Daily Archives: November 19, 2016
Lawmaker: Trump Can Undo Obama’s National Monument Decrees
A top House Republican urged President-elect Donald Trump to rescind the Obama administration’s decisions to put millions of acres of land and ocean under stricter federal control by turning them into National Monuments. Utah Republican Rep. Rob Bishop wants Trump to cut back on the amount of land locked up through national monument designations. President Barack Obama has used the Antiquities Act to designate 265 million acres of public land as monuments while in office. “It’s never been done before and that’s why people are saying, ‘you can’t do it.’ Of course you can do it. It’s always been implied,” Bishop said. Read the rest here 13:58
You try telling these old Seattle seadogs their boats need a makeover
The fishing fleet in Washington state is getting older, and it’s due for a big upgrade. A new study says that work could bring in billions of dollars for the state. That could help save the region’s struggling shipyards. But first you’ll have to convince the old fishermen to spend money on their boats. It’s hard to be a shipyard in Seattle. There’s a lot of competition for the land they’re sitting on. “There was a bunch of other smaller yards around here, and they’ve gone away,” said Scott Woodard. He works at Pacific Fishermen Shipyard in Ballard. He fell in love with working on old boats. He mastered an ancient technique where you push strings of tarred hemp into the seams between planks on a wooden boat. “This is caulking,” he explained. But it’s not caulking or corking that pays the bills at this shipyard. Most fishing boats are metal. The real money is in fixing up those boats, doing things like painting and sandblasting. Audio, read the rest here 12:58
American Samoa push to remove marine reserves
American Samoa’s US Congresswoman, Aumua Amata Radewagen, is pushing for the incoming US Government to overturn President Obama’s decision to create marine monuments in the Pacific. The Remote Islands Monuments comprise the largest marine protected area in the world and encompass commercial fishing areas that American Samoa’s fishing industry regard as vital for its survival. Auma met with Vice President-elect Mike Pence on Thursday. She said she made clear the need for President-elect Donald Trump to rescind President Obama’s executive orders creating and expanding the marine reserves. “So these repeals will be a huge win for us in American Samoa and our fishing community. And I know that the Governor and I are united to reverse these misguided designations.” Link 11:31
Fishermen fall ill after WW2 chemical bomb they dragged aboard in their nets explodes
A group of fishermen had to be quarantined after a World War Two shell containing chemicals exploded on their boat. The four men had hauled up the bomb in their nets when it detonated. From the Oban-based Star of Annan, the crew were all taken to hospital after the phosphorous inside the shell burst into flames. It was only hours after the potentially lethal explosion when all four of the crew started to feel unwell with chest pains, stomach pains and streaming eyes that the alarm was raised. One crew member, who asked not to be named, told the Record: “The boat took a roll and, whatever happened, the thing went off. If this stuff touches steel it starts fizzing and ignites immediately. Within seconds the smoke was so thick the lads in their bunks down below could not see each other. “They couldn’t even see the ladder to get out. In the space of a couple of minutes the fire had turned the steel white hot. We found out later some crab claws we had on deck near it were completely cooked through. It was intense. Read the story here 10:21
Fishing industry looks to Trump to undo Atlantic marine monument designation
When President Barack Obama announced in September the creation of the first ever marine national monument in U.S. Atlantic waters, 50 environmental organizations claimed victory in the long campaign to protect approximately 4,000 square miles of ocean from fishing and other human activities. Since then, there has been another kind of victory. Donald Trump, once a long shot presidential candidate, will succeed Obama in January. During his campaign, the president-elect made promises to roll back environmental roadblocks to business and to cancel every “unconstitutional executive action, memorandum and order” by the sitting president. While some in the fishing community took heart that Trump might reverse Obama’s decision on the offshore monument, legal experts believe there is little chance of that happening. Instead, opponents of the designation will likely have to use the more difficult and lengthy routes of congressional legislation or litigation to get it changed. Read the rest here 09:58
Fairhaven officials cite fishing boat’s bilge in harbor oil spill
State and local officials, along with the U.S. Coast Guard, are investigating a “significant oil spill” in New Bedford Harbor, Fairhaven fire officials said. The Fairhaven Fire Department received a call from town Harbormaster Timothy Cox who reported a significant oil spill on the Fairhaven side of the harbor in the area of the Steamship Authority pier and Warren Alexander wharf. Crews were advised that the Fishing Vessel Ocean Princess had pumped its bilge out overnight while making repairs, Fire Department spokesman Wayne Oliveira said in a news advisory about the spill. An unknown quantity of bilge oil was pumped into the harbor causing a floating oil slick, he said. Crews immediately used booms to contain the floating oil and keep the slick from spreading any farther. Read the rest here 09:40
Boat captain arrested in lobster case
A Marathon commercial fisherman wanted by state wildlife officers for allegedly fishing for lobster with untagged traps turned himself in Thursday after returning from Cuba. Ricardo Hernandez, 52, faces 71 misdemeanor conservation violations. Earlier this month, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers issued arrest warrants for Hernandez and his mates after surveilling their fishing boat for two months, said FWC Officer Bobby Dube. When the warrants were issued, FWC officers discovered he was in Cuba. Mate Juan Miguel Exposito-Carralero, 46, was also charged with 71 misdemeanor counts. He was arrested last week. Hernandez returned from Cuba recently and turned himself in at the jail, said FWC Capt. David Dipre. The case marks a shift in how some poachers are reacting to the FWC as well as the Florida Keys Commercial Fishing Association’s efforts to quelch trap robbing — they moved to fishing with untagged traps. Read the rest here 09:13
Department of Interior’s final plan abandons oil drilling off Atlantic Coast
“I am pleased and relieved that the Department of Interior’s final plan abandons its earlier proposal to allow drilling in the Atlantic from Georgia to Virginia,” said Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-6th Dist.), the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. “That proposal was incredibly shortsighted, and would have threatened the ecology and economy, and public health all along the Atlantic coast, including our New Jersey coastline. New Jersey lawmakers of both parties mobilized to fight the original proposal, citing the threat to tourism industry that generates $43 billion annually and supports 500,000 jobs, and a fishing industry that adds $7.9 billion a year to the state’s economy, responsible for more than 50,000 jobs. U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) urged President Barack Obama in a Senate floor speech Thursday to permanently put the Atlantic Ocean off limits to oil drilling, which he can do under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. Read the rest here 08:42
