Daily Archives: July 4, 2014
Fish and Ocean Grabbing: The Case of Commercial Fisheries
On April 8, 2009, a story in the New York Times quoted the administrator of NOAA (the federal agency in charge of managing OUR oceans) as saying that was “taking preliminary steps toward privatizing fisheries” (in New England). We submit that if the director of the Forest Service or the National Park Service, or the Bureau of Land Management was quoted as saying those agencies were taking preliminary steps towards privatizing public forests, national parks, or public rangelands, that there would be an immediate outcry from “the left.” And yet, there was no outcry whatsoever. Read more here 16:38:46
Hammerheads classified as protected
The National Marine Fisheries Service on Thursday classified as endangered and threatened four distinct populations of hammerhead sharks. The new classification responds to a petition filed by the environmental groups WildEarth Guardians and Friends of Animals. Read more here 16:16
Monster sockeye run starting to enter Fraser River
Sockeye by the thousands could start swimming up the Fraser River shortly. The prized red sockeye entering the river now are the offspring of the 2010 run — the largest sockeye return on the Fraser in the last 100 years. The computer modelling puts the estimated Fraser return total anywhere between about 7 million and 70 million sockeye. Read more here 16:02
Crabbing off to slow start, Beaufort County commercial fishermen say
NMFS Announces Final 2014 Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Quotas
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announces final quota specifications for the 2014 Atlantic bluefin tuna fishery. NMFS is adjusting the annual U.S. baseline bluefin quota recommended by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) to account for underharvest of the adjusted 2013 U.S. bluefin quota. Read more here 07:19
NMFS looking at changes to fisheries financing program
The agency, or NMFS, has published an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking in the federal register seeking comments on possible changes to the program that would allow the fund to be used for vessels that would have an increased harvesting capacity. Read more here 06:56
Delaware: Bowers Beach man cited for commercial fishing violations
Frank S. Eicherly is charged with 50 counts of no ghost panel on commercial fish pots, which is a means of escape for fish if a pot is lost or abandoned, 50 counts of improperly marked commercial fish pots and one count of illegally potting for finfish within the boundaries of an artificial reef. Read more here 06:44
The Morons at NMFS, US Fish and Wildlife, Rubber Stamp Cape Wind
A day after the U.S. Department of Energy conditionally approved a $150 million loan for Cape Wind, two other federal agencies on Wednesday filed required paperwork that seemingly gives the project’s developer another in a string of legal victories. Read more here 06:20
Updated 05:06 – Hurricane Arthur makes landfall in U.S. – will likely reach Atlantic Canada as tropical storm
The centre of Hurricane Arthur is moving near North Carolina’s coast early Friday after slashing into the state’s barrier islands just ahead of Independence Day, forcing thousands to flee and much of the East Coast to shuffle holiday celebrations. Read more here 05:26
