Saving Seafood

Dominion Energy says court challenge not delaying Virginia wind project

May 2, 2024 — A coalition of groups opposing the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Project was in a Washington, D.C. federal court this week, seeking a preliminary injunction to stop construction work in May. 

Conservative activist groups the Heartland Institute, the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), and the National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC) sued Dominion Energy and the Biden administration over federal permits for the planned 2.6 gigawatt project of 176 turbines.

The plaintiffs claim the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and other federal agencies “have not done the legally required research to determine the project won’t harm the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale,” according to a Heartland Institute statement.

U.S. District Court Judge Loren AliKhan called on lawyers for Dominion, the government and plaintiffs to file more papers and responses by May 9, before she rules on the groups’ request for a preliminary injunction.

Read the full story at WorkBoat

MA lobstermen want to invent a better lobster trap

December 7, 2023 — Patrick Flanary: For years, right whale advocates and engineers have been trying to develop new lobster fishing gear designed to prevent whales from entanglements. But most local lobstermen say they’re against this so-called “on demand” fishing gear that’s been created. Now, as CAI’s Eve Zuckoff reports, lobstermen have decided to come up with their own technology. Eve, you were the first to report this, thanks for being here this morning.

Eve Zuckoff: Thanks for having me.

Patrick Flanary: So the Massachusetts lobstermen’s association has just been awarded a $1.2 million grant to develop new fishing gear. What’s their proposal?

Eve Zuckoff: Over the next year they’ll be working with an engineer to develop a “pinger” inside a lobster trap that sends satellite signals to show where traps are on the seafloor. So whenever a lobsterman is ready to collect his catch, he or she will go wherever the pinger says, throw a grapple — these metal hooks — down into the water, and haul up the traps.

All of this eliminates the need for a traditional buoy marking where their gear is, and an extra rope called an “end line” that’s known to entangle whales.

But to be clear: lobstermen don’t want to use this gear year round — just during closures — specifically an upcoming 3-month-long period where they have to be out of local waters to protect the whales.

Patrick Flanary: What would this pinger/grappling system replace exactly?

Eve Zuckoff: In recent years, engineers have developed “on demand gear,” sometimes called “ropeless gear.” Here’s how that works: when lobstermen set their traps, there is an inflatable bag and compressed air tank — or something similar — inside one of them. And when a lobsterman is ready to haul up their gear, they hit a button on an app, which triggers the bag to inflate, and the bag floats up to the surface where the lobsterman can haul it all in. But Beth Casoni, head of the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s association said her group is not a fan.

“The current systems are cost prohibitive,” she said. “Even if the government was to buy them, which would be ludicrous, the price tag would be insane for the entire lobster fishery.”

So the on-demand technology is similar to the pinger and grappling hook in that there’s no more buoy and stagnant rope just waiting in the water, ready entangle a passing whale, but the pinger eliminates the need for a costly inflatable bag, air tank, and other tech.

Patrick Flanary: So cost is obviously a factor. Are the pingers cheaper?

Eve Zuckoff: Ding, ding, ding! For now, as Casoni said, on demand gear is being subsidized by the federal government, but at some point, the cost could fall in fishermen to the tune of $3,000-7,500 for one line of traps. And lobstermen typically fish many lines of traps. The Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association hopes pingers will cost just $300-$400 per line of traps.

Read the full story at NHPR

 

Proposed fund could help Maine lobstermen test new fishing gear

April 28, 2023 — State lawmakers are considering a measure that would create a new fund to help lobster fishermen test gear designed to reduce entanglement risks to endangered North Atlantic right whales.

The proposed fund would set aside $1 million for each of the next two years. The money would be paid to lobster fishermen who test ropeless and other kinds of new fishing gear designed to minimize interactions with right whales.

The most recent federal spending bill set aside nearly $20 million for fishing gear.

But Patrick Keliher, commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources, said it’s reasonable that lobstermen receive a stipend for the work itself.

Read the full story at Maine Public

Tracking endangered North Atlantic right whales

April 28, 2023 — NOAA Fisheries is working with partner agencies and organizations to rebuild and conserve the remaining North Atlantic right whale population.

Now estimated to number only around 340 animals, they are one of the world’s most endangered species. NOAA says that tracking and monitoring the right whale population and the health of these mammals is crucial to their recovery efforts.

Right whales can be observed from a boat, on shore, and from the air, but researchers have varieties of technology and methods to be able to monitor these mammals underwater.

By attaching tracking devices to right whales, scientists and researchers can learn more about the time that these animals spend out of sight.

The tracking devices are known as tags that can be attached to a whale through a suction cup or implantable darts. NOAA shares that these tags document the animal’s location, behavior, movement, swim speed, habitat uses, dive depth, and health.

Some of the tags can record audio and capture ocean temperatures. The collected data provides insights on an animals movement and behavorial habits that are critical for addressing their conservation challenges.

The tags used for whales are lightweight and relatively small and range from the size of a cell phone to a book. The devices are tested rigorously before being approved for use in the field.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

 

Maine Lobstering Union drops part of lawsuit against NOAA Fisheries

August 25, 2022 — The Maine Lobstering Union is agreeing to drop part of its lawsuit against the National Marine Fisheries Services, where the federal agency is closing a 960-square-mile section of the Gulf of Maine to lobster fishers.

Federal regulators said this section of ocean is prime habitat for North Atlantic right whales and argued blocking that part of the ocean off from buoy lines from Oct. 18 to Jan. 31, 2023, would help reduce the risk posed to entanglements between lobster gear and whales.

Alfred C Frawley with McCloskey, Mina, Cunniff, and Frawley, LLC, said in an email the move was made as federal agencies add more regulations against the lobster industry.

“The MLU has taken the procedural step of agreeing to dismiss its case in Maine, which was largely mooted by the DC Court’s recent decision, in order to focus its resources on the ongoing litigation in DC and on ensuring that NMFS issues a new rule that both protects the North Atlantic right whale and ensures the sustainability of Maine’s lobster fishery,” Frawley said in an email to NEWS CENTER Maine.

Read the full story at News Center Maine

MAINE: Maine politicians blast ‘unfair’ court decision targeting lobster gear

July 14, 2022 — A federal circuit court has reinstated a ban on lobster fishing gear in a nearly 1,000-square-mile area off New England to try to protect endangered whales.

The National Marine Fisheries Service issued new regulations last year that prohibited lobster fishing with vertical buoy lines in part of the fall and winter in the area, which is in federal waters off Maine’s coast. The ruling was intended to prevent North Atlantic right whales, which number less than 340, from becoming entangled in the lines.

The circuit court sent the case back to the district court level, but noted in its ruling that it does not think the lobster fishing groups that sued to stop the regulations are likely to succeed because Congress has clearly instructed the fisheries service to protect the whales.

Commercial fishing groups have filed lawsuits about new rules designed to protect the whales because of concerns that the regulations will make it impossible to sustain the lobster fishing industry. The industry, based mostly in Maine, is one of the most valuable in the U.S., worth more than $500 million at the docks in 2020, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Conservation groups have called for tighter laws. Tuesday’s ruling is “a lifesaving decision for these beautiful, vulnerable whales,” said Kristen Monsell, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity who argued the case at the circuit court.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

Council Discusses Climate Change, Research Priorities, EBFM, Sturgeon, Right Whales, and Equity & Environmental Justice

July 14, 2022 — The New England Fishery Management Council met June 28-30, 2022 and received numerous updates over the course of its three-day hybrid meeting in Portland, Maine. Here are a few of the highlights.

CLIMATE CHANGE: The Council received a presentation from the Northeast Fisheries Science Center on the Draft Northeast Climate Regional Action Plan, which is out for public comment through July 29, 2022. Version 1 of the plan was in place from 2016 to 2021. The current draft – Version 2 – will be used by NOAA Fisheries to implement the agency’s Climate Science Strategy in 2022-2024. The document contains information on warming ocean temperatures (see graphic at right) and much more. The Council received input from its Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) on the draft action plan and will be submitting its own written comments in advance of the deadline.

The Council also received a progress report on the East Coast Climate Change Scenario Planning initiative. The overarching questions are:

• How might climate change affect stock availability and distribution, as well as other aspects of East Coast marine fisheries, over the next 20 years; and

• What does this mean for effective future governance and management across multiple jurisdictions? What tools are needed to provide flexible and robust management strategies to address uncertainty in an era of climate change?

The Core Team working on this initiative hosted a June 21-23, 2022 Scenario Creation Workshop where participants developed scenarios or stories describing eight alternative futures under climate change. Next, the Core Team will review and edit inputs from the workshop to create a draft set of scenarios for further discussion and feedback during three scenario deepening webinars in mid-August. These webinars will be open to the public. The Council will have an in-depth discussion of the scenarios during its September 27-29, 2022 meeting and provide feedback to the Core Team on next steps.

Read the full release here

Feds look at expanding habitat for world’s most endangered whales

July 13, 2022 — North Pacific right whales, the most endangered whales in the world, could gain an expanded protected habitat from Alaska to Baja California, if the feds approve after a one-year review now underway.

On Monday, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries announced the review, a response to a petition filed this past March by the nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity and conservation group Save the North Pacific Right Whale — dedicated to increasing protections and awareness of the rare whale. They urged the federal government to revise the critical habitat designation for North Pacific right whales under the Endangered Species Act.

In 2008, the Fisheries Service issued a final rule designating about 1,175 square miles in the Gulf of Alaska and 35,460 square miles in the Southeast Bering Sea as critical habitat for North Pacific right whales. But the environmentalists say two key habitats are essential for this right whale population’s survival — a migratory corridor through the Fox Islands in the Aleutian chain, including Unimak Pass, and feeding grounds near Kodiak Island.

In their petition, the groups argued the government should connect the existing critical habitats by extending the Bering Sea unit boundary westward and southward to the Fox Islands, through Unimak Pass to the edge of the continental slope, and eastward to the Kodiak Island. This change would encompass a key migratory point for whales and connect their foraging grounds, the organizations said.

Alice Kaswan, professor and associate dean at University of San Francisco School of Law, said while this announcement does not mean the agency will agree with the petition’s demands, it does indicate “the door’s open” for similar petitions.

“The agency’s willingness to grant the petition shows it’s open to conducting the additional science to determine whether the additional land or ocean really should be set aside as critical habitat,” Kaswan said. “It’s an indication that this administration has a willingness to protect endangered species.”

Read the full story at Courthouse News Service

NOAA broke law by not protecting right whales, judge rules

July 12, 2022 — NOAA violated federal law by not doing enough to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales from entanglements caused by lobster fishing gear, a federal judge said Friday.

In his ruling, Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said the agency broke both the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) when it issued a biological opinion and a final rule that changed fishing gear requirements last year.

Boasberg declared both the biological opinion and the rule “invalid” and said more needs to be done to protect the whales.

The judge acknowledged that “this may seem a severe result” for both NOAA Fisheries and the lobster industry but added that “no actor here … operates free from the strict requirements imposed by the MMPA and ESA.”

NOAA declined to comment.

The ruling marked a win for the Center for Biological Diversity, the Conservation Law Foundation, and Defenders of Wildlife, groups that first sued NOAA in early 2018 over a prior biological opinion.

“The court’s decision recognizes what NOAA Fisheries has ignored for decades — that Congress clearly intended to protect right whales from the lobster gear entanglements that are driving the species toward extinction just as surely as whaling nearly did,” said Jane Davenport, senior attorney at Defenders of Wildlife.

Davenport said the opinion represented “the course correction the agency needs to put both the species and the fishery on a path towards sustainability and co-existence.”

Read the full story at E&E News

Federal court rules fisheries officials didn’t do enough to protect right whales from lobster gear

July 8, 2022 — A federal court on Friday ruled in favor of environmental groups that had filed a lawsuit against the government and the Maine Lobstermen’s Association claiming federal fisheries officials had failed to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales from potentially fatal entanglements in lobster fishing gear, records show.

A judge ruled that NOAA Fisheries had violated the Marine Mammal Protection Act and Endangered Species Act when it issued a May 2021 biological opinion and a September 2021 final rule because officials had not done enough to reduce the lobster fishery’s threat to right whales, the plaintiffs in the suit said in a statement.

The lawsuit was filed in 2018 by the Center for Biological Diversity, the Conservation Law Foundation, and Defenders of Wildlife.

Read the full story at The Boston Globe