August 8: NOAA is seeking public comment on potentially designating a new national marine sanctuary in Hudson Canyon off the coast of New York and New Jersey (Find more here). 

August 19: NOAA Fisheries is seeking comment on a first-ever draft Equity and Environmental Justice Strategy. This draft national strategy describes the path that NOAA Fisheries will take to incorporate equity and environmental justice into the vital services we provide to all stakeholders (Find more here).

August 22: BOEM, in consultation with the National Marine Fisheries Service and affected coastal states, will be holding meetings through July to discuss draft guidance for ways to mitigate impacts from offshore wind projects on commercial and recreational fisheries and fishing (Find more here).

Please submit all proposals as Microsoft Word and Excel files no later than August 17, 2022 by email to Julie DeFilippi Simpson, ACCSP Deputy Director julie.simpson@accsp.org.

If you have any questions about the funding decision process, please contact your agency’s Operations Committee member (http://66b.b7f.myftpupload.com/committees) or Julie DeFilippi Simpson. Relevant attachments can be found here.

NYSDEC: Long Island Commercial Fishing Survey – Input Needed for 2022

The 2022 survey is ACTIVE and all fishermen are strongly encouraged to complete the survey. Results from the survey can be used to better understand the industry and assist the industry, researchers, policymakers, and State and Federal agencies in providing the resources and support necessary to promote a viable and sustainable fishing industry.

The completed 2021 Long Island Commercial Fishing Survey Report can be found online (PDF) and offers an up-to-date profile of the Long Island commercial fishing industry that is meant to assist with evaluating the needs of local fishermen and characterize the harvesting and processing capacity of the industry, support businesses, and people engaged in this livelihood.

Find more information here.

The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control continued to broaden the recreational appeal of Delaware’s renowned artificial reef system by sinking the Texas Star, originally outfitted as a floating casino, at a reef site 16.5 miles offshore of the Delaware coast, with readings of 38.40.494/74.43.868 at a depth of 86 feet. Built in 1977 on a multi-purpose supply ship hull, the Texas Star was last at sea as a commercial scallop catcher/processor vessel, finding its third life at approximately 4:20 p.m. EDT Wednesday, June 29 as ocean floor fish habitat planned by DNREC’s artificial reef program.

The sinking of the 180-foot long Texas Star – as can be seen on the DNREC YouTube Channel – marked the reef program’s third deployment of a vessel in the last three years. The retired menhaden ship John S. Dempster Jr. was sunk on the Del-Jersey-Land Reef 26 miles off Indian River Inlet in early 2021, while a former Navy and later Army freighter and supply ship renamed Reedville when it too became a menhaden ship, was sunk onto Reef Site No. 11, known as Redbird Reef, in August 2020. All of them went down after the nationally-publicized 2018 sinking of the retired Lewes-Cape May, N.J. ferry Twin Capes onto the Del-Jersey-Land Reef, second only to Reef Site No. 11 as a popular recreational fishing destination.

Find more information here.

The offshore wind industry has seen an explosion in activity since MA DMF’s first industry update published in 2018. Global offshore wind energy capacity surpassed 27 gigawatts (GW) in early 2020. In March 2021, the Biden-Harris administration announced a national goal of generating 30 GW of offshore wind energy by 2030, marking the nation’s first federal-scale offshore wind energy goal. To achieve this goal, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM)—the agency tasked with regulating energy development in federal waters—intends to evaluate at least 16 Construction and Operation Plans (COPs) by 2025. In October 2021, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland announced plans to hold up to seven new offshore wind lease sales by 2025 in the Gulf of Maine, New York Bight, Central Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and offshore of the Carolinas, California, and Oregon.

Find more information here.

Reading maps for marine fisheries rules just got a lot easier! The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries has launched a new interactive mapping tool to assist the public with finding and using maps associated with rules. The Common North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission Rules application replaces the old, static maps and is useful to both commercial and recreational fishermen. Among the included maps are:

Find more information here.

The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries is accepting proposals for the Boating Infrastructure Grant (BIG) Program for federal fiscal year 2023. The Request for Proposals is published on the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries BIG website.

BIG is a grant program of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that reimburses up to 75 percent of costs for projects that construct, renovate, or maintain tie-up facilities and related amenities for recreational transient vessels that are at least 26 feet long. The grant program was authorized by Congress in 1998 and is funded by excise taxes on fishing equipment and motorboat fuel.

Find more information here.

Jamie Green joined the Virginia Marine Resources Commission in 2005 as a law enforcement officer. Within a few years he became a 1st Sergeant and two years later became Captain of the Middle Area. During his tenure as Captain he graduated from the Southern Police Institute at University of Louisville, as well as Saint Leo University. Jamie was instrumental in securing and executing several federal grants and managed the Joint Enforcement Agreement with National Marine Fisheries Service, a Division of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Jamie serves on numerous marine conservation and maritime committees. As Lieutenant Colonel of VMRC's Law Enforcement Division he became a certified homeland protection professional.

Find more information here.