Author: US Harbors

Spiny Lobster Season Closes April 1

Fishing

3/24/2021 - The spiny lobster recreational and commercial seasons close to harvest in state and federal waters starting April 1 and will reopen Aug. 6. The two-day recreational sport season is the last consecutive Wednesday and Thursday of July, which is July 28 and 29 this year. Learn more at MyFWC.com/Marine. SEE MORE

https://www.boatus.com/news-room/Images/Releases/Found%20VHF%20Radio%20Tips%20for%20springtime%20photo%203_23_21.jpg

Boating 101: Get Your VHF Radio Ready for the Season

3/24/2021 - Courtesy of BoatUS Foundation. In recreational boating, cellphones are just fine for routine communications. So why do you need a VHF radio – either a handheld or fixed mount – on your boat? Because in an emergency it’s the only thing that can directly connect you to the U.S. Coast… SEE MORE

Boaters Answer the Call in Alaska

3/22/2021 - By Daniel Harding Jr. Paws digging into the frozen earth, breath floating skyward in the negative-30-degree air. Musher Leonhard Seppala strains to see through the blizzard and otherworldly landscape ahead of him. The year was 1925, and Seppala had just completed the harrowing final leg of a sled dog relay… SEE MORE

Traps stacked and ready in Bunkers Harbor, on the west side of Prospect Harbor. Photo by Alex Plummer/USHarbors.com.

Maine Lobstermen Protest Monhegan-Area Wind Project

3/22/2021 - By Rob Wolfe / Portland Press Herald. More than 80 lobster boats lined up between Monhegan Island and Boothbay Harbor on Sunday to protest a seabed survey for a planned offshore wind turbine near Monhegan. Lobstermen fear that the ongoing survey project and the test turbine that would follow it will disrupt… SEE MORE

lobstering

https://www.ocregister.com/2021/03/20/rare-sighting-of-tropical-false-killer-whales-off-newport-and-laguna-beaches/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_content=fb-ocregister&utm_campaign=socialflow&fbclid=IwAR1oP8FRnSobXZFC6sgYCqZLUsY2OFYSIUzl7GmqE89GYk9Y4vNnRLKTGm4

Rare Sighting of Tropical False Killer Whales off OC Coast

3/22/2021 - By Laylan Connelly. A pod of about 40 false killer whales showed up along the Orange County coastline on Saturday, March 20, a rare sighting for the tropical species typically found in warmer waters. The last time they were reported locally was spring 2019, when they showed up four times… SEE MORE

Endangered North Atlantic right whales are dying at an alarming rate, with heavy losses in Canadian waters.

Covid Relief Package has Some Help for Seafood

3/18/2021 - By Jessica Hathaway. President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan into law on Thursday, March 11, almost one year after the CARES Act established the country’s first federal coronavirus relief bill. The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan is the largest spending package in U.S. history and contains significantly less relief for the commercial… SEE MORE

https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/04/27/charlotte-north-carolina-radar-gap/

Flood Knocks U.S. Buoy Data Offline

3/16/2021 - By Mike Schuler. A flood at the U.S. National Weather Service’s headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland has knocked out power to servers processing NOAA’s marine buoy data, rendering the data inaccessible to the public. A timeline for when the data will be restored has not yet been determined. The NOAA… SEE MORE

Image Courtesy of AP Photo/Joseph Kaczmarek

Philly to Dim Lights to Protect Bird in Flight

3/15/2021 - By Shawn Marsh / AP. The lights of Philadelphia might not shine as bright in the coming weeks as a coalition in the City of Brotherly Love tries to prevent millions of migrating birds that pass through twice a year from slamming into skyscrapers and crashing to the sidewalk. Bird… SEE MORE

Coast Guard Announces New Law Requiring Use of Engine Cut-off Switches

3/10/2021 - Operators of recreational vessels less than 26 feet in length will be required to use an engine cut-off switch (ECOS) and associated ECOS link (ECOSL) as of April 1, 2021, as the U.S. Coast Guard implements a law passed by Congress. The ECOS and ECOSL prevent runaway vessels and the… SEE MORE

First Right Whale Calf of 2021 Season Spotted off Cape Cod

3/8/2021 - By Alexandra Chaidez. The first right whale mother and calf pair of the season was spotted in Cape Cod Bay on Wednesday. A team from the Center for Coastal Studies documented Millipede and her 3-month-old calf. Scientists first saw the pair in early December off the northern coast of Florida,… SEE MORE