Atlantic Ocean Archives - Page 4 of 5

The Deal to Share the North American Fish and Chips Supply

September 22, 2016 — There’s a looming fish and chips crisis in the United States.

The number of cod, the fish most used in the popular pub dish, is in decline in the waters off New England, and it seems overfishing and warming ocean temperatures as a result of climate change are to blame.

The U.S. and Canada have come to a deal on how to divide what remains of the North American cod supply in parts of the Atlantic Ocean. The Associated Press has the breakdown:

The countries have agreed to set the total allowable catch at 730 metric tons next year. The U.S. will be allowed to take 146 metric tons and Canada will get the rest…

Read the full story at The Atlantic

MASSACHUSETTS: Gloucester Fresh banks on ocean-to-table appeal

September 12, 2016 — This is a story that starts at 2 o’clock in the morning, when those who work on Gloucester fishing boats rise for the day, ready to hit the water.

“Gloucester Fresh” is the mantra coming from America’s oldest fishing port, intended to tap into the farm-to-table trend while applying it to the Atlantic Ocean. The bid to reinvigorate the city’s historic industry conjures a tradition of hard work, blue water, fresh air, and one of nature’s most beneficial resources.

“This is a very healthy protein,” said Angela Sanfilippo, president of the Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives Association, whose husband, John, is one of the hardy souls who sets off in the early morning and returns to the dock at 3 p.m. with that day’s catch. “It’s the only natural protein left in the world. You’re talking about the North Atlantic, the cleanest water around the United States. We’ve fought very hard so we can keep a clean ocean for the fish.”

While cod, flounder, and haddock continue to serve as the breadwinners, the ocean-to-table movement is promoting underused species such as whiting and redfish that are often eaten by fishermen’s families but not often found on restaurant menus. Exposing consumers to new species is the reason Gloucester Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken has been demonstrating how to cook redfish soup at seafood shows.

Read the full story at The Boston Globe

MASSACHUSETTS: Dinner aims to promote Gloucester’s catch

August 18, 2016 — GLOUCESTER, Mass. — The seafood bounty that springs from the Atlantic Ocean waters around Gloucester will be the centerpiece of the “Sea to Supper” community dinner to benefit the Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives Association.

The dinner, with a menu created by Relish Catering and Events of Manchester, is scheduled to run from 6 to 10:30 p.m. on Aug. 25 in the waterfront pavilion tent at the Mile Market One restaurant at Cape Ann’s Marina Resort off Essex Avenue. It will highlight some of the underutilized and plentiful seafood species landed in Gloucester, such as whiting, dabs, redfish and butterfish.

The event is designed beyond solely a culinary experience, according to the organizers that include Fishing Partnership Support Services, the city of Gloucester, Mile Marker One and the Gloucester Arts and Culture Initiative. There will be discussions on how to create markets for the underutilized species and methods for reintegrating them into the commercial fishing industry’s local landings.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

Now Available: BOEM Provides New Resource for Atlantic Fishing Industry

July 14, 2016 — The following was released by the Bureau of Ocean Managment:

BOEM is pleased to announce that we have recently added a new webpage for the commercial fishing industry to serve as a single point of entry for updates on Atlantic offshore renewable energy planning and leasing efforts.

http://www.boem.gov/Atlantic-Fishing/

The webpage will provide users with status updates, charts and maps, and project-specific developer contact information for fisheries liaisons and fishery representatives.

Please bookmark this link to find the latest information. We encourage and welcome feedback on how we can further enhance this resource. Please send your comments to the email address below.

The Menhaden Fish – A Staple of Lewes’ Colonial Economy

June 27, 2016 — Little did we know that one fish – not even edible fed generations of Lewes Delaware seamen and their families.

The menhaden fish is a fisherman’s fish, meaning schools of 1,000 to 100,000 provide the universal food of larger fishes and attract them to their spawning grounds.

In Delaware Bay and the shallow reaches of the Atlantic Ocean, these small fishes – under fifteen inches tops – attract larger fish which made their way to many a dinner table.

More importantly, the menhaden fish, scaly, oily and fleshy, provided the oil for the colonial streetlamps and most of the colonial economy prior to the whale oil industry taking off out of New Bedford, Mass.

This kept tiny Lewes, first town in the first state, well-employed and well-off. The shipbuilding industry took off in Lewes as early as the seventeenth century, to provide small boats that launched many a fisherman’s career.

Read the full story at NPR Delaware

Statement from the Garden State Seafood Association on ASMFC Marine Monument Policy

May 6, 2016 — The following statement was released by Greg DiDomenico, Executive Director of the Garden State Seafood Association, following the passage of the ASMFC motion calling for the president not to declare a marine monument in the Atlantic Ocean:

“The Antiquities Act was perhaps a necessary tool to protect sensitive areas in 1906, but with our increased technological capabilities, knowledge, and an all-encompassing regulatory system, it is an unnecessary and blunt tool for 2016.

The Magnuson–Stevens Act specifically allows for any fishery management plan under the authority of any Council to protect deep-sea corals and other habitat features from physical damage from fishing gear.

It is time that the years of on-the-water experience possessed by the commercial fishing industry be acknowledged, especially in the context of this issue. The intellectual power of the regional Councils, in conjunction with the fishing industry, will result in the most meaningful protections of deep-water corals and habitat while allowing for traditional fishing activity to continue.”

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The Garden State Seafood Association is dedicated to sincere and effective representation in order to protect the interests of New Jersey fishermen and New Jersey’s fisheries dependent businesses.

Statement from the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association on ASMFC Marine Monument Policy

May 6, 2016 — The following statement was released by Bonnie Brady, Executive Director of the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, following the passage of the ASMFC motion calling for the president not to declare a marine monument in the Atlantic Ocean:

“The Long Island Commercial Fishing Association fully supports the motion approved by the ASMFC. The plan is a win for all. It allows for the protection of deep-sea corals, while at the at the same time protects commercial fishing jobs. It prevents the further contraction of our fisheries as we try to reclaim domestic markets from the onslaught of imported fish and shrimp, which too often is harvested by forced and involuntary laborers working in inhumane conditions.”

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The Long Island Commercial Fishing Association works to promote and educate the public about commercial fishing on Long Island.

Senator Booker, Senator Menendez seek to end oil and gas testing in Atlantic Ocean

May 2, 2016 — WASHINGTON, DC — Seismic testing in the Atlantic Ocean, which can hurt marine life, is no longer needed now that the Obama administration dropped plans to drill for oil and gas there, U.S. Sens. Cory Booker and Robert Menendez said in a letter joined by 16 of their Democratic colleagues.

The senators asked President Barack Obama to end plans for the Atlantic testing,

Such tests, which involve airgun blasting, “can cause the catch rates of some commercial fish species to plummet, displace fish over large areas, and broadly disrupt the feeding and breeding behaviors of whales and other marine life,” the senators wrote.

The Obama administration dropped plans to allow oil and gas drilling in the Atlantic Ocean.

Other senators signing the letter included Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination.

Read the full story at NJ.com

‘Landmark agreement’ reached to restore American shad to Susquehanna

April 26, 2016 — The owners of the Conowingo Dam and the federal government have signed what they call a “landmark agreement” in long-struggling efforts to restore American shad to the Susquehanna River.

The agreement between Exelon Generation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service calls for up to 100,000 shad and 100,000 river herring to be transported and released to native spawning water above four hydroelectric dams in the Lower Susquehanna, including two in Lancaster County.

The agreement came out of efforts to pressure Exelon to improve the shad’s chances as part of the utility’s quest to obtain a federal license to operate for another 46 years.

Shad was once the iconic fish in the Susquehanna. It was a major food source, an economic driver and a way of life in Lancaster County when they made spawning runs from the Atlantic Ocean.

Read the full story in Lancaster Online

125 square miles off New York coast dedicated for wind power

March 17, 2016 — NEW YORK — Federal officials on Wednesday dedicated more than 125 square miles in the waters off the coast of Long Island for the development of commercial wind energy, pushing forward a renewable energy proposal initially created by New York utilities.

Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said the state has “tremendous” offshore wind potential.

“Today’s milestone marks another important step in the president’s strategy to tap clean, renewable energy from the nation’s vast wind and solar resources,” she said in a statement.

The Long Island Power Authority, New York Power Authority and Con Edison initially went to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in 2011 with the proposal to build the farm in the Atlantic Ocean that would include up to 200 turbines generating about 700 megawatts of energy capable of powering about 245,000 homes. The price tag was estimated at between $2 billion and $4 billion.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at ABC News