Management & Regulation Archives

Responsible Offshore Development Alliance Calls for Changes to ‘Broken and Ineffective’ Wind Development Outreach

June 3, 2020 — The following was released by the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance:

The Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA) is calling on state and federal regulators to extensively revise their approach to planning offshore wind development off of Oregon, calling the current system “broken and ineffective” for preserving sustainable seafood production. The comments come in a public comment letter submitted by RODA on the engagement plan for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM) Oregon Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Force.

In the letter, RODA calls for BOEM to develop a new planning and engagement model that brings fisheries stakeholders into the process early, with greater participation from fisheries members on task forces and greater opportunities for public input.

Task forces need to work with the industry identify potential impacts on fishing before any offshore leases are issued. Often input from the fishing industry is sought too late in the process, after leases have been awarded and sites selected.

“Fisheries participants and experts must be wholly integrated into every step of the planning process through true collaboration,” the letter states.

Collaboration with the fishing industry is vital because of the many documented conflicts between fishing and wind energy development. These include potential environmental impacts on marine species and habitats; limiting fishing access; disruptions of scientific surveys; and interactions with protected species such as whales.

RODA is a membership-based coalition of fishing-related companies and associations committed to improving the compatibility of new offshore development with their businesses. RODA’s approximately 170 members represent every Atlantic coastal state from North Carolina to Maine, and Pacific coast members in California, Oregon and Washington.

Read the letter here

Fishers urged to register for $1M given for Guam fisheries

June 2, 2020 — Of $300 million set aside from the CARES Act for fisheries throughout the U.S. and territories, Guam will be receiving $1 million.

The Guam Department of Agriculture’s Division of Aquatic and Wildlife Resources is in communication with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration working on guidelines for the money.

Once the guidelines are developed, the money will be given to a fisheries commission that will oversee the dispersal of the money to individual fishers on Guam, according to the agency. That commission will work with the Agriculture division to develop a plan for Guam and in anticipation of this, the division has already written a draft plan based on general guidelines already provided and will submit this for approval once the guidelines are ready.

Read the full story at KUAM

US pollock, haddock harvesters threatened by advice against seafood aid double dipping

June 2, 2020 — Any fisheries that’ve benefited from other relief efforts should get lower priority when it comes to any future benefits awarded to the seafood industry, the president Donald Trump administration’s top fishery policy advisors have recommended.

While the advice doesn’t appear to interfere with the $300 million awarded the seafood industry as part of the earlier passed $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, it threatens other assistance to the Alaska pollock and New England groundfish fisheries as well as US catfish farmers, one longtime fishing industry professional argues.

Also, it doesn’t mesh with lawmakers’ original intent, the source maintains.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Equinor names New England offshore Beacon Wind

June 2, 2020 — Norwegian energy company Equinor has given the name Beacon Wind to a planned offshore wind farm off the US New England coast.

Beacon Wind will be located about 32km south of Massachusetts and 112km east of New York.

Wildlife surveys for the project kicked off last year and this summer more surveys will be undertaken to characterise conditions of the lease area, the company said.

These include looking at the geologic conditions, benthic habitat and checking for the presence of obstructions and sensitive resources.

Equinor Wind said its Boston-based team is actively engaged with commercial fishermen and their representatives to ensure that the development of Beacon Wind coexists successfully with traditional northeast maritime industries.

“Insights and feedback from the fishing industry are critical to the collaborative development of Beacon Wind,” the company said.

Read the full story at ReNews

Coast Guard backs wind industry on turbine layout

June 1, 2020 — The offshore wind power industry cleared one of its last remaining bureaucratic hurdles Wednesday with the release of a long-awaited report from the Coast Guard that essentially agrees with an industry proposal on turbine layout.

The Coast Guard’s Massachusetts and Rhode Island Port Access Route Study has concluded that turbines should be spaced 1.2 miles apart and oriented in the same direction across seven offshore wind lease areas totaling around 1,400 square miles south of Nantucket.

Concerned with vessel safety and the ability to maneuver while fishing, some fishermen and industry groups sought larger lanes, as wide as 4 miles, to transit to fishing grounds, but the five wind power companies holding the leases said that would force them to crowd turbines outside the travel lanes, making it less safe to navigate and fish.

The offshore wind leaseholders — Equinor, Mayflower Wind, Orsted/Eversource and Vineyard Wind — had been concerned that some of the layouts proposed by other stakeholders could reduce the number of turbines and power generation. The increasing efficiency and power capacity of newer turbines have alleviated some of that concern.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

New England cod fishery restrictions in place this spring

June 1, 2020 — Commercial fishing for Atlantic cod is limited by closures off the coast of New England this spring, federal fishing managers said.

Cod were once the subject of one of the largest fisheries in the country, but it has collapsed after years of overfishing and is much smaller than it once was. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said cod protection closures in the Gulf of Maine are taking place throughout May and June. More are scheduled in the fall.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at Boston.com

Fishery Council Leaders Discuss COVID-19; NMFS Touts ‘New Normal’ for US Seafood at CCC Meeting

June 1, 2020 — The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council hosted leaders from the eight regional fishery management councils this week by video conference.

The first of the Council Coordination Committee’s biannual meetings spanned time zones from New England to American Samoa as the members and NMFS representatives discussed issues relevant to all of the Councils.

Read the full story at Seafood News

NOAA Taking Emergency Action to Reduce Economic Harm to Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery

June 1, 2020 — NOAA Fisheries announced on Friday a temporary rule that will extend portions of the fishing year 2019 carryover provisions in the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan into the fishing year 2020. According to the government agency this is an emergency action that is necessary to provide the scallop fleet the opportunity to land allocations that may have gone unharvested. The hope is that this temporary rule will reduce economic harm to the scallop fishery caused by COVID-19.

The temporary rule goes into effect on June 1 and was brought on by a request from the New England Fishery Management Council during their April 15 meeting. During that meeting the Council requested that all 2019 access area carryover pounds, as well as unharvested RSA compensation pounds from fishing year 2019, be available for harvest for 180 days in fishing year 2020. The council also requested that the NLS-Wests remain an access area during the fishing year 2020, and that all LAGC IFQ vessels be allowed to roll forward all unharvested quota from fishing year 2019 for 180 days into fishing year 2020.

Read the full story at Seafood News

FDA allows more flexibility in food labels

June 1, 2020 — For the fifth time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is allowing flexibility in food labeling.

In the agency’s new guidance, the FDA said that food manufacturers making minor formulation and ingredient changes to their products due to scarcity of ingredients related to COVID-19 do not have to make corresponding changes to their labeling.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

NOAA Fisheries Announces Correction to Framework Adjustment 8 to the Northeast Skate Complex Fishery Management Plan

June 1, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries announces a correction to the final rule of Framework Adjustment 8 to the Northeast Skate Complex Fishery Management Plan originally published on April 27, 2020. A minor error in the body of the original rule listed the new barndoor skate wing possession limits in Season 2 as 1,025 lb (465 kg), which was the old limit. This has been corrected to the accurate, increased limit of 1,250 lb (567 kg).

These values were correct in the proposed rule and the regulatory text of the final action, so this rule simply corrects the minor error in the text of the body of the Federal Register notice. This action does not make any changes to the regulatory text, specifications, or management measures.

For more details, please read the rule as filed in the Federal Register. You can also find the original final rule for Framework 8 in the Federal Register.