U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star to assist vessels in Antarctica « Coast Guard Compass

U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star to assist vessels in Antarctica « Coast Guard Compass:
Written by Coast Guard Pacific Area.

The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star is responding to a Jan. 3rd request from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, AMSA, to assist the Russian-Flagged Akademik Shokalskiy and Chinese-Flagged Xue Long that are reportedly ice-bound in the Antarctic. The Russian and Chinese governments have also requested assistance from the United States.

Coast Guard Pacific Area Command Center received the request Thursday evening from AMSA after they evaluated the situation and determined there is sufficient concern that the vessels may not be able to free themselves from the ice. AMSA has been coordinating rescue operations since the Akademik Shokalskiy became beset with ice on Dec. 24. The Polar Star will cut short its planned stop in Sydney to support the AMSA’s request for assistance.

“The U.S. Coast Guard stands ready to respond to Australia’s request,” said Vice Adm. Paul F. Zukunft, commander of Coast Guard Pacific Area. “Our highest priority is safety of life at sea, which is why we are assisting in breaking a navigational path for both of these vessels. We are pleased to learn the passengers of the Akademik Shokalskiy have been transported safely off the vessel. We are always ready and duty bound to render assistance in one of the most remote and harsh environments on the face of the globe.”

- See more at: http://coastguard.dodlive.mil/2014/01/u-s-coast-guard-cutter-polar-star-to-assist-vessels-in-antarctica/#sthash.OxTVCSbQ.dpuf
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Friendship Harbor - 1 Fahrenheit

Lobstermen are not snowbirds.

Not a fit night out for man nor boat!

West Penobscot Bay, Owls Head data buoy

National Data Buoy Center
Station 44033

44.060 N 69.000 W

9:04 pm EST 01/02/2014
0204 GMT 01/03/2014
Wind: NNE (30°), 19.4 kt
Gust: 29.1 kt
Seas: 5.9 ft
Peak Period: 5 sec
Pres: 30.06
Air Temp: 7.2 °F
Water Temp: 38.8 °F
Visibility: 1.6 nmi

Man overboard -

Man Overboard

By PAUL TOUGH

John Aldridge fell overboard in the middle of the night, 40 miles from shore, and the Coast Guard was looking in the wrong place. How did he survive?

04547 Current Conditions, Friendship, Mid-coast Maine

National Data Buoy Center
Station 44033

44.060 N 69.000 W

9:04 pm EST 01/02/2014
0204 GMT 01/03/2014
Wind: NNE (30°), 19.4 kt
Gust: 29.1 kt
Seas: 5.9 ft
Peak Period: 5 sec
Pres: 30.06
Air Temp: 7.2 °F
Water Temp: 38.8 °F
Visibility: 1.6 nmi

• Tonight: Snow. Low around -2. Wind chill values as low as -25. Blustery, with a northeast wind 20 to 25 mph, with gusts as high as 40 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total nighttime snow accumulation of 3 to 7 inches possible.
• FridaySnow before 2pm. High near 9. Wind chill values as low as -24. Blustery, with a north wind 15 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 40 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.
• Friday NightMostly clear, with a low around -4. Wind chill values as low as -18. Northwest wind 10 to 15 mph.

The Antarctica Rescue

A helicopter from Xue Long 龙雪- the Chinese icebreaker polar research vessel, has airlifted 24 passengers from Australis Borealis, a Rusian scientific ship with paying passengers trapped in the ice of the Ross Sea.

Why The Cod On Cape Cod Now Comes From Iceland : The Salt : NPR

Why The Cod On Cape Cod Now Comes From Iceland : The Salt : NPR: 

"Good luck finding local cod in Cape Cod, Mass.

The fish once sustained New England's fishing industry, but in recent years, regulators have imposed severe catch limits on cod, and the fish remain scarce.

"I've never seen cod fishing this bad," says Greg Wilinsky, who has been fishing on Cape Cod for more than 30 years. "It looks to me like it's over. And I can't catch any codfish."

It's so bad, many fishermen say, that for the first time, they cannot catch enough cod to even reach shrinking government quotas.

At Finely JP's, a seafood restaurant on the Cape, owner John Pontius says he has always served local cod, but the shortage caused prices to skyrocket. So for a while, he took it off the menu.

Now Pontius serves cod imported from Iceland. He is not alone."

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Midcoast lens: Sea smoke sunrise

Midcoast lens: Sea smoke sunrise Rockport harbor. Photo by Bruce Hilsmeyer/Rockland Courier Gazette, December 31, 2013.

Daunting Calculus for Maine Shrimpers as Entire Season Is Lost - NYTimes.com

High Roller, a Port Clyde dragger

Port Clyde Fresh Catch is the brand of one of the last dragger fleets on the coast of the Gulf of Maine.  And that handful of boats is grounded now because the winter shrimp fishery is closed by government order.  I've told the story of Waiting for the Margaret E, to buy shrimp right off the boat.  Now climate change is threatening that stock - actually interfering with reproduction, the Times reports. - gwc

Daunting Calculus for Maine Shrimpers as Entire Season Is Lost - NYTimes.com:
by Jess Bidgood

“I can honestly say it was the worst catch that I’ve ever seen in my career,” said Mr. Cushman, 51, who has captained a boat for more than 30 years. “I was calling people and saying, ‘Let’s shut this fishery down, this is stupid.’ ”

Regulators recently did just that, closing the 2014 Gulf of Maine shrimping season — which, in a normal year, might have run from December through the spring — to give the supply time to recover. The unusual step has brought some hope to Mr. Cushman and to other fishermen and processors whose livelihoods depend in part on the shrimp’s making a comeback, even as they wonder how to weather this season, and perhaps longer, without it. But others say closing the season completely will deal too heavy a blow to the tiny, specialized market, eroding another part of New England’s imperiled fishing economy.

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Benchmark - New Year's Eve 2013

My new workbench.  72x24x32. In my cave where it was built.