August 2022 – Page 3 – Fishermens News

Next Generation of Marine Propulsion Uses Smart Tech, Alternative Fuels

The next generation of marine propulsion technologies for commercial fishing boats are following a similar path as their maritime shipping and land-side counterparts, with a focus on efficiency, smart tech and control, and environmentally friendly solutions. Some of the top companies in the industry have recently announced innovative systems that incorporate artificial intelligence, alternative fuels, and efforts to viably reach zero emissions. HamiltonJet At HamiltonJet, the company’s next generation of products are focused on smart technology and being even more efficient while meeting environmental guidelines in unique and hybrid systems. At last year’s Workboat Show 2021, Tom Latham, general manager of the Americas region for HamiltonJet, was a featured speaker on a panel discuss...

Construction of Alaska Cold Storage Project Expected to Begin This Fall

A $200-million cargo and cold storage facility at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport that’s projected to take two to three years to complete, is now expected to begin construction in the autumn, a year later than initially anticipated. The exact start of construction depends on when permitting is approved and all negotiations with tenants have been completed. The joint venture of McKinley Capital Management LLC in Anchorage and Los Angeles industrialist Chad Brownstein should be in a position to break ground this fall, but it depends on having an anchor tenant ready to go, according to Joe Jacobson, vice president of private equity for McKinley Alaska Private Investment. Brownstein is the founder of Rocky Mountain Resources, which has amassed an industrial portfolio throughout...

Fishing for Sleep

Getting enough high-quality sleep on a vessel is inherently difficult. The vessel has motion, noises, smells, is cramped and there is little privacy. There also can be lots to worry about. At times it’s a tense environment with lots of unknowns and demands, especially for those in positions of greater responsibility. Despite the fact that we spend 33% of our lives sleeping, it’s only in the last few decades of research that we have learned much about its impact in every aspect of our health, performance and safety. Hundreds of studies from all over the world have demonstrated that being sleep deprived negatively affects every system in the body. People who are chronically sleep deprived have shorter lifespans due to cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and many other health disorde...

Offshore Wind Energy: Benefit or Boondoggle?

One of President Biden’s first acts in office was signing Executive Order No. 13990 on January 20, 2021. The order re-set the course of U.S. energy policy in response to the global emergency of climate change and growing energy demand. Since then, U.S policy has been to phase out greenhouse gas-producing fossil fuels in favor of non-fossil fuel “renewables” as soon as possible. As a result, there has been a massive political and PR push to develop new sources of wind energy, specifically in the oceans. Many other countries have developed offshore wind energy, but hardly any of that has been in the U.S. Unfortunately, the push to quickly develop offshore wind energy has become the latest political fad, even a cure-all in some minds, for meeting the nation’s vast renewable energy needs, at...

NOAA Offers Grants to Remove In-Stream Barriers

NOAA Fisheries has restored millions of dollars in grants to aid in fish passage through the removal of in-stream barriers under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Up to $65 million in funding will support transformational projects that reopen migrator pathways and restore access to healthy habitat for fish nationwide, the agency announced in late June. Selected partners, in collaboration with NOAA, will be able to use the funds to implement locally-led removals of dams and other in-stream barriers to rebuild sustainable fisheries, contribute to the recovery of threatened and endangered species, enhance watershed health and improve economic vitality, the agency said. The application process is open to institutions of higher education, non-profits, commercial organizations, U.S. territor...

Canada’s DFO Concerned About Whales’ Learned Depredation Behavior

Canadian fisheries officials, expressing concern about whales snatching fish from fishing gear, are urging commercial fishermen to avoid inadvertently encouraging such behavior. Fisheries and Oceans Canada said in a statement issued in mid-June that depredation (the act of plundering) by killer and sperm whales has been reported in the groundfish longline fishery in British Columbia, and that there have been increased reports this year of depredation by killer whales on groundfish longline fisheries in Washington state waters, yet no current increase of reporting in BC waters. Depredation is learned behavior that can spread throughout whale social groups and once established is impossible to eliminate, Fisheries and Oceans officials say, adding that as whale populations transverse boun...

Commercial Seafood Harvesters Help Document Changing Ecosystem

Commercial seafood harvesters collaborating with conservationists and tribal partners hope to gather more information this summer on ecological changes in fisheries and oceans to help state and federal fisheries managers better manage commercial fisheries. The Skipper Science effort is being led by SalmonState’s Salmon Habitat Information Program (SHIP), with the Aleut Community of St. Paul Island Tribal Government and the Aleutian Bering Sea Initiative, according to SHIP manager Lindsey Bloom. One of the Skipper Science program’s key tools is a smartphone app that allows fishermen to log observations in real time from the fishing grounds. Skipper Science is also equipping up to six vessels with data collection instruments to record water temperature, salinity and other data, Bloom sai...