Tag Archives: Fish and Wildlife Service
OPINION: Reel them in – Regional fisheries councils violate constitution and hurt accountability
That is the position in which many fishermen find themselves. They share a desire for sustainable fisheries and support some of the federal efforts at regulation. But they oppose certain federal water catch limits and allocations between commercial and recreation sectors that are set by regional fishery management councils made up of members who aren’t accountable through elections or to elected officials. Pacific Legal Foundation is representing these individuals and small businesses in courts around the country, making what we think is a simple argument based on the text and purpose of the Constitution. Specifically, that it requires that executive branch officials with significant authority be appointed by the president or a member of his cabinet. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:40
Concerns about overfishing resurface despite new monument off Cape Cod
Located 130 miles off Cape Cod, the area spans more than 3 million acres and is part of the Biden Administration’s plan to conserve at least 30 percent of U.S. lands and waters by 2030. Officially called the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument. Debate over how to manage this vast marine environment has been ongoing. Former President Donald Trump lifted restrictions on commercial fishing in the monument area in 2020. The Biden administration reestablished protections one year later, in a move praised by environmental groups and condemned by fishermen, who said it would put more people out of work. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:30
Zinke moving dozens of senior Interior Department officials in shake-up
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is reassigning dozens of top career officials within his ranks, a shake-up that appears to be the start of a broad reorganization of a department that manages one-fifth of all land within the United States. The decision to move members of the Senior Executive Service (SES) is legally permitted only after a political appointee has been in office for 120 days; Zinke won’t reach that mark until June 28.,,,The officials who received notices include Interior’s top climate policy official, Joel Clement, who directs the Office of Policy Analysis, as well as at least five senior officials of the Fish and Wildlife Service — nearly a quarter of that agency’s career SES staff. click here to read the story 18:46
These California and Oregon farmers lost water in 2001. Now they want to be paid.
Northern California and Oregon farmers who lost irrigation water in 2001 for the sake of fish are plunging into a climactic courtroom battle for tens of millions of dollars in compensation. Years in the making, the trial set to start Monday in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims near the White House involves a lot of money, but that’s not all. For other Westerners, too, it can have broader implications, clarifying what the government may owe for water steered away from crops toward environmental protection. “It’s a civil rights case, at bottom,” farmers’ attorney Nancie Marzulla said in an interview. “It involves the protection of private property. We all expect the government to respect private property rights.” The same court ruled in 2001, for instance, that the federal government had taken water without paying compensation to California’s Tulare Lake Basin Water Storage District and others that had been deprived of water for the sake of the delta smelt and the winter-run chinook salmon. The judge later concluded the water districts were owed $13.9 million plus interest, and the case is still cited. Read the rest of the story here 15:10
Center for Biological Diversity offended by F&WS – NMFS ESA Proposal
The two federal agencies tasked with listing endangered species jointly proposed to revise the Endangered Species Act’s petition process, but conservationists are not happy. The proposal published Thursday by the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service would make the best use of available resources, increase “stakeholder engagement” and improve transparency, according to the agencies’ announcement. Calling the move “boneheaded,” the (CBD), a frequent petitioner and litigant,,, Read the rest here 19:40
NOAA, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – Guam Green Sea Turtles may need more protection.
When Peter Perez, 55, was a child, he used to swim with sea turtles. His father, and grandfather, he said, used to eat sea turtles before they became a threatened species, protected by federal law. Perez questioned the rationale for changing the status of the green sea turtle, saying people have reported seeing plenty of turtles around Guam. He also disagrees with the decision by the federal government to hold a public hearing for the proposal in Hawaii and not in this region. Read the rest here 16:03
The American eel’s ‘endangered’ designation isn’t backed up by the science
Over the past decade, eel fishermen in Maine and all along the Atlantic coast have been part of a responsibly managed fishery, adhering to stringent regulations developed across state, provincial and international lines.,, Despite these notable management efforts, in late 2014, the environmental group International Union for the Conservation of Nature placed American eel on its “Red List” of endangered species. Read the rest here 14:55
Oak Hill fights looming ban on fishing in wildlife refuge
“A determination was made that commercial harvesting of fish, crabs and shellfish has inherent impacts upon the marine environment that are not compatible with the purpose of the refuge; consequently, the decision was to end permitting of the activity by October 2018,” Refuge Manager Layne Hamilton (bureaucrat) said in an email. “We recognized the long history of commercial fishing and the economic dependence of many local residents on this activity and that is reason the Fish and Wildlife Service provided a 11-year transition to reduce the hardship.” Read the rest here 20:35
Big Green’s ‘sue-and-settle’ strategy draws pushback from states, Congress
Scott Pruitt is Oklahoma’s attorney general and he’s fed up with Big Green’s outrageously destructive sue-and-settle attacks using endangered species as a weapon to obliterate America’s burgeoning oil and gas production. (OUR INDUSTRY?) Read more here washingtonexaminer 11:25
Feds enforcing Endangered Species Act keep data behind policies hidden from public
Federal agencies administering the Endangered Species Act often issue justifications for their actions that are filled with badly flawed or even fabricated data, according to a congressional report being released today. A related problem, according to the report, is that “most of the federal agencies that administer ESA are unable to make basic and legitimate data” underlying their policies and procedures available to the public, as required by law. Read more@washexaminer 07:32
Will the World Adopt Sustainable Longline Fishing Practices?
The United States is the world leader in innovations to reduce longlining bycatch of birds, but we haven’t come nearly as far with protections for non-target fish and sea turtles. Many other nations don’t use mitigation for any kind of bycatch. Largely as a result, about half of the world’s petrels and most of the albatrosses are threatened with extinction. more@audubonmagazine 19:55
