Saving Seafood

Management & Regulation

BOEM Approves Construction and Operations Plan for Atlantic Shores South Offshore Wind Projects

October 1, 2024 — The following was released by BOEM:

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) today announced its approval of the Atlantic Shores South project plan to construct and operate two wind energy facilities, furthering the Biden-Harris administration’s goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy capacity by 2030. This is the final approval needed from BOEM following the Department of the Interior’s July 2024 Record of Decision.

“The Biden-Harris administration is dedicated to advancing responsible offshore wind energy projects like Atlantic Shores South Wind, which will create good-paying jobs and drive economic growth, while combatting the climate crisis and making our communities more resilient,” said BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein. “I am proud to announce BOEM’s final approval of Atlantic Shores South Offshore Wind Projects 1 and 2, which have the potential to generate up to 2,800 megawatts of clean, renewable energy—enough to power nearly one million homes.”

Subsequent to the Record of Decision, the original lease was divided into two separate leases, both approximately 8.7 miles offshore New Jersey at their closest points. The approved construction and operations plan includes up to 197 total locations for wind turbine generators, offshore substations, and a meteorological tower, with subsea transmission cables potentially making landfall in Atlantic City and Sea Girt, providing clean electricity to the New Jersey grid.

BOEM incorporated important feedback from Tribes, government agencies, ocean users, and other interested parties prior to making this approval decision. The feedback resulted in required measures to avoid, minimize, or mitigate any potential impacts from the project on marine life and other important ocean uses, such as fishing.

Under the Biden-Harris administration, the Department of the Interior has approved more than 15 gigawatts of clean energy from ten offshore wind projects, enough to power nearly 5.25 million homes. It has also held five offshore wind lease auctions, including a record-breaking sale offshore New York and New Jersey and the first-ever sales offshore the Pacific and Gulf of Mexico coasts. Earlier this year, Secretary Haaland announced a schedule of potential additional lease sales through 2028.

For more information about the Atlantic Shores South project, visit BOEM’s website.

$4 Million Awarded for Marine Mammal Rescue Efforts through Prescott Grant Program

October 1, 2024 — NOAA Fisheries recommended awarding 37 grants, totaling more than $4 million, through the John H. Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue and Assistance Grant Program to our partners in 16 states.

Grants Awarded

Recommended recipients are from the Marine Mammal Stranding and Entanglement Response Networks, including collaborators specializing in marine mammal health. Regional breakdown of those recommended for funding include:

  • Alaska: 2 awards (total $207,206)
  • Greater Atlantic: 8 awards (total $916,414)
  • Pacific Islands: 2 awards (total $174,772)
  • Southeast: 7 awards (total $703,291)
  • West Coast: 11 awards (total $1,301,179)
  • National collaboration and service projects across the regions: 7 awards (total $766,866)

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries 

Federal permit for massive Alaska gold mine fails in court challenge

October 1, 2024 — A federal judge on Monday ruled that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Land Management should have considered a far more catastrophic spill of chemical tailings before approving the Donlin Gold Project in Alaska.

Chief U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason agreed with a group of Native American communities, who challenged a final environmental impact statement that the two federal agencies prepared and that only looked at the possibility of a failure involving 0.5% of the total capacity of the 2,351-acre tailings storage facility to be constructed as part of the mining operation.

“The court finds that federal defendants violated [the National Environmental Policy Act] by failing to consider a larger tailings spill and by characterizing a catastrophic spill as a ‘worst case’ and declining to assess such a scenario on that basis,” Gleason wrote. “A spill of more than 0.5% of the tailings volume is reasonably foreseeable because a person of ordinary prudence would take one into account in reaching a decision.”

The judge didn’t agree that the final environmental impact statement fell short in evaluating the project’s potential impact on human health or the impact of river barges on rainbow smelt subsistence fisheries, as the plaintiffs argued, but agreed with them that it violated the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act by not considering the possible impact of a larger tailings spill on subsistence resources.

Read the full article at the Courthouse News Service

Lawmakers seek pause in offshore wind energy amid whale deaths

September 30, 2024 — House lawmakers are seeking a pause in offshore wind energy projects amid a string of whale deaths along the coasts of Maryland, New York, New Jersey and Maine. [FoxNews]

Last week, a deceased whale beached off Maryland’s coast, the second whale carcass discovered in the area in three weeks. In 2023, 37 humpback whales carcasses were discovered along the East Coast.

While a definite cause of death could not be determined, wind-energy proponents continue to argue the deaths have nothing to do with offshore wind farms.

Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.) hosted a public hearing in August in which experts testified about the danger installing wind turbines poses marine wildlife. Harris called for an end to offshore wind energy in Maryland.

Read the full article at CalCoastNews.com

Death toll rises from Helene while supplies are rushed to North Carolina and Florida digs out

September 30, 2024 — Authorities struggled to get water and other supplies to isolated, flood-stricken areas across the U.S. Southeast in the wake of Hurricane Helene as the death toll from the storm rose to nearly 100.

A North Carolina county that includes the mountain city of Asheville reported 30 people killed due to the storm, and several other fatalities reported in North Carolina Sunday pushed the overall death toll to at least 91 people across several states.

Supplies were being airlifted to the region around the isolated city. Buncombe County Manager Avril Pinder pledged that she would have food and water into Ashville — which is known for its arts, culture and natural attractions — by Monday.

“We hear you. We need food and we need water,” Pinder said on a Sunday call with reporters. “My staff has been making every request possible to the state for support and we’ve been working with every single organization that has reached out. What I promise you is that we are very close.”

Read the full article at The Associated Press

Nantucket group appeals to Supreme Court to end offshore wind projects and protect endangered whales

September 30, 2024 — A group of Nantucket, Massachusetts, residents are appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court in their challenge to the industrialization of parts of the Atlantic Ocean, where they say offshore wind farms – developed with the blessing of the federal government – are putting an endangered whale species at risk.

The group, Nantucket Residents Against Turbines, argues in its petition to the high court that “the federal government has lost sight of its statutory obligations to conserve endangered species that will be directly affected by the construction of thousands of wind turbines in the Atlantic Ocean.”

They argue that the federal agencies that authorized the leasing of the water area to wind turbine companies excluded certain data in their analysis to the benefit of offshore wind development.

“Despite the agencies’ explicit statutory duty to consider all ‘best information available,’ regarding the impacts its actions might have on an endangered or threatened species and those habitats, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), did not consider the cumulative impacts of other planned projects when they authorized and issued permits to construct the Vineyard Wind 1 Project.”

Read the full article at Fox News

‘It’s still crisis mode’: Will Bering Sea snow crabbing season be canceled for third straight year?

September 30, 2024 — As the Pacific Northwest’s crabbing crisis continues, scientists are still working to determine if this year’s snow crabbing season will be canceled for a third straight year. 

“The reality of the situation is that until we see more recruitment into that large male size class that the fishery targets, it seems in conversations that the industry is preparing for closure,” said Erin Fedewa, a scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Fedewa studies the species and collects population data that will eventually help determine the quantity crabbers can catch annually. However, the last five years have brought quite a few changes.

In 2019, there were record-high snow crabs in the Bering Sea and industry-wide optimism. In 2020, the annual survey was canceled, so no one knew the status of the crabs. Then, when Fedewa and her team returned to count the population in 2021, millions of crabs seemingly vanished.

What caused the swift decline?

Scientists at NOAA have since identified the main reason for the collapse as “an ecological shift from Arctic to sub-Arctic conditions in the southeastern Bering Sea due to human-caused climate change.”

It was discovered that the warmer water temperatures didn’t immediately kill the crabs, but when the waters got too warm, their metabolism increased. There wasn’t enough food to keep up with their caloric demand.

In addition to temperature changes, the team at NOAA noted other factors that indicate a shift from an Arctic to a sub-Arctic regime. They found a decline in sea ice and an increase in snow crab predators, a disease known to kill snow crabs, and areas of spring algal blooms.

The study also confirmed scientists’ initial beliefs that the population decline was not due to overfishing as the level of mortality was too high.

Read the full article at ABC 10

ALASKA: NOAA Fisheries Releases 2024 Alaska Aquaculture Accomplishments Report

September 30, 2024 — In 2024, the NOAA Alaska Regional Office and the Alaska Fisheries Science Center continued supporting Alaska’s aquaculture industry.

Aquaculture, the process of growing organisms in the ocean, is a relatively young commercial industry that is poised for rapid growth in Alaska. Alaska’s aquaculture industry consists of seaweed and invertebrate farming, with oysters, mussels, sugar, ribbon, and bull kelp being the primary species grown in the state. The NOAA Fisheries Alaska Region Aquaculture Program engaged in projects to support the sustainable development of Alaska’s aquaculture industry. They are outlined in NOAA’s 2024 Aquaculture Accomplishments Report.

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries 

Scientists raise concerns about ancient fish species following onslaught of extreme weather: ‘They’re not invincible’

September 30, 2024 — With their spiky armor and snouts full of whiskers, Gulf sturgeon have been around since the time of the dinosaurs. But human-driven threats are pushing this Florida-native species to the brink, WUSF reports.

What’s happening?

These fish, which are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, face a slew of threats. Pollution has expanded in the Suwannee River, one of the waterways where they live. Plus, hurricanes and flooding can worsen chemical runoff and create oxygen “dead zones” that make it impossible for the sturgeon to breathe. For instance, scientists reported “tremendous” mortality in several Florida rivers with Hurricanes Irma in 2017 and Ivan in 2004, and they’re still waiting to assess the impacts of August 2024’s Hurricane Debby, which rose water levels by 20 feet along the Suwannee. This rise threatened to spill more fertilizers, salts, and other nutrients into this fish’s habitat. Meanwhile, a warming world is causing fluctuations in water levels, which can make it difficult or impossible for sturgeon to reach their spawning grounds.

According to WUSF, scientists say that “Florida’s prehistoric fish are surviving as they have for eons … But they’re not invincible.”

Read the full article at The Cool Down

ALASKA: After years-long delay, Alaska receives USD 277 million in fishery disasters relief

September 30, 2024 – NOAA Fisheries has announced it will be providing USD 277 million (EUR 248 million) in financial relief in response to several fishery disasters.

“I’m glad to see this significant batch of federal relief dollars finally being distributed to our hardworking fishermen and coastal communities,” U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) said. “These Alaskans should never have had to wait this long to see this relief processed – a frustration I raised with Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and NOAA Fisheries Director Janet Coit on numerous occasions in recent months.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource