Daily Archives: June 2, 2025
IN PHOTOS: Six-month commercial lobster season ends in southwestern N.S.
The six-month commercial lobster fishery in southwestern Nova Scotia, and along the province’s south shore, drew to a close on May 31. As had been the case for much of the season, the weather didn’t cooperate with the fishery on the final day of the season, leaving crews who still had traps and gear to haul up and bring back to shore on the last day having to contend with rain and wind. But not everyone fished to the very end. Many boats had started landing gear days in advance of the season’s final day – either because of the forecasted weather or because they felt the catches weren’t worth going after straight through to the final day. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 19:06
Showdown looms for Empire Wind
Empire Wind is a big New York offshore wind project that is ready to start construction. The Trump administration stopped it about a month ago but has now unstopped it, supposedly after the President made an informal deal with Governor Hochul to lift New York’s ban on new gas pipelines from Pennsylvania. Empire is about to start driving the enormous steel monopiles that hold the turbine towers, but a new wrinkle has hit the fan, setting the stage for a massive confrontation. A group protesting the project has filed a federal lawsuit challenging its approval. Unlike prior lawsuits, this one makes a new argument in addition to some of the usual ones. It challenges the NOAA Fisheries’ authorized harassment of large numbers of a threatened dolphin. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 13:42
Coastal Alaskans see commercial fishing limits as a ‘crisis.’ Lawmakers don’t
For decades, an economic catastrophe has been unfolding in the Indigenous villages along the Gulf of Alaska, with lost jobs and the destruction of a traditional way of life: hauling fish from the sea. That destruction is still playing out. More than 80% of people who responded to a recent survey. sponsored by an economic development nonprofit said that Southeast Alaska and Kodiak Island villages are in a “crisis of sustainability” because of lost access to fisheries. Indigenous leaders across the Gulf say it’s imperative that Alaska legislators pass reforms to the state law that they blame for the mess: a landmark 1973 statute that effectively prevents many residents of those coastal villages from earning a living by fishing for salmon. New fishermen can only participate in the commercial harvest if they buy or inherit a state permit that, in some cases, can cost upward of $100,000 — putting it out of reach for young rural residents with no credit histories. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 12:42
Starmer makes feeble defence of EU-UK deal
Prime Minister Keir Starmer defended the new EU-UK agreement in a Commons debate last week, but had no answers when MPs slammed the extension of reciprocal fishing rights and access to 2038 as ‘a stitch-up’ and ‘a betrayal’. When Conservative and other MPs condemned the fisheries deal, the prime minister had little to say other than that it provided stability. He sidestepped criticisms and instead continually highlighted the new sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) arrangements to ease seafood exports, which he said were ‘hugely important’. “He sold out our fishermen to meet his self-imposed deadline for announcing the agreement and has shown that he will not stand strong for UK fishermen. Can he confirm that parliament will have the final say on the fisheries deal, and that it will not be ratified elsewhere by unelected officials in Whitehall or Brussels? “more >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:31
Canada takes next step towards developing windfarms offshore Nova Scotia
In an important step towards establishing an offshore wind industry in Canada, five wind energy areas (WEAs) have been proposed offshore Nova Scotia. The five areas proposed to go forward as wind energy areas are: French Bank, Middle Bank, Sable Island Bank, Sydney Bight; and Western/Emerald Bank, which will be the subject of a public comment period that runs from 14 March to 14 April 2025. Input from the consultation will help shape the final designation of WEAs by the ministers at the Nova Scotia Department of Energy and NRCan. more>>CLICK TO READ<< 06:56
