Daily Archives: August 31, 2015
PEER urges Obama to unilaterally create national marine monuments
The announcement by PEER came hours before the president was scheduled to arrive in Alaska, with environmental groups accusing him of hypocrisy for allowing oil drilling in the U.S. Arctic Ocean while simultaneously pushing for reduced global greenhouse gas emissions. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility announced Monday that more than 100,000 people had signed an online petition requesting that Obama use his executive powers to create marine monuments in Alaska to help protect iconic Alaska animals such as polar bears, and public servants,,, Red the rest here 22:06
Coast Guard rescues 3 from sunken fishing vessel
MORGAN CITY, La. – The Coast Guard rescued three individuals from a 75-foot fishing vessel that sank approximately 12 miles southwest of Point Au Fer in the Gulf of Mexico, Monday. Coast Guard Sector New Orleans watchstanders were notified by a passing helicopter of a fishing vessel, F/V Richie Rich, sinking with two life-rafts in the water. Watchstanders launched a Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Morgan City 29-foot response boat crew and an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans. The survivors were located in a life raft after they fired off a flare. Read the rest here 20:00
Judge rules against Oceana, Greenpeace in Stellar sea lion lawsuit over increased Aleutians fishing
A US judge ruled against the US arms of Oceana and Greenpeace in a lawsuit in which the NGOs sought declaratory and injunctive relief against the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), US Department of Commerce, and others, challenging recent authorization of increased industrial fishing in the western and central Aleutian Islands. Oceana and Greenpeace argued the defendants, groups involved in the federal groundfish fishery, violate the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). Read the rest here 18:17
NEFMC Scientific and Statistical Committee Meeting Sept 1, 2015 – Listen Live
The public is invited to listen in to the September 1, 2015 Scientific and Statistical Committee Meeting (SSC). It is scheduled to begin at 9:00 a.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn Boston Logan Airport, 100 Boardman Street. Webinar Registration: For online access to the meeting – Click here to register and listen, The webinar will be activated beginning at 8:00 a.m. and end at approximately 6:00 p.m. EST. Click here to read the Agenda. For more info, Click here 16:57
Pew Enviro Groups eye Marine National Monuments protections for Cashes Ledge, canyons, seamounts off Cape Cod
Enviro groups this week plan to call for sprawling areas in the Gulf of Maine and off Cape Cod and Rhode Island to be declared the first “marine national monument” on the eastern seaboard. A January 2009 presidential proclamation established three Pacific Marine National Monuments. Now the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) and partners like the National Geographic Society, Pew Charitable Trusts and the Natural Resources Defense Council are seeking protections for the Closed Area in the Gulf of Maine and the New England Canyons and Seamounts off the Cape – areas CLF describes as “deep sea treasures.” Read the rest here 16:17
Britain’s hard-toiling fishermen are cast and crew of Channel 4’s new fishing documentary series The Catch
Rugged, taciturn and fearless, fishermen are the last-action heroes of the high seas. Or so gung-ho documentaries such as Discovery Channel’s Deadliest Catch encourage us to believe. “A lot of these shows are built around sensationalizing the danger,” says Incledon, who gained his sea-legs filming Lifeboat Rescue for the BBC in 1999. “The reality of what fishermen do and how they interact is far more interesting. They are a tight-knit bunch and don’t trust outsiders. They’re incredibly superstitious: no women on board, don’t cut sandwiches into triangles, never say ‘rabbit’ [old sea lore dictates that mere mention of the word will bring ill fortune].” Read the rest here 13:44
It’s Florida lobster season; here’s how to cook them
There seems to be no debate among Florida lobster aficionados concerning how to cook this delicacy of the sea. You have got to grill them,” said restaurateur Frank Chivas. “There is no other way.” But Chivas and his longtime friend Tom Pritchard, the creative force behind many of his restaurants, disagreed on the next step. Chivas, a Florida native who has spent weeks at a time diving and fishing in Lobsterland, a.k.a. the Florida Keys, had another idea. “I like to cut them in half, then put the meat side down first,” he said. “You let them cook for a few minutes,,, Read the rest here 12:42
Paul LePage doesn’t want National Monument designations for Gulf of Maine
Republican Gov. Paul LePage is expressing his disapproval of a proposal to designate areas within the Gulf of Maine as a National Maritime Monument. This specific proposal for the Gulf of Maine would designate Cashes Ledge and undersea canyons and seamounts as a National Maritime Monument, according to a statement from LePage’s office. The change, according to the statement, would impact fishermen from a variety of sectors, including offshore lobstermen, tuna fishermen, herring fishermen and groundfish fishermen. “These serve only one purpose — excluding commercial fishing activity from certain segments of the ocean.” Read the rest here 11:34
Captain’s Death Rattles a Marina in New Jersey
Mr. Andresen’s 40-foot boat, known as El Jefe, right
He was a retired construction worker who turned his fishing hobby into a low-pressure business, taking a delight in almost anything he brought back. Unshackled from the industry’s harsh economy, he came and went on his own hours, defying some of the mantras of professional trawling. There are no sick days. Never get on the water alone. Tom Andresen, 59, was on the water alone last week when something went wrong. The stern of his 40-foot boat, known as El Jefe, tipped backward just off the Sandy Hook peninsula. In an instant, the calm waters swallowed it, Read the rest here 11:01
Scientists describe new giant clam species from depths off Canada’s Atlantic coast
Canadian scientists have described a new species of giant file clam, originally collected from deep waters off Newfoundland 30 years ago. The giant file clam, about 9 to 15 cm long, is two to three times larger than a regular file clam (so-named because of the sharp ridges on the shell surface). This creature attaches to steep, rocky outcrops in canyons that are home to other deepwater species such as cold-water corals. Read the rest here 10:47
It was ‘going to turn ugly’ – Equalize P.E.I., N.L. tuna quotas, says MP Gerry Byrne
Gerry Byrne says his province’s tuna quota should climb from 13 per cent to a quarter of the catch following a decision earlier this spring by the federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Gail Shea. Shea changed the rules when she divided a 20 per cent increase in the Gulf of St. Lawrence halibut quota equally between the Atlantic provinces. That decision increased Newfoundland’s halibut quota by 9 per cent and gave P.E.I. an 87 per cent boost. “These are the rules that we didn’t ask for, they were created for us. Forgive us for asking those rules to be enforced across the board,” said Byrne. Read the rest here 08:07
