Saving Seafood

Amata raises concerns about massive new National Marine Sanctuary

March 27, 2023 — U.S. Congresswoman Uifa’atali Amata is raising urgent concerns about President Joe Biden’s initiation of an enormous new National Marine Sanctuary or NMS for 777,000 square miles around the Pacific Remote Islands. She questions why the administration made no effort to discuss this issue with the Pacific delegations or to notify them even at the recent IGIA forum that such a drastic change to our way of life was even being considered.

“What changed? Why were we not given the courtesy of a discussion or even advance notice of this policy?” she asked in a letter Thursday to Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland. “I strongly oppose any new National Marine Sanctuary designations in the Pacific, especially ones that are implemented by executive order without consultation with native Samoans and other Pacific Islanders who have cared for and relied on these waters for millennia. This action would destroy American Samoa’s fishing industry, which makes up about 80 percent of our local economy, contribute to regional food insecurity, and do nothing to address the predatory IUU fishing practices of the Chinese Communist Party.”

Presidential proclamations created the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument or PRIMNM initially, then tripled it in size, placing over 495,000 square miles of the Pacific off limits. Now, President Biden is setting in motion yet another huge expansion or new NMS designation to 777,000 square miles, some four times the size of California, a detrimental action to American Samoa and U.S. food security, with the perverse effect of mainly benefiting China’s fishing fleet.

“I also cannot see how destroying the economy of the southern-most U.S. territory and declaring vast sections of the Pacific unfishable for our neighbors in a time of strategic competition with China will help our diplomatic efforts in the region. This action is especially more concerning given that our law enforcement efforts and U.S. Coast Guard presence in the region are limited. This action is tantamount to the federal government tying our hands while CCP fishing vessels rob our house,” Congresswoman Amata said.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Biden backs sanctuary status for Remote Pacific Islands waters

March 23, 2023 — President Joe Biden directed the U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo to start the process of designating waters of the U.S. Pacific Remote Islands as a National Marine Sanctuary on Tuesday, drawing praise from supporters who have advocated such a designation for more than a decade.

The sanctuary designation process directed by the president will include opportunities for public comment. Biden also directed Raimondo and Secretary of Commerce Deb Haaland to conduct a public process to work with indigenous communities of the Pacific to appropriately rename the existing Pacific Remote Islands National Monument (and potentially the islands themselves) and to provide posthumous recognition will also be awarded to the Hui Panalaau — 130 young, mostly Native Hawaiian men sent to secure U.S. territorial claim to the islands in the run up to World War II.

“Mahalo to President Biden for his support in protections of the Pacific Remote Islands,” said Jonee Peters, executive director of Conservation Council for Hawaii and a Hui Panalaau descendant. “With his support, this action ensures a healthy marine ecosystem of native species, corals, seabirds, and all of the marine ohana that support the perpetuation of traditional voyaging practices in Oceania. Furthermore, I am grateful for his recognition of the bravery and sacrifices made by the Hui Panalaau.”

Read the full article at Spectrum News

Environmental groups challenge government’s sale of Gulf of Mexico for oil drilling

March 7, 2023 — Several environmental groups including Healthy Gulf, filed a lawsuit Monday in federal court challenging the Department of Interior’s sale of 73.3 million acres of the Gulf of Mexico for oil and gas leasing.

As part of the federal government’s largest oil-and-gas lease offering in history, the Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 259 was slated to take place last year, but was delayed along with other offshore gas and oil auctions, purportedly due to “conflicting court rulings.”

In August, Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia, included provisions for Gulf of Mexico oil leasing in Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act in an effort to lower the cost of oil for Americans.

Despite the legislation’s efforts to invest in clean energy solutions and tackle climate change threats, Lease Sale 259 is expected to produce up to 1.12 billion barrels of oil and 4.4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas over the next 50 years. The environmental groups argue in their lawsuit that this will contribute “substantially to greenhouse gas pollution that will exacerbate the climate crisis worldwide, undermine national and international efforts to transition to clean energy, and increase harms to Gulf communities.”

Read the full article at Courthouse News Service

Biden admin scientist raised alarm on offshore wind harming whales months ago

February 28, 2023 — A senior Biden administration scientist authored an internal memo warning of the impacts offshore wind development may have on marine life months before the recent spate of whale deaths along the East Coast.

Sean Hayes, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) chief of protected species, penned the memo in May 2022 and sent it to Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) lead biologist Brian Hooker, also copying more than a dozen other scientists from the two agencies. The memo highlighted Hayes’ concerns about how offshore wind construction and surveying could disrupt the endangered Atlantic right whale.

“The development of offshore wind poses risks to these species, which is magnified in southern New England waters due to species abundance and distribution,” Hayes wrote in the letter dated May 13. “These risks occur at varying stages, including construction and development, and include increased noise, vessel traffic, habitat modifications, water withdrawals associated with certain substations.”

Read the full article at Fox News

Offshore wind halt urged by Native Americans seeking sway

February 27, 2023 — The National Congress of American Indians on Thursday called for a moratorium on offshore wind development along U.S. coasts, insisting the Biden administration do a better job protecting tribal interests.

The decision by the largest lobbying group for tribes in the U.S. follows a plea Tuesday by 30 New Jersey mayors to halt offshore wind activity so government officials can investigate recent whale deaths. And even before those moves, developers were confronting a slew of economic challenges, from inflation-stoked costs to supply chain woes, that are making it harder to build the nation’s first large commercial wind farms.

Native Americans have complained about being cut out of the planning, permitting and contracting process as developers seek to build more than a dozen wind projects along both the West and East coasts, despite vows by President Joe Biden and top administration officials to consider indigenous knowledge in government decisionmaking. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the nation’s first Native American cabinet secretary, also has put a new focus on environmental justice and indigenous rights as head of the department that oversees offshore wind.

Read the full article at the Press of Atlantic City

Biden’s Offshore Wind Dreams Face Rising Controversy, Opposition

February 28, 2023 — In stark contrast to its do-nothing approach to holding lease sales for offshore oil and gas exploration, the Biden administration has mounted an aggressive push to speed along the development of offshore wind farms in the federally-owned waters of the United States. But that effort is now facing pushback from a rising number of stakeholders, even as a series of mysterious whale deaths along the Atlantic coast has raised concerns about potential negative impacts on marine life from the projects.

By now, most Americans are likely aware of the increasing number of whales that have been found grounded on Atlantic beaches, some of which lie adjacent to offshore wind projects already under development. At least 10 whales have died in such events along the coasts of New York and New Jersey in recent months, leading to speculation that noise and other impacts arising from offshore wind-related activities might be the cause. Increasing public concerns over the whale deaths led 30 New Jersey mayors last week to call for a moratorium on further offshore wind activities pending additional studies to assess possible cause and effect.

While no conclusive linkage between the projects and the marine mammal deaths has been scientifically established, the controversy is leading some to wonder why the same environmental groups that have traditionally urged a cautious approach to oil and gas projects to protect marine life have failed to raise similar objections to the offshore wind activities. This apparent lack of concern seems especially questionable given that some of the whale deaths have been among American right whales, an endangered species consisting of just 340 remaining individuals.

Read the full article at Forbes

U.S. rule change equips offshore wind developers for faster growth

February 24, 2023 — Last month, the Biden administration set out new streamlined regulation for offshore wind development as it chases its highly ambitious installation target of 30 GW by 2030.

In the first major regulatory shakeup since 2009, the U.S. Interior Department will offer more flexibility on survey requirements, reform lease auctions and improve the verification of project designs, it said.

The new rules come as the Interior Department plans to hold up to four additional offshore lease sales by 2025 and aims to complete environmental reviews of at least 16 offshore wind projects by 2025, representing over 20 GW of new capacity.

Read the full article at Reuters

The United States must act to stop illegal fishing in 2023

February 6, 2023 — In 2022, U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration strengthened U.S. policy to counter the dangers of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. This year, the United States must urgently begin to translate this framework into robust action around the world. To this end, Washington should prioritize establishing anti-IUU partnerships with countries in Latin America and Africa. The existing U.S.-led anti-IUU and Quad partnerships in the Indo-Pacific can serve as important models.

Beyond food and economic security and environmental impacts, new geopolitical and conflict threats associated with IUU fishing have emerged. In the fall, reports came out about an interaction during which a U.S. Coast Guard cutter encountered a Chinese fishing fleet off the coast of Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands while patrolling for IUU fishing. When the Coast Guard attempted to board several of the ships to ensure they were following internationally accepted fishing practices, the Chinese vessels sped away with one turning aggressively toward the Coast Guard cutter, requiring the U.S. boat to take evasive action to avoid being rammed. This dangerous interaction was a hazardous deviation from international maritime protocol. Ultimately, the Coast Guard found possible violations on two of the vessels it was able to board and referred the matter to the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organization, which includes China.

While China is not the sole perpetrator of global IUU fishing, it is increasingly becoming a major one. With dwindling fish stocks near its own shores, Chinese distant water fleets are fishing thousands of miles away from the Chinese mainland and using large processor/transport vessels to get their catch back to China. Estimates put the Chinese distant water fishing fleet at around 3,000 vessels, with nearly 500 fishing in the South Pacific, sometimes for months at a time. Of course, not all of what distant water Chinese fishing vessels are doing is illegal. Outwardly, China says it does not support IUU fishing and it has shown the ability to address specific issues when presented with overwhelming evidence of violations. However, it remains to be seen how much China will clamp down and proactively work on IUU fishing issues to ensure long-term viability of global fish stocks.

Read the full article at Brookings

Offshore wind energy plans in the Gulf take a back seat to oil drilling under new law

February 6, 2023 — President Joe Biden’s administration is tapping the brakes on offshore wind energy development in the Gulf of Mexico to make way for a new fast-tracked effort to open more federal waters to oil and gas drilling.

The move, which runs counter to Biden’s ambitious goals for cutting greenhouse gas emissions and speeding the growth of renewable energy, will delay the first-ever auction of wind energy lease areas in the Gulf by at least six months.

Wind energy companies had been lining up to bid on a 174,000-acre area south of Lake Charles and a 508,000-acre area near Galveston, Texas in late December. The two lease areas have the potential to generate enough power for almost 3 million homes, according to the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. But Biden’s signing of the Inflation Reduction Act put those plans on hold, likely until sometime this summer, federal regulators confirmed this week.

Read the full article at nola.com

E.P.A. Blocks Long-Disputed Mine Project in Alaska

January 31, 2023 — The Biden administration on Tuesday moved to protect one of the world’s most valuable wild salmon fisheries, at Bristol Bay in Alaska, by effectively blocking the development of a gold and copper mine there.

The Environmental Protection Agency issued a final determination under the Clean Water Act that bans the disposal of mine waste in part of the bay’s watershed, about 200 miles southwest of Anchorage. Streams in the watershed are crucial breeding grounds for salmon, but the area also contains deposits of precious-metal ores thought to be worth several hundred billion dollars.

A two-decades old proposal to mine those ores, called the Pebble project, has been supported by some Alaskan lawmakers and Native groups for the economic benefits it would bring, but opposed by others, including tribes around the bay and environmentalists who say it would do irreparable harm to the salmon population.

Alannah Hurley, executive director of United Tribes of Bristol Bay, which has long opposed the mine, said the decision “was a real moment of justice for us.”

Read the full article at The New York Times