- 2 days ago
East Harbour Heroes Season 3 Episode 5 - Full
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Short filmTranscript
00:00Previously on East Harbor Heroes, Ron Curtis and his crew faced their fears during critical
00:13survival training.
00:14Courses like this drives at home what you're doing each and every day.
00:19Before pushing off for their next trip.
00:20We're just setting our course now, 200 miles away, and then after that it's game on.
00:25Right now this is good fishing.
00:27This is good.
00:29Daniel Morgan successfully completed one of his many fisheries for the year.
00:33We're trying to stay as busy as we can doing different fisheries, but the more stuff we
00:36get at the better it is for the low end of the company.
00:42And the new dive team tackled back-to-back dockings in St. John's.
00:46Very picky.
00:47Very tedious.
00:48Oh, we got her.
00:50There you go.
00:52Never underestimate the ocean.
00:54Be careful now, Bart.
00:55You always got to be watching that way, right?
00:57You can always expect that there's something unexpected that's going to happen.
01:02We got to get a move on.
01:04Okay, we're getting to the ballpark now.
01:07A bit challenging on times.
01:08No good about that.
01:09Boats are there, crews are ready, and whatever it takes.
01:11These are the East Harbor heroes.
01:13I'm feeling pretty confident.
01:22It's a beautiful day.
01:23Pretty excited.
01:24A few hours outside of St. John's.
01:28We just got off a large welding job on the south coast on the fish farms, and so lucky we were
01:32all prepped and ready to go, so our trailer was ready.
01:36Alex McClagan and Mike Taylor from New Dive are about to start a new job.
01:40We're down in Glovertown today, and we are about to dive on the Norcon Galatea.
01:47It's an old ferry that's been all over Newfoundland and riding it our whole lives.
01:52I used to take it to my family home in Fogo when I was a kid.
01:57Yeah, she's an old relic, man.
02:02After servicing remote Newfoundland communities for nearly 50 years, the ferry was decommissioned
02:07and sold to an international buyer.
02:09So as far as I know, this is heading to the Caribbean.
02:12It's being bought by a fellow from Miami.
02:16But before it sails south, it needs to be scrubbed clean.
02:20Invasive species has become a big problem here.
02:22It's caused a lot of issues for ecosystems locally.
02:26An invasive species is a non-native organism that spreads rapidly in a new environment.
02:32There are currently seven kinds of invasive species in Newfoundland waters, all of which
02:36are harmful.
02:37So in a lot of places it is regulation to minimize the cross-contamination of invasive species
02:44that's going on.
02:45We're starting back after.
02:46Roger.
02:47Okay.
02:48The fastest way for species to spread is on the hulls of ships traveling through international
02:53waters.
02:54I think this one's going to be pretty dirty.
02:56It looks like it's, you know, some elbow grease on this job.
03:03Let's get a K bottle ready and we're going to do the 1.30 for your standby.
03:111.30 for standby.
03:12K bottle on top.
03:13Roger.
03:14Yeah.
03:15Don't have a lot of time.
03:16We're starting late today.
03:17It's almost 10 o'clock.
03:18I want to be in the water by 10.
03:19We have 15 minutes.
03:20The North Atlantic has become one of the most studied areas for climate change.
03:31The waters around Newfoundland and Labrador have seen dramatic changes over the past decade.
03:36My name is Kylie Best and I'm a fisheries biologist with the Center for Fisheries Ecosystems Research.
03:42Our climate is changing and that's a humongous problem.
03:46That's not a quick fix.
03:47The same thing that makes it challenging is the same thing that makes it interesting as
03:51well.
03:52It's always changing.
03:53It's always evolving.
03:54There's always things that you have to work around.
03:57Climate change throws a wrench in your plans.
04:00We've got to pivot and figure other things out so people can still have a livelihood and
04:04still be on the water.
04:09100 miles off the east coast of the island, Captain Ron Curtis and crew are halfway to new
04:17fishing grounds.
04:19The crew have no idea what the next few days hold as they're trying a new fishery.
04:23Ron got something to go catch.
04:26We're all here to go catch it.
04:28Ron and his crew have been selected by the DFO to collect data on sea cucumbers off the
04:33northeast coast.
04:35If cucumbers become a commercial fishery in this area, by doing the survey, Ron will be
04:39offered a license.
04:40It's exciting to be involved in a new fishery.
04:44I've been involved in so many different fisheries now, but this one is probably one where I'm
04:49going to be going out as a captain and not knowing what to expect really, just from what
04:55I'm told.
04:57For a fisherman or an enterprise owner, I mean, you're always looking for new ways to generate
05:03revenue.
05:04When things like this are available to you or come up, you know, you jump at the chance
05:10to try it.
05:11Sea cucumber are soft-bodied, tube-shaped species that are popular in Asia, where they're
05:16used in traditional cuisine and medicine.
05:18The market for this fishery is growing, but it's still in the development phase in this
05:22part of Newfoundland, and scientists need more intel to determine sustainable catch rates.
05:27It's all new to me, and it's all new to the crew, so it's one of the things we're going
05:32in blind.
05:33There could be a few ups and downs or a few curse words on this or that before the trip
05:40is over.
05:41Seems like in the past years, it's been getting pretty popular around these areas, especially
05:45on the south coast.
05:46I mean, the fishermen do have their own quota down there, and they've been involved in it
05:49for a few years.
05:50So it seems like it's going to be a pretty good fishery.
05:54While Ron Curtis is doing his part to try and open up a new fishery up north, the south
05:59coast sea cucumber fishery is already open for business.
06:02Yeah, it's too good of a forecaster now not to.
06:05That's why the boss is gone now too.
06:08Now haul this back now, Logan.
06:11Skipper Daniel Morgan is one of the few license holders for sea cucumbers in his area.
06:16The license came with the purchase of his boat, the Alice T.
06:19I'm happy to have a sea cucumber license because there's not a lot of licenses out there for
06:24sea cucumber, so it feels pretty privileged to have one of those.
06:27Right now we're switching up our cucumber ramps.
06:34We're having a problem with it sliding, so we're making the angle a bit greater, so
06:38we'll just slide in so the boys don't have to do as much work with it.
06:41We're going to crunch for time now to get out there for daily.
06:43So now we'll try it out and see if it works.
06:49Is that better like that?
06:54That'll work, won't it?
06:58All right, let's take this off.
07:00We'll get our race going then.
07:02Yeah, pick it up and kick it out.
07:13Okay, one, two, three.
07:15Back in Glovertown, Alex, Mike, and the team from New Dive are racing to get in the water.
07:20All right.
07:21Air on one.
07:22Air on one.
07:23Air on one.
07:29Yeah, got you loud and clear.
07:30You got me?
07:31Yeah, loud and clear.
07:32Perfect.
07:33First item, lockout, tag outs.
07:36Confirmed dead ship on this one.
07:38So as soon as we get in, let's just do a preliminary scan.
07:41I got 150 bar on the bottle and blend down.
07:45Ready for main gas.
07:46Roger that.
07:51On main.
07:52Main gas confirmed.
07:54Ready for the hat?
07:56There we go.
07:57There we go.
08:05Toppers left surface.
08:08Roger.
08:11The sides look pretty good.
08:12You just got some real white grass there.
08:14Little to no...
08:17It actually looks like maybe an old muscle bed that's after going off.
08:20Roger, that's excellent.
08:21Yeah, see how the little...
08:23Yeah, yeah, the filament.
08:24Let's dip underneath the build's keel.
08:27Under the build's keel, we do have some muscle growth.
08:30And it looks like it's right on the keel line.
08:33Wow, that's a lot better than I was expecting.
08:35Yeah, me too.
08:36And, you know, muscles is pretty well the best we could hope for.
08:38Absolutely.
08:40Okay, well, I'm going to start on this rotor and then work my way top down.
08:44Roger that.
08:45Let's get after it.
08:47There is evidence that there was more marine growth on it,
08:49but it was after coming out.
08:51So whether it died or whatever due to conditions,
08:54I think some of it may have come off.
08:58I'm just having the best time.
09:01Okay.
09:02Man off?
09:03Man's off.
09:04Yeah, I left you a few, little man.
09:06I gotta get a wash.
09:07With their diver, Matt, handling one final sweeper,
09:10they've got to get a wash.
09:12They've got to get a wash.
09:14With their diver, Matt, handling one final sweep with a pressure washer,
09:19the ferry is almost ready for her journey to her new harbour.
09:24All done for the day.
09:25Job over.
09:26Job complete.
09:27I can't think of anything that didn't go well today.
09:28I'm going to get a wash.
09:31I'm going to get a wash.
09:33I'm going to get a wash.
09:34I'm going to get a wash.
09:35I'm going to get a wash.
09:36I'm going to get a wash.
09:37I'm going to get a wash.
09:38I'm going to get a wash.
09:39With their diver, Matt, handling one final sweep with a pressure washer,
09:41the ferry is almost ready for her journey to her new harbour.
09:43All done for the day.
09:48Job over.
09:49Job complete.
09:50I can't think of anything that didn't go well today.
09:54All of our diving operations went really well.
09:56The job was complete.
09:57Everybody came home safe.
09:58And really, that's all we can ask for.
10:00While Alex and Mike successfully prepped the old ferry for her next journey,
10:07a team of scientists are prepping to hunt for an unwanted species
10:10that is spreading quickly along the south coast.
10:13We're in Hermitage on the south coast of Newfoundland.
10:16And I'm just tagging along with the DFO team.
10:19We're doing a monitoring dive here on the government oar.
10:22Do you just have the two?
10:23Just two.
10:24Yeah.
10:25Biologist and diver Phillip Sargent is the team lead for the DFO crew.
10:29We basically monitor for invasive species in the area of Newfoundland and Labrador.
10:34I'm in charge of the surveys for this particular trip,
10:37looking mainly for vase tunicates, but also any other invasive species,
10:41especially the biofouling ones that attach to orbs and boats and other structures in water.
10:47Kylie and the DFO team need to assess the threat level posed by vase tunicate.
10:52There's thousands of species of tunicates all over the world.
10:56The scary ones are club tunicate and vase tunicate.
11:00They're the scariest ones.
11:01Vase tunicate is here in Newfoundland, and we're very concerned about that one,
11:05and a lot of work is being done on that one.
11:07So when the conditions are right, when the water is warm,
11:09the little larvae release, it's just like planting an invasive plant.
11:14Like if the seed is there, it's going to continue to go.
11:16You can't get rid of it.
11:17It can smother things.
11:18So whatever it's growing on, if it's alive, like if it's on a scallop,
11:21it can smother the scallop because it can't open its mouth to exchange water and feed.
11:25It can also just weigh things down.
11:27Buoys get covered over in tunicates.
11:29It can sink and then your gear is gone.
11:31We're trying to figure out what the extent of the invasion is.
11:36Tunicates were first found on the south coast of Newfoundland,
11:39and the Sanchoe Bay is kind of ground zero for a lot of invasive species
11:43because there's so much vessel traffic in and out of that area.
11:46So we have the things coming in from outside that I've never seen before.
11:50We have such a large region with a huge coastline.
11:55The problem is constantly expanding.
11:57We're getting more and more species all the time,
11:59and they're spreading more and more in the province.
12:01So it's a huge workload, and we need a lot of people,
12:04a lot of hands to get the work done.
12:06On the south coast of Newfoundland, biologist Kylie Best and divers from the DFO
12:17are investigating how deeply vase tunicates have spread in one of the island's busiest harbours.
12:22They saw it on the end of the wharf.
12:24They'll probably go out, cross over to the other floating wharf, come back in.
12:29Can I hold on to someone?
12:32Yeah, thank you.
12:33When the first diver surfaces, she brings a collection plate that the team placed last year.
12:40This is good to look at.
12:45So this is what we wanted to settle on specifically.
12:48Lots and lots.
12:50Yeah.
12:51Lots of vase tunicates.
12:53Basically, the bottom of the floating docks are completely covered in juvenile muscles,
12:57and then there's clumps of vase tunicates on the bottoms underneath the floating docks.
13:02This little spot here, you can really tell how it's attached onto the mussel.
13:05But this poor mussel's not going to be okay.
13:07It's probably a good lesson in competition here.
13:10These are your native species, and these are your invasive species.
13:14So if these weren't here, this whole thing would be covered in mussels.
13:18The best we can do is really concentrate our efforts on slowing the spread or containing them as much as possible.
13:25There's so much effort in preventing movement between vessels, or teaching people to make sure they're clean,
13:31or just teaching people don't move your gear if you know it's maybe contaminated,
13:35or just let it sit out in the sun for a while, let it dry up.
13:37The northeast coast is where most of the mussel farming in Newfoundland happens,
13:41and they don't have this yet, and we want to keep it that way.
13:43Because that can be really detrimental to the industry there.
13:45If these things do spread up there, I mean, look at the mussel industry in CEI Nova Scotia.
13:52Like, a lot of farmers have had to shut down because of vase tunicates.
13:56Mussel farmers in other maritime provinces lose millions of dollars every year
14:00due to the destructive impact of vase tunicates.
14:10My name is Juan Roberts, I'm the owner of Adgerberry Mussel Farms.
14:14We started in 1988, so this is 36 years for us.
14:18I always wanted to be a farmer, so now I'm farming in the ocean.
14:22We started off with three or four sites, which is about 500 hectares of water.
14:26Now we own over 20-something sites and over 2,000 hectares of water.
14:31So there's about three or four people in Newfoundland all together now,
14:34and we're one of them, and we got probably one of the biggest operations, I'd say, in Newfoundland.
14:39I mean, Newfoundland got, what, 17,000 kilometers of coastline,
14:43and only 500,000 people lived in it.
14:45If it wasn't for that culture, in some parts of Newfoundland, it'd be a ghost town.
14:50Polly Rope, that's around seven-foot long, just hanging on the main line,
14:54hanging down seven feet.
14:55Each line is around 2,400, sometimes 1,200, depends on the length that you got.
15:00There's around 50,000 in this one site.
15:04Juan and his team are a few of the hundreds of mussel harvesters
15:07that are proactively working to prevent an invasion from their operations.
15:11Everybody's freaked out over a visa species.
15:13If the traditional fishery and the big ships with oil and stuff
15:17keeps coming into the harbors and keeps pumping pils water overboard
15:21without any restriction, you're going to have it all overnight.
15:24There's no control over any tunicate we don't want.
15:28It helps that we're on the northeast coast, and it helps that we got colder water.
15:32Most tunicates and other species don't like cold water.
15:35Well, obviously, climate change has affected it.
15:38And we've been doing this for 36 years.
15:4030 years ago, you would not harvest true to winter, and now we can.
15:45If you get it on your site, you've got to try to restrict it,
15:48try to keep it away from your site.
15:50It can wipe you out.
15:52Thank God the 36 years that we've had turned it well.
15:56Any kind of fishery in this land, you're never guaranteed what it's going to be,
16:00so you've just got to brace yourself for the worst and try to do what you can.
16:02Yeah, we should be all ready to go now.
16:11We've got our supplies now to board.
16:13We've just got to back her into the wharf, put on our cucumber rake,
16:15and hopefully get going.
16:17When it comes to fishing, it's all about time.
16:20So you've got to be fast, and you've just got to be steady-go,
16:23and that's the only way that you're going to make it.
16:26You just got to swing this way, over this way.
16:29Ready?
16:32That's almost perfect.
16:34Every different fishery that we go at, we've got to change up pretty well all the gear.
16:39This here is our cucumber rake.
16:41This is what's going to make us all the money.
16:42We're going to put some wire around the shackle so we can't back off,
16:45because you don't want to lose this one.
16:51That's all right.
16:52Let her go.
17:00The time of the day don't really matter to us.
17:03No, we're ready to go.
17:04We get ready and we go.
17:09Finally on the way.
17:11We're heading to the eastern cucumber bed on St. Pierre Bank.
17:14We got around 97 miles to go.
17:27I'm anxious to get at it now.
17:29A little bit of a steam.
17:32200 miles off the east coast of the island,
17:34skipper Ron Curtis and his crew have nearly reached their sea cucumber grounds.
17:38Hello, Ron.
17:39Hey.
17:40How's it going?
17:41Good.
17:42How's it going with you?
17:43Oh, wonderful.
17:45Sea watch observer Drew Forward is on board to collect data on the two survey zones allocated to Ron by the DFO.
17:53Scientists depend on fishers to examine the sea floor so they can determine where fishery can exist.
17:59Survey blocks.
18:00First block 33.
18:01Second block 34.
18:02Yeah, so it's only 20 toes then.
18:03Yeah, 10 toes in each block.
18:04Well, that's wonderful.
18:05I was thinking it was going to be 30.
18:06The 900 square miles Ron will be fishing has never been surveyed for sea cucumbers before.
18:21We're hoping, fingers crossed, that it'll turn out good and the quality of the good.
18:24Yeah.
18:25So, if so, we'll keep doing that.
18:27But if not, we'll have to change it up and try something different.
18:29Yeah, all new exploratory.
18:37Ron will navigate the OSC Mariner across two blocks stretching 25 miles long over the next four days.
18:43The cost is all on you when it comes to paying for the observer and the gear and stuff like that.
18:49But, in the end, if they do issue out, like, permanent license, full-time licenses, I mean, it's a fishery that you can make money at, right?
18:57We're about to go shoot out a rake.
19:00Hopefully, we get some cucumbers.
19:06You ready?
19:07See cucumbers are captured using heavy trawls that glide along the sea floor for upwards of 15 minutes.
19:17The crew of the OSC Mariner haven't used this type of gear in years.
19:21So, it's all trial and error to launch and retrieve the rake.
19:27Right off the bat, that rake is twisted the wrong way.
19:31Oh, there.
19:32Hold it.
19:37Okay, go.
19:38Go eat a bit.
19:39Up on your tackle.
19:40Come on, here.
19:46Okay, you got her.
19:52Oh, well, when it went back there, it just twisted around the wrong way.
19:55It was upside down, really.
19:58So, we've got it straightened up.
20:01It's all new to us.
20:02We don't know where they're to, but before this trip is over, we'll find them.
20:07We dump the cucumbers in the tank, and he's gonna lift the tank up one of the bag winches there.
20:16So, I'll come down here, and then we'll pick at whatever rocks or whatever's in it.
20:20Let it go, let it go, let it go!
20:22Down on your winch, and up on your tackle!
20:24On the OSC Mariner, Ron and his crew are hauling in their first trawl, the exploratory sea cucumber survey.
20:39Seeing what the ratio to bycatch to sea cucumbers is, to see if it is going to be a viable commercial fishery.
20:48I see one, two.
20:49I got a steam three miles there now.
20:50My first impression is that it's definitely an exploratory fishery.
20:55No living creatures at all?
20:56Some starfish?
20:57Some crab?
20:58Two cucumbers?
20:59But that's all shells?
21:00I say, this is where the clam boats come and dumps off all their garbage by the looks of all their shells.
21:01I would say.
21:02That's a trial and error for the first twenty cows.
21:05If we don't find none or we don't find none in the row, go out!
21:11That's an average of two seas I've got here.
21:15We got a reef видел.
21:19It's always funny what's up, Don?
21:20They didn't look like this are?,
21:22It doesn't look like the fish well.
21:23Look at the salmonünstic fish.
21:24I was just looking for my erstmal two meals.
21:27But I see if this 누 never been tomieout.
21:29You can check my corn13 mujer.
21:31My first impression is that it's definitely an exploratory fishery.
21:32and then 20 toes, then we're allowed to go where they're getting some.
21:37When you're out there in an area where there was no dragging done before,
21:41you could be right alongside of them.
21:43You've got a little small seven or eight foot rake towing over the bottom.
21:48You could miss them by within feet.
21:51It might be thousands.
21:59Further along the south coast in Hardee's Cove,
22:01Kylie Best and the DFO dive team are investigating reports
22:05that Vase Tunicate is invading an isolated bay.
22:08We go down that way there.
22:11We're out with a local person who has noticed some Vase Tunicate on their scallops.
22:16Yeah, I think it's been a place for scallops for a long time.
22:19And you just know everything changes.
22:20And that's what this language is great at.
22:22Education is massive and it's huge.
22:24They look kind of pretty, but they're bad.
22:27So making sure that people understand why they're an issue
22:29and not just this cool new thing that's growing.
22:31Fish were numerous.
22:33Yep.
22:33And now you can't get one to eat.
22:36No.
22:36The bay is dead.
22:37Up until this spring, I didn't know what a tunicate was, an invasive tunicate.
22:43Went out one day scallop dragging and I pulled up these few little tubes.
22:48By the time August came, you could hardly scallop drag.
22:51There was so much there.
22:53It just exploded.
22:54The bay is a disaster.
22:57And it's sad.
22:58It's such a beautiful bay.
23:00And, you know.
23:00There's no heavy traffic.
23:02There's no ferries.
23:03There's no big commercial vessels or anything like that.
23:05So for this species to get into these remote areas, that gives you an idea of how pervasive
23:12the problem is down on the south coast now.
23:15We're just going to go down in front of all the cabins and go right off the beach and straight
23:18out.
23:18I mean, it shows that at least somebody cares.
23:30And it's not only me.
23:31A lot of bay's tunicate here.
23:39In some cases, it's grown like a meadow in little patches here in the cove.
23:44If this continues, the whole bottom could be covered in it.
23:47This is not good, not for a small cove like this.
23:53The question is, where is it coming from?
23:55How is it getting in these isolated spots?
23:57Is it coming off from other areas and drifting in?
24:01We have to figure that out.
24:02I'm 72 years old.
24:04I don't know how much time I've got.
24:05But I'm going up fighting.
24:08I'm going out fighting.
24:09You've got no environment.
24:10You've got no life.
24:11I mean, that's our life right there.
24:16The water.
24:16Different industries have different implications.
24:19But at the very base level, at an ecological level, bad news.
24:30Going clear over?
24:33100 miles off the south coast, skipper Daniel Morgan and his crew have arrived at their fishing
24:38grounds.
24:39This is Daniel's second trip of the season, so he's confident they've landed in the right
24:42spot.
24:46We usually tows anywhere from 8 to 10 minutes.
24:50But you can feel it when it's getting heavy.
24:52You can feel the boat slowing down.
24:54I'm starting to feel that now.
24:56It's a good time.
24:57Less hope is cucumbers.
24:59Hopefully, within 14, 15 hours, we'll have this boat full.
25:03If it's a good going, we'll get it.
25:05Guess what time it is.
25:16We've got a few in there.
25:17Not a big, big bag.
25:18Not bad.
25:19There's a bit of dirt in two-toe, so hopefully we'll get you out of that as it goes on.
25:35But that's it.
25:36Me and Danny are setting back out now.
25:44We're just tired of another tow.
25:47I'd say we probably got 1,500 pounds in that one, probably.
25:51We're out for probably around 2,500, 3,000 pounds a tow.
25:54With 70,000 pounds already caught this year, Daniel has another 190,000 pounds to go to
26:06fulfill his quota.
26:11Last tow, we were towing to the southwest.
26:14So now we're going to try it towards the northeast and see if that'll make a difference.
26:24But the difference isn't what they were expecting.
26:30Nutting, Danny.
26:32There's got to be something wrong with that, bud.
26:35No holes in it anywhere, is there?
26:40Well, we're going to tow the away from this, Danny.
26:42Yeah.
26:48200 miles off the east coast, the crew of the OSC Mariner aren't having much luck yet
26:53in their first search for sea cucumber.
26:55You do a tow, and then you steam three miles, do another tow, steam three miles, do another
27:00tow, so you're not concentrated into one area.
27:03The potential for a license isn't the only bonus for this trip.
27:07For completing the survey, the crew are allowed to keep their catch.
27:10With a goal of 130,000 pounds of sea cucumbers and a market price of 75 cents per pound, they're
27:16chasing a nearly $100,000 payday.
27:19Any sign of cucumber at all?
27:21Some sea cucumbers?
27:24It's a big one.
27:25But they have a long way to go.
27:3242.
27:3342 pounds.
27:35You're looking up, boys.
27:36You're looking up.
27:37Yeah!
27:39Woo!
27:41Only about a hundred and a half's toes.
27:43An hour outside of St. John's lies Trinity Bay, where scallops are still safely thriving
27:52in the cold, nutrient-rich waters.
27:56I'm Neil Burgess.
27:58I'm a volunteer scientific diver with the Petty Harbor Mini Aquarium.
28:01We better do what we can on this now.
28:04Neil Burgess is the president of Newfoundland's Shipwreck Society and loves diving on shipwrecks,
28:09but never turns down an opportunity to explore all aspects of the ocean.
28:13Scuba diving and exploring shipwrecks and things underwater, it's a real mix of things
28:19that really appeal to me.
28:21Just the challenge of planning dives.
28:23The marine life is spectacular here in Newfoundland.
28:27Today, Neil is volunteering his time to collect scallops for the Petty Harbor Mini Aquarium.
28:32The Petty Harbor Mini Aquarium is something that's very dear to my heart, and I've been
28:36involved in it ever since it started.
28:37And it is a seasonal catch-and-release mini aquarium.
28:40We collect local animals, put them in the aquarium in a comfortable, natural environment
28:44for the season so that the public can come learn and visit and understand what's under
28:49the surface here.
28:50And in the fall, we release them.
28:52Neil Burgess has been with us ever since we started, so we really depend on volunteer
28:56divers to help us collect our animals.
28:58Typical dive for scallops, it's going down to usually about 60, 70, 80 feet.
29:04We'll be putting them in coolers and keeping them happy and healthy and taking them back
29:08to the mini aquarium.
29:09Every year, we have to ask commissions for the departments and fisheries of oceans to collect
29:20organisms.
29:21And they give us an area that we're allowed to collect.
29:24Our area right now is between Tripathi and up to Random Island.
29:27While northern waters remain free of invasive species, it's critical for projects like the
29:34mini aquarium to educate people so they can help protect the ocean.
29:38If you're not a fisher, you don't know what's down there.
29:40And some fishers don't know what's down there if it's not a commercial species.
29:43We're at 18 meters there now, and it looks like it's soft bottom, so that should be a good
29:49spot.
29:49Let's try here.
30:01Yeah, they're just following the anchor line down, and then they're going to go look at
30:04the scallops.
30:10Out on the St. Pierre Bank, skipper Daniel Morgan has set a new course.
30:15After recent tows brought in more dirt than sea cucumbers.
30:19It's only worse than towing and towing and towing for nothing.
30:23Hopefully he's right full.
30:27Yeah?
30:29Yeah?
30:30Oh yeah, that's a lot better.
30:32It looks clean, yeah.
30:33It's a lot better.
30:34When he gets into the cucumbers, you don't get many of them old shells and stuff then.
30:40There's a lot of strain on this one.
30:42Strain is good news for the catch, but the crew can't celebrate yet, with thousands of
30:47pounds hanging in the air.
30:49Our cucumber rake basically is a piece of steel, around 1,500 pounds, so you've got to
30:56really watch out.
30:57The crew's got to be on their toes, because if it gets hit by that, that can kill you pretty
31:00quick, so you've got to try to get your hooks in as fast as you can.
31:04You don't want to have that up in the air for too long.
31:06Yeah, this is really, really nice hook.
31:08That's what you're looking for.
31:09That's a full bag.
31:13Oh yeah!
31:16You don't look so happy, Logan!
31:19You're getting paid, baby, you're getting paid!
31:21Yeah, isn't it?
31:22Definitely happy with that, Todd.
31:24Daniel?
31:25We stay out of like this.
31:27Let's go, baby, let's go!
31:40Up north on Trinity Bay, diver Neil Burgess and his team are diving for scalps on the ocean
31:45floor.
31:47Once they come on board, I look them over, make sure that they're all healthy, we can throw
31:51back anything that we don't want to take.
31:55Yeah, I was thinking at first, we're working on flying and it's...
32:02Yeah!
32:03The scalps were pretty thin, but they were scattered around, but he just kept doing a big circuit,
32:09and he's got a whole bag full.
32:12Yes, there are a lot.
32:13There's an animal in there!
32:14So the scalps are now in the cooler, so we're going to get them back to the mini aquarium.
32:32I think that business of educating people, especially school kids, about what the ocean
32:38is and how the animals down there are really cool, that I think people are more likely to
32:44protect and want to protect the ocean.
32:46I wasn't anticipating it to be this slow, but that's it, that's fishing, right?
32:56Down your wing door!
32:58Down your wing door!
33:00About 200 miles from the northeast coast, Ron Curtis and his crew are still learning on
33:05the fly, as they try to track down sea cucumbers.
33:11He might be...
33:12He might get chipped up a little bit, because in this part, she should be brought right flat
33:19out of the bottom.
33:22Anyway, draw over there!
33:25Right?
33:25Yep!
33:25I'm going to try to take the chain off.
33:34I'm thinking that heavy chain has got to tip just a little bit.
33:38We're digging it to the bottom.
33:40That's what I'm thinking.
33:41Maybe not.
33:41I don't know.
33:42It's all new.
33:45With seven of 20 toes left before their survey job is complete, and only 50 pounds of cucumbers
33:50in their tanks, Ron and the crew are looking at a total bust.
33:53If the weather don't stay good, we could have to end up going in with, like, very little
34:00aboard, and no one wins or gets anything out of that.
34:09Less dirt, more cucumbers!
34:20150, so 142.
34:23I'm surprised that we haven't come up with any yet, but, I mean, that's it.
34:28Could be the bottom, could be the depth.
34:31Even for an experienced skipper like Ron, lessons on the North Atlantic can be harsh.
34:36Coming out here, you want to be getting a full trip to make it feasible, right?
34:40But you had to do the survey in order to get the quota, or take the good with the bad.
34:46At cucumbers, it's not hard work.
34:48It's the long days, back and forth, back and forth, in on deck, in the wheelhouse, back on deck.
34:54There's not a lot of rest time.
34:59So time is closing in on us now.
35:03Yeah, the wind is pitching tomorrow, so we only got another day left.
35:07But, I mean, you can put a lot of cucumbers down in 24 hours, if they're there.
35:11The OSC mariner is steaming to new grounds to try and salvage a trip that has so far been a bust.
35:32We got a survey done, 20 toes on survey, we never came up with nothing, very little.
35:38The crew are now allowed to fish on proven cucumber grounds, but there's weather approaching, and they might run out of time.
35:45If there's any cucumbers here, it'd be just, the drag will be going right back in the water again and dragging.
35:51It'd be just steady drag, drag, drag.
35:53I'll just stop a minute.
36:02Oh, yeah, baby!
36:05Oh, yeah!
36:15Oh, yeah, buddy!
36:17She's full!
36:22Put the shoe on.
36:24Yeah, put that one on, too.
36:32We got him now, boy!
36:39Can't go too fast, sir.
36:41Put them don't go down.
36:42Just outside of St. John's, a cop-to-order delivery is arriving at the Petty Harbour Mini Aquarium.
37:04Hello!
37:05Hey!
37:06What you got in your trunk?
37:08Oh, nice.
37:09Here they are.
37:09Excellent.
37:09They look great.
37:10We're going to put these scallops in a tank down here in the back.
37:14We've got a nice habitat all ready to go for them.
37:16Well, our mission is to foster curiosity for local marine life and educate the public.
37:20And bringing them into the aquarium gives them the chance to see marine life up close.
37:23And hopefully that gets them curious about the animals, gets them thinking about what they do in their daily lives that they can be doing to protect the ocean.
37:30This is a nice big scallop.
37:32Angry he's out of the water, so I'm going to put that one in.
37:35In you go.
37:36And that's how a scallop does swim.
37:38So that's how they swim.
37:39There's been some of it now in the good one.
37:41Yeah.
37:42What do you call them?
37:43A vacation home.
37:44It's a timeshare.
37:44Timeshare.
37:45Timeshare for a little while and then they'll go back to their home.
37:48Yeah.
37:49They're safe from predators and they get to help us educate the public about marine life.
37:54And then at the end of the season they'll be returned to exactly where we got them from.
37:57Yeah.
37:57On the OSC mariner, Ron and his crew are finally filling the boat, but the clock is ticking.
38:08Yeah, not much sleep at this racket.
38:22Not much sleep at all.
38:26They're just catching like 20 winks in between each tow here now.
38:30They're caught between trying to salvage their trip and incoming weather.
38:40Looking at the forecast, later on this evening the wind is supposed to come 30 and orderly,
38:45so that'll put an end to the cucumber fishing for this trip.
38:53You can't be lying down when there's weather coming.
38:56Like, you're going to get a break then.
38:58So you've got to make the best of the good days.
39:01You've got to fish as long as you can and the hardest you can.
39:03About 100 miles off the southern tip of the island,
39:12skipper Daniel Morgan and his crew are in the homestretch.
39:15Yeah, this is our last tow and I was taken back.
39:17We got quite a load of water, which is pretty heavy.
39:21So we'll dump this one in the box now and then that'll settle out
39:24and we'll put that in as we're going in.
39:30She's not making much speed right now.
39:32We're all doing five and a half knots.
39:34So hopefully the tide will come around with us now as we're going in.
39:38But it feels good.
39:39We made 46 tows and we got our trip, so that's all that matters.
39:44Their goal today was 70,000 pounds and they nailed it.
39:50As soon as we get to upload it, we're turning around,
39:53we're heading right back out.
39:54My goal is over the next couple of years
39:56to try to catch as much as I can so I can buy a bigger boat.
40:00This boat is hardly big enough for what I want to be doing.
40:03The perfect scenario would be a 90-foot boat
40:08and fish an all-year line, add everything, and that's it.
40:15Daniel's got 120,000 pounds left on his cucumber quota for the season.
40:20Every pound he can catch gets him that much closer to his dream.
40:23I've just got to work hard and make as much money as I can
40:28to help get another boat.
40:30So I've just got to fish.
40:32After hauling for over 24 hours straight,
40:41Ron Curtis and his crew have run out of time.
40:45We've got a head to land there now because the weather is picking up.
40:48We've got no other choice on the head to land with what we've got.
40:50Cucumbers is a fair-weather fishery, so you get any amount of wind or swell
40:55and you really can't fish at all because the drag is so slight, you know.
40:58It's just off the bottom and you're just not fishing.
41:03With that, we fished for a day.
41:05Around 26 hours we got fishing,
41:07so we came up with around 50,000 pounds of cucumbers,
41:10which is not bad.
41:11I mean, you know, I know that they're there anyway.
41:13So it's not a failed trip,
41:15but it's not what we were anticipating when we set sail.
41:26You've got to feel like a king going in.
41:33We still managed to scrape up a trip out of it.
41:36Well, you're going to chase wherever the money is.
41:38Like, if they comes up with something that you can make a dollar at,
41:40you're going to try it.
41:42If you can, you've got no other choice.
41:44If he wants to make a living at this, you can't have no downtime.
41:47I've got a girlfriend and I've got two little babies home waiting for me.
41:50Well, they're not babies no more, but they're growing up.
41:53It's hard.
41:55You miss a lot of things, right?
41:56You've got to give them a life that you never had, right?
42:04Good.
42:05Three brand-new alternators going in.
42:09Everything good?
42:10Yeah, as long as he stays in between those angles.
42:12You see that, Chris?
42:13Grab onto him, grab onto him.
42:14We've got a zero bycatch tower on our scallop fishery.
42:18His Majesty's Canadian ship Windsor is one of Canada's four Victoria-class submarine.
42:23Shut up, Ben.
42:23Put a blow on that port.
42:25These submarines support maritime law enforcement.
42:28This is a very challenging guy.
42:33Hold on, on the rack.
42:34Roger, on the rack.
42:35This is amazing.
42:37Carnival.
42:37We'll graduate.
42:45Come on.
42:46Go on.
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