Saving Seafood

Trump’s SC offshore drilling moratorium doesn’t stop seismic testing, feds say in lawsuit

September 23, 2020 — The federal government said in a court filing Monday that a new Trump administration ban on oil drilling off the south Atlantic coast doesn’t stop companies from requesting to search for oil in those waters.

The case involves two consolidated lawsuits challenging permits issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service that allow seismic testing companies to disturb marine life.

The testing involves shooting air gun blasts at the ocean floor to map whether fossil fuels lie underneath. It has been shown to harm sea life such as whales.

The litigation fell into question briefly when President Donald Trump announced earlier this month he was ordering a 10-year ban on drilling off the coasts of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.

Read the full story at The Post and Courier

Cooper urges Trump administration to include North Carolina in offshore oil drilling moratorium

September 16, 2020 — Governor Roy Cooper said he’s reached out to President Donald Trump and his administration to include North Carolina in the recently announced moratorium on offshore oil drilling in the Atlantic Ocean.

Last week, Trump extended a ten-year moratorium on offshore oil drilling for South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, but did not include North Carolina in the executive order.

“I am deeply concerned and disappointed that you did not include North Carolina in the moratorium,” Cooper wrote in a letter to President Trump on Tuesday. “Offshore drilling threatens North Carolina’s coastal economy and environment and offers our state minimal economic benefit. Accepted science tells us that there is little, if any, oil worth drilling for off North Carolina’s coast, and the risks of offshore drilling far outweigh the benefits.”

Read the full story at WECT

Trump signs order extending and expanding oil drilling moratorium off Florida’s shores

September 9, 2020 — President Donald Trump brushed back critics of his record on the environment in the crucial swing state of Florida Tuesday during a visit to Palm Beach County by signing a presidential order that extends and expands a ban on drilling off the state’s coastline.

The order — which Trump signed atop a stage not far from the mouth of the Loxahatchee River — extends by 10 years the life of a moratorium that previously prohibited drilling in federal waters off Florida’s Gulf Coast until July 1, 2022. He said it also expanded the ban on energy exploration, development and production to include the Atlantic coast off Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.

Read the full story at the Miami Herald

SAFMC Meeting September 14-17, 2020 via webinar

August 31, 2020 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

Meeting materials, including committee agendas and overviews, decision documents, and presentations are now available for the the September 14-17, 2020 meeting of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council. The meeting was originally scheduled to take place in Charleston, South Carolina. Due to ongoing concerns about COVID-19 and public safety, the Council meeting will be held via webinar.

The Council meeting will be available via webinar each day as it occurs. Registration is required and can be completed in advance by visiting the Council’s website at: https://safmc.net/september-2020-council-meeting-details/.

A formal public comment session will be held on Wednesday, September 16th beginning at 4:00 PM. An online comment form is also now available.

Coronavirus halted some fish population research in SC. Now it’s ramping back up.

August 24, 2020 — Five months after social distancing began scuttling scientific field work around South Carolina, the marine researchers who watch over fish and other aquatic life have re-started monitoring efforts.

In a few cases, the gap in data could add uncertainty for years to come over decisions about when and how to allow certain fishing.

In March, the spread of COVID-19 prompted the S.C. Department of Natural Resources to pause its research vessel trips, including the inshore trawl of the Charleston Harbor that had run every month without interruption for four decades. The trawl drags a net along the harbor floor and researchers collect data on what comes up. Among other things, it allows state regulators to keep an eye on the shrimp population.

Read the full story at The Post and Courier

SAFMC seeks applicants for advisory panels

July 14, 2020 — Local fishermen, commercial and recreational, as well as those with other connections to fishing and the marine environment have an opportunity to offer advice to interstate fishery managers.

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council is soliciting applicants for open advisory panel seats. The council is an interstate fishery management agency with jurisdiction in the federal waters off the Atlantic coast from the southeastern U.S., including North Carolina. The council’s advisory panels inform and guide the council in developing and implementing federal fishery management plans.

Applications must be received by Monday, Aug. 10 for consideration by the council during its Sept. 14-18 meeting currently scheduled for Charleston, S.C.

Instructions on how to apply and application forms for individual advisory panels are available online from the council’s website at safmc.net/about-safmc/advisory-panels/. For more information, contact SAFMC public information officer Kim Iverson by email at Kim.Iverson@safmc.net or call 843-571-4366.

Read the full story at the Carteret County News-Times

Joe Cunningham calls on NOAA to stop seismic airgun blasting permits off SC coast

June 29, 2020 — Representative Joe Cunningham sent a letter to Dr. Neil Jacobs, acting head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), regarding the agency’s recent decision to allow the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) “to proceed in processing seismic testing permits off South Carolina’s coast,” despite the state’s opposition.

Cunningham said that the ruling “highlights the Administration’s unwillingness to listen to the bipartisan majority of voices in our state that have made it clear seismic testing and offshore drilling is unwanted, unnecessary, and a threat to our way of life.”

Read the full story at WBTW

South Carolina officials expect healthy shrimp season for commercial trawlers in local waters

May 28, 2020 — As of 8 a.m. Wednesday, May 27, the commercial shrimp trawling season is open in all legal South Carolina waters, according to a press release from the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.

In the release, the SCDNR reported that this start date is in line with the average year and they expect there to be a healthy supply of roe white shrimp, which are typically plentiful in the spring shrimping season.

“Based on field sampling completed by SCDNR biologists earlier in the year, as well as reported landings of shrimp from federal waters and our provisional areas beginning in mid-April, our white shrimp abundance this year should be about average or slightly better in comparison to previous similar years,” said SCDNR Office of Fisheries Management director Mel Bell.

Read the full story at the Charleston City Paper

May 1st Triggers Opening of Shallow-Water Grouper and Other Species in the South Atlantic

April 29, 2020 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

If you are fortunate enough to be out on the water this spring, fishing can be a great way to ease stress while practicing social distancing and other safe measures to ensure public safety. Beginning May 1st, fishermen will have a few more species to target in South Atlantic federal waters (greater than 3 nautical miles off the coasts of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and the east coast of Florida).

May 1st marks the beginning of the shallow-water grouper season, following the annual spawning season closure from January 1st through April 30th. The one exception is the Red Grouper season in federal waters off the coasts of North Carolina and South Carolina, which will open for harvest on June 1st.

Regulations also change for Greater Amberjack, Snowy Grouper, Hogfish and several other species.

Check out the latest blog for details.

High-tech advances in fishing gear threaten fish stocks off SC and worldwide

March 3, 2020 — Ultrasonic sensors that can follow a single fish along the seafloor, submersible cameras, satellites, big data tracking — put it all aboard a center console fishing boat with five engines that can cover 75 miles of sea in an hour.

The result: Any weekend warrior angler leaving Charleston with gear like that can return time after time to that same rock swarmed with snapper-grouper, then come back with coolers full of tasty seafood favorite fish that regulators are struggling to keep from being overfished.

Rapidly advancing technology is raking the ocean clean as conservationists and regulators plug in to keep up the chase.

“GPS navigation can put you within inches of a fishing spot, and with the advances in sonar and use of inexpensive submersible cameras, it’s possible to see, not just schools of fish, but individual fish in great detail,” said Tom Swatzel, director of the South Carolina-based Council for Sustainable Fishing, which represents both commercial and recreational fishing interests.

Nearly a half-million people have saltwater fishing licenses in South Carolina, and tens if not hundreds of thousands of them own boats capable of cruising out of sight of land. It’s been estimated more than a half-million trips are run offshore each year.

The numbers alone make it problematic to count how many fish get caught, much less enforce catch or season limits. Unlike commercial captains, recreational anglers don’t have to report their catches. A half-million coolers can carry off a lot of fish.

Read the full story at The Post and Courier