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New Bedford Harbor News

18 Dec 2019

DOJ: F/V Owner & Operator Fined $1 mln

AdobeStock / © Renaschild

Fishing Vessel Owner and Operator Plead Guilty and Fined $1 Million for Discharging Oily Waste into the Coastal Waters of the United States Sea Harvest Inc., operator of the fishing vessels Enterprise and Pacific Capes, along with Fishing Vessel Enterprises Inc., the vessels’ owner, pleaded guilty today to violating the Clean Water Act for both knowing and negligent discharges of oily bilge water from the vessels’ engine rooms. The companies were sentenced to pay a $1 million criminal fine and serve a five-year term of probation.

08 May 2018

Fishing Companies to Pay $400,000 for Pollution Claims

Challenge Fisheries LLC, Quinn Fisheries Inc., Charles Quinn II, and Charles Quinn III have agreed to pay a total of $414,000 in civil penalties and to perform fleet-wide improvements and other compliance assurance measures to resolve federal Clean Water Act claims stemming from oily bilge discharges from the commercial fishing vessel Challenge, and a related fuel oil discharge in August 2017 in New Bedford Harbor, Mass., the Department of Justice and the Coast Guard announced.In its complaint filed Monday, along with the lodging of a consent decree in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, the United States alleges…

19 Jun 2015

Fishing Vessel Sinking Under Investigation

The U.S. Coast Guard informs it is investigating the sinking of the fishing vessel Robert C that occurred near Martha's Vineyard, Mass., Monday. The sole person aboard fishing vessel Robert C radioed Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England's Command Center at 12:08 p.m Monday, stating the vessel was taking on water 1.5 miles northwest of Menemsha following a collision with another the fishing vessel, Pedlar, both home-ported in Fairhaven. Coast Guard Station Menemsha immediately issued a Urgent Marine Information Broadcast and launched a 47-foot Motor Life Boat. While the boat crew was in route, the fishing vessel Robert C sank. Fishing vessel Shearwater, home-ported in New Bedford Harbor, recovered the person in the water and delivered the person to Menemsha Harbor.

18 Jun 2014

America's Top Fishing Port Addresses Groundfish Crisis

The Port of New Bedford says it has released its 6-pronged plan to revive its historic groundfishery and modernize the port. According to the New Bedford Harbor Development Commission’s (HDC) "Groundfish Port Recovery and Revitalization Plan for the Port of New Bedford and Fairhaven," the region’s groundfish fishery stands to improve if fisheries scientists and managers apply similar video survey technology as that which helped revive the region’s now-successful scallop fishery. Along with soliciting grant funds to develop video surveys for groundfish, as the nation’s number one fishing port, the city has released its recommendations for modifications to the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA), the Federal law governing all domestic fisheries management.

08 May 2012

Battelle Wins $15 Million USACE Contract

Five-year contract provides environmental expertise for maintaining the nation's waterways. Battelle has won a five-year, $15 million contract to support and consult with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), New England District, North Atlantic Division.Battelle will provide technical expertise in support of the District's mission for maintaining the nation's waterways, specifically focusing on contaminated sediments, restoration, and remediation. The indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract for USACE also calls for Battelle to support environmental assessments and policy decisions and help with resource management in the North Atlantic Division.

13 Oct 2008

Port of New Bedford Awaits Security Equipment

With nearly $2m in federal port security funding awarded to New Bedford, Mass., Port officials are expected to purchase a range of security equipment . The Port of New Bedford won two grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Port Security Grant Program. The first grant of $918,256 was awarded in 2007, and the second one of $948,177 was awarded in spring 2008. Neither grant has been released to the city due to a post-award review process related to environmental and historical preservation compliance guidelines, according to FEMA officials and Kristin Decas, executive director of the New Bedford Harbor Development Commission (HDC).

29 Jan 2007

Lost Fishing Boat Sank, Coast Guard Says

The Coast Guard said that it had found a New Bedford, Mass., fishing vessel missing since Friday night submerged 36 feet in Nantucket Sound. The four crew members are missing. Coast Guard rescuers said it appeared unlikely that the crew would be found alive in the frigid waters, but two Coast Guard cutters continued searching overnight, using large lights. The vessel’s life raft was found attached to the boat. The 75-foot boat, the Lady of Grace, was supposed to return to New Bedford Harbor on Saturday morning, cutting a planned eight-day trip in half because of the weather. The boat’s last known position was 12 miles south of Hyannis, which is 60 miles southeast of Boston. At the time the boat was lost, the wind was blowing at 30 to 35 miles an hour, and there were 8- to 10-foot waves.

07 Sep 1999

Accidents and Vessel Casualties

M/V Isabella sank two miles west of Ft. Pierce, Fla. USCG Group Miami dispatched a Coast Guard Station (CGSTA) Fort Pierce utility boat (UTB). The crew was removed by the UTB prior to the vessel sinking. Passenger vessel Monarch of the Seas went aground in Saint Philipsburg, Dutch Saint Maarten. The P/V was returning to port because its pumps could not keep up with the flooding after hitting a reef during its departure from port. The National Response Center received a report of a tug pushing three barges that ran aground along the Lower Mississippi River near Helena, Ark. The lead barge experienced damage resulting in the release of 1,700 barrels of unleaded gasoline. The remaining product was removed and the barge was floated off the rocks.