Fish News

“Wind Turbines: The Bigger, the Better” -USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, August 24, 2023Last December the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) published a proposed sale notice regarding new development areas for utility scale wind projects in the central Atlantic Ocean. The notice includes an upfront issue: the need to mitigate conflicts with U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) activities. BOEM explains that in certain areas the Air Force has set an airspace floor of 1,000 feet above sea level and the Air Force asked BOEM to keep structures below that height.

The discharge of scrubber water from ships out to 22km (12 nautical miles) from the Danish coasts will be prohibited by law. The ban will come into effect on July 1, 2025, for ships with scrubbers in open operation, where the wash water is discharged into the sea. For ships with scrubbers in closed operation, the ban on water discharge will take effect on July 1, 2029.The Ministry of Environment has stated that scrubber water has contributed to excessive levels of a number of heavy metals and tar substances such as lead, cadmium, anthracene and benz(a)pyrene in the marine environment.

"The Columbia River and its tributaries, wetlands, and estuaries are the lifeblood of the Pacific Northwest, providing abundant water, power, recreation, agriculture, transportation and natural resources that have supported livelihoods, cultural and spiritual practices, commerce and economic growth.” - President Biden, Memorandum of September 27, 2023.Those abundant benefits directly impact about 13 million people in the Pacific Northwest. Hydropower extends that plentitude to millions more, powering cities and industry from Idaho to California.

DNV has teamed up with Ocean Sovereign to obtain French registration for the deployment of a unique fish farming superyacht.Ocean Ark’s patented advanced self-cleaning trimaran superstructure was developed by Ocean Sovereign according to MARPOL, SOLAS and IMO regulations. The vessel is designed to operate in high offshore waters, drifting with the natural current and natural fish shoals. The mobile nature of Ocean Ark will help to ensure the health and welfare of the fish and…

Efforts to limit environmental damage from a cargo vessel that sank after a Houthi missile strike and another abandoned during a fiery assault are on hold until attacks on ships ease, the United Nations' maritime shipping regulatory agency said on Monday.The UK-owned Rubymar last month became the first vessel lost since the Houthis began targeting commercial ships in the Red Sea area in November. The bulk carrier with 21,000 metric tons of fertiliser contained in its cargo hold…

Commercial shipping is one of the main contributors to underwater radiated noise, which has adverse effects on a wide range of marine life, including whales and fish. Therefore, Danish Shipping has recommended its members follow a new set of IMO guidelines aiming to reduce underwater radiated noise and preserve marine biodiversity.The IMO guidelines provide an overview of approaches applicable to designers, shipbuilders, and ship operators to reduce the underwater radiated noise of any given ship.

The Unified Command concluded its response to an oil sheen observed offshore of Huntington Beach, California on Monday, but the source of the oil remains unclear.Over the weekend, cleanup crews recovered approximately 85 gallons of product from offshore recovery efforts and removed roughly 1,050 pounds of oily waste/sand and tar balls from the shoreline.The U.S. Coast Guard and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Office of Spill Prevention and Response (CDFW-OSPR) collected samples from the offshore sheen and tar balls along the shoreline to help determine the source of the oil.

When the Rubymar sank in the Red Sea after a Houthi attack, the ship went down carrying 21,000-tonnes of fertiliser which could trigger massive algal blooms that could create "dead zones" for marine life and starve coral reefs of light.Alongside a slick of leaking fuel, the ammonium phosphate sulphate fertilisers could deliver an extreme pulse of nutrients into waters harbouring rare corals, marine mammals and reef fish, creating a spread of foamy scum on the water.According to a maritime warning circulated to ships in the area…

Advanced water treatment systems are just the start of the cruise industry’s circular waste processing ambitions.Advanced wastewater treatment systems (AWTS) were revolutionary in their day. Indeed, they still are today, but with 77% of the CLIA fleet (202 ships) already using them, and another 40 specified for vessels on order, even more ambitious waste management is coming.Martin Shutler, Principal Engineer, Product Development, at Wärtsilä Water and Waste, notes that in recent…

Attacks by Yemeni Houthi rebels on merchant ships in the Red Sea have hit world trade. Between November and December 2023, the number of containers travelling through the Red Sea each day fell by 60% as ships moving goods between Asia and Europe diverted their routes around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa.This route results in at least ten days more sailing time, so has caused freight prices to surge and has triggered costly delays to production. The region has become a bottleneck for the global economy before.

Petroleum product and hazardous material have been removed from a 1940s era military tugboat that sunk in California, the U.S. Coast Guard said.A Unified Command and its contractors completed lightering efforts from the tug Mazapeta, Wednesday.The Mazapeta sunk September 4, 2023, in Little Potato Slough within the San Joaquin Delta, northwest of Stockton, with approximately 1,600 gallons of diesel and engine oil reported to be onboard at the time of the incident.Quantification of recovered product is ongoing…

When people hear about underwater reefs, they usually picture colorful gardens created from coral. But some reefs are anchored to much more unusual foundations.For more than a century, people have placed a wide assortment of objects on the seafloor off the U.S. coast to provide habitat for marine life and recreational opportunities for fishing and diving. Artificial reefs have been created from decommissioned ships, chicken transport cages, concrete pipes, rail cars and more.We study how ocean-dwelling fish use artificial reefs in the U.S. and beyond.

Salvors are set to begin removing fuel from a 1940s era military tugboat that sunk in California last year, the U.S. Coast Guard said.The Mazapeta sunk September 4, 2023, in Little Potato Slough within the San Joaquin Delta, northwest of Stockton, Calif. with approximately 1,600 gallons of diesel and engine oil were reported onboard at the time of the incident.To date approximately 593 gallons of petroleum product have been recovered from inside the containment boom area, which surrounds the sunken tug.

The Australian Border Force (ABF) has apprehended 30 illegal foreign fishers and seized and destroyed three fishing vessels as part of an ongoing operation targeting illegal fishing off the coast of Western Australia.ABF's Maritime Border Command in partnership with the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) detected and apprehended the vessels found to be fishing illegally in the Kimberley Marine Park between December 23 and 26, 2023.The illegal fishing crews have been…

Humans have sailed the world’s oceans for thousands of years, but they haven’t all reached port. Researchers estimate that there are some three million shipwrecks worldwide, resting in shallow rivers and bays, coastal waters and the deep ocean. Many sank during catastrophes – some during storms or after running aground, others in battle or collisions with other vessels.Shipwrecks like the RMS Titanic, RMS Lusitania and USS Monitor conjure tales of human courage and sacrifice, sunken treasure and unsolved mysteries.

Seattle shipyard Snow & Company has launched a new 15-meter hybrid catamaran research vessel that will be operated by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.The plug-in hybrid research vessel, Resilience, will be delivered to the Department of Energy's (DOE) PNNL-Sequim marine research facility in 2024.The Incat Crowther designed vessel, equipped with both standard diesel engines and electric motors, will be the first hybrid vessel in the DOE fleet. The vessel will be powered by an advanced parallel hybrid-electric propulsion system…

The first US-built trawler-processor for Alaskan pollock in over three decades is now undergoing sea trials in the Northern Pacific, testing an integrated technology package from Kongsberg Discovery tailored to locate, inspect, and engage fish with unparalleled efficiency.The 100-meter-long Arctic Fjord, designed by Kongsberg Maritime and built by Louisiana’s Thoma-Sea Marine Constructor, will start full-time operations for 2024’s pollock A season in the Bering Sea.Speaking ahead of this week’s Pacific Marine Expo in Seattle…

For centuries, riverside communities, including the "quilombola" descendants of enslaved Africans who escaped from plantations and ranches, have shared Xingu Island in Brazil's Amazon Basin.Its inhabitants live in brightly painted wooden houses overlooking rivers where small boats crisscross between islands and Abaetetuba city on the mainland to trade fish, seeds and fruits gathered from the Amazon forest in their backyard.In 2016, however, strangers docked on Xingu Island, in Para state…

A cargo ship that ran aground off St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands earlier this month has been refloated and towed to a safe mooring location at the Crown Bay Sandfill dock, the U.S. Coast Guard said.Vessel owners and salvors will now coordinate further operations to remove the damaged cargo, remaining oil and conduct further salvage or repair operations for the Bonnie G.The Vanuatu-flagged vessel began taking on water and ran aground on October 4, leading the 12 people on board to be rescued after abandoning ship. No injuries were reported.To refloat the Bonnie G, DonJon-SMIT, Inc.

MMS Workboats, a division of U.K.-based MMS Ship Repair & Dry Dock Co Ltd. (MMS), has launched a cutting-edge plastic and debris collection vessel: the Envirocat All-Electric Eco 8.5.Designed to make waterways cleaner and support sustainable industries such as fish farming and aquaculture, the 8.5 meter vessel can be operated by a single user, enabling efficient, cost effective and environmentally friendly clearance of plastic and flotsam from the water’s surface.The vessel, developed in conjunction with naval architecture firm Rockabill Marine Design…

A barge carrying three trucks and 2,000 empty cooking gas cylinders lies stranded on the vast sand banks of a diminished Rio Negro river after running aground last month, highlighting the plight of river transport in the Amazon region hit by severe drought.Officials warned that low river levels risk disrupting grains exports from nearby farm states. On the Madeira, they said barge routes used by grain firms such as Cargill, Bunge and Amaggi, are open but loads are being reduced as a precaution.Shipping and logistics group A.P.

Activity at Israel's ports is slowing after Saturday's attacks by Islamist group Hamas on towns close to Gaza, with the cost of insurance premiums for Israeli shipments soaring amid tightening supplies of food stocks, according to sources and data.Israel's southern coastal city of Ashkelon, which has a small port well in range of Hamas rockets, is not allowing ships to enter, shipping sources said.While the main Israeli ports of Ashdod further up the coast and Haifa in the north…

A severe drought choking major rivers in the Amazon rainforest has disrupted ship traffic near the region's biggest city and pushed up costs for northern shipping routes, raising risks for corn exports in coming months.The unusual heat and dryness, linked to the mass deaths of fish and river dolphins, has already limited local communities'access to food and drinking water, leading the federal government to set up a humanitarian task force. Officials are now warning the thinning rivers could disrupt grains exports in the region."There is concern about shipping part of the corn harvest…