TEN boats bearing the names of the Island’s parishes have been donated to poverty-stricken fishermen in Sri Lanka whose lives were shattered by the Boxing Day Tsunami in 2004 and civil war.

Over £24,000 was raised in the Island by Jersey-based charity JETSURE (Jersey Tsunami Relief for North East Sri Lanka) after the tsunami killed up to 40,000 people in Sri Lanka.

The fund-raising was organised by the charity’s committee led by Dr Saravana Pavan, a former associate specialist and surgeon in orthopaedics and trauma at the General Hospital.

‘Some of the fishermen who received the boats were in tears – it was very rewarding to be able to support them in this way’ he said.

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May 12, 2012

Fishing boat hits breakwall

By WARREN DILLAWAY – warren@starbeacon.com

Staff Writer
The Star Beacon

Sat May 12, 2012, 09:00 AM EDT

ASHTABULA TOWNSHIP —
A leisurely fishing trip turned into a harrowing experience for five men Friday evening when their boat hit a breakwall adjacent to Lake Shore Park.

The boat engine stalled and while the men on board attempted to change an engine filter, the vessel struck the breakwall, according to a boater and Petty Officer Second Class Bill Campbell of the Ashtabula Station of the U.S. Coast Guard. Two of the men were able to get off the boat and onto the breakwall while the other three stayed in the boat, according to Campbell.

“The vessel became disabled outside the breakwall and hit the rocks,” Campbell said. He said the call came into the Coast Guard station at 6:59 p.m.

“We launched our 25-foot response vessel. When we arrived a Good Samaritan vessel had already begun to tow the boat to shore,” Campbell said.

He said two occupants left the boat and walked about a quarter of a mile on the breakwall back to shore.

“We had notified the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the (Ashtabula County) dive rescue and a (Coast Guard) helicopter from Buffalo,” Campbell said. After it was clear everyone was safe the dive team and helicopter were called off and a representative of ODNR Division of Watercraft arrived to talk with the men.

Ashtabula Township Fire Department responded to the scene but nobody was transported, Campbell said.

The Ashtabula Station Coast Guard crew did a routine safety inspection of the vessel.

“This is a happy story,” Campbell said.

“That was a scary feeling,” said passenger Jackson Ashley of Cleveland.

Dan Addair, of Kingsville Township, was one of the two passengers able to reach the breakwall.

The assisting vessel was able to safely tow the boat to the Lake Shore Park boat launch area where the men were met by the Coast Guard crew, Campbell said.

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For years Filipino and Chinese fishermen peacefully shared the rich harvests around a tiny South China Sea shoal, but today threats, harassment and fear have replaced ocean comradery.

While Filipino fishermen still ply their trade at Scarborough Shoal about 230 kilometres (140 miles) from the Philippine coastal town of Masinloc, they say rifle-brandishing Chinese personnel on rubber boats are intimidating them.

Shortly after returning from two weeks at the shoal, crewmen from a 15-metre (50-foot)-long outrigger, said the Chinese shadowed them whenever they sought to fish inside the shoal.

“They sent their rubber boats to follow us and circle our vessel. They didn’t make threats but it was dangerous because sometimes we almost collided,” boat mechanic Glenn Valle, 40, told AFP.

“We were afraid because all the boats were moving and they were sticking close to us, close enough to touch our outriggers.”

Fishing boat captain Zaldy Gordones, 34, said each Chinese rubber vessel carried about eight men in grey camouflage uniforms with rifles and long-lensed cameras, which they used to photograph the Filipinos.

The rubber boats were deployed by Chinese surveillance ships that have been posted near the mouth of Scarborough for more than a month to assert China‘s claim over the rocky outcroppings, according to the Filipinos.

The Philippines says the shoal is part of its territory because it falls within its exclusive economic zone.

But China claims as its historical territory virtually all of the South China Sea, which is believed to sit atop huge oil and gas reserves as well as being home to important fishing grounds.

The nearest major Chinese landmass to Scarborough Shoal is 1,200 kilometres northwest of the shoal, according to Filipino navy maps, but China insists it discovered the area first and thus has legal claim to it.

The rival claims flared into a major diplomatic dispute on April 8 when Philippine authorities accused Chinese fishermen of taking endangered species, such as clams and corals, from the area.

Philippine efforts to arrest the fishermen were thwarted when two Chinese surveillance vessels arrived at the scene.

Since then, non-military ships from both countries have been deployed there in a war of nerves between the two governments that has severely tested their diplomatic relations.

Fishermen from Masinloc have been making the journey to the shoal for two decades, a trip that can take eight to 14 hours depending on sailing conditions.

The waters around the shoal are renowned for the rich bounties of fish, which congregate around the rocky outcroppings.

While coastal areas have been largely depleted, the Filipinos know they can return from a trip to the shoal with boats packed with anchovies, tuna and scad.

Despite the rival claims, boats from the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Taiwan and other countries all regularly visited the shoal, which is also a refuge during bad weather, according to Masinloc residents.

The fishermen used hand signals to communicate, said boat mechanic Valle, recalling how they would ask Chinese crew for help.

“If we wanted to ask for water, we just held up a container and made a drinking motion and they would give us water,” Valle said, adding the Vietnamese were even more generous.

“They gave us rice and noodles even if we didn’t give them anything.”

Masinloc’s local fisheries officer, Jerry Escape, said stories were common of fishermen from different countries bartering food, water and cigarettes with each other.

“There has been no ill-treatment of any fishermen reported,” he said.

But Chinese fishermen also had a reputation for taking marine species that were protected under Philippine law such as sea turtles, corals and giant clams, according to Masinloc people.

“For our fishermen, there are things that are prohibited but for the Chinese, nothing is prohibited. They take what they want,” said Nestor Daet, 55, local head of a volunteer environment protection group, Sea Guardians.

Masinloc fishermen were warned to avoid the shoal to keep from getting caught in any possible crossfire immediately after the stand-off began.

But there was no ban and Masinloc coastguard deputy officer Norman Banug said he now even encouraged them to go back out there.

“If (the Chinese) see no Filipinos fishing there, they will think they can take over that area,” he said.

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CAPE MAY — Word was out — a transient fishing boat had hit a swordfish bonanza out in the Gulf Stream off Cape May and the North Carolina boat was coming to the Lobster House dock to unload.

The 60-foot Big Eye was loaded with almost 13,000 pounds of swordfish, 3,000 pounds of mahi mahi and 2,000 pounds of tuna. It found the hot spot 160 miles out and caught the fish in just six days. A previous trip got a similar load of fish, but it took 16 days. The boat wanted to unload and get back out fishing.

“We got some special fish because we got big fish. Nobody else has got them,” Big Eye Capt. Chris “Chompers” Hanson, 39, of Wanchese, N.C., said.

Hanson, who has been swordfishing for 14 years, and is featured on Discovery Channel’s “Swords: Life On The Line”, has seen the good days and the bad days. Friday was a good one for him and the Lobster House dock.

It’s a side of the commercial fishing industry the public doesn’t know much about. The Lobster House has its own boats, and buys some seafood for its fish market and restaurant patrons, but sometimes other boats, some from a long way away, fill their holds off the New Jersey coast and head to the nearest dock to unload, or as they call it, “pack out.” When they cash in, so does everybody else.

“It’s the trickle-down effect,” dock owner Keith Laudeman said.

A local trucker will haul the fish to market. The boat needs fuel, ice for freezing fish and food for its crew. There are handling fees, and the crew of the Big Eye will likely spend some money in the local economy.

On Friday morning, the dock was buzzing with activity as dockworkers hauled swordfish, the largest weighing an estimated 550 pounds, out of the Big Eye. Forklifts moved the fish around as workers iced them down. A refrigerated box truck came in to haul the fish to market.

A fish broker from Boston arrived to check out the catch and get ready to move it up a chain that will mean a healthy payday all around.

“By the time it gets to the plate, a dinner table or a restaurant, it could be six different hands going up the chain,” said Charlie DiPesa, who works for F.J. O’Hara Sons, the Boston wholesaler buying the catch.

The federal government says seafood will generally increase sixfold in value as it makes its way from boat to consumer. It can depend on the condition of the fish, the current market price and how much it gets moved around.

DiPesa said this catch will head to Boston on Sunday morning but some could be then be sold to markets in New York, Baltimore or Philadelphia. He could only give approximate values for Big Eye owner/operators Hanson and Anna Strawser, who will then dole out shares to the four members of the crew.

“It depends on the condition and the market. I’d say $5 to $6 per pound back to the boat for the swordfish, $3 a pound for the small tuna and $10 for the large tuna, and $3 to $3.25 for the mahi mahi,” said DiPesa.

At $6 a pound, the largest fish would be worth $3,300 to the Big Eye and almost $20,000 by the time it is eaten.

Fishermen will unload in their home port if they are fishing nearby. Swordfish have a pretty large range, heading south in winter and north in summer, so boats often unload in other ports. Hanson said he fishes as far south as Puerto Rico in the winter and north to the Grand Banks off New England in summer. He uses a method known as long-lining that employs lines of baited hooks set out from the vessel.

The scale wasn’t big enough to weigh the largest fish. Hanson said he had six swords over 400 pounds and 10 more than 200 pounds. The port of Barnegat Light has a swordfish fleet and is used to such sights. Hanson noted the Barnegat Light boat Frances Ann is also catching big swordfish offshore. But the port of Cape May doesn’t have a large long-line fleet and Laudeman said he hadn’t seen so many big swordfish since the 1970s. It drew other fishermen to the dock.

“It’s been 20 years since we saw fish like this,” Peter Hughes, of Atlantic Capes Fisheries, said as he took pictures on his cell phone.

Penny Rickenback, a Pennsylvania artist who comes to the dock in the mornings to paint watercolors, was also excited, though she said she has seen gigantic halibut unloaded from a boat in Alaska.

“I think it’s tremendously exciting. It’s amazing they still catch them that big,” Rickenback said.

That could be part of the swordfish success story. The fish was in trouble a quarter-century ago, due mostly to overfishing by other countries. Swordfish are caught by about 50 different countries and managed by an international body called ICCAT, or International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas. In 1987, the average swordfish caught was just 56 pounds and they don’t spawn until they reach at least 100 pounds. In 1991, spawning stocks were 40 percent of 1978 levels.

The U.S. was at the forefront of conservation efforts and now stocks are fully restored. U.S. catches are up 40 percent since 2006, though landings are still about 1,000 metric tons below the country’s 3,907 metric ton annual quota. A lot of boats stopped fishing for them during the lean years and have been slow to return.

Strawser said they would head back out as soon as they can get ready. She also said they wouldn’t hesitate to pack out here again.

“It’s a nice fish house — a really nice set-up,” she said.

Contact Richard Degener:

609-463-6711

RDegener@pressofac.com

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