Tag Archives: United States
The Risk of Ship Strikes: Maine Congressional Delegation Ask Feds To Shift Focus Of Right Whale Protections
In a letter to top officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) this week, the delegation calls on the agency to provide more information about reducing the risk of ship strikes off the United States and Canada – strikes that they say are as much a threat to the whales’ survival as entanglement with lobster fishing gear. >click to read< 10:13
Most likely Carnival Cruise Lines is responsible for 18+ Right Whale deaths in the past 3 year, at which rate they would soon be extinct – >click to read<
The small change that meant big losses for Nova Scotia lobstermen
A sixteenth of an inch doesn’t seem like much. But it added up to a whole lot for Nova Scotia lobstermen in December 1989. A new law had been passed in the United States that increased the minimum allowable size of lobsters for import, by that seemingly insignificant margin. “That might not sound like much of a change to a non-fisherman,” he explained. “But in reality, it means as much as a quarter-pound increase in weight.” Video, >click to read< 10:37
U.S., China Reach Substantial ‘Phase One’ Trade Deal
The U.S. and China agreed on the outlines of a partial trade accord Friday that President Donald Trump said he and China’s Xi Jinping could sign as soon as next month. As part of the deal, China would significantly step up purchases of U.S. agricultural commodities, agree to certain intellectual-property measures and concessions related to financial services and currency, The agreement marks the largest breakthrough in the 18-month trade war that has hurt the economies of both nations. Importantly, Trump said the deal was the first phase of a broader agreement. >click to read< 16:34
For centuries, the United States and Canada’s only remaining land border dispute has been kept alive by a single family.
This story conflicts with the official stances of two powerful nations. It flies in the face of the Canadian lighthouse that has stood on the island for nearly two centuries. It also complicates the United States’s position, which is to claim the disputed island as American territory without making too much of a fuss. But Norton never gave up on his story. In a time when the last thing most people want is another border controversy, I decided to try to find out why. by Cara Giaimo, >click to read< 11:28
Canada closer to allowing Asian carp as lobster bait, depending on test outcomes
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says it is prepared to accept invasive Asian carp from the United States as bait for the lobster industry, provided U.S. authorities can meet a number of conditions including proof the carcasses pose no disease threat. “If the U.S. can meet these requirements, Canada is willing to accept the import of dead, eviscerated silver carp for use as bait,” CFIA spokesperson Brian Naud said in a statement. There is interest in both countries in using Asian carp to supply their respective lobster fisheries which are experiencing a bait shortage as traditional sources decline: herring in the United States and mackerel in Canada. The state of Maine is poised to make a decision on Asian carp as a bait source by the end of May. >click to read<11:34
B.C.-led international expedition to probe ailing Pacific salmon stocks
An unprecedented international collaboration could revolutionize salmon science and fisheries management, return forecasting and even hatchery output. Nineteen scientists from Russia, Canada, the United States, Japan and South Korea are set to probe the secret lives of five Pacific salmon species with a four-week grid search and test fishery across the Gulf of Alaska. The expedition begins next week aboard the Russian research ship MV Professor Kaganovsky. “We know virtually nothing about what happens to salmon once they leave near-shore waters in the Salish Sea,” said expedition organizer Dick Beamish. >click to read<13:56
The lobster wars are over. We won
You may recall a few weeks ago when we discussed the coming Lobster Wars involving the United States, Canada and China. (There’s an odd combination for you.) The first component of the conflict has to do with the ongoing dispute between America and the Great White North over who actually owns the “gray area” surrounding the Bay of Fundy off the coast of Maine.,,, It’s the trade war aspect which was of more current interest because it would cut off some of the markets for American fishermen leading to an increase of supply domestically and a cut in demand. >click to read<15:41
Canada’s opening stance for NAFTA talks: Common ground, not confrontation
The Canadian government is signalling the approach it intends to take should Donald Trump make good on his promise to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement. Canada’s ambassador to the U.S. is laying out some starting principles such as co-operation instead of confrontation. In a lengthy interview, David MacNaughton expressed his desire to see the countries propose common-ground, common-sense ideas that improve the old agreement instead of flinging out hardball demands that could produce deep, drama-filled bargaining. “We have done an extensive amount of work (to prepare for this),” MacNaughton said in the year-end interview. “We have a good sense of what would be in Canada’s interest…. “(But) the areas we need to focus on — and I think we are focusing on — is where is it not just in Canada’s interest, but in Canada and the United States’ interest… “I think if we’re just blatantly trying to push something that works for us but doesn’t work for them, that’s not going to be… quite as easy.” Read the rest here 17:41
Sweden’s lobster game; stick to soccer
Legendary American soccer goalie Hope Solo was rightly suspended for calling the Swedish national team a “bunch of cowards” after the European side beat the U.S. women’s team in the Rio Olympics last month. Playing the more talented and explosive American side, Sweden played a crafty, intelligent, defensive game for 120 minutes. The result was a scoreless tie after regulation and extra time. The Swedes won the shootout that followed. Today, Nova Scotia’s lobster fishermen may be feeling some sympathy for Solo. For Sweden is clearly playing a defensive game as it attempts to get the European Union to ban imported lobsters from Canada and the United States (which for the most part means Nova Scotia and Maine). Read the Op-ed here 11:12
US and Canada reject Sweden’s call for lobster ban
Canada and the United States on Monday rejected Swedish calls for a ban on imports of live American lobsters, saying fears of an invasive species displacing its European cousin are unsubstantiated. Speaking for both countries, Steven Wilson, a deputy director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), told a news conference that Swedes had “found some evidence that there are lobsters in their waters”. “But those lobsters could not thrive and could not rise to a population that could either pass disease or overcome the native species,” he said. Current evidence points only to lobsters escaping, not a full blown invasion, he added. “There just isn’t enough scientific information that gives you the impression that this is something that could take hold , which is important in the invasive-species standard internationally,” Read the rest here 11:24
U.S. Coast Guard Unveils a New Model for Cooperation Atop the World
The United States Coast Guard announced Friday the creation of a new international forum for cooperation in the Arctic. Signed at the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, the new Arctic Coast Guard Forum will include coast guards or similar agencies from Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Russia and the United States. “Today’s historic Arctic Coast Guard Forum represents a critical step forward in our collective efforts to promote safety, security and environmentally responsible maritime activity in the Arctic,” said Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Paul Zukunft. Read the rest here 10:50
US and Russia will sign a bilateral deal next week aimed at fighting illegal fishing.
The United States and Russia will sign a bilateral deal next week aimed at fighting illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, US Deputy Assistant Secretary for Oceans and Fisheries Ambassador David Balton told Sputnik on Monday. “Next week in Portland, Oregon delegations to the United States and Russia will get together for our annual meeting on fisheries and we will be signing a bilateral agreement to combat IUU fishing,” Balton added that the cooperation between the United States and Russia in the Arctic remains “good and strong” despite the current tensions in the relations between the two countries. Read the rest here 17:34
Canada appears poised to sign international Arctic fish deal
“We can confirm that we are planning to attend a meeting in Norway with other 
coastal states to discuss further measures against unregulated high-seas fishing in the central Arctic Ocean,” Carole Saindon wrote in an email.”Details of the results of those discussions will be released at the conclusion of the meeting.”Canada, the United States, Russia, Denmark and Norway reached an interim agreement in February 2014 to work toward protecting Arctic waters beyond the 200-kilometre territorial limit of their respective shores, an area the size of the Mediterranean Sea. Read the rest here 08:11
Russia furthers Arctic dreams while America sleeps
Murkowski’s starting point in her presentation was that the United States should have prepared for assuming the chairmanship of the Arctic Council but did not. The United States took over the two-year position from Canada last Friday. Obama and, I imagine, his predecessors would never admit any such failure. Why, last Friday, Secretary of State John Kerry, the Arctic Council’s new chairman, stated the president’s Arctic policy. It is coping with climate change, period. Read the rest here 13:35
The Future of Fishing in the Central Arctic
Increasingly, it’s the future of fisheries that is taking center stage in the geopolitical discussions that come with planning for the future Arctic. This was made evident on January 15 and 16, 2015, when 40 Arctic experts from the United States, Canada, Russia, China, Iceland, Denmark, and Greenland travelled to Tongji University in Shanghai to attend the first “Roundtable on Central Arctic Ocean Fisheries Issues.” Read the rest here 18:21
United States continues global leadership to address illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing
In its 2015 biennial report to Congress on illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing (IUU), NOAA has identified six nations — Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Nigeria, Nicaragua, and Portugal — as engaging in the practice. IUU fishing and seafood fraud undermine international efforts to sustainably manage and rebuild fisheries, and creates unfair market competition for fishermen playing by the rules, like those in the United States. Read the rest here 15:07
Pacific Island nations secure $90m tuna deal with United States
Pacific Island countries and the United States have reached a $90 million tuna deal, which is believed to be the world’s most lucrative fishing access agreement. The deal was secured in the final minutes of a three-day negotiating session in Hawaii. Under the agreement,,, Read more here 07:12
Pacific Rim nations agree to halve take of dwindling bluefin tuna
Japan, South Korea and the United States agreed Thursday on new annual limits on the catch of dwindling young bluefin tuna in an effort to double the population within a decade. The conservation plan announced by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission after a meeting in the western Japanese city of Fukuoka aims to boost the depleted stock by counting the accidental catch of young bluefin tuna by long-net trawling as part of the regulated take. Read the rest here 11:27
Global powers sign declaration on sustainable fishing
ATHENS) – Officials from some of the world’s top fishing powers signed a declaration in Greece on Friday to promote sustainable management of fish stocks. The signatories — the EU, United States, Japan, Philippines, Colombia and Indonesia — pledged to support measures to address fishing overcapacity. Read more here eubusiness.com 14:08
Bermuda, the Azores, Monaco, United Kingdom and the United States signed a declaration committing to the conservation of the Sargasso Sea
Government representatives from Sweden, Turks and Caicos Islands, British Virgin Islands, the Netherlands, Bahamas and South Africa expressed support for the declaration, together with five international organizations including IUCN, the Oslo and Paris Commission from the neighboring North-east Atlantic regions, the International Seabed Authority, the Inter-American Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Sea Turtles and the Convention on Migratory Species. Read more here scoop.au 21:01
Canada agrees to work to prevent fishing in High Arctic until there’s more study
Canada and four other Arctic nations have agreed to work toward a deal to block commercial fishing in the central Arctic Ocean until more is known about the potential of the resource. The agreement with the United States, Russia, Denmark and Norway was reached late Wednesday in Nuuk, Greenland, after three days of talks Read more here 18:56
Pew: The Pacific 6: Chinese Taipei, South Korea, Japan, Indonesia, China and the United States are responsible for 80% of the annual catch of big eye tuna,
The accompanying analysis, by Pew Charitable Trusts attending the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission meeting in Cairns Australia this week, also documents the destructive methods they use to dominate the $USD 7billion industry. The 43 member countries of the body responsible for the world’s largest tuna fishery – the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission – will negotiate from today on an action plan to end overfishing of bigeye tuna by 2018. [email protected] 09:23
Shea extols trade agreement with EU at P.E.I. oyster conference
WOODSTOCK – Federal Fisheries Minister Gail Shea told an oyster conference Friday that Canada has some of the most rigorous standards in the world to ensure that its aquaculture industry is safe, healthy and sustainable. more@theguardian 14:26
Arctic Commercial Fishing Deal Would Set a Precedent
World Politics Review – Later this month, representatives from Russia, Norway, Denmark, Canada and the United States will meet in Washington to discuss a possible accord that would regulate commercial fishing near the North Pole. continued
Fisheries nations set to discuss bluefin tuna
The United States, another key player at the negotiations, has said it supports “the rebuilding and term sustainable management of the western and eastern Atlantic bluefin tuna stocks by adopting science-based and precautionary conservation and management measures that ensure continued stock growth.” But environmentalists also said it was too early to celebrate.
