over by breaking swells and re-right themselves with minimal damage.

Air Station Astoria is co-located at the Astoria Regional Airport in Warrenton, Ore. The missions of the Air Station include Search and Rescue, Law Enforcement, Aids to Navigation Support, and Environmental Protection.

The HH-60 "Jayhawk" is a twin-engine, medium-range recovery helicopter capable of reaching a top speed of 180 knots. In addition to its use in search and rescue operations, this highly versatile aircraft is used to perform law enforcement, military readiness, and marine environmental protection missions.

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Farmed Fish Bait

Hello Fishies!

The dungeness crab fleet gave it a whirl as bait - the crab would not touch it. Now we all know what scavengers crab are. Crab are Mother Nature's garbage men, they are notorious for eating anything and everything. But farmed salmon was left untouched in the pots.

What does that tell you?


Stay tuned!


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F/V Early Dawn & F/V Fierce Allegiance

Hello Fishies!

The Central Bering Sea Fisherman Association is yet another of those irritating CDQs.

Here is a bit of news, from the CBFA website, regarding Deadliest Catch boats past and present:

In June 2003, CBSV LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of CBSFA, purchased interest in four fishing vessels. CBSV LLC now owns 30% in each of the F/V Fierce Allegiance and F/V Early Dawn. CBSV LLC also owns 40% in each of the F/V Shishaldin and F/V Ballyhoo. These vessels have a diversified fishing history, which was one of the main reasons the CBSFA BOD and management approved investing in these vessels. In addition to having a good fishing history in opilio and Bristol Bay red king crab fisheries, the Early Dawn, Shishaldin and Ballyhoo also have fishing histories in the Aleutian Islands brown king crab fisheries.

Besides having an excellent crab history, the Fierce Allegiance is also an American Fisheries Act (AFA) approved pollock catcher vessel with its own share of onshore pollock.

Stay tuned!

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All Geared Up & No Place to Go

Hello Fishies!

This just in from a wheel house in Dutch Harbor:

The people who own the seafood processing plant in St. Paul decided to raise the lease fee - sky high. The company that leased it said – no thanks, too rich for our blood, we will use the floating processors instead.

Well just as the boys were untying their boats to head out to the crab grounds they got some bad news. Yep, you guessed it. The Stellar Sea had been en route to process the northern shares of the opilio catch when she caught fire.

So there they sit, still tied to the dock in Dutch. There are some boats that are fishing the southern shares, and some that are cod fishing. At least they have something to do!

Wouldn’t it be nice if they were allowed to deliver their catch where they wanted to? Again, thanks a lot for the processor allocation Sen. Stevens…..

From Trident Seafoods website:

Trident's impressive St. Paul operation is the largest crab production facility in the world. St. Paul is one of two Pribilof Islands which sit in the middle of the Bering Sea, approximately 600 miles southwest of Anchorage. The St. Paul plant concentrates production on a variety of Alaska crab species including king crab, snow crab and hair crab. Its capacity is a half-million pounds of crab per day. The plant also processes halibut, cod, and other available species. Generally the facility remains open for four months out of the year and employs between 20 and 400 people.

From the Anchorage Daily News:

With the Stellar Sea sidelined, the Bering Sea seafood industry faces an uncertain season -- particularly in the opilio crab harvest.

"If they can turn it around in two weeks, I don't think it's going to have any major impact," seafood analyst John Sackton said. "But if it's out for longer than that, that will have an impact, and there will have to be some adjustment."

The vessel is under contract with Seattle-based processor Peter Pan Seafoods Inc. and was supposed to process most of the crab from the northern area of the fishery this year. Seattle-based Trident Seafoods Corp. has a floating processor working in the Bering Sea, but that vessel is currently processing cod.

Stay tuned!

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F/V Ocean Challenger, Part 3

Sand Point, population 940, is in the Aleutian Island chain, 570 miles southwest of Anchorage. Residents there said the weather had been severe with unpredictable hurricane-like winds. The Aleuts call the general area "The Mother of Winds”. According to Trident Seafood cannery manager Armand Audette, “The weather has been day to day a moving target. On Tuesday, it changed very radically. Right now our harbor is chock-full with boats because of the weather.”

“It’s come as kind of a shock to us, we are all affected by this kind of thing. We are pretty tight-knit group here. I do think they were caught off guard by the weather," continued Audette, "I guess everyone knows there are risks. There is peril whenever you go out in rolling seas," he said. The close-knit fishing town is devastated at the loss. "There is the feeling that there but for the grace of God go I."

The boat, a longliner home-ported out of Adak, had been fishing for black cod near the Sanak Islands and was traveling back to the Aleutian fishing town of Sand Point when it disappeared.said vessel owner, Barry McKee. The 50-ton fishing vessel’s home port was Westport until 2005. It was sold that year to Barry McKee of Seattle, whose company is called the Omega Boat Co.

What happened? Until the Coast Guard releases their findings (which could be as long as a year or more), or the survivor, Kevin Ferrell feels up to speaking of it, we can not be certain. We do know the boat was headed for port, possibly “running with the seas.” She could have taken a rogue wave. Depending on the distance between the waves - and that can be critical, she could have taken water across her bow and had a following sea come over her stern, all at about the same time. This could have caused her to founder, her load of fish to shift, the hatch cover come off and took water into her hold. She could have been riding up a swell when her stern was hammered with a following sea, causing her bow to dig into the swell. Her scuppers could have clogged and the deck held the water. Anything is possible.

God bless them and their loved ones.

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F/V Ocean Challenger Part 2

From The Seattle Times

They called the crew the "Virginia Boys" because they were known for their Southern charm and for peppering their conversations with "yes ma'ams" during the years the Ocean Challenger sailed from Westport.

Many of the Virginia Boys had already left, said Bobbi Foland. Two of them — Kevin Ferrell, 28, of Lynchburg, Va., and Walter Foster, 26, originally of Tennessee but who had been living in Westport, remained on.

While most of the Virginia Boys came and went around Westport over the years, Foster was the exception. Several years ago he met Laurie Cowell, fell in love and moved into a little house in Westport. It was home when he wasn't at sea or visiting his family in Tennessee.

"He was a super guy," said Dalie Morgan, bartender at the Knotty Pine. "Just a nice young man."

"He was a real Southern gentleman, a great guy with a big heart," said Valerie Bender, housekeeper at the Islander Resort. "He liked going out on the boat, the water, the salt air, the waves. He just loved to fish. He'll be greatly missed."

The survivor, Kevin Ferrell, 28, of Lynchburg, Va., had worked on the boat for about four years, including a period of time when it was based in Westport.

Foster was a “a trusted sailor” brought on board by the skipper, Hasselquist, who was pretty picky when it came to hiring, Foland said. “Cowboy had worked off and on for us for several years. He was a good skipper, a good fisherman and he always had a great crew,” she said.

From The Dutch Harbor Fisherman

Once in a great while, someone comes along who leaves a lasting impression on those who are lucky enough to cross paths with them.

And so it was with Cowboy, who lost his life Oct. 18 with two other crewmen, when the Ocean Challenger sank off Sanak Island, while fishing their last black cod trip for the year.

Cowboy, born David R. Hasselquist in Omaha, Nebr., in 1955, came to Alaska after high school, arriving in Ketchikan. He landed his first commercial fishing job aboard the Ocean Storm, owned by Dobbs Miller, who nicknamed him “Cowboy” because of the out-of-place cowboy boots and large belt buckle he wore.

That first job earned him $10,000. He was hooked and never looked back.

In those early years, Cowboy fished the Southeast coast on various boats including the Specter, the Gem and others, visiting ports from Hydaburg to Pelican. From 1986 through 1997, he worked for Alaska Sablefish aboard the

IUDI B as a deckhand and until 1991 moved up the ranks to alternate skipper, fishing the Aleutians and Bering Sea.

In 1987, Cowboy met and married the love of his life and soul mate, Robin. He adopted Robin’s son, Rooney, and daughter Kana, feeling his family was now complete.

In 2002, Cowboy took Robin fishing for the first time aboard the Misconception, in 2003 on the Zenith and on the Melissa Lynn in 2005. He would often say, “I have the best of both worlds when I can fish and have my wife aboard.”

Together, they purchased the Eclipse in 2004 and fished halibut. Son Rooney fished his first season alongside his father and mother on the Ocean Challenger in January and February of 2006.

It would be the last time they fished together as a family.

Fishing was good this last season; he delivered 260,000 pounds of halibut to the Pribilofs for owner, Barry McKee. “Nothing to it but to do it,” was his favorite saying, and were words he lived by. Full of knowledge and wisdom, there wasn’t much he couldn’t fix or figure out. Courage, respect, resourcefulness, dedication, loyalty, self-reliance, discipline, fairness, hard work, a caring heart, and love of family and fellow man, speak of this man we knew as Cowboy.

So long, Cowboy, we’ll miss you forever and keep you in our hearts. From all of us whose lives you touched.

Cowboy leaves behind his wife, Robin of Hoonah, daughter Kana of Anchorage, son Rooney and his wife, Jamiann, of Juneau, and numerous brothers and sisters in-law from Pennsylvania and Missouri.

I have not been able to gather information on the missing crewman, Steven Esparza. Please, if you can, send it my way so that I may honor him as well.

Stay tuned.

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F/V Ocean Challenger (Part 1)

“Does anyone know where the love of God goes, when the waves turn the minutes to hours?” *

It was about 10 o’clock in the morning of October 18, when the 600 foot car-carrier, M/V Overseas Joyce, heard the mayday call from the 58 foot F/V Ocean Challenger. The freighter was close enough for her crew to watch with shock as the fishing boat deployed her life raft in seas nearly 3 stories high. Shock gave way to horror as the smaller craft capsized, sending all of her crew into the frigid waters of the Bering Sea.

The master of the Overseas Joyce immediately relayed the distress call and location - approximately 60 miles south of Sand Point - to the US Coast Guard. Air Station Kodiak launched a C-130 air plane, an HH-60 Jayhawk rescue helicopter, and the USCG cutter Munro. The car carrier and a second freighter, the R.J. Phifer, a 500-foot container ship, remained to help in the search.

The Jayhawk arrived on scene approximately an hour after the call. The conditions were reported as 50-knot winds, 30-foot seas and a temperature of about 45 degrees. Brutal on land, deadly at sea.

The crew of the Jayhawk, locating the only man wearing a survival suit, lowered a rescue basket into the frenzied waters and hoisted , Kevin Ferrell, 28, originally of Lynchburg, Va. to safety.

The Coast Guard rescue swimmer reached the skipper, 51 year old David “Cowboy” Hasselquist of Hoonah, and 26 year old Walter Foster, of Westport, Washington only to have them pronounced dead by the flight surgeon.

Still missing is Steve Esparza, 26, of Kodiak, Alaska.

Coast Guard C-130 pilot Lt. Jerred Williams said he arrived on scene in the afternoon with a second crew to look for the missing man. “The waves were so high you actually got white caps at the top of the wave,” he said. “And, then, with the wind streaking across the blue water, and the white turbulence everywhere, it made it very challenging to find a person in the water.”

The high waves and wind eventually made the search almost impossible by air so only the Munro continued the search for Esparza into the evening. The Coast Guard called off the search just before 8 p.m. that Thursday night. The search covered approximately 1,730 square miles, and lasted 46 hours and 20 minutes.

Kevin Ferrell was flown to the Cold Bay Clinic, about 50 miles away, then to an Anchorage hospital.

Stay tuned.

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* from "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"

More Lobstermen!

That's right Fishies!

Discovery Channel will be bringing us more Lobstermen.

Filming has recently wrapped up on the east coast of the US. Apparently last years mini-series about lobster fishing was VERY highly rated. Whether this was due to its time slot with the Deadliest Catch, or on its own merits, I do not know.

It is always entertaining and educational for me to get a look at a fishery that I am not all that familiar with. It is my hope that you will approach this new series in this manner as well.

Enjoy the Lobstermen!

Stay tuned!

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President Bush Screws Fishermen Of Bristol Bay, Alaska

Hello Fishies!

Well, heck. With a title like that, why don’t we just get a rope?

For those of you who are not familiar with the topic, you can access this article at the Alaska Report:

President Bush Screws Fishermen Of Bristol Bay, Alaska

My goodness, where on earth to start with this one?

I would like to point out that this article has NO by line and the dateline is from Washington, D.C. Ahh yes D.C. – one of the places that fisherman just love to hate. Home of the bureaucrat desk jockey and environmental lobbyist.

The first paragraph implies that ALL fishermen are in direct opposition – but do you see one single quote from any one in the industry? Of course not.

The second part quite clearly states: “Before any drilling, there will be scope for studies and public comment said the Interior Department, which stressed the need for energy security.”

Studies and public comments. Why, just imagine! Some one is going to actually take a good long look at the situation. Who’da thunk it? And all people will be allowed to comment (let’s just hope they are sound judgments based on facts, not emotions). Security….why whatever will we do? You mean they, (gasp) actually are concerned about keeping things safe?

This article is just one more of the millions cranked out by hysterical enviro-whackos. It is designed to sway public opinion with its ghosts of oil disasters past. Its additional agenda is, as usual, to castigate the President and continue their drum beat of how horrible he is.

Lions and tigers and bears oh my!

Give me a break.

Stay tuned

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PS There isn’t much of anything a fisherman detests more than a bunny hugging liberal.

Discovery Channel's Emmy-Nominated Series DEADLIEST CATCH Returns for a Third Season in April

Hello Fishies!
Here is a press release for you!

- Submersible Cameras and Chase Boat Footage Give Viewers New Perspective
                       on Life on the Bering Sea -

 SILVER SPRING, Md., Jan. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- The fleet of crab-fishing
boats that captivated nearly three million viewers each week on Discovery
Channel's Emmy-nominated series DEADLIEST CATCH returns in April for a
third season of daring adventures on the high seas. Viewers once again
voyage to the Bering Sea and follow the brave captains and crew of eight
crab-fishing vessels as they struggle against the treacherous weather
conditions doing one of the deadliest -- and most lucrative -- jobs in the
world.
   This season, which is currently being filmed as boats head out to catch
opilio crab, viewers experience life above and below the Alaskan waters.
Submersible cameras capture unprecedented underwater images of crabs
migrating on the bottom of the Bering Sea and entering the crab pots.
   In addition, footage shot from a "chase boat" shows just how diminutive
these crab boats actually are in the midst of the Bering Sea. For the first
time, viewers see the fishing vessels being tossed around by the high winds
and rough seas. The unique angle will also offer a new perspective of the
fishermen working the rails, setting and hauling the massive 800-pound crab
pots as their boats fight the crashing waves.
   The second season of DEADLIEST CATCH was the highest rated series on
Discovery Channel in 2006.
   DEADLIEST CATCH is produced for Discovery Channel by Original
Productions. Thom Beers and Jeff Conroy are executive producers. For
Discovery Channel, Paul Gasek is executive producer.

Stay tuned!

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Vessel Monitoring System

Greetings Fishies!

A VMS system uses electronic transmitters, placed on fishing vessels that transmit information about the vessel’s position to enforcement agencies via satellite. This allows someone on land, monitoring such transmissions, to determine if a vessel is in a closed area.

A VMS is now required on nearly every type of commercial fishing vessel operating in US waters. Additionally, most countries world wide are implementing mandatory VMS requirements in their fishing fleets.

In a satellite based communications system, data is transferred from the vessel to a satellite and then to an earth station. The earth station then forwards the data to the monitoring agency via a secure public data network. The accuracy of the GPS system has greatly improved and is now accurate to less than 10 meters. Nonetheless, it is important to note that VMS provides only position, speed and course of vessels.

At first VMS was greeted with a great deal of anger and suspicion. One writer in a national fishing publication likened it to the ankle-bracelet used to monitor offenders. After all, how would YOU like being under the watchful eye of law enforcement 24/7? Eventually it became apparent that not only did it act as a deterrent, but did indeed catch fisheries violators. Many of those caught with the aid of the VMS have had their permits revoked, vessels seized and fines totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars.

While the following information is regarding Alaska crab, it is applicable to ALL vessels with VMS.

The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson Stevens Act) authorizes the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) to prepare and amend fishery management plans for any fishery in waters under its jurisdiction. National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) manages the crab fisheries in the waters off the coast of Alaska under the Fishery Management Plan for Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Crab (FMP).

A vessel that harvests crab in the crab fisheries, including a vessel harvesting CDQ or Adak allocations, would be required to have onboard an operating NMFS-approved VMS transmitter at any time when the vessel has crab gear on board. These transmitters automatically determine the vessel’s location several times per hour using Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites and send the position information to NMFS via a mobile communication service provider.

The VMS transmitters are designed to be tamper-resistant and automatic. The vessel owner should be unaware of exactly when the unit is transmitting and would be unable to alter the signal or the time of transmission.

The VMS information is used primarily by the NOAA Fisheries, Office for Law Enforcement, Alaska Region (OLE) for enforcement purposes and by the NMFS, Alaska Region, Sustainable Fisheries Division for fishery management purposes. The information is used to track the location of vessels participating in the fisheries. To participate in the VMS program, a vessel owner must:

1. Purchase a NMFS-approved VMS transmitter and have it installed onboard the vessel. VMS transmitting units range in price from $1,000 to $5,800, with transmission costs of $1.00 to $5.00 per day. Transmission costs will likely increase with the length of the trip.

2. Before participating in a crab fishery, activate the VMS transmitter. Upon completion of purchase and installation of the VMS units, and prior to participation in a crab fishery, the participant must submit to NMFS by FAX a VMS check-in report. The information on this report will enable NMFS to verify that the VMS system is functioning and that VMS data are being received.

3. A vessel’s transmitter must be transmitting if:

The vessel is operating in any reporting area off Alaska;

The vessel has crab pots or crab pot hauling equipment, or a crab pot launcher onboard; and

The vessel has or is required to have a Federal crab vessel permit for that crab fishing year.

4. Make the VMS transmitter available for inspection by NMFS personnel, observers, or an authorized officer;

5. Ensure that the VMS transmitter is not tampered with, disabled, destroyed, or operated

improperly; and

6. Pay all charges levied by the communication service provider.

The last thing you want to be caught at is turning your VMS off or otherwise tampering with it.

Stay tuned!

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Captain of doomed vessel set to change plea

Greetings Fishies!

Captain of doomed vessel set to change plea

By DAVID KROUGH, kgw.com Staff

The captain of a ship that sunk off the Oregon Coast killing three people was set to change a manslaughter plea to guilty, his lawyer said Tuesday.

Capt. Richard Oba was in charge of the fishing vessel Sydney Mae II when it was hit by strong waves and sunk in September of 2005 near the mouth of the Umpqua River.

The Coast Guard had closed the Umpqua Bar at the time and denied the captain's requests to enter because of the weather, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

The Coast Guard rescued two people, two of the passengers' bodies were recovered and a third was never found.

The NTSB ruled that the likely cause of the accident was the captain's decision to get too close to the bar, and his failure to ensure the passengers were wearing life jackets, which they were not at the time.

Oba's lawyer said despite the planned plea change scheduled for December 15, his client admitted to being negligent but not reckless and he disputed the government's account of the sinking.

Sentencing is set for March.

Stay tuned!

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Putting Out the Trash

Hello Fishies!

Many posts ago I promised you some information on both the VMS that each boat is required to carry, and some more tidbits about some of the Deadliest Catch participants. Here is one example:

When the captain and crew of a certain blue boat decided to dump all of their garbage into the crab pots of the F/V Wizard, (this was NOT a prank), they forgot all about that dear little tracking device known as the VMS. The Vessel Monitoring System tracks all vessels via satellite. It shows where the vessel is and has been, with an amazing amount of accuracy. Foolish, foolish men. But then these guys have had some serious issues in the past, and are not known for their good judgment.

Now aren't we all most curious.....will they show this on the series?

Stay tuned!

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Father of lost skipper tells of tragic capsizing

Hello Fishies

Tonight I share with you an Associated Press article regarding the F/V Ash, which I posted about a while back. I want you to take a break from the “who is the hottest, biggest, best” or whatever. Instead, I would like you to focus on what it must have been like for the men aboard the boat and the witnesses as this tragedy unfolded.

You see my friends and readers, fishermen are real people just like you. They live, love, laugh and cry, have families, hopes, joys and fears. I did not know the men who were lost, this time.

Father of lost skipper tells of tragic capsizing

Associated Press

PORT ORFORD, Ore. -- The Ash, a 43-foot fishing vessel, had never been out crabbing before Saturday, when Captain Robert Ashdown, three crewmen and 70 crab pots headed toward the sea. As the boat crossed the Rogue River bar, the U.S. Coast Guard said, a huge wave struck the bow, followed seconds later by a wave that rushed the stern. The crew sent a distress message about 3:40 p.m., but the vessel, previously a research boat, capsized and sank.

The Coast Guard searched for the men Saturday evening and again Sunday. The search was called off late that afternoon.

The crewmen were identified Monday as Louis Lobo, 39, of Las Vegas; Mark Wagner, 40, of Port Orford; and Joshua Northcutt, 30, also of Port Orford. Wagner was the father of a 6-month-old girl; Northcutt had a 4-week-old daughter.

The captain's father, Michael Ashdown of Port Orford, told The Oregonian newspaper that he was cleaning his salmon gear Saturday when a friend phoned from the jetty at Gold Beach.

"He said, 'Hey the guys are going out, just letting you know,"' Michael Ashdown said. "He told me they were making it just fine." Then the first big wave came. "He said, 'Oh, they got over that one. Another big one's coming,' and then, 'You better get down here, it rolled over.' You can imagine how I felt. "

Ashdown, 68, a commercial fisherman of 32 years and father of three commercial fishermen, rushed to Gold Beach. When he arrived a half hour later, the sea had scattered the boat and its crew.

The Coast Guard said conditions were dangerous the day the Ash sank, with swells at the bar topping 18 to 22 feet. Ashdown, however, said the conditions were not that unusual for fishermen.

"It was rough, but not terribly rough." he said, adding that the crew would have voted whether to go out.

"If anyone didn't want to go they wouldn't," he said. "We had discussed that. If I could have been here, I could have stopped them. In hindsight it is easy to say that."

Ashdown said his 44-year-old son coached high school basketball, volunteered with the fire department and led the local Boy Scout troop. He was the father of two sons and a daughter.

Northcutt was a longtime family friend who fished with the Ashdowns for about eight years, said Michael Ashdown.

Wagner was described as a talkative man who doted on his new daughter, his first child. "Mark was very into his family," said fiance Jamie Justice. "He loved his little daughter. She was his pride and joy."

Justice said Lobo was new to crabbing. "This was his first time out," she said. "He was just learning."

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U.S., CANADIAN COAST GUARDS RESCUE FISHING VESSEL CREW

Greetings Fishies!

Here is a press release from the U.S. and Canadian Coast Guardm dated Dec. 29, 2006.

SEATTLE - Crews from the U.S. Coast Guard and Canadian Coast Guard have rescued the crew of a 58-foot fishing vessel 22 miles southwest of Cape Flattery, Wash.

The four crewmen of the fishing vessel Oak Bay, homeported in Neah Bay, Wash., donned their survival suits as a precaution after the vessel began taking on water at approximately 10 a.m. today.

The Oak Bay is en route back to port with the crew of a 47-motor lifeboat from Coast Guard Station Neah Bay escorting the vessel. The flooding is under control.

The crews of a Canadian Buffalo search aircraft and a Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin helicopter dropped pumps to the crew of the Oak Bay to assist with the flooding. The fishing vessel's pumps were unable to keep up with the flooding.

47-foot motor lifeboat crews from Coast Guard Stations Neah Bay and Quillayute River headed to the scene to assist along with the crew of the Canadian buoy tender Provo Wallace.

The Oak Bay is a 58-foot wooden long liner built in 1944.

Video from this case can be downloaded here.

Stay tuned!

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What do you do with a drunken Sailor?

Happy New Year Fishies!

And in the spirit of the day - here is one of our favorite sea chanties......

What do you do with a drunken sailor,
What do you do with a drunken sailor,
What do you do with a drunken sailor,
Ear-lie in the morning?

Chorus:
Way hey and up she rises
Way hey and up she rises,
Way hey and up she rises
Ear-lie in the morning

Throw him in the long boat till he's sober,
Throw him in the long boat till he's sober,
Throw him in the long boat till he's sober,
Early in the morning

(Repeat using the following verses)

Keep him there and make 'im bail 'er.

Pull out the plug and wet him all over,

Take 'im and shake 'im, try an' wake 'im.

Trice him up in a runnin' bowline.

Give 'im a taste of the bosun's rope-end.

Give 'im a dose of salt and water.

Stick on 'is back a mustard plaster.

Shave his belly with a rusty razor.

Send him up the crow's nest till he falls over.

Tie him to the taffrail when she's yardarm under.

Put him in the scuppers with a hose-pipe on him.

Soak 'im in oil till he sprouts flippers.

Put him in the guard room till he's sober.

Put him in a bed with the captain's daughter (or mother).

Have you ever in your life seen the captain's daughter?

Give the poor bastard to Mother Rackett.

Are ye' daft, you might wake Mother Rackett.

Put him in the bilge and let him drink it.

That's what you do with a drunken sailor.

Stay tuned!

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