Anglers and Boaters Aren't the Enemy
Here's the latest dispatch.
Good morning,
For you newbies out there, welcome to Outsider on the Inside. I hope this dispatch from in and around the nation’s capital on underreported topics finds you well.
If you’re just discovering my musings, here’s a backgrounder and make sure we’re connected on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
Anglers And Boaters Aren’t at Odds with Whales
I recently interviewed Captain Dylan Hubbard, co-owner of Hubbard’s marina in Madeira Beach, Florida, about the potential impact of NOAA Fisheries imposing a mandatory slow-down zone in the Gulf of Mexico under the guise of protecting endangered Rice’s whales.
Following our interview, Dylan appeared on Jesse Watters Primetime on Fox News to elaborate more about the issue.
Fox News explored the Commerce Dept/NOAA Fisheries rule further:
The $200 billion Gulf Coast recreational fishery is poised to take a hit if a Biden administration proposal aimed at saving an endangered whale is adopted by the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, one fisherman said Tuesday.
Capt. Dylan Hubbard — who co-owns a marina in Pinellas County, Fla. — said the proposal amounts to crushing levels of regulation with no expected empirical improvement.
"This current petition is proposing a 10[-kts] speed limit over a wide swath of our eastern Gulf of Mexico, an area in which 50 million angler trips are occurring," Hubbard said of the potentially affected area, which stretches along nearly 500 linear miles from the Florida-Alabama line to Tampa.
"A lot of people access the fishery — our economy, the whole southeast region is driven by recreational boating — and it's a $214 billion industry, and this has a huge impact proposed, and basically closing an area from 100 to 400 meters deep, or about 300 to 1,300 ft."
And then I expanded on coverage for today’s Friday Townhall.com column on the topic:
Last year, NOAA Fisheries received $82 million from the so-called “Inflation Reduction Act” and Fiscal Year 2023 appropriations funds to expand whale monitoring programs.
"We have high hopes for improving technology, but right this moment we don't have existing technology that can track and monitor and detect and avoid vessel strikes sufficient to prevent the fatalities,” NOAA Assistant Administrator Janet Coit told E&E News.
A bipartisan group of Congressional lawmakers, in turn, drafted a bill to delay funding here until the agency modernizes its north Atlantic right whale monitoring system. Lead sponsors include Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA) and Rep. Mary Peltola (D-AK).
“Like most of my colleagues, I am concerned about the long-term health of our marine mammal populations, including the North Atlantic Right Whale. This rule, however, has too many potential unintended consequences for small boat operators who need flexibility to maintain their safety at sea. Alaskans know that the ocean is unpredictable; limiting a vessel’s speed can have catastrophic consequences for human life and new regulations should not create additional hazards for our nation’s mariners,” Rep. Peltola said.
Per NOAA Fisheries own Marine Recreational Information Program trip data and vessel registration data, the likelihood of a recreational vessel striking an endangered whale is “less than one in a million.”
Watch on YouTube
ICYMI
Articles/commentary/media appearances from the past week.
MEDIA MENTIONS
I spoke to Fox Business about Rhode Island’s new freelance busting law.
ARTICLES/BLOGS
IWF: House Financial Services Committee Releases First ESG Report
IWF: ESG-Linked Bonds Contain Exit-Clauses To Skirt Penalties For Not Meeting Targets
Townhall: Anglers, Whales Will Be Burdened by Onerous NOAA Rules
Podcasts You May Have Missed
Catch up on District of Conservation episodes below.
Thank you for reading! Let me know your thoughts and encourage your friends to subscribe to the newsletter too.
—Gabriella