Conservation & Environment

July 31, 2014 — Experts still aren't sure what killed thousands of dead menhaden that local fishermen reported floating in a long line near the northern stretch of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel over the weekend.

And they say they might never know.

The state Department of Environmental Quality said Thursday that water samples turned up nothing irregular, nor were there signs of a fish disease. Meanwhile, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission said no commercial fishing operation reported a net spill.

Beyond that, there's not much either agency can do.

Such fish spills aren't illegal in Virginia, experts say, and reporting them isn't mandatory. In any event, neither agency has the authority to investigate potential negligence by commercial fishing operations that leads to a menhaden spill.

While the VMRC has management authority over every other fishery in Virginia, the lucrative menhaden fishery is the only one over which the General Assembly retains control.

And while a recreational angler can be penalized by VMRC's Marine Police for catching an undersized rockfish, there is no law against a commercial boat dumping dead menhaden by the thousands.

"We're not sure why the fish died or actually where it originated," said Roger Everton, water monitoring manager in DEQ's Virginia Beach office. Once the DEQ tested the water Tuesday for oxygen levels, pH and water quality and determined it wasn't pollution related, he said, the investigation concluded.

And VMRC spokeswoman Laurie Naismith said the agency's sole authority over menhaden is to police the catch quota. As far as spills, it relies on commercial boats to report them.

Read the full story at the Newport News Daily Press

August 1, 2014 — Three West Coast Democratic governors came out against offshore drilling this week, but it's a Republican governor's moves on the Atlantic Ocean that have drawn some attention.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's Department of Environmental Protection went to court earlier this month to block a federally funded oil and gas exploration project that uses seismic airgun testing off the Atlantic coast, saying it could harm the state's fishing and tourism industries. A district court judge rejected the motion, but the Christie administration is appealing the ruling.

In fact, Christie's opposition to seismic airguns — which blast sonic booms from boats down to the ocean floor to survey for oil and gas deposits — uses the same arguments environmentalists and his Left Coast gubernatorial brethren Jerry Brown of California, John Kitzhaber of Oregon and Jay Inslee of Washington pose.

“This ruling is very disappointing to the administration, and could have a negative impact on the ocean and its wildlife,” Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin said after the district court ruling. His agency said a Rutgers University study funded by the National Science Foundation using seismic airguns "will likely have a detrimental effect on New Jersey’s fisheries and marine mammals," adding it could harm the state's commercial and recreational fishing, with its $40 billion tourism industry.

Read the full story from the Washington Examiner

August 1, 2014 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries: NOAA Fisheries is seeking input on the FishWatch.gov website. This survey should take approximately seven minutes to complete. http://www.fishwatch.gov/survey.htm

August 1, 2014 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries announces that a voluntary vessel speed restriction zone (Dynamic Management Area – DMA) has been established 70 nautical miles east of Portland, Maine to protect an aggregation of 3 right whales sighted in this area on July 30, 2014. This DMA is in effect immediately through August 14, 2014.  Mariners are requested to route around this area or transit through it at 10 knots or less.  Thank you for helping us protect right whales!
 
VOLUNTARY DYNAMIC MANAGEMENT AREAS (DMAs)
Mariners are requested to avoid or transit at 10 knots or less inside the following areas where persistent aggregations of right whales have been sighted.  Please visit www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/shipstrike for a graphic depicting this area.

70nm East of Portland, Maine DMA — in effect through August 14, 2014
43 59N
43 20N
069 04W
068 10W

FOR RECENT RIGHT WHALE SIGHTINGS, VISIT:
www.nefsc.noaa.gov/psb/surveys/

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 AREAS AND SEASONAL MANAGEMENT AREAS, PLEASE SEND A BLANK MESSAGE TO:
nmfs.gar.rightwhale@noaa.gov
 
DETAILS AND GRAPHICS OF ALL 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)

 

July 29, 2014 — Sawfishes are some of the most threatened species of fish in the world. Smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata) were once commonly seen from North Carolina to Texas and throughout the Caribbean, but today the Everglades and the western side of Andros Island in the Bahamas are some of the only remaining places where they can reliably be found.

The sawfishes, best known for the distinctive tooth-covered rostrum that gives them their name, are a family of rays. The saw is used to stun and kill prey, and it is so sharp that pups are born with a thick membrane over their saws to protect the mother during birth. Sawfishes are some of the most threatened species of fish in the world. Smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata) were once commonly seen from North Carolina to Texas and throughout the Caribbean, but today the Everglades and the western side of Andros Island in the Bahamas are some of the only remaining places where they can reliably be found.

A team of scientists has just returned from an annual research expedition to study the smalltooth sawfish at Andros Island. Even there, finding sawfish is incredibly rare. This year, the team found five smalltooth sawfish, the highest number encountered in four years of studying the Andros population.  

One of the goals of this research project, funded by the Moore Charitable Foundation, is to determine whether there is movement between the sawfish populations, in particular between Andros and south Florida, information that has important implications for their management.

Read the full story and watch the video from Slate

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [SCOM] — July 29, 2014 — A new collaborative NOAA arctic research program has published its first paper, on the economic impact of Ocean Accidification on Alaska  Communities.  The paper, to be published in Progress in Oceanography, was done by scientists from the University of Alaska, NOAA's Pacific Marine lab in Seattle, and from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Ocean acidification is driving changes in waters vital to Alaska's valuable commercial fisheries and subsistence way of life with many of Alaska's nutritionally and economically valuable marine fisheries  located in waters that are already experiencing ocean acidification, and that will see more in the near future.
 
Communities in southeast and southwest Alaska face the highest risk from ocean acidification because they rely heavily on fisheries that are expected to be most affected by ocean acidification, and have underlying factors that make those communities more vulnerable, such as lower incomes and fewer employment opportunities.
 
The study looked at individual components of the final ocean acidification risk index for each census area and found the communities with the highest risk are in the Southeast and Southwest of the state.
 
Red king crab and tanner crab, two important Alaskan fisheries, grow more slowly and don't survive as well in more acidic waters. Alaska's coastal waters are particularly vulnerable to ocean acidification because of cold water can absorb more carbon dioxide, and the unique ocean circulation pattern on the Alaska shelf brings naturally acidic deep ocean waters to the surface.
 
"We went beyond the traditional approach of looking at dollars lost or species impacted; we know these fisheries are lifelines for native communities and what we've learned will help them adapt to a changing ocean environment," said Jeremy Mathis, Ph.D., co-lead author of the study, and an oceanographer at NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle, and the director of the University of Alaska Fairbanks School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences Ocean Acidification Research Center.
 
The new study examines the potential effects on a state where the fishing industry supports over 100,000 jobs and generates more than $5 billion in annual revenue and helps maintain the U.S. balance of trade in the global economy. Additionally, approximately 120,000 people or roughly 17 percent of Alaskans rely on subsistence fisheries for most, if not all of their dietary protein. Fishery-related tourism also brings in $300 million annually.  
 
"Ocean acidification is not just an ecological problem-it's an economic problem," said Steve Colt, Ph.D., co-author of the study and an economist at the University of Alaska Anchorage. "The people of coastal Alaska, who have always looked to the sea for sustenance and prosperity, will be most affected. But all Alaskans need to understand how and where ocean acidification threatens our marine resources so that we can work together to address the challenges and maintain healthy and productive coastal communities."
 
While acknowledging that the most important way to address ocean acidification is by reducing carbon dioxide emissions globally, the research shows that  more opportunities can be found to prevent harm to human communities at a local level.  NOAA's Ocean Acidification Program and the state of Alaska are also developing tools to help industry adapt to increasing acidity.

The following story originally appeared on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It has been reprinted with permission.

CORTLANDT MANOR, N.Y. — July 25, 2014 — New York's latest proposal to save Hudson River fish from being sucked into the Indian Point nuclear plant calls for shutting down one of the region's largest power producers for up to three months a year — during air-conditioner season.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation says it offered the summer shutdown as an alternative because plant owner Entergy Nuclear has balked at the idea of building cooling towers. A final decision could be two years away.

Entergy and supporters of the plant say a seasonal closing at Indian Point would be ludicrous, threatening the reliability of the electrical grid, dampening economic development and increasing air pollution.

"I thought it was a joke, somebody trying to be funny," said Westchester County Legislator John Testa, whose district includes the plant in Buchanan, 35 miles north of Manhattan.

Testa spoke during a hearing this week — on a hot day, in a comfortably air-conditioned room — to the administrative judges who will make a recommendation to the DEC commissioner.

At issue are the permits Entergy needs to use Hudson River water — as much as 2.5 billion gallons a day — to make steam and cool the reactors. The company is hoping to win new 20-year federal licenses for the two units and could smooth the way with state permits.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo opposes the new licenses, saying it's unsafe to have a nuclear plant in the densely populated New York City suburbs. About 17 million people live within 50 miles of the plant.

Anxiety about Indian Point climbed after the 9/11 attacks, when one of the hijacked planes flew over the plant on its way to the World Trade Center, and again after the 2011 nuclear disaster in Japan following an earthquake and tsunami.

Read the full story from The Wall Street Journal

 

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — July 25, 2014 — Mechanical issues have temporarily sidelined the contentious seismic testing project off Long Beach Island, but more testing may be on the way in August.

A new proposal by the U.S. Geological Survey calls for a 36-gun array, compared with four guns in the LBI effort. The USGS project would send pulses of sound into the sea floor to map the continental shelf and measure potential tsunami hazards.

Seismic testing has been controversial due to potential impacts on marine life and various coastal industries, such as commercial fishing. Even as residents erected lawn signs and state officials vowed to continue fighting the Rutgers project, further seismic testing was approved last week for a large swath of the U.S. Atlantic Coast from Delaware to Florida for oil and gas exploration.

The USGS proposal, currently being reviewed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, would be the third high-profile project to lead to an outcry from local environmental advocates and New Jersey’s boating and fishing industries.

“This is very frustrating because there’s very little time between when we’re supposed to evaluate these proposals and when it’s supposed to start,” said Cindy Zipf, executive director of Clean Ocean Action, which submitted a brief just before the public comment deadline Wednesday. “It’s almost as though these are fait accompli.”

 Read the full story from The Press of Atlantic City

 

ST. AUGUSTINE BEACH, Fla. (AP) — July 18, 2014 — Underwater microphones have picked up blasts from these sonic cannons over distances of thousands of miles, and the constant banging — amplified in water by orders of magnitude — will be impossible for many species to avoid.

Whales and dolphins depend on being able to hear their own much less powerful echolocation to feed, communicate and keep in touch with their family groups across hundreds of miles. Even fish and crabs navigate and communicate by sound, said Grant Gilmore, an expert on fish ecology in Vero Beach, Fla.

"We don't know what the physiological effects are. It could be permanent hearing damage in many of these creatures just by one encounter with a high-energy signal," Gilmore said.

More than 120,000 comments were sent to the government, which spent years developing these rules. The bureau's environmental impact study estimates that more than 138,000 sea creatures could be harmed, including nine of the world's remaining 500 north Atlantic right whales.

These whales give birth and breed off the coast of Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas.

"Once they can't hear — and that's the risk that comes with seismic testing — they are pretty much done for," said Katie Zimmerman, a spokeswoman for the South Carolina Coastal Conservation League based in Charleston, S.C.

"Even if there were oil out there, do we really want that? Do we really want to see these offshore rigs set up?" she asked.

By federal law, scientists can't approach marine mammals without following careful protocols, and yet this decision will pervade their environment with noise pollution that could have a long-term impact on their population, said Scott Kraus, a right whale expert at the John H. Prescott Marine Laboratory in Boston.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Huffington Post

July 22, 2014 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW):

SACRAMENO, Calif. — NOAA Fisheries and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) today jointly released two plans to restore populations of salmon and steelhead in California’s Central Valley: NOAA Fisheries’ Chinook Salmon and Steelhead Recovery Plan and CDFW’s Ecosystem Restoration Program (ERP) Conservation Strategy.

The two plans are complementary in that CDFW’s conservation strategy presents a broader framework for restoring aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems throughout the Central Valley, while the federal recovery plan focuses on the recovery of endangered Sacramento River winter-run Chinook salmon, threatened Central Valley spring-run Chinook salmon, and threatened Central Valley steelhead.

A shared goal of both plans is to remove these species from federal and state lists of endangered and threatened species. The recovery plan provides a detailed road map for how to reach that goal. It lays out a science-based strategy for recovery and identifies the actions necessary to restore healthy salmon and steelhead populations to the Central Valley.

“Establishing clear priority watersheds, fish populations and actions is essential to achieve recovery,” said Maria Rea, NOAA Fisheries Assistant Regional Administrator for California’s Central Valley Office. “Implementation of this plan will depend on many parties working collaboratively to pool resources, expertise and programs to recover Chinook salmon and steelhead populations that are part of California’s natural heritage.“

Recovery plans required by the Endangered Species Act are guidance documents, not regulatory requirements, and their implementation depends on the voluntary cooperation of multiple stakeholders at the local, regional, state and national levels.

“The Sacramento Valley joins together a world-renowned mosaic of natural abundance: productive farmlands, meandering rivers that provide habitat and feed salmon and steelhead, wildlife refuges and managed wetlands, and cities and rural communities,” said David Guy, President of the Northern California Water Association. “The recovery plan is a positive step forward–through efficient management of the region’s water resources, water suppliers throughout the Sacramento Valley will continue to work with our conservation partners to help implement the recovery plan and improve ecological conditions in the Sacramento River for multiple species and habitat values.”

The ERP conservation strategy was developed by CDFW collaboratively with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA Fisheries to help guide environmental restoration and establish adaptive management to improve restoration success in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and its watershed. The approach of conservation strategy is to restore or mimic ecological processes and to improve aquatic and terrestrial habitats to support stable, self-sustaining populations of diverse and valuable species.

“It is critical we make strategic investments in our natural resources,” said Charlton H. Bonham, Director of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. “The funding of these high-priority restoration projects is not only an example of the coordinated effort between state and federal governments, but an example of California’s continued efforts to minimize the effects of drought on fish and wildlife. Central Valley salmon and steelhead deserve nothing less.

California Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr.’s 2014-15 budget provided CDFW with $38 million to implement enhanced salmon monitoring, restore sensitive habitat, improve water infrastructure for wildlife refuges, expand the fisheries restoration grant program, and remove barriers for fish passage. Some of that money will be used on projects recommended by the federal recovery plan.

Dick Pool of the Golden Gate Salmon Association said, “We thank and congratulate the scientists of NOAA Fisheries for their outstanding work in developing the Central Valley Recovery Plan. GGSA and the salmon industry particularly appreciate the fact that the plan includes both short range and long range actions that can reverse the serious salmon and steelhead population declines. GGSA has identified a number of the same projects as needing priority action. We also commend the agency for its diligent efforts to engage the other fishery agencies, the water agencies and the salmon stakeholders in the process. We look forward to assisting in finding ways to get the critical projects implemented.”

The federal recovery plan and state conservation strategy work together as a blueprint of how at-risk species can be restored to sustainable levels.Restoring healthy, viable salmon and steelhead runs will preserve and enhance the commercial, recreational and cultural opportunities for future generations. As the fish populations grow and recover, so too will the economic benefits and long-term fishing opportunities for everyone.

“The Recovery Plan provides a clear framework to better coordinate and align restoration projects in the Delta, the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers and their tributaries to achieve greater conservation outcomes,” said Jay Ziegler, Director of External Affairs and Policy for The Nature Conservancy. “We are pleased to see the integration of multiple habitat values in the Plan including the importance of expanding lateral river movements to enhance floodplain habitat and recognition of the importance of variable flow regimes to benefit multiple species.”

The development of a recovery plan is an important part in the successful rebuilding of a species because it incorporates information from a multitude of interested parties including scientific researchers, stakeholders and the general public. Since 2007, NOAA Fisheries has held 14 public workshops, produced a draft for public comment, and met with strategic stakeholders to guide the plan’s development and ensure a comprehensive and useful document.

CDFW will be investing considerable resources in improving water conservation on public wildlife refuges in the Central Valley and protecting important salmon stocks that contribute to the state’s fishery. The department has also recently released a restoration grant solicitation which includes salmon and steelhead watersheds in the Central Valley. The solicitation can be found here. Applications are being accepted until August 12, 2014.

More on the NOAA Fisheries Recovery Plan and the CDFW Ecosystem Restoration Program

Contact:
Jim Milbury, NOAA Fisheries Communications, (562) 980-4006
Clark Blanchard, CDFW Communications, (916) 651-7824