Category Archives: Mid Atlantic
Pollution Kill of ’76
In 1976 Gosta “Swede” Lovgren of Point Pleasant N.J. witnessed first hand the destructive effects of a massive Fishkill, caused by an oxygen deprived dead zone that stretched from Long Island south to Atlantic city, and extended 40 to 50 miles to the east. In this article he describes firsthand not only the environmental aspects of the Fishkill, but his efforts to halt ocean sludge dumping. Swede was the leader of the commercial fishermen’s fight against ocean dumping which included filing a $500,000,000 lawsuit against the city of New York. Fascinating reading, well worth your time. >click to read< 09:09
Barnegat Light Matriarch Marion Larson Remembered
With her passing June 3, Barnegat Light commercial fishing industry matriarch Marion Larson is remembered as a respected businessperson and a “legendary” woman in the local community. Marion and her late husband John founded Viking Village commercial fishery in Barnegat Light with the late Louis Puskas and his wife Frances. Marion was her husband’s bookkeeper until his death in December 2009 when daughter Karen Larson assumed duties to assist her, including the business operations of the 90-foot-long fishing catamaran, the Miss Barnegat Light, 61 years on the water. Generations of the family are still involved in the fisheries industry. >click to read< 07:55
Is the Great Fishkill of 1976 About to be Repeated? By Jim Lovgren
In 1976 the United States suffered its largest man-made environmental disaster ever as 2,500 square miles of ocean died, thanks to a hundred years of sewage dumping by New York City and Northern New Jersey communities. This catastrophe awakened the public to this disgusting practice and environmental organizations sprung up to fight it, eventually winning the fight. Proving that the little guy can prevail against the “powers that be”. >click to read< 17:37
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 35.9′ H & H Osmond Beal Tuna/Lobster, John Deere 6076 Diesel
To review specifications, information, and 33 photos’, >click here<, To see all the boats in this series >click here< 11:31
Proposed Pilot Program For Female Blue Crabs
A new pilot program introduced by the Department of Natural Resources has watermen frustrated. It’s with the possible implementation of plastic, rectangular containers called lugs. Currently, caught male blue crabs are able to be placed in lugs, but females are not. So watermen feel the program comes with a lot of hoops to jump through and they ask why the need for the program at all. Lugs are bigger than your typical bushel basket of crabs. Bushels hold about 40 pounds and lugs hold 60. DNR has introduced the idea of using lugs for female crabs. But with that comes rules that participating watermen (in the pilot program) must follow. >click to read< 12:30
The Truth About Offshore Wind: Busting Oil Money Myths and Misinformation
The various organizations, news outlets, and elected representatives that have been promoting misinformation about offshore wind have two things in common: 1) conservative politics and 2) ties to the oil industry. Seemingly locally run nonprofits have been leading public anti-offshore wind campaigns, purportedly out of concern about the dangers offshore wind farms present to whales and local economies. Yet many of these same organizations have proven ties to major conservative lobbyist groups funded by “Big Oil.” Meanwhile, both local and congressional conservative politicians have jumped on these misinformation campaigns, especially in the Northeast, where the first offshore wind farms are set to be constructed this year. This is despite several state and national polls showing that Americans overwhelmingly support the construction of offshore wind farms. >click to read< 08:04
Courts threaten to sink federal fishery monitoring
NOAA suffered a major blow in February when a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Louisiana threw out a rule that would have required charter boats in the Gulf of Mexico to be equipped with electronic monitors to report fish catches. Fishermen complained that the devices would cost them as much as $3,000 per boat. And the agency may be poised for an even bigger setback from the Supreme Court. Justices last month said they would take up a case that could decide whether NOAA has the legal authority to force New England herring fishermen to hire third-party contractors to monitor their fishing at a cost of up to $700 per day. >click to read< 13:55
Wind Farm Opponents to Host Fundraiser For Legal Defense Fund
For nearly four years, opponents of a proposed offshore wind farm that they say could negatively affect marine life, tourism, the commercial fishing industry and wildlife have held protests and signed petitions calling for a halt to the project by Danish energy company, Orsted. Protect Our Coast NJ founder Suzanne Hornick, of Ocean City, said the time is now to stop offshore wind farm projects to protect the environment. “Protect Our Coast NJ is fighting to protect our coastal community and our ocean from the extreme industrialization currently planned for our shores,” Hornick said. “We know that the proposed projects which could see thousands of gigantic turbines and substations off our coast will destroy our community, quality of life, economy, ecosystem, food supply, national security, and more.” >click to read< 07:55
Officials Reveal Suspected Cause Of Death For 2 Whales Floating Off New York Coast
Two humpback whales that were seen floating dead off the coasts of New York and New Jersey earlier this week had evidence of experiencing blunt force trauma, officials said One was a 47-foot male floating off eastern Long Island, and the other was a 28-foot female in Raritan Bay between New York and New Jersey. Though the two whales were both first spotted on Wednesday, their “different levels of decomposition” indicate that their deaths were unrelated, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in a Facebook post on Friday. NOAA also announced the suspected cause of death for each whale. >click to read< 08:21
Murkowski, King introduce bipartisan bill to support rural fishing communities
U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Angus King (I-Maine) have introduced bipartisan legislation to expand financial support for America’s fishing communities. The Fishing Industry Credit Enhancement Act would allow businesses that provide direct assistance to fishing operations, like gear producers or cold storage, to access the same loans from the Farm Credit System (FCS) already offered to service providers for farmers, ranchers, and loggers. The Fishing Industry Credit Enhancement Act is a straightforward, common-sense amendment to the Farm Credit Act of 1971,,, >click to read< 16:37
Dead humpback whale floating in Raritan Bay. Another reported off N.Y.
The whales are floating in the Raritan Bay and off Wainscott, New York, the Marine Mammal Stranding Center said Thursday. “Biologists across multiple organizations are currently assessing their resources to respond,” the stranding center said Thursday. “The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and New Jersey Fish & Wildlife Service are partnered in the efforts to relocate and respond to these whales as well. “Multiple dead whales washed up on New Jersey beaches in the winter, including in Seaside Park and Atlantic City. >click to read< 13:50
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 65′ Steel Gladding and Hearn Lobster Boat, Cummins 855 Diesel
To review specifications, information, and 23 photos’, >click here<, To see all the boats in this series >click here< 11:28
Coast Guard responds to boat collision in James River, Virginia
The Coast Guard responded to a vessel collision Tuesday morning near the Newport News Small Boat Harbor. The Coast Guard was alerted at 7:50 a.m. that the pilot boat, Swift, and a 38-foot deadrise fishing vessel, F/V Miss Heather, collided near the Newport News Small Boat Harbor. The pilot aboard the Swift rescued two fishermen from the Miss Heather and brought them aboard the pilot boat as the fishing vessel rapidly took on water. >click to read the report< 14:50
North Carolina Joins Effort to Establish Regional Fisheries Mitigation for Offshore Wind Development
Governor Roy Cooper announced that North Carolina has joined other Atlantic Coast states involved with the Special Initiative on Offshore Wind on a coordinated project to support fisheries mitigation in the development of offshore wind along the East Coast. “It is important that we work to meet our state’s offshore wind energy goals while still protecting our marine fishery industry,” said Governor Cooper. “We are committed to collaborating with other states in this effort to make sure we achieve both goals.” Currently, the Initiative is focused on establishing a framework to compensate commercial and for-hire fishermen in the event of economic impact related to offshore wind development. The goal is to develop a regional approach for administration of any financial compensation paid by developers. Economic impacts from coastal fishing in North Carolina top $4.5 billion annually. >click to read< 08:26
Wind Farm Protesters March in Ocean City
Opposition to the wind farm has been mounting following more than 30 whale deaths along the East Coast that critics have blamed on sonar mapping of the seabed that is needed for construction of the project. However, government agencies such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection say the recent deaths of whales, dolphins and other marine creatures in New Jersey and other coastal states have nothing to do with the wind farm work. They say evidence shows that most of the whales were struck and killed by shipping traffic. Opponents reject those claims, though. During Saturday’s protest, speakers pointed the finger at the wind farm for the whale deaths and warned of other possible dire impacts that the project could have on the Jersey Shore’s environment, the tourism industry and commercial fishing operations. Photos, Video, >click to read< 07:55
Virginia crab management committee recommends fall, spring catch limit increase
A state committee on crab management is recommending increases to crab catch limits this fall and next spring but keeping in place the summer reductions instituted last year after surveys found the population had plummeted. The newest proposals follow the results of the 2023 Bay-wide Blue Crab Winter Dredge Survey, which found that the number of blue crabs in the Chesapeake Bay increased from 227 million in 2022 to 323 million in 2023. Improvements were seen across the board among adult males and females, as well as among juveniles. However, the juvenile numbers still remained among the six lowest recorded in the 34 years of the Winter Dredge Survey. >click to read< 16:27
Feds play shell game with wind / whale impacts
NOAA is taking public comments on a massive proposal to harass large numbers of whales and other marine mammals by building a huge offshore wind complex. There is supposed to be an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed harassment, but it is not there with the proposal. We are told it is elsewhere but after searching we find that it simply does not exist. Like a shell game where the pea has been palmed, there is nothing to be found. First the bureaucratic background. The wind project is Dominion’s 2,600 MW offshore Virginia facility, which if built would be the world’s biggest. NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is proposing to issue a five year harassment authorization for the construction of this monster. >click to read< 07:36
Maine: Lobstermen support better science to help right whales
The historical record of Maine lobstermen is clear.One right whale entangled in 2004 was disentangled and swam free. No right whale death has ever been attributed to Maine lobster gear. Gov. Janet Mills and our congressional delegation, without partisanship, acknowledge Maine lobstermen are not a threat to the right whale population. Despite never having seen one in the 50 years I’ve fished; I’ve made multiple changes to make my gear more whale friendly. These changes have been time-consuming, expensive, and potentially dangerous to me and my crew but resulted in less rope in the water. >click to read< 11:52
Offshore wind moves forward amid calls for marine life studies
The offshore wind sector is taking shape every day in New Jersey while calls continue for a pause in activity to learn more about whether any of the work is connected to whale and dolphin deaths along the state’s beaches. “Today’s actions by NJDEP represent significant milestones and critical steps that are needed to advance the state’s first offshore wind project and bring clean, reliable energy and the associated economic benefits to the region,” said Maddy Urbish, Ørsted’s head of government affairs and market strategy, New Jersey. Ocean Wind 1 still needs additional state and local approvals, as well as clearance from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, before construction can begin. So far, the work has centered on ocean floor mapping using sonar technology. Those calling for the pause point to this work as a potential link, saying that the sonar can disorient marine life. >click to read< 11:31
Chesapeake Bay blue crab population improves after all-time low in 2022
This year, the number of spawning age female crabs and adult male crabs both increased substantially, but the number of juvenile crabs only increased by about 15%, according to the winter dredge survey, which is completed from December to March by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. “We are encouraged by the increases in adult crab abundance, but we need to be vigilant given the ongoing low recruitment numbers,” said Lynn Fegley, acting director for Maryland Department of Natural Resources’s Fishing and Boating Services, in a statement. “We haven’t seen a strong year class since 2019 despite maintaining the spawning stock at a level capable of producing one.” Video, >click to read< 12:56
Wind project scope ‘staggering’
It wasn’t “until the whales and the dolphins started washing up that people’s attention was able to focus” on the offshore wind farms, according to Cindy Zipf, and when people looked beyond the whales, they realized what is happening is “staggering.” “I don’t think ever in the history of mankind have we proposed to industrialize an ecosystem this fast and at this magnitude,” she said. Zipf is executive director of Clean Ocean Action, a coalition of groups dedicated to protecting the ocean. Zipf acknowledges the pace at which the plans are moving forward is making efforts to slow or stop them difficult. “It’s challenging considering how fast-tracked everything is and how limited the permitting process is. It’s kind of under the jurisdiction of two people to make it happen, President Biden and Gov. Murphy,” she said. “Hopefully as more is understood there will be some more caution but as it is right now the (state and federal) agencies are very enthusiastic.” >click to read< 16:29
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 80’X22′ Steel Scalloper/Dragger, Cat 3412
To review specifications, information, and 31 photos’, >click here<, To see all the boats in this series >click here< 11:30
Lowcountry is the last ‘wild west’ for blue crabs. Crabbers call for change.
In February, David Richardson drove to Columbia from his home in Charleston to speak to a room of state senators about his life as a South Carolina crabber, which, at the moment, “is kind of miserable.” But it wasn’t always miserable. Which is why he drove two hours to the Statehouse, a place he had never been nor expected to visit. The crabber thought about wearing a Hawaiian shirt, then thought twice: “I wore a suit, thank God.” As crab numbers fell over the past decade across the Eastern Seaboard, South Carolina did nothing, but North Carolina increased its management actions. It designated some areas as “no-fishing” spawning sanctuaries. And Georgia decided to limit the number of commercial crabbing licenses to under 100. Photos, >click to read< 08:39
Congressman Van Drew Joins Chairman Westerman on Natural Resources in Leading Letter to GAO Requesting Offshore Wind Study
“BOEM and offshore wind companies have engaged in a sloppy and rushed environmental review process—ignoring national security concerns, ignoring concerns from our fishermen, and ignoring impacts on our ocean life—all in the name of ‘climate change,'” said Congressman Van Drew. “We must continue to demand transparency throughout this process. Without diligent oversight, we risk not only our natural resources and local economies, but the livelihoods of the constituents we serve as well. I thank Chairman Westerman for his support in uncovering the real impacts these offshore wind turbines will have on our coast, including the economic impact on pertinent industries and the effects on sensitive environments.” >click to read< 10:31
Natural Resources Defense Council Announces STATE OF EMERGENCY for Atlantic Whales By Jim Lovgren
The National Resources Defense Council [NRDC] in a press release has declared a state of emergency for Atlantic Whales. Here are some excerpts from a piece written by Francine Kershaw, NRDC’s leading east coast Marine mammal expert. “Something is happening off our Atlantic coast. Unprecedented numbers of great Whales are washing up dead on our shores.” Over the last few decades, the NRDC has successfully challenged the US Military in regard to sonar effects on marine organisms, while also challenging seismic activity related to oil exploration. Both of these issues have national security implications that require a more robust examination of the possible causes of the legal actions taken, and why they were taken. What’s NRDC’s excuse for ignoring the growing amount of dead Whale carcasses that keep washing up on east coast beaches, while the same research vessels that would have been doing the seismic and sonar research for the oil companies are doing it for the wind factories? >click to read< 17:58
Letter to Mads Nipper, CEO, Ørsted
Dear Mr. Nipper, We write as concerned citizens and residents of the State of New Jersey, U.S.A. Our groups total tens of thousands of volunteer citizen advocates including more than 500,000 signatories to various petitions supporting our efforts. The NJ Shore is a national treasure enjoyed by millions who live and work, visit and vacation here and have done so for generations. On behalf of all the good people who love and enjoy the NJ Shore and its communities, please treat this letter as public notice that: We oppose your company’s efforts to turn our ocean, coastal ecosystems, and shore communities into industrial electricity generation and transmission power plants; We will protect our shore communities, the environment and the lives and livelihoods of all species including the millions of us that reside, work, visit and vacation here against your thoughtless industrialization; We will not falter, and we will not stop opposing your developments. >click to read< 11:48
Where have all the dead whales gone? By Nils Stolpe, FishNet-USA
Beginning in December of last year and extending through most of the first quarter of 2023, New Jersey and New York beaches were inundated with abnormally high numbers of dead or dying whales and smaller marine mammals. These majestic creatures-though not so majestic when being pushed about willy-nilly by tides, wind, waves and various types of earth moving machines-have never expired in such large numbers in such publicly accessible locations in local residents’ memories. Perhaps coincidently, intensive hydroacoustic surveys to determine the suitability of potential sites for the construction of thousands of gigantic windmills and their supporting infrastructure (supposedly to help us all survive what is being sold as an imminent energy/climate crisis) were being committed offshore of the beaches where all of these marine mammal deaths and strandings have been concentrated. To us inveterate observers of that hunk of Atlantic Ocean real estate known as the New York Bight, and the critters that temporarily or permanently live there, and of the actions of the public agencies charged with-and entitled to tens of millions of taxpayer dollars each year to do so-administering the Endangered Species and the Marine Mammal Protection Acts, that surely hints at, at best, ineptitude at that’s ineptitude at a fairly advanced level. >click to read the article< 16:14
Ocean City, Wind Farm Developer Clash in Legal Fight
The Danish energy company Orsted, which plans to build the Ocean Wind project, filed a lawsuit in state Superior Court on May 4 demanding that Ocean City should grant the permits needed for the underground transmission line. In response to the lawsuit, Ocean City Mayor Jay Gillian issued a statement strongly criticizing Orsted. “The lawsuit continues a pattern that Ocean Wind presumes the offshore wind project is a done deal and they will resort to any means to maintain their desired schedule,” Gillian said. >click to read< 14:50
Wind farms creating ‘death zone’ at sea says ex-Greenpeace boss
Drilling foundations for offshore wind turbines and sound pulses used to prepare for the 900-foot towers may be creating a “death zone” for whales, a former Greenpeace chief claims. Patrick Moore, a co-founder of Greenpeace and its ex-president in Canada, believes the acoustic systems used by vessels surveying the ocean floor harm the marine mammals’ sense of hearing, risking their crucial ability to navigate, and leading to more dead whales washing up onshore. At least 36 “large” whales have washed up along the East Coast since Dec. 1, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. photos, >click to read< 07:51
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for May 08, 2023
Final DMF Observer Call-In Program Meetings and ASMFC Recap, This is a great opportunity to provide input on the new anchored gill net observer call-in program beginning this fall. If you fish anchored gill nets you WILL BE REQUIRED under the conditions of our state sea turtle and sturgeon ITPs to call in BEFORE you fish once this program begins. Much more included in this weeks update. >click to read< 14:49
