oceanpolicy.com

NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service today announced the release of a summary report for Alaska Aquaculture Opportunity Area Spatial Planning Workshops. NMFS Alaska Regional Aquaculture Coordinator Alicia Bishop said that input received from the workshops held earlier this year “have allowed NOAA to focus engagement and follow up on data leads,” adding that NMFS has “begun [...]

The Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management today announced the availability of an environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact for possible wind energy leasing, right-of-way and right-of-use issuance, site assessment, and site characterization activities in ~195,000 acres of federal waters offshore Oregon (Coos Bay and Brookings Wind Energy Areas). BOEM expects to hold [...]

The Interior Department today held a wind energy auction for federal waters off the coast of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia that generated provisional winning bids by Equinor Wind US LLC and Virginia Electric and Power Co. of $93 million and over $23 million in bidding credits that will support workforce training and domestic supply chain investments [...]

NOAA today announced over $9 million in Inflation Reduction Act funds to support strategic partnerships designed to improve fishing gear and population monitoring to assist in the recovery North Atlantic right whales. Funding will specifically support further development of on-demand (ropeless) fishing gear technology through funds to fishing industry partners to assess and provide feedback on [...]

NOAA today announced that the Marine and Coastal Area-Based Management Advisory Committee will hold a public virtual meeting on Aug. 27-28. Meeting agenda items include committee team building and sharing, a NOAA update, presentations on subcommittee scopes and focus (including Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act funding, and indigenous and tribal engagement), feedback on subcommittee work [...]

NOAA today announced that the Ocean Research Advisory Panel (ORAP) will hold a public meeting in Honolulu, HI on Sept. 4-5, with virtual participation available for Day 1 and Day 2. The meeting will include discussion from ORAP subgroups on their tasks surrounding (1) advice on areas of opportunity for partnership (such as through the National Oceanographic Partnership Program) on the [...]

NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service today announced the availability of a Final Supplemental Restoration Plan II and Environmental Assessment: Marine Mammals, which was prepared by federal and state natural resource trustee agencies for the Alabama Trustee Implementation Group.  The supplemental plan allocates ~$1.89 million to enhance capacity for the Alabama Marine Mammal Stranding Network project extension.

The Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management today announced the availability of a final environmental impact statement on U.S. Wind Inc.’s Construction and Operations Plan for its proposed Maryland Offshore Wind Project.  If approved, the project could generate up to 2,200 megawatts of energy and power up to 770,000 homes. In announcing the final EIS, [...]

NOAA today announced the availability of $1.5 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law competitive award funding for federally-recognized tribes to increase their participation in regional ocean partnerships.  Proposals are due by Oct. 31, 2024. Commerce Sec. Gina Raimondo highlighted the administration’s commitment to “ensuring that tribes have the resources they need to be climate resilient,” saying that [...]

In a blog post, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) today called attention to a new paper for Science co-authored by four OSTP officials that it says lays out “a vision in which all U.S. federal policy routinely considers impacts on and benefits of nature across all policies, not only those [...]