Habitat Hotline Atlantic

Magnuson-Stevens Act strengthens habitat mandates: the new NMFS and Council habitat mandates are not quite as powerful as a regulatory ‘hammer’ or as threatening as a set of regulatory ‘teeth’, but do provide a louder voice for fishery managers on habitat issues, and a step in the right direction; Exotic species transported in ship ballast wreak ecological havoc; Fishermen preventing vessel related pollution: a national effort; PAHs in the marine environment; Clean Water Network organizes ’97 campaign; South Carolina wetlands mitigation bank; Marine Fish Conservation Network closes its doors; Port of New York/New Jersey Dredged Material Management Plan Interim Report…

ASMFC steps up habitat and fishery management integration in weakfish FMP; Vice-President Gore announces compromise: NJ mud dump to close, ports remain open, minimal changes to EPA regulations; Mid-Atlantic Fishery management Council opposes lease sales off New Jersey; Legislative update: private property rights/takings, Magnuson Act, mitigation banking bill; NMFS national habitat plan approved; Alliance working to restore Americas [sic] estuaries; Corps of Engineers proposes changes to nationwide permit program; EPA promotes watershed based pollution trading; National Association of Counties sponsors coastal watershed initiative

Habitat managers workshop integrates research, management, and communication; President signs Coastal Zone Management Act; Federal private property/takings legislation; Clean Water Act reauthorization; Fisheries and Pollution 1996: The Second Annual Conference on Population-Level Effects of Marine Contamination; Federal government propses sand mining off New Jersey coast: comments due July 20; American Fisheries Society Sponsors Symposium on Estuaries; International Conference on Shellfish Restoration: Improving the Health of Coastal Ecosystems through Shellfish Restoration

Management of Atlantic coastal marine fish habitat: a workshop for habitat managers; North Carolina drafts strong habitat recommendations: review panel discusses changes to marine fisheries habitat protection program; EPA considers expanding mud dump site; EPA proposes controversial changes to ocean dumping regulations; Clinton/Congress reach FY 1996 Budget agreement

Sand mining for beach nourishment: investigating fisheries impacts; Outer continental shelf sand mining operation to restore Florida beaches; Protecting fish habitat in New Jersey: fisherman Bill Sheehan promotes the Hackensack River Estuary

Mitigation banking for wetlands: questionable investment or ‘money-in-the-bank’?; Management of Atlantic coast marine fish habitat: a workshop for habitat managers; Fisheries and pollution conference: no easy answers about how pollution impacts marine fish populations; Legislative update: Clean Water Act, Coastal Zone Management Act, Magnuson Act, and EPA appropriations; Three Atlantic estuaries added to National Estuary Program: Maryland, New Hampshire, and New Jersey estuaries to be protected under cooperative program; Using biomarkers to detect marine contamination; Chesapeake Bay continues to improve: record year for juvenile striped bass, bay grasses still rebounding; Fishing closure and fish kills plague the troubled Neuse River:…

Evaluation of multiple use issues and habitat threats affecting Northeast living marine resources; The Coastal Zone Management Act: controlling coastal nonpoint pollution; Clean Water Act reauthorization passes the House; Voting record for Representatives of Atlantic coast states – H.R. 961; Congressionally mandated wetlands study completed; Florida adopts takings legislation

Pollution effects on marine fish populations: National Marine Fisheries Service report reviews scientific literature on the effects of pollution on striped bass, menhaden and winter flounder populations; Delaware habitat workshops fuel new alliances; Environmental impacts of powerboats: the EPA seeks to reduce hydrocarbon emissions while scientists explore other vessel impacts; Dredging plan released: environmentalists disappointed with unbalanced approach; Clean Water Act reauthorization; NMFS strengthens national Habitat Program; F.I.S.H. initiates flights for fishermen

Property rights and cost/benefit analysis: the way Congress handles these issues may have far-reaching implications for the environment, public health, civil rights, and the economy; Job Creation and Wage Enhancement Act of 1995: concerns about gutting worker safety, public health and environmental laws; PCBs lethal to oyster larvae; EPA dioxin reassessment confirms already bad reputation