Search Results for: sediment diversion
Commercial fishermen rail against Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion plan
Opponents of the state’s controversial plans to construct two large sediment diversions to rebuild coastal land used a Wednesday night public hearing to rail against the upcoming projects, warning of harm to commercial fishing in the area. Representatives of commercial oyster growers, fishers and a variety of community groups objected to plans for the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion, a more than $2 billion project set to begin construction later this year, as well as the upcoming $800-million east bank Mid-Breton Sediment Diversion. >click to read< 10:28
Mississippi River freshwater and sediment diversions criticized by George Barisich, president of the United Commercial Fishermen
“If sediment diversions come through as designed, I won’t be here,” Barisich said about the fishing industry. He asked the advisory commission to take another look at sediment diversions and how they compare with the effectiveness of dredging and placing sediment to build land instead. Clint Guidry, president of the Louisiana Shrimp Association, echoed Barisich’s statements and said, “I think there’s not enough concern for fisheries.” continued at The Advocate
Commercial fishing community opposes Mid-Barataria Freshwater Diversion
Over the past many months, the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) has launched a vigorous and well-funded campaign to convince Louisiana residents, media and policy makers that its Mid Barataria Diversion Plan is the sure shot solution to solving our state’s land loss problems. They have even gone so far as to put lipstick on this pig, re-branding the nearly $2 billion project as a “sediment” diversion to disguise what it really is: a freshwater diversion of polluted river water that just happens to contain very limited amounts of sediment. >click to read< 18:33
The host parish for Mid-Barataria diversion just voted 8-0 thumbs down against it – would destroy economy, culture
The Plaquemines Parish Council has decided to oppose Louisiana’s $2 billion plan to channel land-building sediment and nutrient-laden water from the Mississippi River,,, Members said the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion project would destroy their parish’s seafood-based economy and culture. The 8-0 thumbs down from the governing authority in the project’s home parish marks an expected rebuke for Gov. John Bel Edwards, his coastal planners and their nonprofit advocates, who see Mid-Barataria as the flagship project in the state’s 50-year, $50 billion effort to stave off the disappearance of much of the bottom third of Louisiana into the Gulf of Mexico. >click to read< 11:13
Louisiana’s commercial fishing industry could be at risk due to proposed diversion project
Louisiana’s commercial fishing industry could be in jeopardy due to the state’s Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion Project, a fifty billion dollar initiative supported by Governor John Bel Edwards. “I used to fish out here with my dad in High School and we used to catch loads and loads of oysters and that was the biggest sea plant in Louisiana,” says commercial fisherman Shane Shelley. Shelley is talking about an area known as “Mardi Gras Pass”,,, “It’s going to change the mixture of water which oysters don’t survive in, crabs or shrimp. This could change everything,” >click to read< 10:48
More Mississippi River sediment will mean more problems for Louisiana shrimpers
Louisiana’s quintessential shrimper – the independent, weather-beaten man with a small boat that’s seen better days – may be the hardest hit by two sediment diversions planned on the Mississippi River. A new report indicates many shrimpers will need help adapting, possibly in the form of grants, subsidies and job re-training, once the diversions begin funneling fresh water and sediment into Barataria Bay and Breton Sound. The sediment is likely to alter the distribution, abundance and types of shrimp in areas where shrimpers have fished for decades. Most vulnerable will be shrimpers with small, one-boat operations who are middle-aged or older and cannot easily transition to another career, according to the report by the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, a Baton Rouge-based nonprofit group. click here to read the story 10:08
Fishermen oppose river diversions to fix Louisiana coast
Fishermen spoke out Tuesday against plans to rebuild coastal Louisiana by siphoning Mississippi River freshwater and sediment into the Bayou State’s disappearing sub-deltas. “I do not believe we have seen evidence that you’re going to build all this land, protect all these people, with these diversions,” said Clint Guidry, president of the Louisiana Shrimp Association, representing commercial shrimpers. Byron Encalade, president of the Louisiana Oystermen’s Association, said he “lived” the effects of a freshwater diversion in operation since 1991,,, Read the rest here 19:05
Diversion! EDF and “Partners” Pay For Full Page Add to Squash Fishing Communities in Louisiana
Andy Nyman, a wetland scientist at LSU, said scientists discussed the need to counter (what they call) misinformation being spread about future sediment diversions. When nonprofit coastal groups offered to pay for the advertising space, Nyman and Mike Carloss, a retired official with the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, started working on a draft. The advertisement was paid for by the Restore the Mississippi River Delta Coalition which is made up of the Environmental Defense Fund, National Wildlife Federation, National Audubon Society, Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation and the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana. Read the rest here 08:46
Louisiana coastal restoration: State studying diversions’ effects on economy, fishing
Louisiana’s coastal restoration officials said the state has embarked on a comprehensive socioeconomic analysis of the effects of four proposed sediment diversions along the lower Mississippi River on coastal communities and the economy.The plan includes studying the effects of land loss without the diversions and the effects of the diversions over time on various segments of the state’s economy, including commercial and recreational fishing, the oil and gas industry, and hazard and flood insurance rates,,, Read the rest here 10:47
Louisiana fishermen take their fight against coastal project to court
The $3 billion Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion aims to mimic the river’s power to build land by channeling Mississippi River water into the bay. However, a lawsuit by fishing companies, fishermen and the Earth Island Institute argues the state’s largest coastal project would “introduce contaminants and hazardous materials” into Barataria Bay and “adversely affect human health” and other species. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in New Orleans, also claims the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers bought into “largely unproven benefits” of pouring massive amounts of river water into the basin. The suit also names the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It argues the Corps violated federal laws in awarding a permit for the diversion, including the Endangered Species Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and the Administrative Procedures Act. more, >>click to read<< 17:11
Fishing industry vows to sue over $2 billion land-building project
Leaders of Louisiana’s commercial fishing industry say legal action may be the last and best tool they have to fight a $2 billion restoration project that will dramatically alter a large section of the coast. The Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion is the flagship project of an ambitious state-led plan to fight coastal land loss. At a joint meeting of the state’s shrimp, crab and oyster task forces this week, several commercial fishers and business leaders predicted dire and wide-reaching consequences. The meeting, held at an auditorium in Belle Chasse, drew about 35 people. “It’s going to wipe us out,” said John Tesvich, owner of a Plaquemines oyster processing company. Once the oyster harvesters and shrimpers are gone, many other industries will suffer, Jurisic said. >click to read< 17:25
The Mississippi River Devastated Fisheries This Year. Some See It As A Preview Of The Future
On a bayou in the St. Bernard Parish town of Yscloskey, George Barisich starts up his shrimp boat. “Hear that?” he says, as the diesel engine below our feet roars to a start. “That’s the sound we want to hear.” Barisich says that engine hasn’t gotten much use lately. There is no point in heading into the marsh when there aren’t any shrimp to catch. “I’m 82 percent off on my brown shrimp,” he says of this season. “Eighty two. And there’s a lot of people just as bad.” This year’s historic flooding on the Mississippi River has decimated the coast’s fisheries. >click to read< 17:48:45
More articles on sediment diversion, >click here<
Seismic Blasting: More Dots
Press briefing on Atlantic seismic surveys
Erik Milito, API director upstream and industry operations
Thursday, February 27, 2014
“The economic benefits of opening the Atlantic to offshore oil and natural gas development will be felt all across the country…”
“In order to achieve these gains, the government must permit seismic surveys in the Atlantic and hold Atlantic lease sales under the next five-year plan for offshore oil and natural. That plan will cover lease sales from the second half of 2017 to the first half of 2022.”
“Seismic surveys work by recording how sound waves generated near the surface reflect off the rocks beneath the ocean floor. These recordings allow scientists to produce detailed 3-dimensional maps that give engineers the information they need to identify the safest and most efficient drilling locations.”
The oil companies are among the most powerful entities on the planet and they want the ocean. (http://www.boem.gov/5-year/
They also want to know the “most efficient drilling locations” so they’re going to start seismic blasting along the East Coast and are busy sending out their initial public opinion cover-stories; what’s really interesting though, is how the agencies of the government, the academic institutions, and the environmental groups, all in a coordinated way, seem to fall in line to be the point men dutifully performing the marketing prevarications for these mammoth companies.
In the case which I outline below, they all prepare the way for seismic blasting along with a cover for the dead mammals and fish that will appear on the local beaches. The agencies and the Oceana “conservation” group set up the cover story of “…not to worry all that seismic blasting is approved by your trusted eco-guardian government agencies overseeing the research for safely restoring the beach sands of NJ”. More cover or diversion is provided by Oceana’s latest “report” planting the idea in the minds of the public that should you come across a few dead marine mammals on the beach, it’s those greedy fishermen again destroying life with their bycatch and destructive fishing gear.
There are a few more dots to connect here and the strategies involved become pretty clear.
Dot #1
Big Oil owns Department of Commerce’s NOAA and Department of Interior’s BOEM
“The final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), outlines measures for minimizing the impact on wildlife that are especially sensitive to the intense sound impulses used to prospect for energy resources beneath the seafloor. (See related, ‘Study: Planning Can Protect Whales in Seismic Surveys.’)”
“BOEM Director Tommy Beaudreau said in a statement that the agency is ‘employing a comprehensive adaptive management strategy’ that takes into account the fact that scientific knowledge about the Atlantic Ocean is constantly changing and building. ‘New information and analyses will continue to be developed over time,’ he said.”
‘The Department and BOEM have been steadfast in our commitment to balancing the need for understanding offshore energy resources with the protection of the human and marine environment using the best available science as the basis of this environmental review’ Beaudreau said.” [He’s good isn’t he?]
http://news.
And as for NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service’s role: (Thanks to Fisherynation.com for ferreting out this following NJ article)
Groups oppose ocean blasting plan off N.J. coast
March 26, 2014, 11:30 AM Last updated: Wednesday, March 26, 2014, 11:57 AM
By WAYNE PARRY
Associated Press
“Environmental and fishing groups are opposing a plan by three universities and the National Science Foundation to carry out seismic blast tests on the ocean floor off the New Jersey coast this summer.
The groups say the tests could harm or kill marine life including dolphins, whales and many types of fish.
The National Marine Fisheries Service [NOAA] has proposed granting permission for the tests, which would run from early June to mid-July about 15 miles off Barnegat Bay. The tests are designed to study the arrangement of sediments deposited on the ocean floor during times of changing global sea levels dating back 60 million years [Well worth destroying the Mid-Atlantic Squid Fishery].
A spokeswoman for Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
The University of Texas [Hmm…University of Texas—do you smell oil?] and Rutgers University also would participate in the study.
Capt. Jim Lovgren, director of the Fisherman’s Dock Cooperative in Point Pleasant Beach, questioned the value of the testing.
‘Squid and summer flounder are very important fisheries and this is a key habitat area for them,’ he said. ‘It has been documented that marine life is impacted by seismic testing. What is the point of this study compared to the risks involved?’
The groups say seismic air guns and three other acoustic blast technologies that would be used in the study all have known potential to harm marine life.” [Underlines are mine]http://www.northjersey.
So here with the National Science Foundation, three universities listed above, the “other agency” such as Department of Interior’s BOEM, you have the “research of other agencies and academic institutions” as mysteriously prophesied in the NOAA flyer below (see underlines) which is Dot #2.
Dot #2 NOAA’s “cover story” and preparing us for this latest oil industry seismic blasting Murphy game: From an email received from NOAA dated March 26, 2014:
Protecting Offshore Habitats while Rebuilding New Jersey Beaches
“Our staff works with the Corps to help identify and evaluate options for reducing impacts to these ecologically rich habitats. Some options may include simply maintaining the vertical relief (elevation) of shoals and ridges, avoiding areas of high quality surf clam habitat and conducting ongoing monitoring to assess changes to ocean bottom conditions due to the dredging activity. Where we can, we also support the research of other agencies and academic institutions. Through further study, we can learn more about the functions and habitat values of offshore shoals and ridges and the effects of sand mining on these special areas.” [Underlines are mine]
https://www.nero.noaa.gov/
Now, that all looks quite commendable, doesn’t it? They are doing the research while restoring the NJ beaches and researching and protecting all the marine life so carefully, all at the same time. However, by connecting a few dots—and if one was somewhat distrusting of the motivations behind this constant messing with the ocean, and even noticing perhaps that the NOAA article above could be seen as a field-softening sort of “Stalking Horse” coordinated with the latest stop-the-fishing campaign from the luminaries at Oceana that blames the death of birds, whales, and other marine mammals, on destructive fishing gear and greedy fishermen’s bycatch—this might be seen as preparing the citizens for what’s coming next: seismic blasting for gas and oil rigs—and a lot of dead mammals and fish.
Dot #3 Oceana was started up mainly with Pew money and Pew money is oil money. http://www.fishtruth.net/
Therefore, as this sets up, if any whales, sharks, sea birds, sea turtles, and fish happen to wash up on the NJ beach, guess where the public’s ire will focus. On the local fishing operations, of course, after Oceana has saturated the eco-media with horror stories of reckless fishermen slaughtering ocean creatures with, “…trawls as wide as football fields, longlines extending up to 50 miles with thousands of baited hooks and gillnets up to two miles long…” thus causing “Hundreds of thousands of dolphins, whales, sharks, sea birds, sea turtles and fish needlessly die each year as a result of indiscriminate fishing gear,” said Amanda Keledjian, report author and marine scientist at Oceana.
What’s really interesting is that Oceana was saying the same exact things about seismic blasting and the “dirty offshore drilling” not too long ago that they are now attributing to fishing:
“Seismic airgun testing currently being proposed in the Atlantic will injure 138,500 whales and dolphins and disturb millions more, according to government estimates.
“Seismic airguns are towed behind ships and shoot loud blasts of compressed air through the water and miles into the seabed, which reflect back information about buried oil and gas deposits. These blasts harm marine mammals, sea turtles, fish and other wildlife.
Impacts include temporary and permanent hearing loss, abandonment of habitat, disruption of mating and feeding, and even beach strandings and death. For whales and dolphins, which rely on their hearing to find food, communicate, and reproduce, being able to hear is a life or death matter.
Airgun blasts kill fish eggs and larvae and scare away fish from important habitats. Following seismic surveys catch rates of cod and haddock declined by 40 to 80 percent for thousands of miles.
In addition to being devastating for marine life, seismic airguns are the first step toward dangerous and dirty offshore drilling with associated habitat destruction, oil spills and contribution to climate change and ocean acidification.
Oceana is working to halt the use of seismic airguns, and stop the expansion of dangerous offshore drilling.”
http://oceana.org/en/our-work/
But now it’s the “nine dirtiest fisheries” according to Oceana’s latest: “WASTED CATCH: UNSOLVED PROBLEMS IN U.S. FISHERIES” that are to blame for the carcasses you might find on the beach.
“Hundreds of thousands of dolphins, whales, sharks, sea birds, sea turtles and fish needlessly die each year as a result of indiscriminate fishing gear,”
“Bycatch is the catch of non-target fish and oceanwildlife, including what is brought to port and whatis discarded at sea. It is one of the most significant threats to maintaining healthy marine ecosystems.”
http://oceana.org/sites/
To summarize:
Dot #1 Big Oil wants to get a more recent Seismic blasting survey of the bottom off of the Mid-Atlantic States in preparation for realizing their 5 year plan for many ocean gas and oil rigs.
This connects to Dot #2 NOAA’s cover story that Seismic Blasting is only research to facilitate the saving of the marine environment while allowing the restoration of NJ beaches after Hurricane Sandy.
This connects to Dot #3 where Oceana is telling you that, these days, the dead marine mammals and fish you most likely trip over while walking on the beach are the result of “dirty fisheries” and not “dirty oil” or “dirty seismic blasting”.
