Tag Archives: Humane Society of the United States’
Lobster harvesters worry about survival of their livelihoods
The state’s lobster industry is bracing as federal regulators consider additional requirements they claim are needed to protect the endangered North American right whale, proposals many fear could spell doom for the industry and the coastal communities that it supports. Squaring off in this battle are national environmental and animal rights organizations versus Maine and its lobster harvesters. The legal war began in January 2018 when the Center for Biological Diversity, the Defenders of Wildlife, the Humane Society of the United States, and the Conservation Law Foundation filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of D.C. against the U.S. Department of Commerce and the NOAA. The environmental and animal rights groups claimed the federal agencies had not done enough to protect the North Atlantic right whale from lobster harvesting. >click to read< 12:42
Boasberg sets deadline for new North Atlantic Right Whale Protections no later than May 31, 2021
The Center for Biological Diversity, Conservation Law Foundation, Defenders of Wildlife and the Humane Society of the United States sued the federal government for violating the Endangered Species Act by allowing the lobster fishery to operate in a manner known to entangle right whales. U.S. District Court Judge James E. Boasberg also ordered a new ESA-mandated analysis of the American lobster fishery that takes into account the full scope of its harm to right whales. He stopped short of prohibiting lobster fishing with vertical buoy lines in a key right whale feeding area, which the groups had requested as an interim measure. >click to read< 07:15
Judge: Lobstering can proceed until new right whale protections are finalized in May – The right whale protection lawsuit winding its way through the federal courts for two years has often been called the “wild card” in the battle between environmental groups trying to save the critically endangered whale from extinction and Maine lobstermen trying to protect their way of life. >click to read< 17:24
D.C. court rules fisheries remain closed to help right whales
Thursday, a federal district judge ruled two lobster fisheries can remain closed to protect the lives of right whales moving through the area. The case began nearly two years ago as a set of environmental groups Center for Biological Diversity, Conservation Law Foundation, Defenders of Wildlife and the Humane Society of the United States filed a complaint against the federal government because they disputed the finding of “no jeopardy” to right whales in the lobster fisheries, despite the finding that an average of 3.25 right whales a year would die through gillnet fishing operations. >click to read< 10:31
House Resolution 1568 – SAVE Right Whales Act, committee backs right whale conservation bill
House Resolution 1568 — whose lead sponsor, U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., is one of nearly two dozen people running for the Democratic nomination for president — provides $5 million per year from 2019 to 2029 that would go to relevant state and tribal agencies, research institutions and nonprofits with expertise required in right whale conservation.,,, U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., presented the bill and said it’s been endorsed by the Massachusetts Lobster Association and the Cape Cod Fishermen’s Alliance. It’s also backed by Oceana, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Humane Society of the United States, among others. >click to read<11:43
In Battle Over Whale, Judge Tears Up Agency Stonewalling
A federal judge opened the door Thursday for environmentalists to bolster claims over a lobster fishery they blame for the declining population of an endangered whale. Ordering the National Marine Fisheries Service to produce discovery, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg said the Endangered Species Act allows the agency’s challengers to use evidence outside the administrative record. “In order to accurately assess the alleged crisis of these cetaceans, the court will benefit from a record that reflects the actual, ongoing effects of the lobster fishery on the species,” the 16-page ruling says. The cetaceans at issue are called the North Atlantic right whale. There were roughly 455 right whales left as of 2016, and the Conservation Law Foundation says at least 18 of these have been killed since 2017. >click to read<16:28
Defenders of right whales pursue limits on aquaculture and fixed gear fisheries
Right whale defenders are now taking aim at aquaculture as they try to protect the highly endangered species from deadly fishing gear entanglements. Advocates usually focus on the lobster industry,,,Right whale defenders are now taking aim at aquaculture as they try to protect the highly endangered species from deadly fishing gear entanglements. Advocates usually focus on the lobster industry,,, Researchers from Whale and Dolphin Conservation, a U.K.-based nonprofit that advocates for marine animals, want regulators to reduce surface-to-seabed lines in all Gulf of Maine fisheries, not just lobstering. They name aquaculture and gill net as rope-based fishing methods that are known to entrap, injure and kill both humpback and right whales. They say it’s not fair for regulators, who are meeting next week, to seek rope reduction from lobstermen while issuing permits for other fisheries that use similar rope. >click to read<20:40
Booker, Carper, Nelson Introduce Bicameral Bill to Establish Grant Program for Right Whale Conservation
U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Tom Carper (D-DE), and Bill Nelson (D-FL), along with Senators Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) have introduced a bill to protect the highly endangered North Atlantic right whale. Booker is a member of the Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee, Carper is the top Democrat on the Environment and Public Works Committee, and Nelson is the top Democrat on the Senate’s Commerce Committee, which oversees ocean policy. Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA), along with Reps. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Jared Huffman (D-CA), and Bill Keating (D-MA), has introduced a companion measure in the House of Representatives. >click to read<18:46
Suit by animal protection groups follows deaths of 17 right whales in Canadian and U.S. waters last year
Conservation and animal-protection groups have sued the National Marine Fisheries Service in the United States, alleging it failed to protect right whales from entanglement in commercial fishing gear. The lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., late last week, alleges the federal management of the U.S. lobster fishery violates the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The lawsuit seeks to force the National Marine Fisheries Service to do a sufficient examination of the fishery’s impact on North Atlantic right whales and adopt additional measures to prevent entanglements. >click here to read< 18:55
Lawsuit filed to save North Atlantic Right Whales from death in fishing gear
Today’s lawsuit against the National Marine Fisheries Service, filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., alleges that federal management of the American lobster fishery violates the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The lawsuit seeks to force the agency to sufficiently examine the fishery’s impacts on North Atlantic right whales and adopt additional measures to prevent more entanglements in the future. The lobster fishery is the most active fixed-gear fishery in the northeastern United States. >click here to read< 12:08 
Judge invalidates all permits for fishing by aquarium trade
An Oahu Circuit Court order essentially called a halt Friday to the $2 million commercial aquarium trade in Hawaii until environmental reviews are performed. After seven weeks Circuit Judge Jeff Crabtree finally ruled in line with the Hawaii Supreme Court’s Sept. 6 opinion that existing state-issued commercial collectors’ permits are now illegal and invalid, and ordered the Department of Land and Natural Resources not to issue any new permits until collectors perform environmental reviews. click here to read the story 14:49
NMFS Caves to the Enviro Quackeroos on Right Whale federally designated “critical habitat” under the Endangered Species Act
In 2009, a coalition of environmental and animal protection groups formally petitioned the National Marine Fisheries Service to significantly expand habitat protections to include all of the whales’ nursery and breeding and feeding grounds.,, protected area more than tenfold, from roughly 4,000 square miles to more than 50,000 square miles.,vulnerable to threats that include commercial fishing gear, ship strikes. Read the rest here 12:20
RACKETEERING LAWSUIT FINGERS HUMANE SOCIETY OF THE UNITED STATES
The Humane Society of the United States actively campaigning against the seal hunt Accused of using methods that are usually associated with the mafia or other criminal groups, the Humane Society is also accused of illegally influenced the European Parliament. In a prosecution under the RICO anti-mafia law, the Humane Society is accused of having paid $ 190,000 for false testimony. Read more here 22:16
Econuts File Another Suit.
A coalition of environmental and animal protection groups has sued the federal government to protect critically endangered North Atlantic Right Whale. Read more eco sue and settle squalk here 19:53
#sealfie campaign misguided, activists claim
TORONTO — The growing “sealfie” social media campaign is being criticized for defending Inuit rights that are not, in fact, under attack. Read more here globalnews.ca 14:37
Canadian chefs fight against Chefs for Seals boycott
Some chefs are taking exception to the Chefs for Seals campaign, that is asking for a boycott of Canadian seafood in protest of the seal hunt. The Humane Society of the United States says it has signed up about 40 American chefs. The boycott demands the seal hunt be stopped. more@cbcnews 00:23
American “celebrity” chefs signing up to boycott Canadian seafood because of the seal hunt are clearly misinformed
The Humane Society of the United States says it has signed up about 40 celebrity chefs to its Chefs for Seals campaign as part of its efforts to end the seal hunt. “If you look at the scientific numbers of the seals, the herd is way out of control. So we have these people coming up with these ideas without actually looking at the information to realize that there is an explosion in the seal population.” more@cbcnews 15:29
Judge dismisses Humane Society lawsuit that opposed killing sea lions at Bonneville Dam
A U.S. District Court judge in Oregon today dismissed the Humane Society of the United States’ challenge to the government’s plan to kill salmon-munching California sea lions at Bonneville Dam. Judge Michael Simon issued the 44-page opinion earlier today. The National Marine Fisheries Service “did not act arbitrarily or capriciously” when it re-authorized Oregon, Washington and Idaho’s ongoing program to kill sea lions, Simon wrote. The states first applied for lethal take in 2006, which led to on-and-off legal challenges. Read more
