Saving Seafood

Offshore wind turbines won’t reduce carbon dioxide emissions. This is why

April 22, 2o24 — Offshore wind farms are touted as the energy wave of the future. As we venture further into the era of renewable energy, offshore wind farms have been celebrated as beacons of progress, promising to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and curb carbon emissions. This narrative, championed by government officials and wind farm companies alike, paints an effervescent picture of a sustainable future. Yet, the gap between this optimistic vision and the sobering reality is wider than many might expect. The reality is that offshore wind may increase the total amount of emissions, perhaps even exceeding current levels as the unpredictability of wind forces existing fossil fuel plants to work overtime.

Studies in the Netherlands, Ireland, Colorado, and Texas have all found that adding wind farms causes existing fossil fuel plants to produce more CO2.  As the amount of wind farms increases, the total CO2 released also increases, making emissions as high or even higher than they would have been with no wind farms. No study has contradicted this finding.

When discussing electricity, it is important to remember two fundamental characteristics. First, electricity cannot be stored at reasonable cost or in any significant amount. Second, the amount of electricity being produced must, at each instant, equal the amount being consumed, or the system will collapse. This means that the output of the fossil generating plants must vary their output to match the wind gusts and lulls.

Read the full article at northjersey.com

Annual ocean conference raises $11.3b in pledges for marine conservation

April 20, 2024 — From April 15-17, state delegates, organization representatives, academics and philanthropists met at the 9th Our Ocean Conference (OOC) in Athens to discuss the protection of the world’s oceans and pledge actions to safeguard their future.

As the OOC took place, news broke about the world’s coral reefs undergoing a mass bleaching event, which lent a sense of urgency to the conference. Experts say this global bleaching event is a result of the current El Niño climate pattern as well as the ongoing rise in global ocean temperatures due to human-induced climate change.

“Devastating but also predictable,” is how Melissa Wright, a senior member of the environment team at Bloomberg Philanthropies, which funds ocean conservation work, described the bleaching event at the conference’s opening press briefing. She urged leaders to take “decisive action” on climate change as well as other threats such as overfishing, pollution and development.

Read the full article at Mongabay

The world’s coral reefs are facing another mass bleaching event — maybe the biggest ever

April 16, 2024 — The world’s oceans are experiencing another global mass coral bleaching event because of unprecedented heat, scientists at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration confirmed.

“This is the fourth time, on record, that coral bleaching has occurred simultaneously within all major ocean basins,” said Derek Manzello, ecologist and co-ordinator of NOAA’s Coral Reef Watch.

Bleaching — a ghostly discolouration, in stark contrast to vibrant colours found in reefs — can occur when corals are heat-stressed, expelling microscopic algae from within. The longer and hotter it gets, the more likely the corals will die, disrupting fragile ecosystems as well as the lives and livelihoods of people who depend on them.

But the full extent of damage is yet to come. Manzello is seeing an increase in affected reefs every week.

“If that trend continues, this will be the most spatially expansive, global bleaching event on record — in as little as a few weeks, potentially,” Manzello warned.

Read the full article at CBC

Species most vulnerable to climate change

April 14, 2024 — NOAA Fisheries’ two new assessments of climate vulnerability for fish species and invertebrates in the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic were shared at the end of 2023. While all the species assessed are projected to face significant exposure to climate-driven changes, some are expected to be much more susceptible than others.

John Quinlan, the lead author of the Gulf of Mexico assessment, shared, “These areas are projected to become substantially warmer, saltier, more acidic, and less oxygenated. This means that multiple stressors could operate across the Southeast, and we’ll need to be aware as the system shifts.”

Read the full article at National Fisherman

Developing Alternative Fisheries Management Scenarios to Respond to Climate Change

April 8, 2024 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Seafood is a vitally important source of protein. Worldwide, more than 3 billion people rely on seafood as a significant part of their diets.

The amount that we can sustainably fish and farm is based on historical catches and trends that have been monitored for decades. We need to understand their breeding cycles and growth rates, along with cyclical patterns of ocean currents and climate—and the ecosystems they live in. This allows us to build models that inform sustainable management strategies for harvesting seafood. However, climate change continues to disrupt long-standing expectations, strategies, and the communities that depend on them.

Scientists at the NOAA Fisheries Alaska Fisheries Science Center are collaborating with communities, managers, and other government and academic scientists in the Bering Sea region. They authored a new paper that develops climate-informed management scenarios for fisheries in the eastern Bering Sea.

“Several years ago, we recognized that climate change was going to affect our fisheries in Alaska. So, in 2015, we started a new initiative, the Alaska Climate Integrated Modeling Project, or ACLIM, with the goal of creating climate informed models to help us adapt to a warming planet,” remarks Anne Hollowed, lead author and retired center scientist.

ACLIM is a collaboration among more than 50 interdisciplinary experts that projects and evaluates climate impacts and effective responses for social and ecological systems in and around the Bering Sea. It is also part of NOAA’s Climate, Ecosystems, and Fisheries Initiative (CEFI) to build decision support systems for climate informed decision making in each region.

Kristin Holsman, co-author with the center and co-lead investigator on ACLIM, adds, “The climate change shifts and extreme events that have occurred over the past decade in the North Pacific and Bering Sea really underscore the need for climate innovation in fishery management. ACLIM lets us meaningfully connect cutting-edge science tools and information for fishing communities and resource managers to help prepare for and respond to climate change. The key in this is incorporating social and economic input in addition to biological and oceanographic information.”

The climate-related events that Holsman refers to are the 2015–2016 and 2018–2019 marine heat waves. They caused wide-scale declines in marine species such as snow crabs.

University of Washington scientist and co-author Andre Punt states, “The interdisciplinary nature of ACLIM is what makes it so valuable. Along with NOAA, we have representatives participating from our university, the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council, Native Alaskan communities, international organizations, among others—all dedicated to solving these important issues related to climate change.”

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

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.

CALIFORNIA: Algae bloom fish kills prompt new Bay Area wastewater treatment plant requirements costing $11 billion

March 18, 2024 — Ten years. That’s how much time the Bay Area’s 37 wastewater treatment plants will have to reduce fertilizer and sewage in their water by 40%. The estimated price tag for the facility upgrades is $11 billion.

The San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board plans to adopt the change as part of its new discharge permit requirement beginning June 12. Previous permits did not require reductions, according to Lorien Fono, executive director of the Bay Area Clean Water Agencies, which oversees the region’s wastewater treatment plants. She spoke from the Oro Loma Sanitary District in San Lorenzo on Thursday. The facility is considered a model for upgrades.

The regulatory change follows a damaging algae bloom in 2022 and 2023. A brown algae species called Heterosigma akashiwo, which feeds off the nitrogen in wastewater, infected the Bay and damaged aquatic ecosystems.

Read the full article at CBS News

Last month was hottest February ever recorded. It’s the ninth-straight broken record

March 9, 2024 — For the ninth straight month, Earth has obliterated global heat records — with February, the winter as a whole and the world’s oceans setting new high-temperature marks, according to the European Union climate agency Copernicus.

The latest record-breaking in this climate change-fueled global hot streak includes sea surface temperatures that weren’t just the hottest for February, but eclipsed any month on record, soaring past August 2023’s mark and still rising at the end of the month. And February, as well the previous two winter months, soared well past the internationally set threshold for long-term warming, Copernicus reported Wednesday.

The last month that didn’t set a record for hottest month was in May 2023 and that was a close third to 2020 and 2016. Copernicus records have fallen regularly from June on.

February 2024 averaged 13.54 degrees Celsius (56.37 degrees Fahrenheit), breaking the old record from 2016 by about an eighth of a degree. February was 1.77 degrees Celsius (3.19 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than the late 19th century, Copernicus calculated. Only last December was more above pre-industrial levels for the month than February was.

Read the full the Associated Press

Researchers release global database to understand climate impacts on ocean predators

March 9, 2024 — A cross-border science collaboration has yielded a global database that will help researchers understand how climate change is affecting ocean predators like the albacore tuna — which also happens to be an important food source for people around the world.

“Climate change is shifting where species can live, and the pace of change is most intense in the ocean,” says Stephanie Green, associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and Canada Research Chair in Aquatic Global Change Ecology and Conservation.

“Our big questions are where will marine species go, and what will it mean for communities that rely on the fisheries they support?”

To tackle these questions, researchers at the University of Alberta are collaborating with colleagues in the United States to discover how top predators will respond to climate extremes and changing prey over the coming decades.

Wind and currents in the Pacific Ocean make the west coast of Canada and the United States an attractive feeding ground for migrating predators like tuna where they support lucrative fisheries, and also a hotbed of climate impacts.

The team honed in on albacore tuna, a torpedo-shaped predator known to eat hundreds of different species around the world and whose harvest is regulated by a treaty between the United States and Canada

Read the full article at the University of Alberta