Tag Archives: Crystal Canney
US Coastal Communities Fight for Space for Small-scale Fishermen
U.S. coastal waters are a public good increasingly at risk of privatization, threatening local economies that have depended on the sea for generations, fishermen and environmental advocates warned. Critics point to efforts to open up waters to industrial-scale fish farms, (offshore wind farms), a federal permit system they say is stacked against small or new operators, and even coastal real estate development squeezing out independent businesses. “There is another real estate grab, but it’s in the ocean,” said Jason Jarvis, a commercial fisherman in Rhode Island who has been fishing for three decades and also sits on the board of the North American Marine Alliance (NAMA), a national network that seeks to boost fishing communities. “This is a gold rush,” said Crystal Canney, executive director of Protect Maine’s Fishing Heritage Foundation, which has worked on model legislation to help towns push back. The efforts are prompting inquiries from concerned communities in other coastal states, she said. “The questions are really, do we have any rights?” more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 12:30
Maine Gubernatorial Candidates Publicly Oppose American Aquafarms Project
Earlier this month, Governor and gubernatorial candidate Janet Mills and former Governor and gubernatorial candidate Paul Lepage both indicated they do not support the American Aquafarms project which would have put 120 acres of net pen salmon at the foot of Acadia National Park. Republican candidate Paul LePage took to his Facebook page stating, “…I will oppose any future application from American Aquafarms in that location. The working ecosystem in Frenchman Bay is much too critical to place at risk for this proposed venture.” 2 press releases, >click to read< 15:16
Anti-salmon farming activist Alexandra Morton to give special presentation for Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory
Alexandra Morton has been called “the Jane Goodall of Canada” because of her passionate thirty-year fight to save British Columbia’s wild salmon from salmon farms. Her account of that fight is both inspiring and a roadmap for resistance to industrial-scale aquaculture. Morton has agreed to give a special lecture virtually from her home in British Columbia on December 06, 2021, at 5:00 p.m. (EST) as part of the MDIBL Science Café series. This event is free and open to the public, but attendees must register in advance. A question-and-answer session will follow. “This important conversation comes at a critical time for Frenchman Bay and Maine as we face the rising challenge of industrial-scale aquaculture,”,,,, >click to read<, and register! 10:55
Proposed Industrial Salmon Farm near Acadia an Environmental and Economic Disaster for Maine
Frenchman Bay United, the coalition leading the opposition to a proposal by Norwegian investors to build a massive salmon in Frenchman Bay next to Acadia National Park, today submitted extensive and detailed comments on the wastewater discharge applications now under consideration by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). “This project will be an environmental and economic disaster for Maine,” said Henry Sharpe, president of the group. “Thirty huge salmon pens will pump 4.1 billion gallons of untreated effluent into some of the most pristine waters on the Maine coast, and information submitted by the company about its wastewater discharge is grossly inaccurate and misleading.” >click to read< 17:56
Can American lobstermen survive new restrictions, ESA listing of the North Atlantic Right Whale?
For centuries, North Atlantic right whales were aggressively hunted for their meat and their oil, which was used to keep lamps lit and to make soap.,, Since 2017, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) has documented 34 dead whales (21 in Canada; 13 in the U.S.), and 16 whales with serious injuries from entanglements or vessel strikes. In an attempt to conserve and rebuild the population, NOAA announced new regulations in August 2021 on the Maine lobster and Jonah crab industries, including the closure of large parts of the Gulf of Maine to lobstering between October and January and requiring more traps per trawl to reduce the overall number of lines in the water. >click to read< By A.N. Smith 13:15
151 Maine legislators call on Biden to rescind new lobster fishing reg’s, while the real threat remains
State legislators have submitted a letter to President Joe Biden requesting (DEMAND!) that his administration take steps to immediately rescind new regulations on lobster fishing. The new regulations, which are intended to protect the endangered North Atlantic right whale,,, Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham, R-Winter Harbor, a lobster fisherman, initiated the letter. Maine Senate President Troy Jackson also criticized the new reg’s,, “The new federal regulations are an affront to the men and women who have made a living on Maine’s working waterfront for generations,,, I’m deeply disappointed that NOAA has decided to dismiss the voices of Maine’s lobstering workforce and chosen to go ahead with damaging regulations that do nothing more than hurt our fishermen, while the real threat to right whales remains, Canadian ships.” Video, >click to read< 16:03
Protect Maine’s Fishing Heritage Video Release
Protect Maine’s Fishing Heritage (PMFH) is releasing a video involving fishermen who believe that the rules and regulations around aquaculture leases need to be changed. Currently, a bill supported by PMFH, LR 2718, has been tabled in legislative council. The proposal calls for lessening the size of aquaculture leases in Maine. Video, >click to read< 08:42