May 2023 – Page 3 – Fishermens News

Coast Guard Offloads $166 Million Worth of Narcotics in San Diego

The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Waesche offloaded more than 6,325 pounds of cocaine and more than 13,220 pounds of marijuana worth more than $166 million in San Diego on March 29. The five interdictions occurred in international waters in the Eastern Pacific Ocean off the coasts of Central and South America in February and March. “This marks Waesche’s first counter-narcotics patrol in several years and the crew did an outstanding job to work with international and inter-agency partners to successfully prevent $166 million dollars’ worth of illicit drugs from entering our country, cities and neighborhoods,” the Waesche’s commanding officer, Capt. Robert Mohr, said. “The Coast Guard is dedicated to preventing illicit drugs from entering our country via the maritime environment,” Eleventh Di...

Coast Guard Conducts Fishing Boat Search and Rescue Exercise in Hawaii

U.S. Coast Guard and Kauai, Hawaii agency personnel conducted a search-and-rescue exercise (SAREX) off Kauai’s coast on March 29. The exercise simulated a multi-agency response to the report of an overdue fishing vessel that failed to return to shore. The open-water exercise was held from 9 a.m. to noon, ending with the vessel being located. “The general scenario (was) an overdue vessel that didn’t make it back,” Senior Chief Petty Officer Timothy Elhajj, the officer in charge of Coast Guard Station Kauai, explained. “This scenario allows all the county, state, local, federal and (the) Coast Guard to practice search and rescue.” As part of the exercise, an incident command post was set up at Kukuiula Small Boat Harbor and the participants coordinated the on-scene assets while testing ...

Regional Update: Mexico’s West Coast Fisheries

The Gulf of California, also known as the Sea of Cortez, is the body of water south of Southern California that separates Mexico’s Baja California peninsula from the country’s mainland. It’s one of the more productive and biodiverse marine ecoregions in the world and a bustling area for commercial fishing. And although there are plenty of legitimate, law-abiding anglers earning a living fishing in the waters, there’s also a number of bad actors who make money by illegally trafficking some fish species to sell them on the black market. In the U.S., much of the news disseminated about crime in Mexico focuses on land activity, the country’s cartels also have a hold on some of the illicit activity that occurs offshore. However, like with land-based crime, Mexican authorities are waged in a...

Spill Response: High-Tech Techniques Help More Efficient, Safer and Productive

Above the surface or underwater, oil and hazardous material spill response and recovery in marine environments is making strides, thanks to technological advances and equipment upgrades, resulting in safer and more efficient work. Autonomous systems are gaining traction, helping increase safety and productivity. Drones are helping make the job more efficient and practical. Skimmers, containment vessels and collection systems are showing promising improvements in both volume and recovery. Crane barges and other supporting craft utilized in responding to incidents are showing strength and maneuverability in recent case studies. Staying on top of technological advances goes hand in hand with responding to environmental incidents. To learn more about recent developments, Fishermen’s News r...

Trident Seafoods At 50: A Company with Humble Beginnings

Trident Seafoods Corp., the nation’s largest seafood company, is marking its 50th year in 2023, an industry giant spawned from the dreams of a young man whose first job in Alaska was shoveling shrimp for $1.47 an hour. The size and scope of Trident Seafoods today “was never our ambition,” said Chief Executive Officer Joe Bundrant, the son of company founder Chuck Bundrant. The elder Bundrant, a Tennessee farm boy, had heeded his parents’ advice to get a college education, but dropped out after a year and a half and headed for the World’s Fair in Seattle in 1962, his son said. He’d seen the adventure film “North to Alaska,” so when he ran out of money, young Chuck headed for Alaska and got the job shoveling shrimp in the town of Adak. From there he went to Kodiak and landed a job on ...