Purse Seine News

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…

As nations commit to reducing greenhouse gases, a fishing vessel is designed to do its share. Designed by Norway’s Skipsteknisk and Selvåg AS, it is in build at Cemre Shipyard for Sorheim Holding, the Selvåg Senior is a remarkable concept. Capable of both trawling and purse seining, the 79.5- x16.2-m vessel will have a molded depth of 6.9 m. The RSW holds, in the DNV-GL classed vessel, will have a total volume of just under 2550 cu. m.. The main propulsion engine will be a medium-speed Wärtsilä 8V31DF, producing 4,800 kW at 750 RPM.

The Danish yard Karstensens Skibsværft is set build and design two new vessels for trawl and purse seine fishing ordered by two Icelandic ship-owning companies. Rolls-Royce Commercial Marine has been selected to deliver an extensive package of ship equipment to both ships.The two fishing vessels of 88 meters will be outfitted with engines, propulsion, steering gear, rudders and winches together with connected control systems from Rolls-Royce. The equipment will be delivered from four of the company’s eight production facilities in the Nordic countries…

Rapp Marine said it has received a new order from Odd Lundberg As, marking the third generation of owners from the shipping company who have selected its deck machinery. “This is the first time the shipping company has selected a high-tech electrical solution,” confirms Morten Stenkjær, VP Sales at Rapp Marine AS. “The owner’s new pride is a combined ring-net and pelagic trawler and will be equipped with a complete electric deck machinery solution from Rapp Marine. Mats Lundberg…

Wärtsilä has been awarded a contract to provide the propulsion machinery for a new purse seine fishing trawler ordered by Strand Senior AS, a subsidiary of Strand Havfiske AS based in Norway. The vessel will be built at the Karstensen Skibsvaerft shipyard in Denmark. The Wärtsilä order was booked in March 2017. In specifying that an innovative and highly efficient vessel was required, the owners specifically emphasized that the propulsion system should be centered on the Wärtsilä 31 engine.

New Zealand based fishing company Talley’s Group Ltd. has been fined $73,520 and ordered to pay $21,000 in reparations to the family of a crewman killed in an on-board accident in July 2014. The 24-year-old crewman Leighton Muir was decapitated when a broken rope snapped back while hauling in a net full of tuna aboard the Capt. M.J. Souza on July 22, 2014, when the vessel was fishing in the Kiribati Exclusive Economic Zone. Talley’s pleaded guilty to a charge laid by Maritime NZ of failing to take all practicable steps to ensure the safety of its employees while at work, and was sentenced June 9, 2016 in Nelson District Court. The court was told that a 50mm safety rope connected to the purse seine net had previously snapped three weeks before Muir’s death but had not been replaced…

The World Trade Organization's Appellate Body ruled against the United States on Friday in a dispute with Mexico over tuna labelling, upholding an earlier ruling issued in April that found U.S. rules discriminated against Mexico. "The Appellate Body concludes that the United States has not brought its dolphin-safe labelling regime for tuna products into conformity with the recommendations and rulings of the (WTO's dispute settlement body)," the WTO's appeals judges said at the end of their 144-page ruling on the case. The appeal ruling is final, and could lead to Mexico making a claim for retaliation against U.S. exports if it believes the United States has not brought its rules into line with the WTO ruling.

Norwegian company Herøyhav AS has taken delivery of a 69.95-m trawler/purse seiner from Karstensens Shipyard, Denmark, equipped with a propulsion package supplied comprising a MAN 9L27/38 engine and a two-speed reduction gear that drives a MAN Alpha 4,200 mm diam. ducted propeller. The propeller nozzle is a customized MAN Alpha AHT design. MAN Diesel & Turbo also supplied its Alphatronic 2000 propulsion control system, including the ECO Speed Pilot for optimal voyage planning and speed setting.

U.S. South Pacific Tuna Corporation pointed to the tuna industry’s 2013 record of zero fatalities in response to a recent report, implication of safety concerns and 2012 violations from foreign officers license certification, as cited in a recent press release from Coast Guard Sector Guam. The company’s track record of overall operational safety and ongoing policy improvement work in cooperation with the United States Coast Guard in Washington, D.C., as well as the Fourteenth Guard District in Honolulu…

Coast Guard Sector Guam has levied fines against the South Pacific Tuna Corporation for eight separate violations of Title 46 United States Code, Section 8304 for using unlicensed foreign personnel to illegally fill the roles of chief mate and chief engineer on U.S. flagged vessels. Crewmembers from Sector Guam determined in March 2012 that the violations had taken place on five of the company’s 14 purse seine vessels while conducting dockside vessel safety examinations in Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia. The safety examinations are required by specific legislation for the U.S.

On March 13, a diverse coalition of 59 national and regional organizations representing a wide array of business, maritime and labor interests signed on to a letter to Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee leadership, Chairman John Rockefeller (D-WV) and Ranking Member John Thune (R-SD), thanking them for cosponsoring S. 2094, a bill that would establish a uniform national framework for the regulation of ballast water and other vessel discharges, and urging swift Committee consideration and approval. S. 2094, introduced on March 6 by Sens. Mark Begich (D-AK) and Marco Rubio (R-FL), has 23 bipartisan co-sponsors, nearly one-quarter of the Senate.

On Saturday, September 7 , the launching of Izaro was held at the premises of Zamakona Yards in Bilbao. This vessel is a tuna freezer of 1,900 m3 and belongs to the Echebastar Group. The investment is 30 million Euros and the delivery is scheduled for January 2014. This is the first ship of a new generation of tuna fishers, designed and developed by the Naval Engineering Department Cintranaval - Defcar SL in cooperation with Echebastar. The ship is designed for tuna fishing by the system to purse seine of fishing grounds in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific ocean.

Assistant Commandant for Prevention Policy Marine Safety Alert 02-12 June 20, 2012 Washington, DC:Overloaded Lifting Gear on Fishing Vessels. Recently, several catastrophic failures of masts, booms, and lift cables have occurred on purse seine fishing vessels that have resulted in loss of life and severe injuries. Over the years many casualties have occurred onboard all types of fishing vessels attempting to haul in catches that exceeded the capacity of their winches, hoists, and associated equipment. These types of casualties are not unusual. This alert serves to remind all purse seine fishing vessel owners/operators and other fishing…

50m Factory Trawler sets the standard in efficiency and fish processing capacity. The Danish Naval Design and Marine Consultancy Knud E. Hansen A/S has developed a highly efficient 50 meter factory trawler with a focus on operating efficiency and maximised catch processing facilities. The design delivers excellent fuel economy, reduced environmental impact, and the flexibility to be operated as a single or pair trawler. Fishing is well known to be an environmentally sustainable method of food production. Greenhouse gas emissions are far lower than the equivalent land-based meat production.

Tyler Boats of Sedro Woolley launched its second 22-ft by 11-ft Seine Skiff. Powered by a John Deere 6081, 375 hp engine, this seine skiff is designed to pull. Helped by a 32-inch nozzle steering these skiffs have a pull measurement over 9,500 lbs. This pulling power is harnessed within a stable designed platform for the operator. The seine skiff is often described as the “weak link” in a purse seine operation. Bad weather, pulling against the tide, or just holding the set on the beach the role the Seine Skiff plays can keep you in the game.

NOAA ship John N. Cobb, the oldest and only wooden hulled ship in the NOAA fleet, was decommissioned in after 58 years of service. The 93-ft. fisheries research vessel began service in 1950 with the Bureau of Fisheries, predecessor to NOAA's Fisheries Service, conducting albacore tuna surveys in , , and . Homeported in , Cobb has operated primarily in Alaskan waters for much of her service life, most recently in support of the fisheries service's Auke Bay Laboratories in . "The John N. Cobb has been an extremely productive platform for NOAA.