A divided federal appeals court on Wednesday stripped a regional fishery management council of its ability to block the U.S. Secretary of Commerce from taking actions to manage fisheries that the panel does not support, after finding the council’s members were unconstitutionally appointed. The Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on 2-1 vote sided with two commercial fishermen who had sued after Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council amended a fishery-management plan to lower how much scup, summer flounder and black sea bass could be caught in their region. The fishermen, Raymond Lofstad and Gus Lovgren, challenged the constitutionality of the structure of the body, one of eight regional councils nationally tasked with developing fishery management plans, in their lawsuit. They are being represented by the libertarian Pacific Legal Foundation in their lawsuit. >>CLICK TO READ<< 11:05
Category Archives: New England
Anderson: Offshore wind risks outweigh exaggerated rewards
A recently published article referencing the upcoming sale/lease of 827,000 acres of area in the Gulf of Maine to developers for offshore wind turbines should not be passed over lightly. This sale/lease event will take place on Oct. 29, 2024, in a process where developers will bid on eight sites within the 827,000 acres. The article further reported on state Sen. David Watters’ involvement and advocacy for this development as a panacea for our energy needs. Truth be told, this is not as accurate as it appears as offshore wind poses more of an environmental threat than remedy when one investigates the details. The fishing industry coastwide has expressed their legitimate concerns on a variety of issues, and more and more of the general public is now expressing their skepticism, as they should. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 15:33
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 45′ x 19′ Dixon Lobster/ Scalloper W/ Permit, 750HP John Deere 6135
To review specifications, information, and 11 photos’, >click here<. To see all the boats in this series, >click here< 06:23
ILA UNION ON STRIKE IN 36 US PORTS – Teamsters Warn Biden To ‘Stay the F*ck Out of This Fight’
“We are official out on strike, our contract ended at midnight,” Bernie ODonnell, international Vice President for ILA New England told reporters. “We plan on being here 24/7 until we get a good contract. We are looking for a fair contract and we are fighting automation.” In a last-minute effort today to avert the strike, port employers represented by the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) announced that both sides have exchanged wage-related offers. However, reporting quickly indicated that the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) union had already rejected the offer. The current contract, which covers approximately 45,000 port workers across 36 ports on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts expired at midnight this morning. Photos, Video, links, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:25
Video shows inside look at the Portland Fish Exchange, all-display auction for Maine seafood
The Portland Fish Exchange became America’s first all-display fresh seafood auction when it first opened in 1986. The exchange provides multiple services to the Gulf of Maine seafood industry, including live groundfish auctions, product unloading and refrigerated warehousing. Commercial fishing vessels are offloaded in the morning and workers at the exchange separate the catch by species of fish and market grade. Auctions are held every Monday through Thursday, and the products purchased head to restaurants, markets and processing plants within hours of vessel landings. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 14:42
Maine Unions Lead on the Green Energy Transition
Maine’s fifteen years long OSW policy debates have been hobbled by entrenched opposition from Maine’s lobstermen. It would also be impossible to convince politicians to pass an OSW law that was oblivious to the interests of Maine’s lobstermen. Governor Mills and her team reached out to Maine Lobstermen’s Association (MLA), but they did not break through the impasse. The MLA continues to oppose OSW by arguing about potential impacts “on the marine environment, commercial fishermen and our fishing heritage.” MLA’s opposition has grown stronger in the past few years under the influence of New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association (NEFSA), which is orchestrating conservative anti-OSW campaigns across the East Coast. To break this logjam, the MLCC worked with the country’s only lobstering union, Lobster 207. Though a small fraction of Maine lobster fishers are unionized, the lobstering union has a crucial role in advocating for improved working conditions within the lobstering industry. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:50
1 In 30 Million: Rare Yellow Lobster Caught Off Nantucket
Jim Sjolund, captain of the Nantucket lobster boat Julie Alice, was hauling traps about 25 miles east of the island on Friday when his sternman Adam Spencer noticed something peculiar come out of the water. “At first, I didn’t think anything of it,” Sjolund said of the strange color inside one of the traps, believing it might be a fish. “But my sternman got excited, and I came over and said ‘holy sh**’!” Inside the trap was an incredibly rare yellow lobster. Sjolund knew right away it was unusual. But it wasn’t until he got back to Nantucket and did some research that Sjolund realized he had essentially hit the lobster lottery. The chances of catching a yellow lobster are 1 in 30 million, according to the University of Maine’s Lobster Institute. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<<06:44
Days on the water, nights at Town Office: Harpswell lobsterman advocates for working waterfront on 7 committees
Matt Gilley stood in front of a shelf in his Cundy’s Harbor home. It holds a collection of marine oddities from the bottom of lobster traps, such as unique lobster claws, a seahorse, and a full-sized clam that grew inside a Coke bottle. “The fun part of it is, you don’t know what’s going to come up,” he said. Gilley himself is a rarity in Harpswell. In a town with 216 miles of coastline and “working waterfront” on many local signs, he is one of a small group of commercial lobstermen involved in town government, spending his mornings on the water and his evenings advocating for those who work on it. “I want to see lobstering continue, and the only way for that to continue is for there to be another generation,” he said. “If I can do anything to conserve what little we have left so other people can do it, I’m going to do it.” Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:10
Maine’s massive “floating wind” folly — my report
Below is my Executive Summary, followed by the latest bad news on this ongoing silly saga. This report examines several fundamental aspects of the State of Maine’s offshore wind development plan. It is divided into two parts. Part 1 examines certain economic issues, such as feasibility, cost, and progress to date. Part 2 explores the proposed development as it relates to the entire Gulf of Maine, namely because the project has not advanced to the point where the State of Maine’s responsibilities have been defined. The offshore wind plan calls for development of 3,000 MW of generating capacity, an amount that is roughly double Maine’s average electricity usage. The viability of Maine’s offshore wind plan depends entirely on the massive transformation of the state’s grid from fossil fuel use to electrification. It is clear that the citizens of Maine have not been informed of this vast transformation requirement. They have certainly not approved it. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:34
Editorial: Save commercial fishing industry
Commercial fishing operators working out of the harbor in West Ocean City have been cast adrift, as the push to build an offshore wind farm about 12 miles east of Ocean City has rolled over their concerns. As was noted in a meeting Tuesday between Department of Natural Resources officials and commercial fishing operators, the construction of a maintenance facility at the commercial harbor could leave the few boats still operating there without space to unload their catch. No one, outside of the fishing community itself, apparently thought of that problem and one suspects that the state and federal governments would advise members of that industry to produce their own solution, which they don’t have the resources to do. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:35
US fishery management council’s structure is unconstitutional, court rules
Right whales and offshore wind: reflections on an uneasy coexistence
Michael Moore has spent decades studying North Atlantic right whales. He’s seen somewhere around 150 of them. It’s a feat, given that now there are just about 360 left in the world. But the veterinarian, author, and scientist emeritus from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution had never seen an offshore wind farm up close — until last week. “Look at them. All out in neat little rows,” he said, standing at the rear of a 53-foot charter boat that offered a closeup view of construction on Vineyard Wind, 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard. About half of the planned 62 turbines are fully constructed, reaching more than 250 meters into the sky. When the boat slowed down to pass beneath one of the turbines, Moore was awestruck by the length of a blade. “Right whales are 40 to 50 feet,” he said. “So, you can stretch seven right whales along the length of one of these blades.” Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 16:48
Maine lobster fisherman reveals why the crustaceans she catches taste ‘sweeter, ‘better’
The daughter of a lobster fisherman from Maine describes herself as being “born into it.” Sadie Samuels left the Pine Tree State and headed to college across the country in California, but she kept fishing during the summers to pay for her tuition. After graduation in 2013, she began fishing full-time and has never looked back. Samuels, 32, opened her restaurant, Must Be Nice Lobster – which has the same name as her boat, F/V Must Be Nice – in a permanent indoor location in 2022. “My dad kind of kicked me off his boat because you can only fish 800 traps on a boat,” she said. “So, the more I wanted to fish, the less he could fish if I still fished on his boat.” “[My father] finally was like, ‘All right, obviously you’re interested in this. Go buy a boat,'” she recalled. “So that’s pretty much how that happened.” Photos, Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 12:17
2024 Sea Scallop Survey Results – Long-Running Sea Scallop Survey Diversifies for the Future
Among the highlights of our 2024 Integrated Sea Scallop and HabCam Research Survey are strong numbers of two-year-old scallops observed in both dredge samples and HabCam images. These were found in the southern part of the Great South Channel, the eastern portion of the Nantucket Lightship Area, the northern portion of Closed Area I, and in the Elephant Trunk and Hudson Canyon South areas in the Mid-Atlantic. Sea scallops typically reach harvestable size at about age 4 and older. This is also the first survey that included three cruises, exclusively used a commercial vessel for dredging, and deployed a long-range autonomous underwater vehicle (LRAUV). Photos, charts, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:06
Long-Running Sea Scallop Survey Diversifies for the Future – >>CLICK TO READ<<
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 36′ Wayne Beal Lobster Boat, 675HP, Scania D1-13 086M Diesel, Video
To review specifications, information, and 10 photos’, and Video, >click here< To see all the boats in this series, >click here< 06:09
Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative to celebrate National Lobster Day
The Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative is celebrating its ninth annual National Lobster Day on Wednesday, Sept. 25. “It’s a time to celebrate the lobstermen that are out on the water every day catching lobster and bringing it to market for us,” said Marianne LaCroix, executive director for Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative. The celebration comes as Maine Lobster Week kicked off across the state Sunday and will be running until Sunday, Sept. 29. The day was moved from June to September to align with the peak lobster harvesting season. The Senate passed a resolution in 2015 officially recognizing the day and the economic impact of the industry. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:45
Lawmakers seek pause in offshore wind energy amid whale deaths
House lawmakers are seeking a pause in offshore wind energy projects amid a string of whale deaths along the coasts of Maryland, New York, New Jersey and Maine. Last week, a deceased whale beached off Maryland’s coast, the second whale carcass discovered in the area in three weeks. In 2023, 37 humpback whales carcasses were discovered along the East Coast. Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.) hosted a public hearing in August in which experts testified about the danger installing wind turbines poses marine wildlife. Harris called for an end to offshore wind energy in Maryland. The Government Accountability Office plans to investigate the impacts of offshore wind development after Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J) requested it look into the issues. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:48
NOTICE: Bottom Trawl Survey of the Maine Research Array Wind Energy Area
Maine Department of Marine Resources sent this bulletin at 09/23/2024 12:15 PM EDT. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 12:36
Big Fish Offshore Wind Producers Catch Attention Of Texas Fishermen
There is a fight on the open seas in Texas’ Gulf, not between sailors and pirates but between two of America’s most ambitious offshore wind producers. BlackRock-backed RWE Offshore US Gulf LLC recently asked the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to pressure its competitor, Hecate Energy Gulf Wind LLC, to shell out big bucks to compensate Texas fishermen for potential damage to their fishing areas. “RWE urges BOEM to consider including an option for Hecate Energy –- and any future unsolicited proposals in the Gulf of Mexico — to commit funding for a Fisheries Compensatory Mitigation Fund,” the company recently said during a public comment period on a developing offshore wind project in south Texas. RWE also encouraged BOEM to require Hecate to develop a communication plan with fisheries and tribal governments. Texas’ fishing industry vigorously opposes RWE’s offshore wind projects, such as GOM WEA Option M near the TX-LA border. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 16:14
US offshore wind projects pelted with suits to end, delay progress
There are 13 cases pending in federal courts targeting offshore wind projects, according to the American Clean Power Association, an offshore wind trade group. An undetermined number of additional lawsuits is active in state courts, they said. Robin Shaffer is president of Protect Our Coast NJ, a citizens group that has filed numerous lawsuits in New Jersey against two offshore projects currently or previously proposed. Shaffer said his group was at least partly responsible for scuttling two New Jersey wind farms proposed by Orsted that the Danish wind giant scrapped in October, saying they were no longer financially workable. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:57
Bay of Fundy fishermen see uptick in poaching patrols
Many lobster fishermen say they have seen an uptick in Coast Guard patrols in the Bay of Fundy less than a week after a protest against poaching in Saint Andrews, N.B. “Last spring I didn’t see any fisheries on the water at all,” said Jaret Mawhinney, a sixth-generation fisherman. “Last fall I think I might have saw one boat and that was probably the first day. After that I never really seen too much.” Mawhinney notes lobster catches have dropped in recent years, something he attributes to poaching. Last Saturday, roughly 50 fishing boats from Lobster Fishing Area 36 – which covers waters from Alma to the American border – docked in Saint Andrews to peacefully protest illegal fishing and what they see as a lack of enforcement by the government. Video more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 19:32
Thomas Elias: Gov. Newsom committing to big wind power projects risky right now
There weren’t many causes Gov. Gavin Newsom pushed harder during the just-concluded state legislative session than offshore wind power, something that has been tried in only a few places around America. For some in the California Legislature, including state Senate President Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, this seems an easy way to modernize the state’s electric grid without risking much pollution, taking advantage of an inexhaustible natural resource — winds that often gust at 40 mph or more. However, now it’s time for Newsom to go slow before committing California electric customers (who always pay for new generating facilities via their monthly bills) to fund this largely untried renewable energy source. If adopted, a plan to build enough offshore windmills to fill about 6% of California’s electric needs would be America’s largest commitment to offshore wind power. There is not yet any offshore wind power along the Pacific Coast, but yes, there is offshore wind power on the Atlantic Coast. There’s a small (five-turbine) project off Block Island, Rhode Island. Also, there are a few windmills off Virginia and others off Massachusetts’ Nantucket Island. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 12:22
FISHERMEN OPPOSE INDUSTRIALISATION OF OUR OCEANS
“The New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association (NEFSA) remains steadfast in its opposition to the industrialisation of our oceans, despite the shrinking of the original proposed lease area. The final eight lease areas encompass a total of 827,886 acres in the Gulf of Maine and pose an existential threat to all marine species, habitat, and to the livelihoods of current and future generations of sustainable fishermen upon whom their communities rely on for survival. The six lase areas in the southern Gulf of Maine comprise a Great Wall of Windmills that threaten mariners and the marine environment. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:33Glass fibers – the rest of the story????? by Nils E. Stolpe/FishNet-USA
Floating around (sorry!) is the surprising story that the fiberglass that is being donated gratis to our oceans by the offshore wind industry is harmless because the fibers that make it up are chemically inert. Reassuring, isn’t it? Well, in words made immortal by George and Irwin Gershwin in Porgy and Bess, “it ain’t necessarily so.” To put those immortal words in the proper real world (not NOAA or BOEM scientist’s) perspective, the asbestos fibers that are still being used legally in a whole bunch of manufacturing processes today are chemically inert on their own. You can chomp on and swallow asbestos fibers to your heart’s content, as long as they stay in large chunks, with no ill effects. According to the National Library of Medicine “asbestos fibers are basically chemically inert, or nearly so. They do not evaporate, dissolve, burn, or undergo significant reactions with most chemicals.” So what happens when a huge fiberglass rotor on an offshore generator (300+ feet long and still enlarging as wind generators become larger-and more efficient) delaminates and takes a dive into one of our oceans? more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 15:52
Against the Wind: Questions About BOEM’s Fisheries Analysis
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced the final sale notice for the Gulf of Maine offshore wind project lease areas on Sept. 16. The agency shrunk the overall area by 120,000 acres, removing significant portions of the two northern leases off the coast of Maine, carving a transit lane between the two farthest-offshore southern areas, and shaving small portions off other southern areas. This decision did little to satisfy Jerry Leeman, a Harpswell, Maine-based former commercial fisherman and founder of the New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association (NEFSA), an organization that opposes the Gulf of Maine offshore wind area. NEFSA “remains steadfast in its opposition,” wrote Leeman in a press release, “despite the shrinking of the original areas.” more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:22
Concerned residents file second lawsuit against New Jersey offshore wind project over noise pollution
Save Long Beach Island, a community group created in opposition to a massive offshore wind project off the coast of New Jersey, filed its second lawsuit to block the construction of an Atlantic Shores South project. In its lawsuit against Atlantic Shore South Offshore Wind, Save Long Beach Island requested that the court require offshore wind developers to conduct a full “airborne noise assessment and pilot project before the project can proceed.” Bob Stern, president of Save Long Beach Island, notes how the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and Atlantic Shores South failed to conduct an analysis of the project’s construction and operation on generating noise pollution for residents and beachgoers. However, the Bureau of Ocean Management did find that noise from the construction of turbines would have a negative effect on marine life. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:41
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 50′ Duffy Gillnetter, Lobster,Longliner,Scalloper
To review specifications, information, and 26 photos’, >click here< To see all the boats in this series, >click here< 06:38
Fishers want ‘incredibly important’ Georges Bank protected against offshore wind development
As Nova Scotia rushes to establish an offshore wind industry, some fishers are calling for explicit protection for the rich fishing ground on Georges Bank. The cabinet minister in charge of developing renewable energy projects says he will keep turbines off the bank, but not by changing a piece of legislation that is now moving through Province House. Ian McIsaac, president of the Seafood Producers Association of Nova Scotia, brought his concerns to a legislature committee Monday as it reviews a new bill that, if passed into law, would enable offshore wind development. McIsaac said Bill 471 doesn’t update the Georges Bank moratorium that’s been in place against offshore petroleum development since the 1980s “We feel this is a technical error,” he said. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 13:42
Breakwaters have protected Galilee from storms for over a century. Now repairs are needed
On a recent overcast morning fisherman Mike Marchetti boards his vessel Mister G, a 50-foot lobster boat converted into a scalloper, and gently pulls out of the Port of Galilee’s UU dock. The slate water reflects the sullen sky, but Mister G chugs along pleasantly past the docks, through the breachway and out to the Point Judith Harbor of Refuge. That name – “Harbor of Refuge” – is at risk of becoming a misnomer to Marchetti. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers created the Point Judith Harbor of Refuge in the early 20th century when it constructed a series of breakwaters to protect the port from hazardous sea conditions. These days the sea is winning. As Mister G nears the main breakwater – a v-shaped 6,970-foot-long wall of massive boulders – Marchetti looks out the starboard window and points at wide gaps in the breakwater. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:45
Biden-Harris Administration’s First Offshore Wind Lease in Maine
The Department of the Interior today announced it will hold an offshore wind energy lease sale on Oct. 29, 2024, for eight areas on the Outer Continental Shelf off Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine. If fully developed, these areas have a potential capacity of approximately 13 gigawatts of clean offshore wind energy, which could power more than 4.5 million homes. The announcement follows the Department’s recent announcement that it has approved more than 15 gigawatts of clean energy from offshore wind projects since the start of the Biden-Harris administration- equivalent to half of the capacity needed to achieve President Biden’s goal of 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030.”The growing enthusiasm for the clean energy future is infectious. Today’s announcement – which builds on the execution of the nation’s first floating offshore wind energy research lease in Maine last month – is the result of years of thoughtful coordination between our team, the Gulf of Maine states, industry and the Tribes and ocean users who share our interest in the health and longevity of our ocean,” said Secretary Deb Haaland. more, (if you can stand it,) >>CLICK TO READ<< 12:05
OPINION: Reel them in – Regional fisheries councils violate constitution and hurt accountability
That is the position in which many fishermen find themselves. They share a desire for sustainable fisheries and support some of the federal efforts at regulation. But they oppose certain federal water catch limits and allocations between commercial and recreation sectors that are set by regional fishery management councils made up of members who aren’t accountable through elections or to elected officials. Pacific Legal Foundation is representing these individuals and small businesses in courts around the country, making what we think is a simple argument based on the text and purpose of the Constitution. Specifically, that it requires that executive branch officials with significant authority be appointed by the president or a member of his cabinet. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:40
