Tag Archives: U.S.
‘King’s Of Their Own Ocean’: A fish tale featuring a tuna named Amelia tells the urgent story of the future of our seas
Starting in the mid-1930s, as a craze for saltwater fishing swept across sporting communities in Canada and the U.S., thousands of tourists flocked to remote Wedgeport, Nova Scotia with the dream of landing a giant Atlantic bluefin tuna on rod and reel. Drawn by the Acadian town’s annual International Tuna Tournament — which started in 1937 and was put on hiatus for the Second World War, those anglers included Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Babe Ruth, and Amelia Earhart, who dreamed of, as Ernest Hemingway wrote, entering “unabashed into the presence of the very elder gods. In 1946, the year Wedgeport’s tuna tournament resumed after the war, Margaret Perry, a 41‑year‑old, curly‑haired widow, arrived in Wedgeport lugging a suitcase‑sized 16 mm film camera and her heavy, awkward tripod. >ckick to read< 98:08
Canada, U.S., Mexico to vote on investigation into U.S. efforts to protect right whales
A complaint, filed under the new North American free trade agreement, will force Canada, the U.S., and Mexico to pass judgment on efforts by the United States to protect North Atlantic right whales. “We recommended an independent investigation. We are looking forward to hearing a response and the position from the governments,” Paolo Solano, legal director for the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, said in Halifax this week. The commission is mandated under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) to investigate claims a country is failing to effectively enforce its environmental laws. Last year, an American environmental group, Oceana, filed a complaint against the United States about protections for the North Atlantic right whale. >click to read< 07:51
Watching Wind And Solar Fail To Power The World Economy
You don’t have to be any kind of a genius to figure out that wind and solar generation are never going to supplant fossil fuels in powering the world economy. Thankfully the U.S., home of fracking, has mostly been spared the huge natural gas price spikes that have befallen Europe and Asia. If the dopes occupying the White House and leading the Congress had their way, we would be suffering the fate of those places and worse. And oil? It’s suddenly trading at $80 and more per barrel, the highest price since 2014. >click to read< 11:28 U.K. Turns to Coal as Low Wind Output Increases Power Prices – U.K. power prices rose after a coal power plant switched on Monday to make up for a shortfall in wind generation and limited flows on two power cables to Ireland. >click to read< 14:32
International Scientific Expedition to probe Pacific salmon survival
“While we recognize that ocean and climate conditions are major factors regulating salmon abundances, the mechanisms regulating abundances in the ocean are not known,” B.C. scientists Richard Beamish and Brian Riddell,, Scientists are seeking to provide more accurate forecasts of salmon returns during what Beamish and Riddell say might be the most difficult time in recent history for stewardship of Pacific salmon.,, The survey takes place as B.C. fishermen fear disastrous returns this year following poor returns for much of the coast last year. >click to read< 18:56
Enviro Groups Demand U.S., Canada Act to Save North Atlantic Right Whales
Conservation and animal-protection groups today sought action by the United States and Canada to prevent painful, deadly entanglements in fishing gear that threaten the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale. In letters to Canadian officials and the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service, the groups demanded action to reduce risks to these imperiled whales. North Atlantic right whales, one of the world’s most endangered mammals with fewer than 500 individual animals remaining on Earth, lost nearly 3 percent of their population this year. click here to read the story 14:00
Parasitic sea lice plagues global farmed salmon industry
A surge of parasitic sea lice is disrupting salmon farms around the world. The tiny lice attach themselves to salmon and feed on them, killing or rendering them unsuitable for dinner tables. The lice are actually tiny crustaceans that have infested salmon farms in the U.S., Canada, Scotland, Norway and Chile, major suppliers of the high-protein, heart-healthy fish. Scientists and fish farmers are working on new ways to control the pests, which Fish Farmer Magazine stated last year costs the global aquaculture industry about $1 billion annually. click here to read the story 20:26
Atlantic Salmon Federation calling on Greenland to end commercial fishery of Atlantic salmon
Fishermen and conservationists are urging Greenland to end its commercial fishery of 
, arguing the stock is at historic lows and won’t recover if the harvest continues. It says that even though the population has been steadily declining over the last several years, Greenland has maintained its factory fishery of salmon that migrate north from river systems in Canada, the United States and elsewhere. The group released the figures ahead of a critical meeting next week in Labrador,,, Read the rest here 14:55
U.S. to focus on climate change, oceans as new chair of Arctic Council
The United States is starting its term as chair of the Arctic Council by adamantly steering clear of geopolitical and military issues, in favour of focusing on social and environmental stewardship of the North.,, The U.S. plans to put climate change at the centre of its leadership. Kerry said that there is a plan in place to try to curb black carbon and methane emissions which, he said, have more devastating environmental effects than C02. Read the rest here 10:38
Why Canada, U.S. must resolve their Arctic border disputes
As most Canadians are aware, Canada and United States have two sovereignty disputes in the Arctic. Our differences regarding the Northwest Passage are better known, but we have also had an ongoing dispute with the Americans as to how to divide the Beaufort Sea. Read the rest here 09:11
Canada mulled withdrawing from program that snagged illegal Chinese fishing boat
Canadian authorities last year seriously questioned their continued participation in international efforts to scour the Pacific Ocean for illegal drift net fishing boats. “We internally debated whether we should even continue because we could only identify legitimate fishing vessels,” Fisheries and Oceans Canada conservation and protection director Larry Paike said in an interview. Read more here 18:30
Pact between Canada, U.S. – Columbia River Treaty: Review of landmark deal could have big implications for county
As local leaders gathered to discuss the treaty during a meeting last month, they did so against a backdrop of political acrimony at the federal level. Representatives from a wide range of agencies and organizations gathered in a Northeast Portland office building on what turned out to be the final day of October’s government shutdown. People in the room talked about consensus and collaboration. Down the hall, shuttered federal offices offered a visual reminder of dysfunction elsewhere. more@thecolumbian 10:35
