Category Archives: South Atlantic
Our View: Cooper rightly pans offshore drilling
Gov. Roy Cooper was right on the mark last week in declaring his staunch opposition to opening up North Carolina’s coast to offshore drilling. Cooper made the announcement Thursday on the beach at Fort Macon State Park in Cataret County, one day before the deadline for elected officials to submit comment on the Trump administration’s request for companies to perform seismic testing under the Atlantic Ocean. Gov. Roy Cooper was right on the mark last week in declaring his staunch opposition to opening up North Carolina’s coast to offshore drilling. Cooper joins Republican South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster and Republican Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan in opposing any plan to drill for oil and gas off the Atlantic coastline. click here to read the op-ed 08:08
Legendary Beaufort waterman caught the big one when ‘Forrest Gump’ came to town
Jimmie Lee Stanley was all but born in the river, and he was surf fishing for black drum, flounder and speckled trout the weekend before he died. He passed away in June in Beaufort, where he born, like his father, grandfather and great-grandfather. He was only 63. Stanley could hunt and fish and shrimp with the best of them, and cook what he brought home — always the more the merrier.,,, But his biggest catch was an odd one. It’s one he loved with all his heart. It happened when his 65-foot wooden hull shrimp boat, the Miss Sherri was plucked from a sea of trawlers by Hollywood directors to be christened the Jenny in the blockbuster movie, “Forrest Gump.” click here to read the story 11:00
Oversight Hearing “Exploring the Successes and Challenges of the Magnuson-Stevens Act” Wednesday, July 19, 2017 2:00 PM
On Wednesday, July 19, 2017, at 2:00 p.m., in Room 1324 Longworth House Office Building, the Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans will hold an oversight hearing titled “Exploring the Successes and Challenges of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.” Witnesses are Mr. Jeff Kaelin, Government Relations, Lund’s Fisheries, Inc. Cape May, New Jersey. Mr. Sean Martin, President, Hawaii Longline Association, Honolulu, Hawaii. Mr. Nick Wiley, Executive Director, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Tallahassee, Florida. Mr. Charles Witek, Recreational Angler and Outdoor Writer, West Babylon, New York. click here at 14:00 Wednesday to watch the proceeding. If you need further information, please contact Calvin Frauenfelder, Clerk, Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans at (202) 225-8331.
Hearing Memorandum details, click here 19:35
OPINION: Ban seismic testing, offshore drilling of NJ coast
Summer is in full swing at the Jersey Shore. Over the next couple of months and into the fall, millions of visitors will head “down the shore” for the beaches, fishing, boating and ecotourism activities like whale and dolphin watching. It’s hard to imagine New Jersey without its thriving shore tourism economy — dependent on a healthy ocean and a clean coastline stretching from Sandy Hook to Cape May. The same goes for its commercial fishing industry, which supplies fresh seafood to countless restaurants and markets. But tourism and commercial fishing in New Jersey are once again threatened by a bad idea that comes back again and again: ocean drilling for oil and gas along the coast of this state we’re in. click here to read the op-ed 11:17
Navy War Games Planned for East Coast and Gulf Waters – Public comment is open until Aug. 29
The Navy intends to fire missiles, rockets, lasers, grenades and torpedoes, detonate mines and explosive buoys, and use all types of sonar in a series of live war exercises in inland and offshore waters along the East Coast. In New England, the areas where the weapons and sonar may be deployed encompass the entire coastline, as well as Navy pier-side locations, port transit channels, civilian ports, bays, harbors, airports and inland waterways. “The Navy must train the way we fight,” according to a promotional video for what is called “Atlantic Fleet Training and Testing Phase III.” An environmental impact study of the war games was released June 30. Public comment is open until Aug. 29. A public hearing is scheduled for July 19 from 4-8 p.m. at Hotel Providence. Comments can be submitted online and in writing, or through a voice recorder at the hearing. The dates and exact locations of the live weapon and sonar exercises haven’t yet been released. In all, 2.6 million square miles of land and sea along the Atlantic Coast and Gulf of Mexico will be part of the aerial and underwater weapons firing. click here to read the story 18:41
Florida wildlife officials hope to ban shark fin imports
Florida wildlife officials want to look at banning the importation of shark fins through the state’s ports. But without support from Gov. Rick Scott’s office, they are not getting behind a federal proposal to prohibit possession of shark fins. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Executive Director Nick Wiley directed staff, after hearing from members of the commission and the public Monday, to look into what the agency can do about the importation of shark fins and determine what “we need to be pushing on that if we can.” With fins considered a delicacy in parts of Asia, “finning” is an illegal practice in Florida and the U.S. It involves cutting off shark fins at sea and then discarding the sharks. Commissioner Robert Spottswood was among those who questioned why the state allows the importation of shark fins separate from the rest of shark bodies. click here to read the story 13:28
The price to pay for spearing 320 spiny lobsters was a trip to jail Sunday
The price to pay for spearing 320 spiny lobsters was a trip to jail Sunday — and hundreds of charges for seven out-of-state men. The men, who were pulled over in a rented boat on the oceanside of the Vaca Cut Bridge around 4:30 p.m. by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers, also had four out-of-season stone crab claws and eight fish fillets on the boat, according to FWC spokesman Officer Bobby Dube. On the boat was a bag containing 137 out-of-season wrung spiny lobster tails — 117 of which were undersized — the stone crab claws and fish, Dube said. click here to read the story 11:37
Time is running out to protect the Atlantic coast from Seismic Testing for oil exploration
President Trump recently proclaimed that his administration is seeking “American energy dominance.” The reality is we’re already there. The United States produces more natural gas and oil than any other nation. We do import about 25% of our oil needs mostly from Canada and Mexico. However, that’s only because we export about one million gallons a week of the type of domestically produced oil we don’t want. The U.S. is beholding to no other country for our energy security.,,, The government estimates that up to 138,000 whales and dolphins could be injured or harassed if seismic airgun blasting was allowed in the Atlantic.,,, The government doesn’t even try to estimate the number of fish and invertebrates killed or harassed due to seismic airgun blasting. Ironically, in spite of its name the federal agency that approves applications for seismic testing, the National Marine Fisheries Service, requires absolutely no procedures to reduce the destructive impact of airguns on fish and invertebrates like squid. click here to read the op-ed 08:15
Mayport fisherman burned in accident, airlifted Friday night
The Coast Guard medevaced a 44-year-old man Friday, approximately 40 miles east of Mayport. Coast Guard Sector Jacksonville Command Center watchstanders received notification at 9:40 p.m. that a crewmember aboard the fishing vessel Charlotte Marie had suffered burn injuries during a fire aboard the vessel. An MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Savannah, Georgia, was launched at 10:45 p.m. and arrived on scene at 11:15 p.m. The man was hoisted and transported to Florida Health hospital in Jacksonville. –USCG-.,,, A family member tells Action News Jax that the victim is 44 year old Brian Lloyd, owner of the Charlotte Marie fishing boat. Lloyd’s wife Shannon says he suffered first and second degree burns and that his condition is stable. She did not have immediate details about what happened. link 13:24
Brad Gentner: It’s time to rethink ‘catch shares’
Catch shares in marine fisheries is a concept unfamiliar to most people, and it is probably completely alien to most hunters and anglers in this country. It is a system of wildlife management that bestows some percentage of a public marine resource, like red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico, to private businesses for free, to use and sell for their own profit. It was thought that by giving away ownership rights to individuals, the fishery would consolidate and ultimately become easier to manage. While the same number of fish would be caught, the benefits of funneling access to the resource through fewer entities was thought to remove some of the uncertainty in the industry and thus would be worth the price of privatizing a public resource for free. While catch shares are still the darling of some fisheries economists, there is a growing backlash against this management tool worldwide for a variety of reasons. At the heart of these complaints is fleet and wealth consolidation, extraction of public wealth for private profit, and failure to capitalize share-cost into production costs. click here to read the op-ed 21:46
Opposition to Atlantic Siesmic Blasting – The Bipartisan Fight for Quieter Oceans
Last night, to celebrate the fourth of July, the air over the U.S. filled with fireworks. The noise they created was extremely loud and, mercifully, brief. But imagine having to listen to even louder explosions once every ten seconds, for days or weeks on end. Starting this fall, that may be the new reality for whales, fish, and other marine life off the eastern seaboard, if the Trump administration’s plans go ahead. Following the president’s executive order to open the Atlantic to offshore drilling, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is set to permit five companies to begin seismic airgun blasting—an old but controversial technique for detecting reserves of oil and gas.,,, It is easy to paint environmental issues as fights between moralizing tree-huggers and hard-working business-owners. But the opposition to airgun testing transcends such caricatures. “There is no separation between the interests of environmentalists and the business community,” says Knapp, whose bipartisan organization represents 41,000 businesses and 500,000 commercial fishing families who oppose seismic testing. click here to read the story 17:34
One Month Later: Clearing, rebuilding start at Vaca Key Marina following devastating fire
It has been one month today since an early-morning fire tore through the bayside Vaca Key Marina near mile marker 47.5. In the four weeks since thousands of lobster traps, a house, boats and forklifts were destroyed on the one-acre property owned by the Berdeal family of Miami on June 5, fishermen at the marina have been busy rebuilding. Clearing of the many piles of charred wood and concrete began Monday at the marina, said Juan Carlos Berdeal. Marathon business Discount Rock and Sand did the clearing with front-end loaders and dump trucks. click here to read the story 13:14
Beaufort Mayor Billy Keyserling renews push against seismic testing as a deadline nears
Beaufort Mayor Billy Keyserling has formally opposed federal permits that would allow companies conducting seismic testing to harass marine life as a byproduct of the process. A public comment period seeking input on the authorizations ends Thursday. Five companies have applied to use seismic air guns to survey the Atlantic Ocean for potential oil and gas deposits. Seismic testing requires separate approval from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for the companies “to incidentally, but not intentionally, harass marine mammals.” The proposed testing would violate federal law by affecting more than a small number of animals and would have more than the “negligible impact” required for the authorizations,, click here to read the story 17:26
Seismic blasting, oil & gas drilling in Atlantic? Now’s the time to comment
The public is now being asked to comment on the president’s proposal to open up the Atlantic and all other federal offshore planning areas for potential oil and gas drilling. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and President Donald Trump announced Thursday that the 45-day public comment period on a new Five-Year National Offshore Oil and Gas Leasing Program on the Outer Continental Shelf will begin Monday. The comment period will close Aug. 17. To comment on the proposed Five-Year National Offshore Oil and Gas Leasing Program: click here to read the story, scroll down page for instructions. 08:43
Nils Stolpe, Fishnet USA – So how are we doing? (2017 edition) A Report on our Domestic Commercial Fishing Industry
I occasionally share my impressions of how the domestic commercial fishing industry is doing, using as my primary data source the NMFS online database “Annual Commercial Landing Statistics” (click here). We are fortunate to have these extensive records of commercial landings of fish and shellfish in the United States extending back to 1950 because they allow a fairly comprehensive view of long term industry (and resource) trends. Among the most useful statistics are those dealing with the value and weight of the total landings for each year. Together they give an overview of how the domestic fishing industry is progressing (or regressing) from year to year. Click here to read the report 11:49
Rutherford, others sign letter opposing Atlantic coast seismic testing for oil exploration
The same day that President Donald Trump touted new energy policies during a speech at the U.S. Department of Energy that he said were part of a “golden era of American energy,” Rep. John Rutherford’s office released a letter signed by him more and than 100 other members of Congress that voiced opposition to the use of a controversial oil and gas exploration technique off the Atlantic Coast. “We are writing in strong opposition to your recent secretarial order to move forward with offshore oil and gas exploration in the Atlantic Ocean,” the letter, signed by members of both parties and addressed to Department of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, began. “Offshore oil and gas exploration, the first step of which is seismic air gun testing, puts at risk coastal economies based on fishing, tourism, and recreation,” it said before asking Zinke not to issue any permits for the surveys. click here to read the story 09:10
South Carolina restricts flounder fishing in an effort to help the species recover
Anyone fishing for flounder from a dock or pier can keep only 10 fish per day, down from a limit of 15 flounder per day, according to restrictions approved this past spring by the Legislature. Fishing boats can keep no more than 20 flounder per day, regardless of how many anglers are in the vessel.The previous boat limit was 30 flounder. The rules apply to recreational anglers as well commercial fishermen who use hooks and lines, according to the Department of Natural Resources. Violating the bag limit carries fines of $25 to $500 and possible jail time. In a news release Wednesday, DNR biologists said the tighter fishing limits mean 30 percent fewer fish will be landed in the next two years, giving flounder a chance to come back. click here to read the story 11:47
Is the Gulf Seafood Fish House deal close?
What was once the Gulf Seafood fish house on Stock Island may become Gulf Seafood again in the near future. “We think it’s going to happen, that it will be preserved in perpetuity for commercial fishing,” said lobster fisherman Simon Stafford. “That’s the real goal. It would be something unique to the Lower Keys.” Monroe County staffers have been working with the Florida Communities Trust to acquire the eight-acre property at 6011 Peninsular Ave. for several years. If the purchase goes through, the concept is to keep the property dedicated as a publicly owned “working waterfront” with a focus on commercial fishing. “We can say it’s moving forward in a positive way,” Lisa Tennyson, county director of legislative affairs and grants acquisition, said. “We can’t say much beyond that.” click here to read the story 14:35
Chris Oliver Appointed to Lead NOAA Fisheries
Today, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, with concurrence from the White House, named Chris Oliver Assistant Administrator for NOAA Fisheries. The Texas native assumed his new position on June 19, taking the helm from Acting Assistant Administrator Samuel Rauch who will return to his position as the Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs.,,, Oliver most recently served as Executive Director of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, a position he held for the past 16 years. He has been with the Council since 1990, also serving as a fisheries biologist and then deputy director. During his tenure as executive director he led the way on several cutting edge management initiatives, including development of limited access privilege programs and fishery cooperatives and catch share programs, the North Pacific’s comprehensive onboard observer program, numerous bycatch reduction programs, extensive habitat protection measures, commercial and recreational allocation programs, and coastal community development programs. He was also responsible for all administrative and operational aspects of the Council process, and lead staffer for legislative and international issues. click here to read the press release 11:32
Finding purpose and taking pride in your work, even when it’s cutting fish
As a young boy, David Bruns loved to play on the docks at Shem Creek. He’d always wait to see what the fishing boats and shrimp trawlers unloaded. The salt spray and pluff mud seemed part of his DNA. Born and raised in Mount Pleasant, Bruns looked like he could be a defensive lineman. But he was far more fascinated with fish than football. After his days were done at Wando High School, Bruns found work as a driver for Simmons Seafood. While some workers might complain about the smell or the hours, Bruns believed he was around the business and the people for a reason. After three years, he applied for a position with Crosby’s Seafood. This, too, involved making some deliveries, but there was an additional opportunity. He could learn to cut fish. Bruns was taught the intricacies of boning and filleting fish. If you cut meat, you’re a butcher. If you dissect fish, you’re a fish cutter. click here to read the story 20:18
Georgia shrimping season spawns unusual crop: optimism
The rope that dangled down into the hold of the Jo Ann B from a small square opening in the deck suddenly went taut. The winch overhead hummed Friday as it strained, slowly raising a 55-gallon plastic can loaded to the brim with Coastal Georgia’s most-prized saltwater delicacy. The bounty of wild Georgia shrimp swayed high above the boat Friday morning, then swung over to the City Market docks. Jake Wilson took it from there, manhandling the huge bucket of white roe shrimp and dumping the catch into a spacious water trough for processing at the City Market plant on Brunswick’s East River. This process repeats itself many times before Capt. Joe Williams’ Jo Ann B had unloaded its plentiful catch for the day. Entering the third week of the 2017 shrimping season in Georgia’s state waters, the folks who ply the coast to bring the Golden Isles these delicious crustaceans are feeling something strange: optimism. click here to read the story 11:18
Stop efforts to limit the number of charter and head boats — the first step toward for-hire catch shares!
This Wednesday, June 13th, the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council will again consider snapper-grouper for-hire limited entry at its meeting in Ponte Vedra, Florida, so it’s important to tell the SAFMC that you oppose limited entry as soon as possible. Please click here today to submit a comment — just a sentence or two will do. Limited entry will set up a “stock market” for permits, setting the stage for charter and head boat catch shares — privatizing access to the fishery –- something that will destroy jobs and hurt fishing communities. click here to read the notice click here to make E-public comment by noon, 6/15/2017 07:32
South Atlantic Fishery Management Council meeting in Ponte Vedra Beach, June 12-16, 2017
The public is invited to attend the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council to be held at the Sawgrass Marriott, 1ooo PGA Tour Boulevard, Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 32082 . Click here for details Webinar Registration: Listen Live, Click here 19:05
We must fight any plan to drill off the Jersey Shore
Drilling for oil and natural gas off the coast of New Jersey is a bad idea that never goes away.,,, Back in the late 1970s and early 1980s, oil companies actually drilled exploratory wells off Atlantic City. They didn’t find significant enough deposits to continue the effort. But here we are again. New Jersey’s two U.S. senators and House members from coastal districts are opposing the latest push for offshore drilling, just as they have done every time this issue has bubbled to the surface, no matter their party. And the argument — a good one — against offshore drilling is always the same: Why endanger the state’s $44 billion-a-year tourism industry and the 500,000 jobs it supports? Half of that revenue is generated from counties along the coast. Offshore drilling could also threaten the state’s $7.9 billion-a-year fishing industry and the 50,000 jobs it creates. click here to read the story 17:54
Vaca Key Marina owner’s son: ‘We will rebuild’
Even though the damage caused by a massive fire in Marathon Monday has been devastating to those who lived and work at the Vaca Key Marina, efforts to rebuild are underway. The June 6 fire that tore through the 1-acre bayside marina at mile marker 47.5 destroyed three boats, a house, six forklifts and thousands of lobster traps from 2 to 5:30 a.m. Traffic in both directions was shut down for hours. Capt. Dave Dipre with the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission was at the marina Thursday assessing the number of lobster and stone-crab traps lost in the fire and said the actual number is closer to 10,000, contrary to the 20,000 originally reported lost. On the other, unfortunate, hand, what was first thought to be $1 million in estimated damage is now closer to $2 million, said Juan Carlos Berdeal, son of property owner Carlos Berdeal of Miami. click here to read the story 08:21
Coast Guard probes ‘oily sheen’ at Port Canaveral, zeroing in on two commercial fishing vessels
The Coast Guard is in the midst of a full-scale investigation of what the agency and Port Canaveral officials are describing as an “oily sheen” that was reported over Memorial Day weekend in the channel near the Cove area of the port. Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Stephen West, marine safety detachment supervisor at Port Canaveral, said the Coast Guard zeroed on two commercial fishing vessels that were in Port Canaveral at the time of the incident as the potential sources of the substance in the water. Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Josh Decker, who is working on the investigation, said samples from the bilge of the two boats were sent to a special laboratory in New London, Connecticut, to see if they match a sample of the oily substance found in the port channel. Decker said each sample has its own characteristics, and no two are alike, much like a fingerprint. So getting a match would indicate proof of the boat that was the source of the substance in the water. click here to read the story 14:37
Fundraiser for Fernando Diaz – Lobster business was destroyed by the Vaca Key Marina fire
I want to thank everyone for taking time to view this page. In the early morning hours of June 5, 2017 there was a massive fire at Vaca Key Marina in Marathon, FL. The fire consumed upwards of 200,000 lobster and crap traps and destroyed 3 fishing boats, and gear. Over 1 million dollars in damage. My father, Fernando Diaz has been harvesting lobsters and crabs for almost 36 years in the lower keys area. Unfortunately my father’s boat, and gear were burnt to ashes. His whole life came burning down in a matter of hours. Even at his age of 64, he has thoughts of rebuilding. With the fishing season around the corner (August 2017), any donations will be used to help rebuild and get back on the water to provide for his family. Thank you all very much. click here to visit the fundraiser page. 16:26
Beaufort County residents step in to raise money for damaged F/V Gracie Belle
The 80-foot shrimping trawler “Gracie Belle” still sits at a dock on Saint Helena Island, despite the fact that it was meant to be out catching Beaufort County’s food. Owner Craig Reaves said the vessel was heavily damaged after getting caught in severe weather two weeks ago on opening day of the season. “I called the captain on the phone and he said that the mast had broke and there was an outrigger down. Basically, you know, he panicked,” Reaves said. Reaves said this all happened around 3 a.m. off of Pritchards Island. He said his crew felt in danger, and called the U.S. Coast Guard to be rescued. The crew had to leave “Gracie Belle” at sea. When Reaves went to recover his vessel Wednesday morning, the damage was worse than he was originally told. click here to read the story, and click here for the fundraiser Save Gracie Belle 10:00
NOAA sets table for seismic testing offshore, including off South Carolina
The Trump administration took a big step Monday toward permitting seismic testing for the presence of oil and natural gas in the offshore Atlantic, issuing the rules for how the tests take place. The tests would provide data sold to drilling companies to locate where to drill test wells. The move had been expected after President Donald Trump in April ordered a review of the Obama administration’s closings and lease denials of potential new offshore drilling sites.,, “Why would the government even think about allowing the filthy, accident-prone oil industry to proceed with this dangerous procedure that so greatly affects the same wildlife we’re all trying to protect through restrictive fishing regulations?” asked Rick Baumann, the owner of Murrells Inlet Seafood. click here to read the story 21:14
Massive Marathon marina fire destroys home, three lobster boats, fishing gear
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office credits Deputy Seth Hopp who was driving southbound near 15th Street at 2:35 a.m. When he saw billowing black smoke that was moving from the Vaca Key Marina and called the fire into Sheriff’s dispatchers and pulled in to the parking lot to investigate.,,,When firefighters arrived, they found that the flames had spread to a nearby house on an acre-sized lot filled with wooden lobster traps.,,, With the 37 to 47-foot lobster boats valued at an estimated $150,000 to $300,000 and lobster traps valued at $35 to $40 each, the total damage likely will be more than $1 million. “The traps were stacked 18 to 20 feet high,” Monroe County Fire Rescue Deputy Fire Marshal Craig Marston said. “The [commercial] lobster fishermen were getting them ready to put in the water the first of August for the new season.” click here for video, read the story 17:23
