Tag Archives: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Federal agents raid Carlos Seafood on New Bedford waterfront

AR-160229553.jpg&MaxW=315&MaxH=315Federal agents raided one of the best-known seafood wholesalers on the waterfront Friday morning, searching the business and removing documents. A reporter on site at Carlos Seafood Inc. on South Front Street said federal agents, including from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Coast Guard, were conducting a search inside the building. Agents also searched a pickup truck parked in front of the building, removing a box full of papers, as well as a briefcase, according to a reporter. Read the rest here 12:31

SpaceX to launch $180 million NOAA ocean satellite, data to be used to aid fisheries management

NOAA ScientistA $180 million satellite to study the world’s oceans in a changing climate will blast off Sunday atop a Falcon 9 rocket, which SpaceX will try to land on a floating platform after launch. “That is a significant advantage over our predecessors,” said Jim Silva, Jason-3 program manager at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The technology will also monitor global sea surface heights, tropical cyclones and help support seasonal and coastal forecasts. During a five-year mission, its data will also be used to aid fisheries management and research into human impacts on the world’s oceans. Read the article here 08:43

Acidification-gate?: NOAA accused of ‘pHraud’ by hiding data showing oceans have not “acidified” over past century

“Ocean acidification” (OA) is receiving growing attention. While someone who doesn’t follow climate change science might think OA is a stomach condition resulting from eating bad seafood, OA is claimed to be a phenomenon that will destroy ocean life—all due to mankind’s use of fossil fuels. It is a foundational theory upon which the global warming/climate change narrative is built. Within the Quest text is a link to a chart by Dr. Richard A. Feely, who is a senior scientist with the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL)—which is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Feely’s climate-crisis views are widely used to support the narrative. Read the rest here 16:40

PUTNAM: Harder to catch fish, bring home the bacon in New England

You don’t have to be an economist to see that the fishing industry is a big deal, particularly in New England. The actions of NMFS and NOAA are going to create a significant negative financial impact to our local fishermen, but many other businesses that support and finance the fishing industry. If you feel it is harder to put food on the table or a dollar in your savings account, what is happening in the ubiquitous fishing industry is worthy of your attention. Read the rest here

New Disaster Assistance Announced for Apalachicola Bay

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) today welcomed the announcement made by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to disburse $6,310,216 of new disaster assistance funding aimed to restore the oyster fishery in Apalachicola Bay Florida. Read more here  17:31

Anyone that supports this should be forced to lick the skidmarks out of Fred Krupps Dirty skiveys

dinkVitter: Gulf Council Considers Red Snapper Allocation Pushed by NY Based Environmental Activist Group. The amendment today is endorsed by the New York based Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). EDF has received a $225,959 Fisheries Innovation Fund grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. This grant program is primarily funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Walton Family Foundation, and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. Read more here 22:25

Update of fisheries law pits West Coast against East Coast

The Magnuson-Stevens Act was enacted in 1976 to protect fisheries collapsing from overfishing and poaching by foreign trawlers. But the upcoming fourth reauthorization of the main federal fisheries law has split American fishing factions by coastlines. The Magnuson-Stevens Act expired last September. Republicans in the House Natural Resources Committee and Democrats in the Senate Commerce Committee have released separate bills to update the 2006 reauthorizationed Read more here  00:39

At What Cost, Justice – A Pyrrhic Victory? By Sean McKeon

scales_of_justice_2On November 25, 2013 Federal District Court Judge Terrence W. Boyle1  ruled that Willie R. Etheridge III and Mark Cordeiro, two men from North Carolina, were not guilty of finning sharks as presumed under a federal fishing law prohibiting shark fin-to-carcasses ratios in excess of 5%. (Shark Finning Prohibition Act) The case is interesting not only because of what it produced by way of the district court’s decision, but also, and perhaps more importantly, because of the long history that ultimately spawned the government’s prosecution of these particular North Carolinians and the political environment in which it occurred.

The highly politicized agencies of the federal government are most to blame here, in this case National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and its parents National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the U.S. Department of Commerce. For an industry accustomed to bad news and never ending harassment by the very agency established to promote and protect it, the temptation might be to view this court victory in a vacuum and attach far too much optimism to its outcome. While there is certainly cause for celebration, it is important to understand the historic underpinnings of this case and the devastating impact federal agencies often have on the private sector when left unchallenged and undisciplined by those charged with their oversight, i.e. members of Congress and, in this case, the Administrative Law Court System (ALC).

Read the article here  19:54

366 days in prison and more than $105,000 in penalties – Fisherman Charles Wertz Jr. sentenced for falsifying fish records

clip_image002_001Charles Wertz Jr., who had operated the Freeport-based commercial trawler the Norseman, pleaded guilty in August to one count of wire fraud and two counts of falsification of federal records. more@newsday  18:15

We’re from the government  and we’re here to shake you downImagine a federal enforcement agency with a “slush fund” accumulated from fines that the agency personnel levied on the owners of small businesses for making administrative errors and spent by employees of that same agency with inadequate or non-existent controls. http://www.fishnet-usa.com/NOAA_OLE_GCEL%20Shakedown.htm

Enormous ‘toxic’ debris field is creeping toward the U.S. in the wake of the massive earthquake and tsunami that shook Japan in 2011

That most concentrated part of the junk field is easily broader than Texas and centered approximately 1,700 miles off the Pacific coast, between California and Hawaii, although the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) hasn’t published more precise estimates. The agency estimates that the trash overall is scattered across an area in the ocean about three times the size of the continental United States. [email protected] 11:35

Senator Vitter Draws NOAA Line for Red Snapper Allocation

Senator David Vitter (R-La.) announced yesterday that he would “hold” the nominee to lead the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) until he received a commitment that NOAA Fisheries would address the ongoing failure of the Agency to implement its own allocation policies and to provide some leadership and direction to the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council. [email protected]

Ayotte: ‘NOAA Is Not Balancing Its Own’ Fishing Standards – Presses for answers at Dr.Kathryn Sullivan Confirmation Hearing – Video

At a Commerce Committee hearing Thursday focusing on the nomination of Dr. Kathryn Sullivan to serve as the next NOAA administrator, Ayotte noted that NOAA guidelines stipulate that the agency must take into account the impact of federal catch share limits on fishing communities when it sets quotas – and she emphasized that NOAA needs to do a better job of adhering to its own standard. more@northhamptonpatch 23:03

Former National Marine Fisheries Service director Eric Schwabb is outta here! Headed to the National Aquarium

Baltimore, MD (PRWEB) May 22, 2013 National Aquarium, a leading cultural attraction and economic engine  anchoring Baltimore’s Inner Harbor for more than 30 years, announces Eric  Schwaab as its first-ever Senior Vice President and Chief Conservation Officer  (CCO). With a realignment of priorities that emphasizes an updated conservation  mission, Schwaab’s appointment represents the Aquarium’s new dedication to serve  as a national leader in ocean preservation and environmental stewardship.  continued