The New England groundfish debacle (Part III): who or what is at fault? Nils E. Stolpe/FishNet
NILS STOLPE: The New England groundfish debacle (Part IV): Is cutting back harvest really the answer?
While it’s a fact that’s hardly ever acknowledged, the assumption in fisheries management is that if the population of a stock of fish isn’t at some arbitrary level, it’s because of too much fishing. Hence the term “overfished.” Hence the mandated knee jerk reaction of the fisheries managers to not enough fish; cut back on fishing. What of other factors? They don’t count. It’s all about fishing, because fishing is all that the managers can control; it’s their Maslow’s Hammer. When it comes to the oceans it seems as if it’s about all that the industry connected mega-foundations that support the anti-fishing ENGOs with hundreds of millions of dollars a year in “donations” are interested in controlling. Read the article here
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Seismic blasting is not about ancient rocks or rising sea levels; it’s about oil and gas drilling!
The oil companies are among the most powerful entities on the planet and they want the ocean. (http://www.boem.gov/5-year/2012-2017/ and (http://www.noia.org/offshore-energy/access/).
They 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 oil companies.
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 gas. 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.”
http://www.api.org/news-and-media/testimony-speeches/2014/erik-milito-press-briefing-on-atlantic-seismic-surveys
NOAA, BOEM, National Science Foundation, Rutgers, Columbia and the University of Texas are apparently all party to this debacle.
“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 for right?].
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.”
Above lines are from “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
Clearly Big Oil owns Department of Commerce’s NOAA Fisheries 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.” [Oh Brother! He’s good isn’t he?]
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2014/02/140228-atlantic-seismic-whales-mammals/
“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 and Fluke Fishery for right?].”
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.com/news/groups-oppose-ocean-blasting-plan-off-n-j-coast-1.751371
More of 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/stories/2014/protectingoffshorehabitats.html
It is extremely important to become aware of this eminent domain type takeover of our precious ocean and its resources.
And it’s being perpetrated for the fun and profit of the oil-igarchs (booked reserves to secure their future stock value).
“Elections have consequences” and here we have statements such as ” “It is a lame technicality; we were all blindsided by this proposal and
the state acted quickly once they were altered to the study” (From: http://middletownmike.blogspot.com/2014/06/feds-deny-new-jerseys-right-to-review.html )
‘Blind-sided’ in 2014….. after living through the continuous failed and utterly reckless domestic and foreign policies of the current Occupier and Chief over the past 5 and a half years?
C’mon….is this the new normal of big issues such as this, just sneaking up on us since we are still tuned into the lame stream media outlets…hello MSLSD?
Lets stop using the ‘oil-igarchs’ as the straw man here, and do what we as American citizens can directly do every election period and vote out those progressive and Chamber of Commerce loving politicians in Washington who have allowed mammoth bureaucratic departments and agencies with multi-billion dollar budgets such as EPA, Interior, and Commerce, along with the agencies within, such as BOEM and NOAA illegally going beyond their mandates and both figuratively (bending us over) and literally doing whatever dictates coming out of the West Wing of the White House.
We wouldn’t be so up in arms about this issue if this country had a coherent energy policy which would ensure “energy independence” ASAP, starting with approving the Keystone XL pipeline and putting the pressure on certain blue-state governors (yes you Andy-Boy from the Empire State…,keep it up with being in lockstep with the Working Families Party) to let loose and approve fracking projects around New York and the rest of this country.
Yes the majority of people who live in the blue-states that line the coast of this nation, that continuously elect progressive and RINO politicians who went “all in” with the GREEN ENERGY corruption fraud, diverting billions of dollars from the Department of Defense to fund the losers…..crony-capitalist money bundlers for the Demo-crap party. Maybe taking a look at the work ONE WOMAN had done over the years to expose this: ‘Green Energy; Dirty Money: Green Corruption in Review – http://greencorruption.blogspot.com/
Notice some of the names and companies that she listed in the stories from the last few years?
What we see here is just not only happening in the Garden State, but as much in the Empire, Ocean and Bay states with politicians who get elected and go to Washington to serve themselves and the left wing of their party….automatic yes votes AGAINST smaller government, states rights and personal liberties.
Where is Cory “I’m not from Newark anymore” Booker…..the junior senator in New Jersey. What say he on this?
Wouldn’t those living in New Jersey think or believe that they would have heard from Steve Lonegan on this issue if he was elected in the last special election for senator: http://www.ontheissues.org/international/Steve_Lonegan_Energy_+_Oil.htm
How about the roly-poly governor of the Garden State….shouldn’t he be calling up his buddy in the White House, or the real power in the West Wing, Val-Jar, and ask them to “cool it” for a while with the seismic blasting? I would bet that some of us here who are wearing our tin foil hats, believe that this issue would have gone away if this was happening before last years election for the big seat in Trenton? Hey, you don’t want the natives all “p-od” before any election…right?
Also for some us who were around and remember the test drilling and surveys off the New Jersey canyons and Georges Bank, starting back in the late 70s and wrapping up in the mid 1980s?
What happened here with the test wells which were found to hold very large fossil fuel reserves, but were uneconomically unfeasible at that time to start recovering black gold? Wouldn’t you think that BOEM would of picked up the phone and dialed up Texaco, Exxon or Chervron to see if they were interested to “drill baby drill”, instead of going Titanic speed ahead with this seismic testing project…fast track a few lease permits for them to check those old test wells out….wouldn’t you think all that fossil fuel resources which had not moved in millions of years, still be there from when they found it just a few decades ago?
The reality check here is that a number of people who live in the Garden State have elected the likes of the Pallone’s and Melendez’s and others who if they do make a statement on this topic, will be little more then “pillow talk”…a ‘feel good’ bullet pointed “we are working as best we can here”, and then refer any questions to their press people….oh and by the way, we can’t stop this now.
It’s way above their pay grade at this point.
As I sated earlier, “elections have consequences” and sadly we all have to “embrace the suck” as San-Fran Nancy so famously stated.
It stinks, it really does when you care, and I know so many of you here do…but we need so many more citizens in the state of New Jersey and around our nation to make the changes come election time.
That is how you get things changed to make your…our lives better and make America energy independent.
May-Day May-Day wake up AMERICA!!! “The Obama Ocean Policy” is in gear and gaining speed. He’s already taken control of a major part of our Common Property through this Executive Order. That is one man’s decision not a majority vote from Congress. He had already failed in Congress with HR 3534 “The Clear Act” the version before the BP Gulf Spill. That Bill would’ve included his Ocean Policy which takes control of our Oceans, Lakes, Rivers, and other Wet Lands then give control of these Areas to the U.N. along with a 30 year Trust Fund of 900 million/year to by up Land only to put No Trespassing Signs up. That would take Our Sovereignty away in these Areas, that is a very large portion of America. If you haven’t noticed that’s basically all Our Water too. Water our most important resource.
It’s time for Congress to dismantle this Executive Order before it is too late.
Our Sovereignty still may be at risk if the U.N.’s “LOST” Law of the Seas Treaty is adopted.
Top notch Striped Bass Hole…+1.
It is after 4 pm Daylight Savings here and Bob Murray, CEO of MURRAY ENERGY is on Cavuto explaining the damage that the incompetent Occupier and Chief, who has never been documented to run anything during his lifetime in Kenya, Indonesia, Hawaii, or whatever foreign land, from destroying this country.
CEO Bob Murray said that due to the EPA’s over reaching and illegal regulatory policies, and the new curbs on the byproduct of various gases released from coal fired plants, 411 coal firing plants will close down in this country in the coming years. (see: FORBES – Obama EPA Issues Coal-Killing Rules To Cut Carbon
Emissions 30 Percent;
http://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2014/06/02/obama-epa-issues-coal-killing-rules-to-cut-carbon-emissions-30-percent/
)
Right now, he said the cost of energy production from coal is 4 cents a kilowatt…..and from the fraud called GREEN ENERGY from solar and wind, the cost has roughly a baseline rate of 22 cents a kilowatt. Yes more then 5 times the cost, and worse, we the taxpayers are subsidizing this fraud…guaranteeing commitments to billionaire and millionaire private investors and private businesses who are building fields full of solar panels and now trying to get a footprint off our shorelines along this coast.
Anyone who is ‘IN’ with green energy projects, is not your friend, because what they are doing here is helping this administration destroy the middle class and keeping people who are poor and on fixed incomes from enjoying their lives in this country. Yes, their disposable income being redistributed from them buying the things they choose to buy in life, to now paying to heat or cool their homes, drive their vehicle and for fishermen, their vessel.
Why is gas at the pump averaging around 4 dollars a gallon?
Why do we see marine fuel products at the dock costing more then 4 dollars a gallon, when we here in the United States are sitting on some of the largest if not the largest fossil fuel resources?
It is coming out of all our pockets, and as CEO Murray stated, blame those Demo-craps who have been supporting this creep in the White House who doesn’t even have a shred of decency to get a United States Marine out of Mexican chitcan prison, just for making a wrong turn on a highway, south of the border of this country…..he doesn’t care…he really doesn’t as he plays another round of golf or jets off to some big cheesy fund raiser on the taxpayers dime.
If people want things to change, then start standing up for change and tell these frauds who are coming home from the Beltway that we are sick and tired of this lawless administration and that ‘you’ will be out of a job come the next election cycle. That’s it.
Ps, why are the Feds looking to HIKE the gas tax at this time in our country?
Why?
Federal revenue collected by the corruptocrats at the IRS are setting a record for the last few quarters.
So again, why are those in congress, both Demo-craps and Establishment Repubic-hairs, looking to add another tax at a time where our economy is staggering along?
Tone deaf in the halls of congress?
You betcha!
Hey B.H are we sharing Links with others carrying this Bulletin?