Ocean Zone News Blog

From: Gloucester Times

By Steven Fletcher Staff Writer The Gloucester Daily Times Sun Feb 13, 2011, 11:02 PM EST

The U.S. Senator who’s filed legislation to reform federal fishing policy and hold federal regulators accountable got a firsthand look Saturday at the impact those regulations are having on Gloucester and other communities.

Sen. Scott Brown spoke to some 30 Gloucester-based fishermen and waterfront business operators about his proposed Fishery Impact Statement Honesty (FISH) Act during a Saturday visit to the Gloucester Seafood Display Auction.

The legislation aims to amend the Magnuson-Stevens Act and places federal fishing policy under independent annual analysis from the Government Accountability Office.

From: Tri-ParishTimes.com

By MIKE NIXON

Addressing plans being made by the Obama Administration to control usage of coastal waterways and inland channels, Jack Belcher, managing director for the National Ocean Policy Coalition, intends to inform the South Central Industrial Association of its options at Tuesday’s membership meeting.

“There is a process under way with the Obama Administration developing national ocean policy through the National Ocean Council,” Belcher said in preparation for his visit to Houma. “The goal [of President Obama] is to create a policy that coordinates between federal agencies to avoid conflict on the oceans. There is a tool that they are employing called coastal marine special planning.”

MEDIA RELEASE

The National Ocean Council is seeking public input on the development of strategic action plans for the nine priority objectives described in the Final Recommendations of the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force.

These nine objectives seek to address some of the most pressing challenges facing the ocean, our coasts, and the Great Lakes.

On July 19, 2010, President Obama signed Executive Order 13547 establishing a National Policy for the Stewardship of the Ocean, our Coasts, and the Great Lakes. That Executive Order adopts the Final Recommendations and directs Federal agencies to take the appropriate steps to implement them.

Lubchenco Names Kennedy Permanent NOS Chief

David Kennedy has been named NOAA assistant administrator for the National Ocean Service effective immediately. He has served in an acting capacity since January 2010 when John Dunnigan was named a senior policy advisor to the NOAA administrator.  The announcement was made today by under secretary of commerce and NOAA administrator Dr. Jane Lubchenco.

“David has served both NOAA and the nation exceptionally well in his NOAA career, and in particular over the past nine months as the overall NOAA response coordinator for the  BP/Deepwater Horizon oil spill response,” said Lubchenco. “His overall experience, coupled with a leadership approach that promotes teamwork to effectively deal with issues are important attributes as we face tremendous challenges in the ocean and coastal environment.  I am delighted he has agreed to fill this important position.”

The challenges facing oil companies looking to drill in the Beaufort, Chukchi seas got more complicated in the past year

Eric Lidji

For Petroleum News

The state of offshore drilling in Alaska’s Arctic can be summed up in one word: uncertain.

It’s uncertain if the U.S. government will allow oil companies to drill exploration wells in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas, located off the northern and northwestern coasts of Alaska, respectively. If that drilling does go forward, it’s uncertain if it will yield discoveries large enough to justify the high cost of Arctic development. Should that drilling go wrong, it is uncertain if the response systems in place will work as intended.