Daily Archives: August 18, 2013

It’s a libertarian’s wet dream: With President Obama and Congress on vacation, we’re safe from government. Now, go read the Federal Register.

Washington’s secret rulebook It’s the daily compendium of proposed rules, regulations and decisions by  government agencies. It never heads to Martha’s Vineyard and isn’t read by 99%  of Washington reporters. But it’s testament to the unceasing impact of  government and proof of where the real power resides: in the bureaucracy. more@nydailynews23:09:49

2013 Gloucester Fishermens Memorial Service, Photos from Anthony Marks

img_5024Gloucester Fisherman’s Memorial (also known as: “Man at the Wheel” statue or “Fishermen’s Memorial Cenotaph”) is an historic memorial cenotaph sculpture on South Stacy Boulevard, near entrance of Stacy Esplanade in Gloucester, Massachusetts, built in 1925. link

more@goodmorninggloucester22:03:51

Noise from seismic air guns could be skirmish before war over East Coast offshore drilling – pile-driving for windmill construction will be louder than air guns

fisherman-obamaOil and geophysical companies say this is an ill-disguised attempt to prevent all drilling in the huge area President Obama opened to exploration in 2010, and other members of Congress have demanded that exploration proceed.If the goal is to shut down oil and gas exploration in favor of constructing wind turbines, Gill said, pile-driving for windmill construction will be louder than air guns. more@washingtonpost21:17:11

The Workers’ Compensation Board of Nova Scotia campaign aims to keep fishermen afloat

The Workers’ Compensation Board of Nova Scotia has taken matters in hand, literally, with a new campaign aimed at encouraging fishermen to wear personal flotation devices while near or on the water. Board staffers have been hitting waterfront events across the province with a new summer slogan: “Who do you wear your PFD for?” continued@chronicleherald17:25:41

Being a responsible fish eater is much more difficult than it appears – Sustainable seafood is a fantasy (the comments are priceless!)

Consumers have proven that they can hear about the horrific factory farms and still eat chicken for dinner. Personally, I find it hard to feel sympathy for animals, but I became a vegetarian after seeing enough evidence of the huge environmental impact of meat consumption, and some worrying predictions about antibiotic resistance, to convince me it was the responsible thing to do. [email protected] 13:53:18

Rhode Island Fishermen’s Alliance Weekly Update August 18, 2013

rifa“The Rhode Island Fishermen’s Alliance is dedicated to its mission of continuing to help create sustainable fisheries without putting licensed fishermen out of business.” Read the Update 11:01:16

Baker | The problem of too much fish – (not just Halibut!)

If you’ve been listening to the Fisheries Broadcast lately you’ve been hearing about a peculiar problem: Seems there’s too much fish around, and it’s shagging up the fishery. Yes, you read that correctly.,,,,By now you may have heard that I will be replacing the irreplaceable John Furlong in the wheelhouse of The Fisheries Broadcast for the coming year. more@cbcnews09:19:14

If loggerheads are coming back, are more protections needed? How much does a species have to rebound before being taken off the endangered list?

When the federal government recently designated 68 miles of Cape Fear region coastline as critical habitat for loggerhead sea turtles, some local officials questioned the need for more – potentially costly – protections. So the proposed regulation, required under the Endangered Species Act, raises the question: How much does the species have to rebound before being taken off the endangered list? more@starnewsonline08:02:26

New evidence points to former EPA official pushing pre-emptive Pebble Mine veto

When it comes to a controversial proposed copper and gold mine near Alaska’s Bristol Bay, the Environmental Protection Agency long has insisted that it is assessing, not regulating. At least not yet. The EPA has repeatedly said it has no plan to pre-emptively veto the mine proposal via a regulatory hydrogen bomb at its disposal in the Clean Water Act — certainly not while the agency is working over its much-disputed assessment of a theoretical large-scale mine’s impact on the Bristol Bay Watershed. more@washingtonexaminer07:37:00

Our View: Disaster relief — so close and yet so far

sct logoThe list of fisheries disasters grew last week with the addition of Florida’s oyster industry, blamed mostly on diminishing freshwater flow into Apalachicola Bay due to drought. You could plug in “groundfish,” “Massachusetts” and “warming ocean” into the news reports and hardly tell the difference. The Northeast, Alaska and Mississippi all joined the list last year, but budget talks couldn’t get $150 million in disaster funds through for the fisheries because of Republican opposition. more@southcoasttoday01:55:47

N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission look at trawl restrictions

51f9230a19fd0_preview-300MOREHEAD CITY — As the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission prepares to review a petition for rulemaking that could ban shrimp trawling from the state’s coastal waters, it’s shrimp advisors are also looking at management options to reduce bycatch that could put more restrictions on where shrimpers can fish in coastal waters or on the gear they can use. more@carteretcountynewstimes01:21:50