August 19, 2019 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will be hosting a scoping meeting at the Upper Cape Regional Technical School in Bourne Wednesday, August 21 from 6 to 9 p.m.
The meeting will focus on NOAA’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement to amend the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan.
They are looking for comments on the management options for the plan from the public, both at the meeting and in written or emailed submission.
August 19, 2019 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has reached a settlement with Carlos Rafael that will see the incarcerated fishing mogul pay a $3 million civil fine, relinquish the dealer permit held by his Carlos Seafood business, permanently cease all groundfish and scallop fishing, and sell all federal fishing permits and fishing vessels he owns or controls by the end of next year.
NOAA said in a press release that 17 of Rafael’s former captains will receive suspensions of their operator permits ranging from 20 to 200 days and serve probationary periods of one to three years for their own violations of federal fishing rules.
According to the settlement, Rafael’s fleet must cease all groundfish fishing by Dec. 31, 2019, and end all scallop harvesting by March 31, 2020.
August 19, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
NOAA Fisheries is closing the directed fishery in federal waters through the end of the fishing year, December 31, 2019.
Effective at 0001 hour on August 21, vessels are prohibited from fishing for or landing more than 10,000 lb of Illex squid per trip in or from federal waters through December 31, 2019. Vessels may not land Illex squid more than once per calendar day.
Landings information analyzed by NOAA Fisheries projects the Illex squid fishery will meet 95 percent of the annual quota for the 2019 fishing year on August 21.
If you have started a trip prior to August 21, you may offload and sell more than 10,000 lb of Illex squid from that trip, as long as the vessel entered port before 0001 hr on August 21.
For more information, please read the notice as filed in the Federal Register, and the permit holder bulletin posted on our website.
August 16, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
KEY MESSAGE:
NOAA Fisheries is accepting comments on an application for an amendment to an exempted fishing permit (EFP) from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). NOAA Fisheries provided FWC with an EFP in November 2018 for certain areas in the South Atlantic. FWC is requesting to amend their EFP to add additional sampling areas (including portions of the Gulf of Mexico [Gulf]), additional fishing vessels, additional number of traps, remove the requirement for research traps to have current certificates, and remove the approval for fishermen to sell any species caught from the research specific trap except lionfish. The updated proposal is summarized below. The applicant is testing various modifications to wire spiny lobster traps to harvest lionfish. This study intends to examine the effectiveness and performance of modified trap designs for capturing lionfish, with the goal of identifying the best modifications to maximize lionfish catch and reduce bycatch of other species. The activities would also derive biological life history information to improve lionfish control.
AMENDED PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
August 15, 2019 — Lobster fishing gear needs to be made identifiable by location in order to indicate whether Maine-based gear is harming North Atlantic right whales.
That was the consensus of a crowd of over 100 fishermen and government officials who appeared at a federally convened meeting in Ellsworth last night.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is in the midst of holding eight meetings from Maine to Rhode Island to get input on proposed changes to the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan. Based on the endangered whale’s current population, the agency’s overall goal is to reduce serious injuries and deaths from entanglements in lobster trap gear by 60% to 80%.
August 14, 2019 — The Northeast Fisheries Science Center is seeking stakeholder input on cooperative research through meetings that kick off this week. The science center’s Cooperative Research Branch is conducting meetings in August and September from Maine to Virginia. (See contact info below in the event you are unable to attend and would like to provide your own feedback.)
“Your input is key to creating a strategic, forward-thinking plan that outlines clear and actionable steps for building community and developing effective cooperative research projects,” the center said in its release on the meetings.
August 14, 2019 — Federal regulators working to protect right whales need better data or they will hit the wrong target – Maine’s lobster industry, U.S. Sen. Angus King said.
A surprise guest Tuesday night at a meeting at Ellsworth High School, King joined Maine lobstermen in criticizing National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials for considering regulation changes that they say could make lobstering much more expensive and unsafe in order to save the endangered whales.
“There’s no question that I, and I suspect all of you, are concerned about the future of the species,” King said. “The question is, how do we save it? And how do you [hit] the right target? My problem is that when most of these rule changes affect the Gulf of Maine, where it doesn’t appear the whales are, it’s like bombing Brazil after Pearl Harbor.”
August 13, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
We will be conducting eight scoping meetings this month in anticipation of preparing a Draft Environmental Impact Statement for modifications to the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan.
We are requesting comments on management options particularly including information about operational challenges, time, and costs required to modify gear by changing configurations such as traps per trawl to reduce endline numbers, installing new line or sleeves and by expanding gear marking requirements.
August 13, 2019 — The following was released by the United States Fish & Wildlife Service:
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) jointly announce revisions to regulations that implement portions of the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
In 2017, we sought public input on how the federal government can improve upon the regulatory framework. We received substantial input from a wide range of stakeholders on modernizing the implementation of the ESA in order to improve collaboration, efficiency, and effectiveness.
Firstly, the agencies are finalizing changes to some of the parameters under which other federal agencies must consult with the Service and NOAA Fisheries to ensure their actions do not jeopardize the continued existence of listed species, or destroy or adversely modify critical habitat. The agencies are also finalizing various measures to clarity and improve some of the standards under which listings, delisting, and reclassifications, and critical habitat designations are made.
August 12, 2019 — The following was released by The Office of Congressman Rob Bishop (R-UT):
Today, Ranking Republican Rob Bishop (R-Utah) issued the following statement on the Trump administration’s regulatory reforms to the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
“Under the previous administration, the Endangered Species Act strayed woefully far from its original intent. The Act was morphed into a political weapon instead of a tool to protect wildlife. Secretary Bernhardt’s dogged dedication to righting this wrong is again made apparent today.
“These final revisions are aimed at enhancing interagency cooperation, clarifying standards, and removing inappropriate one-size-fits-all practices. I look forward to supporting efforts in Congress to enshrine these revisions into law.”
Background:
Signed into law in 1973, the original goal of the ESA was to preserve and recover key domestic species from the brink of extinction. However, today the law is failing to achieve its primary purpose of species recovery and instead has become a tool for litigation that drains resources away from real recovery efforts on the state, tribal and local level and blocks job-creating economic activities. Congress last renewed the ESA in 1988, which means it has been over 30 years since any substantial updates have been made.
In 2017 and 2018, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service sought public input on how the federal government can improve upon ESA’s regulatory framework. The changes finalized today aim to modernize the implementation of the ESA in order to improve collaboration, efficiency, and effectiveness.
To view the final ESA implementation regulation revisions CLICK HERE.