Daily Archives: December 20, 2016
Trawler runs aground on rocks near the MMBT in the South Hampton Roads region
The U.S. Coast Guard says a trawler ran aground on some rocks near the Monitor-Merrimac Bridge Tunnel early Tuesday morning. The fishing vessel out of New Bedford, Massachusetts, was landing a catch when it ran aground around 1:17 a.m. The Coast Guard worked with a tug boat to re-float the ship at high tide. The trawler was re-floated at about 1:30 p.m. and the vessel went on to a Newport News marina to offload its catch. No damage to the ship occurred, and no injuries are reported. link 18:39
Obama blocks drilling in Arctic, Atlantic oceans
President Obama on Tuesday formally blocked offshore oil and gas drilling in most of the Arctic Ocean, answering a call from environmentalists who say the government needs to do more to prevent drilling in environmentally sensitive areas of U.S.-controlled oceans. Obama is invoking a 1953 law governing the Outer Continental Shelf to block drilling in federal waters in the Arctic’s Chukchi Sea and most of its Beaufort Sea. He also protected 21 underwater canyons in the Atlantic Ocean from drilling, White House officials said Tuesday. Canada will block drilling in all of its Arctic Ocean acreage, a moratorium officials will review every five years, the White House said. Read the story here 17:02
Trump team wants State Dept. to disclose how much of your money it sends to international environmental groups
Donald Trump’s presidential transition team has asked State Department officials to disclose how much money it provides each year to international environmental groups. It’s the latest example of how the incoming administration is reassessing the U.S. government’s approach to tackling climate change and other environmental priorities. As part of a list of questions posed last week to the department’s Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, according to multiple people familiar with the matter, the Trump landing team asked, “How much does the Department of State contribute annually to international environmental organizations in which the department participates?” Although some State Department officials found the question about funding for environmental groups troubling, one senior official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because transition communications are confidential, said the requests from the transition team have been appropriate. “They are legitimately looking at the organization of things here at Foggy Bottom,,, Read the rest here 16:16
Shoreside Workers’ Wallets Affected by Fishermen’s Strike
Numerous workers in fish processing are out of a job, due the fishermen’s strike, which resumed December 14. A number of workers in Vestmannaeyjar islands are now registering as unemployed, mbl.is reports. The fishermen’s strike has extensive effects, both on jobs at sea and in fish processing, in addition to affecting Iceland’s position on fish markets. One after another, fish processing plants reduce their operations as they run out of fish. Employees are, thus, faced with uncertainty. Four out of six fish processing plants in Vestmannaeyjar had to halt processing due to a lack of fish before last weekend, and the rest will cease processing this week. Most plants in the West Fjords have run out of fish. Only catches from small fishing boats, not affected by the strike, can be processed, but not many of those are fishing these days. When fish is lacking, the law allows for employees to be taken off the payroll and be registered as unemployed without delay, mbl.is reports. According to RÚV, fish processing plants in the West Fjords have no plans to take their employees off the payroll, but without fish, no overtime or piecework is paid, thus, reducing the workers’ income. Link 14:30
Western Pacific territories will have a voice in President-elect Donald Trump’s transition.
Vice President-elect Mike Pence met after the election with Congresswoman Aumua Amata Radewagen—the only Republican delegate to Congress. It was there, that Radewagen’s expertise on island issues and possible role as an adviser to the transition team became clear. Reports of that role began surfacing last week, but it wasn’t until the middle of the weekend, here, that Radewagen issued a statement. Radewagen says she and the Vice President-elect discussed an advisory role, and she later spoke with the transition committee’s vice-chair, Tennessee Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn. American Samoa’s freshman Congresswoman made clear at the Pence meeting, that President-elect Trump needs to rescind some of President Obama’s executive orders, including creation of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument… audio, read the rest here 13:22
‘We DON’T need the single market’ Fishing boss DESTROYS Remain claims with one fact
Bertie Armstrong, the CEO of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation, told MPs that the depreciation in the value of the pound since June 23 will massively offset any potential tariffs imposed on exporters after Brexit. Sterling has plummeted by around 20 per cent since voters opted to quit the EU, providing a timely boost to exporters by making British products more competitive. And Mr Armstrong said there was an obsession with remaining in the single market which is unjustified, especially given the huge opportunities the UK is well-placed to take up in other market places across the world. He pointed that even if the Government secures no trade deal with the rest of the EU fishermen will still end up far better off, because sterling has dropped by around 20 per cent. Read the story here 11:23
Fishermen panic buy shares at inflated prices as government confirms reform agenda
Fishermen in New South Wales are reported to be panic buying shares at massively increased prices to ensure they can continue working next year. That is despite a state government trading scheme starting in early 2017 designed to ensure an orderly transition to a share-based fishery, backed by $16 million in compensation to ease the cost to fishermen. Ticia Limon from Narooma on the state’s south coast said share prices in the Line West fishery had risen more than 300 per cent in the last few months. She bought them to ensure she and her husband could meet new minimum share holding requirements set by the government to continue fishing. NSW Minister for Primary Industry, Niall Blair, has ruled out stopping the reform process in the commercial fishing industry. Key fishing groups including the Professional Fishermen’s Association, the Wild Caught Fishers Coalition and most of the cooperatives have opposed the reforms. Read the story here 08:59
A lobster boat captain said a freak storm killed his crew. Then doctors found drugs in his system.
Christopher Hutchinson said he had no idea the storm would grow so strong so fast. It was November 2014, and Hutchinson, 28, had set out in his 45-foot lobster boat, a fiberglass craft called No Limits. He wanted to check on 15 traps in Eleven Mile Ridge, a popular lobstering area off the coast of Maine. Two crewmen manned the boat with him — Tomas Hammond, 26, and Tyler Sawyer, 15. They arrived at dawn on a Saturday morning and began pulling up traps, but the weather worsened. “Prior to the No Limits departure, the National Weather Service was predicting and warning of adverse and dangerous marine weather and sea conditions in the area,” the indictment says. “Marine weather forecasts, watches and warnings [were] continuously broadcast on radio.” Prosecutors claim Hutchinson was also negligent in employing a 15-year-old boy, a complicated and sensitive issue among people who make their living catching lobsters. Read the story here 08:26
