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No Atlantic Monument, but New Marine Reserves Announced at Chile Conference

October 5, 2015 — President Barack Obama declared new marine sanctuaries in Lake Michigan and the tidal waters of Maryland on Monday, while Chile blocked off more than 200,000 square miles of the Pacific Ocean near the world-famous Easter Island from commercial fishing and oil and gas exploration.

The announcements came as top officials, including U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, attended an international conference on marine protection in the Chilean port city of Valparaiso. Several nations also outlined plans for tracing seafood imports to combat overfishing and stemming increased pollution in the ocean.

The new protected waters in the United States are the first to be designated as such in 15 years, the White House said in a statement.

The 875-square mile area of Wisconsin’s Lake Michigan extends from Port Washington to Two Rivers, containing a collection of 39 known shipwrecks. Fifteen are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Mallows Bay-Potomac River in Maryland encompasses a 14-square mile area of the tidal Potomac River next to Charles County. Nearly 200 vessels, some dating to the Revolutionary War, are found in the largely undeveloped area that provides habitat for endangered species of wildlife and fish.

Read the full story at the New York Times

Greens’ Hopes For Quick Win On New England Monument Fade

Emails obtained by Saving Seafood through public records requests confirm rumors that environmental activists hoped to convince the White House to announce Atlantic Marine National Monuments at next week’s “Our Oceans” conference in Chile. 

In this Greenwire story, Conservation Law Foundation Interim President Peter Shelly tells reporter Emily Yehle that the organizers were “trying to keep that quiet” to minimize the opportunity for opponents “to organize against it.”

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) – October 1, 2015 – The story excerpted below was written by E&E reporter Emily Yehle, and appeared on September 30, 2015 in Greenwire:

One month ago, environmental groups were strategizing over their latest bid: Get the Obama administration to create its first marine monument off New England.

They had talks with fishing groups, lawmakers and think tanks. At the end of August, they exchanged emails over their progress — and in one, the president of the Conservation Law Foundation warned everyone to keep quiet about the possibility of a breakthrough at the upcoming Our Ocean Conference in Chile.

“I hope no one is talking about Chile to the outside world,” CLF Interim President Peter Shelley wrote. “It’s one of the few advantages we may have to know that it could happen sooner rather than later.”

The email showed up in response to a public records request that Saving Seafood filed with the office of Maine Gov. Paul LePage’s. The advocacy group — which represents fishermen opposed to the monument — sent the emails to Greenwire yesterday, asserting that they confirm “rumors” of an impending monument announcement from the White House.

Such an announcement would certainly make waves. The proposed monument is small and sees little activity today, but it is near prime fishing grounds. House Republicans have also added the proposal to their arsenal of criticism over the White House’s use of the Antiquities Act (E&E Daily, Sept. 30).

But Shelley, in an interview today, said the email was just hopeful speculation. With the conference coming up, environmental groups had hoped to convince the Obama administration that the New England marine monument was shovel-ready and ideal for a conference announcement.

“The time was pretty short to pull it off. We thought there might be an opportunity we could get them to think about these areas for an announcement in conjunction with the Our Ocean Conference,” Shelley said. “We were trying to keep that quiet because we didn’t want to give the opposition more of an advantage. The more time they had, the more opportunity they would have to lobby, to fight it, to organize against it.”

Chile is set to host the second Our Ocean Conference in Valparaíso next week. The State Department hosted the first one last year — and used it as an opportunity to announce that Obama would drastically expand the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument (Greenwire, June 17).

Robert Vanasse, executive director of Saving Seafood, said rumors that the White House would make an announcement at the conference have been making the rounds for a few weeks.

“Given that last summer the Pacific monument expansion announcement took place at the State Department oceans summit, that seemed in keeping with previous actions,” Vanasse said. “We don’t put a lot of stock in Washington rumors; however, whenever our various [Freedom of Information Act] filings yielded this document, it seemed to be in sync with the rumors around town.”

The creation of monuments is usually shrouded in secrecy. Presidents can unilaterally create them under the Antiquities Act, a century-old law that requires no public process and no congressional approval.

Read the full story here

Access Granted to Chile’s Salmon Farming Antibiotic Use Info

CHILE — September 14, 2015 — Oceana has been granted access to information on Chile’s salmon farming antibiotic use between 2009 and 2013, following a unanimous ruling by Santiago’s Court of Appeals.

“We are pleased to hear the reversal of an incorrect ruling by the Transparency Council. Clearly, this is public information as it allows people to make decisions on fundamental issues, such as health and the environment, in addition to making scrutiny on whether the Government is effectively controlling this industry or not,” stated Alex Muñoz, Vice President for Oceana in Chile.

In July 2014, Oceana resorted to the Transparency Council after 50 salmon farms refused to reveal the amount and type of antibiotics used by them, on the grounds that this would entail “a competitive and commercial risk.”

The Transparency Council agreed with the salmon farms and declared that the National Fishery Service is not required to reveal disaggregated figures.

Read the full story from The Fish Site

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