Category: RI

NEW NOAA EXHIBIT CELEBRATES NEARLY 200 YEARS OF SCIENCE AND SERVICE Artifacts representing nearly 200 years of science, service and stewardship by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and its ancestor agencies will be on public display at the agency’s headquarters in Silver Spring, Md., February 6-11, 2006 during the second annual NOAA Heritage Week. […]

2005 COOK INLET BELUGA WHALE POPULATION ESTIMATE COMPLETED NOAA Fisheries Service biologists have completed analysis of data from an aerial survey of beluga whales in Cook Inlet near Anchorage, Alaska. The latest abundance estimate is 278 individual belugas whales in Cook Inlet. “Although this point estimate is lower than those estimates derived from similar surveys […]

UNDERSEA TECHNOLOGIES HELP NOAA “GET TO THE BOTTOM OF THINGS” The ocean covers more than 70 percent of the Earth’s surface and much of it remains unexplored. Over the past few decades, technology has enabled humans to explore more of this underwater realm. Since NOAA’s mission is “to understand and predict changes in the Earth’s […]

Request that NMFS immediately extend the Winter Bluefin Fishery January 16, 2006 Dr. Bill Hogarth>br>Assistant Administrator for FisheriesNational Marine Fisheries Service1315 East West Highway, Room 14555Silver Spring, MD 20910(sent via fax and mail) Dear Bill:We appreciate the previous NMFS action to lift the RFDs for the past two weekends. Unfortunately the combination of gale force […]

Commercial Landings of Bluefin tuna As of 01/23/06 fishing year landings of Atlantic bluefin tuna are as follows: The coast wide General category has landed 230.8 mt out of 708.3 mt to date. The Harpoon category closed at: 23.1 mt out of 90.0 mt. Longline North: 22.5 mt out of 116.3 mt to date. Longline […]

NOAA SEEKS COMMENT ON PROPOSED AUTHORIZATION FOR THE HARASSMENT OF MARINE MAMMALS NOAA Fisheries Service is seeking comments now through Feb. 22, 2006, on a proposal from the U.S. Air Force to conduct air-to-surface gunnery exercises in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida. The exercises conducted from Eglin Air Force Base may […]

NOAA SATELLITES PLAY KEY ROLE IN 222 RESCUES IN 2005More Beacons Registered During the Year NOAA satellites helped save 222 people throughout the United States and its surrounding waters from potentially life-threatening emergencies in 2005. NOAA’s polar and geostationary satellites, along with Russia’s Cospas spacecraft, are part of the sophisticated, international Search and Rescue Satellite-Aided […]

New Bycatch Report Available A new report from NOAA Fisheries Service presents an analysis of bycatch reduction efforts and discusses the appropriateness of seeking international agreements to establish comparable measures. The report reviews all 2005 fishery management actions for fish stocks that are also harvested by foreign fleets. Bycatch standards and measures are described for […]

2006 Harvest Levels Proposed for Sardines NOAA Fisheries Service has proposed the annual harvest guidelines for Pacific sardine in the U.S. exclusive economic zone for the fishing season of January 1, 2006, through December 31, 2006. Based on a biomass estimate of 1,061,391 metric tons (mt), the 2006 harvest guideline for Pacific sardine is 118,937 […]

Multi-Year Management Authorized for Spiny Dogfish NOAA Fisheries Service has announced the implementation of Framework Adjustment 1 to the Spiny Dogfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP), which will allow commercial quotas and other management measures to be set for up to 5 years. Under the original FMP, jointly managed by both the Mid-Atlantic and the New […]