Washington

Yes, it seems hypocritical for Statehouse Democrats to push for appointment of an interim U.S. Senate successor when they had just voted the other way a scant four years ago.

But state Rep. Ann-Margaret Ferrante raised important points in noting that a shutdown of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s office by Oct. 23 would leave Cape Ann-based issues hanging — notably the need for legislative reform of the federal fishing regulatory system for which Kennedy’s staff has played an important role.

Indeed, with the New England Fishery Management Council discussing landmark regulatory changes this week, and the Department of Commerce Inspector General’s investigation into the feds’ heavy-handed enforcement tactics still in the works, the shutdown of the Kennedy office could not come at a worse time for Gloucester, Cape Ann and other fishing communities, especially.

Read the complete story at The Gloucester Daily Times.

Top officials from the Obama administration will be in Rhode Island on Thursday and Friday to collect ideas from residents and experts for new federal policies designed to provide for better stewardship and planning for the nation’s oceans and coastlines.  President Obama last summer created a special interagency task force headed by Nancy Sutley, chairwoman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, to gather ideas around the country and submit a report to him this winter. The task force has already held packed hearings in Anchorage and San Francisco. It has also scheduled a meeting for Sept. 29 in Honolulu.

The Providence hearing begins at 4 p.m. Thursday at the Rhode Island Convention Center. A panel of local experts will offer brief testimony and the task force will listen to comments from the public.

Officially, the Providence hearing concludes at 7 p.m. But Sutley’s spokesperson, Christine Glunz, said the task force will allow time for testimony from anyone who wishes to speak. The task force also will accept written testimony and some members will visit the University of Rhode Island and other locations on Friday to gather additional information.

Read the Interim Report Of The Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force.

PROVIDENCE, RI – Obama Administration officials will hold a media availability prior to the Ocean Policy Task Force Public Meeting in Providence, Rhode Island, on September 24, 2009. The Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force, led by White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley, consists of senior-level officials from Administration agencies, departments, and offices. The Task Force, established by President Obama via presidential memorandum on June 12, is charged with developing a recommendation for a national policy that ensures protection, maintenance, and restoration of oceans, our coasts and the Great Lakes. It will also recommend a framework for improved stewardship, and effective coastal and marine spatial planning. The meeting in Providence will be the third regional public meeting held since the Task Force was created.

Members of the public can access the meeting in three ways: by attending in person at the Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence; by calling into the listen-only phone line (United States: 866-658-7997; participant code: 4319624); or via live webstream at http://hwcdn.net/b8f3b4m9/wls/34948-noaa.asx

WHO:
Chair Nancy Sutley, White House Council on Environmental Quality
Dr. Jane Lubchenco, Administrator, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Vice Admiral David P. Pekoske, Vice Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard
Associate Deputy Secretary Laura Davis, Department of Interior
Ira Leighton, Acting Regional Administrator for Environmental Protection Agency Region One
Dr. Sharon Hrynkow, Associate Director, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, NIH

WHAT:
Media Availability

WHEN:
Thursday, September 24, 1:30 p.m. EDT

WHERE:
Providence Waterfront, Ceremonial Dock, India Point Park India Street Providence, RI

NOTE:
Public comment can also be submitted online at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/oceans

Oceana, an international ocean conservation group based in Washington, D.C., reacted on Saturday, Sept 19 to the release of the interim report of the Obama administration’s Ocean Policy Task Force:

“Oceans are a vital part of life and culture. They are home to fish and other marine wildlife, sustain communities and provide jobs, tourism and recreation. We commend the Obama administration for its commitment to a strong national ocean policy to guide the future conservation and management of our oceans.’

This plan shows vision, and a commitment to promoting healthy oceans and taking an integrated approach to maintain and protect oceans. It also recognizes the need for proactive, science-based management for the Arctic Ocean, which is already stressed by rapid climate change and threatened by expanding industrialization. A strong federal ocean policy is especially important to help slow a serious decline in ocean health, worsened now by climate change and ocean acidification,” said Beth Lowell, Federal Policy Director, Oceana.

Read the complete story at Environmental Expert.

An influential federal panel tasked this summer by President Obama withrevitalizing the nation’s coasts, oceans and the Great Lakes Thursdayset out a wide-ranging plan they hope will boost the safety of seafood,preserve wildlife, improve water quality and protect the economies ofcoastal communities.

Members of the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force, which includerepresentatives from 20 different administration agencies anddepartments, released the interim report on the same day the groupheard from political leaders, environmentalists and businesses in SanFrancisco.

The multicity tour, which also includes Anchorage, Providence, R.I.,Cleveland, New Orleans and Honolulu, is part of the panel’s effort togather public comment on a final plan they intend to send to thepresident in the next few months. The goal is to create a comprehensivenational plan for managing, restoring and protecting the marineenvironment.

Read the complete story at The San Francisco Chronicle.

With demands on US ocean resources control growing quickly, the Obama administration on Friday (Sept, 18th) outlined a new comprehensive ocean management plan [PDF] to guide federal agencies in restoring and protecting a badly stressed US coastal and ocean environment.

Today’s policy shift proposed by the president’s Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force holds enormous potential for sweeping changes in how the nation’s oceans are managed, including energy development, experts say.

At its core, the plan would set up a new National Ocean Council to guide a holistic “ecosystem-based” approach intended to elevate and unify what has long been a piecemeal approach by US agencies toward ocean policy and development — from oil and gas exploration to fisheries management to ship transportation to recreation.

The proposal would include “a more balanced, productive, and sustainable approach to using managing and conserving ocean resources,” Nancy Sutley, chairman of the president’s Council on Environmental Quality told reporters in a teleconference unveiling the plan. It would also set up “a comprehensive national approach to uphold our stewardship responsibilities and ensure accountability for our actions.”

Read the complete story from The Christian Science Monitor.

The White House Interagency Task Force on Ocean Policy Interim Report is now available and is undergoing a 30-day public review and comment period. This report provides proposals for a comprehensive national approach to uphold our stewardship responsibilities and ensure accountability for our actions. Additionally, the report outlines a more balanced, productive and sustainable approach to our ocean resources.

Read the report.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has tapped Professor Andrew Rosenberg, a environmental activist and business executive based at the University of New Hampshire, to advise the White House on marine spatial planning or zoning.

The contract was not announced by NOAA, but in response to questions, NOAA spokesman Scott Smulllen said in an e-mail that "Andy will be on a small NOAA contract through the university ’til the end of the year. He will serve 20 to 40 percent of his work week as a senior advisor to the White House Council on Environmental Quality working on Ocean Policy Task Force issues."

Smullen declined to respond to requests for a copy or terms of the contract.

In a telephone interview, Rosenberg said NOAA will reimburse the university for the 20 percent of the time he spends advising the Ocean Policy Task Force, which was created by President Obama in June to develop "a recommendation for a national policy (to ensure) protection, maintenance, and restoration of oceans, our coasts and the Great Lakes."

Read the complete story at The Gloucester Daily Times.

It is time for all of those remaining who represent the interests of Cape Ann to step up to fight for fishermen’s rights — like the right to go about their trade without lobbyist-driven science and renegade enforcement agents driving them out of business. As Kennedy himself put it, "the cause endures." It must.

While it was Massachusetts state legislators who first demanded that the Inspector General investigate alleged vindictive prosecutions of fishermen, it really bore fruit when Kennedy’s office got behind it and a letter to NOAA head Jane Lubchenco. And it was Kennedy’s influence that helped prompt Lubchenco to soften the current regulatory regime known as the "Interim Rule" that initially held even tighter fishing constraints.

As Gloucester residents know — especially by the dwindling number who still go down to the sea in ships — Kennedy was a true champion for fishermen. And in their fight against heavy-handed regulations and excessive federal enforcement tactics, Gloucester’s, New England’s and the nation’s fishermen need a champion now more than ever.

Read the complete story at The Gloucester Daily Times.

What now for the New England fishing industry?

Over five decades, nearly every dispute between bureaucrats and the boats of the New England industry found its way into the Senate offices of the late U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.

His death Tuesday leaves a gaping hole at the peak of the pecking order.

It leaves an uncertain interim: It may or may not involve a caretaker senator.

It also leaves an uncertain long-term future for the community and industry that leaned confidently on Kennedy.

There is no obvious successor ready to assume the mantle of the fishermen’s guardian angel.

Read the complete story at The Gloucester Daily Times.

See also: Kennedy championed fishermen’s causes,

        and SALEM NEWS OPINION: Kennedy was passionate advocate for region’s fishermen,

        and Senator Ted Kennedy, Friend of the Fisherman, 1932-2009.