Tag Archives: National Science Foundation
A year after sinking of Maine fishing boat, lawsuits near ruling, but questions remain
Next Tuesday makes exactly one year since a Portland-ported fishing boat, the F/V Emmy Rose, sank off the coast of Massachusetts, with all four crew later presumed dead. Also potentially within days, a federal judge is expected to rule in a case involving lawsuits by the crewmen’s families. The Emmy Rose, an 82-foot groundfish dragger, sank in the early morning of Nov. 23, 2020, about 25 miles northeast of Provincetown, Mass. There was no distress call from the vessel, only a signal at 1:30 a.m. from the boat’s emergency radio beacon, a device that automatically activates when a boat founders. >click to read< 08:31
F/V Emmy Rose: NTSB uses video, high-res photos in probe of sunken fishing vessel
Investigators trying to learn why a commercial fishing boat sank off Massachusetts nearly a year ago, taking the lives of all four crew members, are using some high-tech gadgetry in their probe, federal authorities said Wednesday. The 82-foot Portland, Maine, based F/V Emmy Rose went down early Nov. 23 as it was heading to port after a seven-day fishing trip,,, Authorities have previously said it was heading to Gloucester, Massachusetts. The Emmy Rose was located in May, in an upright position with its outriggers deployed, in about 800 feet of water on the seafloor about 25 miles off Provincetown, >click to read< – NTSB releases new images of doomed F/V Emmy Rose – The National Transportation Safety Board has released some startling new images of a Portland, Maine based fishing vessel that sank on November 23, 2020 some 25 miles off the coast of Provincetown. >click here< 13:32
Fisherman saved by OSU research vessel when his fishing vessel went down in heavy seas
Frank Akers, 70-year-old owner and operator of the 50-foot F/V Lanola, said he was about 38 miles west of Newport heading eastbound in heavy seas at about 10 p.m. on Aug. 28, when the first of a series of waves collided with his vessel, giving him only minutes to escape. Akers said he believes the first wave that struck the vessel had a log in it because he heard a crash. After the second wave hit, he looked back and saw his stern go under. His bilge alarms went off and he radioed a mayday call. >click to read< 21:06
Feds Tap 300,000 Square Miles of Pacific for Humpback Whales
The proposed rule is the result of a settlement with the National Marine Fisheries Service, who were sued last year for not following through on a 2016 plan to designate two groups of Pacific Ocean humpback whales as endangered and a third group as threatened. The Center for Biological Diversity, joined by Turtle Island Restoration Network and the Wishtoyo Foundation, filed a federal lawsuit in the Northern District of California claiming the lack of action by the Trump administration violated the Endangered Species Act. >click to read< 16:25
The Gulf’s new research ship needs a name. What’s your idea?
The Gulf of Mexico’s largest research ship won’t be built until 2023, but the naming process has already begun.,, Last month, the National Science Foundation announced it would pay $106 million to build the ship.,, Gulf Island Fabrication in Houma will build the ship, along with two others also funded by the foundation. The nearly identical ships will go to Oregon State University and the University of Rhode Island. >click to read< 13:02
Oregon State University Orders Second U.S. Research Ship
Oregon State University has received $88 million from the National Science Foundation to lead construction of a second Regional Class research vessel to help bolster the nation’s aging academic research fleet. The National Science Foundation selected Oregon State in 2013 to lead the initial design phase for as many as three new vessels, and the National Science Board authorized as much as $365 million for the project. Last summer, the National Science Foundation awarded Oregon State University a grant of $121.88 million to launch the construction of the first vessel, which Gulf Island Shipyards in Louisiana is building and the university will operate. >click to read<10:40
Man accused of redirecting $315,000 in grant funds for his own use
A Fairbanks man has been indicted for allegedly using more than $300,000 in federal grant money to attend flight school and to buy himself an airplane, real estate, firearms and online pornography. David Michael McGraw, 38, “willfully misapplied” the money while he was working as the finance director for the Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council from 2010-14, according to a news release issued by the office of the United States Attorney for the District of Alaska. >click to read< 12:22
Gulf of Maine lobster boom over as population starts to decline
The Gulf of Maine lobster population will shrink 40 to 62 percent over the next 30 years because of rising ocean temperatures, according to a new study released Monday. As the water temperature rises – the northwest Atlantic ocean is warming at three times the global average rate – the number of lobster eggs that survive their first year of life will decrease, and the number of small-bodied lobster predators that eat those that remain will increase. Those effects will cause the lobster population to fall through 2050, according to a study by scientists at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, University of Maine and National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration. >click here to read< 19:49 
“American lobster larva,” wins people’s choice in Photography category of the 2016 Visualization Challenge
As a master’s student in marine biology at the University of Maine, Jesica Waller spent the summer taking pictures of baby lobsters.,,, This image of a live three-week-old specimen was one of thousands Waller took. It captures the distinct, delicate hairs on the legs. Since lobsters have very poor vision, they rely on their leg hairs for sensory tasks such as finding food. Adults have them too, meaning baby and grown-up lobsters alike taste with their feet. This illustration won people’s choice in the Photography category (click here) of the 2016 Visualization Challenge, now called the Vizzies click here to read the story 18:38
Changing Migration Patterns Upend East Coast Fishing Industry
Summer flounder that once amassed in North Carolina have gradually shifted about 140 miles to New Jersey—one facet of the northward migration of fish species that is upending traditional fishing patterns. The move north has sparked debate among regulators over how to respond to changing natural resources that could affect commercial fisheries across the eastern seaboard. For the first time, a group of researchers backed by the federal government is trying to ascertain what the northward movement means for fishermen’s income and way of life. “Some fisherman will end up losing out and some will win big,” Read the rest here 13:04
New Jersey files lawsuit against the United States to stop high-energy seismic blasts
Named as defendants are the National Science Foundation, the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration and its Office for Coastal Management, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, which is a component of Columbia University’ Earth Institute. New Jersey says the blasts will be felt “far outside of the study area” and will reduce commercial and recreational catch and harass marine mammals. Read the rest here 14:31
Christie administration sues to halt ocean-blasting research
The state attorney general’s office filed a complaint Friday in U.S. District Court arguing the federally funded seismic research project that began this week will harm fish and marine animals, as well as commercial fisheries and beachgoers just as the summer tourism season gears up.The National Science Foundation-funded research, being performed by Rutgers University, is aimed at helping the world’s coastal regions better protect themselves from disasters like Superstorm Sandy by mapping ocean sediment deposits dating back 60 million years to study how the shoreline has advanced and retreated in response to rising sea levels. Read the rest here 22:00
House votes to slash climate research, block new red snapper fishing plan, and ‘ocean zoning’ funding
The $51.4 billion spending bill would fund the fiscal 2016 budgets for the Department of Commerce, the Department of Justice, NASA, the National Science Foundation and related agencies. NOAA — which is housed within Commerce — would get about $5.2 billion, a cut of more than $270 million to its current budget. The Obama administration criticized the climate research cut — as well as a $200 million cut to earth science missions in NASA’s budget — in a veto threat of the overall spending bill released Monday. The statement of administration policy also takes aim at Republicans’ decision not to include $147 million for a new ocean survey vessel,,, Read the rest here 17:41
Princeton Professor Emeritus of Geosciences Defends Marine Seismic Surveys for Study of Earth
R/V Maurice Ewing – The vessel was also slated for use in summer 2014 for a Rutgers University-led near-shore seismic study – opposed by many on the Jersey Shore, including fishermen, lawmakers and the nonprofit Clean Ocean Action, because of potential harm to sea life and fisheries commerce. Read the rest here 08:29
North Carolina: Additional measures to protect marine mammals, fisheries during seismic testing
The state is requiring additional measures to protect marine mammals and offshore fisheries for a proposed scientific project that would involve seismic testing off the North Carolina coast for several weeks this fall. The N.C. Division of Coastal Management issued its response Monday to a federal consistency determination submitted by the National Science Foundation. Read the rest here 12:28
N.C. – 4 Days for public comments – seismic BLASTING from Sept. 15 to Oct. 22
This is the first I’ve read about this
project off the NC coast, and according to the article, there are only four days left to comment. North Carolinian Fishermen are very good at standing up and being heard. Make sure they hear you now. Just say no. All those marine mammals you get crucified over are going to get pounded to death, and your fish will take a big hit. Read more here, and blast some letters out. 15:47
New Jersey asks judge to block ocean blasting plan
BARNEGAT LIGHT, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey environmental officials went to federal court Thursday trying to block a federally approved research plan that involved blasting the ocean floor off New Jersey with loud sound waves. Read more here 20:54
Infectious Diseases Play A Part Of Declining Chesapeake Blue Crab Population
It’s almost summer. Seafood restaurants from coast-to-coast are serving platter after platter of steaming crabs, ready for hammering and picking. The supply seems endless, but is it? Not if we’re talking about blue crabs from Chesapeake Bay. Read more here 10:28
Senator Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) Announces Legislation Affecting Red Snapper, Gulf Fisheries
“The bill provides sufficient resources and direction to improve the management of our Nation’s fisheries, including new approaches to manage red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico,” said Shelby. “These new approaches should provide a more equitable system for commercial fishermen and increase the number of fishing days for recreational anglers.” Read more here 16:15
Scientific ‘buried treasure’ may yield data about shorelines’ future. (may, that could, might,,)
Deep beneath the ocean floor off the New Jersey coast lie secrets that could help scientists predict how climate change might affect one of the most popular shorelines in the country.,, The work has triggered some controversy.,, Environmental groups have expressed concerns,,, Read more here 09:41
Grachek – Seismic Blasting: More Dots
Stay with me on this one. Press briefing on Atlantic seismic surveys, Erik Milito, API director upstream and industry operations Thursday, February 27, 2014 “The economic benefits of opening the Atlantic to offshore oil and natural gas development will be felt all across the country…” The oil companies are among the most powerful entities on the planet and they want the ocean.They also want to know the “most efficient drilling locations” so they’re going to start seismic blasting along the East Coast and are busy sending out their initial public opinion cover-stories; what’s really interesting though, is how the agencies of the government, the academic institutions, and the environmental groups, all in a coordinated way, seem to fall in line to be the point men dutifully performing the marketing prevarications for these mammoth companies. Read more here 04:40
Groups oppose three universities and the National Science Foundation ocean blasting plan off N.J. coast
Environmental and fishing groups are opposing a plan by three universities and the National Science Foundation to carry out seismic blast tests on the ocean floor off the New Jersey coast this summer. The groups say the tests could harm or kill marine life including dolphins, whales and many types of fish. The National Marine Fisheries Service has,, Read more here 16:30
