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*******
Note to list members: These reports from the U.S. Congressional
Research Service, are generally posted once a week and are made
available by way of friendly staff in congress.
This posting consists of new material from these summaries, obtained
by extracting only the material in {curly brackets}. In some cases,
when new material is inserted into an existing paragraph, the new
material may not make much sense by itself. Hint: if the lines in a
paragraph are very uneven, it is probably because the new material
was added to an existing paragraph, and the old stuff was cut out.
*******
MARINE FISHERIES
On Feb. 14-17, 2000, Ocean Wildlife Campaign, two
foundations, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium are sponsoring an
International
Pelagic Shark Workshop in Pacific Grove, CA [
http://www.wcs.org/pelagicworkshop.html ].
Long Island Sound Lobsters. On Jan. 20, 2000, Univ. of Connecticut
scientists met with Long Island Sound lobstermen to share results of
recent
investigations. The scientists reported finding Paramoeba parasites in
diseased lobster nerve cells, but expressed concern that lobsters may
have
been debilitated by some other factor allowing the Paramoeba parasite to
flourish. [Assoc Press]
New England Groundfish. On Jan. 19, 2000, the New England Fishery
Management Council voted on 4 options for year 2000 groundfish
management in
the Gulf of Maine and on Georges Bank. The Council voted 9-7 to extend
the closure of Gulf of Maine fishing grounds to 4 consecutive months
(January-April) beginning in 2001 and extend existing no- fishing zones
in
the western Gulf of Maine for another year. In addition, the Council
voted
to close a 6,000 square mile portion of Georges Bank to fishing during
May
to protect spawning cod. NMFS officials reported that 1999 Gulf of
Maine
cod landings are projected to be near the target of 3 million pounds.
[Assoc Press, Boston Herald]
Illegal Shrimping. On Jan. 19, 2000, a Coast Guard Auxiliary flight
videotaped a shrimper illegally fishing in the Oculina Bank Habitat Area
of
Particular Concern, east of Fort Pierce, FL. The shrimper was
intercepted,
and inspectors found the vessel's turtle excluder devices were sewn
shut.
The vessel was escorted to Fort Pierce for NMFS prosecution. [personal
communication]
2000 Restoration Workshop. On Jan. 18-19, 2000, the Exxon Valdez Oil
Spill
Trustee Council held a "2000 Restoration Workshop" in Anchorage, AK, to
discuss research on climatic change and the recovery rate of marine life
supported by oil spill damage compensation funds. [MSNBC]
NJ Fiber Optic Cable. On Jan. 14, 2000, officials of AT&T and Sprint
asked
the NJ Dept. of Environmental Protection not to grant a hearing request
from
clam fishermen who are concerned about AT&T's plans to install a $1.5
billion TAT-14 fiber optic cable links from Tuckerton, NJ, to England
and
from Manasquan, NJ, to Denmark. AT&T seeks NJ approval for cable
installation, while fishermen seek deeper burying of cables and removal
of
older, unused cables. [Assoc Press]
Pacific Groundfish. On Jan. 4, 2000, NMFS published an emergency rule,
as
recommended by the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC), reducing
and
restricting the commercial harvest of lingcod (61% reduction), Pacific
ocean
perch (55% reduction), bacaccio (63% reduction), canary rockfish (85%
reduction), cowcod, and 5 other species of Pacific rockfish along the
coasts
of WA, OR, and CA Loss to the fishing industry is estimated to be
between
$3 million and $15 million. The PFMC is required to develop rebuilding
plans for overfished rockfish populations and submit them to NMFS within
1
year. On Jan. 19, 2000, the federal government declared a fishery
disaster for West Coast groundfish, citing direct losses by fishermen as
$11
million. [Assoc Press, Fed. Register]
Shrimp Embargo. On Dec. 22, 1999, the United States and Malaysia
informed
the World Trade Organization's Dispute Settlement Body that they had
reached
an understanding on possible proceedings relative to U.S. shrimp import
sanctions and sea turtle protection certification. [personal
communication]
SALMON ALONG THE PACIFIC COAST
AQUACULTURE AND AQUARIA
GM Fish. On Jan. 22, 2000, Greenpeace International is scheduled to
release a report on environmental concerns associated with genetically
modified (GM) fish. [personal communication]
Tuna Feedlot Approval. On Jan. 20, 2000, South Australia's Development
Assessment Commission approved plans for 42 new tuna feedlots to be
constructed and operated in Louth Bay, near Port Lincoln, South
Australia.
In response, the Conservation Council threatened to appeal this decision
to
the Supreme Court. [Australian Broadcasting Corp.]
FRESHWATER FISHERIES
MARINE MAMMALS
Dolphin Mass Stranding. On Jan. 16, 2000, about 100 bottlenose dolphins
became stranded in a shallow lagoon at Long Key, FL, with at least 23
dying
before volunteers and the FL Marine Patrol could free the others. On
Jan. 18, 2000, an additional group of 9 bottlenose dolphins stranded at
Little Torch Key, FL, with 3 dying. [Miami Herald, Assoc Press, MSNBC]
Japanese Whaling. In mid-January 2000, the Director General of Japan's
Institute of Cetacean Research informed Greenpeace that, if
confrontational
protests continue, the Captain of the Japanese whaling vessel Nisshin
Maruwill, under Japanese domestic law, take Greenpeace activists into
custody. [Japan Whaling Assoc press release]
Keiko. In mid-January 2000, divers finished stringing a net across the
mouth of Klettsvik Bay, Iceland, where Keiko's handlers hope to release
the
orca whale from its holding pen into the enclosed bay in February 2000.
[Assoc Press]
In mid-January 2000, the Secretariat to CITES recognized the Japanese
and
Norwegian argument that minke whales and eastern Pacific gray whales are
not
threatened with extinction and are inappropriately included on CITES
Appendix I, but provisionally recommended that a "zero quota" for minke
whale harvest be adopted if trade is permitted by Parties at the April
2000
meeting. [High North Alliance News, Greenpeace press release, The
Antarctican]
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