Saving Seafood

New York: Plans For Offshore Wind Energy Draw Criticism At Hearing In Southampton On Monday

May 8, 2018 — The difference between what the federal government and New York State have carved out for renewable wind energy projects destined to be built off the south shore of Long Island is about 2.7 miles.

That’s a big difference, especially for the commercial fishermen, environmentalists and South Fork residents who voiced their concerns Monday about wind farms proposed in their backyards.

“We know the moment [the federal government] gets a taste of wind farms in the Atlantic, we are going to be playing whack-a-mole with energy and oil companies creeping up on our fishing grounds,” Bonnie Brady said at a presentation by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, or NYSERDA, on Monday night at the Southampton Inn.

Ms. Brady, executive director of the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association in Montauk, said that, like other commercial fishermen in the audience, she worries that the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, or BOEM, which has jurisdiction over the Atlantic, will lease more ocean for wind energy development and wind up hurting the industry.

In October 2017, NYSERDA recommended two leasing areas to BOEM after various studies. The state’s master plan was praised by some residents, like Gordian Raacke, executive director of Renewable Energy Long Island, for its speedy analysis.

Read the full story at 27 East

 

New York: Wind-energy meetings scheduled amid concerns about East End

May 7, 2018 — New York State will hold a public meeting Monday in Southampton to discuss its blueprint for wind energy and the recently released federal government call for wind-energy projects along the shore of practically all of Long Island, including the East End.

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, which is hosting the meeting and wrote the blueprint, has released its own map of potential sites for wind energy in the state’s coastal waters, one of which notably excludes the East End. The authority’s chief executive Alicia Barton, said last month the agency “does not support” the proposed federal areas off the East End, which the federal government on its map refers to as Fairways North.

She is not alone.

“We definitely would have concerns” about the federal area mapped out for the East End, said Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman. “While offshore wind has extraordinary potential to power our homes and our lives in a more environmentally responsible way . . . I need to see that it’s far enough away that they are not visible from anywhere on the land mass.”

Schneiderman said he can see the five-turbine Block Island wind farm from Montauk beaches and “I can’t say I’m thrilled about seeing the blinking lights” at night.

Holding the symposium in Southampton is likely to draw forces on both sides of the issue. East End governments and green-energy advocates have been among the most progressive on Long Island in calling for more green energy to power the regional electric grid. Committees of local government representatives from East Hampton and Southampton met with PSEG Long Island to review proposals to power the South Fork and ultimately decided on a wind farm 30 miles from Montauk Point.

Read the full story at Newsday

 

New York: Fisheries commission repeals cuts to black sea bass quota

May 4, 2018 — An interstate fisheries commission voted Thursday to reverse a planned reduction to New York’s 2018 quota for locally-abundant black sea bass.

New York recreational anglers could have faced a 12 percent decrease in the allowable catch for black sea bass this year under a federal mandate. The season also would not have started until July.

But in response to an appeal filed by New York and other states, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission instead voted Thursday to extend the fishing season by four days, a commission manager said.

New York’s black sea bass season will open on June 23, compared with June 27 last year, according to Caitlin Starks, fishery management plan coordinator for black sea bass at the commission.

Reaction to the vote was mixed.

Joe Tangel, captain of the King Cod charter boat in Moriches, said the new quota still leaves New York fishermen at a disadvantage to New Jersey, where anglers can keep smaller fish and more of them — up to 15 fish a day in November at 12.5 to 13 inches or larger.

Read the full story at Newsday

New York is expanding artificial reefs off Long Island

April 20, 2018 — In what will be the largest expansion ever of New York State’s artificial reef system, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Tuesday that more than 43,000 cubic yards of clean, recycled Tappan Zee Bridge material, 5,900 cubic yards of jetty rock, 338 cubic yards of steel pipe, and more than 30 old vessels will be spread across marine reef sites in the waters surrounding Long Island. All of the reef materials have been cleaned of contaminants.

All told, six sites will be expanded: Shinnecock, Moriches, Fire Island, Hempstead and Rockaway reefs on the South Shore, plus Smithtown Reef in Long Island Sound. Fire Island Reef will get the biggest drop with 10 barges of bridge material, 11 canal vessels, a barge of steel pipe, plus four barges of jetty rock by June 28. Hempstead Reef will see a dozen barges of bridge material and 11 canal vessels deployed through August. The remaining reefs will get lesser though significant boosts.

According to the DEC, construction of New York’s first artificial reef dates to 1949.

Read the full story at Newsday

 

Report Assesses Mid-Atlantic Coast’s Economic Vulnerability to Climate Change

April 17, 2018 — ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean: 

The Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean (MARCO) today released a first-of-its-kind report at the Mid-Atlantic scale that examines the vulnerabilities of several critical economic sectors to climate change. The report quantifies the potential impacts of threats like sea level rise, rising ocean temperatures and changes in the ocean’s chemistry to communities and businesses in 63 counties and independent cities along the coast from New York to Virginia.

The challenges are especially pronounced in the Mid-Atlantic, the most densely populated stretch of coastline in the country. The region’s waterfront is home to America’s largest city, New York; two of its busiest ports in New York/New Jersey and Hampton Roads, Virginia; and iconic beach destinations that have entertained summer tourists for generations.

The analysis considered the ramifications of both temporary flooding events and the permanent inundation of some areas that would occur if sea levels were to rise by 3 or 6 feet by the year 2100 – two scenarios that are commonly assumed by planners throughout the region. Among the findings:

  • Approximately 14.6 million people live in Census tracts adjacent to the ocean, Chesapeake or Delaware bays. In the 3-foot scenario, the resulting flooded area could affect 1.7 million people and in the 6-foot scenario, 2.1 million people.
  • Today, 912,000 housing units would be vulnerable to flooding in the 3-foot scenario and 1.1 million in the 6-foot scenario. These include 212,000 seasonal units in the 3-foot scenario and 248,000 in the 6-foot scenario.
  • Approximately 557,000 jobs would be vulnerable in the 3-foot scenario and 974,000 in the 6-foot scenario.

In the 3-foot scenario, Delaware has the highest average vulnerability, followed by the counties/cities of Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia, New York and Pennsylvania. At six feet, New York has highest average vulnerability, followed by Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. The region’s major urban centers’ vulnerability to severe disruption increases significantly if sea level rises more than 3 feet.

“No community or business in the Mid-Atlantic will be spared from the impacts of climate change,” said lead author Charles Colgan of the Center for the Blue Economy of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, California. “This is not simply a threat to waterfront areas. With everything from jobs to the housing market being tightly bound to ocean-dependent industries, every coastal community, whether beachfront or further inland, has some vulnerability.”

Significant and perhaps rapid shifts in habitat brought about by climate change will challenge commercial fishing and government agencies to move quickly to adapt fishing practices and management policies. From Maine to North Carolina, a 25 percent loss of catch is possible for species affected by climate change, which would translate to a 20 percent decline in annual value.

The report offers guidance on some strategies that are effectively being employed throughout the Mid-Atlantic to adapt to climate change. For example, the report suggests governments at all levels can follow the model provided by the region’s ports, which are considering climate change in their designs as they rehabilitate or replace infrastructure. Natural defenses such as the restoration of wetlands and marsh grasses were identified as cost-effective means for addressing the threats of retreating shorelines and encroachments from coastal development.

“Natural infrastructure reduced coastal property damages by $650 million during Superstorm Sandy,” Colgan said. “In many cases, even local governments and NGOs can begin taking on these nature-based projects without the need for major grant support or government intervention.”

The report, “Climate Change Vulnerabilities in the Coastal Mid-Atlantic Region,” was prepared as part of the MARCO-led “Planning for a Changing Ocean” project, which aimed to better understand how a changing climate impacts our ocean and the Mid-Atlantic’s diverse marine ecosystems, coastal communities and economies. The project examined the implications for resilience of current trends, including increased acidification of coastal and ocean waters, the availability of offshore sand resources and shifting marine life habitats. The effort was a collaboration of MARCO and the Monmouth University Urban Coast Institute, made possible by a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Learn more at: www.midatlanticocean.org

 

New York: How fishermen could thwart Cuomo’s offshore wind master plan

April 16, 2018 — Earlier this month, hundreds of developers, many from the well-developed wind energy industry in Europe, attended the United States’ largest technical wind power conference, which was held in Princeton, New Jersey. Dozens of public officials, including Zinke, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and NYSERDA President and CEO Alicia Barton, expounded on how to best seize the offshore opportunities.

Under Cuomo, New York has played a leading role in selecting the offshore areas for wind development, overseeing 20 research studies, working closely with BOEM and conducting “unprecedented outreach” to stakeholders, Doreen Harris, NYSERDA’s director of large-scale renewables, told City & State. “Obviously, this becomes a federal process at this point,” Harris said. “But we believe New York’s work provides the solid foundation for areas that are the most favorable.”

Indeed, after NYSERDA requested that BOEM open vast tracts of seafloor for leasing, Zinke told attendees at the April wind power conference that BOEM was opening an additional 2,711 square miles for potential wind farm development, more than 20 times larger than the Empire Wind lease area in the New York Bight, a broad expanse of ocean south of Long Island and east of New Jersey. It seemed to be everything NYSERDA asked for and more. The decision opens the possibility of rows and rows of wind turbines the height of skyscrapers plotted out in an area twice the size of Long Island.

There’s just one scallop-sized problem standing in the way.

The combined 2,836 square miles where BOEM is either leasing or seeking information and nominations for commercial wind leases is worth hundreds of millions – if not billions – of dollars in revenue to the scallop industry over the life of a 25-year wind lease, the scallopers’ lawyers say. The impact on the scallop fisheries would be far worse than they first feared, if those areas are developed.

“It puts an exclamation mark on all our concerns,” said David Frulla, the lead lawyer on the scallopers’ lawsuit. “We’re not trying to stop offshore wind. It is just that this is right at the heart of where the fishing is.”

The Fisheries Survival Fund, an advocacy group that represents the scallopers’ interests in their lawsuit against BOEM, is arguing that the federal offshore wind leasing procedure gave away some of the most productive scallop beds in the world and failed to evaluate alternative options appropriately.

In particular, they are rebelling against the Empire Wind project. The envisioned 194 towers whirling above the waves would make it impossible to safely fish there, they say.

Read the full story at City & State New York   

 

Jon Mitchell: Wind Developers Must Take Fishermen Seriously

April 12, 2018 — Earlier this week, fishing industry officials sent a letter to Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker asking for a larger role in the decision making when it comes to granting the state’s first offshore wind contract.

The letter particularly asked for the New Bedford Port Authority to act as the mediator between commercial fishing and wind energy, and in his weekly appearance on WBSM, Mayor Jon Mitchell said that request makes “all the sense in the world.”

“The place where these two industries intersect more than anywhere else will be New Bedford,” he said, noting he agrees that the fishermen haven’t been given enough of a voice. “That’s why we’re prepared to do something about it.”

Mitchell, who as mayor is also chair of the Port Authority, says the fishermen have valid concerns that he feels may have fallen on deaf ears.

“It has to do with safe navigation through wind farms, and with the siting of new wind farms that might intrude on traditional fishing grounds,” he said. “Wind developers have to do a better job of taking fishermen seriously, and we’re going to work on that. We’re going to make sure that they are taken more seriously.”

Read the full story at WBSM

Black Sea Bass — The New “War Between the States”

April 9, 2018 — On April 9, 1865, General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant at the Appomattox Court House in Virginia, signifying the end of the U.S. Civil War.

One hundred and fifty-three years to the day, north and south are set to do battle yet again, this time over sea bass.

From April 30 through May 3, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASFMC) will hold its 2018 spring meeting in Arlington, VA, a city that was once the dividing line between Confederates to the South and the Union Army to the north during the bloodiest war in U.S. history.

Sometime during the first week in May, the ASFMC policy board will address an appeal by Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York, over the disparity in coastwide black sea bass regulations with New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina. Late last week, a panel convened by ASMFC officially validated the northern appeal to allow their fight against the southern states to move forward during the first few days of May in Arlington.

Earlier this year, ASFMC’s Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Management Board approved Addendum XXX to the Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan establishing a regional allocation of the coastwide Recreational Harvest Limit (RHL) of black sea bass. The final 6-4 vote across geographic lines separating north and south established three management regions for black sea bass; Massachusetts through New York (61.35% of the RHL), New Jersey as its own state-specific region (30.24% of the RHL), and Delaware through North Carolina (8.41% of the RHL). States within each region are collectively responsible for managing harvest to their regional allocation through cooperative measures.

When ASMFC members were considering their decision during their winter meeting in February, states from Delaware through North Carolina didn’t want New Jersey included in their southern region. On the other hand, northern states were already facing an 11% reduction in black sea bass landings for 2018, where New Jersey alone was expected to get hit with a significantly higher 20% reduction. Though New Jersey historically has the most participation in the black sea bass fishery and qualified for the highest RHL percentage coastwide, delegates from New York through Massachusetts viewed the 20% reduction as a potential liability, so they didn’t want New Jersey part of their northern region either.

Read the full story at The Fisherman

 

Zinke calls for more wind energy proposals off LI

April 6, 2018 — PRINCETON, N.J. — U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke issued a powerful endorsement for offshore wind energy at a symposium here Friday, and announced a call for new proposals for a wind energy area off Long Island.

Zinke said wind energy was a key part of the Trump administration’s plan for greater energy independence, saying it was “morally the right thing to do” in place of seeking resources in conflict-ridden areas.

He called the offshore wind industry a virtual “blank slate” with “enormous potential.”

His speech included announcement of a formal “call for information and nominations” from companies interested in potential wind energy areas for the New York Bight off Long Island’s South Shore.

Fishermen have sued to block a lease already issued to Statoil in that area, which they consider a vital scallop and squid ground.

Zinke emphasized the importance of protecting fisheries and the fishing industry, saying they’ll be important stakeholders in a five-year plan being developed by the department.

Read the full story at Newsday

 

Seafood restaurants squeezed by climate change, growing appetites

April 6, 2018 — Ziggy Gruber took a knife to the cardboard boxes, cracking them open to reveal 400 pounds of smoked fish.

The third-generation deli man sifted through the fresh delivery of nova salmon, sable and whitefish, flown in weekly from his supplier in Brooklyn. Gruber, the owner of Kenny & Ziggy’s in the Galleria area, is one of the largest purveyors of smoked fish outside of New York City, selling more than 1,000 pounds of lox and whitefish a week.

Looking over his fish order, Gruber noted he requested 20 pieces of sturgeon this week, but only three showed up. The sturgeon shortage has nearly doubled prices over the past two years, to $38 per pound from around $20, Gruber said.

“I see less and less,” Gruber said. “There’s only so much fish to go around.”

The consequences of a growing global appetite for seafood and warming seas are being felt in the kitchens of some of Houston’s most prominent seafood restaurants. Chefs are dealing with shifts in the seasonal availability of some fish, while dwindling supply of other fish are causing prices to climb.

The situation has become so dire at times that when Gruber’s fish supplier, Acme Smoked Fish, informed him four years ago that there might be a shortage of smoked fish over Yom Kippur — the Jewish deli’s busiest day — Gruber took the first flight to New York to plead with Acme to find some way to ship some 3,000 pounds of smoked fish for the holiday.

The order came through, but ever since, Gruber said, he keeps his fingers crossed around Yom Kippur.

“I’m concerned about the sustainability of these fish,” he said. “The combination of climate change and overfishing has turned an item that people consumed on a daily basis into a luxury item. And that’s sad.”

Manabu “Hori” Horiuchi of Kata Robata, a sushi restaurant in Upper Kirby, is one of a few chefs in the U.S. certified in preparing fugu, or blowfish, a popular delicacy among daring customers.

Read the full story at the Houston Chronicle