Conservation & Environment

April 20, 2015 — The following was released by NOAA:

NOAA Fisheries proposed today to reclassify the humpback whale into 14 distinct population segments under the Endangered Species Act, providing a more tailored conservation approach for U.S. fisheries managers. Protection and restoration efforts over the past 40 years have led to an increase in numbers and growth rates for humpback whales in many areas.
 
The humpback whale is currently listed as endangered throughout its range. The proposed rule finds that ten of those 14 populations (see below) do not warrant ESA listing.

While commercial whaling severely depleted humpback whale numbers, population rebounds in many areas result in today's larger numbers, with steady rates of population growth since the United States first listed the animal as endangered in 1970.
 
Also under the proposal, two of the other four populations would be listed as endangered and the remaining two would be listed as threatened. If the proposal is finalized, the humpback whale populations that would no longer be listed under the ESA would remain protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

More information:
Press release
Complete web story
Federal Register Filing
Humpback Whales: Fact and Fiction
 
The public comment period for this proposed rule is open until July 20, 2015. You can submit comments online through the Federal eRulemaking Portal beginning tomorrow, or mail your comments to:
 
Office of Protected Resources
National Marine Fisheries Service
1315 East-West Highway
Silver Spring, MD 20910
 
Questions? Contact Jennie Lyons, 301-427-8013 or email jennie.lyons@noaa.gov.

 

April 2, 2015 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Protecting estuarine shorelines from erosion due to wind and wave energy has traditionally been accomplished through the use of hardened structures such as vertical sheet bulkheads, stone revetments, groins, and sills. But for more than a decade, a softer, more ecologically beneficial approach has been gaining popularity in the Mid-Atlantic region with both public and private waterfront property owners.

Living shoreline projects use a variety of structural and organic materials, such as wetland plants, submerged aquatic vegetation, oyster reefs, sand fill, and stone. In the right setting, a living shoreline can not only provide shoreline protection, but also help improve water quality and habitat for a variety of terrestrial and aquatic plants and animals.

Read our new online story about living shoreline projects from our Habitat Conservation Division.

Questions? Contact Jennifer Goebel, Regional Office, at 978-281-9175 or email Jennifer.Goebel@noaa.gov

 

April 2, 2015 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Protecting estuarine shorelines from erosion due to wind and wave energy has traditionally been accomplished through the use of hardened structures such as vertical sheet bulkheads, stone revetments, groins, and sills. But for more than a decade, a softer, more ecologically beneficial approach has been gaining popularity in the Mid-Atlantic region with both public and private waterfront property owners.

Living shoreline projects use a variety of structural and organic materials, such as wetland plants, submerged aquatic vegetation, oyster reefs, sand fill, and stone. In the right setting, a living shoreline can not only provide shoreline protection, but also help improve water quality and habitat for a variety of terrestrial and aquatic plants and animals.

Read our new online story about living shoreline projects from our Habitat Conservation Division.

Questions? Contact Jennifer Goebel, Regional Office, at 978-281-9175 or email Jennifer.Goebel@noaa.gov

 

April 2, 2015 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries announces that a voluntary vessel speed restriction zone (Dynamic Management Area – DMA) has been established in Rhode island Sound to protect an aggregation of four right whales sighted in this area on April 1, 2015.

This DMA is in effect immediately and remains in effect through April 16, 2015. Mariners are requested to route around this area or transit through it at 10 knots or less.

This DMA is bounded by the following coordinates:
41 37N
40 56N
071 39W
070 44W

ACTIVE SEASONAL MANAGEMENT AREAS (SMAs)
Mandatory speed restrictions of 10 knots or less (50 CFR 224.105) are in effect in the following areas:

Cape Cod Bay U.S. SMA (through May 15, 2015)
Mid-Atlantic U.S. SMAs (through April 30, 2015)
Great South Channel U.S. SMAs (through July 31, 2015)
Southeast U.S. SMA (through April 15, 2015)

Download the Whale Alert App for iPad and iPhone:
stellwagen.noaa.gov/protect/whalealert.html

For an automatic return email listing all current U.S. Dynamic Management and Seasonal Management Areas, please send a blank message to:
nmfs.gar.rightwhale@noaa.gov
 
Details and graphics of this and all other ship strike management zones currently in effect:
www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/shipstrike
 
Approaching a right whale closer than 500 yards is a violation of federal and state law. Please report all right whale sightings to: 866-755-NOAA (6622)

 

March 31, 2015 — The following was released by NOAA:

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) is pleased to announce on behalf of Fishing for Energy partners, Covanta , Schnitzer Steel Industries, Inc., and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Marine Debris Program, the availability of a request for proposals to support outreach and prevention strategies to reduce the impacts of derelict fishing gear to marine and coastal environments.
 
Fishing for Energy launched in 2008 through a partnership among Covanta, NFWF, NOAA Marine Debris Program, and Schnitzer Steel. Its goals are to provide a cost-free solution to fishermen to dispose of old, derelict or unusable fishing gear and to reduce the amount of derelict fishing gear in and around our coastal waterways.

The Fishing for Energy partners recognize that while derelict gear removal and disposal is a critical effort to reduce the threat of entanglement, entrapment and habitat scarring from marine debris, the real conservation gains are to be made in prevention of the threat, which is the focus of this Request for Proposals.  

Questions? Please contact Michelle Pico at Michelle.Pico@nfwf.org or Kristen Byler at Kristen.Byler@nfwf.org or 202-595-0166.

 

 

March 27, 2015 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Today, we announce that we have made a positive 90-day finding on two petitions submitted to us to consider listing porbeagle sharks (Lamna nasus) under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). This action is being taken in response to a recent court order concerning the negative 90-day finding we published in 2010, and in response to new information we have on porbeagle sharks.
 
We are initiating a status review of the species to determine if listing the species or any potential distinct population of the species is warranted. The information we compile will be used to develop a status review report, which will be independently peer-reviewed prior to making a listing decision.
 
We will use the information from the status review report, peer review reports, the petitions, and other available information to prepare and publish a determination regarding whether porbeagle sharks should be listed under the ESA. We intend to make a decision by mid-December 2015.
 
For the complete history and more background on this issue, read the new 90-day finding published in the Federal Register.
 
The comment period is open through May 12, 2015. Submit comments online using the Federal e-rulemaking portal, or send written comments to:
 
Assistant Regional Administrator
Protected Resources Division
Attn: Porbeagle Shark Status Review
Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office
National Marine Fisheries Service
55 Great Republic Drive
Gloucester, MA 01930.
 
Questions? Contact Jennifer Goebel, Regional Office, at 978-281-9175 or Jennifer.Goebel@noaa.gov.

March 25, 2015 — “Ecosystem-based fisheries management is a way to sustain the benefits people get from the ocean by accounting for the interconnections among marine life, humans and the environment.” That’s the way Greg Wells of Pew Charitable Trusts kicked off the 2015 Southern New England Recreational Fishing Symposium.

Wells defined ecosystem–based fisheries management for the 86 invited recreational fishing industry leaders and fishermen in attendance Tuesday at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, in Warwick. Pew, the University of Rhode Island Coastal Institute and the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Foundation sponsored the daylong symposium.

"The theme of the symposium is to grow recreational fish to abundance through ecosystem-based management," said Rich Hittinger, symposium director and first vice president of the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association. "We need to protect and grow our recreational fishing resource in Rhode Island. According to NOAA, it supports 2,000 full-time jobs and has a $208-million impact a year on Rhode Island's economy."

Russell Dunn, the top policy adviser for recreational fishing at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, presented highlights of the nation’s first recreational fishing policy, released this year. "The policy was developed to institutionalize NOAA's commitment to recreational fishing, to guide the agency's actions and foster accountability to recreational fishing stakeholders," he said.

Jonathan Hare, director of NOAA's Fisheries Science Center Lab in Narragansett, said climate change has been affecting fisheries for decades and will continue to do so for decades to come.

Read the full story at the Providence Journal

March 20, 2015 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed today to reclassify the green sea turtle under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and list turtles originating from two breeding populations currently considered endangered as threatened due to improvements in their populations.
 
After a review of the global status of green sea turtles, the agencies are proposing to reclassify the species into 11 Distinct Population Segments (DPS) under the ESA, which maintains federal protections while providing a more tailored approach for managers to address specific threats facing different populations.

Years of coordinated conservation efforts have resulted in increasing numbers of turtles nesting in Florida and along the Pacific Coast of Mexico. As a result, the agencies are proposing threatened rather than endangered status for the two DPS that encompass those breeding populations.
 
Read the complete press release and the proposed rule  as filed in the Federal Register.
The 90-day comment period closes on June 22, 2015. Comments may be submitted online through the Federal Rulemaking Portal  (beginning on 3/23) or by regular mail to:
Office of Protected Resources
NOAA Fisheries
1315 East-West Highway
Silver Spring, MD 20910
 
We are hosting an informational webinar on Thursday, March 26, 2015 at 4 pm EDT for the general public. Please note that we will not be accepting comments during the webinar; it is for informational purposes only. This is not a media event. Sign up for the Webinar.

Questions? Contact Kate Brogan, NOAA Fisheries at 301-427-8030 or 202-603-9651 (cell), or Brian Hires, US Fish & Wildlife Service, 703-358-219

 

March 18, 2015 — Environmentalists say allowing offshore drilling along the U.S. East Coast from northern Virginia to the Georgia-Florida border could lead to a catastrophic oil spill devastating to the crucial tourism industry.

But business and petroleum groups say they want to be able to explore whether significant oil and gas reserves exist that could stabilize energy prices and help the economy overall.

The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management proposes opening up a stretch of the East Coast in its latest five-year plan, scheduled to take effect in 2017. The agency also is proposing drilling off the northern Alaska coast and in the western and central Gulf of Mexico between Texas and Alabama.

A final decision on the proposals should be made by the end of 2016.

At a public hearing Wednesday in Atlantic City, New Jersey, environmentalists said an oil spill could devastate the environment and economies in states where tens of millions of people live.

Read the full story from ABC News

March 17, 2015 — Starving sea lion pups and seabirds up and down the West Coast this year may be part of a large-scale shift of the Pacific Ocean to warmer and less productive conditions, according to a new federal fisheries report.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration presented the findings on the warming Pacific in an annual report on the state of the waters off California.

"We are in some ways entering a situation we haven't seen before," Cisco Werner, director of the Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla, California, said in a statement from NOAA. The situation demands that scientists consider the impact on ocean life as a whole, Werner said.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at ABC News