Charlie Baker Archives - Page 12 of 15

MASSACHUSETTS: Gov. Baker says marine monument designation hurts fishermen

September 16, 2016 — Gov. Charlie Baker is “deeply disappointed” by President Barack Obama’s plan to designate an area off the New England coast as the first deep-sea marine national monument in the Atlantic Ocean, a move the Swampscott Republican’s administration sees as undermining Massachusetts fishermen.

Obama on Thursday announced the creation of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, a 4,913 square mile area that includes three underwater canyons and four underwater mountains that provide habitats for protected species including sea turtles and endangered whales.

Recreational fishing will be allowed in the protected zone but most commercial fishing operations have 60 days to “transition from the monument area,” according to the White House. Red crab and lobster fisheries will be given seven years to cease operations in the area, which is about 150 miles southeast of Cape Cod.

“The Baker-Polito Administration is deeply disappointed by the federal government’s unilateral decision to undermine the Commonwealth’s commercial and recreational fishermen with this designation,” Baker spokesman Brendan Moss said in an email. “The Commonwealth is committed to working with members of the fishing industry and environmental stakeholders through existing management programs to utilize the best science available in order to continue our advocacy for the responsible protection of our state’s fishing industry while ensuring the preservation of important ecological areas.”

The Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen’s Association condemned the declaration, accusing the president of abusing his power and “indiscriminately” drawing a border “without taking into account the complexity of the marine ecosystem and domestic fishing fleet.”

Baker in November sent a letter to Obama, outlining what he described as “apprehension” over what was then a potential monument designation. Baker wrote that declaring a protected area could undermine ongoing work to develop marine habitat and ocean plans.

Read the full story at Wicked Local

Tarr: Marine monument punishes fishermen

September 16, 2016 — Creating the Atlantic Ocean’s first marine national monument is a needed response to dangerous climate change, oceanic dead zones and unsustainable fishing practices, President Barack Obama said Thursday.

But state Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, a Gloucester Republican, said the designation “singled out commercial fishing for more punishment.”

The new Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument consists of nearly 5,000 square miles of underwater canyons and mountains about 150 miles southeast of Cape Cod.

Gov. Charlie Baker said he is “deeply disappointed” by Obama’s designation of an area off the New England coast as the first deep-sea marine national monument in the Atlantic Ocean, a move the Swampscott Republican’s administration sees as undermining Massachusetts fishermen.

The monument area includes three underwater canyons and four underwater mountains that provide habitats for protected species including sea turtles and endangered whales.

Fishing operations

Tarr said the designation marked a missed opportunity to “balance conservation and support for commercial fishing.”

“In New England, we have one of the most highly regulated fishing industries in the world, and we have had a steady decline in the amount of area available to fish, and it should be a last resort to take away more area as opposed to trying to carefully draw the lines of this monument area,” Tarr told the State House News Service.

The marine protections will hurt red crab, swordfish, tuna, squid, whiting and offshore lobster fisheries, according to the Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen’s Association, which said industry representatives offered White House aides alternative proposals that would have protected coral habitat while still allowing fishing in some areas.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

Battle over Cashes Ledge continues between fishermen, environmentalists

August 29, 2016 — Despite the Obama administration’s declaration that Cashes Ledge has been taken off the table as a possible location for a marine national monument, the divisive issue of the monuments continues to percolate nationally between fishermen and conservationists.

From Hawaii to New England, the lines are clearly drawn.

Conservation groups have sustained a steady lobbying campaign to convince President Obama to employ the Antiquities Act to create new marine national monuments in the waters around Cashes Ledge, about 80 miles off Gloucester, and the seamounts off southern New England and Monterey, California.

On Friday, Obama ended a contentious process in the Pacific Ocean when he expanded an existing marine national monument area in the northwest Hawaiian Islands to create the largest protected area on Earth — 582,578 square miles.

Fishing stakeholders and fishing communities have countered with their own public campaign that sharply criticizes the collateral impact of closing more areas to commercial and recreational fishing, as well as the method of using the Antiquities Act as an end-run around the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation Act.

“The Antiquities Act does not require transparency or a robust analysis of the science,” the Gloucester-based Northeast Seafood Coalition said in a statement. “It does not require any socioeconomic considerations be taken into account. No process is required other than an executive action by the president of the United States.”

The coalition and others, including several members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation and Gov. Charlie Baker, have tried to drive home the point that the current system of federal ocean management requires fishing businesses and communities to follow the established and intricate regulatory procedures established under Magnuson-Stevens.

To allow the creation of marine national monuments by what amounts to presidential fiat, they say, is unfair to those who have operated under the established rules and makes a mockery of Magnuson-Stevens.

“The New England Fishery Management Council is in charge of carrying out this requirement in our region,” the NSC said. “Last year, the council approved Omnibus Habitat Amendment 2 and is presently working on an Omnibus Deep Coral Amendment. These areas include the very areas now proposed and under consideration for a national monument.”

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

MASSACHUSETTS: Offshore wind quietly reaches a milestone with arrival of survey ship in New Bedford

August 16, 2016 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — With no fanfare whatsoever, the offshore wind energy industry in New Bedford reached a significant milestone last weekend with the arrival of the Denmark-based Research Vessel Ocean Researcher at the Maritime Terminal in the South End. The ship represents the first offshore wind-related activity to take place at the $113 million, state-funded terminal, specifically designed to support the industry.

The arrival capped a week of good news for the offshore wind energy industry in Massachusetts, with the highlight being Gov. Charlie Baker’s signing of a law that mandates the production of at least 16 megawatts of offshore wind power in the next decade, the first law of its kind in the nation. The mandate greatly improves New Bedford’s positioning as a harbor for servicing the towers and shipping their components.

The 22-year-old RV Ocean Researcher, all 226 feet and 1,936 tons of her, tied up at the Maritime Terminal, which otherwise is vacant, the sole exception being a new scrap metal operation.

The ship had just completed a 17-day trip from Hull, England, where she is registered, said Lauren Burm, spokesman for the Danish company DONG, or Danish Oil and Natural Gas, known in the United States as Bay State Wind, Inc. She was speaking at an informal event near the ship’s temporary home at the terminal.

A statement issued by Burm quoted Mass. Clean Energy Center interim CEO Steve Pike as saying, “We welcome DONG Energy as the first — but not the last — offshore wind customer to use the terminal. As this industry emerges, it will bring economic activity like this to the City of New Bedford, the South Coast and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.”

Read the full story in the New Bedford Standard-Times

MASSACHUSETTS: Baker-Polito Administration Announces Seafood Marketing Program

August 11, 2016 — BOSTON — The Baker-Polito Administration has announced the launch of a seafood marketing program aimed to increase awareness and demand for local seafood products and support Massachusetts’ fishing and seafood industries.

“Through the Seafood Marketing Program, we will work with commercial fishermen, seafood processors, retailers, restaurants and fishing communities to promote the sale of sustainably-harvested Massachusetts seafood products both locally and in markets around the world,” said Governor Charlie Baker in a press release. “Our administration is committed to ensuring the future viability of the Commonwealth’s commercial fishing industry and creating a vibrant food economy in Massachusetts.”

According to Lt. Karyn Polito, Massachusetts’ commercial fishing industry and fishing ports contribute significantly to our economy, and are an essential part of our state’s history and culture. The Seafood Marketing Program is an important effort to support this iconic and valuable industry and our coastal communities.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

MASSACHUSETTS: $25M port bill awaits Gov. Baker’s pen

August 9, 2016 — Gloucester and its fishing community could benefit from a $25 million bond authorization to assist the state’s Designated Port Areas — but only if Gov. Charlie Baker signs the bill and includes the money in his capital spending program.

The funds, largely dedicated to revitalizing and sustaining the waterfront infrastructure of the state’s nine Designated Port Areas outside of Boston, are included in a comprehensive economic development bill passed last week by legislators and now awaiting Baker’s signature.

“I’ve spoken to him personally and I’m fairly confident the governor will sign the bill,” said Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr of Gloucester, who was instrumental in engineering the inclusion of the funds. “The next step will be to get the funds included in the governor’s spending program. That’s when the real lobbying will start.”

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

MASSACHUSETTS: 6 SouthCoast towns getting federal funds for habitat protection, restoration

August 5, 2016 — BOSTON — A total of $210,924 in federal grant funding is being awarded to help towns in the Buzzards Bay watershed protect important habitat and drinking water resources and provide passage for migratory fish species, the Baker-Polito Administration said in a news release.

The grants are being matched by $114,447 in municipal and private contributions and will focus on permanently protecting or restoring habitat, as well as promoting passive recreation.

“These forward-thinking local projects will ensure the Commonwealth’s native species are being preserved and our drinking water resources are protected,” said Gov. Charlie Baker in a statement. “With this round of grants, our administration continues to focus on assisting Massachusetts land protection and conservation projects like these in Buzzards Bay.”

The grants are being awarded by the Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program through the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management with funding from the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

The following seven grants were awarded to six towns:

Acushnet: $35,000 to work with the Buzzards Bay Coalition to protect a 9-acre property along the Acushnet River. The property contains field, forest and forested wetlands and is designated habitat for rare species. Protection of this property will advance the town’s long-term vision of a “greenbelt,” a corridor of connected conservation and recreation land along the Acushnet River.

Fairhaven: $35,000 to work with the Coalition to protect 61.5 acres in East Fairhaven that is part of a larger conservation effort. The property is designated as habitat for rare species and contains significant salt marsh, forested freshwater wetlands and frontage on a perennial stream.

Marion: $10,924 to remove an obstruction to fish passage on Borden Brook, which runs through Grassi Bog. Borden Brook is an existing American eel run and has the potential to support other fish species, including alewife. The town will remove an existing culvert and replace it with a larger culvert that will mimic natural stream channel conditions and provide unimpeded fish passage.

Mattapoisett & Rochester: $35,000 each to work with the Buzzards Bay Coalition, to protect 164-acres of land straddling the Rochester-Mattapoisett town boundary. The properties lie within a drinking water recharge area, are designated as habitat for rare species, contain extensive wetlands, have frontage on Branch Brook and abut existing protected lands owned by the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game and the Mattapoisett Water Department.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

MASSACHUSETTS: State fisheries survey underway in Gulf of Maine

July 18, 2016 — SCITUATE, Mass. — Over the past seven years, Kevin Norton watched the number of commercial groundfish vessels working out of his home port drop precipitously from 17 in 2009, to just four today.

“If not for the (federal fisheries) disaster money, there’d be no one left,” Norton said about fishermen who catch New England’s most familiar species like cod, haddock and flounder.

On July 11, Norton stood at the wooden wheel of Miss Emily, his 55-foot dragger. He was the only groundfisherman leaving from Scituate Harbor that day. He said he’d be tied up at the dock like the other three if he hadn’t been selected by the state to help Division of Marine Fisheries scientists conduct eight months of scientific research.

“All of our lives depend on this (the scientific data used to set fishing quotas),” he said. “That’s why this survey is so important.”

Massachusetts received more than $21 million in federal fisheries disaster aid, most of which was distributed to fishermen. But the state kept some for research projects, including $400,000 for an eight month Industry-Based Survey of random tows throughout the Gulf of Maine, from Cape Cod Bay up to Portland, Maine, focusing on cod, but counting and cataloging the fish and other species they catch.

“Science is the key to getting it right,” said Matthew Beaton, the state secretary of Energy and the Environment. Beaton and state Department of Fish and Game Commissioner George Peterson were on board the Miss Emily July 11 and helped sort the catch.

The state survey is part of Gov. Charlie Baker’s promise to help fishermen answer some of the key questions plaguing fishery management, Beaton said. Fishermen contend they are seeing a lot of cod in the Gulf of Maine, but their observations don’t match NOAA stock assessments that show historically low populations. The disconnect, fishermen say, results from the federal government using a vessel and net that have had trouble catching cod and performing surveys in the wrong places at the wrong time of year.

While it catches and documents all species it encounters, the state survey was designed to evaluate the status of Gulf of Maine cod, said principal investigator and DMF fisheries biologist William Hoffman. Its timing — April to July and October to January — mirrors peak spawning times for this cod stock. Similar surveys were done from 2003 to 2007 and, with the summer work now complete, Hoffman said they have found fewer cod in the places they previously sampled and didn’t find any major aggregations in deep water areas.

“We really need to do this for at least three years before we can draw any solid conclusions,” Hoffman cautioned. “But right now, surveying at the same time, in the same area, (as the previous survey) we’re seeing less fish.”

The trip on July 11 netted just one cod.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

Massachusetts to invest $1.1M on Jodrey fish pier renovations

July 8, 2016 — The Jodrey State Fish Pier is the best performing and most well-run of the state’s four fish piers, emerging as a model for potential changes to Massachusetts’ other three fish piers, according to an evaluation of the state fish pier system by the administration of Gov. Charlie Baker.

The evaluation, funded by the Seaport Economic Council and performed by a working group of representatives from a number of state agencies, has resulted in two positives for the 78-year-old fish pier named for Edward R. Jodrey, the Gloucester barber who championed its construction in 1930s:

The Baker administration announced this week it will fund $1.1 million in renovations at the pier that covers approximately 8 acres at the head of the harbor, part of what the administration says is its continued “commitment to deepening the economic impact of state maritime facilities.”

Those funds will be used to repair the deteriorating roof atop the 40,000-square-foot cold storage and freezing operation that is one of the array of businesses housed in the three buildings on the pier.

Perhaps more important in the long run, the evaluation showed the Jodrey State Fish Pier, which is operated at a profit by MassDevelopment, is at the top of the class among the state’s four fish piers, an operations model for those located in New Bedford, Fall River and Plymouth.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

MASSACHUSETTS: New fish commissioners OK emergency sea bass rules

June 29, 2016 — WESTBOROUGH, Mass. — The newly recast state Marine Fisheries Commission convened its first business meeting Tuesday since Gov. Charlie Baker backed up the moving truck in late May and jettisoned seven members whose terms had expired.

The seven new members, along with holdovers Bill Adler and Ray Kane, met in a hushed conference room at the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife’s spiffy zero-net-energy field headquarters — think green as green can be — here in central Massachusetts, about 45 miles from the closest wave coming off the Atlantic Ocean.

Following opening comments by state Fish & Game Commissioner George Peterson and state Division of Marine Fisheries Director David Pierce, the new commissioners waded into a number of issues, including an escalating focus on the state of the black sea bass population and the possibility of changing the joint federal/interstate manner in which the stock is managed.

The commissioners unanimously voted to approve DMF’s recommended emergency regulations for the recreational black sea bass fishery for the 2016 season that began May 21, including a reduction in the available harvest for the second consecutive year.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times