January 22, 2019 — In this episode of the Sourcing Matters podcast, former NOAA Regional Administrator of the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office and former Mayor of New Bedford, John Bullard discusses the impacts of the federal shutdown on marine management and coastal communities.
Court: No new offshore drilling work during federal shutdown
January 21, 2019 — A federal judge in South Carolina has turned back the Trump administration’s attempt to continue preparatory work for offshore drilling during the federal government’s partial shutdown, issuing a ruling in a federal lawsuit challenging the overall expansion plans.
In his order, U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel halted federal agencies “from taking action to promulgate permits, otherwise approve, or take any other official action” for permits to conduct testing that’s needed before drilling work can begin.
The ruling comes a few days after President Donald Trump’s decision this week to recall workers at the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management so they could continue to process testing permits for possible drilling off the Atlantic coastline. The recall drew an objection from the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee chairman, Democratic Rep. Raul Grijalva (gri-HAWL-vah) of Arizona. He called on Acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt to reverse course or provide a briefing on the legal justification for the move.
Earlier this month, South Carolina joined a federal lawsuit opposing the administration’s plans to conduct offshore drilling tests using seismic air guns. Gergel is overseeing that case, initially filed by environmental groups and municipalities along the state’s coast.
The suit challenges permits for the testing that precedes the drilling itself. It claims the National Marine Fisheries Service violated the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act in issuing the permits.
Fishery management delayed by partial government shutdown
January 18, 2019 — If the partial federal government shutdown drags on the 2018 summer flounder benchmark assessment may not be available, a fishery spokesperson said.
The assessment is needed to move forward with setting the fisheries 2019 regulations. And it’s not just summer flounder assessments, it’s scup, sea bass, and striped bass, to name some other key recreational fisheries.
“Basically, we’re all waiting on the benchmark assessments and stock reviews,” said Tina Berger, spokesperson for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, or ASMFC.
“If all things were normal the council would move forward with making decisions for 2019 seasons,” Berger said. “Our federal partners are part of every part of the process.”
DAILY PRESS: Seismic blasting is too risky along Atlantic Coast
January 15, 2019 — Imagine the misery of living next to a rock quarry in a place where local laws did not inhibit the company’s use of explosives or the times they could blast.
That constant, annoying presence is what some environmental protection groups fear will happen to marine life if the Atlantic Coast is opened for underwater oil and gas exploration.
The Atlantic Ocean is a virtually untapped expanse for energy companies, and the Trump administration wants to open nearly 200,000 square miles from New Jersey to Florida for companies to seek out subsea oil and gas deposits as a way of shoring up the country’s energy independence.
The first step in that process is seismic blasting, a practice that environmental activists and coastal communities — including business groups that rely on seafood and marine tourism — are decrying as potentially harmful to their ways of life.
If allowed, boats would traverse Atlantic Ocean waters for months towing two to three dozen air guns that create underwater explosions of up to 180 decibels every 10 to 15 seconds.
New York files suit over low commercial fluke quota
January 15, 2019 — New York State has filed suit against the Trump administration to officially contest the state’s “unfair” share of the federal quota for fluke, state Attorney General Letitia James and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced Monday.
The suit follows release of December 2018 allocations for fluke that the state said remained disproportionately small and based on “inaccurate and outdated” fishing data, James said in a statement.
Cuomo had first said the state would sue in 2013, but as recently as last year refrained from doing so as it attempted other remedies, including a petition filed with the federal government. “The message is loud and clear: we will fight this unfair quota until New York’s access to summer flounder is consistent with national standards,” Cuomo said in a statement.
Hundreds of Long Island commercial fluke fishermen have for decades decried New York’s share of the commercial fluke quota, which stands at just 7.6 percent, compared with 21.3 for Virginia and 27.4 for North Carolina.
Alaska’s congressional delegation seeks shutdown solution
January 11, 2019 — As thousands of federal workers in Alaska miss their first paycheck of the partial government shutdown, members of the state’s congressional delegation are searching for solutions to an impasse that’s already one of the longest in history.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, concerned about the hardship on federal workers and Alaska’s economy, said Thursday she’s working with a group of Senate colleagues on a short-term funding bill that would open government and provide a window to address President Donald Trump’s demand for $5.7 billion in border wall funding.
With government temporarily reopened, there would be a period of time to resolve the issue over the wall, after which full appropriations bills could be passed, Murkowski said in a phone interview.
“We’re trying to offer up a process on how we can address some of these issues led by the president’s priority for border security, and do this at the same time as we’re able to open the government,” she said.
In Alaska, 5,207 federal workers will miss a paycheck Friday, said Dave Owens, Alaska representative for the American Federation of Government Employees union. The shutdown that began on Dec. 22 affected about 800,000 federal workers in nine agencies.
US fishing councils stay open, but hamstrung by shutdown
January 11, 2019 — As the partial shutdown of the US federal government threatens to enter its fourth week, the eight advisory fishery management councils remain open but their activities have been curtailed.
That’s because, as staff for several of the councils explained to Undercurrent News, the grants the councils receive from the federal government have already been allocated, whereas federal agencies, such as the US Agriculture, Commerce and Housing and Urban Development departments remain shuttered because they still require their funding for 2019 to be authorized.
Outrage continues to build as President Donald Trump refuses to sign any fiscal 2019 appropriations bills that don’t include $5.6 billion for the building of a wall on the US’ southern border. In addition to reports of trash not being picked up in national parks, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) isn’t doing the required inspections of scales for weighing fish on boats or monitoring equipment. Special permits that some boats need are not being issued.
US House Democrats file bills to stop offshore drilling, exploration
January 10, 2019 — House Democrats on Tuesday, 8 January, introduced a series of bills that would block the Trump administration from permitting offshore drilling in various regions of the U.S. exclusive economic zone.
Opponents of offshore drilling claim the practice could devastate both the environment and the economies of coastal communities, with the fishing industry particularly at risk.
“President Trump’s dangerous plans for offshore drilling will risk the livelihoods of millions on the Atlantic Coast and in New Jersey,” said U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., a New Jersey, U.S.A.-based Democrat who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee. “An oil spill anywhere along the Atlantic Coast would cause severe environmental damage to fisheries, popular beaches and wildlife. I will work with members of the New Jersey delegation and colleagues in Congress to pass the COAST Anti-Drilling Act and prevent the Trump administration from wreaking havoc on New Jersey’s coastal communities.”
The moves came as the administration plans to release its vision to explore for fuel deposits in U.S. waters. In late November, NOAA Fisheries authorized five companies to use seismic air guns to survey the Atlantic Ocean floor from New Jersey to Florida. The survey results would then be made available to oil and gas companies who would seek drilling permits.
Shutdown hooks fisheries
January 10, 2018 — The real-world implications from the partial shutdown of the federal government, which entered its 19th day on Wednesday, are starting to be felt by the fishing industry and other stakeholders.
In Gloucester, the shutdown effectively has shuttered the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office on Great Republic Drive, impeding fishermen from dropping off documentation in person, contacting NOAA Fisheries personnel by telephone or email, and leaving other regulatory groups scrambling without essential input and participation from many NOAA Fisheries staffers.
So, while the New England Fishery Management Council remains at work, it is being hampered by lack of access to its federal management partners at GARFO and the Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole.
“Since many GARFO and NEFSC scientists and fishery management specialists are key contributors to the council’s plan development teams and provide critical input and analyses during committee meetings, the council is rescheduling or modifying the agendas of several meetings where NOAA Fisheries representatives were expected to provide pivotal presentations, reports and/or analyses,” the council said in a release detailing the impact of the shutdown.
Massachusetts Joins Several States to Support Offshore Drilling Bans
January 9, 2019 — Legislators from several states, including Massachusetts, announced a collaborative effort to protect their regions from offshore drilling.
More than 225 lawmakers from coastal states have voiced their opposition to the Trump Administration’s proposed OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program.
Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket State Representative Dylan Fernandes joined legislators from Georgia, Hawaii, Maine, New York, Oregon, New Hampshire and Rhode Island to announce legislative initiatives in each state to block offshore drilling in state waters now and in the future.
Connecticut legislators could not participate on the conference call but will also introduce a ban bill.
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 31
- 32
- 33
- 34
- 35
- …
- 80
- Next Page »