November 22, 2021 — NOAA announced on 22 November that U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo declared the 2019 Atlantic herring fishery a “fishery disaster.”
A fishery disaster determination brings with it funding that would help the industry in the region. Disaster declarations have in the past gone to regions that have been hit with sudden impacts to livelihoods – like the funding that went to Gulf of Mexico fishers in the wake of impacts caused by the opening of the Bonnet Carre Spillway.
September 17, 2015 — There could soon be a national monument underwater off the coasts of Cape Cod and Maine.
President Obama has the authority to declare deepwater canyons and sea mounts a marine national monument.
Areas in the Pacific Ocean have been declared national monuments, but so far there are none in the Atlantic.
Representatives from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, held a town hall meeting at the Providence Marriott Tuesday night to hear public comment.
Many at the meeting agreed that something has to be done to save and protect underwater canyons and coral reefs in New England.
But they did not agree on the best way to do that.
“Every one of these dives in a submarine canyon is kind of like a stroll through a Dr. Seuss-like garden,” Peter Auster, a marine ecologist, said.