Daily Archives: November 15, 2022
The Great Lakes-Iceland connection through the 100% Whitefish effort
While Great Lakes fish populations are constantly in a state of flux, one species has declined precipitously in the last decade: lake whitefish. But Great Lakes leaders and fisheries managers are looking ahead in planning to do more with less. And in the case of whitefish, a lot more. The search for a way to preserve an industry with a shrinking natural resource brought the Iceland Ocean Cluster (IOC) into focus. IOC was founded by Thor Sigfusson in 2012 with a dozen companies on-site. There are now 70. So, what is it? And could it work as a model for the Great Lakes’ new whitefish initiative? >click to read< 17:09
Fisheries commission to decide controversial amendments for striped bass, striped mullet plans
With the N.C. Marine Fisheries set to decide on two hotly debated fisheries management plan amendments – striped bass and striped mullet – later this week, the N.C. Fisheries Association has been urging its members to show up for the Emerald Isle meeting and weigh in. The estuarine striped bass amendment is set to be voted on during a session Thursday, Nov. 17 at 2 p.m., while the striped mullet vote is scheduled during a session that begins at 9 a.m. Friday, Nov. 18. Glenn Skinner, N.C. Fisheries Association urged the organization’s members to contact marine fisheries commissioners and attend the meeting to comment. >click to read< 15:08
Louisiana fisherfolk fear Air Products’ Lake Maurepas carbon capture scheme
In October 2021, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) announced that Air Products, a Fortune 500 chemical company based in Pennsylvania, would develop a so-called “clean” energy complex in Ascension Parish, Louisiana, by 2026. The $4.5 billion project calls for construction of a plant to convert natural gas to hydrogen and capture the resulting carbon dioxide. I recently spent time with commercial fishermen working on Lake Maurepas, individuals with generations-deep connections to the water. To understand their concerns, I asked them this question: “What are your fears about the proposed blue hydrogen facility that would attempt to sequester carbon more than a mile below Lake Maurepas?” This is what they told me. >click to read< 09:46
Wind Farm Public Hearing Draws Passionate Statements
Residents of Ocean City overwhelmingly opposed an offshore wind energy farm during a virtual public hearing Monday night that also included strong support for the project from environmental and labor groups. “I speak for Protect Our Coast NJ,” Ocean City resident Suzanne Hornick said in public comments at Monday’s virtual hearing. “We don’t want this in any way, shape or form. This should be a question and answer. We should be able to ask questions.” The original format for the hearing was to be a question-and-answer session, but Orsted did not respond to comments or questions posed by the public Monday. Instead, Orsted representatives said the company will respond in writing after the end of the public comment period for the project on Nov. 28. Critics angrily accused Orsted of running a “sham” hearing. >click to read< 09:02
Maine House Republicans choose lobsterman as next minority leader
Republican lawmakers chose a Winter Harbor lobsterman and a New Gloucester business owner as their new leaders in the Maine House of Representatives during a caucus at the State House Monday. Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham, known as an outspoken advocate for the lobster industry, was chosen as minority leader. Rep. Amy Arata, who serves on the powerful Appropriations Committee, was chosen as assistant minority leader. The pair will assume leadership after a disappointing election for Maine Republicans. While the party was expected to pick up seats in the Legislature, Democrats held their majority in the Senate and actually added to it in the House. >click to read< 07:45
Susan West, 73, remembered as longtime voice of NC fishers has passed away
Susan West, a longtime advocate for the Hatteras Island fishing community and a writer who helped foster improved communications and respect between regulators and fishermen, died last week at age 73. “She made sure that Hatteras and those small fishing communities were never left out of the conversation,”, As a young transplant to the Outer Banks from Baltimore, the course of West’s life was set after meeting Rob West, a surfer from Long Island, when they worked together at a Hatteras restaurant in the 1970s. After they married, Rob became a commercial fisherman. In the early 1990s, as tensions started rising around commercial fishing, Susan decided to organize a local women’s auxiliary group to the North Carolina Fisheries Association. >click to read< 07:00
