Saving Seafood

Biden administration announces plans for up to 12 lease sales for offshore wind energy

April 25, 2024 — A new five-year schedule to lease federal offshore tracts for wind energy production was announced Wednesday by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, with up to a dozen lease sales anticipated beginning this year and continuing through 2028.

Haaland announced the plan at a conference in New Orleans.

Under the plan outlined Wednesday, which includes some previously announced lease auctions, three of the anticipated sales would be for Gulf of Mexico tracts to be offered this year, in 2025 and in 2027. Central Atlantic area leases would be sold in 2024 and 2026.

Other anticipated sale areas include the Gulf of Maine (2024 and 2028); Oregon waters (2024); an area of the Atlantic known as New York Bight (2027); and California, Hawaii, and an as-yet unspecified U.S. territory (2028).

The sales will be coordinated by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

Read the full article at the Associated Press

Environmental groups urge Biden administration to combat plastic pollution ahead of latest UN negotiations on Global Plastics Treaty

April 14, 2024 — Ahead of the fourth round of United Nations negotiations (INC-4) aiming to create a legally binding Global Plastics Treaty, nearly 30 U.S. environmental organizations representing over 15 states and territories have called on the Biden administration to intensify efforts to combat plastic pollution around the world.

In their letter to the administration, the groups outlined how the U.S. is particularly well-suited to become a leader in plastic reduction and how the timing of INC-4, taking place 23 to 29 April in Ottawa, Canada – nearly a year and a half after INC-1 – presents a perfect opportunity to take action.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Biden administration approves eighth US offshore wind project

April 2, 2024 — The U.S. Interior Department on Tuesday approved the country’s eighth commercial-scale offshore wind project, which will be built off the coast of Massachusetts, bringing online electricity to power more than 900,000 homes.

WHY IT IS IMPORTANT

The New England Wind Project approval brings the U.S. one-third of the way to President Joe Biden’s goal of permitting 30 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2030 – a key part of the president’s climate change agenda.

Read the full article at Reuters

Biden administration restores blanket protections for threatened species

March 30, 2024 — The Biden administration has restored so-called blanket rule protections for threatened species after the Trump administration in 2019 abolished those rules under the Endangered Species Act.

The blanket rule provides newly listed threatened species that are at risk of becoming endangered in the foreseeable future with the same broad protections as endangered species that are at risk of becoming extinct. The rule avoids the need for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to formulate specific protections for each species that it lists as threatened.

“As species face new and daunting challenges, including climate change, degraded and fragmented habitat, invasive species, and wildlife disease, the Endangered Species Act is more important than ever to conserve and recover imperiled species,” Martha Williams, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said in a statement. “These revisions underscore our commitment to using all of the tools available to help halt declines and stabilize populations of the species most at-risk.”

Read the full article at Courthouse News Service

Western Pacific fishers, advisors continue to warn against US sanctuary proposal, imported tuna

March 28, 2024 — Fishers and advisors on the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council are warning that current U.S. policies are hurting American fishers in the Pacific.

Fishers voiced a litany of urgent concerns at the council’s 198th meeting in mid-March, including the Biden administration’s goal of extending sanctuary protections in the region and what they deemed as a growing threat of tuna imports.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Fishing industry reels over Biden’s destructive wind farm plan: It’s ‘coming at us from every direction’

March 27, 2024 — Time is running out for fishermen and women in the Northeast who fear their industry is being put at risk by the Biden administration’s renewable energy agenda.

“Ground fishermen, lobstermen, whatever you are, you’re under the microscope right now, and it just seems to be something coming at us from every direction,” New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association (NEFSA) COO Dustin Delano said on “The Big Money Show” Monday.

“And with this offshore wind agenda out there to attempt to fight climate change,” he continued, “it’s almost like environmentalists and different folks are willing to destroy the environment to protect the environment.”

Two weeks ago, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), an agency within the Department of Interior, announced the finalization of what is known as a wind energy area (WEA), which is an area of the ocean that would allot for construction of enough wind turbines to produce 32 gigawatts (GW) of energy.

Read the full article at FOX Business

US Speeds Offshore Wind Farm Development with More Reviews and Tax Guidance

March 25, 2024 — The Biden administration continues to place a high priority on offshore wind as a key part of the country’s renewable energy strategy and is taking steps to support and accelerate the development of the industry. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced plans to start the environmental review for another project while the Treasury Department finally issued long-awaited updates on the tax credits the industry views as essential to its planning.

BOEM reports that it will commence the environmental review of the plan submitted for Vineyard Northeast, the second project from Copenhagen Investment Partners which already has the Vineyard Wind Farm under construction with Avangrid. This second project calls for 2.6 GW of capacity located 29 miles offshore of Nantucket, Massachusetts.

The Vineyard Northeast proposal includes the installation of up to 160 wind turbine generators, up to three electrical service platforms, and one booster station in an adjacent lease area. It also envisions two offshore export cable corridors, one to Connecticut and one to Massachusetts, and associated onshore transmission systems.

Read the full article at The Maritime Executive

Biden-Harris Administration announces $60 million to advance tribal priorities and address climate change impacts on Pacific salmon and steelhead in the Columbia River

March 23, 2024 — Today, the Department of Commerce and NOAA announced plans to allocate $60 million in funding to advance tribal priorities and address the impacts of climate change on Pacific salmon and steelhead in the Columbia River as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. These funds from the Inflation Reduction Act — the largest climate investment in history —  will also play a crucial role in addressing deferred maintenance and repairs at Mitchell Act-funded hatchery facilities across the Columbia River Basin. 

This funding is consistent with President Biden’s September 2023 Memorandum on Restoring Healthy and Abundant Salmon, Steelhead, and Other Native Fish Populations in the Columbia River Basin and the historic December 14, 2023 agreement between the four lower Columbia River Treaty Tribes, the States of Oregon and Washington (collectively known as the six sovereigns) and the relevant agencies and departments of the United States promising to work together in partnership to restore these species in the Basin.

“This effort aligns with the U.S. government’s commitment to the Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “The funding will prioritize tribal initiatives, building upon extensive tribal engagement efforts, to strengthen projects aimed at enhancing climate resilience for tribal fisheries and salmon recovery efforts.”

This funding was first announced in June 2023 as part of the historic $3.3 billion in investments focused on ensuring America’s communities and economies are ready for and resilient to climate change. Of that $3.3 billion, an additional $240 million will support Pacific coastal salmon restoration and recovery through investment in non-Mitchell Act hatcheries, and $42 million will support Pacific salmon populations through the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund and expanded research programs to identify and prioritize restoration strategies. NOAA is also continuing work to reopen migratory pathways and restore access to healthy habitat for fish. 

NOAA Fisheries worked closely with hatchery operators to identify critical deferred maintenance and repairs required for facilities. NOAA collaborated with tribal, state and federal Mitchell Act hatchery program operators to strategize the most effective allocation of funding. Together, these groups identified a range of projects focused on hatchery deferred maintenance and repair activities to ensure the long-term health and sustainability of fisheries in the region.

“This funding from the Inflation Reduction Act reaffirms our commitment to tribal and treaty rights through revitalizing the salmon, steelhead and other native fish populations within the Columbia River Basin,” stated Janet Coit, assistant administrator for NOAA Fisheries. “These funds will support salmon fisheries that have long been the lifeblood of tribes along the Columbia River.”

The Mitchell Act was passed by Congress in 1938 for the conservation of salmon and steelhead fishery resources in the Columbia River Basin in light of hydroelectric, irrigation and flood control development projects across the basin. It authorized the establishment, operation and maintenance of hatchery facilities in Oregon, Washington and Idaho, as well as other fishery conservation activities. Since 1946, Congress has annually appropriated Mitchell Act funds.

Please visit NOAA’s Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law websites to learn about current and future funding opportunities.

ALASKA: CERAWEEK-Alaska’s governor calls on Biden to update mine permit process

March 21, 2024 — Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy called on President Joe Biden on Wednesday to update and streamline the U.S. mine permitting process in order to boost domestic production of critical minerals and reduce dependence on foreign nations.

The push echoes calls from the mining industry for clarity on how permits can be obtained for mines that produce copper, lithium and other energy transition minerals. Executives have long complained the U.S. process can be complex, expensive and opaque due in part to a federal mining law enacted in 1872.

“Our message to the Biden administration is, ‘Do everything you can to do everything here in America. Get your permitting processes streamlined,'” Dunleavy told Reuters on the sidelines of the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston.

It is “somewhat nonsensical,” the governor said, that Biden has pushed for greater adoption of electric vehicles – which require far more critical minerals to build than internal combustion engines – but has blocked Northern Dynasty’s Pebble copper and gold mining project.

Read the full article at Yahoo Finance