Saving Seafood

A sea of choices confronts Biden admin in ocean protection

October 5, 2021 — When it comes to meeting its aggressive conservation pledge, the Biden administration appears to have a head start on protecting the United States’ oceans — after all, on paper, the nation is already more than two-thirds of the way to the goal.

But as the administration puts together a tracking mechanism for its pledge to conserve 30 percent of the nation’s lands and waters by 2030, environmental activists warn that frequently cited statistics provide a misleading picture of ocean conservation.

At the same time, advocates for the fishing industry question counter the nation is much closer to the final objective — if not already there. They argue that conservation shouldn’t always mean activities like fishing are banned and say their industry has shown itself willing to help protect vulnerable species.

Managed waters

Opponents of new marine monuments, however, argue that managed waters are sufficient to meet the conservation goals.

“If it’s not conserved unless it’s in a marine sanctuary that excludes fishing — which is a fairly radical and extreme point of view — then I think you get into a very different set of calculations about how you get to 30 percent,” said Roger Mann, a marine sciences professor at the College of William & Mary’s Virginia Institute of Marine Science.

Mann pointed to language in the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the nation’s primary fisheries law, that calls for “conservation and management” of the oceans.

“If you’re conserving sustainable resources … then all of the area that is managed under Magnuson is already a conservation area,” argued Mann, who previously served on the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council.

“The councils can all sit there and scratch their heads and say, ‘We’re not 30×30. We’re 100 percent by 2021. What’s the problem?’” he said.

Former Garden State Seafood Association Executive Director Greg DiDomenico said he is optimistic that the Biden administration will adhere to its vow for scientific integrity, but remains staunchly opposed to the idea of new monuments.

“What we expect from 30×30, ultimately, is that it be conducted under rigorous science and an open, transparent policy,” said DiDomenico, who is now with Lund’s Fisheries.

DiDomenico pointed to the creation of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument during former President Obama’s tenure, which closed the area to commercial fishing.

Former President Trump reversed that closure in 2020, and the New England Fishery Management Council subsequently implemented protections for deep-sea corals in more than 80 percent of the monument (E&E News PM, June 5, 2020).

“The proof is in the pudding,” DiDomenico said, pointing to what is formally known as the Omnibus Deep-Sea Coral Amendment.

He added that: “No one is running from this. We’ve been here before.”

Read the full story at E&E News

 

U.S. offshore wind is under sail, but challenges remain

October 1, 2021 — The electric system across the United States is under stress from environmental and policy challenges, but a historically untapped resource is primed to make significant inroads over the coming years. For the last decade, electric generation from wind production has been growing all over the continental U.S. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the total amount of electricity produced by wind generation domestically has increased from 6 billion kWh in 2000 to 338 billion kWh in 2020, and as of last year wind generation was more than 8% of the total utility-scale generation operating in the U.S.

Yet despite that growth and the corresponding reduction in carbon emissions, one source of wind power – offshore wind production, the generation of electricity from wind turbines stationed in the ocean — is almost entirely missing. Even with its thousands of miles of coastline, the U.S. only has about 30 MW of offshore wind production from a single operating utility-scale wind farm. This pales in comparison to other parts of the world, particularly Europe, which has more than 25 GW of grid-connected offshore wind capacity from more than 100 offshore wind farms.

But as the Biden administration, state governments, and utilities prioritize addressing climate change by further reducing carbon emissions, the U.S. has looked to the European example; if current plans hold, the U.S. may soon rival Europe in its use of offshore wind.

Read the full story at Reuters

What’s behind one lawsuit against Vineyard Wind

September 21, 2021 — Annie Hawkins has a message you don’t hear very often in Massachusetts these days.

The executive director of the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance, a national group of fishing interests, Hawkins is questioning the rush to develop offshore wind. Her organization is suing the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, alleging the agency is failing to protect the fishing industry as it races to develop the nation’s offshore wind potential to help address climate change.

“In taking action to address climate change, we have to acknowledge that these new uses [of the ocean] have a lot of environmental uncertainty. They have a lot of impacts of their own,” Hawkins said on The Codcast. “They can be better understood and minimized before we go whole hog on this 30 gigawatts tomorrow. A lot more upfront due diligence needs to be done.”

The 30 gigawatts reference refers to President Biden’s goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030. It’s a goal that meshes with Gov. Charlie Baker’s push to develop 3.2 gigawatts by 2030. The Baker administration has already procured 1.6 gigawatts and is in the midst of reviewing proposals that would double that amount.

Read the full story at CommonWealth Magazine

 

Maine lawmakers urge Biden to rescind whale protection rules

September 13, 2021 — Maine lawmakers are calling on President Joe Biden to rescind new whale protection rules that will make a nearly 1,000 mile section of the state’s coastline off limits to lobstermen during the lucrative winter months.

In a letter signed by more than 150 lawmakers – including House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, D-Biddeford, and Senate Minority Leader Jeffery Timberlake, R-Androscoggin – they said the new restrictions aimed at protecting North Atlantic right whales “threaten to irreparably harm Maine’s iconic, sustainable lobster fishery.”

“Maine lobstermen will suffer significant economic harm for a measure that provides a little conservation benefit to right whales,” the lawmakers wrote. “For the sake of our fishermen and women, our coastal communities, and our great state, we request that you take the steps necessary for your administration to immediately rescind the closure area.”

Read the full story at The Center Square

 

U.S. fishing group sues Biden administration over offshore wind project

September 13, 2021 — A U.S. fishing group on Monday sued the Biden administration over its approval of the huge Vineyard Wind offshore wind project off the East Coast, saying the government had failed to address industry concerns about its potential safety and environmental impacts.

The development is the latest in a string of clashes between the fishing industry and public and private efforts to create a new domestic renewable energy industry to help wean the economy off fossil fuels and combat climate change.

Fishing interests view offshore wind as a threat to catches of crucial stocks, including squid, scallops and clams, charging that towering wind turbines would interfere with navigation and alter habitats. If built, Vineyard Wind would be the nation’s first major offshore wind farm.

The Responsible Offshore Development Alliance, which advocates for fishing industry interests in offshore wind development, said it filed a brief petition in the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston. The petition asks the court to review the administration’s approval of the project.

Read the full story at Reuters

Bipartisan group of 151 Maine legislators call on Biden to rescind new lobster fishing regulations

September 10, 2021 — State legislators have submitted a letter to President Joe Biden requesting that his administration take steps to immediately rescind new regulations on lobster fishing.

The new regulations, which are intended to protect the endangered North Atlantic right whale, were announced on Aug. 30 by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Maine lawmakers are now asking federal agencies to re-engage with the state of Maine to find a different path forward. Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham, R-Winter Harbor, a lobster fisherman, initiated the letter. It includes signatures from 151 Republican, Democrat, and Independent state legislators from across Maine.

Read the full story at News Center Maine

 

Biden administration moves to protect key Alaska watershed

September 10, 2021 — The Biden administration said on Thursday it will relaunch a process that could permanently protect a vital Alaskan watershed from development of the contentious Pebble Mine project that has been pursued for more than a decade.

The Department of Justice asked in an Alaska federal district court filing that the court vacate a 2019 decision by the Trump-era Environmental Protection Agency to remove protection of the Bristol Bay watershed.

If the court grants the request, it would automatically reinstate the EPA’s Clean Water Act Section 404 review process. The agency could then resume an effort to protect certain waters in the Bristol Bay watershed, whose streams, wetlands, lakes and ponds are home to North America’s most productive salmon fisheries of five types of salmon: coho, Chinook, sockeye, chum and pink.

Read the full story at Reuters

Biden Administration Moves to Protect Alaska’s Bristol Bay

September 9, 2021 — The Biden administration on Thursday took the first steps that would allow it to begin the process of protecting Alaska’s pristine Bristol Bay, one of the world’s most valuable sockeye salmon fisheries that also sits atop massive copper and gold deposits long coveted by mining companies.

The administration filed a motion in the United States District Court for Alaska to quash a Trump-era decision that had stripped environmental protections for Bristol Bay, about 200 miles southwest of Anchorage. If the court agrees, the administration could begin crafting permanent protections for the area.

In a statement, the Environmental Protection Agency argued that the administration of President Donald J. Trump acted unlawfully in 2019 when it rejected concerns that a proposed massive gold and copper mine would threaten the fisheries, withdrawing federal protections from Bristol Bay.

The move will have little immediate effect because the Trump administration ultimately denied an essential permit for the project, known as Pebble Mine, in 2020. That happened after President Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. and the Fox News personality Tucker Carlson, both of whom enjoyed hunting and fishing in the region, joined environmental activists and Native tribes to oppose the mine in an unlikely coalition.

Read the full story at the New York Times

 

Reps. Bonamici, Young Lead Bipartisan Call for $10B Coastal Community Investment in Build Back Better Plan

September 2, 2021 — Today Representatives Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) and Don Young (R-AK) led 35 bipartisan Members of Congress in calling for a $10 billion investment in coastal communities with the inclusion of restoration and resilience projects in the Build Back Better Plan.

“We are encouraged that President Biden’s American Jobs Plan outlines the importance of protecting and restoring coastal ecosystems,” the Members wrote.“These investments will reinvigorate our coastal communities, protect and restore critical ecosystems, and create thousands of high-quality, good-paying jobs.”

The Members also requested robust funding to scale up the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) ocean observations efforts. They noted NOAA’s finding that coastal communities contribute at least $7.6 trillion to the U.S. economy annually.

Read the full release at Rep. Bonamici’s House site

Offshore turbines could be a windfall for the US steel industry

August 10, 2021 — The Biden administration frames addressing the climate crisis as the greatest opportunity to create jobs in generations. It’s a claim that many of the workers watching the number of well-paid, unionized jobs in fossil fuels diminish are skeptical of. But an announcement made last week offers a preview of what’s in store if the energy transition is fueled by Made-in-America technologies.

US Wind, a developer of offshore wind farms, announced plans to expand its in-development 22-turbine project off the coast of Maryland, adding up to 82 more turbines that will make the facility capable of powering half-a-million homes. In conjunction with the expansion, US Wind has also proposed constructing a new wind turbine manufacturing facility just outside Baltimore.

The plant, called Sparrows Point Steel, will fabricate monopiles, the steel foundations that anchor giant wind turbines to the seafloor. It will sit on the site of the former Bethlehem Steel Corp. mill and shipyard, which during its heyday produced steel for World War II ships and the Golden Gate Bridge, according to E&E News.

Read the full story at Grist