September 26, 2024 — The Papahanaumokuakea Marine Debris Project has set a new record for a one-day cleanup at the site.
Volunteers with the nonprofit hauled in 14,700 pounds of marine debris on Saturday — the most ever in a day.
MARYLAND: More questions than answers in proposed commercial fishing deal with wind company
September 26, 2024 — Beyond that, the process, plan and the particulars of the commercial fishing “Compensatory Mitigation Fund” that US Wind has pledged to create remain adrift in a sea of unfinished business.
Speaking before roughly two dozen commercial operators at the Ocean Pines Library, Carrie Kennedy, of DNR’s Data Management & Analysis Division, and Catherine McCall, of its Coastal and Ocean Management office, invited watermen to suggest services and forms of assistance that could be included in a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to be executed between the DNR and US Wind by January.
The MOU would spring from a July 8 letter of intent between the department and US Wind in which the company agrees “to provide financial compensation to eligible Maryland fishermen for mitigating direct losses/impacts to commercial and for-hire (charter) fishing from and caused by the construction, operation and decommissioning of the Project in federal waters.”
The project entails planting up to 114 wind turbines in an 80,000-acre offshore tract about 11.5 miles east of Ocean City, according to the company’s letter of intent and BOEM documents.
Council Receives Praise, Spars with NMFS on Policies
September 26, 2024 — The following was released by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council:
Praise from a top federal administrator combined with an airing of interagency issues energized the second session of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council’s 200th meeting Tuesday.
Sam Rauch, Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs at the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), opened the session by complimenting the Council for its achievements.
“This Council doesn’t get enough credit for leadership in the region and the example it has set nationally and internationally; things done here echo throughout the world,” said Rauch.
“To name a few,” Rauch continued, “the Council prohibited destructive gears, explosives, poisons; implemented measures on drift gillnets before the drift gillnet act; created areas where industry can thrive and at the same time reduce impacts to protected species; and crafted gear measures with industry that are models for the rest of the world—circle hooks, wire leaders and vessel monitoring systems (VMS).”
The Council welcomed Rauch’s comments, though much of the session focused on policy and procedural disagreements between the Council and NMFS.
Council members expressed frustration with the proposed Endangered Species Act (ESA)-listing of giant clams in the U.S. Pacific Territories. NMFS initiated a status review in 2017 in response to a petition to list 10 species of giant clams under the ESA, but published the proposed rule in July 2024, opening the proposal for a 90-day public comment period. NMFS presenter John Rippe said that for giant clams in general, quantitative data and survey data is very limited.
Council member Sylvian Igisomar questioned if NMFS had considered unpopulated as well as populated areas when gathering information about the giant clams’ spatial distribution.
“I feel NMFS is just ramming this through the system,” said Igisomar, Secretary of the CNMI Department of Lands and Natural Resources. “Some of these species shouldn’t have been [proposed]—just because you can’t access an area, doesn’t mean the clams are not there.”
The Council reiterated its request for NMFS to engage early with local agencies and communities, and to collaborate with the governments of American Samoa, Guam and the CNMI. The members emphasized the importance of working proactively with the U.S. Pacific Territories before considering ESA listings and critical habitat designations.
Council member Chelsa Muña questioned NMFS’s listing of giant clam species as endangered in regions like Guam and the CNMI where those species haven’t been present for many years. “We are working with Palau to reintroduce the species. It’s disconcerting to see the ones that don’t occur in the Marianas on the list since they’re not part of the natural habitat. You will be restricting our ability to repopulate the area,” Muña emphasized.
Members noted that from past experience with other ESA-listed species like turtles, once giant clams are listed, it is difficult to delist them later. Muña said, “If climate change is included as one of the threats, then there is nothing we can really do to change that impact.”
Muña, director of the Guam Department of Agriculture, added this would affect attempts to recover the species, as is the case with several species of corals. “Outplantings require permits, and you can’t outplant corals that are endangered because you have to harvest,” she noted.
Rippe explained that under the ESA, the United States is required to list species based on their status throughout their entire range, not just in certain areas. Though some giant clam species in question don’t occur in the Mariana Archipelago, they exist elsewhere in their range, such as the Great Barrier Reef, the Philippines and Indonesia, which justifies the listing.
American Samoa Council member Archie Soliai added, “For the whole session we heard on ESA and Marine Mammal Protection Act issues, what sticks out the most is ‘restrict, control and prohibit.’ Giant clams are important to our culture, and this inhibits our food security.”
The Council asked NMFS to extend the public comment period to allow more time for agency outreach to affected communities and for community members to comment. It also asked that NMFS work with governments of American Samoa, Guam and the CNMI to review data supporting proposed rules and their socioeconomic and cultural impacts.
The Council sessions at the Ala Moana Hotel Hibiscus Ballroom will conclude Wednesday, Sept. 25.
Right whales and offshore wind: reflections on an uneasy coexistence
September 26, 2024 — Michael Moore has spent decades studying North Atlantic right whales. He’s seen somewhere around 150 of them. It’s a feat, given that now there are just about 360 left in the world.
But the veterinarian, author, and scientist emeritus from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution had never seen an offshore wind farm up close — until last week.
“Look at them. All out in neat little rows,” he said, standing at the rear of a 53-foot charter boat that offered a closeup view of construction on Vineyard Wind, 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard.
About half of the planned 62 turbines are fully constructed, reaching more than 250 meters into the sky. When the boat slowed down to pass beneath one of the turbines, Moore was awestruck by the length of a blade.
“Right whales are 40 to 50 feet,” he said. “So you can stretch seven right whales along the length of one of these blades.”
MAINE: Study reveals climate change toll on Maine’s kelp forests
September 26, 2024 — Parts of the warming Gulf of Maine have become inhospitable for kelp forests, according to new research from the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in East Boothbay.
Between 2001 and 2018, a team led by senior research scientist Doug Rasher combined dive surveys of kelp population and data on ocean temperature to compile the first detailed census of Maine’s kelp forests in nearly 20 years.
The results were startling, Rasher said. Maine’s kelp forests were devoured by a green urchin overpopulation in the 1980s and 1990s, but rebounded around the turn of the century.
“We anticipated that with the rise and fall of the sea urchin fishery and the absence of sea urchins in the ecosystem, that kelp forests should have been widespread and pretty healthy across the coast of Maine,” Rasher said.
But that’s not what his team found, according to the results of their research published in the journal Ecology. Kelp forests persisted off Maine’s northern coast but south of Casco Bay they had almost disappeared.
Nantucket Group Takes Challenge Of Vineyard Wind To U.S. Supreme Court
September 26, 2024 — Three years after the Nantucket-based group ACK For Whales first sued to stop the Vineyard Wind project, its legal challenge of the offshore wind project is headed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
After its arguments were rejected by lower courts, ACK For Whales on Monday formally petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case.
The petition asserts that the U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals wrongly allowed the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to ignore the Endangered Species Act’s (ESA) requirement to use “the best available scientific and commercial data available” when it ruled in April against ACK For Whales’ challenge of Vineyard Wind.
“I have hope,” said Val Oliver, the founding director of the non-profit ACK For Whales, formerly known as Nantucket Residents Against Turbines. “In light of the recent Chevron decision, we think we have a really good chance. That was about government overreach and that is what this (Vineyard Wind) has felt like since the beginning: go, go, go, and we’ll figure it out as we go. That’s just not responsible.”
MASSACHUSETTS: NOAA report sends mixed message on wind power and risk to whales
September 26, 2024 — Federal agencies have reauthorized a controversial permit for Vineyard Wind’s final phase of construction, allowing the wind farm developer to continue pile driving with some impact on endangered whale species.
The permit allows Vineyard Wind to finish pile-driving the foundations for its wind turbines in proximity to whales. It does not declare that the industry will not harm whales. It calls it “extremely unlikely” that it will hurt any North Atlantic right whales. But it says a small number of whales of other species may experience temporary to permanent hearing impairment as a result of the noise from pile-driving.
Seafood Nutrition Partnership ramps up retail campaign
September 25, 2024 — Arlington, Virginia, U.S.A.-based nonprofit Seafood Nutrition Partnership (SNP) has announced plans to scale up its successful “Fall In Love With Seafood” campaign in 2025 after the marketing effort saw success in U.S. grocery chains such as H-E-B and Hy-Vee this year.
The aim of expanding the campaign is to continue to drive seafood consumption, as well as secure a “strong return on investment for the suppliers, brands, and retailers supporting the campaign,” SNP said.
Seafood industry isn’t ready for Food Safety Modernization Act updates, trade experts warn
September 25, 2024 — In 2011, U.S. President Barack Obama signed the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) into law in a bid to bolster the country’s defense against foodborne illnesses.
On 20 January 2026, new rules linked to FSMA Section 204 will come into effect, and the seafood industry – from the top to the bottom of the supply chain – will need to be ready for it, according to trade experts.
MARYLAND: Debate Over Offshore Wind Farms Continues at Ocean City BOEM Meeting
September 26, 2024 — Ocean City residents voiced strong opposition Tuesday night at a public meeting hosted by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) regarding potential offshore wind farm developments along the Maryland coast. The meeting discussed areas that could be leased for wind energy projects, which has been raising concerns among residents.
The town of Ocean City encouraged residents to attend the meeting in opposition after BOEM recently approved plans for wind turbines 10.7 miles off the coast. The latest discussion centered on additional potential wind energy areas, though no specific projects are confirmed.
BOEM is seeking public feedback as Maryland aims to generate 8.5 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2031, a key part of the state’s clean energy goals.
BOEM presented a map showing a large stretch of ocean from New Jersey to North Carolina that could be considered for wind energy projects, with some areas as close as three miles off Ocean City’s coast. However, BOEM emphasized that only about 10% of the area would likely be leased for wind development.
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