The Canadian Coast Guard hopes on Thursday to free the final three fishing vessels that have been stuck in ice off Newfoundland's northeast coast since mid-March.

The coast guard was confronted in March with a field of ice that stretched all the way from Quebec's north shore, around Newfoundland's Northern Peninsula and along hundreds of kilometres of coastline to the top of the Avalon Peninsula.

(c) CBC

At one point, more than 100 longliners had become trapped in ice after returning from the seal hunt where most of the quota was filled on March 13. Some vessels were stuck before the hunt started, while the heavy ice prevented others from getting close to seal herds.

Dean Patey, skipper of Patey's Venture, one of the last three boats still in ice off Fogo Island, said coast guard icebreakers are escorting all three vessels.

"It's been very long and very, very tense moments sometimes but apart from that now, you know, what a long time now — 22 days on a boat, beating around," Patey said. "It's not too good."

Patey said he and his crew were not able to obtain seals. He said they are hoping to receive another opportunity from federal fisheries officials, who have made sporadic subsequent openings in the seal hunt as the remaining quota in the region are taken.

Sealers stuck in ice pass the time with cards, movies
Ken Meaney, CanWest News Service
Published: Thursday, May 03, 2007

Sealers stuck in ice off the coast of Newfoundland, some for more than three weeks now, are passing their time playing cards, sleeping and watching movies like Pirates of the Caribbean.

But while pirate Capt. Jack Sparrow was marooned in warmer climes, the crew of the Connie James are stuck in 50 kilometres of solid ice.

For them, Wednesday - the 22nd day of their icy captivity - looked an awful lot like the previous 21 days.

"Ice, as far as the eye can see, nothing but ice," said Chris Rose, one of five crew on the James, a 15-metre wooden fishing boat. It's one of three vessels still immobilized 140 kilometres southeast of St. Anthony on Newfoundland's Northern Peninsula.

"The ice is really thick; we don't drift around," he said, surprisingly upbeat about the situation.

Four other sealing ships were being escorted to open water by a fleet of Canadian Coast Guard icebreakers, and were expected to be clear of the ice by the end of Wednesday. Persistent northeasterly winds have packed ice into the shoreline and built up progressively during the spring seal hunt. It had trapped up to 100 ships, some with hull damage, at one point within the last month. Severe ice along Newfoundland's northeast coast is normal, the coast guard says.

Rose, 27, a fisherman for 10 years, says the ice is the worst he's seen. He said he has seen two or three ships that were lifted right out of the water by the ice.