State and Local

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — January 29, 2014 — The following was released by the Ocean Explorium:

Global Voice returns to the Ocean Explorium on Wednesday, February 5 with Ann Parson, Science Journalist, presenting "On Stem Cells, Supersonic Flight and Other Destinations".

Ms. Parsons will share interesting facts and insights gained from more than thirty years' writing on a variety of subjects.  The author of several books and numerous articles for scientific journals as well as mainstream publications, Ms. Parson will address a broad range of topics, including the current push to find new drugs to treat Alzheimer's Disease and the coming-of-age of stem cells and cell-based medicine.

Ms. Parson will also share what she has learned through her research into the technologies that helped bring about GPS as well as supersonic flight; and the emergence, in the 19th century, of the field of natural history.  Ms. Parson is a gifted translator of the languages of science, making the arcane clear for the lay reader.  The Ocean Explorium is pleased to welcome Ann Parson to Global Voice, the evening speaker series for learners of all ages.

Read the full release from the Ocean Explorium

January 29, 2014 — Little Neck Bay is still awash in stormy sewage.

Even though the city has pumped a whopping $142 million into blocking crud from the bay, pollution continues to taint the water, residents said Monday.

Scummy storm runoff from nearby streets and front yards continues to plague the area where people fish and swim.

“Storm water is still running off the land and storm water carries everything with it into the water,” said William Nieter, a professor of environmental studies at St. John’s University and a board member at the nearby Alley Pond Environmental Center.

Read the full story at the New York Daily News 

 

 

AUGUSTA, Maine — January 28, 2014 — The Maine Senate voted along party lines Tuesday to sustain Republican Gov. Paul LePage’s veto of a bill that would have encouraged schools and state government agencies to purchase locally produced food.

With a 20-13 vote, majority Democrats in favor of the bill fell two votes short of the 22 needed to pass the bill over the governor’s objection. Veto overrides require two-thirds approval of each legislative chamber’s present voting members. Sens. David Burns, R-Whiting, and John Tuttle, D-Sanford, both were absent for Tuesday’s vote.

The House voted 94-46 to override the veto two weeks ago.

The bill, LD 1254, was sponsored by Rep. Craig Hickman, D-Winthrop. It would have required schools and state agencies to ramp up how much Maine-produced food they purchase between now and 2035, unless they vote to opt out of the requirement. The bill passed last year in the House by a vote of 101-42, then won unanimous support in the Senate.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

January 29, 2014 — Paul J. Diodati knew he was venturing into something of a maelstrom when he traveled to Gloucester on Monday night to listen to the concerns of local fishermen and stakeholders, while offering some fashion of a state of the state fisheries assessment at the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries offices on Emerson Avenue.

“Gloucester is the epicenter of the hardworking groundfish fleet,” Diodati said after the meeting, which was attended by about 40 fishermen, as well as state Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr and state Rep. Ann-Margaret Ferrante. “It’s also the center of the independent nature that comes from being a fishermen. This is where the family tradition of fishing comes from.”

But Diodati noticed a difference Monday night within the ranks of Gloucester stakeholders: The proximity to the true depths of the crisis seems to have stripped away the lingering communal desire to stay mired in an unceasing debate over the evil quality of federal regulations and propelled local stakeholders to a new and singular focus on developing a survival plan for the industry before it’s too late.

“There wasn’t really any discussion on how bad the regulations have been,” Diodati said in a follow-up interview yesterday. “They’re so far beyond that. They’re at the point of how are we going to survive and who will remain and who can be healed.”

Read the full story from the Gloucester Daily Times

AUGUSTA, Maine — January 29, 2014 — The Maine Indian Tribal-State Commission is urging the state and tribes to work together to meet conservation goals for the lucrative elvers fishery without harming tribal rights.

The commission wants the Legislature's Marine Resources Committee, which meets Wednesday, to reject a bill that would invalidate tribal elver fishing licenses unless they're approved by the state. The Maine Department of Marine Resources is backing the emergency legislation.

Read the full story at WLBZ 2

 

 

January 28, 2014 — There's a new program to help Louisiana shrimpers upgrade or purchase equipment.

The shrimp refrigeration cost-share program provides eligible shrimp-vessel owners, docks and processors half the cost of refrigeration equipment for their businesses.

The program is part of the Louisiana Wild Seafood Certification Program, which aims to produce higher quality products by bolstering handling practices and other professional development.

The program began in October 2012 and now has more than 100 participants according to Jason Froeba, biologist director for Louisiana's Wildlife and Fisheries.

The goal is to certify seafood origin and improve the quality and production of Louisiana shrimp, Froeba said.

The cost-share program is available to all shrimpers licensed in the state. It's also available to processors and dock owners participating in the certification program.

Read the full story at the Houma Courrier

 

 

January 28, 2014 — An oyster farm at Point Reyes National Seashore can stay open while its owner makes a last-ditch attempt to get the U.S. Supreme Court to extend its lease in waters that Congress has designated as a marine wilderness.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the federal government's refusal to renew the lease of Drakes Bay Oyster Co., but on Monday it granted the company a 90-day stay to allow time for a Supreme Court appeal. The high court could grant further extensions while it decides whether to take up the case.

Drakes Bay operates California's only oyster cannery. Its owner, Kevin Lunny, bought the company in 2005, seven years before the scheduled expiration of a 40-year lease in federal waters.

A 1976 federal law set aside 2,500 acres of offshore land, including the oyster farm, as a wilderness area free of commercial activity once the lease expired.

 

Read the full story at The San Francisco Chronicle 

 

January 27, 2014 — The Maine Department of Marine Resources has implemented new conservation closure rules for scallops in Cobscook Bay and the St. Croix River.

The new measures, implemented through emergency rulemaking, went into effect Friday. They come about a week after the agency imposed other restrictions on harvesting scallops that included closures in six other parts of the state, according to the Bangor Daily News. The new measures, announced by DMR Commissioner Patrick Keliher are short term and will allow fishermen to harvest scallops in Cobscook Bay and the St. Croix River three days a week. However, the season still may be shortened, the newspaper reported.

Read the full story here

January 25, 2014 — Calling all lobstermen who want to star in a reality TV show!

A New York-based multimedia firm headed by “Today” show weather anchor Al Roker is seeking to develop a new reality or documentary TV show that would showcase lobster fishermen in Maine.

“We’re seeking tough, active lobstermen: you could be a family who’s been fishing for generations [or] a new, hard-nosed skipper striking out on your own,” an announcement issued this week by the firm stated.

Jason Watt, executive producer and owner of Watt Pictures and a partner with Al Roker Entertainment, said Roker’s company is in the process of developing a “pitch package” for the proposed show to take to potential network partners. Some talks with networks already have been held, he said Friday. The pitch package would identify prospective people and locations to be featured in the show and also include some edited video footage, among other things.

“It’s something we’re passionate about,” said Watt, speaking by phone from Brooklyn, N.Y. Lobster fishing is an “untold part of the American story,” he said. “We’re excited about the opportunity to dig in and start telling it.”

The idea may be pitched to network officials as early as February, he said. Potential network partners include the History Channel, Discovery Channel and A&E.

If the reality TV show comes to fruition, “it would be a boost to tourism and to Maine’s lobster industry,” said Vaughn Stinson, chief executive officer of the Maine Tourism Association.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

DURHAN, N.H. — January 27, 2014 — Amid a surge in commercial aquaculture across the Great Bay region, one group is planning the first-ever recreational oyster farm.

Joe King's Oyster Cooperative plans to grow American oysters in a one-acre plot north of Adams Point in Durham. Its owners plan to eat oysters they produce instead of selling them.

“We are basically four or five guys on a basketball team who decided to do this together as a fun project because several of us love eating oysters and we tend to like each other's company,” said Ralph Jimenez, 66, of Concord, who is a principal in the oyster cooperative.

The proposal is one of two coming before the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department for review on Feb. 11. The meeting will be held at the agency's Durham office.

Bayside Oysters Farm LLC, which would operate on about 2.5-acres in waters off Newington, is the other. University of New Hampshire graduate student Jonathan Bunker plans to produce American oyster and possibly hard and soft-shell clams at the site, according to his application. Attempts to reach him for comment were not successful.

Read the full story at Foster's Daily Democrat