November 9, 2021 — NOAA announced on 9 November it is seeking public comment on the “first steps” of designating a new national marine sanctuary in a 7,000-square-mile area off the coast of the U.S. state of California.
The new area would be adjacent to California’s San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties, according to NOAA.
Read the full story at SeafoodSource
February 15, 2019 — The following was release by NOAA Fisheries:
Today, NOAA Fisheries and NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the National Marine Manufacturers Association, the American Sportfishing Association, the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, and the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation to cooperate on communications, messaging, and education with regard to sustainable fishing and boating in federal waters, including national marine sanctuaries.
The MOA commits all parties to a series of actions intended to improve communication and engagement around sustainable recreational fishing and boating activities. Commitments include, among others, establishing points of contact, meeting on a regular basis, information sharing, collaborative educational and promotional activities, and working to address barriers to sustainable boating and fishing. The purpose and objectives of the MOA are consistent with the purposes of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to “promote domestic commercial and recreational fishing under sound conservation and management…” The MOA is also consistent with the principle tenets of NOAA Fisheries National Saltwater Recreational Fisheries Policy and planned Agency work to more actively engage the recreational fishing community in 2019-2020. Chris Oliver, Assistant Administrator for NOAA Fisheries, stated, ” I am proud of the work NOAA Fisheries does to provide opportunities and memorable experiences for saltwater anglers everywhere.”
The MOA is in alignment with ONMS strategic goals, which recognize that public support through partnerships is critical to effective protection, sustainable use and enjoyment of sanctuaries, so they may continue to serve as the basis for thriving recreation, tourism and commercial activities.
We welcome the opportunity to talk with you about the MOA and how to best engage with NOAA Fisheries and NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries. Please feel free to contact Russell Dunn, National Policy Advisor on Recreational Fisheries or Grace Bottitta-Williamson, National Recreation and Tourism Coordinator/ONMS, for questions regarding NOAA Fisheries or NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, respectively.
You can also contact GARFO’s Recreational Fisheries Coordinator, Moira Kelly, at 978-281-9218.
July 12, 2018 –A host of seafood industry representatives and companies have aligned with conservation groups to support the creation of marine protected areas in the Antarctic, according to a roundtable announcement hosted at the Greenpeace-led Antarctic 360° event in Cambridge, United Kingdom this week.
Aker BioMarine (Norway), Pesca Chile (Chile), Insung (South Korea), Rimfrost (Norway), and China National Fisheries Corporation (China) have all agreed to the instatement of a voluntary krill fishery closure along the Antarctic Peninsula, the World Wildlife Foundation explained in a press release. Additionally, Aker BioMarine, the world’s largest krill fishing company, pledged its support to the creation of marine sanctuaries in Antarctica through the establishment of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in coming years.
“Safeguarding the Antarctic ecosystem in which we operate is part of who we are. Our ongoing dialogue with ARK members, scientists and the community of environmental NGOs, including Greenpeace, is what makes additional efforts like this possible. We are positive that ARK’s commitment will help ensure krill as a sustainable and stable source of healthy omega-3s for the future,” Aker BioMarine Executive Vice President Kristine Hartmann said. “Through our commitment we are showing that it is possible for no-fish zones and sustainable fisheries to co-exist. Our intention with this commitment is to support CCAMLR’s work on establishing a network of large-scale science-based marine protected areas in the Antarctic.”
June 8, 2018 — Even though the Trump Administration is proposing to open parts of the California coastline to new oil exploration, a Santa Barbara congressman is pushing for more protections.
Democratic Congressman Salud Carbajal is urging Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to follow up on a proposal to create the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary.
It would be created on the Central Coast between the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary and the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. The designation could preserve submerged Chumash cultural sites and protect marine resources.
WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) — July 10, 2017 — Marine sanctuaries are hurting commercial and recreational fishermen and overruling the fisheries management process created under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, said Capt. Jeremiah O’Brien, vice president of the Morro Bay Commercial Fishermen’s Organization, at a Senate hearing June 27.
Speaking before the Senate Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard at a hearing convened by chairman Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Mr. O’Brien criticized marine sanctuaries for their “weak science capabilities” and “poor, self-serving public process.” He said that policymakers are interpreting the National Marine Sanctuaries Act in a way that steadily limits human uses of marine resources, violating the principles of ecosystem-based management and the law’s mandate for comprehensive and coordinated management.
“For fishermen and fishery managers, the fact that sanctuaries can overrule the Regional Fishery Management Councils, with eight National Standards serving as the council’s guide, is disconcerting, and not in the best interest of ocean health,” Mr. O’Brien said. “I hope Congress will make it clear that the Magnuson-Stevens Act is the nation’s law for fisheries and habitat management.”
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
July 6, 2015 — I get something of this same nightmare feeling of unease when I witness the conversations between representatives of industry and conservation here in New York. It seems to me that both parties fundamentally want the same thing: An ecologically healthy ocean that supports an economically vibrant city. But neither of them can hear the other or trust in their intent.
Too often these exchanges devolve into finger pointing, defensive posturing and cynicism, even though an objective analysis of their positions indicates that they are not mutually exclusive.
That’s why I found the Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Council’s recent announcement of an amendment to protect deep sea coral so refreshing. Instead of talking past each other, representatives of the commercial and recreational fishing industry, scientists, researchers, and conservationists looked for collaboration and trust.
Together they found compromises to protect the livelihoods of fishermen and the habitats of deep sea coral. This includes the astounding Hudson Canyon – the largest submarine canyon on the East coast, located just off our own shores. When the regulations are finalized, the deep sea coral protection zone (nearly the size of Virginia) will comprise the largest fishery protected area on the Atlantic seaboard.
Read the full story at the Huffington Post
June 29, 2015 — ASPEN, Colo. — Next year will mark the centennial of the U.S. National Park Service. In the 100 years since it was established, the national parks have become one of America’s most popular federal programs. Now, marine scientists and conservationists want to do for the oceans what the National Park Service did for the land.
When the National Park Service was proposed, “it was a really crazy notion,” said Jane Lubchenco, prominent marine scientist and former administrator of NOAA, to an audience at the Aspen Ideas Festival. “It was so far from people’s thinking that wilderness was important to protect in and of itself.” Parks and other wilderness now define the American landscape, Lubchenco said. Today, she said, we think about the oceans the way we thought about wilderness 100 years ago, when few Americans had ever visited Yosemite or Yellowstone.
“Fourteen percent of land—all around the world, all countries—is set aside in some kind of protected status,” Lubchenco said. The equivalent for oceans? 3.4 percent, according to the World Database on Protected Areas. And of that, Lubchenco pointed out, only one percent is fully closed off from extractive activities such as fishing.
Half a century ago, we thought the oceans were too big to fail, said Sylvia Earle, Lubchenco’s co-panelist. “But under the surface, it’s shocking.” Earle, NOAA’s first female chief scientist, is a National Geographic explorer-in-residence. The oysters of Chesapeake Bay, she said, have declined to one percent of their historic population, because of factors such as overfishing and pollution. “How long till we get to the point where we can eliminate whole categories of wildlife?” she asked.
Read the full story at The Atlantic
June 15, 2015 — VIETNAM — On June 12, authorities in Palau burned four Vietnamese “Blue Boat” vessels caught engaged in illegal fishing off the Pacific island nation’s Kayangel Island. Among their 17,000-pound haul were protected sea turtle, sea cucumber, and reef fish species.
The strong response comes amid a wave of increased illegal fishing activity from Asia in Palau’s waters. The 77 men aboard the vessels were loaded onto two unburned boats with enough fuel and provisions to return to Vietnam.
Pew is working with Palau to create a marine sanctuary in its waters that will be one of the largest fully protected areas of ocean in the world when the legislation is approved. In April, Pew co-hosted a three-day workshop with Palau’s president, Tommy E. Remengesau, Jr., and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography to develop a comprehensive enforcement plan for the proposed sanctuary.
Read the full story from The Pew Charitable Trusts
June 22, 2015 — New limits on trawling and sea-bottom dredging threaten jobs in a £50 million a year rural industry, the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation has warned, as a row between the Scottish Government and a key Scottish exporting sector threatened to escalate.
The federation claims that draft conservation orders for four west coast MPAs, announced earlier this month, go far beyond what had been agreed during months of talks with civil servants.
The SFF has demanded urgent talks with fisheries minister Richard Lochhead, now expected to take place next week.
SFF president Ross Dougal told the Sunday Herald that, following months of negotiations with the Scottish Government and its environment quango Scottish Natural Heritage, the federation reached what it believed to be an acceptable compromise.