April 4, 2024 — Fishermen in New York and Vermont have filed a lawsuit against President Biden and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) challenging a ban on commercial fishing in the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, as well as the unlawful creation of the monument itself.
Two Mass-based offshore wind farms clear biggest federal hurdle
April 4, 2024 –Two wind farms bidding for a contract in Massachusetts have cleared a major federal hurdle by receiving a favorable Record of Decision, a combined approval by agencies responsible for ocean energy, marine fisheries, and waterways engineering.
The projects are New England Wind 1 and 2, formerly called Park City Wind and Commonwealth Wind. Both are owned by Avangrid and are covered by a single decision.
Although the projects need additional federal permits, the decision announced Tuesday is considered the primary approval from the Biden administration, said Ken Kimmell, Avangrid’s chief development officer for offshore wind.
CAL’s Dean Pinkert calls on US shrimp buyers to investigate their Indian supply chains
April 4, 2024 — Dean Pinkert joined the Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.-based Corporate Accountability Lab, a non-governmental organization dedicated to advancing global human rights and environmental sustainability, as a special advisor in November 2021. He was one of the authors of “Hidden Harvest: Human Rights and Environmental Abuses in India’s Shrimp Industry,” a report released 20 March that presented evidence of labor issues at Indian shrimp hatcheries, farms, peeling sheds, and processing plants, as well as mangrove destruction and water contamination from shrimp farm effluent.
SeafoodSource: Why did CAL decide to do such an in-depth investigation of India’s shrimp industry?
Pinkert: Forced labor is very close to the heart of CAL’s mission. We style ourselves as a human rights organization and also an organization that is interested in fostering a sustainable environment. So, when we became aware of the possibility that there were forced labor issues in India’s shrimp industry, we started to look very seriously into that.
I think that you also have to at least understand one piece of context, which is that the shrimp industries in other countries, [including] Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Thailand, and Vietnam, have previously faced a lot of criticism from human rights groups and investigative activities focused on labor abuses, including forced labor, but India had not. When there’s forced labor or environmental abuses in an industry and it looks like CAL can add value because those issues haven’t been fully investigated by human rights groups in the past, CAL is going to jump in and do it.
OREGON: Fish out of water story ends with 77,000 young salmon in the wrong water
April 4, 2024 — First, the good news. When a 53-foot fish tanker truck crashed and rolled upside down on an embankment next to a creek in northeast Oregon, its driver suffered only minor injuries. And as the truck came to a rest, its tank settled downhill, next to the water.
That last detail was crucial for the truck’s cargo: some 102,000 spring Chinook smolts, or young salmon, that had been raised in a hatchery. The truck overturned on a twisting road that mirrors Lookingglass Creek — and some 77,000 fish made it from the tanker into the creek’s fresh, inviting water, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
But there is also bad news: 25,529 smolts died, recovered from the tanker and the bank of the creek. And the fish that survived are now living in the wrong waterway.
The fish had been raised at Lookingglass Hatchery to give a population boost to wild salmon in the Imnaha River, around 90 miles to the east.
ASMFC Atlantic Herring Days Out Meeting Scheduled for April 24, 1 – 2:30 PM
NEW JERSEY: Research Funding Addresses Offshore Wind Impact on Marine Ecosystems
April 4, 2024 — State environmental officials and utility regulators announced plans last week for their coordinated Offshore Wind Research and Monitoring Initiative, earmarking nearly $3.7 million in funding for research projects that will help ensure ecologically responsible development of offshore wind.
“As we continue to pursue a 100% clean energy economy by 2035, it’s imperative that we not only protect the interests of our ratepayers but safeguard the vitality of our marine ecosystems as well,” said Christine Guhl-Sadovy, president of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. “The Research Monitoring Initiative is a crucial piece of our comprehensive efforts to responsibly develop New Jersey’s nation-leading offshore wind industry.”
The bulk of the monies awarded is to expand the bat and bird tracking system, according to N.J. Department of Environmental Protection and Board of Public Utilities officials. The collaborative effort is being led by the American Bird Conservancy with $1.3 million to grow the existing regional network, which tracks radio-tagged birds and bats, officials said.
“This funding will result in the deployment and maintenance of 10 new land based Motus receiver stations and 10 ocean buoy stations as part of the Motus Wildlife Tracking System in strategic locations throughout New Jersey and offshore,” state officials said. “The expansion will improve regional network coverage and provide baseline data to aid researchers in assessing species migration routes to and through New Jersey airspace and offshore wind lease areas.”
BOEM Approves Eighth Offshore Wind Farm Surpassing Third of U.S. Goal
April 3, 2024 — Regulatory efforts continue to accelerate pushing forward with the plans to develop the U.S. offshore wind energy sector. The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management approved the eighth large offshore wind farm for the U.S. surpassing 10 GW of approved capacity and the ability to power nearly 4 million homes.
The federal Record of Decision was issued to Avangrid, a member of the Iberdrola Group, for its two-phase New England Wind project. The decision comes a little over a month after BOEM completed the final Environmental Impact Statement for the project. The final step in the federal process is anticipated for July 2024 with the approval of its Construction and Operations Plan.
The proposal calls for the development of a project comprising 129 wind turbines, with up to five offshore export cables. They are proposing to bring the power ashore in Barnstable and Bristol County, Massachusetts. Last week, Avangrid submitted proposals in the coordinated wind solicitation between Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. The states plan to announce the selected projects in August with Avangrid highlighting that New England Wind is an advanced project and “shovel-ready” set to proceed quickly once the approvals are in place
Petition to open California MPAs for swordfishing
April 3, 2024 — Blake Herman harpoons swordfish off the coast of southern California and hopes to gain access to the state’s Marine Protected Areas off Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara Islands. When the California Fish & Game Department offered stakeholders the opportunity to petition for regulatory changes, Herman submitted a petition to open three MPAs for pelagic fishing.
“If you read the original statements from back in the early 2000s when these MPAs were established, it says very clearly that the MPAs are intended to protect groundfish, and rockfish,” said Herman. “They said back then that these would not affect pelagics.”
While Herman believes the rationale for protecting rockfish is sound, he hopes his 36-page petition will convince state regulators that it is equally sensible to allow fishing for pelagic species such as swordfish and bluefin tuna. “A rockfish lives on the bottom and can spend its life in a small area, but swordfish come from Hawaii to here and go back again,” he said.
Right whale found dead off Virginia coast recently gave birth to calf, experts say
April 3, 2024 — A critically endangered North Atlantic right whale was found dead off the coast of Virginia on Saturday, and her calf is missing, unlikely to survive without her, officials said.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Tuesday confirmed the identity of the dead whale, female #1950, which was found floating approximately 50 miles offshore Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia. The whale has been known to researchers since 1989, and gave birth to her sixth calf during the 2024 calving season.
NOAA Fisheries said the whale was towed to shore for a necropsy, which will be led by scientists at the University of North Carolina Wilmington alongside other organizations, to determine her cause of death. The carcass showed signs of shark scavenging.
According to NOAA Fisheries, female #1950 is the 40th mortality in the ongoing Unusual Mortality Event impacting North Atlantic right whales. the UME was declared in 2017, and includes 40 dead, 34 seriously injured, and 51 sublethally injured or ill whales. The agency said most were killed or injured by entanglements in fishing gear and vessel strikes in both U.S. and Canadian waters.
USDA seeking to buy more than 5.7 million pounds of Alaska pollock nuggets, other frozen fish
April 3, 2024 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture wants to buy 5.7 million pounds of frozen Alaska pollock nuggets as well as 35,300 pounds of various frozen fish fillets.
The department released the solicitation 1 April 2024 and has set a due date of 15 April for all bids. The government said awards will be announced by 29 April.
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