State and Local

August 9, 2014 — While the federal government continues its process for doling out financial aid to New England’s commercial fishermen in response to the economic disaster, state legislators have secured funding for a Massachusetts seafood marketing program as part of an overall economic development bill.

The economic bill casts a wide net in an attempt to jump-start the state economy, with Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, and state Rep. Ann-Margaret Ferrante, D-Gloucester, taking lead roles in seeking help for the fishing industry.

One such plan is to develop a seafood marketing program. The program, according to Tarr, drew on recommendations from the Special Commission on Seafood Marketing.

The new marketing program plans to increase public knowledge about the benefits of seafood and the economic importance of the fishing industry, while also educating the public about the fisheries and building consumer confidence, branding Massachusetts seafood and creating name recognition and stabilized market prices in the fishing industry.

“Undoubtedly, Massachusetts has its own valued brand of some of the nation’s freshest seafood,” Ferrante said in a prepared statement. “We must now capitalize on our brand and market it nationally and globally to earn the highest value of our seafood. This commission and this plan is one step toward that goal.”

The funds for the program will be administered through the state Division of Marine Fisheries, with $100,00 allocated to fund the program. The bill calls for the head of the DMF, Paul Diodati, to create a steering committee.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

August 8, 2014 — The following was released by The Maine Department of Marine Resources:

The Maine Marine Patrol led a search that involved the Bucksport Police and Fire Departments, the Maine State Police and the US Coast Guard for two people who fell in the Penobscot River at approximately 10:30 Friday morning, both of whom died in the swift current.
 
The boy, Aiden Bulkley, age five of Bangor, was pulled from the water within minutes by Officer Dan Harlan of the Bucksport Police Department and Lieutenant Roderick Charette of the State Police and transported to Eastern Maine Medical Center where medical personnel attempted unsuccessfully to revive him.
 
Aiden’s grandfather, Ronald LaRue, 54 of Mayfield, Kentucky, who jumped in to attempt to save Aiden but was overcome by the current, also died of apparent drowning.
 
According to Maine Marine Patrol reports, the two were fishing on the town pier just upstream of the bridge separating Bucksport and Verona Island when Aiden, who according to family was unable to swim, fell in the water. LaRue jumped in the water and attempted to save his grandson but the current was too strong and the two became quickly separated.
 
A passerby called 911 and Officers Harlan and Charette pulled the boy, who was found approximately 50 feet from shore, between 100 and 200 yards down river from the pier, to shore. The tide at the time of the incident was ebbing.
 
The Maine Marine Patrol received a call at approximately 11:30 and responded with two Patrol vessels, one of which was equipped with side scan sonar for underwater imaging. The Marine Patrol plane also flew over the area as part of the search.
 
LaRue’s body was recovered by a member of the Maine State Dive Team at 1:20pm in approximately the same location where Aiden was found.

August 7, 2014 — The following was released by Bristol Bay United:

On Friday, July 18th, the Environmental Protection Agency issued a proposed determination under section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act to announce potential discharge limits that would apply to efforts to mine the Pebble deposit in Southwest Alaska. EPA took this action because it has substantial evidence that any efforts to mine the deposit would cause unacceptable damage to Bristol Bay’s enormously valuable waters, sockeye salmon fisheries, and subsistence. The action also comes more than four years after Alaska Native tribes and corporations, commercial fishermen, the sportsman community, and many others in Alaska petitioned the agency to protect the region.

Far from a pre-emptive veto, EPA is proposing narrowly-tailored advance restrictions on large scale development of the Pebble deposit, and is basing its action on a substantial body of evidence, including plans submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission by Northern Dynasty Minerals, the sole remaining partner in the Pebble Limited Partnership. Even Northern Dynasty Minerals acknowledges that the EPA’s action is not a pre-emptive veto. Pebble Limited Partnership (PLP) is still free to apply for the required Army Corps of Engineers permit, both as the EPA completes its determination and after, if it can meet these standards which guarantee protections for the Bristol Bay salmon fishery.

Specifically, the EPA is proposing to limit mining of the Pebble deposit if such mining will lead to any of the following criteria:

– Loss of more than 5 miles of salmon-supporting streams
– Loss of more than 19 miles of streams known to feed into salmon-supporting streams
– Loss of more than 1,100 acres of wetlands, ponds, and lakes in the Bristol Bay region

The EPA’s determination follows its twice peer-reviewed Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment (BBWA), which details the risks of potential large-scale hard rock mining to the world’s largest wild sockeye salmon fishery — a $1.5 billion industry that supports 14,000 jobs. The assessment provides ample justification for the EPA’s proposed Clean Water Act action. In the mining scenario on which the EPA ultimately based its regulatory findings (.25 billion tons of ore mined), the assessment found that the Pebble Mine could destroy up to 24 miles of streams and 1,200 acres of wetlands, ponds, and lakes. And Pebble’s waste rock would have to be stored somewhere, and that portion which is potentially acid generating will have to monitored and treated in perpetuity. With its proposed determination, the EPA is taking a conservative approach to ensure the wrong type of mining development will not harm Bristol Bay’s salmon-based economy.

The release of the proposed determination opens up a round of public comments, which will also include in-region hearings during the second week of August. The two public comment periods for the EPA’s Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment drew unprecedented interest, both nationally and in Alaska. More than 75% of the more than 1.1 million comments nationwide were in support of EPA action. In Alaska – a state known for its support of resource development – support for the EPA topped 78%, while comments from the Bristol Bay region were nearly 98% in favor of the EPA. Given the high stakes, we expect the EPA’s proposed determination will draw extensive comments.

Stopping Pebble Mine will create certainty for existing American businesses

The Bristol Bay commercial salmon fishery supports more than 14,000 jobs and $1.5 billion in economic impact. The continued threat of the proposed Pebble Mine – which would likely be North America’s largest open pit mine – has cast a cloud of uncertainty over this fishery for the last decade, denying businesses the confidence they need to make important investment decisions that would create more jobs. Even Senator Lisa Murkowski – typically very pro-development – has voiced frustration with PLP’s years of failed promises to apply for permits.

Instead of working with Alaskans and the EPA to assuage concerns, PLP has instead turned to a legal and political strategy, filing suit in federal court and supporting legislation in Congress to curtail the EPA’s Clean Water Act authority. These efforts will only worsen the economic problems Pebble has already created. By using its well-established Clean Water Act authority, the EPA can and should quickly finish its proposed protections. Doing so will assure the commercial fishermen, sportsmen and lodge owners, and subsistence fishermen who rely on Bristol Bay salmon will not be decimated by Pebble’s development.

Even Pebble’s own supporters acknowledge the tremendous risk of the project. In September 2013, Anglo American, which had invested over $540 million in the project, announced that it was withdrawing from the Pebble Limited Partnership. Though it took a $500 million loss on the project, Anglo American said it wanted to focus on projects with the “highest value and lowest risks.” And earlier this year, Rio Tinto – which owned a 19% stake in now-sole PLP partner Northern Dynasty Minerals – walked away as well, literally gifting its shares to charities.

The EPA has full authority to protect Bristol Bay

Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act allows the EPA Administrator to prohibit, deny, or restrict the discharge of dredged or fill materials into waters of the United States if such discharge “will have an unacceptable adverse effect on municipal water supplies, shellfish beds and fishery areas (including spawning and breeding areas), wildlife, or recreational areas.” EPA may do so “before a permit application has been submitted to the Corps.” Based on the BBWA, the standard for a 404(c) action has already been met and exceeded by EPA, which has taken a step in living up to its Clean Water Act obligations.

Further, in the recent Mingo Logan Coal Company v. EPA case, the U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit, ruled that: "The Congress made plain its intent to grant the [EPA] administrator authority to prohibit/deny/restrict/withdraw a specification at any time.” The decision reaffirms the EPA’s authority to proactively restrict projects even before permits are filed. In fact, in the initial regulations for the Clean Water Act’s 404(c) provision (44 Fed. Reg. 58076, 58077), the EPA recognized that “where possible it is much more preferable to exercise this [§404(c)] authority before the Corps or state has issued a permit…”

The EPA’s science is sound

In its assessment, EPA used publically available information about the Pebble deposit put forward by Northern Dynasty Minerals, as well as reasonable copper mining scenarios in the Bristol Bay region. Through its peer-reviewed science, it is clear that mining on the scale of Pebble simply cannot coexist with a thriving and healthy fishery. In an earlier draft, one peer reviewer said:

“Make no mistake we cannot have both mining and productive salmon stocks in the Bristol Bay watershed. . . As a result of the mining operation, the government will be saddled with a 1000 years (at minimum) of monitoring and maintenance of this closed site.” (Stein)

Northern Dynasty Minerals' own data is the backbone of the EPA Watershed Assessment

Though PLP claims it does not have a mining plan, the EPA based its assessment and subsequent determination on documents publically filed by Northern Dynasty Minerals and PLP's actions put serious doubt its assertion about mine plans. In 2006, the company submitted plans when it applied for water rights with the State of Alaska. In 2011, it submitted a preliminary assessment to the Securities and Exchange Commission to solicit investor support for the project. And, PLP used realistic mining scenarios to release an economic study about the potential economic benefits of the Pebble Mine.

Moreover, as the EPA noted in the executive summary of the BBWA, “Even an environmental assessment of a specific plan proposed for permitting by a mining company would be an assessment of a scenario that would undoubtedly differ from the actual development.” What won’t change are the size, location, and potentially acid-generating type of ore for the Pebble deposit that is squarely located at the headwaters of the world’s most productive wild sockeye salmon fishery. The unique situation in Bristol Bay is a major reason why the EPA took its recent action.

Pebble is a long-term burden for the government and taxpayers

Large-scale hard rock mines almost universally tend to leave pollution legacies that are left to the government and taxpayers to deal with. Former PLP CEO John Shively explained his views on mining pollution last year: “The biggest problems came not during mining, but after… At closure, we will have to have a system for closure, and we will have to have a very substantial amount of money set aside so that if we’re not available to work on closure, the government or someone else can do it.” This is hardly a reassuring promise for the reclamation, monitoring, and water treatment that will be necessary in Bristol Bay.

There is unprecedented support for EPA action

Over 1,000 hunting and fishing groups and businesses, commercial fishermen in Alaska and across the U.S., 26,000 retail food stores, 225 chefs and restaurant owners, over 100 jewelers like Tiffany and Co., religious organizations and leaders, and many others support EPA action to protect Bristol Bay. Polls show that nearly over 60% of Alaskans oppose the Pebble Mine.

The Clean Water Act stands between Bristol Bay and massive mining development

The Pebble Mine will need 67 permits to start mining – 66 from Alaska, and one from the federal government. Alaska has never in the end denied a permit for major resource development and the state is trying to pass legislation that would stack the deck even further in favor of mining proponents.

“We have a good process. We can permit a project like Pebble. It will take more time and more resources and more manpower.” – Ed Fogels, Deputy Commissioner Alaska Dept. of Natural Resources (In Juneau Empire)

The EPA was right to issue proposed protections for Bristol Bay and should move quickly to finalize lasting safeguards that protect Bristol Bay from the Pebble Mine.

 

August 7, 2014 — The following was released by the Maine Department of Marine Resources:

The Maine Department of Marine Resources will hold two public information meetings on aquaculture in Maine’s coastal waters.
 
The meetings will be held August 20 from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm at the Log Cabin at 196 Main Street in Yarmouth and August 28 from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm at the Newcastle Fire Department at 86 River Road in Newcastle.
 
The purpose of the meetings will be to bring together aquaculture experts and the public for information sharing and dialogue.
 
“The aquaculture industry is a growing part of Maine’s working waterfront and its coastal economy” said DMR Policy Development Specialist Chris Vonderweidt. “So we decided to hold these meetings in areas with noteworthy aquaculture activity.”
 
According to DMR harvest reports, the Damariscotta River accounts for approximately 40 percent of the American oysters grown in Maine. “We’re hoping the Yarmouth location will draw people interested in the variety of products being farmed in the Casco Bay area, which include mussels, kelp, oysters, and scallops,” said Vonderweidt.
 
The sessions will begin with brief presentations followed by a question and answer period.
 
Sebastian Belle, Executive Director of the Maine Aquaculture Association will begin the presentations with an overview of the industry. Dana Morse of the University of the Maine Sea Grant Program will highlight current and emerging species and growing techniques. Sarah Gladu, Education Director of the Damariscotta River Association will discuss aquaculture on the Damariscotta River from the perspective of a community supported conservation organization.
 
A diverse panel of sea farmers will join the presenters during the question and answer period. They will include kelp farmer Tollef Olsen of Ocean Approved, mussel farmer Matt Moretti of Bangs Island Mussels, and oyster farmer Jeff “Smokey” McKeen of the Pemaquid Oyster Company.
 
“These sessions will also provide an opportunity for people who are interested in locally grown and harvested seafood to connect with the farmers who grow the products,” said Vonderweidt. 
                                                                                                                                    
For more information on the meetings, contact Chris Vonderweidt at 624-6558.
 

 

August 6, 2014 — The economic growth bill enacted July 31 by the state Legislature includes a seafood marketing program driven by Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, and co-sponsored by Sen Mark Montigny, D-New Bedford.

"The marketing of local seafood will help provide an economic stimulus to an industry that has been decimated by illogical and unfair federal fishing regulations that have crippled our fishing fleet," Montigny said in a news release. "Promotion of locally caught seafood is critically important to the sustainability of an industry that employs thousands of residents and generations of New Bedford families."

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

August 5, 2014 — The New York inspector general's office plans to conclude its two-year probe of a state fisheries regulator "imminently," but fishermen and their advocates awaiting long-promised action say they are losing patience.

Three state legislators from Long Island have written to Inspector General Catherine Leahy Scott, noting that they first requested a probe of the state Department of Environmental Conservation in May 2012, and that "no report has been issued."

"Estimated release dates have come and gone," Assemb. Fred Thiele Jr. (I-Sag Harbor), and state Sens. Kenneth LaValle (R-Port Jefferson) and Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) wrote in June, requesting an update.

Thiele said in an interview that the "virtual silence about the status of this investigation for the last year has been very puzzling. At this point we have no idea when this matter will be concluded. Both the local fishermen and the DEC deserve closure."

Fishermen have told investigators of a broad range of alleged improprieties and impediments to fishing by the DEC, according to interviews with Newsday and a source close to the probe. The fishermen have complained about improper seizures of fish without search warrants, restrictions on transferring fishing permits and moratoriums on new licenses.

Leahy Scott, in a response to the lawmakers, noted her probe "addresses other" issues beyond those raised in Thiele's original complaint.

In addition, she wrote, her office has worked with the DEC closely to "implement corrective action on these broader issues" before releasing the report. She said she expected the investigation and "corrective action" to be concluded "imminently," and that a public report would follow "soon."

Read the full story at Newsday

August 6, 2014 — The following was released by the office of Massachusetts State Senator Bruce Tarr:

BOSTON – On July 31, the Massachusetts legislature enacted H.4377, An Act promoting economic growth across the Commonwealth, which seeks to both stimulate the economy and incentivize job creation.  Contained within the bill is a seafood marketing program first offered by Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester) in a bill filed on December 17, 2013 and co-sponsored by Representative James Cantwell (D-Marshfield), Senator Mark Montigny (D-New Bedford), Representative George Peterson (R-Grafton), Representative Ann-Margaret Ferrante (D-Gloucester) and many other coastal legislators.

With the groundfish industry struggling to remain viable due to increasingly crushing federal regulations, the seafood marketing program will bring a unique opportunity for the state to partner with the industry to increase the value of local catches and promote the viability of the businesses that bring them to market.

“The people that depend on our commercial fisheries are fighting every day for survival against monumental challenges, and our state needs to play an active role in promoting the value and consumption of their harvest,” said Senator Tarr.  “With our fishing industry facing serious challenges to its survival, we need to do everything possible to maximize the value of its catch.  This program will create a powerful partnership between the state and the industry to educate and motivate consumers about the value of Massachusetts seafood, and its diversity and sustainability. By doing so, it can make a difference in keeping the commercial fishing industry alive in our state and strengthening it for the future.”
 
“The economic significance of this legislation is underscored by the number of people who are employed in our Massachusetts seafood industry,” added Representative Cantwell, Co-Chair with Senator Tarr of the Legislative Costal Caucus.  “In 2012, Massachusetts had some 624 fishing boats up and down the Commonwealth’s coast; that’s 624 small businesses striving to succeed, feeding our communities, and employing over 3,000 people as crew members.  From there, the economic activity increases immensely as fish is processed in plants and sent to wholesalers, which account for more than 5,000 additional employees.   After that, through retail and food-service sales, including restaurants and markets big and small, commercial fishing has a hand in either creating or supporting the need for another roughly 20,000 employees.”
 
Continued Cantwell,   “A properly organized seafood marketing program will both promote the health benefits of eating seafood and brand our Massachusetts harvested products, so Massachusetts Fresh Seafood will be as recognized and sought after as Florida Oranges, Vermont Maple Syrup, Georgia Peaches, and Napa Valley Wine.”
 
The program draws from the recommendations of a report authored by the Special Commission on Seafood Marketing.  Tarr, who served on the commission with Senator Montigny and Representatives Cantwell and Peterson, worked closely with the commission members and other legislators to bring the program to fruition.  The goals of the seafood marketing program include:
 
– Increasing the public’s knowledge about the health benefits of eating seafood and the economic importance of the Commonwealth’s fishing industry;
 
– Educating the public on fisheries resources, management and commercial fishing to build consumer confidence;
 
– Creating name recognition and increasing consumer demand and preference for Commonwealth seafood products;
 
– Stabilizing market prices through the promotion of the Commonwealth seafood products in low consumer demand or when the supply of said products is high;
 
– Developing a variety of promotional and educational tools and strategies to achieve the program’s purpose and objectives; and
 
– Identifying a range of sources and mechanisms to fund program activities and to increase the scope of program outreach to the public and other stakeholders.
 
“Undoubtedly, Massachusetts has its own valued brand of some of the nation’s freshest seafood. We must now capitalize on our brand and market it nationally and globally to earn the highest value for our seafood. This Commission and this plan is one step toward that goal,” said Representative Ferrante.
 
“The marketing of local seafood will help provide an economic stimulus to an industry that has been decimated by illogical and unfair federal fishing regulations that have crippled our fishing fleet. Promotion of locally caught seafood is critically important to the sustainability of an industry that employs thousands of residents and generations of New Bedford families,” said Senator Montigny.
 
The Seafood Marketing Program also creates a permanent steering committee to assist the Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) in the administration of the program.  The committee will include representatives of wholesale seafood dealers, seafood retail businesses, seafood restaurant businesses, fishing industry advocacy organizations, and the commercial fishing/harvesting industry, including representatives of the lobster, scallop and wild caught shellfish industries.
 
In addition, the measure also establishes the Massachusetts Seafood Marketing Program Fund to be administered by the DMF.  This fund will be used to help provide ongoing financial support for the administration of the Massachusetts Seafood Marketing Program.

Read the release here

August 4, 2014 — Commercial harvests of wild Alaska salmon reached some 82,335,000 fish through July 29, including nearly 30 million fish from Prince William Sound.

The statewide preliminary count compiled by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, included 39,966,000 sockeye, 34,244,000 humpies, 6,702,000 chum, 1,032,000 silver and 392,000 Chinook salmon. That was an overall boost of more than 10 million salmon in one week.

The Copper River drift district's catch reached 2,099,000 fish, including 2,039,000 reds, 43,000 chum, 10,000 king, 6,000 pink and 1,000 silver salmon.

Prices for the famed Copper River reds continued to hold at $77.94 for one whole fish or $19.99 a pound for fillets at the Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle. Online prices of frozen Copper River king fillets at FishEx in Anchorage were $33.71 a pound, while Copper River red fillets were $29.95 a pound.

Costco warehouse stores in Anchorage meanwhile offered customers fresh wild sockeye fillets from other Alaska fisheries for $9.95 a pound, while Fred Meyer stores advertised fresh wild Alaska sockeye salmon fillets for $11.99 a pound.

Read the full story from The Cordova Times

August 5, 2014 — It was a week of ups and downs for commercial fishermen in Suffolk County.

Just one day after the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation took back a controversial quota on porgy, the Suffolk County Legislature agreed to consider legal action on behalf of the commercial fishing industry.

According to Legislator Jay Schneiderman, the way the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission determine New York State’s fishing quotas is a “discriminatory practice” and it needs to change to put New York’s fisheries on equal footing.

“New York fisheries fish in the same waters as Connecticut and New Jersey, yet they take out far less per boat than other areas,” Mr. Schneiderman said. “An equalized quota or allocation won’t mean more fish get taken out, they’d be distributed evenly. Other areas will go down and we’ll go up, but that is what is fair.”

Quotas for New York are determined by the “box method,” where the amount of fish caught in one season—upon which the following season’s quota is based—is estimated based on how many boxes of fish, usually summer flounder, there are. Other species like porgy, sea bass and bluefish are also counted this way, according to Emerson Hasbrouck of Cornell University Cooperative Extension.

Instead of using the “weigh-out” system like other states to get a more accurate count, New York fisheries seem to be at a disadvantage, Mr. Hasbrouck said.

Read the full story from The East Hampton Press

August 5, 2014 — Louisiana Fisheries Forward (LFF) is a voluntary educational program for members of the commercial seafood community.

Louisiana Fisheries Forward (LFF) is a voluntary educational program for members of the commercial seafood community. A collaboration of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) and Louisiana Sea Grant College Program at LSU (Sea Grant), LFF was established with the goal of improving the economic success of Louisiana's commercial fishing industry.

LFF provides a structured mechanism to develop and deliver, over a three-year period, relevant and timely information to the seafood industry. Content is presented via the Internet, using training videos and fact sheets, and directly to communities with hands-on workshops, training days and demonstration projects that showcase new technology and best practice methods.

"Louisiana Fisheries Forward is about establishing a method to communicate important information to our commercial seafood community," said Robert Barham, secretary, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. "This communication will help our fishermen, dealers and processors stay abreast of global trends, new equipment, handling practices, technology and rapidly evolving regulations. This program will help our seasoned veterans as well as newcomers to the industry improve their already high-quality Louisiana seafood, and help them take their product to the next level."

Read the full story at KATC