A fishing company has been ordered to pay more than £100,000 after one of it's boats sank, causing the deaths of two men. The Joanna C was not stable enough to stay upright when its gear snagged on the seabed and the vessel sank rapidly, leading to the deaths of two Brixham fishermen.

Fisherman Adam Harper and crewmate Robert Morley died in the sinking, while skipper Dave Bickerstaff clung to a lifebuoy for four hours before he was eventually rescued. A Government report, published in 2022, found that modifications made to the Brixham-registered scalloper meant it lacked the stability to survive the snagging.

The liferaft on Joanna C did not inflate and so did not rise to the surface to provide refuge for the crew, which the 2022 report said "adversely" affected their chances of survival. In addition, the boat's rescue beacon was thought to have become tangled under the hull and did not activate for around 40 minutes.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said these modifications affected the stability of the boat, while left it unable to handle being caught on the seabed. A hearing, heard at West Hampshire Magistrates Court on Friday, July 5, heard that these "extensive changes" were not approved by the MCA and made the vessel non-compliance with the minimum stability standards. The vessel continued commercial operations however, without considering the impact and risks of the modifications.

Author: Shannon Brown

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - A commercial fishing crewmember in Western Alaska died Friday after he was swept up in fishing gear and taken into the water, according to the Alaska State Troopers.

In a dispatch on Saturday, Troopers identified the victim as 21-year-old Corwin Wheeler of Wisconsin.

Troopers began a rescue effort shortly after noon Friday upon receiving a mayday call from a fisherman in Kvichak Bay, a body of water near Naknek, part of the Bristol Bay Borough.

The caller told troopers a crewman went over the side of his commercial fishing vessel.

By the time the Department of Public Safety’s vessel arrived at the vessel’s location, Wheeler was found and brought aboard.

Alaska Wildlife Troopers then “performed lifesaving measures for approximately one hour prior to pronouncing the crewman deceased.”

Next-of-kin procedures are complete.

Author: Nolin Ainsworth

The U.S. Supreme Court has made all of us a little freer by limiting the power of the executive branch — curbing administrative overreach by the vast number of government agencies that impact the lives of millions of Americans.

(Photo by DREW ANGERER/AFP via Getty Images)

In a landmark decision in Loper Bright vs. Raimondo, the court overruled its 1984 decision in Chevron vs. Natural Resources Defense Council. The decision had established a doctrine known as Chevron deference — that required courts to defer to federal agencies’ interpretations of any ambiguities in federal statutes.

The misguided rationale underpinning Chevron deference was that agencies, staffed with experts in various fields, were better suited than judges to interpret and implement complex regulations. But over time, the power of unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats metastasized — as exemplified in the Loper Bright case, which brought Chevron crashing down.

Fishing is a difficult, low-margin business. Although federal fishing laws said nothing about it, agency bureaucrats decided on their own to charge small fishing companies for regulatory oversight of their vessels. These costs were estimated to be “up to $710 per day, reducing annual returns to the vessel owner by up to 20 percent,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the court’s opinion.

Author: Carol Platt Liebau and Frank Ricci

The Namibia Competition Commission (NaCC) lodged a second investigation on 6 July, against various owners and operators of vessels.

According to a statement issued on 5 July, the NaCC suspects that there are companies that are imposing unfair purchase prices when negotiating quota usage fees with the fishing rights holders without vessels in the Horse Mackerel sub-sector.

“The various fishing vessels are referred to herein as the Respondents. The investigation is initiated in terms of Section 33 of the Competition Act No. 2 of 2003”.

NaCC has afforded these companies an opportunity within a period of 30 days to make any submissions which they may wish to make, as contemplated in terms of Section 33 of the Competition Act.

The NaCC spokesperson, Dina Gowases said the names of the owners/operators, cannot be revealed at this stage.

“The Commission noted that the Government of the Republic of Namibia introduced a governmental objective Fish Quota Auction in 2020. Where it set a governmental objective fish quota reserve price of N$3000. For the freezer quota and N$750 for the wet quota for the 2021 to 2023 period,” Gowases stated.

Author: Martin Endjala and Ester Mbathera 

Oceana released a report highlighting the importance of increased transparency around fishing in the open ocean.

The survey found that the industry is opaque, and some vessels have avoided going into port for over two years. The report highlights how these ultra-long voyages indicate less-than-legal activities happening on these vessels.

Key findings in the report include:

• 2,700 fishing vessels spent more than 180 days out at sea.
• China has the most vessels making ultra-long voyages.
• Almost a quarter (23%) of fishing vessels remained at sea for over a year.
• The longest voyage by a fishing vessel was a massive 1,100 days.
• One vessel circumnavigated the globe on a 730-day voyage.
• Nearly 40% of squid jiggers spent more than one year at sea.

Many Latin American aquaculture firms look abroad to sell their farmed fish, but in Mexico, local demand for gourmet seafood is growing and should not be underestimated, according to La Paz, Mexico-based premium yellowtail fish-farming firm Omega Azul.

“The market here for premium seafood is blowing up. I’m amazed at how much we can sell here and for the price at which we can sell it, so there’s something here. Consumption of premium seafood has jumped,” Omega Azul CEO Roderick Chrisman told SeafoodSource.

Author: Christian Molinari / SeafoodSource | Read the full article here

Scottish fishermen are ready to engage with the newly elected UK Government and new MPs on pressing issues, industry leaders indicated today.

SFF chief executive Elspeth Macdonald said: “We will continue to work with both governments north and south of the border. While most domestic fisheries management is devolved to Holyrood, there are other matters within reserved UK competence, and we look forward to working with the new UK Government on these.

“We also look forward to building relationships with Scotland’s new MPs as well as working with those who will continue to represent Scottish interests at Westminster.”

Source: FishFocus | Read the full article here

Scotland’s salmon farmers have welcomed a commitment by the new UK business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, to grow exports of products such as whisky and salmon by improving relations with the European Union.

Reynolds, appointed by Prime Minister Keir Starmer after Labour’s sweeping General Election victory on Thursday, was speaking to Sky News after Irish Taoiseach Simon Harris told the station that there was “absolutely” a willingness in the EU to have conversations about closer cooperation on some issues

Source: FishFarmingExpert | Read the full article here

Last Friday, the presentation of the Trends in the Agri-Food Sector Report 2024 took place, carried out by the European Foundation for Innovation and Technology (INTEC) and DIH DATAlife in collaboration with other institutions and entities in the sector; a document that stands out for its approach aimed at the implementation of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, Big Data and automation in the agri-food sector, including the marine-industry sector. The meeting also served to promote the exchange of experiences and knowledge between the various actors in the agri-food sector and the blue economy ecosystem

Source: Ipac | Read the full article here

Andalusia has exported 14,630 tons of fishing products worth close to 132.4 million euros in the first quarter. This amount represents an increase of 2.4% compared to the same months last year (129.2 million euros) and 71.6% compared to international sales of these foods in January-April 2016 (77. 1 million euros), first year of the historical series currently available.