NOAA is proposing measures to govern Northeast groundfish fisheries
beginning May 1, 2009, the start of the new fishing year. The measures
strive to reduce overfishing, continue rebuilding of groundfish stocks,
and provide more options for fishing businesses trying to mitigate the
economic effects of the measures while the New England Fishery
Management Council finalizes a major revision to the fishery management
plan.
NOAA’s Fisheries Service today
announced the states of Massachusetts and Maine will each be eligible
for up to $2 million and New Hampshire will be eligible for up to $1
million in disaster aid to assist the shellfishing industries affected
by this year’s closures due to the harmful algal bloom, commonly known
as a red tide.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez
today determined that the economic effects of closing some shellfish
fisheries due to a harmful algal bloom, commonly referred to as a red
tide, in ocean waters off Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine has
caused a commercial fishery failure.
Each
year, pregnant female North Atlantic right whales migrate southward
more than 1,000 miles from their feeding area off Canada and New
England to the warm, calm coastal waters off South Carolina, Georgia,
and northeastern Florida to give birth and nurse their young. These
waters are the only known calving area for the species.
This isn't quite a weather story, but I figure most of us who frequent this website share a love for New England and nature at large, and figured you'd want to read a few slightly "off topic" items. Click "Continue Reading" for more. -Matt
NOAA officials today issued a regulation that will implement new measures to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales.
The
regulation will, for the first time, require large ships to reduce
speeds to ten knots in areas where the whales feed and reproduce, as
well as along migratory routes in between. The goal of the regulation
is to reduce the risk of ship collisions with the whales.