Daily Archives: November 4, 2015
Ecosystems Are Dying as Long Island Contends With a Nitrogen Bomb
Thousands of dead bunker fish and hundreds of diamondback turtles washed ashore last May in Peconic Bay on the east end of Long Island, New York. Fed by warming waters and a stream of nitrogen, a foul bloom of algae had so depleted the estuary of oxygen that marine life suffocated. The waters of the bay swirled red and brown. Basic septic units are not designed to remove nitrogen. When too many households with septic are clustered too densely, nitrogen levels spike. Converted into ammonium in the tank and then nitrate in the soil, nitrogen seeps into groundwater and ends up in rivers, lakes, and bays, where it feeds a menagerie of algae species. Read the rest here 21:32
Not so fast on Atlantic marine monument – By Jon Williams
An ongoing campaign led by large, well-funded environmental organizations is urging President Obama to use the 1906 Antiquities Act to designate parts of the Atlantic Ocean—such as Cashes Ledge in the Gulf of Maine and the New England Canyons and Seamounts—as marine National Monuments. In September, I had the privilege of testifying before House Natural Resources Committee Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans about the aspect of this proposal that seeks to exclude historic fisheries from the designated area. Read the rest here 18:47
Feds Send Man to Jail for Overfishing as 6,000 Drug Convicts are Freed
These are embarrassing times for the nation’s criminal justice system; as the Obama administration executes the nation’s largest mass release of federal prisoners, it’s sending a Long Island fisherman to jail for reeling in too many. While drug offenders get off easy in the name of racial justice, the administration has increased punishment for violating federal regulations involving less serious acts such as reeling in too many fish,,, Read the rest here 17:05
Fishing vs. offshore energy: A fight for the ocean’s future
Fishermen are looking keep their grounds through Pacific County’s new shoreline buffers. The Shoreline Management Program (SMP) limits development to protect water quality, habitat and coastal functions. For years, local agencies have worked to rewrite the program to match new state guidelines.,, Out of the state’s remaining 38 miles of coast open for fishing and development, roughly 32 of those miles border Pacific County. The limited space has caused fishermen to worry that offshore development will cut them off from the catch. Read the rest here 15:20
Conservation group sues to stop commercial salmon farms
The Wild Fish Conservancy filed a lawsuit Wednesday against federal environmental and fisheries managers for allowing 
. The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle claims that infectious viruses in salmon farms are threatening wild fish in the region. The National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency concluded in 2011 that commercial salmon farms are not likely to have an adverse effect on wild salmon, the lawsuit said. But the following year, it said, there was an infectious virus outbreak,,, Read the rest here 15:04
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: Bender 95′ Raised Foc’sle Scalloper, CAT D399
Specifications, information and 16 photo’s click here To see all the boats in this series, Click here 14:49
Nunavut MP Hunter Tootoo named minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard
Nunavut MP Hunter Tootoo has been named minister of Fisheries and Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s new cabinet. He’ll become Canada’s second Inuk to be appointed as a senior federal cabinet minister as he’s sworn in Wednesday morning at Ottawa’s Rideau Hall. The Fisheries and Oceans ministry is a diverse one that will take Tootoo from coast to coast to coast. The department also oversees sealing. That’s been a contentious issue in the Atlantic provinces and in Nunavut, where Inuit hunters have suffered due to the European Union’s ban on seal products. Read the rest here 14:29
DNR busts illegal snapping turtle meat ring in Frazee
Slaughtering a hog seems like a bargain at Ketter’s Meats in Frazee, almost 200 miles northwest of the Twin Cities. The old school butcher shop charges $20 per pig. Cutting and wrapping the other white meat costs 40 cents more per pound. Ketter’s also deals in wild flesh like snapping turtle. A five-pound package of semi-boneless meat from the shelled creature can be had online for $90. It was trying to make that kind of bank that got Ketter’s in trouble. Read the rest here 11:08
In the Federal Register: Regulated Navigation Area; Herbert C. Bonner Bridge, Oregon Inlet, NC
The Coast Guard is establishing a Regulated Navigation Area (RNA) on the navigable waters of Oregon Inlet, NC surrounding the Herbert C. Bonner Bridge. This RNA will allow the Coast Guard to enforce vessel traffic restrictions within the RNA when necessary to safeguard people and vessels from the hazards associated with potential catastrophic structural damage that could occur due to vessel allisions with the bridge. Read the rest here 08:44
Tensions reach boiling point over net-free fishing zones
Tensions have reached boiling point in some fishing grounds along the Queensland coast, with one industry representative alleging guns have been drawn between commercial operators. “The Fisheries [Department] actually had to go to a place called Stanage Bay … and talk to some commercial operators up there because of movement of fishermen from one area to another; they’re actually starting to draw guns on each other,” Rockhampton fisherman and Queensland Seafood Industry Association director David Swindells said. “They’ve got rifles out threatening to shoot each other. These people are frightened of losing their livelihoods, so they’ve virtually taken matters into their own hands.” Read the rest here 08:24
Calls for goodwill payments to be made for fishermen affected by Williamtown toxic leak
The head of the Newcastle Commercial Fishermen’s Co-op is calling on the Department of Defence to immediately make goodwill payments to local fishermen affected by the chemical contamination originating from the Williamtown RAAF base. It has been about two months since the NSW Environment Protection Authority warned that chemicals — perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) — which were historically used in fire fighting foam at the RAAF base, had been found in surface water, groundwater and some fish species in nearby waterways. Read the rest here 08:10
El Faro Wreck Missing Bridge and Voyage Data Recorder
A major disappointment announced today in the investigation into the El Faro sinking with the NTSB now saying that the wreck of the ship was discovered with the navigation bridge missing and no sign of the Voyage Data Recorder (VDR). A salvage team onboard the contracted has been using the Curve 21 remotely operated vehicle to confirm and document the wreckage initially found Saturday off the Bahamas at a depth of 15,000 feet was in fact the missing El Faro. Read the rest here 07:39
