Category Archives: Mid Atlantic
The check is (almost) in the mail
Active lobstermen are being advised to open mail from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission in the coming months, because the envelopes that arrive just might contain a check for up to $3,500. Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher told members of the Lobster Advisory Council at their January 18 meeting that the checks—meant to partially offset the expense of gear modifications required by 2021 North Atlantic right whale protections—will be issued by ASMFC and should arrive this spring. “These are checks that will be distributed to a lot of harvesters,” Keliher said. “The Commission will be writing the checks, so make sure you don’t see the envelope and throw it away.” >click to read< 14:21
Watermen form Shore-wide caucus
With the appointment of a well-known environmental leader to the top natural resources position in Annapolis, Eastern Shore watermen decided it’s time to gear up to defend their livelihoods. About 50 commercial fishermen, along with a handful of local lawmakers, formed the nucleus of the new Eastern Shore Watermen’s Caucus to fund lobbying efforts in Annapolis and educate the public. Queen Anne’s County waterman and farmer Robert Newberry, chairman of Delmarva Fisheries Association Inc., organized the meeting, along with members of the DFA board of directors. Concerns about the new administration’s potential policies as well as the appointment of Josh Kurtz, Maryland Executive Director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, as Secretary of the Department of Natural Resources, prompted Newberry to invite watermen to form the caucus. photos >click to read< 09:40
100 MPH Process: Fisherman Dewey Hemilright of Wanchese, NC on Wind Energy
“Sometimes I wish I wasn’t so entrenched in this stuff,” commercial longline fisherman Dewey Hemilright said. “It’s hard to turn my mind off.” Hemilright, who fishes out of the northern Outer Banks village of Wanchese, serves on the federal Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Management Council as well as numerous advisory committees. Lately he has turned his attention to offshore wind energy and its potential impacts on fisheries, including commercial, recreational, and for-hire charter businesses. “I don’t think people understand the magnitude of these wind energy areas from Maine to South Carolina, a massive amount of acreage if you add it all up, and what a disruption to the seafood industry this could be,” he said. “And the leases are going for such huge amounts of money I worry that the commercial fishing industry will amount to a grain of sand on Jockey’s Ridge.” Hemilright calls the recent acceleration in ocean bottom leasing a “100 mile-per-hour process.” >click to read< 10:29
NOAA pleads for urgency in right whale conservation, lobster gear changes
A previously unscheduled appearance before the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Council gave the opportunity for NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator Janet Coit to advocate for the necessity of adapting to new lobster and crab trapping gear to save both North Atlantic right whales and the lobster industry. A deal cut by Maine legislators in a recent congressional spending bill delayed new right whale protections for six years, so the agency is looking to have its new rules set up and ready to go when that period expires. In the meantime, there’s options open to expand on-demand fishing gear so there are fewer large ropes suspended in the water. The bill allocated $26 million to ASMFC for ropeless, on-demand gear, along with monitoring and cost recovery. >click to read< 08:09
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 80′ Steel Shrimper with Freezer Hold, Cat 3406
To review specifications, information, and 10 photos’, >click here<, To see all the boats in this series >click here< 11:50
Biden admin faces blowback over wind farm construction threatening marine life: ‘Put whales over woke!’
Activist groups like the Protect Our Coast NJ, Save Right Whales, and others have voiced concerns that coastal wind turbines built amid a Biden administration push for green energy are hurting an already endangered species. The Washington Post reported how if President Biden hopes to archive his renewable energy goals, the undertaking would require “massive” amount of offshore wind turbines to be installed. “Dead whales and tough economics bedevil Biden’s massive wind energy push,” the Post wrote. Environmentalist and author Michael Shellenberger wrote a Twitter thread about how construction can hurt the local whale population in a variety of ways. “Industrial wind projects ‘could have population-level effects on an already endangered and stressed species,’ concluded the NOAA scientist, Sean Hayes,” Shellenberger tweeted. “What are ‘population-level effects?’ In a word: extinction.” >click to read< 08:53
Feds push ignorance defense for whale killing by offshore wind development
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the NOAA Fisheries agency have both put out what amount to “arguments from ignorance” claiming that offshore wind development has nothing to do with the recent whale deaths. “We know nothing about it so it must not be happening” is a ridiculous defense to the charge of offshore wind development causing the death of a lot of whales. But this is exactly what the Feds are now saying. NOAA Fisheries is a scientific agency and their version is more scientific, which is important because this is really a scientific issue. Let us look at their arguments. >click to read< 17:38
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for January 31, 2023
Snapper Grouper Discard Mortality Reduction & Private Rec. Permitting (Amendments 35 & 46)/REMINDER: Southern Shrimp Alliance Needs Your Help/Legislative Update. The last year or so the South Atlantic Fisheries Management Council (SAFMC) has been working on multiple Snapper Grouper Amendments. Amendments 35 and 46 were voted on and approved for scoping and public comment at the December SAFMC meeting. Informational webinars with opportunities to provide public comment for both amendments are scheduled soon (Amendment 46 webinar is scheduled for January 30th and February 6th at 6pm and Amendment 35 webinar is scheduled for January 31st at 6pm). Links >click to read< 12:04
12 Jersey Shore mayors call for moratorium on offshore wind following whale deaths
The announcement followed news that another humpback whale had died off of the coasts of New Jersey and New York and washed ashore in Lido Beach, Nassau County, New York, according to numerous reports. “While we are not opposed to clean energy, we are concerned about the impacts these (offshore wind) projects may already be having on our environment,” the 12 New Jersey mayors wrote in a joint letter to Washington officials. On Saturday, a dead humpback was seen floating about 12 miles off Long Beach Island, said Andrea Gomez, a spokeswoman for the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA. It was not clear Monday if the Lido Beach whale could be the same one spotted off Long Beach Island. >click to read< 10:48
How offshore wind developers are working around the Jones Act
The U.S. is going to need between four and six gigantic wind turbine installation vessels to support President Joe Biden’s 30 gigawatt-by-2030 offshore wind goal, according to a new Energy Department national lab-led report out this week. It currently has zero finished vessels that comply with the Jones Act, which requires that vessels carrying shipments between points in the United States be owned and crewed by U.S. citizens, registered under the U.S. flag, and built in the United States. Project developers have therefore used, or are planning to use, Jones Act-compliant “feeder” barges to transport wind components from domestic ports out to the project site, where the components are then transferred to a foreign-flagged vessel capable of installing them. >click to read< 14:21
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 47’X18′ 2010 Novi Lobster, Gillnetter, Tuna – Open Stern/Split Wheelhouse
To review specifications, information, and 44 photos’, >click here<, To see all the boats in this series >click here< 12:01
Whale deaths in NC and along the East Coast have officials searching for answers
On Jan. 7, a critically endangered North Atlantic right whale calf was found dead, wedged under a pier in Morehead City. In the previous month, three humpback whales washed up on beaches between Beaufort and the northern Outer Banks. The four North Carolina deaths are part of at least 14 whales that have washed up on East Coast beaches since Dec. 1. Federal officials, scientists and conservation groups have said there could be multiple factors contributing to the rise in whale strandings, including an increase in the population of the Western North Atlantic humpback whales. But one idea that’s gained traction online and among some coastal residents and politicians is that huge offshore wind farms planned off many East Coast states, including North Carolina, could be harming the marine mammals. >click to read< 08:46
Long awaited dredging of the Manasquan Inlet in New Jersey is finally taking place
There is news all mayors and towns along the coastal towns from the southern shore end of Monmouth County and from the northern barrier island communities in Ocean County have longed to hear: that dredging will commence in the Manasquan Inlet. An announcement was made on Monday afternoon by U.S. Congressman Chris Smith (R – Monmouth/Ocean) that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers head to the Manasquan Inlet as early as this week to commence a massive dredging operation which will help marine traffic and beaches. The dredging project will be split between the Manasquan Inlet and Shark River Inlet with the ladder getting a primary focus from the Army Corps of Engineers. >click to read< 12:38
Industrial wind: Sierra Club should stick to their own back yard and leave mine alone
When I go to the beach, which I do almost every day, I prefer to look out on an empty ocean where the only sign of civilization is a fishing boat or two. I can see why a giant multinational energy company would want to spoil that view with 900-foot wind turbines that generate both electricity and money. But why would the Sierra Club? They cite climate change as the reason, but there are other sources of carbon-free energy such as nuclear, which the Club opposes. When I got him on the phone yesterday, Mayor Paul Kanitra told me the people in his town oppose “the industrialization of the last pristine natural resource we have in New Jersey.” “We don’t want this dystopian viewscape of red lights flashing at night and turbines droning,” Kanitra said. >click to read< 10:37
Southern Shore Lawmakers Say Unprecedented Whale Deaths Warrant Suspension of Offshore Wind Projects
Sen. Michael Testa and Assemblymen Erik Simonsen and Antwan McClellan are intensifying calls to suspend offshore wind projects following an unprecedented number of whale deaths along the coasts of New Jersey and New York. They join a chorus of concerned elected officials and environmental and commercial fishing groups who are worried the push for more offshore wind development has contributed to the death of seven whales in a little over a month, including two on the endangered species list. Despite the opposition, Gov. Phil Murphy continues his aggressive green energy goals, which calls for increasing offshore electric wind generation to 11,000 megawatts by 2040. >click to read< 08:08
Here’s why workers are digging Chesapeake Bay blue crabs out of the mud this month
On a recent gray January morning, they were working a section of the upper Chesapeake Bay off Rock Hall on the Eastern Shore. Capt. Roger Morris, a Dorchester County waterman who works under contract with the state’s department of natural resources, dropped a Virginia dredge off the stern of F/V Mydra Ann, his 45-foot Bay workboat, and let the attached chain pay out until the dredge hit bottom 20-some feet below, jolting the boat. A Virginia dredge refers to an eight foot wide piece of equipment with an attached net that gets dropped into the water to dredge for crabs. Morris eased the throttle forward and dragged the dredge through the mud for one minute at three knots, then hauled it back up, pausing to rinse the mud out before bringing it on board. photos, >click to read< 19:08
Louisiana Shrimping Industry Faces Uncertain Future in 2023
Shrimpers now face some of the lowest prices they have ever seen due to massive amounts of shrimp being imported from overseas, according to Larose-based trade group Louisiana Shrimp Association. Acy Cooper Jr, the Louisiana Shrimp Association’s president, says the math around shrimp imports are simply not in the Louisiana shrimp industry’s favor. With Louisiana able to meet roughly 25% of the overall U.S. shrimp market demand – shrimp importers from countries like Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia have brought to market more shrimp than the United States will typically consume each year, driving the price on the open market for Louisiana shrimp lower and lower. >click to read< 13:53
N.J. Sierra Club sides with wind (and Phil Murphy) over dead whales
On Tuesday, New Jersey’s Sierra Club chapter and the League of Conservation Voters held a presser in Atlantic City to… demand an end to offshore wind farm exploration? Accountability from politically-power wind industry executives? A comprehensive independent study to determine whether turbine projects are killing whales? Nope. The Garden State’s best-known environmental groups teamed up to side with wind (and Phil Murphy) over whales. Meanwhile, Republican State Senator Vince Polistina (R-2), who represents Atlantic City, has called for a suspension of wind turbine activity following the spate of whale deaths. He also attended the Sierra Club/LCV press conference and expressed surprise at the lack of concern expressed for the natural environment by… environmentalists. >click to read< 12:43
New Bedford fishing industry considers compensation for offshore wind’s impact
Massachusetts and eight other Atlantic Coast states proposed the establishment of a regional fisheries compensatory mitigation fund administrator. In June, the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) issued a draft framework for mitigating impacts to commercial and recreational fisheries. Stakeholders have until Jan. 31 to submit comments to a Request for Information released by the states on Dec. 12 to guide the process. New Bedford Port Authority Executive Director Gordon Carr said the initiative and leadership of the nine states and the extensive work involved in issuing the scoping document for a regional fisheries mitigation fund administrator and seeking stakeholder input through the RFI process is greatly appreciated. >click to read< 08:06
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 40’x15′ North Shore Lobster Boat, 450HP, Cummins QSL9 Diesel
To review specifications, information, and 6 photos’, >click here<, To see all the boats in this series >click here< 10:15
What really killed the whales? Environmental groups in New Jersey are squaring off.
Following the discovery of a 30-foot humpback whale that washed ashore in Atlantic City earlier this month, several groups including Clean Ocean Action wrote to President Biden demanding a pause on all wind-energy activity off the Jersey coast and an investigation into why a total of seven whales have perished in less than five weeks. According to Jennifer Coffey, the executive director of the New Jersey Association of Environmental Commission, suggestions that the Garden State’s plan to construct a huge wind farm out in the ocean have anything to do with the whale tragedies are unfortunate and misguided. >click to read< 08:15
Whale found dead in South Jersey likely struck by vessel
The Marine Mammal Stranding Center said Sunday that preliminary results of a necropsy on the humpback whale that washed up Thursday on the North End Natural Area in Brigantine indicates that the animal had “blunt trauma injuries consistent with those from a vessel strike.” “Injuries and hemorrhaging were observed on the head and thoracic region, as well as along the right side and the pectoral flipper,” the center said in a statement. “These findings will be confirmed through laboratory analysis in the coming weeks.” Brigantine, just north of Atlantic City, has seen two other dead whales on its beaches in recent weeks, among the seven whale deaths in a little over a month in New Jersey and New York. >click to read<10:16
Governor Murphy has a whale of a problem with his offshore energy plan
“Circumambulate the city of a dreamy Sabbath afternoon … Things have changed a lot since 1851, when Herman Melville wrote those words. But the Atlantic Ocean hasn’t. People still wander to its shores to gaze at an ocean devoid of man-made objects. But not for long, not if Phil Murphy gets his way. In his State of the State address, Gov. Phil Murphy boasted of his plan to have hundreds of wind turbines built offshore, some more than 900 feet tall. The governor also mentioned his commitment to “environmental justice.” We are used to looking at the ocean as public, but the Murphy administration wants to award large chunks of it to multinational corporations such as Royal Dutch Shell. We’re seeing that with groups like the Sierra Club and the Audubon Society. >click to read< 11:39
NJ governor: No pause in wind farm prep after 7th dead whale
A seventh dead humpback whale has washed up on the Jersey Shore
State and marine mammal experts had responded on Friday, Jan 13 to Brigantine Beach a half-mile beyond a former U.S. Coast Guard station. There was much speculation on social media whether offshore testing for wind turbines has played a role in their deaths. The latest whale was described as a 20-foot juvenile. The dead whale washed up just miles from where another whale was found in Atlantic City on Saturday, Jan. 7. It was the seventh dead whale washed up in 39 days. >click to read< 13:45
Advocacy Groups Demand Transparent Investigation into Deaths of Six Endangered Whales
Calling the deaths of six endangered whales that have washed up in 33 days on the beaches of New Jersey and New York “alarming and environmentally harmful,” local, state and regional ocean advocacy groups are calling for President Joe Biden to immediately address the unprecedented trend. “The noise from the offshore wind vessel is a potential cause of the recent whale stranding and increased near-shore sightings,” said Bob Stern, president of Save LBI, a nonprofit, non-partisan coalition opposed to the placement of offshore wind farms off Long Beach Island. “The beached whales bear no sign of vessel strike or fishing gear entanglement, leaving natural causes or noise as the potential causes and raising the likelihood that our concerns were well-founded.” >click to read< 16:03
South Jersey Times Editorial Board – N.J. whale death mystery may not lead to mighty wind
Depending on who’s counting, at least six whales have been discovered ashore since late fall. Let’s not to jump to conclusions, though, about why these whales died, at least not to the degree that we need to shut down everything that’s going on offshore. Pressure groups are already calling for moratoriums on any work related to offshore wind energy development, even though none of structures related to the turbines system exist off the Jersey coast. (The survey work is happening, though.) The developers of offshore wind, and cheerleaders who include our governor, are finding more pushback against these planned installations than they anticipated. It’s not just Clean Ocean Action that has a beef; commercial fishing groups and others concerned about shoreline aesthetics are weighing in, too. >click to read< 10:48
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 44’x20′ Fiberglass Scalloper, 400HP 3406 Cat
To review specifications, information, and 12 photos’, >click here<, To see all the boats in this series >click here< 12:01
6 beached whales in 33 days — NJ groups say offshore wind may be to blame
Advocacy groups believe they know why the New Jersey region has seen half a dozen beached whales over the span of 33 days: offshore wind energy infrastructure. On Monday, two days after a 30-foot humpback washed ashore in Atlantic City, ocean advocacy organizations sent a letter to President Joe Biden, demanding an immediate investigation into the recent whale deaths and calling for a pause on all ongoing wind-energy activity offshore. “Never have we ever heard of six whales washing up within 33 days,” said Cindy Zipf, executive director of Long Branch-based Clean Ocean Action. “We don’t know how many whales may have died offshore.” >click to read< 10:14
Another dead whale washes up on Jersey Shore beach
A third humpback whale in about a month washed up at the Jersey Shore over the weekend, concerning both residents and conservationists. Atlantic City officials say the 30-foot adult humpback whale was discovered on the beach near South Mississippi Avenue Saturday, only a few blocks from where another whale washed ashore on Christmas weekend Spectators watched as scientists began a necropsy on Sunday. Some protesters on the beach Sunday speculate an offshore wind turbine project may have something to do with this. “We’ve never had this number of whale deaths and beaching’s ever as far as I recall,” said Frank Leone from Protect our Coast New Jersey. Video, >click to read< 13:29
