Saving Seafood

Rep. Moulton seeking money for right whale research

June 21, 2019 — U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton is trying to secure additional funding for North Atlantic right whale research through an amendment to the federal government funding bill for fiscal year 2020.

Moulton, D-Salem, successfully amended the House of Representatives’ funding bill to include an additional $1.5 million for cooperative research by federal fishery regulators, commercial fishermen and conservation groups.

The amended funding bill now contains $2.5 million for right whale research.

To secure the funding however, the amended legislation first must first pass the House next week and survive negotiations between the House and the Senate on a final spending bill. Ultimately, it would have to have to be signed by President Donald J. Trump.

Moulton, a Democratic presidential candidate, said the fight to save the remaining North Atlantic right whales — whose population now is estimated at 411 — “is also a fight to protect thousands of jobs in commercial fishing and tourism in Massachusetts.”

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

Whole Foods’ seafood plant closing, impacting 60 employees

June 20, 2019 — The mayor of Gloucester, Massachusetts, U.S.A., is “disappointed” that Whole Foods Market is suddenly closing its seafood processing facility in the city.

The Austin, Texas-based retailer notified the city via a letter to Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken that its North Atlantic Region will be permanently closing its Pigeon Cove Seafood facility in Gloucester, effective 15 August.

“I am disappointed at the decision made by Whole Foods Market to close its Pigeon Cove Seafood Facility. This closure will result in the elimination of 60 full-time positions,” Romeo Theken said in a statement provided to SeafoodSource.

However, Whole Foods officials agreed to talk to Romeo Theken about the closure next week, the Gloucester Daily Times reported.

“We want to talk with them about what they’re going to do to try to get their employees other jobs, but we also want to speak with them about the reasons for closing it and their plans for the space at 15 Parker St.,” she told the newspaper.

The company’s rental lease at the Parker Street facility – which is owned by a Montagnino family trust controlled by James Montagnino – is not set to lapse until November 2020, according to Romeo Theken.

“We want to find out if they plan to sublet that space or exactly what they plan to do,” she said.

This is the second time in a month that a seafood processing plant appears to be shutting down operations in Gloucester, after National Fish and Seafood closed in May. Since then, however, a new group called NSD Seafood Group re-opened the facility and said it would re-hire as many NFS employees as possible.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

New Study to Aims to Keep Beachgoers Safe From Great Whites

June 20, 2019 — Researchers on Cape Cod are launching a new study focused on the hunting and feeding habits of the region’s great white sharks following last year’s two attacks on humans.

Greg Skomal, a state marine biologist leading the effort, says the hope is to contribute critical information to the ongoing debate over how to keep Cape beachgoers safe.

The new research calls for placing sophisticated tags on sharks to track their swimming speed, depth and body position in the water.

Read the full story at NBC Boston

New study to examine feeding habits of Cape Cod great whites

June 19, 2019 — Researchers on Cape Cod are launching a new study focused on the hunting and feeding habits of the region’s great white sharks following last year’s two attacks on humans, including the state’s first fatal one in more than 80 years.

The hope is that the work, which starts in the coming days, contributes critical information to the ongoing debate over how to keep Cape beachgoers safe, said state marine biologist Greg Skomal, who has been studying the region’s great whites for years and is leading the new effort.

“If we can figure out how, where and when these sharks are attacking seals, we may be able to see if there is a pattern or any predictability to it,” he said. “That’s really useful information for someone trying to manage their beach and enhance public safety. If there are hot spots that can be identified, we certainly want to share that information with the public.”

Cape Cod officials have been wrestling with how to respond to public concern in the aftermath of last year’s attacks. A New York man was badly mauled by a shark last August off a beach in Truro but survived. Then weeks later a Massachusetts man was killed by a shark while boogie boarding in nearby Wellfleet.

Read the full story at The Gloucester Daily Times

Offshore Wind Projects Growing Fast, Hitting Snags

June 18, 2019 — The demand for offshore wind continues, as the designated wind zones in waters south of Rhode Island, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket fill with projects.

At the June 11 meeting of the Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC), Grover Fugate, executive director, recounted the growing pains to accommodate as much as 22,000 megawatts of offshore wind.

“This industry has literally exploded overnight,” said Fugate, as he highlighted issues confronting several projects.

The 800-megawatt Vineyard Wind facility, for instance, is deadlocked with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) over the project’s environmental impact statement.

“That’s not something that’s been done before in the NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) world,” Fugate said. “So we’re not quite sure where that is going to end up.”

The Nantucket Historical Commission is seeking $16 million from the Vineyard Wind developer, according to Fugate. The island town has sought funds to compensate for adverse visual impacts the 84-turbines may have on tourism.

Read the full story at EcoRI

Feds delay Vineyard Wind assessment one month

June 18, 2019 — The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has delayed for one month the release of its final assessment of Vineyard Wind’s offshore wind farm plan. But the bureau still intends to meet an August deadline to decide yea or nay on the proposal, an agency spokesman said.

The bureau was to issue the final environmental impact statement on June 7 before following with a final decision on the plan — called a record of decision — on Aug. 16, according to the agency’s timeline in March.

Now the bureau says that it will issue the final impact statement in early July. It still plans to meet the Aug. 16 decision date.

The one-month delay gives the bureau more time to review and analyze public comments on the draft version of the report, Vineyard Wind spokesman Scott Farmelant said.

“That date works for the project’s schedule,” he said of Aug. 16 timetable.

Both the federal bureau and Vineyard Wind have tight schedules for the proposed 84-turbine offshore wind project, to be built 15 miles south of the Islands. The project could potentially be the first industrial-sized offshore wind farm in the country.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

MASSACHUSETTS: Congressman’s Visit Focuses on Offshore Wind Jobs

June 17, 2019 — A key member of Congress joined Rep. William Keating (D-Massachusetts) and Mayor Jon Mitchell Friday for a tour of New Bedford Harbor and a discussion on the city’s role in offshore wind development.

Congressman Alan Lowenthal of California chairs the House Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources and is bullish on offshore wind. “This is the future of the nation’s energy supply. This is not some kind of a passing whim, this is where the nation is moving, and we need successful models and that’s what we’re doing here.”

Lowenthal’s committee is considering a bill filed by Keating to provide grants to colleges, universities and labor unions to train workers for the offshore wind industry.

While the bill is expected to make it easily through the House, it could be a tougher sell in the Senate.

Keating says he expects supporters may have to make some concessions, but the Massachusetts Democrat feels strongly that the bill will make it through the Senate and on to the President’s desk. “This is a fuel for new jobs and for business development and secondary investments too. People will see what’s happening in New Bedford and it will help in the expansion of offshore wind development across the country.”

Read the full story at WBSM

US looking to harness the ocean winds with British help

June 14, 2019 — As many American states are making the push to use more renewable energy sources, engineers in one of the country’s oldest states are looking “across the pond” for help from British scientists to harness the power of the wind.

When Joseph Massi enrolled at Bristol Community College, an hour’s drive south of Boston, Massachusetts, he chose to specialise in a brand new field of study – offshore wind power.

“It’s the new future. It’s where everything is going to be, the growth potential, especially in Massachusetts,” Mr Massi said.

The Massachusetts legislature is considering bills that would commit the state to 100% renewable energy within 25 years. To achieve this, the state will need lots more solar panels and wind turbines, and people like Mr Massi to manage, build or operate offshore turbines.

“Once it starts booming in the United States, that’s going to be where you’ll want to be,” Mr Massi said.

The federal government estimates that the coastal waters off of New Bedford, Massachusetts, are among the windiest in the nation.

But here’s some bad news. The US doesn’t know much about building wind turbines, out in the ocean at least.

Read the full story at BBC

U.S. Regional Offshore Wind Leasing Strategy Announced

June 13, 2019 — The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has published a new regional offshore wind leasing strategy, saying the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) provides a world-class wind resource on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. BOEM has 15 active commercial leases for offshore wind development that could support more than 21 gigawatts of generating capacity. The first commercial scale offshore wind facility on the OCS could be under construction as early as this year.

However, BOEM notes the need to consider other uses, such as commercial and recreational fishing, vessel traffic and military mission needs and and will be moving forward with leasing using a regional approach, processing projects currently in the pipeline, and pursuing leasing activities as follows:

Gulf of Maine. On January 2, 2019, BOEM received a letter from the Governor of New Hampshire requesting the establishment of an Intergovernmental Task Force.  Although the State of Maine and Commonwealth of Massachusetts have not yet expressed interest in promoting development in this area, BOEM believes that the establishment of a regional task force for the Gulf of Maine area that includes Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts governmental members will support further dialogue and collaboration on offshore wind matters affecting shared natural, socioeconomic, and cultural resources on a regional scale.

Read the full story at The Maritime Executive

Groundfishermen not hooked by monitoring alternatives

June 12, 2019 — For more than two years, the New England Fishery Management Council has worked on an intricate groundfish monitoring amendment that could have wide-scale economic and regulatory consequences for groundfishermen.

It has been a thorny, winding path that involves a host of groundfish committees, plan development teams and assorted staff within the far-flung fisheries regulatory landscape. Now a group of groundfishermen are weighing in. And they are not pleased.

Today, the council, meeting for the second of its three days in Portland, Maine, is expected to finalize the range of alternatives for revising monitoring programs when the amendment — named Amendment 23 — goes out for public comment, probably late in the fall.

In a letter to the council, groundfishermen from across New England criticized the process for developing the amendment by framing the issue within a simple cost/benefit analysis.

They claim the process for fashioning the amendment still has not identified what the revised monitoring programs will cost the groundfish industry that ultimately will be responsible for paying for it.

“That’s an extremely important issue, since they’re the ones paying for it,” said Jackie Odell, the executive director of the Gloucester-based Northeast Seafood Coalition. “These are industry-funded programs.”

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times