MAJURO, Marshall Islands (AFP) — The grounding of a Chinese-flagged fishing vessel in the Marshall Islands is being treated as a “crime scene”, officials in the Pacific Ocean archipelago said Monday. The 308-foot (94-meter) boat, which ran aground last week on a remote northern atoll, was not licensed to be in the country’s waters. “What they were doing in Marshall Islands’ waters is still unanswered,” Chief Secretary Ben Graham said, adding that the government […]
Tag: Fishing
Scallops: Peru’s ‘golden nuggets’ of the sea
by Carlos MANDUJANO Agence France Presse SECHURA, Peru (AFP) — Peruvian fishermen need only dive down a few meters to find the scallops considered the “golden nuggets” of the country’s seas — and cherished in European and North American kitchens. Sechura Bay, off northwest Peru’s Pacific coast near Ecuador, is the source of 80 percent of Peru’s exports of the seafood to France, Spain, the United States and Canada. “God blessed us with this bay, […]
Japan’s ‘usho’ keep alive the ancient art of cormorant fishing
by Anne BEADE Agence France Presse GIFU, Japan (AFP) — In the pitch black night, fires burn alongside a river in Japan’s Gifu as a handful of men prepare for a ritual that dates back over 1,300 years: fishing with cormorants. Dressed in traditional clothes, they look like they come from another time. They wield their cormorants, tied together with strings, like puppeteers. Their profession, known as “ukai,” was once common in waterside villages and […]
Five men and the sea: huge marlin sinks Filipino fishing boat
by Cecil Morella Agence France Presse MANILA, Philippines (AFP) — It reads like a modern day take on ‘The Old Man and the Sea’ — five Filipino fishermen cast adrift for days on a makeshift raft after a huge marlin sinks their boat. The men were fishing in the South China Sea last week when a six-foot (1.8 metre) marlin punctured their boat’s wooden hull with its giant bill, vessel master Jimmy Batiller told AFP […]
Toss back big fish, especially females: study
TAMPA, United States (AFP) — When fishing, local laws often require anglers to throw back any fish that are too small. But a study Thursday found it is more important to toss back big ones, especially females. That’s because they produce far more eggs — and larger ones — than small fish, and do a disproportionate amount of work when it comes to perpetuating their species, said the report in the journal Science. “Our results […]
Large vessels are fishing 55 percent of world’s oceans
by Kerry SHERIDAN Agence France-Presse MIAMI, United States (AFP) — More than half the world’s oceans are being fished by large commercial vessels, particularly from China, according to the first view from space of global fishing practices published Thursday. The report in the journal Science used satellite data to track industrial fishing and found that 55 percent of the world’s oceans — and possibly more — are being exploited by big fishing operations. Some parts […]
Another whale population suddenly dying in Atlantic
MIAMI, United States (AFP) — US marine investigators are probing an unusual die-off of minke whales along the US east coast, marking the third such population of large whales in the past two years, officials said Wednesday. A total of 28 minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) have died since January 2017 in the Atlantic Ocean from Maine to South Carolina, said the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The deaths, most of which were in the […]
Eight bodies found as ‘North Korean’ boat washes up in Japan
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Eight bodies have been recovered from a wrecked boat that washed ashore in central Japan, authorities said Tuesday, suspecting the vessel is the latest in a series of North Korean “ghost ships.” Coastguard rescuers found the corpses of seven men inside the wreckage of the boat that washed up in Kanazawa, central Japan, last week, senior police official Hiroshi Abe told AFP. The badly decomposed remains of another man were […]
Philippines promises compensation for slain Vietnamese fishermen
MANILA, Philippines (AFP) — The Philippines apologized Thursday and promised compensation for two Vietnamese fishermen killed by its naval personnel during an anti-poaching operation at sea. Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana made the apology in a meeting with Vietnam’s Defense Minister Ngo Xuan Lich as the two Southeast Asian neighbors discussed ways to improve cooperation, especially in naval matters. “Secretary Lorenzana also relayed President Rodrigo Duterte’s assurance that the families of the Vietnamese fishermen who […]
Russia: Fishing beyond the arctic circle
Protected from icy winds by the fjords, the Barents Sea does not freeze even though it is located beyond the Arctic Circle in northern Russia, making it an ideal spot to raise trout and Atlantic salmon. (AFP Video) https://youtu.be/ROIe84igs1o
S. Korea coastguard fires machine guns at Chinese trawlers
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korean coastguard vessels have, for the first time, fired machine guns against Chinese boats illegally fishing in Korean waters, an official said Wednesday. There were no casualties reported from the incident on Tuesday, which was the first of its kind since the coastguard announced last month that it would pursue a “more aggressive” firearms policy with Chinese trawlers. Disputes over illegal fishing have dogged relations between South Korea and […]
Boat Responsibly: Satellite Devices Track Fishing Boats in the Philippines
Mindoro – Our boat fights the fury of Amihan, the northeast monsoon. I’m just fighting to keep my dinner down. It’s night and we’re on the Princess Camile, a tuna vessel going head-to-head with angry six-foot waves. I gaze out at the darkness. I have no idea where we are – but a little gadget attached to our boat mast does. To track the routes of fishing boats in the Mindoro Strait, WWF and NAVAMA have […]





