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How the climate bill would shift offshore wind in 4 states

August 10, 2022 — The Democrats’ climate bill would erase former President Donald Trump’s 10-year moratorium on offshore wind in the U.S. Southeast, but few experts are betting on a regionwide surge in projects.

Signed by Trump in 2020, the moratorium banned new leasing for all types of energy off the coasts of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. It went into effect last month (Energywire, Sept. 29, 2020).

The “Inflation Reduction Act” — which the Senate passed over the weekend and is expected to be taken up by the House soon — would strip away the ban on offshore wind lease sales, while leaving it in place for oil and gas drilling.

But wind power has not generally experienced warm welcomes in the Southeast. Just one onshore wind farm — the Avangrid-owned Amazon Wind Farm near Elizabeth City, N.C. — currently generates electrons across the four moratorium states. Interest in offshore wind also has been mixed.

Lifting the moratorium may not transform that reality, even if Democrats’ climate bill becomes law, some clean energy advocates and environmentalists acknowledge.

In places such as Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, state officials largely haven’t enacted measures to promote offshore wind. This is in stark contrast to the state guarantees to buy offshore wind power that were crucial to the industry’s emergence in the Northeast and the Mid-Atlantic.

North Carolina stands out as the region’s clear exception, taking concrete steps to embrace the industry. One of its major utilities, Duke Energy, won the right to generate power from federal lease areas for offshore wind in May, as did French oil and gas major TotalEnergies SE. The state’s Democratic governor, Roy Cooper, also has laid out specific targets for the sector: 2.8 gigawatts by 2030, and 8 gigawatts a decade later.

Across other states, however, little groundwork has been done to establish offshore wind’s foothold as a future resource. And it remains unclear if, or how quickly, official indifference might transform into boosterism.

In South Carolina, for instance, Republican Gov. Henry McMaster recently signed a law calling for a first study of how offshore wind’s need for locally made parts and staging ports could benefit the state economically.

That could help convince South Carolinians that their state is well positioned to host the industry, said Hailey Deres, program associate at the Southeastern Wind Coalition.

Read the full article at E&E News

They’re bleeding horseshoe crabs on the Cape and some advocates are worried

July 18, 2022 — Between the local dump and highway, in a nondescript building that lacks any indication of who occupies it, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies recently began harvesting the milky-blue blood of an ancient creature plucked from the beaches and bays around Cape Cod.

Charles River Laboratories is one of just four companies in the United States — and now the second on the Cape — licensed to harvest the blood of horseshoe crabs for a valuable component that’s used to identify harmful bacteria during the testing of new drugs.

The bleeding of crabs, combined with their use as bait and losses to their coastal habitat, has led them to be listed as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which maintains the world’s most comprehensive list of threatened species. The group considers the crabs “endangered” in the Gulf of Maine and the Mid-Atlantic, areas that include Cape Cod, though officials in Massachusetts have cited surveys suggesting the region’s population has increased.

State officials also pointed to surveys done every spring for decades that show female horseshoe crabs at a near high in abundance. However, a similar state survey in the fall — which officials didn’t acknowledge until the Globe asked about it — shows the number of female crabs actually decreasing substantially over the past five years.

Since bled crabs are rarely tracked after they’re released, scientists and environmental advocates say it’s hard to know for sure how many crabs actually die, or are otherwise harmed, as a result of the bleeding, which drains large amounts of their blood.

Charles River officials told the Globe that just 4 percent of their crabs die before being returned to the wild; however, the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources has estimated more than 20 percent of female crabs die within two weeks of being bled by the company.

Charles River officials have defended the additional pressure on the species, contending that the good from preventing the contamination of drugs outweighs the environmental impact. But there are now synthetic substitutes that rival companies say could reduce and eventually eliminate the need to rely on the crabs’ blood, which has been used for testing drugs since the 1970s.

One pharmaceutical giant that has received government permission for a synthetic alternative, Eli Lilly, has used its substitute to test COVID-19 antibody drugs.

Officials at Charles River said they’re developing their own synthetic versions but it would take years before they were ready and widely adopted.

“The synthetics we’ve tested are not sensitive enough to ensure patient safety,” Girshick said. “We’re actually pushing for a synthetic ourselves, and spending a lot of money to get there.”

Until then, she said, the company will be harvesting the blood from horseshoe crabs.

Read the full article from The Boston Globe

Recruitment Announcement: Citizen Science Project Coordinator

March 28, 2022 — The following was released by The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) is seeking a Citizen Science Project Coordinator that will support the Council’s Citizen Science Program and help coordinate individual citizen science projects. The Council, headquartered in North Charleston, SC, is responsible for the conservation and management of fish stocks within the federal 200-mile limit of the Atlantic off the coasts of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and east Florida to Key West. The Council’s Citizen Science Program aims to work with fishermen and scientists to facilitate and support the development of projects to address Council-specific research needs.

The Citizen Science Project Coordinator is a full-time, time-limited contract position that will work closely with the Citizen Science Program Manager. The position will primarily focus on coordinating the SAFMC Release project and the continued development of the SciFish customizable citizen science mobile application. The SAFMC Release project works with commercial, recreational, and for-hire fishermen to collect information on released fish via a mobile app. SciFish is being developed to serve as an umbrella mobile application that would support data collection for different fishery-related citizen science projects developed by partners along the Atlantic coast.

See the complete recruitment announcement available from the Council’s website for additional information and application instructions. Applications must be received by April 20, 2022.

Access to red snapper in South Carolina waters could improve with new legislation

February 23, 2022 — Nearly 13 years ago, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) determined the South Atlantic red snapper stock was overfished and undergoing overfishing. The fishery was closed in 2010 with a 35-year rebuilding plan put in place.

Ever since, red snapper have been virtually inaccessible for recreational anglers in South Atlantic waters which stretch from North Carolina southward through the east coast of Florida.

Save for occasional mini-seasons ranging from three to nine days in some, but not all, of those years, anglers have been forced to release red snapper.

As the numbers and size of red snapper have increased over the past dozen years, so has frustration among recreational anglers not only in South Carolina but throughout the South Atlantic Region.

Red snapper are almost exclusively caught in federal waters (3-200 miles offshore), typically in depths of about 60-120 feet off South Carolina. The reef species is very susceptible to barotrauma, which occurs when the rapid change in pressure as fish are reeled in causes the gases in the fish’s body to expand.

Read the full story at The State

Recruitment Announcement Communication and Digital Media Specialist

December 17, 2021 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council), headquartered in North Charleston, South Carolina, is responsible for the conservation and management of fish stocks within the federal 200-mile limit of the Atlantic off the coasts of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and east Florida to Key West. The Council is responsible for Coastal Migratory Pelagics from New York to Florida and for Dolphin/Wahoo, from Maine to Florida.

The Communication and Digital Media Specialist (CDM) position is responsible for developing a wide range of communication products in support of Council activities. The CDM serves as the Council’s webmaster and administrator for outreach and communication software products and assists other staff in developing documents and graphics to support the Council’s communication needs. Duties include developing digital and print media outreach materials, working closely with other staff to develop graphics and visual aids for Council documents and presentations, and managing the Council’s website and application platforms. The CDM is expected to work effectively in a team-oriented environment with minimal direct supervision while managing multiple tasks simultaneously and meeting deadlines.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities:

•Manage website structure and framework

•Manage and post website content

•Serve as the POC for website design and hosting contractors

•Monitor website use and analytics to inform decision making relevant to updates

•Coordinate third party software vendors and software applications

•Stay current with digital media developments and assist with design or selection of future applications

•Create user-friendly digital and print media in support of Council activities

•Develop documents and graphics to effectively convey technical information to general audiences

•Foster cohesively branded content across multiple communication products and tools

•Manage end-to-end digital projects and coordinate workflow both internally and with outside collaborators

•Serve as a liaison with federal, state, and NGO partners for digital media management

•Participate in outreach activities and events

•Other duties as assigned

See the complete recruitment announcement available from the Council’s website for additional information and application instructions.

 

These whales are so decimated that a single birth was cheered by scientists

December 6, 2021 — In the ocean off South Carolina, researchers spotted something attached to Slalom the North Atlantic right whale, and for once, it was a good thing. She had a baby.

A sigh of relief spread across the community of Atlantic whale watchers who know critically endangered right whales are as likely to die as they are to give birth. On her path to motherhood at age 39, Slalom — named for a series of callous-like patches on her head that swoop like a ski slope — has survived at least six fishing net entanglements that are known to kill whales.

Over the past decade, the right whale population fell from more than 500 in 2010 to about 335, largely because of entanglements, boat strikes and slicing propellers. Fewer than 100 adult females remain. By comparison, endangered southern right whales that swim between Australia and South America number in the thousands.

“If you look at a graphic of what the North Atlantic right whale population looks like, it can seem like there’s no hope. It’s really alarming how quickly the population has declined in the last 10 years,” Philip Hamilton, a senior scientist for the New England Aquarium, said in an interview Friday.

Read the full story at The Washington Post

SAFMC September 2021 Meeting to be Held via Webinar

August 30, 2021 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation and increasing transmission rates in the region, the September 13-17, 2021meeting of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council will be held via webinar. The meeting was originally scheduled to take place in Charleston, South Carolina.

Briefing book materials for the September meeting are now available from the Council’s website along with an online public comment form. The meeting materials include agendas and overviews for each committee meeting throughout the week along with meetings of the Full Council. Presentations and supporting documents are also included.

Council members will discuss federal management measures affecting:

  • Establishment of an allowable fishing area for the Rock Shrimp fishery along the western boundary of the Oculina Bank Coral Habitat Area of Particular Concern off the east coast of Florida (Coral Amendment 10)
  • Management measures for Red Porgy, Greater Amberjack, Snowy Grouper, and Yellowtail Snapper
  • Catch level recommendations for Red Snapper
  • Information on the current “two-for-one” federal permit requirement for the commercial snapper grouper fishery

The meeting webinar begins Monday, September 13, 2021 with a meeting of the Full Council at 1 p.m. Meetings of the Council’s committees will continue through the week, concluding with a meeting of the Full Council on Friday, September 17th.

Public Comment Session – Wednesday, September 15, 2021 at 4:00 p.m.
The Council will accept public comment on agenda items during this time. Public hearing comments will also be accepted for Snapper Grouper Amendment 50 addressing proposed management measures for Red Porgy.

Unless otherwise indicated, the meeting is open to the public via webinar. Registration is required. Register now and receive reminders as the meeting date approaches.

Meeting materials, the online public comment form and additional meeting information are all now available at: https://safmc.net/safmc-meetings/council-meetings/.

Clean needles depend on the blue blood of horseshoe crabs

August 23, 2021 — It’s one of the stranger, lesser-known aspects of U.S. health care — the striking, milky-blue blood of horseshoe crabs is a critical component of tests to ensure injectable medications such as coronavirus vaccines aren’t contaminated.

To obtain it, harvesters bring many thousands of the creatures to laboratories to be bled each year, and then return them to the sea — a practice that has drawn criticism from conservationists because some don’t survive the process.

The blood, which is blue due to its copper content, is coveted for proteins used to create the LAL test, a process used to screen medical products for bacteria. Synthetic alternatives aren’t widely accepted by the health care industry and haven’t been approved federally, leaving the crabs as the only domestic source of this key ingredient.

Many of these crabs are harvested along the coast of South Carolina, where Gov. Henry McMaster promoted the niche industry as key to the development of a domestic medical supply chain, while also noting that environmental concerns should be explored.

Read the full story at the Associated Press

South Carolina taking steps to protect flounder population

June 21, 2021 — South Carolina has joined a number of states in an effort to protect and improve flounder populations.

Gov. Henry McMaster signed bill H.3957 on June 15 that would change size and creel limits on flounder harvested in South Carolina waters. The bill also increases the cost of saltwater fishing licenses for residents and non-residents with the extra money used for the development and implementation of a flounder stocking program.

“This is something we’ve really needed and we appreciate the legislature for stepping up with these changes,” said Scott Whitaker, executive director of CCA (Coastal Conservation Association) South Carolina.

Read the full story at The Post and Courier

South Carolina shrimp season opens for 2021 with a brighter outlook than last year

May 28, 2021 — South Carolina’s shrimping season opened May 27 with some trawlers already stationed over their favorite spots overnight so they could drop their nets right when restrictions lifted at 8 a.m.

Shrimpers have been able to trawl in a narrow “provisional area” between state and federal waters since April, but the real season begins when the S.C. Department of Natural Resources opens all of state waters, which extend about 3 miles offshore.

Mel Bell, director of the Office of Fisheries Management at DNR, said that a mild winter and promising results from the state’s sampling of the shrimp population made it an ideal time to open the season. State regulators want to make sure that female white shrimp have spawned at least once before allowing the catch to start, and late May is a typical time for them to make that call.

Read the full story at The Post and Courier

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