Atlantic CoastWatch March - April 2003

USCG Stressed by Security Demands News For Coastal Advocates

Protecting America’s Fisheries, a US Coast Guard pamphlet pub-
lished in 1998, stressed that, working with other federal agencies, the Coast Guard is
responsible for enforcing the laws and international treaties that protect our living z
marine resources. This already difficult task, it was noted, was growing more
complex due to the need for additional regulation to ensure sustainability of species
at risk. The Coast Guard could also anticipate increased enforcement responsibili- USCG Stressed 1
ties as the world’s fish stocks decrease. The pamphlet also pointed out that the US
fishing industry possessed the ability to eradicate stocks by over-harvesting and that Gently Helping Fish 1
the US could in the future anticipate increased foreign fishing vessel incursions into
its Exclusive Economic Zone. It stated that preserving and protecting our marine
resources is a matter of national security. Sayings 2

Fast forward five years, as the Coast Guard moves to the Department of Cumberland Island 3
Homeland Security, and the picture is of an organization that while growing is
being stretched even thinner by a tremendous increase in the demands upon it. As Lighthouses for Grabs 3
highlighted by a recent report by the General Accounting Office, the burdens
placed on the Coast Guard for homeland security and for support of international Publications 4
policing and military operations have led to a precipitous decline in its fisheries
enforcement and drug interdiction efforts. The GAO found that about half of the
Brawling in Annapolis 5
agency’s operating expenses in 2004 will be directed toward fulfilling expanded
homeland security responsibilities.
(Continued, p. 7) Helo-SpottingTakes Off 6

Courts & the Seashore 8

Gently Helping Fish Migrate
A photogenic accompaniment to a large dam is often a fish ladder used by
salmon and other anadromous species to bypass the spillway and get upstream to z
spawn. As dam removal has become more popular due to the new wave of interest
in letting rivers run free, such ladders are often still helpful. But increasingly, Recurring
engineers and fishery biologists are demonstrating the logic of building rock ramps
and bypass channels, and other “fishways” as alternatives to or in combination with
them. People; Awards; Species &
Habitats; Restorations;
In Guilford, Connecticut, reports Northern Sky News, state regulators had Report Cards; Products;
required the local community to provide for migratory alewives and other species Funding
while rebuilding an old dam across the a local river that flows into Long Island
Sound. Initially, an 80-foot, $100,000 ladder was proposed. But local residents, with Atlantic CoastWatch is a bimonthly
assists from American Rivers and the Yale School of Forestry and Environ- nonprofit newsletter for those inter-
mental Studies, concluded that a better solution was to rely for the most part on ested in the environmentally sound
more natural elements. development of the coastline
from the Gulf of Maine
Under the plan they worked out, large boulders have been placed in the to the Eastern Caribbean.
streambed to lower slope and turbulence to levels that weak migrants such as river
herring could navigate. Other elements in the fishway include a bypass channel and Coastal News Nuggets, our weekly
a small 12-foot ladder. In early April the completed system was awaiting the arrival news headline service, is available
of alewives, already in the Sound but delayed by bad weather from their annual through the Atlantic CoastWatch web
migration into rivers and streams. Total cost: less than $30,000. site: www.atlanticcoastwatch.org.
(Continued, p. 7)
 2
Atlantic CoastWatch
Vol. 7, No. 2 Sayings
A project of the Sustainable Naturalist Carl Safina, Senior Fellow at the Marine Conservation Program
Development Institute, which of the World Wildlife Fund and author of widely heralded books on the bluefin
tuna and on the albatross, is winner of the 2003 John Burroughs Nature Writing
seeks to heighten the environmen-
Award. Excerpts from his acceptance speech:
tal quality of economic develop-
ment efforts, in coastal and in Nature is by definition wild and uncivilized. But it is not the world’s most
forest regions, by communicating savage aspect. The worst the wild has ever done is to kill us young. Totalitarians,
information about better policies racists, terrorists, pro-government forces, anti-government forces, religious
and practices. SDI is classified as fanatics, and other malignant outgrowths of civilization have also killed us young,
a 501(c)(3) organization, exempt adding oppression and torment unknown in the non-human world. In the last
from federal income tax. century alone, civilized people have killed nearly one hundred million civilized
people and obliterated hundreds of traditional human cultures.
Board of Directors
I am drawn to the wild not because it is wild, but because it seems more
Freeborn G. Jewett, Jr., Chair civilized, sensible, logical, ordered, stable, resilient. Compared to civilization’s
Robert J. Geniesse, Chair Emeritus political and economic upheavals, nature’s reliable, enduring rhythms are resolutely
Roger D. Stone, President comforting. Look for evidence as trivial, as subtle, as magnificent as a chorus of
Hart Fessenden, Treasurer spring peepers or a monarch butterfly fluttering toward Mexico.
Hassanali Mehran, Secretary
Edith A. Cecil Nature writing is not the same as environmental writing. There’s some
David P. Hunt overlap, but the two differ. People write about the environment because they care
Gay P. Lord about practical aspects of people and nature, such as pollution and health, sustain-
Lee Petty able development, conservation and preservation of creatures and places, effects
Simon Sidamon-Eristoff of climate change, and such. But people write about nature for more spiritual
reasons. And the greatest environmental writing has come from people with deep
Scientific Advisory Council emotion toward nature.

Gary Hartshorn Nature is nurturing and we wish to share what nurtures us. This wish to
Stephen P. Leatherman share goodness is the highest and most human motivation.
Jerry R. Schubel
Christopher Uhl As Winston Churchill said, “We make a living by what we get; we make a
life by what we give.” Nature writing flows from this pure spring.
Staff
But this is no guarantee that the horses we lead will drink from this spring.
Roger D. Stone, Director & President Our exuberance, the fact that nature makes our lives seem worthwhile, and our
Shaw Thacher, Project Manager love of animals, plants, and places—and even our intense desire to share good-
Robert C. Nicholas III, Contr. Editor ness—does not necessarily mean that others will wish to take what we are offering.
Sarah Verhoff, Program Associate
Anita G. Herrick, Correspondent Edward O. Wilson, explaining his “biophilia hypothesis,” writes that love of
Laura W. Roper, Correspondent nature comes naturally to people. But often, what Emerson wrote still rings truer:
“To speak truly, few adult persons can see nature. Most persons do not see the
Foundation Donors sun.”

Avenir Foundation So how can we help people to see the sun, and all the ancient wisdom and
The Fair Play Foundation future implications that are new under it? Human life is defined by relationships.
The Madriver Foundation But people are interested mostly in their relationships with other people. And
The Moore Charitable Foundation within that human community, people are most interested in their own lives and
The Curtis and Edith Munson families. People who do not see their relationship with nature will not engage.
Foundation
The steepest gradient the nature writer must climb is to put plainly, freshly,
Sponsored Projects and most of all, appealingly, before the reader a concept of family that reaches
beyond humanity and embraces the whole family of Life. The nature writer’s
Environmental Film Festival in the challenge therefore is to inspire love and caring for nature by providing enough
Nation’s Capital, 2004 facts to convert skeptics while simultaneously making the case spiritually and
emotionally compelling.
www.dcenvironmentalfilmfest.org
Nature writing must both master the facts and muster the metaphors that
illuminate the grand, simple truth that the family of the living is our family, its future
ours, its soul our own.
 3
People

Cumberland Rules Challenged Before the EPA was established in

1972, Fred Danbeck was among the
first to fight for the Hudson. After
Cumberland Island stretches 17 1/2 miles along the Georgia seacoast and
observing Anaconda Wire and
encompasses 36,415 acres. Magnificent Spanish moss-clad liveoak trees dominate
Cable’s unrestricted releases of
the largely wooded landscape, which attracts a wide variety of wildlife. Armadillos
heavy metals, industrial oils and acids
and wild pigs scuffle in the palmetto-strewn underbrush, and deer and wild horses
as a janitor, he quit his day job and his
stroll on the beach. The splendid painted bunting arrives in the spring along with
role as a union leader in order to sue
myriad shorebirds.
the company. He invoked the Refuse
Act, an 1899 federal law that only
No paved roads mar this scenery. In fact, the island shows surprisingly
permitted storm drainage and water
little evidence of the heavy use to which it has been put for many centuries.
releases to the river. Anaconda was
Inhabitants have ranged from prehistoric Timicuan indians to Colonial farmers, 19th
found guilty on 100 counts and fined
century Sea Island cotton plantation owners, and many descendants of Thomas
$200,000. Danbeck and the Hudson
Carnegie, brother of the legendary steelmaking tycoon. The family has been on the
River Fishermen’s Association
island since the 1880s, when Thomas Carnegie built the elaborate mansion whose
pressed on to sue General Motors,
ruins remain a principal tourist attraction. Near the island’s north end once lay a
Ciba-Geigy and General Electric.
9-hole golf course with a resident pro.
Danbeck died in early March.
Designated a National Seashore in 1972, the island is managed by the
Dagny Johnson was the Florida
National Park Service. It allows a limited number of people a day to disembark
Keys’ “voice of environmental sanity
on the island from ferries it operates. None of these visitors can bring motor
for 30 years,” said Joel Carmel,
vehicles with them; those who choose to stay overnight can hike to campsites that
founder of the Upper Keys Citizens
the Park Service manages. While 20,000 acres of Cumberland are designated as
Association. “Dagny kept up the
wilderness, Carnegie descendants occupy a number of discreetly-placed private
constant pressure that kept control
residences on other portions of the island, commuting there via one small passen-
over development. She saved
ger boat and an old wooden ferry that can accommodate two cars or small trucks.
thousands of acres, more than any
They also own and manage the 17-bedroom Greyfield Inn, a former family resi-
politician.” In North Key Largo 20
dence that has been in commercial operation for almost 40 years.
years ago, she transformed a plan for
thousands of homes into what became
Long-standing arrangements with the NPS have enabled the inn’s manag-
the Dagny Johnson Key Largo
ers to conduct several eco-tours a day for guests. They operate motor vehicles on
Hammocks State Botanical Site,
designated major thoroughfares on the island, obliging passengers to dismount and
among south Florida’s largest. Having
walk to secondary destinations. Though the Park Service also operates vehicles
lived many years with polio, she died
and conducts its own tours, two environmental groups—Wilderness Watch and
of it in March.
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER)—now seek court
action compelling NPS to limit Greyfield’s tours to one per day on the grounds that
Until Franklin C. Daiber arrived in
they disrupt wildlife and interfere with the “wilderness” experience for other
1952, there was no marine sciences
visitors. Reported the Florida Times-Union: “The restrictions, if enacted, could
program at the University of
potentially eliminate tours for more than half the inn’s guests.”
Delaware. During his 33 years there
he taught the first courses in marine
Troubled by the environmental groups’ lawsuit is Carnegie descendant
science, developed a graduate
Coleman Langshaw, co-owner of the inn. “It was my grandmother, Lucy
program focusing on ichthyology and
Ferguson, who went before Congress to appeal to them to have the National Park
fisheries, and advised more than 70
Service save ‘our’ island from development,” he wrote recently. “Yes it was our
masters and doctoral degree candi-
island back then, sorry, but that was reality at one time. Our family has been
dates. Notwithstanding many aca-
stewards of Cumberland for more than five generations. If it weren’t for our family,
demic and scientific awards, Daiber
this whole debate would be moot. A bridge would have been built, (developer)
was a naturalist with his interests
Charles Frazier would have built a jet-strip on the island, all the roads would have
firmly grounded. He studied many
been paved, there would not be any ‘wilderness’ to protect.”
Atlantic salt marshes while also
chairing Boy Scout Troop 56. He
passed in mid-March. A fellowship
Lighthouses Up For Grabs fund has been established in his name.

In 2000, Congress passed the National Lighthouse Preservation Act. Under Awards
this law the government is authorized to make outright gifts of “excessed” light-
house properties to qualified public agencies or private nonprofits for educational, NOAA announced the winners of its
cultural, or recreational uses. With notable speed and efficiency, three partner 2003 Walter B. Jones and Excellence
agencies—the Interior Department, the Coast Guard, and the General Services in Coastal and Ocean Management
Agency—have moved to make these transfers happen. awards. Recipients include David
(Continued, p. 6) Keeley of the Maine State Planning
 4
Office; professors Brian Silliman of
Brown University, Tenley Conway
of Rutgers University and Eileen
Vandenburgh of the University of Publications
North Carolina; and Kathy Klein of
the Partnership for the Delaware z In a Perfect Ocean: The State of Fisheries and Ecosystems in the
Estuary. Also recognized was the North Atlantic Ocean by Daniel Pauly and Jay MacLean (Island Press, 2003)
Maine Fishermen’s Forum in presents a well documented picture of overfishing. This is the first of a series of
Augusta for “its commitment to scientific studies at the University of British Columbia. It makes telling use of
educating the public on responsible broadly based archeological and historic information in its ecosystem based
fisheries management.” analysis. The authors provide a long list of musts to restore the ocean. Otherwise,
they conclude we face the prospect of catastrophic destruction of the ocean
Species & Habitats environment and of future seafood being largely limited to jellyfish.

As if coral reefs did not already face a z New from Stephen P. Leatherman, director of the Laboratory for Coastal
daunting array of threats, those off Research at Florida International University and a member of the Scientific
Florida’s east coast were confronted Advisory Council at the Sustainable Development Institute, is a new book about
with an additional one last year. It is common beach hazards and safety. This compact 144 page book, entitled Dr.
Caulera brachypus, a form of algae Beach’s Survival Guide (Yale University Press, 2003) offers tips on how
native to the Pacific that was dumped beachgoers can deal with everything from sharks to sunburn. Leatherman is also
either from a ship or from a home well known for his annual top beaches list released each Memorial Day weekend.
aquarium into Florida waters. Without URL: www.nhbc.fiu.edu
natural enemies, the alga grows fast
displacing fish and crustaceans as well z Those concerned with Chesapeake Bay lore and history will appreciate
as smothering corals. Marine scientist Windows on the Chesapeake, a new book by Wendy Mitman Clarke and
Brian Lapointe, of the Harbor published this year by the Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, VA. Supported
Branch Oceanographic Institution by the Gateways Network of the National Park Service, the book explores
in Fort Pierce, has been studying the Chesapeake lore and history in 35 separate chapters. Almost all of them focus on
effects of outflows from sewage talented individuals who help preserve the Bay’s legacy. A keen sailor, Clarke is
treatment plants on algal growth. executive editor of Chesapeake Bay magazine.
Sadly for the reefs, reports the Palm
Beach Post, the study could run for 30 z Of the myriad marshy islands along the Georgia and South Carolina
years or more. URL: www. hboi.edu coastline, few are as intriguing as Cumberland Island (see p. 3). Former playground
for Carnegie family members, now mostly in the hands of the National Park
The American eel is another declining Service, Cumberland boasts a fascinating history and a diverse assortment of
species subject to smothering, say human and non-human species. All are authoritatively described in Cumberland
researchers at the Southern Research Island: A History (University of Georgia Press, 2003). The author, Mary R.
Station of the US Forest Service Bullard, is a specialist on the history of the Sea Islands and a Carnegie family
(SRS). Though much remains un- descendant.
known about eel migration, radiote-
lemetry studies conducted in the z EPA’s Shipshape Shores and Waters: A Handbook for Marina
James and Potomac rivers suggest Operators and Recreational Boaters begins “Nearly 17 million boats and more
that unexpectedly they “actually than 11,000 marinas and boatyards are in use today across the United States. ….
winter” way up in headwater tributar- It’s up to all of us who recognize the value of clean and clear waters to be conscien-
ies under banks or boulders. In such tious stewards who protect and maintain healthy water quality.” The handbook is a
locations they become vulnerable to clear and concise guide of best practices, and freely available. URL: www.epa.gov/
sediments from flooding or erosion, owow/nps/marinashdbk2003.pdf
SRS reports. The silt in the streams
can smother them, or force them to z NOAA’s Center for Coastal Services (CSC) has launched a second
move to less desirable locations. URL: publication to complement Coastal Services which reviews issues coastal manag-
www.srs.fs.usda.gov ers encounter. Coastal Connections instead focuses on the work needs of
coastal managers by reviewing new information tools, technologies and methodolo-
After a double exposure of midnight gies. Like Coastal Services, Connections is freely available at the CSC web site.
dumping sludge into the Potomac URL: www.csc.noaa.gov
upriver of Washington, DC, while
claiming its crude oil textured sewage z With a bloodletting subject typical of the encounter between natural
sludge was good for fish health, the resources, greed and market forces, William Sargent delivers a poignant and
US Army Corps of Engineers is set personal history in Crab Wars: A Tale of Horseshoe Crabs, Bioterrorism and
to resume this practice. Under its new Human Health (University Press of New England, 2002). With an economy of
EPA permit “staged compliance” wit and words, Sargent reflects on his youthful obsessions about Pleasant Bay, MA
means continued dumpings for the and about his later role supplying medical industries with horseshoe crab blood.
next 7 years, with some restrictions More than a sobering page turner, Crab Wars delivers a fast drying primer for
ornithologists and conservationists involved with horseshoe crab protection.
 5
to protect spawning fish. Said Rob
Gordon, director of the National
Wilderness Institute, EPA officials
Backroom Brawling in Annapolis “are absolutely unwilling to enforce
meaningful compliance deadlines.”
Amid new reports that the 20-year-old effort to restore the Chesapeake The Washington Aqueduct supplies 1
Bay is stalling out, Maryland legislators in March were furiously fighting multiple million customers in the District and
battles over state environmental policy. fast growing Northern Virginia.

The first of these was over the state senate’s confirmation of auto industry The 3rd annual conference that
lawyer Lynn Y. Buhl, appointed by Governor Robert J. Ehrlich Jr. as environ- reviewed scientific research for Long
mental secretary. After a week of what the Baltimore Sun described as “furious Island Sound’s lobster die-off again
backroom negotiations and aggressive lobbying,” and an eleventh-hour pledge by delivered few conclusions. While the
the governor to make the appointment a provisional one until next year, the Senate population is not expected to rebound
rejected Buhl by a 26-21 vote. It was the first time in the state’s recent history that any time soon, the primary culprits
a gubernatorial cabinet appointee had been turned down. Buhl’s lack of environ- remains warming waters along this
mental qualifications were cited as a principal reason, along with Ehrlich’s strong- southern lobster boundary as well as
arm tactics and allegations of his anti-environmentalism. malathion, a pesticide capable of
killing lobsters at 33 parts per billion.
Ehrlich then turned to former Lockheed Martin executive Kendl P. Not only has the LI Sound population
Philbrick, Buhl’s deputy, to represent the department at key legisative meetings. decreased 90% since 1998, but the
This action prompted the Washington Post to headline that the Buhl turndown had appearance of diseased and mottled
been a “Pyrrhic victory” for environmentalists in the state. As of early April, Ehrlich shells has now been observed on
had apparently violated the state constitution by failing to make a new nomination Cape Cod’s north shore. The lobster
before the end of the General Assembly session. Buhl remained in place as acting population between LI Sound and
secretary amid reports that Ehrlich still wanted her around, perhaps as economic Cape Cod has fallen 50% in two years,
development secretary rather than for the environmental job. largely attributed to overfishing,
though diseased lobsters are also
Meanwhile, another flap erupted when the veteran regulator Eric becoming prevalent. Recovery may
Schwaab was abruptly asked to resign from his position as fisheries chief for the be further hindered if it tu
state’s Department of Natural Resources, or be fired. Schwaab, reported the rns out female lobsters are shedding
Washington Post, had been “one of the primary architects of a plan by Maryland mottled shells more quickly, and
and Virginia to save the blue crab population of the Chesapeake Bay from crashing.” releasing eggs before they’ve hatched.
Watermen favoring softer rules had helped elect Ehrlich, and this was payback time.
Restorations
The message shining through all of this schoolyard brawling, according to
multiple sources, is the primacy of the Chesapeake Bay as an environmental and
Almost 100 decommissioned military
economic issue in Maryland. More even than current Annapolis battles over budget
vessels, containing large quantities of
and gambling, reported the online newspaper Bay Weekly, “The real war in Mary-
toxic fuels, asbestos, and PCBs, lie
land over the next four years may well be over protecting Chesapeake Bay and the
moldering on the lower James River.
environment.”
Virginia Governor Mark Warner has
called this fleet a “ticking time bomb.”
Disposing of it does not come easy.
With Appreciation Domestic dismantling is expensive,
costing up to $2.5 million per ship.
We extend very special thanks to those who have so far in 2003 chosen to Exporting them violates the Basel
reiterate their support for Atlantic CoastWatch’s newsletter and online news Convention curbing the international
nuggets service. Major donors through April 28 were: Hart Fessenden, Nina shipment of hazardous waste. This
Rodale Houghton, The Madriver Foundation and The Moore Charitable creates a moral problem even though
Foundation. Others extending most welcome increments of support: the US is not a signatory; a US
moratorium banning such exports has
Walter Arensberg Elizabeth L. Newhouse been in effect since 1998. Sinking the
E. U. Curtis Bohlen Louisa F. Newlin old warships to make reefs at sea has
Blair Bower Enid C.B. Okun been recommended, but is not widely
Isabella Breckinridge Malcolm Peabody practiced. Congress has voted only
Nicholas Brown Roy Rowan $31 million to dispose of the 16 ships
David J. Callard John R. Sargent posing the gravest threats. “If the
Armand B. Erpf S. Buford Scott feds procrastinate any longer,”
Katherine Flood Ellen B. Staniford warned the Richmond Times-Dispatch,
Nelse L. Greenway Russell E. Train “Then the Ghost Fleet may haunt
Lawrence Huntington David Ward generations of Virginians to come.” A
Lucy and Peter Lowenthal William W. Warner hurricane could set the fleet adrift
Peter and Maria Matthiessen George M. Woodwell long before the cleanup is complete.
 6
Reports

This just in from Reef Relief ‘s Craig

Quirolo in Key West: “After years of
Lighthouses, Continued from p. 3
documenting coral loss at Key West-
area reefs, there is reason for hope. The initial, pilot phase of the program took place last year when nine
New coral growth is appearing at lighthouses on the east coast and in the Great Lakes area were put up for grabs.
many reefs, especially the fast- Senior officials have proudly participated in ceremonies transferring five of these to
growing branching coral, elkhorn new stewardship: the Little River Lightstation in Maine, the St. Augustine, FL
coral, staghorn coral and even the Lighthouse, the Tybee Island Lighthouse complex in Georgia, and two Hudson River
rare fused staghorn coral. He properties. Paperwork involving the remaining four lighthouses continues.
(Quirolo) attributes the new growth to
three factors: improved water quality Next step for the federal agencies was to move toward a fully national test
since Key West has upgraded sewage in which, last fall, notices of the availability of 20 additional lighthouses were posted.
treatment, drought conditions have Five of these lie along the Atlantic shoreline, ranging from the attractive coastal St.
reduced agricultural runoff from Simons Island lighthouse in Georgia, to the isolated sparkplug-shaped
Florida Bay, and no major storms have Middleground light in Newport News, Virginia. Two parties have expressed interest
hit Keys reefs lately. Reef visibility in this property even though it lacks any dock or landing and can be boarded only by
has increased to 100 feet from 30 foot stepping from a boat onto a dangling ladder. “You’d be amazed at the kind of
averages.” URL: www.reefrelief.org interest we’re getting in this one,” says Jennifer Perunko, maritime preservation
specialist for the program. Says Tim Smith, special assistant to the director of the
In a controversy raised by commercial National Park Service: “I expect we’ll get quite a few of these 20 deeded before
fishermen that delayed implementa- the end of the year.”
tion of groundfish rules, northeast
groundfish science was validated by Over the next decade, the agencies expect to have handed over some 300
an independent peer review early lighthouses to worthy new owners. Properties that fail to generate interest from
March. Fishermen contended that groups meeting standards for qualification are slated to go to public auction to
trawl seine nets on the Woods Hole individual buyers. They will have to comply with historic preservation regulations.
Oceanographic Institute’s RV But Smith is confident that “We’ll have a pretty good batting average in getting
Albatross were improperly set, most of the 300 or so lighthouses into the kinds of stewardship that we’re looking
permitting surveyed fish to escape. for. This is just a win-win-win situation, and we’re proud to be doing something
While suggestions for survey im- that’s good for the country.”
provements resulted, the peer review
by British and Canadian scientists said In a related development, reports Hampton Roads Daily Press, Virginia,
the science was sound, and hence the political support is gaining strength for a project to shore up the New Point light-
fish numbers were relevant, under the house at the junction of the Chesapeake Bay and Mobjack Bay, Virginia. Located on
Sustainable Fisheries Act. Nonethe- a shrinking island, the old and structurally sound lighthouse could soon vanish,
less, necessary restrictions to rebuild restoration proponents told the Mathews County Board of Supervisors. Remedial
stocks were delayed until May 1, 2004. efforts would provide a new recreational resource and preserve a valued symbol
An outstanding dispute highlighted by for the region. URL: www.cr.nps.gov/maritime/nhlpa
the peer review report is how to
define a “rebuilt” groundfish stock.

Based on a new study in the Journal

Helo-Spotting Takes Off
of Environmental Science and Technol-
While Maryland state law tightly limits new development within 1,000 feet
ogy, low oxygen levels (commonplace
of Chesapeake Bay, monitoring compliance is tough for any densely populated
along the Atlantic coast during warm
county. Beginning in July, Anne Arundel County will take the unprecedented step of
seasons) can diminish fish reproduc-
using a police helicopter to check complaints posted via its web site. Anne Arundel
tion at levels equal to the effect of
fines of around $500-1,000, for such infractions as building illegal docks, bulkheads,
pesticides or toxic metals. In carp,
sheds, tree clearing and other non-permitted alterations, are a slap on the wrist for
hypoxia operates as a hormone
wealthy homeowners. Restoration and mitigation costs are usually tacked on to
disruptor, lowering fish hormones
convictions, and can now also be remotely monitored.
over a 12 week period, while also
reducing sexual organ size. Fish
The aptly nicknamed “Watershed Warrior” Ronald Gatto spent 20 years
raised without abnormal exposure to
finding illegal Westchester County, NY sources of pollution for NewYork City’s
hypoxic conditions have a 90% larvae
Department of Environmental Protection. In 1999 Gatto testified that superiors
survival rate. Only 5% of hypoxic fish
curtailed his enforcement efforts, actively limiting arrest of polluters. Gatto has now
larvae survived. Hypoxic conditions
been appointed to the county’s new Department of Environmental Security,
are increasingly common worldwide
with a total staff of 1. Though tasked more with protecting watersheds from
and are now being recognized as a
terrorism than from polluters, among the benefits he joyfully lists in a New York
new factor diminishing fish popula-
tions.
Times interview are lab facilities, ten detectives who can be delegated to investi-
gate his old beat—and a new helicopter.
 7
Products

An example of federal regulation

USCG Stressed, Continued from p. 1 working is the considerable improve-
ment in the cost, efficiency, and
For example, the single category “Ports, Waterways, and Coastal Security” cleanliness of both 2 and 4-stroke
will take up fully one quarter of the Coast Guard’s effort in 2004 whereas before outboard motors. “As most of us know
September 11 this represented less than 10 percent. A comparison of the first by now,” reports Practical Sailor, “4-
quarter of fiscal years 1998 and 2003 revealed a drop of 38 percent in resource stroke engines are cleaner, quieter,
hours for fisheries enforcement (and an even greater drop for drug interdiction), and more fuel-efficient than their two-
while in 2000 and 2002 similarly corresponding fourth quarters revealed only 19 stroke cousins. A 4-stroke is like an
percent as many foreign fishing vessels interdicted. automobile engine—it carries its
lubricating oil in a tank, and burns
There are increases in the Coast Guard budget (9.6 percent) and staffing straight fuel in the cylinders. A 2-
levels, and the Commandant has stressed his commitment to bringing all efforts stroke engine needs oil mixed in with
nearer historic levels. However, the GAO doubts that the agency can deliver on its fuel, and a substantial part of that
this goal in the short run. Proper training for new personnel is a slow process, it oil, burned and unburned, is ex-
warns, and the shortfall in investment resources to modernize cutters, patrol boats hausted into the environment.” Four
and aircraft impedes the Guard’s ability to meet expanded challenges. stroke engines also tend to be heavy
and sometimes balky. Fortunately, in
Beyond stresses on the regular active-duty force of 39,000, some 4,000 of response to EPA pressures, manufac-
the 7,500 Coast Guard’s reservists have been called up, many for over a year of turers are also coming out with
service. As the Coast Guard surveys all of the nation’s ports for security, military cleaner 2-strokes, and prices are
conflicts and raised alert levels stretch the Coast Guard even thinner. It directly “down across the board.” The winner:
supports military operations, with cutters operating in the Persian Gulf, and moni- the consumer. URL: www.practical-
tors cargoes on the high seas as well as ships entering US ports. sailor.com

Even recreational boaters may encounter new Coast Guard restrictions on Smithfield Foods, often seen as a
when and where they can go. Propinquity to bridges, tunnels, Navy ships or cruise heavy polluter, will sink $20 million
liners may be forbidden and even whole estuaries such as the Hampton Roads into a new initiative to make diesel
region may at times be shut down for pleasure boating. Meanwhile the Coast fuel out of hog waste. Production of
Guard is proposing increased fines and additional reporting and record keeping the new fuel, involving conversion of
requirements to protect against invasive species being introduced as a result of the waste into methanol and the
ships’ failures to exchange ballast water at sea. And the game of illegal fishing methanol into biodiesel, will begin in
goes on: recently the Coast Guard seized summer flounder from a vessel off October. Company representatives
Virginia Beach that was fishing without a permit and using illegal methods. Reas- told US Water News that the venture
suringly, the GAO also reported that allocations for search and rescue operations, is not a public relations gesture but
and aids to navigation, are consistent with historic levels of effort. rather an effort to make the waste
stream contribute to the revenue
stream.
Gently Helping Fish, Continued from p. 1 Funding

Also prepared for the spring arrival of migrating alewives was the St. With $10 million from the Doris Duke
George River in Maine, which is now fully available to them for the first time in a Charitable Trust, the Environmental
century. According to a report from Murray Carpenter of Northern Sky News, a Defense Center for Conservation
gently sloping rock ramp, plus a small new dam, have replaced a beat-up old dam Incentives was born. Recognizing the
that was falling apart. The new system enables fish passage while also keeping need to engage private landowners,
intact a lake on the river. the Center will design projects
demonstrating how incentive based
Fishways of this sort are common in Europe and have been used “a little” strategies can benefit biodiversity and
in Minnesota but are still rare in the East, reports Steve Gephard, supervising fish foster private lands stewardship.
biologist at Connecticut’s Department of Environmental Protection. Along the www.environmentaldefense.org
Atlantic seaboard, he says, such systems are probably not right for large rivers.
But for smaller ones with a gradient of the right flatness, they are self-maintaining As part of its Community Based
and practical for a large variety of fish at a lower cost than for replacing conven- Restoration Program partnership with
tional dams. Fishways allow weaker migrants, as well as stronger ones capable of NOAA, American Rivers is offering
leaping up the ladders, to get upstream. They also strengthen the populations of grants to restore anadromous fish
other fish species like bluegills, yellow perch, darters and minnows. Not regarded habitat. Projects should apply scien-
as migratory, they have a natural desire to move upstream and benefit from free tific and engineering methods,
access to all types of habitat. Politically, Gephard says, introducing modest fishway minimize long and short term adverse
technologies can often help avoid the polarization that sometimes accompanies impacts, involve communities and
proposals for outright dam removals. have public outreach elements.
 Atlantic CoastWatch
Sustainable Development Institute
3121 South St., NW
Washington, D.C. 20007

Tel: (202) 338-1017

Fax: (202) 337-9639
E-mail: susdev@igc.org
URL: www.susdev.org
www.atlanticcoastwatch.org

Tax-deductible contributions for Atlantic CoastWatch are urgently needed.

Courts & the Seashore

In bay channel dredging operations conducted last leading roles in preparing and arguing the case. Their Envi-
year, the resort town of Stone Harbor, NJ deposited some ronmental Law Clinic, co-directed by professors Robert F.
80,000 tons of mercury-laden spoils on a stretch of beach that Kennedy Jr. and Karl Coplan, has won many previous cases
has been used for nesting by a threatened species of bird, the having to do with cleaning up the Hudson River. It is well
piping plover. When federal authorities became aware of the known for turning out “practice-ready” graduates. URL:
situation, they took the unusual step of asking a judge to www.pace.edu
impose Clean Air Act fines on the town until it removed the
muck. As of late April, with migrating piping plovers arriving in Atlantic salmon are genetically distinct, endangered
the region, the town had little time to begin cleaning up the and merit due protection, under the Endangered Species Act,
mess before fines would be imposed. In New Jersey, reported for their habitats in eight Maine rivers. With an 87 page ruling
the Star-Ledger, it was the first time “federal prosecutors had federal Judge Gene Carter dismissed a lawsuit by business
taken an action against a municipality over a protected interests, primarily composed of blueberry growers, salmon
species. Typically, private environmental groups are the ones farming and paper industries who feared accompanying
that launch such cases.” restrictions. The eight Atlantic salmon river populations are
found in the Dennys, East Machias, Machias, Narraguagus,
In response to a suit filed by fly fishing advocates, a Pleasant, Ducktrap, Sheepscot and Cove Brook.
federal court recently ruled that New York City has violated the
Clean Water Act by dumping muddy water into Esopus Creek, a Care to live in a pesticide free environment?
valued fishing stream. District Court Judge Frederick J. Haligonians now live with a full ban on toxic lawn care prod-
Scullin Jr. held that the city had wrongly transferred the ucts which came on the heels of an April 2001 prohibition of
turbid water from a tunnel linking municipal water supply pesticide use within 50 meters of Halifax’s schools. While 18
reservoirs over a period of seven years, and ordered civil non-toxic products are permitted, and case by case exceptions
penalties of $5.7 million. The ruling also compels the city to get may be applied for, fines range from $100-2,000 or 30 days in
a state permit to continue dumping the muddy water, which in jail, says the Halifax Daily News. Accompanying the restriction
turn will have to become less muddy in order to qualify. Four are trainers to assist gardeners’ efforts to go “pesticide and
students from Pace University Law School played herbicide free.”