State and Local

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — January 21, 2014 — The following was released by Commercial Fishermen for Bristol Bay:

Commercial fishermen from across Alaska and the United States are extremely thankful for Alaska Senator Mark Begich’s leadership in protecting the jobs and salmon resources of the Bristol Bay region by opposing the Pebble Mine. After examining the science in the EPA’s final Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment, Sen. Begich called the Pebble Mine the "Wrong mine, wrong place, too big… Too many potential long-term impacts to a fishery that is pretty critical to that area but also to Alaska, to world markets."

Bob Waldrop, Executive Director for the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association, made the following statement regarding Sen. Begich’s announcement:

“Senator Begich is standing up for the commercial fishery of Bristol Bay. He deserves our thanks and praise for opposing a project that eradicates up to 94 miles of salmon streams. He has clearly listened to the concerns of commercial fishermen and carefully reviewed the EPA’s extensive scientific report in coming to this critical decision. As the EPA’s Watershed Assessment confirmed, the Pebble Mine alone could destroy the 14,000 jobs and $1.5 billion economy associated with Bristol Bay’s commercial fishery. By opposing the Pebble Mine, Senator Begich is standing up for Alaskan jobs and protecting a way of life for fishermen across Alaska."

OLYMPIA, Wash. -– January 18, 2014 — Last year’s ballot battle over genetically modified food got a rerun in a legislative committee Friday as some fishing groups called for a ban on re-engineered salmon and others said the idea was unnecessary fear-mongering.

The House Agriculture Committee considered but did not vote on HB 214, which would also require any genetically modified salmon sold in Washington stores to be labeled.

Rep. Cary Condotta, R-East Wenatchee, the bill’s sponsor, said it was narrower than Initiative 522, which would have required many genetically modified foods to be labeled if it passed last year. It failed but got about 49 percent of the vote.

Read the full story at the Spokane Spokesman-Review

OLYMPIA, Wash., — January 17, 2014 — The following was released by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife:

The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission is seeking public comments on a revised draft policy to improve salmon management in Grays Harbor.

The revised draft policy includes new provisions recently proposed by the commission to conserve wild salmon runs, clarify catch allocation, and reduce conflicts between sport and commercial fishers in the harbor.

The commission, a citizen panel that sets policy for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), added the new provisions during a public meeting attended by more than 150 fishers Jan. 10-11 in Tumwater.

Ron Warren, deputy assistant director of WDFW's Fish Program, thanked the commission for adding provisions he said would provide the department with clear direction for setting future seasons for non-tribal salmon fisheries in Grays Harbor.

"We need to focus on conserving and restoring the salmon runs in the Grays Harbor Basin," Warren said.

The revised policy, scheduled for a vote by the commission at a meeting Feb. 7-8, is available at http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/fisheries/grays_harbor_salmon/

Read the full press release here

DURHAM, N.H. — January 17, 2014 — The State of New Hampshire has been notified by the National Marine Fisheries Service of four vacancies for the New England Fishery Management Council's at-large seats, one of which is currently held by Peter Kendall of New Hampshire.

To assist in filling these vacancies, the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department's Marine Fisheries Division will host a candidates' interview night on Tuesday, February 12, at 7:00 p.m., at the Urban Forestry Center in Portsmouth, N.H.

Potential candidates must be prepared to present their qualifications at the session. Interested candidates should contact Doug Grout, Chief of Marine Fisheries for the N.H. Fish and Game Department, at (603) 868-1095.

Read the full story at NewHampshire.com

 

WHITING, Maine — January 17, 2014 —  State officials met with fishermen on Friday to warn them of impending emergency action to reduce dragging and diving for scallops.

The meeting in the Whiting Community Center was standing room only, with about 100 fishermen present. They did not take the news well, and at times there were testy exchanges between fishermen and Patrick Keliher, commissioner of the state Department of Marine Resources.

Fishermen, who are enjoying record high prices at about $12-13 per pound, already have harvested 278,100 pounds of scallops from Cobscook Bay this season, reported Trisha De Graaf, a state marine resource management coordinator who briefed fisherman at the outset of the meeting. That figure represents about 73 percent of the harvestable biomass of 380,100 pounds. Any additional harvest would be tantamount to overfishing the resource, she said.

More than twice as many boats are fishing the bay compared to the start of last season, according to De Graaf. She attributed the increase to the bay’s healthy scallop fishery and also the closing of the Gulf of Maine shrimp fishery in December.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News 

 

January 17, 2014 — The following was released by Bristol Bay United:

On Wednesday, the Environmental Protection Agency released the final version of its Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment (BBWA). The BBWA details the risks of potential large-scale hard rock mining in Bristol Bay, Alaska, home to the world’s largest wild sockeye salmon fishery — a $1.5 billion industry that supports 14,000 jobs. The assessment was initiated after nine federally-recognized Alaska Native tribes, the Bristol Bay Native Corporation, commercial and sport fishing interests and others asked the EPA to use its Clean Water Act section 404(c) authority to protect Bristol Bay from the proposed Pebble Mine – a huge deposit of copper, gold, and molybdenum at the headwaters of two of Bristol Bay’s most productive rivers.

More than 75% of the 900,000 comments were in favor of EPA action to restrict hard rock mining in Bristol Bay. 85% of all Alaskans and 98% of those in the Bristol Bay region expressed support for what the EPA is doing in Bristol Bay in a state known for its support of resource development.

The BBWA gives ample evidence to back up the original request for EPA Clean Water Act action. Indeed, even without a major disaster or catastrophe, EPA found that the Pebble Mine would destroy up to 94 miles of salmon streams and up to 5,350 acres of wetlands, lakes, and ponds in Bristol Bay. And Pebble’s waste rock – which could be more than 10 billion tons – would have to be stored somewhere and that portion which is potentially acid generating will have to monitored and treated in perpetuity. With the final assessment now released, the EPA has the opportunity to protect both a unique natural resource and an economic powerhouse.

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 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 the years of failed promises by Pebble to apply for permits. Now, the Pebble Limited Partnership (or PLP, the foreign mining company behind the mine) wants to drag the fishing industry through a second decade of uncertainty, including through a long National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process and Clean Water Act permitting fight. This will only worsen the economic problems Pebble has already created. By using its well-established proactive Clean Water Act authority, the EPA can and should act now to provide certainty to the commercial fishermen, sportsmen and lodge owners, and subsistence fishermen who rely on Bristol Bay that Bristol Bay salmon will not be sacrificed in favor of the proposed Pebble mine.

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. Even though it will take a $300 million loss on the project, Anglo American said it wanted to focus on projects with the “highest value and lowest risks.” In December, Rio Tinto – which owns a 19% stake in now-sole PLP partner Northern Dynasty Minerals – announced it is mulling divestment in Northern Dynasty. 

The EPA has full authority to protect Bristol Bay

Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act was created to allow the EPA Administrator to prohibit, withdraw, deny, or restrict the discharge of dredged or fill materials into the 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.” The EPA’s Watershed Assessment found that, among other far-reaching impacts, Pebble would destroy 90 miles of salmon habitat under a “best case scenario.” The standard for a 404(c) action has already been met and exceeded by EPA.

Further, in the recent Mingo Logan Coal Company v. EPA case, a federal Appeals Court 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 404c 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, the 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 Mineral’s 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 on documents publically filed by Northern Dynasty Minerals, and subsequent actions put serious doubt in this assertion. In 2006, the company submitted plans when it applied for water rights with the State of Alaska. In 2011, they submitted a preliminary assessment to the Securities 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 notes 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.

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. 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 to deal with the reclamation, long-term monitoring and water treatment that will be necessary in perpetuity.

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. In a state known for its strong support for resource development, polls show that nearly 60% of Alaskans and 80% of Bristol Bay residents 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 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)

Further, if permitted, the proposed Pebble Mine will enable the development of a mining district that includes additional contiguous blocks of mining claims owned by other mining companies.  As the assessment notes, the development of six other mine sites in the region could span an additional 14,000 acres and eliminate another 43 miles of streams, substantially increasing the likelihood that mining operations will adversely impact Bristol Bay ecosystems. Seven different mining operators have already established claims covering 965 square miles, an area 14 times larger than Washington D.C. If the Obama administration fails to stop the proposed Pebble mine, foreign mining companies could succeed in creating the largest open pit mines in North American history.

The EPA has the rare opportunity to both protect a vital habitat and thousands of American jobs by using its Clean Water Act authority in Bristol Bay.

For more information contact Lewis Lowe, 202-333-2234; lewisl@strategies360.com

HALLOWELL, Maine — Jaunuary 18, 2014 — Six areas along the Maine coast where scallops had been allowed to be caught on a limited basis were closed to harvesting, effective immediately, for the remainder of the season.

The closure was announced Saturday by the Maine Department of Marine Resources. Commissioner Patrick Keliher has the authority to impose emergency closures for up to 90 days.

That 90-day closure will go beyond the scheduled March 21 closure for those scallop grounds, said Trisha Cheney De Graaf who is the resource coordinator for scallops, urchins, and groundfish for the department.

The closure was imposed because of evidence that the resource in those areas was being significantly depleted, the DMR official said Saturday.

The areas closed are Moosabec Reach in Jonesport; the inner harbor, deep hole, and Southeast Harbor in Stonington; Somes Harbor off Mount Desert Island, the Damariscotta River; and the Medomak River in Waldoboro. The closure of Muscle Ridge in the Spruce Head area is for Fridays only.

Read the full story and watch the video at at the Bangor Daily News

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [SCOM] — January 20, 2014 — The USDA said it will purchase $20 million of canned Alaskan pink salmon products that will be distributed to food banks across the US following a peition by Sen. Lisa Murkowski to take advantage of the state's fishery.

The multi-million deal follows a petition from Alaskan Sen. Lisa Murkowski to get the USDA to invest in higher quality proteins for food deprived Americans and that the Department should take advantage of Alaskan pink salmon to fill the void.

“Every Alaskan knows that our salmon is brain food and full of protein, so I suggested the Department of Agriculture consider our nutritious and delicious salmon for food banks nationwide experiencing high levels of need.”
Murkowski was the lead Republican on a bipartisan August letter with over 20 of her Senate colleagues recommending more be done by the USDA in light of increased need across the country through The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) – leading to last week’s $126 million purchase of fruits and vegetables.

“When I initially encouraged Secretary Vilsack to consider using TEFAP funds to help provide healthy food for Americans in need, my goal was to ensure that food banks and their partners would have greater access to a wide variety of healthy foods,” said Murkowski.

This story originally appeared on Seafood.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — January 17, 2014 — Gov. Maggie Hassan will announce the launch of the Seacoast Science Center's Marine Mammal Rescue Team at next week's Greater Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce Bank of America Breakfast.

The Seacoast Science Center at Odiorne Point State Park in Rye was granted authorization by the National Marine Fisheries Service to lead New Hampshire's marine mammal rescue effort, effective Jan. 1. The Marine Mammal Rescue Team will be dispatched to help to stranded, injured and diseased seals, whales, porpoises and dolphins along New Hampshire's coast. This is the first time a New Hampshire nonprofit has led the effort. A New England Aquarium team based in Quincy, Mass., has been the standing authority since 1978, according to Wendy Lull, president of Seacoast Science Center.

Read the full story at the Portsmouth Herald

BRUNSWICK, Ga. — January 17, 2014 — One of the worst shrimp seasons in decades has Smith & Sons Seafood owner Walker "Big John" Smith Jr. fearing what will happen if his business has to suffer through another year like 2013.

Smith has been working in the shrimping industry 23 years, and says his family-owned company, which was started in Brunswick and moved to Darien in 1955, has never seen a season this bad in all its years of operation.

The company's McIntosh County facility saw an 80 percent drop in the shrimp harvest this season, which amounts to about $10 million in lost revenue.

"We can't take many hits like this again," Smith said. "We're able to handle some hits, but this is the biggest."

The Georgia shrimp industry suffered from a low population of shrimp last season, which is being attributed to black gill disease, which does not affect humans, and an influx of fresh water in the estuary after a rainy summer.

The disastrous season forced Smith & Sons into some tough decisions. Sometime this year or in 2015, its McIntosh plant will be closed and used only as an office and for company trucks.

Read the full story at the Savannah Morning News