NOTES & REFLECTIONS
By Karen Wall
It’s that time of year again – where we take stock of where we’ve been and where we’re going. In 2024, that includes taking stock of some of the ongoing issues that affect fishing and fisheries, with a look to the future.
Speaking of the future, let’s start with an important announcement from the U.S. Coast Guard regarding their Local Notices to Mariners.
With the changes to navigation brought on by technology, through increasingly sophisticated GPS equipment, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will no longer produce paper navigational charts.
The change takes effect in January. The U.S. Coast Guard announced the discontinuation of the paper charts in a notice to mariners in October and said that will affect how the Coast Guard announces navigation alerts.
“In alignment with this change, the Coast Guard will transition from using NOAA paper chart numbers and editions/dates for disseminating marine safety information to using official waterway names,” the Coast Guard notice said.
In addition, the notices to mariners and “Light Lists” wil be provided in “a geospatial format, which will allow you to visualize information interactively on a map/chart,” the notice said.
Boaters will be able to go to the area on the digital chart, zoom in and produce a PDF of the area that can be saved or printed out.
“Alternatively, you can use a fillable form on our website to select your waterway by name from the Light List” and generate the notice for that waterway.
Local notices to mariners will be updated every 15 minutes; Light List data will be updated daily, the Coast Guard said.
Weekly notices will be eliminated.
“In the near future, we will also publish an Application Programming Interface for interested parties to access the data externally,” the Coast Guard said.
The changes are being made to “improve the U.S. Coast Guard’s aid-to-navigation data management and dissemination capabilities,” the notice said.
The hope is the frequent updates, digital access and geospatial visualization will enhance maritime safety, improve access to the information and make it more efficient for everyone.
The new LNM and Light List platform, also referred to as the Navigation Center website, was expected to be live on Oct. 21, 2024. A user guide will be available.
“While legacy versions of these products will no longer be produced or posted after October 31st, previously available versions will remain accessible for download indefinitely,” the Coast Guard notice said.
OFFSHORE WIND UPDATE
The battle over offshore wind farms off the East Coast of the U.S. has continued to command significant attention, with federal hearings and growing protests.
There have been some projects canceled, notably two projects proposed by Ørsted off the coast of New Jersey. But others have been approved to move forward, including the Atlantic Shores South project, slated for construction 9 miles off the coast.
The Atlantic Shores South project, which will run transmission lines to Sea Girt and Atlantic City from about 200 wind turbines, received its final federal permit from the federal Environmental Protection Agency in October.
That approval comes even as questions continue about the failure of a turbine blade during testing off Nantucket, Massachusetts, in July. Work on the Vineyard Wind project was suspended for about a month. Work resumed on portions of the turbines not related to the blades in August, but there are no further updates on the Vineyard Wind website.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration had expected the Vineyard Wind project to be completed by the fall, but that prediction was prior to the turbine blade failure.
The blade failure and the debris cleanup heightened concerns about the safety of the turbines for humans as well as whales.
The number of humpback whale deaths has declined in 2024 – through mid-October, there have been 17 humpbacks that have died along the Atlantic coast, down from 35 in 2023, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which has been tracking an “unusual mortality event” among humpbacks back to 2017.
But two other whale species that NOAA has been tracking through unusual mortality events, the minke whale and the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale, have shown no real change in deaths. There have been 24 minke whale deaths through mid-October, compared with 25 in 2023, and 16 North Atlantic right whales, compared with 22 in 2023.
NOAA continues to say that most of the whale deaths are from vessel strikes,
There needs to be more answers on what is happening before other projects are finalized.
SHOWING UP
There’s an article in this issue of the Big Game Fishing Journal that is a departure from our usual content. Most of our offerings focus on ways to become a better angler and improve your odds of catching fish – or that fish of a lifetime.
This issue includes one that speaks to how to maintain relationships even as you passionately pursue big game fish offshore. In “Navigating The Waters,” Linda Cherones offers things you can do to keep your relationship front and center no matter what hobby draws your energy.
This phrase stuck out as I was reading it: “It really boils down to showing up …”
It seems simple, but it’s something we forget all too often.
Showing up doesn’t have to be grandiose gestures, fancy dinners, lavish gifts. Your presence is all that’s required.
For me, 2024 has been enormously taxing. In late February and early March, two close friends died, both very unexpectedly. In the late spring, one of my very best friends had a very serious health issue. In September, one of my aunts died. I had spoken to her a few times after not seeing her in years due to a family estrangement, and we had talked about getting together, but never made it happen.
The losses have made me think long and hard about my priorities, and about making sure I show up for my family and friends, not just now but always. That means showing up for myself, too. I’ve neglected my own health for a while … and that has to change, because there’s so much more life to be lived yet.
What “showing up” means to each of us varies, but I urge you to give it some thought. Text your friend and set up that delayed lunch date. Go to that class reunion. Call your dad. Give your mom a hug. And most of all, take time to take care of yourself.
Here’s to a healthy, happy, peaceful 2025.
