Daily News

From Saving Seafood

• MAINE: Congressional delegation blasts Pew petition calling for closures
  August 26, 2021 — Maine’s congressional delegation called on U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to reject a petition to impose seasonal and dynamic closures on parts of the state’s lobster fishery. The Pew Charitable Trusts submitted a petition to close four areas of lobster fishing in Maine unless lobstermen used so-called “ropeless” fishing gear. “The...Read More
• NOAA Fisheries Announces Illex Squid Directed Fishery Closure
  August 26, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries: Effective August 30 NOAA Fisheries is closing the directed Illex fishery in federal waters through the end of the fishing year, December 31, 2021. Effective at 0001 hour on August 30, 2021, vessels are prohibited from fishing for or landing more than 10,000 lb of Illex squid per trip...Read More
• ‘No easy answers’ WHOI building project designed for sea-level rise
  August 26, 2021 — The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is one of the leading organizations focused on ocean research, exploration and education. Its vessels roam the world’s oceans, their researchers explore the deepest oceanic canyons and the shallows of a salt marsh. For an institution that has experienced, researched and documented the impacts of climate change on the ocean, it follows...Read More
• Six Ways Fishermen Keep Shark Fishing Sustainable
  August 26, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries: U.S. shark fisheries are among the most sustainably managed commercial and recreational fisheries in the world. Here are six things fishermen do to help help us maintain a sustainable shark fishery: 1. Have the Proper Permits Fishermen need a federal fishing permit to fish for sharks. These...Read More
• Fishery agencies seeking stakeholder input on climate change impacts and concerns
  August 26, 2021 — In 2020, a Cape Cod Canal fisherman wrote a letter about the need for federal laws to address shifting fish stocks and maintain sustainable levels amid climate change. In 2019, a researcher concluded that climate variation and warming waters in the Gulf of Maine contributed to a decline in New England fishing jobs from 1996 to...Read More
• Feds eye new rules to protect right whales from fishing gear
  August 26, 2021 — Federal ocean regulators are considering new rules to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales from fishing gear. The whales number only about 360 and are vulnerable to entanglement in the gear. Most of the government’s efforts to protect them has focused on regulating gear used to harvest lobsters and Jonah crabs....Read More
• MASSACHUSETTS: Is it Cape Wind all over again?
  August 26, 2021 — Two Nantucket Residents,  backed by a network of think tanks and beachfront property owners along the East Coast, set in motion what appears to be a Cape Wind strategy for derailing the nation’s first industrial-size offshore wind farm and others that are lining up behind it. Vallorie Oliver, a home designer...Read More
• Kui ‘ia ka lei moku e Kanaloa: The Ocean Unites Humanity to Clean Up Marine Debris
  August 26, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries: Scientists and divers from NOAA’s Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center are teaming up with divers from the Papahānaumokuākea Marine Debris Project. They are on a 30-day mission to remove marine debris from the islands and atolls within the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. The team departed Honolulu...Read More
• NORTH CAROLINA: Environment commission to review coastal protection plan
  August 26, 2021 — The North Carolina Environmental Management Commission is set to review next month the draft amendment to the Coastal Habitat Protection Plan, which is revised every five years to reflect changes in the status of habitat protection in the state. Committee meetings begin at 9 a.m. Sept. 8 for the Air Quality Committee, Groundwater and...Read More
• Slow Zone Extended South of Nantucket to Protect Right Whales
  August 26, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries: NOAA Fisheries announces an extension to a voluntary right whale Slow Zone South of Nantucket. On August 25, 2021, the New England Aquarium aerial survey team sighted the presence of right whales south of Nantucket, MA. The Slow Zone is extended immediately through September 9, 2021. Reminder...Read More
• Restaurant sector performance strong, but labor and pricing pressures persist
  August 26, 2021 — This summer has been relatively good to the U.S. restaurant industry, as most operators are at full capacity after facing service limits due to the COVID-19 pandemic last year. But the industry’s growth could be hampered by mounting inflation, labor shortages, and other operating challenges. Consumer spending at restaurants soared 32...Read More
• FDA unconcerned about PFAS levels found in processed seafood
  August 26, 2021 — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s first survey of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in processed foods has found levels of the chemicals in certain seafood items. But the agency said it is not concerned about the discovery. PFAS are found in numerous consumer and industrial products, and are used due to their resistance to...Read More
• Summary of Action Items for the 187th Meeting of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council
  August 26, 2021 — The following was released by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council: The 187th meeting of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council will convene September 21-23, 2021, by web conference (Webex) with host sites at the following locations: Tedi of Samoa Building, Suite 208B, Fagatogo Village, American Samoa Cliff Pointe, 304...Read More
• Collins joins Maine delegation in seeking Maine lobster industry protections
  August 26, 2021 — A new set of federal rules to protect the endangered North Atlantic right whale that is close to being finalized could be detrimental to Maine’s critical lobster industry, according to U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and a bipartisan, bicameral group of her Maine congressional colleagues. The forthcoming rules include “hasty, late-breaking...Read More
• Fishers Struggle as Fish Head for the Poles
  August 26, 2021 — As climate change raises the ocean’s temperature, some fish species are moving poleward to cooler waters. In the United States, as elsewhere, commercial fishers are trying to adapt. But as a new study of trawler communities along the US east coast documents, fishers’ efforts to adjust are being constrained by a...Read More
• ALASKA: As local streams warm, cold water inputs could be crucial for salmon
  August 26, 2021 — This particular pocket of Beaver Creek is not far from the road, just a short and muddy tromp away from a gravel parking lot between Kenai and Soldotna. But it’s home to several cold water inputs that could be crucially important for young salmon as they swim from the Kenai River...Read More