September 14, 2020 — The Trump administration has tapped David Legates, an academic who has long questioned the scientific consensus that human activity is causing global warming, to help run the agency that produces much of the climate research funded by the U.S. government.
NOAA Fisheries Announces Closure of the Closed Area I Scallop Access Area for the Limited Access General Category Individual Fishing Quota Fleet
September 14, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
NOAA Fisheries is closing the Closed Area I Scallop Access Area to all federally permitted limited access general category individual fishing quota (LAGC IFQ) scallop vessels effective 0001 hr, on September 13, 2020.
As of September 13, 2020, no scallop vessel fishing under these regulations may fish for, possess, or land scallops in or from the Closed Area I Access Area. The scallop regulations require that we close this area once we project that the LAGC fleet has fished all of the 571 trips allocated for this area.
Vessels that have complied with the observer notification requirements, have declared a trip into the Closed Area I Scallop Access Area using the correct Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) code, and have crossed the VMS demarcation line before 0001 hr, September 13, 2020, may complete their trip and retain and land scallops caught from the Closed Area I Scallop Access Area.
For more details, read the notice as filed in the Federal Register and the permit holder bulletin.
BP Enters Offshore Wind Market With $1.1 Billion Equinor Deal. Why The Stock Is Falling.
September 11, 2020 — BP stock fell on Thursday, as the oil major entered the offshore wind market in a $1.1 billion deal with Norwegian energy giant Equinor.
The FTSE 100-listed company has agreed to buy 50% stakes in two of Equinor’s wind farm developments on the U.S. East Coast—the Empire Wind project in New York and the Beacon Wind farm in Massachusetts.
The two companies have also formed a strategic partnership to pursue further opportunities for offshore wind in the U.S.
The back story. In February—shortly after Bernard Looney became its chief executive—BP set out an action plan to become net zero on carbon by 2050. The company ramped up its strategy last month, saying it won’t explore in any new countries and announcing a tenfold increase in low-carbon investment to $5 billion a year by 2030.
Maine scallop fishers will be allowed same quota this season
September 11, 2020 — Maine’s scallop fishers who plan to participate in the coming fishing year will be allowed the same harvesting levels as last season.
The Maine Department of Marine Resources said scallopers who work most of the coast will be limited to 15 gallons per day. Fishers in the Cobscook Bay area will be limited to 10 gallons per day. Those are the same limitations as the 2019-20 scallop season.
NOAA Announces an Increase in the Commercial Scup Quota and Possession Limit for the 2020 Winter II Period (October 1-December 31)
September 11, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
As authorized by the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan, we are transferring 4,850,963 lb of unused quota from the Winter I commercial scup fishery to the Winter II fishery. This results in a revised Winter II commercial scup quota of 8,394,299 lb.
We are also increasing the commercial scup possession limit for the Winter II season to 24,000 lb, per trip (from 12,000 lb), based on the amount of quota being rolled over from Winter I to Winter II.
When state and federal possession limits are different, fishermen with both state and federal permits are required to abide by the more restrictive of the two.
For more details, read the Federal Register notice as filed today, and the bulletin on our website.
NOAA Fisheries Awards $2.3M to Support Bycatch Reduction Projects
September 10, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
Bycatch reduction is a top priority for NOAA Fisheries and this week the agency announced over $2.3 million in grants to support 13 projects under our Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program. This year’s projects focus on priority bycatch issues related to a variety of species, including whales, turtles, sharks, sablefish, and flounders. Left unaddressed, bycatch can contribute to overfishing, can threaten endangered and threatened species and protected marine mammals, and can close fisheries, significantly impacting U.S. economic growth. Three projects in the Northeast were chosen for funding.
NOAA Fisheries’ Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program has resulted in innovative technological solutions to some of the nation’s top bycatch challenges. We are proud to continue to partner with fishermen, fishery managers, industry, and the environmental community to avoid and minimize bycatch.
For more information about this year’s recipients and selected projects visit our website.
Trump signs order extending and expanding oil drilling moratorium off Florida’s shores
September 9, 2020 — President Donald Trump brushed back critics of his record on the environment in the crucial swing state of Florida Tuesday during a visit to Palm Beach County by signing a presidential order that extends and expands a ban on drilling off the state’s coastline.
The order — which Trump signed atop a stage not far from the mouth of the Loxahatchee River — extends by 10 years the life of a moratorium that previously prohibited drilling in federal waters off Florida’s Gulf Coast until July 1, 2022. He said it also expanded the ban on energy exploration, development and production to include the Atlantic coast off Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.
Atlantic King Mackerel Trip Limits Double in the Atlantic Southern Zone
September 9, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
KEY MESSAGE:
NOAA Fisheries announces a final rule to implement Framework Amendment 8 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Coastal Migratory Pelagics Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Region (Framework Amendment 8), which increases the Atlantic king mackerel trip limit in federal waters off Florida.
Effective Date: September 9, 2020
SUMMARY OF CHANGES:
- The rule increases the Season 2 (October-end of February) Atlantic king mackerel trip limit in Federal waters of the Atlantic Southern Zone, beginning on October 1, 2020.
- For Season 2 between the Flagler/Volusia, Florida county line and the Miami-Dade/Monroe, Florida county line, the trip limit is 100 fish.
FORMAL FEDERAL REGISTER NAME/NUMBER: 85 FR 55592, published September 9, 2020.
This bulletin serves as a Small Entity Compliance Guide, complying with section 212 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996.
Vineyard Wind sets up Nantucket benefit fund
September 9, 2020 — The following was released by Vineyard Wind:
Vineyard Wind, the offshore wind farm project moving ahead 14 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard, has reached a “Good Neighbor Agreement” with the Town of Nantucket and leading nonprofits on the island to create the Offshore Wind Community Fund. The agreement “makes changes to the wind project to lessen its visual impacts” and establishes a fund “that will support projects that benefit the entire Nantucket community,” wrote legal counsel Greg Werkheiser of Cultural Heritage Partners in the announcement.
According to a joint press release from the two entities, the fund will “will support local initiatives to combat the effects of global climate change, enhance coastal resiliency, and protect, restore, and preserve Nantucket’s cultural and historic resources.” Vineyard Wind has agreed to provide an initial $4 million, when construction financing is obtained for its first project, to seed the fund, which will be administered by the Community Foundation for Nantucket, with additional funds to be added with “subsequent projects” and through accepting contributions from other wind developers and philanthropists. An advisory committee will be overseen by CFNan with representatives from the town, Maria Mitchell Association, Nantucket Preservation Trust, and Vineyard Wind.
Cities take council to task over monitoring recommendation
September 8, 2020 — You may have noticed that we’ve written a bit lately about the monitoring measure — Amendment 23 — being considered by the New England Fishery Management Council to set future monitoring levels for sector-based groundfish vessels.
It’s a hot item. Conservationists are all for it. Local fishermen say it could spell the death knell for the industry. The council is expected to take final action on the measure at its September meeting.
The cities of Gloucester and New Bedford — the state’s historic commercial fishing fiefdoms — weighed in. Not surprisingly, they are fervently against the council’s preferred option, which would put monitors on every trip by every sector-based groundfish vessel — at an average cost of about $700 per day per boat.
“Monitoring in any fishery is an important component to fisheries management,” the city of Gloucester stated in its comments to the council. “But the New England Fishery Management Council’s preferred alternative of 100% at-sea monitoring on the groundfish sector program is excessive and in complete disregard of the socio-economic disruptions and extreme hardships that will be imposed on fishermen, their groundfish sectors and their communities.”
And it goes on from there.
So there you go. The battle lines are drawn.
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 240
- 241
- 242
- 243
- 244
- …
- 687
- Next Page »