BALTIMORE – Crews will begin removing approximately 2 million cubic yards of material today from shipping channels leading to the Port of Baltimore as part of a contract managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District.
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Fishermen who seek one of the most important bait fish on the East Coast are likely to see a dramatic reduction next year in the amount they are allowed to harvest, and the change could have major implications for lobster consumers. NOAA said it wants to cut the annual catch limit from nearly 110 million pounds this year to less than half that in 2019.
The Coastal Resources Management Council was created in 1971 to manage coastal development along Rhode Island’s 420 miles of shoreline, including the beachfront town of Westerly. A citizen board lacking coastal knowledge and appointed by politicians has often ignored years of experience to overrule staff on shoreline development projects.
Blue crabs are ecologically important and represent one of the most valuable fisheries in the United States.
From oyster farms to cultivated seaweed and farm-raised salmon, aquaculture is often described as essential to the economic future of Maine’s fisheries in the face of a changing ecosystem. Warming waters from climate change are pushing lobster farther Down East and have shut down the shrimp fishery, and threats such as ocean acidification and invasive green crabs are harming Maine’s natural fisheries.
The mind balks at predictions of rising sea levels that threaten, in the not-distant future, to drown or dramatically alter Connecticut's treasured shoreline and lowlands. How distant? How altered? What should be done? What would it cost, and who would pay?
Recent extreme weather — hurricanes Harvey and Florence — caused widespread toxic contamination of floodwaters after low-lying chemical plants, coal ash storage facilities and hog waste lagoons were inundated.
BOSTON – The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is teaming up with a pair of foundations to fund multiple projects designed to make improvements to the electric monitoring of fisheries in the country.
The Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA), which consists of regional fishing industry representatives from Maine to North Carolina, convened an Offshore Wind Transit Lane Working Group meeting on December 3rd at the Hotel Viking in Newport, R.I.
ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS, NJ - Residents of Atlantic Highlands were stunned to learn last week that the developer of a waterfront parcel on Sandy Hook Bay would no longer provide public access to the beach.
The Port of Baltimore is getting a $6.5 million federal grant to build an additional 50-foot-deep berth to accommodate large container ships.
While New Jersey is not the immediate target, there’s concern that Trump approval of controversial process could open the door to offshore drilling in the region
WHAT'S THE CATCH: Advocating for strong conservation with Senator Sheldon Whitehouse: Ed Doherty of Mattapoisett, Cape Cod Canal fisherman and author; Steve Brustein of West Warwick, recreational fisherman, food service industry and chef; Tony Friedrich of Virginia, fish advocate; Capt. Greg Snow of North Kingstown, Snow Fly Charters; Senator Sheldon Whitehouse; George Baldwin of Northford, president, CT Surfcaster Association; Capt. Abbie Schuster of Martha’s Vineyard, Kismet Outfitters and Fly Fishing; and Capt. Dave Monti of Warwick.
A hamlet study backs a recommendation to enact a "strategic retreat" of downtown businesses inland to combat the threat, but East Hampton Town is mulling a $15 million to $17 million beach restoration project.
NEWPORT, RI — Clamming captains, business-owners and attorneys huddled in the lobby of the Viking Hotel on Tuesday sharing disbelief and despair over a decision by the New England Fisheries Management Council that will close vital harvesting grounds.
The state plans to use new federal funding to gain a better understanding of microplastic pollution in Long Island Sound and reopen a migratory fishway that has not been used by blueback herring in 300 years.
New England Fishery Management Council members have shown little collective enthusiasm for limiting access to the Northeast small-mesh whiting fishery and the great majority followed through on that sentiment Tuesday.
The United States’ Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has announced that it will issue a Notice of Availability for Vineyard Wind’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement. The DEIS was prepared by BOEM as part of the agency’s review of Vineyard Wind’s proposed 800-MW wind farm to be constructed in federal waters south of Martha’s Vineyard and approximately 34 miles south of the Cape Cod mainland. Vineyard Wind, based in New Bedford, Massachusetts, is 50 percent owned by funds of Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) and 50 percent by Avangrid Renewables.
Mayor Doug Medlin recently posted a letter to the town's website telling residents that the delayed beach renourishment project was caused by FEMA not assigning an agent to the project. He said the town now hopes to have it completed by February.
Even after wind-whipped tides crested the sea wall and surged past Mike and Cyndy Cotter’s home, the Quincy couple had no thoughts of abandoning the property, which overlooks Quincy Bay and the distant Boston skyline.
Trade hostility from across the ocean was supposed to take a snip out of the U.S. lobster business, but the industry is getting a lifeline from its northern neighbor.
The state has chosen four fishermen from eastern Maine from almost 1,300 applicants who sought the first new scallop fishing licenses to be issued in Maine in the past nine years.
A horde of New Bedford fishermen and representatives from the city’s Port Authority shared a train ride down to New York City for a meeting involving an offshore wind project south of Long Island.
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities will hold three Public Stakeholder Meetings in December focused on the state’s offshore wind development, even if state fishing “stakeholders” didn’t all get the invite
Maryland’s new oyster stock assessment confirms what many conservationists have long suspected — that the state’s oyster population is in dire need of new management.
Annual report card comes as researchers work to identify whale found dead off Nantucket.
New England’s fishing industry wasn’t expecting a bountiful shrimp harvest this winter, as the fishery has been shuttered since 2014. But the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission went above in beyond in its November meeting, shutting the shrimp fleet down not only for 2019, but for ’20 and ’21 as well.
Eversource is moving forward with energy storage projects in Provincetown and Oak Bluffs the utility says will help increase reliability and supplement the electric infrastructure for Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard.
HYANNIS – Life on Cape Cod is linked to the coastline and it is critical to understand how the ecosystems change over time and how decisions we make affect their health.
Hampton-Seabrook Harbor is one step closer to an emergency dredging project..
GLOUCESTER – NOAA Fisheries is ramping up its plans to develop management strategies for the Northeast recreational groundfish fishery for 2019, beginning with three January workshops for stakeholder input.
The new federal climate assessment report issued on Friday paints a dire picture for the future of the Rhode Island environment -- and economy -- due to the impacts of global warming.
NEWBURY — Two Plum Island residents will travel to Washington, D.C., next month with Mayor Donna Holaday and state Sen. Bruce Tarr to try to raise awareness of coastal erosion problems locally to federal officials.
R.I. is one of the beneficiaries of the ‘aquatic connectivity’ effort
PROVIDENCE — The influx of offshore wind energy isn’t without its hiccups as developers negotiate with regulatory agencies and fishermen to get their projects approved as deadlines approach.
REED'S BEACH - "Build it and they will come" worked for Kevin Costner's character in "Field of Dreams." It appears to be working on the Delaware Bay where reefs built as part of Superstorm Sandy ecosystem restoration are attracting horseshoe crabs, Red Knots, oysters and other marine life.
BRICK, NJ – Few things are worse for boaters than hearing the sickening thump and scrape after unexpectedly hitting bottom, and many boaters have reported damage to their boats in areas when shoaling has occurred. That won’t be a problem for much longer in township channels, because for the first time in decades, the NJ Department of Maritime Resources is dredging the navigable channels, which is the transportation network for boats.
NEW BEDFORD — The New Bedford Port Authority has reached an agreement with all offshore wind developers operating in the Massachusetts/Rhode Island market to serve as the designated Fisheries Representative of the commercial fishing industry to each of the development companies, according to a news release.
NARRAGANSETT -- Vineyard Wind is facing an uphill battle to secure a key approval from Rhode Island coastal regulators for its 800-megawatt offshore wind farm after a state fishing board refused to back the $2-billion project.
Beach nourishment and utility easements create controversy.
DURHAM — Population growth and climate change are major stressors on Great Bay, but efforts are underway to restore ecosystems in the beloved body of water often dubbed New Hampshire’s “hidden coast.”
Maine’s rebuilt fishery for scallops is getting started for the winter in the coming days.
Carl Spector, Commissioner of the Environment for the City of Boston, presented an overview of the Coastal Resilience Study for the Downtown Waterfront at the November Wharf District Council meeting.
Subsea power provider JDR Cable Systems and McAllister Towing and Transportation Co., Inc. are planning to develop a cable service base in the northeast United States to serve the emerging offshore wind energy industry.
The Gulf of Maine’s location at the meeting point of two major currents, as well as its shallow depth and shape, makes it especially susceptible to warming.
NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Whales and fishing gear increasingly occupy the same areas of ocean in the Gulf of Maine, and whales being injured or killed by entanglement with gear continues to be a top concern of scientists and regulators. Last week, scientists and other interested parties met for a day-long meeting on one idea they hope will reduce entanglements: ropeless fishing.
We’ve long felt it was unfair and detrimental to the hospitality industry for New Jersey to pile room taxes and fees on hotels while giving online room renters such as Airbnb a free ride. So we were glad that legislators and the governor finally leveled that playing field in this year’s budget agreement.
Portland, Maine — Regulators voted on Friday to close the Gulf of Maine winter shrimp season for another three years, raising fears that the fishery decimated by rising water temperatures may never bounce back.
The surf clam fishery — typically centered from the Mid-Atlantic states to northern New Jersey — continues to shift northward. Over time, the distribution shows increased landings in southern New England and Georges Bank. Southern New England and Long Island are productive for ocean quahogs.
The group called on Senator Susan Collins, Senator Angus King, and Congressional representatives Chellie Pingree and Bruce Poliquin to prevent the practice along the entire Atlantic Coast.
Up to 9.6 gigawatts of offshore wind energy could be generated on lease tracts in the New York Bight outlined by the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the agency says.
In the aftermath of the Sept. 15 fatal shark attack on a bodyboarder in Wellfleet, local legislators promised towns that state money and expertise would be available to help better protect and educate the public, as well as enhance the rescue and treatment of future victims.
An unusual glass sponge population off Nova Scotia’s coast has endured more than a century of temperature and salinity changes, researchers from the Bedford Institute of Oceanography have found. But exactly how these deep sea organisms have toughed it out in an area known as the Emerald Basin remains a mystery.
The town has tried unsuccessfully to stem erosion at the tip of Red River Beach using beach nourishment, sand bags and plantings, and is once again seeking to extend the jetty landward.
BRUNSWICK– The public hearing concerning Mere Point Oyster Company’s proposed 10-year, 40-acre lease on Maquoit Bay will continue Monday after nearly four hours of public comment and witness testimony Thursday night.
Add sea squirts — a variety of small, tube-like marine creatures that live bunched together in colonies — to the list of species that seem to be thriving in the warming waters off the Maine coast.
A strong May start and a lively September finish to the summer beach season enabled the city of Gloucester to reel in close to $2 million in daily beach parking fees — nearly $180,000 more than in the prior year.
Washington — New York state has officially published its solicitation for 800 MW of offshore wind capacity, a major step forward for the Empire State's ambitious plan to become an industry leader in the domestic offshore wind industry.
With large areas off the Northeast coast designated for offshore wind energy development, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) researchers are helping people better understand how construction and operation of offshore wind facilities can affect ocean bottom habitats and the fishery species they support.
Work slowdowns by longshoremen at the port of Baltimore’s Seagirt Marine Terminal are disrupting operations so much that some shipping line customers may move their cargo shipments to other ports, the Steamship Trade Association of Baltimore said in a court filing.
When sun worshippers, homebuyers, restaurateurs and other investors began realizing that Asbury Park had a perfectly good beach barely an hour from the Holland Tunnel, with vintage arcades and a rock 'n roll shrine to boot, city officials adopted a Waterfront Redevelopment Plan in 2002 to guide what would finally prove to be the faded tourist town's long-awaited resurgence.
Report questions how seriously policymakers and officials have taken the threat from climate change. Advocate suggests that decision was made to stay put and ‘live with the risk’
OCEAN CITY – Neighbors near the bay around Second and Third street say they understand that flooding takes place throughout this barrier island community. They also understand that the city has ramped up its flood protection projects in recent years, Pete Sokolowski told City Council at its Nov. 8 meeting. Still, he said, flooding seems to be getting worse.
BOURNE — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has announced a series of public information meetings to be held next month to discuss the future of the Bourne and Sagamore bridges, the first major opportunity for the public to weigh in on the federal agency’s planning for a long-term solution to deal with the aging structures.
Groton — A team of academic officials, state agencies and environmental organizations is poised to nominate coastal areas of southeastern Connecticut for a proposed National Estuarine Research Reserve, and they are seeking the public's input. A public meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 13, in the second-floor auditorium of the Academic Building at the University of Connecticut's Avery Point campus.
A study by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists released in 2018 concluded that valuable species of shellfish, including softshell clams, have become harder to find on the East Coast because of degraded habitats caused by a warming environment.
Public comments on the New Haven Harbor Connecticut Navigation Improvement Project Draft Integrated Feasibility Report and Environmental Impact Statement are due to the Corps of Engineers by November 15, 2018.
There has been a moratorium on shrimp fishing in Maine since 2013
With another winter approaching, city officials plan to build up protective structures along Plum Island’s Reservation Terrace to help stem erosion and flooding in the neighborhood.
Many Shore residents and homeowners have wondered how the barrier island’s newly-replenished beaches would handle a nor’easter – would the sand stick around or be washed out to sea?
Operations will run Monday through Saturday from 7 AM to 5 PM, with the entire project expected to wrap up by January 15th of 2019
All along Town Neck Beach, there are visible signs of the years-long fight the town and homeowners have been waging against erosion.
In 1946 the lighthouse began to collapse.
Scientists with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission say they are starting to see upward trends in the populations of alewives, also known as river herring.
Scientists say the population of North Atlantic right whales could decline to levels not seen since 1990 in as few as 12 years.
Jay Ash, Massachusetts Secretary of Housing and Economic Development announced a $300,000 commitment toward the effort to propel the “Blue Economy” forward at UMass Dartmouth Monday evening.
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