Daily Archives: February 13, 2013
Salmon lawsuit legal tab: $300,000 and counting
An animated Supervisor Steve Kinsey took a swipe at a San Geronimo Valley fishery group Tuesday, saying activists are forcing taxpayers to waste money in a court battle even though Marin’s fish restoration program is a model for others. Read more here
New Program Aims to Reduce Offshore Fishing Debris
Lynne Fraker, a Vineyard Haven fisherman and member of the Martha’s Vineyard/Dukes County Fishermen’s Association, led the effort to bring the program to the Vineyard late last summer . “I realized there was a need . . . I knew there was a program on the Cape. I knew it was successful and it didn’t cost anything,” she said. Read more here
Cape Wind hopes loan not blown
“This is another huge waste of taxpayer dollars for a project that will never get built,” said Audra Parker, head of the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, who cited ongoing appeals and lawsuits still dogging the project that’s been in the works since 2001. The estimated $2.6 billion project is still targeting a construction start by the end of this year. Rodgers declined to describe Cape Wind’s success in securing private financing. Read more here
Math teacher spends summers salmon fishing in Alaska’s Bristol Bay
The Turlock Journal
But after nine long months in the classroom trying to reach sometimes apathetic students, he is ready to go back his roots — commercial salmon fishing. “I’ve been on a boat since I was nine, every single summer; it’s kind of in my blood,” Schollenberg said. Read more here
Drakes Bay Oyster Co. seeks quick ruling on closure battle
Attorneys for Drakes Bay Oyster Company have asked a federal judge to rule Monday on their request to postpone a Feb. 28 deadline for shutting down the business in Marin County’s Point Reyes National Seashore.The legal action was set in motion by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’s decision Nov. 29 not to renew a long-term lease that gave Lunny the right to plant and harvest oysters in 2,500-acre Drakes Estero. Read more here
Comeback of scup a lifeline for New Jersey fishermen
Some call them scup and some call them porgy. Right now, fishermen in the Port of Cape May are calling them a lifeline. Read more here
Pew on retailers using MSC logo: We’d prefer they didn’t use word ‘sustainable’
“We would prefer they didn’t use the word sustainable,” said Gerry Leape, an oceans specialist at the Pew Environment Group, one of the major foundations working on oceans policies. Leape has supported the MSC for more than a decade as a member of its advisory Stakeholder Council. But he and other said the MSC system has been certifying some fisheries despite evidence that the target fish are in trouble, or that the fishing industry is harming the environment. Link is here
American Samoa – Comments welcomed on coral species listing
A team from NOAA Fisheries held a public hearing in American Samoa back in August and the majority of those who attended expressed concerns about the social, cultural and economic impact the listing would have on fishing activities in the territory. NOAA is now requesting public comment on the proposed rule and will review the comments received for any additional information before a final decision is made. Read more here
Editorial: Fed lawmakers must look beyond boat monitor costs
As lawmakers step up the pressure to secure NOAA funding for the failing monitors’ program, it’s also important that they not lose sight of a far bigger picture as the new Congress takes its early steps forward regarding ocean policy. Read more here
