Daily Archives: December 18, 2012
Appoint Dr. Brian Rothschild as the new National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Administrator.
Dr. Jane Lubchenco is stepping down from her position as the NOAA Administrator. We the People who are directly impacted by NOAA policies would like President Obama to appoint Dr. Brian Rothschild to replace her as head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Thank you for your consideration of our petition. https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/appoint-dr-brian-rothschild-new-national-oceanic-and-atmospheric-administration-administrator-thank/YXFDxF0q#thank-you=p
New England Offshore Areas Will Reopen for Atlantic Surfclam and Ocean Quahog Fishing
Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–December 18, 2012. Beginning this January, fishermen will be able to target abundant stocks of Atlantic surfclams and ocean quahogs on portions of Georges Bank that have been closed to harvesting for 22 years.
Coast Guard donates seized fish to turtle group
According to the U.S. Coast Guard, illegal fishing in U.S. waters along the southern Texas coastline has been increasing.
Authorities said a U.S. boater found Mexican fishermen adrift in a lancha — typically an open-hulled fiberglass skiff of about 25 feet in length — within Texas waters in the Gulf of Mexico. The boater tried to help the fishermen, who untied themselves from his vessel and resumed drifting at 1:10 p.m. Saturday after they overheard the boater radio the Coast Guard for assistance, according to a Coast Guard news release. Read More
Dick Grachek writes, ” They are stealing our ocean environment right out from under us.” He’s right!
A lease area of 22 Square Miles which is 12 miles offshore of the Maine coast?
Mainers, better get your activist hats on, that’s on some of your best outside lobsterin’ grounds, I believe.
This 22 square miles ( think about what a lot of near-shore ocean that is) for “Four floating wind turbine generators” and of course they’re known by their requisite acronym WTG’s, “…site conditions and multiple uses within the proposed lease area” —now, what do you suppose those other multiple uses might be?
Now this statement below is typical operating procedure for BOEM (aka Minerals Management Service which “oversaw” the Deepwater Horizon operation in the Gulf—an impressive resume).
They’re going ahead with the lease and just now issuing a notice of intent to prepare an environmental statement—Fire ready Aim?
“Concurrent with the RFI, BOEM also issued a Notice of Intent (NOI) to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that requested comments from the public for the purpose of identifying important issues to be considered.”
They are stealing our ocean environment right out from under us.
BOEM Announces Finding of No Competitive Interest forCommercial Wind
Leasing Offshore Maine Read This!
GET ON THE DAMNED BUS!
Industry Members Urged to Attend Dec. 20 New England Council Meeting;
Bus to Leave from New Bedford at 6:30am
December 17, 2012 — The Northeast Seafood Coalition is urging industry members to attend the December 20, 2012 New England Fishery Management Council meeting during which the Council is scheduled to take final action on Framework 48 to its Northeast Multispecies (Groundfish) Fishery Management Plan. The meeting will begin at 9:00 a.m. at the Sheraton Colonial Hotel, One Audubon Road in Wakefield, MA.
In order to assist fishermen and industry members from Southeastern Massachusetts who would like to attend, a bus will depart from BASE New England’s New Bedford facility (Whaling City Auction) at 62 Hassey Street, New Bedford MA 02740 at 6:30 am on the 20th. Industry members should let the Council know how will the proposed reductions affect you and your family, your business, your crew, and your community. With proposed cuts in the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank, every segment of the fleet and industry will be negatively impacted by reductions. Have your voice heard on record if you expect these reductions to have economic and social impacts for you, your crew, your community, and/or the fleet as a whole.
From Deckboss. We’re all doing great!
As noted previously here on Deckboss, the state is conducting a major performance review of the Community Development Quota program. Launched 20 years ago, the CDQ program reserves a share of the lucrative Bering Sea fisheries for the benefit of disadvantaged Western Alaska villages. Six nonprofit companies manage fish and crab harvests on behalf of village groups. Read More
Murkowski Hires New Fisheries, Economics Policy Experts
WASHINGTON, DC – Senator Lisa Murkowski today announced the hiring of Jay Sterne to advise her as she shapes effective federal fisheries policies for the nation – and the hundreds of thousands of square nautical miles off Alaska,,,, Read More
Hot-button issue of king salmon bycatch will come before fisheries council
In the final day of its December meeting, the council also decided to give the commercial fishing industry more time to work on plans to reduce the incidental catch of chum salmon among the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands groundfish fleet. The council asked for a status report on that effort at its April meeting, and may take further action during its October 2013 meeting in Anchorage. An updated analysis will be released for public comment about three weeks before the council takes up either matter. http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/hot-button-issue-king-salmon-bycatch-will-come-fisheries-council
Dec. 20, 2012 NEFMC Meeting and Live Streaming Information
The Council is scheduled to take final action on Framework 48 to its Northeast Multispecies (Groundfish) Fishery Management Plan. See the agenda below for details. Webinar Registration: For online access to the meeting, please register by clicking here. Once registered, you will receive an email confirmation with the information you will need to join the webinar. The meeting will begin at 9:00 a.m. at the Sheraton Colonial Hotel, One Audubon Road in Wakefield, MA. For further information about the location click here. The webinar will be activated beginning at 8:30 a.m. and end at approximately 5:00 p.m. EST.
Alarmingly warm water in Gulf of Maine bringing changes
Officials have suggested that higher temperatures in the gulf have been a factor in bacterial outbreaks in bivalves and in sea lice infestations in Cobscook and Passamaquoddy bays. Some have put partial blame on the gulf’s warmer waters for a northeasterly shift of cod in the gulf into colder waters, for declining shrimp catches and for the glut of soft-shell lobsters this past summer that plummeted prices lobstermen were receiving for their catch. http://bangordailynews.com/slideshow/alarmingly-warm-water-in-gulf-of-maine-bringing-changes/
