The Gulf of Maine is astonishing. Captain John Smith, Rachel Carson with her nephew Roger, and many others have found it wondrous. Many of the marine life connections beneath the waves remain a mystery. Efforts to look at the inner-clock workings, the causal gearing of ecosystems, are frustrated by changes in wind, weather, currents and…
The newspaper was handed to me over a plate of fish and chips with loose peas at the Coffee Pot in Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis. “Dredging row turns bitter as ban ‘broken’” was the headline of The Press and Journal.[1] The “bitter row” had broken out about a week earlier and turned more bitter…
Sea Change, a local community group made up of members of the public, creel and dive fishermen and scientists on the West Coast of Scotland want dredgers banned and trawling limited in the Wester Ross Marine Protected Area. Creels are used to catch langoustines, crabs and lobsters, much like lobster pots used in New England.…
“We’ve made tremendous strides in undertaking our role as responsible stewards of this Nation’s great oceans.” – Beth Kerttula, Director of the National Ocean Council The first Report on the Implementation of the National Ocean Policy (passed in 2010) is out. Our regional planning ship is not only pointing down the channel in the right direction, but…
The Ocean River Institute provides donors and advocates the organization they require to save wildlife, clean rivers and restore healthier oceans to go the distance for savvy stewardship of a greener and bluer planet Earth. Spring is here. With the blossoming of flowers comes a blossoming of support from our donors. This is the season…
This redfish and other fish benefit from deep-sea coral reefs in the North Atlantic that are threatened by trawling. Photo: Science AAAS Tell the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Council to Protect Deep-Sea Corals This month (January 2015) the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council will decide whether and to what extent to protect deep sea corals. The New England…
Good News: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) has created a strong and balanced Final Rule that will reduce the waste of bluefin tuna and support the long-term sustainability of the U.S. Atlantic bluefin tuna fishery. The Final Amendment 7 to the 2006 Consolidated Highly Migratory Species Fishery Management Plan was…
“No Fish – The Gulf of Maine’s cod stock is dangerously low, the federal government says. Fishermen dispute it. But one thing is certain – counting is no simple matter.” The title was a bit of a mouthful on the front page of my paper edition of the Boston Globe, November 22, 2014. The four…
