New Proposal Addresses Mitigation of Impacts to Wetlands On March 27, EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced proposed revisions to regulations governing compensatory mitigation for authorized impacts to wetlands, streams, and other waters under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. These revisions are designed to improve the effectiveness of compensatory mitigation […]
NRC Endorses Proposal for Saltwater Angler Registration The National Research Council (NRC), part of the National Academy of Sciences, has presented NOAA with the preliminary findings of a study to improve the agency’s scientific program for recreational marine fisheries. NOAA commissioned the NRC study in 2004 to gain unbiased scientific insight into ways the agency […]
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL ENDORSES ADMINISTRATION’S PROPOSAL FOR UNIVERSAL SALTWATER ANGLER REGISTRATION The National Research Council, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences, has presented NOAA with preliminary findings of a study to improve the agency’s scientific program for recreational marine fisheries. NRC’s primary recommendation supports the administration’s call for a universal angler registration program […]
Senate Commerce Disaster Prevention Subcommittee Holds Polar Satellite Hearing: On March 30th, the Senate Commerce Disaster Prevention and Prediction Subcommittee (Chairman Jim DeMint, R-SC) held an oversight hearing on the delays and cost overruns of the National Polar-Orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS). The Air Force and NOAA are jointly funding the NPOESS program, which […]
HUMPBACK WHALE FREED FROM LIFE-THREATENING ENTANGLEMENT Ponce Inlet, Fla.â€â€ÂÂÂResearchers rescued a juvenile humpback whale, entangled in rope Sunday off the east coast of Florida, saving its life. Biologists from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Fish and Wildlife Research Institute (FWRI) carried out the rescue with the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and […]
NOAA FISHERIES SERVICE RELEASES NECROPSY REPORTCause of 2005 Marine Mammal Strandings Unclear March 30, 2006  The NOAA Fisheries Service released necropsy results taken from stranded marine mammals off the coast of North Carolina in January 2005. Despite extensive testing, no single cause of the stranding and death of the marine mammals has been identified. […]
Safety Recommendation M-06-5 through -9 The National Transportation Safety Board makes the following safety recommendations to the U.S. Coast Guard: Revise regulations to require that passenger capacity for domestic passenger vessels be calculated based on a statistically representative average passenger weight standard that is periodically updated. (M-06-5) Identify a method for determining the maximum safe […]
Notice of Integrated Registration Program NOAA Fisheries Service is increasing the number of fisheries for which the Marine Mammal Authorization Program (MMAP) registration is integrated with existing state and Federal fishery licensing and permitting programs. MMAP registration will be integrated for state fisheries permitted through the states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, […]
NATIONAL ICE CENTER CONFIRMS NEW ANTARCTIC ICEBERG March 24, 2006  An iceberg about the size of Martha’s Vineyard broke off from the Fimbul Ice Shelf, a large glacial ice sheet, located along the northwestern section of Queen Maud Land, in the eastern Weddell Sea near Antarctica. The National Ice Center, using visible satellite imagery […]
More Ships to Leave Ghost Fleet Two more ships are leaving the James River, headed for disposal facilities in Virginia and Maryland, in what has become a regular occurrence since the Bush Administration took over management of the nation’s ship disposal program five years ago, the U.S. Maritime Administration announced. The Howard W. Gilmore is […]
