We’d Have Been Better Off Staying Home – Part III
On February 3, 2003 Irving Faulkner’s 22-foot speedboat capsized throwing all six men onboard into the frigid ocean near the shores of Offer Wadham Island on the northeast coast of Newfoundland. Only one survived. Irving’s son, Dion Faulkner, made it to the ice-covered rocks and despite below-freezing temperatures and being soaked to the bone, he started walking to the opposite end of the island. Dion hoped that some fellow bird hunters would be there and could rescue him. Against incredi...
Advances Taking Place in Personal Locator Beacon Research
Although there have been continual improvements in vessel design, training and technology to prevent accidents, emergencies at sea are still commonplace.
It is well understood that the likelihood of surviving a maritime emergency improves as we reduce the time elapsed between the event and rescue. For this reason it is important that first responders be notified as soon as possible after an event occurs.
Emergency locating radio beacons are electronic devices that are meant to do just ...
Risk Versus Reward in the Fishery
“Nothing ventured, nothing gained” and “no pain, no gain” are age-old sayings, generally accepted as true, that suggest rewards come only from taking risks.
It is also commonly believed that bigger rewards come from taking bigger risks — i.e. a greater willingness to do things that are new and different from what others are doing. If you are not a risk-taker, you are very unlikely to achieve more than others and reap the rewards from doing so.
Everyone has ideas but not everyone ...
Ensure Your Stability Booklet is Up To Date
It’s that time of year when vessel owners are either finishing modification work on their vessels that they started late last fall, or are considering modification work they would like to complete this summer or fall, or they are getting their vessels geared up to go fishing for the current season.
All of these decisions will ultimately affect the stability of their vessel.
Not all owners give consideration to the affect of changes on their vessel’s stability. Modifications such as ...
Volunteers Helping to Save Lives
Whether it’s a medical emergency, a missing boater, or a vessel in trouble, Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary (CCGA) members are ready and willing to help fellow mariners in distress.
An important part of the national search and rescue response system, CCGA members are commercial fishermen and recreational boaters who volunteer their own time, vessels, and equipment to assist fellow mariners in distress and the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) with search and rescue activities.
In Canada, the ...
Saving Lives in Atlantic Canada — The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Halifax
Search and Rescue (SAR) is an absolute necessity in Atlantic Canada, where long coastlines and deep waters combine with often tempestuous weather, increasing cruise ship traffic and ever active, often high-risk fishery operations.
The Search and Rescue Region (SRR) Halifax covers 4.7-million square kilometres and over 29,000 kilometres of coastline. The region encompasses all of the Atlantic provinces, the eastern half of Quebec, the southern half of Baffin Island and a large area of the ...
TSB Watchlist Calls on the Canadian Marine Transportation Industry to Take Action
Advancing transportation safety in Canada can often be a slow and arduous process. But at the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB), we are convinced that if we continue to press for change — lives can, and will, be saved.
That’s why the TSB works diligently to increase the uptake of the recommendations we make to regulators and industry. Through our investigations, we make compelling arguments to make improvements to safety that will save lives, protect transportation infrastruc...
Why Southwest Fish Processors are Deadset Against Levy — Issue will Most Likely Involve Maritime-Wide Vote
There is much discontent among the fish processing and buying fraternity in south western Nova Scotia on the issue of a levy to pay for a generic lobster marketing program — and it stems from a feeling of being excluded from the process.
“We have never met with Geoff Irvine and the Lobster Council on this issue and we feel LFA 34 will carry the brunt of the burden for this endeavour,” Wade Nickerson of Seakist Lobsters in Overton said in an interview.
Nickerson and the majority of ...
DFO Stamps 2015 Shrimp Quota Rollover
As was reported in the April issue of The Navigator, the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans has officially agreed to a recommended rollover of the 2015 Northern shrimp quotas.
In March, in the midst of a ramped up protest movement by the Fish, Food and Allied Workers (FFAW-Unifor), the offshore and inshore shrimp fleets unexpectedly approved a plan that would see no cuts to shrimp quotas in fishing areas off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador in 2015 — notably in critical ...
Nova Scotia Cod Quota Cut in Half — Stocks in North Sea Continue to Improve
The federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans recently cut Nova Scotia’s cod quota in half.
DFO said the cod stock remains in poor shape on the Scotian shelf from Halifax to Digby, leading to the decision to spread the annual 1,600-tonne quota over two years instead of one.
Scientists found this year’s catch brought in fewer younger fish.
“If they do grow, they hit age four or five and they seem to disappear. In our surveys at age five or six, they are practically non-existent,” ...
