Shell game: Conflict, secrecy cloud battle over SC oyster farming permit

May 9, 2021 South Atlantic

A conflict of interest involving a floating oyster farm in a popular creek has spawned hard questions about government secrecy, insider dealing and the sanctity of public lands in South Carolina. Caged oyster farming has become a growing and potentially lucrative industry in recent years. It offers the promise of eco-friendly jobs and year-round, succulent bivalves for Charleston’s renowned dining scene. But a battle over one such operation sparked a state ethics investigation. That probe found a Department of Natural Resources permit coordinator had used his position to help his brother win approval to grow oysters along a Charleston County creek. The coordinator later quit his job and became a partner in his brother’s company, an Uncovered investigation found. >click to read< 14:11

A conflict of interest, Charleston Oyster Farm on Green Creek, Charleston Oyster Farm’s attorney, Cody Lenhardt, declined to comment, Department of Natural Resources, floating oyster farm, help his brother win approval, insider dealing, permit coordinator, questions about government secrecy, S.C. Shellfish Growers Association, SC oyster farming permit, secrecy, South Carolina, Thomas Bierce, used his position

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The New England groundfish debacle (Part III): who or what is at fault? Nils E. Stolpe/FishNet

It took me a while to decide how to most accurately describe the situation that has been visited upon the New England fishing communities that are and since colonial times have been dependent on the groundfish fisheries.

NILS STOLPE: The New England groundfish debacle (Part IV): Is cutting back harvest really the answer?

While it’s a fact that’s hardly ever acknowledged, the assumption in fisheries management is that if the population of a stock of fish isn’t at some arbitrary level, it’s because of too much fishing. Hence the term “overfished.” Hence the mandated knee jerk reaction of the fisheries managers to not enough fish; cut back on fishing. What of other factors? They don’t count. It’s all about fishing, because fishing is all that the managers can control; it’s their Maslow’s Hammer. When it comes to the oceans it seems as if it’s about all that the industry connected mega-foundations that support the anti-fishing ENGOs with hundreds of millions of dollars a year in “donations” are interested in controlling. Read the article here

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