August 19, 2016 — Researchers are looking for answers with regard to determining a horseshoe crab’s survival in the Delaware bay.
Regulators with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission say they need to get a firmer grip on how many horseshoe crabs die in association with medical harvesting.
The crabs are harvested for their blue blood, which contains coagulogen, a chemical that can be used to detect bacteria in medical products.
August 17, 2016 — PORTLAND, Maine — Environmental regulators studying the harvesting of horseshoe crabs that are drained of some of their blood for biomedical use say they need to get a firmer handle on how many die as part of the process.
The crabs, which have been on earth for hundreds of millions of years and are older than dinosaurs, are harvested because their blood contains coagulogen, a chemical used to make sure medical products aren’t contaminated by bacteria. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, an interstate authority, voted this month to propose taking into account the death toll associated with medical harvesting when determining the number of horseshoe crabs that can be harvested from the Delaware Bay.
The medical harvest of horseshoe crabs is about 500,000 crabs per year. The prehistoric-looking crabs typically are taken to labs, are drained of about a third of their blood and then are released alive into the same bodies of water where they were found, a spokeswoman for the commission said on Tuesday.
It’s unclear how many of the crabs die in the process, but the estimate is about 15 percent, said Kirby Rootes-Murdy, a fishery management plan coordinator with the fisheries commission. A firmer idea of how many die is important because of the crabs’ place in ecosystems, such as their role as a food source for endangered birds, Rootes-Murdy said.
Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Virginian-Pilot
LOWER TOWNSHIP, N.J. — A Cape May-Lewes Ferry boat that has been for sale for four years likely will be scuttled as a new artificial reef after failing to draw interest on the commercial market.
The MV Twin Capes has been moored at the Delaware River & Bay Authority’s docks in Lower Township since it was gradually taken out of service about two years ago.
The ferryboat is bigger, heavier and more nicely appointed than the other three in the fleet. It has a full restaurant, a food court and two plush bars that were added as part of a $27 million renovation in 1996.
But the bigger boat costs more to operate, DRBA spokesman James Salmon said. It requires a bigger crew (17 people instead of 12) and uses more fuel than the other three ferries with every 17-mile crossing over the Delaware Bay.
The DRBA has a tentative agreement to sell the ferry for $250,000 to Delaware’s Department of Natural Resources for use as an artificial ocean reef.
Delaware is partnering with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, which has decades of experience sinking barges, boats and construction material to create offshore habitat for fish.
August 12, 2016 — DOVER, Del. — A fishing crew apparently pulled up unexploded ordnance while clamming, leading to a fisherman being hospitalized with second-degree burns and the destruction of more than 700 cases of chowder, officials said.
It’s unclear what the ordnance was, but fishing vessels along the Atlantic Coast routinely dredge up munitions, including mustard agent, that was dumped at sea decades ago when environmental laws were far more lax.
The injured fisherman was treated at a hospital in Philadelphia for burns and blisters, said U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Seth Johnson. Such injuries are consistent with mustard agent exposure.
The crew of the fishing vessel the William Lee found what they believed was an old or discarded ordnance canister on Aug. 2 and threw it back into the ocean 30 miles east of Barnegat Inlet, Johnson said.
Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Providence Journal
August 11, 2016 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean:
WASHINGTON, DC ― The Draft Mid-Atlantic Regional Ocean Action Plan (Draft Plan) was recently released for public review by the Mid-Atlantic Regional Planning Body (MidA RPB), a group made up of representatives from six states, federal and tribal entities and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council.
The plan, which is open for public comment through September 6, 2016, aims to ensure healthy, productive, and resilient marine ecosystems and sustainable ocean uses from New York through Virginia. Developed by the MidA RPB, it is the culmination of collaborative discussions since 2013 and outlines a suite of actions for improving collaboration on decision making for ocean waters of the Mid-Atlantic.
The Draft Plan is available online and the public may formally submit comments via the Bureau of Offshore Energy Management (BOEM) website at http://www.boem.gov/Ocean-Action-Plan. In addition, the public is encouraged to share their reactions to the Draft Plan on social media using the hashtags #MidAOceanPlan and #OceanPlanning.
Working collaboratively to advance regional ocean planning as the Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean (MARCO), the states of New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia play an instrumental role in supporting the region’s process for gathering and reviewing data on ocean resources and uses, as well as engaging ocean users, tribes and the general public in an ocean planning process.
“The planning process has given the states a seat at the table regarding the use of offshore ocean resources,” said Maryland Department of Natural Resources Director of Ocean and Coastal Management and MidA RPB State Co-Lead Gwynne Schultz. “The Draft Plan provides an exciting opportunity to raise public awareness and to influence proposed projects and actions in federal waters, streamlining how government agencies work with each other and stakeholders.”
The five MARCO member states began identifying common interests in 2009, after a Governors’ Agreement formed the MARCO partnership to enhance the vitality of the region’s ocean ecosystem and economy. The states jointly recognize ocean planning as a potential tool for moving common regional priorities forward and, as MARCO, have played an instrumental role in the regional planning process. MARCO’s contributions to the Draft Plan have included:
“The MARCO Ocean Data Portal provides a public resource that puts maps and data from a variety of federal agencies and other vetted sources in one easy to use website location,” said Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program Manager Laura McKay, who also serves as Chair of the MARCO Management Board and as a member of the MidA RPB. “Never before have we been able to explore from a regional perspective, the transboundary spatial relationships between species, habitats and human activities,” McKay stated.
This process also helped establish a new two-way dialogue between those who use the ocean and the agencies and entities that make decisions about long-term sustainable management.
“The Mid-Atlantic states will benefit in the long-term from the improved relationships with ocean stakeholders who have been given a new opportunity to provide data and feedback to the regional ocean planning process, bringing a louder voice to key issues of concern from coastal communities and ensuring that decision-makers have an improved understanding of the opportunities and limitations of currently available data sets,” said Greg Capobianco, New York Department of State and MidA RPB member.
Following the public comment period, the Plan will be submitted to the National Ocean Council for concurrence. Upon finalization, the region expects to benefit from the Ocean Action Plan through improved coordination, data availability and outreach opportunities.
July 18, 2016 — The following was released by the Delaware Department of Natural Resources:
LEWES, Del. –DNREC’s Delaware Coastal Programs and the Mid-Atlantic Regional Planning Body (RPB) invite ocean stakeholders and the interested public to attend an open house to consider a draft Mid-Atlantic Regional Ocean Action Plan. The open house is scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, July 20 at The Virden Retreat Center, University of Delaware, 700 Pilottown Road, Lewes, DE 19958. The program will begin with a brief presentation on the draft plan, followed by a poster session and opportunities for questions and comment. The agenda can be found on the Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean (MARCO) website by clicking here.
“The draft Mid-Atlantic Ocean Action Plan represents nearly three years of deliberations and stakeholder outreach by the Mid-Atlantic Regional Planning Body in developing ocean policy for the region,” said Sarah W. Cooksey, Delaware Coastal Program Administrator, who along with DNREC Fisheries Administrator John Clark, is the state’s representative on the RPB. “With many people in Delaware depending on the ocean for its vast resources, the RPB is providing an opportunity for stakeholders and the public to learn about the plan and give comments that will be considered for the final document that will be submitted to the federal government.”
The draft plan outlines a series of actions on how federal and state agencies, tribes and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council can better collaborate to ensure healthy, productive, and resilient marine ecosystems and sustainable ocean uses in the Mid-Atlantic, including state and federal waters off Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. The draft Plan can be found on the RPB website at http://www.boem.gov/MidA-New/. The public comment period closes on September 6, 2016.
The draft plan supports improved government coordination and increased stakeholder participation to ensure healthy ocean ecosystems and sustainable ocean uses. The healthy ocean ecosystem goal promotes ocean health, functionality, and integrity through conservation, protection, enhancement, and restoration. Sustainable ocean usesrequire planning to provide for existing and emerging ocean uses that minimize conflicts, improve effectiveness of government, and support economic growth.
The draft plan has been developed by the RPB with the support of MARCO. Established in 2009 by the Governors of Delaware, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, and Virginia, MARCO provides a forum for the coastal Mid-Atlantic states to collaborate on shared regional priorities related to marine habitats, renewable offshore energy, climate change adaptation, and ocean water quality.
Last January, Delaware Coastal Programs hosted the MARCO forum on scientific data that was used to develop the draft Ocean Action Plan for the region. The content of the plan is the culmination of research, coordination and planning through contracted projects that included marine ecological data, human use data and the Regional Ocean Assessment.
President Obama’s National Ocean Policy mandated that each U.S. ocean and coastal region develop a plan to guide ocean use, manage resources, and utilize the principles of marine spatial planning for increased coordination across all levels of government. Additional information about the RPB may be found at http://www.boem.gov/Mid-Atlantic-Regional-Planning-Body/.
See the full release at the Delaware Department of Natural Resources
July 6, 2016 — DOVER, Del. — Delaware officials are hosting an Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission public hearing on proposed changes to the interstate management plan for Atlantic Menhaden.
Wednesday evening’s hearing in Dover involves a proposal to allow two licensed commercial fishermen to harvest up to 12,000 pounds of menhaden bycatch when working from the same vessel and fishing with stationary, multi-species gear, limited to one vessel trip per day.
Currently, the bycatch limit is 6,000 pounds per vessel per day.
Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Washington Times
July 5, 2016 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean:
WHAT: The Mid-Atlantic Regional Planning Body (RPB) invites ocean stakeholders and the interested public to attend a series of Open Houses to be held across the region on the Draft Mid-Atlantic Regional Ocean Action Plan. The Draft Plan outlines a series of actions on how federal and state agencies, tribes and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council may better collaborate to ensure healthy, productive, and resilient marine ecosystems and sustainable ocean uses in the Mid-Atlantic, including state and federal waters off Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. An opportunity to provide public comment on the Draft Plan will be provided.
Prior to the Open Houses, the draft Plan will be available at:
http://www.boem.gov/Ocean-Action-Plan/
WHO: The Mid-Atlantic Regional Planning Body (MidA RPB) is made up of representatives from Federal, State, and Tribal entities and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council. It was established in 2013 to implement and advance ocean planning through improved inter- governmental coordination and stronger engagement of stakeholders, the general public, and scientific, business and technical experts to identify and address issues of importance to the region. The Open Houses will be hosted by MARCO1 on behalf of the MidA RPB.
LEARN MORE: www.MidAtlanticOcean.org/YourOceanPlan\
WHEN and WHERE:
Virginia Open House
Tuesday, July 12, 2016. 6-8pm
Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center
717 General Booth Blvd, Virginia Beach, VA 23451
New Jersey Open House
Thursday, July 14, 2016. 6-8pm
June 27, 2016 — Little did we know that one fish – not even edible fed generations of Lewes Delaware seamen and their families.
The menhaden fish is a fisherman’s fish, meaning schools of 1,000 to 100,000 provide the universal food of larger fishes and attract them to their spawning grounds.
In Delaware Bay and the shallow reaches of the Atlantic Ocean, these small fishes – under fifteen inches tops – attract larger fish which made their way to many a dinner table.
More importantly, the menhaden fish, scaly, oily and fleshy, provided the oil for the colonial streetlamps and most of the colonial economy prior to the whale oil industry taking off out of New Bedford, Mass.
This kept tiny Lewes, first town in the first state, well-employed and well-off. The shipbuilding industry took off in Lewes as early as the seventeenth century, to provide small boats that launched many a fisherman’s career.
June 16, 2016 — Fish might not have fancy communication equipment like whales and dolphins, but they do have their specialized ways of navigating through an ocean filled with predators and mobile food sources. And these honed adaptive responses could potentially be harmed by seismic air guns.
But as the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management continues to review the effects of proposed seismic surveys on marine mammals in the Atlantic, an environmental advocacy group is putting out alarms that the tests’ potentially ill effect on fish will be glossed over in the review process that is close to completion.
“There are fisheries impacts that are not very well understood, and now is the time to do these reviews,” said Zachary Lees, ocean and coastal policy attorney for Clean Ocean Action, a New Jersey-based nonprofit group.
Eight companies are currently seeking to conduct seismic surveys in areas off the southern Atlantic coast between Delaware and Florida to look for oil and natural gas resources. Although oil leases in the Atlantic have been canceled until at least 2023, the federal government is moving forward with mapping the sea floor for hydrocarbon deposits.
After approving a final programmatic environmental impact statement, or PEIS, on seismic surveys in 2014, BOEM was made aware earlier this year of new information on protected marine mammals that triggered additional review.