Saving Seafood

US West Coast seafood groups concerned about potential reintroduction of sea otters

June 17, 2022 — A plan by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to reintroduce sea otters to the West Coast of the U.S. is continuing to draw concern from fishing industry advocates.

The USFWS has had plans to reintroduce wild sea otters to habitats in the Northwest U.S. for years. A bill signed in 2020 by former U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a review of the potential impacts the reintroduction could have on the region – and in 2021, the industry requested a thorough review of how it might impact fisheries and coastal economies.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

For Offshore Wind, The Magic Numbers Are 30, 30, & 3

May 16, 2022 — Numerologists, sharpen your pencils. Last year President Joe Biden pitched an offshore wind goal of 30 gigawatts by 2030 for the US. Now California has just chimed in with a 3-gigawatt goal of its own. In the meantime, the relatively small nation of Norway has just let slip word of a 30-gigawatt goal, too. Norway might be the most interesting case among the three, considering that it already has 34 gigawatts in hydropower under its belt. So, what gives?

US Goes From (Practically) Zero To Thirty

The Atlantic coast alone has a 22-gigawatt potential, but so far just a few turbines are currently operating off the coast of only two Atlantic states, Rhode Island and Virginia. All together they add up to a handful of megawatts, while other nations are piling on the gigawatts.

The Obama administration did try to coordinate offshore wind development along the Atlantic coast, only to be stymied by coastal state governors, among other objectors. Then, the Trump administration dug in its heels against the US offshore wind industry, which is no surprise considering the former President’s notorious distaste for wind turbines, especially those located out at sea.

Actually, there was a surprise. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which is a branch of the US Department of the Interior, apparently did not get the Trump administration’s offshore wind memo. BOEM continued to work on offshore lease auctions throughout the Trump administration. BOEM also put the finishing touches on a first-of-its-kind process aimed at speeding up the offshore permitting process.

Read the full story at CleanTechnica

Pebble mine developer does away with Washington lobbyists

January 25, 2022 — The company behind the proposed Pebble mine in Alaska has been saying goodbye — for now — to its lobbyists in Washington.

Pebble LP once had a large team of lobbyists fighting to guarantee development of an enormous copper and gold development near southwest Alaska’s Bristol Bay, home to the nation’s strongest salmon fishery.

That was before the company lost a key fight during the Trump administration, when the Army Corps of Engineers in 2020 rejected Pebble’s application to build the mine. And the Biden administration has since restarted a Clean Water Act veto process that could prevent any large-scale mining near Bristol Bay (Greenwire, Sept. 9, 2021).

Pebble didn’t lobby Congress or agencies on any issues during the last six months of last year and spent no money on federal lobbying efforts during that period, according to disclosures filed last week by firms the company had retained.

In the last year, Pebble has terminated contracts with BGR Government Affairs, Ballard Partners, Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, and Windward Strategies, disclosures show. Some big names were representing Pebble through those firms, including former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) at BGR and Brian Ballard, a major ally and fundraiser for former President Trump.

Read the full story at E&E News

Southeast Asia attracting seafood processing away from China

January 21, 2022 — As China’s economy continues to evolve and its trade relationship with the U.S. remains strained, it is likely other countries in Southeast Asia will take a larger role in processing seafood, according to a panel of experts at the National Fisheries Institute’s Global Seafood Market Conference.

Trade relations between the U.S. and China became suddenly more volatile when the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump implemented tariffs on Chinese goods. Trump’s stated goal was to put an end to the significant trade imbalance between the two countries – an imbalance that U.S.-China Business Council President Craig Allen said was nothing new.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

Biden Avoids Lawsuit After Restoring Marine Monument Protections

November 12, 2021 — The Biden administration will avoid a lawsuit filed in a Washington, D.C., federal court after reversing its predecessor’s decision to open protected waters to commercial fishing.

Conservation groups sued after former President Donald Trump opened the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument to fishing. The monument is 130 miles off the coast of Cape Cod in Massachusetts, and it supports endangered whales and deep-sea corals.

AQUAA Act Reintroduced in Congress; Bill Aims to Create Standards for U.S. Offshore Aquaculture

October 29, 2021 — U.S. Senators Roger Wicker (R-MS), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Brian Schatz, (D-HI), and Marco Rubio, (R-FL) reintroduced the AQUAA Act which aims to create national standards for offshore aquaculture in the U.S.

The bill was first introduced in September of 2020, with the Senators describing the Act as a complement to former President Donald Trump’s May 2020  Executive Order, “Promoting American Seafood Competitiveness and Economic Growth.” The EO focuses on the development of a domestic offshore aquaculture industry which will help create a sustainable seafood source and allow the country to rely more on its own resources.

More specifically, the bill would designate NOAA as the lead agency for marine aquaculture. It would also direct NOAA to “harmonize the permitting system for offshore aquaculture for farms in federal waters, and direct the agency to lead a research and development grant program to spur innovation throughout the industry.”

Read the full story at Seafood News

 

Biden admin to uproot Trump ‘critical habitat’ policies

October 27, 2021 — The Biden administration today moved to rescind Trump administration policies that crimped the designation of critical habitat to protect threatened or endangered species.

In a pair of long-anticipated moves, the Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA Fisheries proposed getting rid of a Trump-era definition of critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act. FWS is also proposing to end a policy that made it easier to exclude territory.

Taken together, the two proposed rule changes could significantly alter the much-litigated ESA landscape and, supporters say, enhance conservation and recovery of vulnerable animals or plants.

They will also revive the debate over practical consequences and regulatory nuts and bolts that have shadowed the ESA since the day it became law in 1973 (Greenwire, Oct. 19).

“The Endangered Species Act is one of the most important conservation tools in America and provides a safety net for species that are at risk of going extinct,” said Assistant Interior Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Shannon Estenoz.

Read the full story at E&E News

 

Local Fishing Industry Upset Over Biden Restoring Marine National Monument

October 12, 2021 — President Biden re-established an area off of the coast of Cape Cod as a marine national monument Friday, a move that has the local fishing industry angry.

The Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument was originally created during the Obama administration to preserve the sea life in that region. During the Trump administration, restrictions in the area were scaled back, which allowed for commercial fishing.

Under the new executive action from President Biden, commercial fishing in the area is banned but recreational fishing is allowed. The monument is more than 100 miles southeast off the shore of Cape Cod.

Bob Vanasse of Saving Seafood told WBZ’s Karyn Regal (@karynregal) the trip to the area is one only a chartered fishing boat or mega yacht could make.

“The privileged few are going to allowed to go out and spearfish on the same species that working families in the swordfish and tuna industry will not be able to do,” Vanasse said.

Read the full story at WBZ News

 

Biden expands Bears Ears and other national monuments, reversing Trump cuts

October 8, 2021 — President Biden on Friday restored full protections to three national monuments that had been slashed in size by former president Donald Trump, including Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante in Utah — known for their stunning desert landscapes and historical treasures of Native American art and settlements, as well as a rich fossil record.

Biden used an executive order to protect 1.36 million acres in Bears Ears —slightly larger than the original boundary that President Barack Obama established in 2016 — while also restoring the 1.78 million-acre Grand Staircase-Escalante monument. Biden also reimposed fishing restrictions in the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of New England that Trump had opened to commercial fishing.

Biden signed the proclamations in a ceremony outside the White House, in front of tribal leaders and others. He used his authority under the 1906 Antiquities Act.

Bob Vanasse, of Saving Seafood, a seafood industry advocacy group, called Biden’s designation an “unfortunate decision.”

“Anyone who likes fresh local swordfish, tuna, lobster and crabmeat should be very angry with the Harris-Biden administration today,” he said. “And I know some environmental advocates will claim that the statistics show that no harm has been done to the fisheries from this closure. They think that because they don’t understand fisheries and misunderstand the statistics.”

Read the full story at the Washington Post

Biden restores Northeast Canyons marine monument

October 8, 2021 — In another reversal of Trump administration moves, President Biden on Friday reinstated all restrictions to the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, including plans to phase out commercial fishing for red crab and lobster by Sept. 15, 2023.

Former president Barack Obama originally declared the monument area south of New England on that date in 2016, and former president Donald Trump rescinded the rules with some fanfare including an in-person meeting with fishing industry representatives in June 2020.

Environmental groups that had pushed Obama for the monument lobbied hard after Biden’s inauguration to flip that Trump order 180 degrees, along with reversing Trump’s reductions of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah.

Late Thursday they got word their wish was granted.

Commercial fishing advocates, who mobilized after Biden inauguration to argue against reinstating the monument rules, said the decision shows politics trumped consistent ocean policy.

“This is an unfortunate decision that is opposed not only by those affected in the commercial fishing industry, but by all eight fishery management councils and NOAA Fisheries,” said Bob Vanasse of Saving Seafood, an industry advocacy group. “There is no scientific justification to prohibit commercial fishing while allowing recreational fishing. While the Biden-Harris Administration has claimed decisions will be based on science, and not on who has the stronger lobby, this decision shows otherwise.”

Read the full story at National Fisherman