November 18, 2020 — The federal government has extended measures meant to protect an endangered species of whale off New England through the end of the month.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said it is asking mariners to go slowly through an area south of Nantucket or avoid it completely. Similar protections have been in place throughout the fall.
November 17, 2020 — The fledgling U.S. offshore wind industry is gathering critical mass in southern New England, where a forthcoming environmental assessment of the 800-megawatt Vineyard Wind plan could determine how it and a dozen other East Coast projects might proceed.
Fishermen in the Northeast fleets, heirs to a 400-year New England industry, are deeply engaged on scientific, political and legal fronts, trying to slow what they see as federal and state governments overenthusiastic about granting wind developers chunks of the outer continental shelf.
In June 2018, East Coast fishing industry leaders organized the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance to represent fishermen’s interests to the wind industry and government regulators. Annie Hawkins, RODA’s executive director, says fishermen on every coast need to get involved.
“Just because the current projects are not located in your area doesn’t mean they won’t affect you,” Hawkins wrote in a July 2 commentary in NF. “A relatively small group of developers own the leases, and the federal permitting process is being tested and tweaked in real time.
November 16, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
NOAA Fisheries is triggering a voluntary vessel speed restriction zone (Dynamic Management Area or DMA) south of Nantucket.
This DMA was triggered by a November 15, 2020, sighting of an aggregation of right whales.
Mariners, please go around this areas or go slow (10 knots or less) inside this area where groups of right whales have been sighted.
South of Nantucket DMA is in effect through November 30.
40 59 N
40 23 N
069 05 W
069 52 W
Active Seasonal Management Areas November 1- April 30
Mandatory speed restrictions of 10 knots or less (50 CFR 224.105) are in effect in the following areas:
Find out more and get the coordinates for each mandatory slow speed zone.
November 16, 2020 — A sweeping environmental review of the Vineyard Wind offshore wind project is now tracking to be finalized Jan. 15, as the federal Bureau of Offshore Energy Management completes its review of public comments.
BOEM received more than 13,000 comments on its Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for Vineyard Wind, a planned 800-megawatt turbine array off southern New England, according to an agency spokesperson.
The final EIS is to be published Dec. 11, with the agency issuing its final record of decision Jan. 15 – a month’s delay for the report long-waited by the offshore wind supporters and its critics alike.
The second BOEM study was ordered up by Interior Secretary David Bernhardt in August 2019, after the National Marine Fisheries Service Greater Atlantic regional office refused to sign off on the first one. The supplemental study also looked at potential cumulative impacts of Vineyard Wind and 14 other potential wind projects now at various stages off the East Coast.
November 13, 2020 — A federal agency said on Thursday it has again delayed a long-awaited environmental study crucial to permitting the first major U.S. offshore wind project, but final approval of the project is expected by mid-January.
The study of the 800-megawatt Vineyard Wind project planned for the waters off the Massachusetts coast is expected to be released by Dec. 11, according to a government timeline. It had been anticipated later this week.
The document has been repeatedly pushed back since April of 2019 due to concerns that the project’s wind turbines will harm fisheries and navigation.
The delays have been a setback to President Donald Trump’s efforts to fast-track big energy infrastructure projects and have stymied the administration’s plans to launch a promising new domestic industry.
November 11, 2020 — There is a simple way to help combat climate change, and it tastes good: Eat local fish.
More than 90 percent of the fish consumed in this country comes from overseas, creating an enormous carbon footprint.
“The average seafood eaten in the United States travels 5,500 miles from dock to dish,” said Brett Tolley, adding that even in coastal communities, the numbers aren’t that different. “If that doesn’t wake you up, I don’t know what will.”
Tolley, national program coordinator for Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance, was one of four fishing industry panelists participating in Net Zero, a virtual conference sponsored by the Cape Cod Climate Change Collaborative.
The conference in late October brought together public and private leaders in all sectors, from construction to creative arts, who are growing jobs and the economy while moving the region to “net zero,” meaning the amount of greenhouse gas produced and the amount removed from the atmosphere is a wash.
November 9, 2020 — Bobby DeCosta only saw about half a dozen scalloping boats when he loaded his boat into the harbor on Nov. 3.It was the second day of the commercial scalloping season. There were about 40 boats scalloping last November.
It’s a dwindling fleet, DeCosta said. It’s also getting hit by COVID-19. With both island and off-island restaurants – which typically sell Nantucket bay scallops – shutting down for the season or for good, the income you can make selling scallops is on the decline.
“I hear guys say, ‘I’m not scalloping this year, I’m going to take a land job,’” said De-Costa, a commercial scalloper and former Select Board member. “If you didn’t grow up in the fishery, it’s a hard thing to get into.”
November 4, 2020 — U.S. Rep. William Keating, D-Bourne, appeared on his way to winning a sixth term representing the 9th Congressional District on Tuesday.
Keating, 68, fended off challengers Helen Brady, a Republican from Plymouth, and Michael Manley, an independent from Brewster.
The 9th District comprises 46 municipalities that stretch from Norwell to Fall River and includes Cape Cod and the Islands.
With results in from most Cape and Islands towns and several off-Cape towns, Keating had 63 percent of the vote early Wednesday.
This year’s election was quite different from years past, Keating said Tuesday night. A typical Election Day, he said, begins outdoors in the cold and ends with a large gathering of friends and supporters. But such a celebration could not happen this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It is much more than sitting around waiting for results coming in,” he said. “You meet people, share stories and share excitement on what is going to happen. It’s impossible to replicate.”
November 3, 2020 — The following was released by UMass Dartmouth School of Marine Science & Technology:
A study conducted by Dr. Kevin Stokesbury is featured as the cover story in the November 2020 issue of the Ecological Society of America’s Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment journal (Volume 18, Issue 9). The study, titled “How many sea scallops are there and why does it matter?” focuses on the effects of climate change, oceanic conditions along the Atlantic Coast of North America that are changing, as well as surface water temperatures in the Gulf of Maine, which have increased faster than 99% of the global oceans. The research examines the role of the sea scallop as a baseline sentinel species that can be used to measure the impacts of environmental change and anthropogenic developments.
“In Canada and the US, the Atlantic sea scallop (Placopecten magellanicus) supports lucrative fisheries, which are founded on an extensive scientific framework focusing on stock assessment,” explains Dr. Stokesbury, professor of Fisheries Oceanography at UMass Dartmouth’s School for Marine Science & Technology. “The sea scallop is an ideal sentinel species, as it is highly sensitive to changes in marine conditions. We used a drop camera system to estimate the number and size of scallops, as well as the distribution of their reproductive potential, over 70,000 km2 of the continental shelf in 2016–2018, an area that nearly covers the entire range of this species. In total, we estimated that there were 34 billion individual scallops (95% confidence limits: 22–46 billion) within the species’ range.”
Highlights:
Dr. N. David Bethoney, executive director of the Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation, collaborated with Dr. Stokesbury on this survey, which was made possible by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) awards through the Scallop Research set-aside program, and the sea scallop fishery and supporting industries of Canada and the United States.
November 2, 2020 — The Open Door and a Gloucester fishing company will share in $5.9 million in state grants to help ensure a secure food supply chain for Massachusetts residents, particularly in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The administration of Gov. Charlie Baker announced the $5.9 million is being distributed to 47 recipients within the Massachusetts local food system, including farms, non-profit emergency food distributors, seafood harvesters, processors and other elements in the state’s food production and delivery system.
The Open Door, which operates food pantries in Gloucester and Ipswich and other food delivery services, received $201,073 to develop and implement an online food ordering and delivery system and enhance its Gloucester facility to provide more safe storage of locally produced food.
“We are reviewing software options now,” said Julie LaFontaine, president and CEO of The Open Door. “We expect to be rolling it out after the first of the new year.
The grant, part of the fourth round of funding from the state’s $36 million Food Infrastructure Security Grant program, also will help the non-profit on Emerson Avenue to expand its Mobile Market program throughout the Cape Ann community.