Coast Guard responds to grounded barge at St. Johns River entrance JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Coast Guard Marine Safety Office Jacksonville is overseeing response operations to the grounding of the 250-foot container barge, Guantanamo Bay Express, which was being pulled by the tugboat Spence while trying to leave the St. Johns River in Mayport at 2 […]
Preston Pate Jr. Elected ASMFC ChairNovember 11, 2004New Castle, NH – Today, member states of the Atlantic States MarineFisheries Commission acknowledged the many accomplishments of outgoingChair John I. Nelson, Jr. of New Hampshire and welcomed incoming ChairPreston Pate Jr. of North Carolina.In assuming his chairmanship, Mr. Pate spoke enthusiastically about his newposition, “I am honored […]
NOAA, USCG Protect Endangered Sea Turtles PORTSMOUTH, Va. – The U.S. Coast Guard and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) prevented a fishing vessel from potentially harming endangered sea turtles in protected waters of the Pamlico Sound, N.C., today. Fishing Vessel Bella D A Coast Guard helicopter from Air […]
SUN’s STORMS CREATE SPECTACULAR LIGHT SHOW ON EARTH Nov. 10, 2004  A series of major solar flares on the sun is keeping NOAA space weather forecasters busy this week. There have been two major solar flares, rated as R2 (moderate) and R3 (strong) on the NOAA Space Weather Scales, which erupted on November 9 […]
COAST GUARD MEANS SERIOUS BUSINESS NEW ORLEANS– The Coast Guard was awarded restitution Thursday when a U.S. district court judge sentenced a man who was indicted on the federal charge of making a false distress call. Subsequent to a Coast Guard Investigative Services investigation, Michael Henderson (aka Michael Gilbert, James Edward Banks) of Ft. Worth, […]
NOAA AIRCRAFT OPERATIONS CENTER HONORED FOR EXCEPTIONAL HURRICANE WORK Nov. 9, 2004  Hurricane season is quickly coming to a close, but millions of Americans will not soon forget the parade of storms that came crashing into the U.S. mainland, as well as a number of other nations in the path of the powerful and […]
NTSB CALLS FOR FEDERAL ACTION TO ADOPT “MOST WANTED” SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS Washington, DC – The National Transportation Safety Board said today that the government should be doing more to prevent accidents and enhance safety for the traveling public. The Board updated its list of Most Wanted Safety Improvements, noting instances where federal agencies had given […]
Current Daily General and HMS Charter/Headboat Category Commercial BFT limits The General category daily retention limit is one large medium or giant BFT (73 inches CFL or greater) per vessel per day/trip. This daily retention limit is effective through May 31, 2005, inclusive. This limit applies to permitted Atlantic tunas General and HMS Charter/headboats (while […]
FOREIGN MASTER CHARGED WITH OPERATING VESSEL WHILE INTOXICATED NEW ORLEANS- The Greek master of a commercial ship pleaded guilty and was charged Thursday with operating his vessel while intoxicated. Nikolaos Zografos was charged before a U.S. magistrate judge with being drunk while aboard the 580-foot freight ship Winner at St. John’s Buoys, near Reserve, La. […]
COAST GUARD REQUESTS DUCK HUNTERS TO WEAR LIFE JACKETS The changing of the fall colors usually marks the start of hunting season for waterfowl. The Coast Guard wants to let hunters know they are not exempt from boating accidents. In 2003, nearly 70% of boating accidents that occurred while hunting resulted in fatalities. “Many hunters […]
