Daily Archives: December 17, 2022
F/V Speranza Marie: Diesel Spills from Grounded Fishing Vessel at Santa Cruz Island
Diesel fuel containment from a boat carrying 16,000 pounds of squid continues off Santa Cruz Island, the Unified Command responding to the spill reported Friday night. The F/V Speranza Marie held about 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel and an unknown amount of hydraulic fuel when it hit shore at Chinese Harbor around 2 a.m. on December 15. The island is about 27 miles directly south of the City of Santa Barbara and the largest of the Channel Islands. Global Diving and Salvage is working to remove the fuel and stabilize the ship with the help of Tow Boat USA, the Unified Command reported in a press statement. >click to read< 15:29
Report finds Reul a Chuain tragedy stresses importance of wearing a PFD
On the evening of 24 June 2021, the 18-metre Reul a Chuain (OB915) was on passage with three crew to Mallaig, Scotland when a deckhand fell overboard in adverse weather while trying to recover one of the vessel’s nets, which had slipped over the stern during heavy rolling. The skipper attempted to recover him from the water but also fell overboard. Neither of them were wearing personal flotation devices. Both men were recovered by the inexperienced remaining crew member. The skipper was unresponsive and, despite efforts by the vessel’s crew and search and rescue personnel, he could not be revived. >click to read< 11:29
Wind energy developer files to scrap power agreements. Scrap all of it completely.
Commonwealth Wind on Friday asked Massachusetts regulators to scrap the agreements the company reached with utilities and reopen a new round of bidding. Commonwealth Wind filed a motion with the Department of Public Utilities (DPU) seeking dismissal of the power purchase agreements it reached with utility companies in May, which would render them moot, and a reopening of the process of procuring the project’s 1,200 megawatts of clean wind energy. If the DPU agrees, Commonwealth Wind said it would file a new, updated bid with more viable financial terms. >click to read< 10:45
Sen. Susan Collins Moves to Block Stricter Rules Protecting Endangered Whales
Senator Susan Collins is pushing for a provision in the massive government funding bill that could further endanger the already precarious North Atlantic right whale. In July, a federal judge ruled that a 2021 regulation from the NOAA, which established new requirements for lobster traps in an effort to reduce the risk of those traps entangling and harming or killing whales, didn’t go far enough. The judge has since given federal regulators until 2024 to come up with what are expected to be even stricter rules to safeguard the imperiled whale. Collins’ provision, which has not yet been introduced, seeks to block those regulations and cement the 2021 rule for a minimum of 10 years. >click to read< 09:21
Disaster declaration unlocks potential federal aid for Alaska crabbers
A Commerce Department disaster declaration for Bering Sea crab and some Alaska and Washington salmon fisheries sets the stage for an end-of-the-year push to secure federal funds to help fleets and communities. The declaration announced Friday covers the Bristol Bay king crab harvests suspended for the past two years, and the snow crab harvest that next year will be canceled for the first time ever. Other fisheries covered by the declaration include the 2021 western Alaska Kuskokwim River salmon harvests as well as 2019 salmon fisheries in the Puget Sound and the 2020 Washington ocean salmon fisheries. >click to read< 08:04
