- Rain halts Christmas oyster harvest on NSW far south coast
- Taiwan: Hepatitis A cluster linked to oysters and clams
- Fishing refuge zone network set to protect oysters
- Port Stephens oyster growers brace for increased demand
- Can you help build an oyster reef?
- Our 2015 Outlook For Oysters
- Oyster stew and other stories
- Boeing funds oyster restoration and outreach to youth groups
- Cape Cod oyster 'Vibrio' poisoning case to be heard in Hampshire Superior Court
- Under the Sea: Tom's Fried Oyster, Slaw and Melon
- Confessions Of An Oyster Rookie. Plus The Wine, And The Book, To Go With Them.
- Come out of your shell: Yotam Ottolenghi's recipes for mussels, clams and oysters
- MINISTERS WELCOME PARTIAL RE-OPENING OF OYSTER BEDS
- Oi, it’s winter! Who’s in for oyster? 4 popular oyster dishes
- Raw Oysters With Champagne Vinegar Mignonette
- Whole Foods Holiday Top 10 Wines + Oysters and Vichyssoise
Saturday, December 13, 2014
Everything you ever wanted to know about oysters on December 14th, 2014
Franklin County Humane Society Pet of the Week
MARLO is a 3 yr old Pugle. Part Pug and part Beagle. He is a very happy, social and sweet little guy. He is neutered, heartworm negative and would love to be home with you snuggled in next to the Christmas tree. He can be yours in time for Christmas!Volunteers are desperately needed to socialize all of our dogs and cats. We are always looking for people willing to bring one of our animals into their home to be fostered for various needs. Anytime you can spare would be greatly appreciated.
Call Karen at 670-8417 for more details or visit the Franklin County Humane Society at 244 State Road 65 in Eastpoint. You may logon to the website at www.forgottenpets.org to see more of our adoptable pets.
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Florida DEP permit activity for Wakulla County
 |
FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
BOB MARTINEZ CENTER
2600 BLAIRSTONE ROAD TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA 32399-2400 |
RICK SCOTT
GOVERNOR
CARLOS LOPEZ-CANTERA
LT. GOVERNOR
CLIFFORD D. WILSON III
INTERIM SECRETARY
|
|
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Friday, December 12, 2014
Tampa microbiologist becomes 1st woman to complete Florida’s Circumnavigational Saltwater Paddling Trail
A Tampa
microbiologist has just become the first woman to complete Florida’s Circumnavigational
Saltwater Paddling Trail.
Mary
Mangiapia began her trek on September the 6th at the Big Lagoon
State Park near the Alabama state line – she finished this week at Fort Clinch
State Park near the Georgia state line.
She is the
14th person, and first woman, to complete all legs of the trail without more
than a day or two’s rest.
During the
trip she endured storms, waves and even a run-in with a bull shark.
Florida’s Circumnavigational
Saltwater Paddling Trail is over 1500 miles and is divided into 26 segments - ranging
from the remote Big Bend Coast and Everglades, to the more urbanized coastlines
of Pinellas County and Fort Lauderdale.
Mangiapia, a
Tampa resident, is a graduate of Florida Gulf Coast University and received her
master’s in microbiology from the University of South Florida.
She has been
a kayaking enthusiast since the age of nine.
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Carrabelle Boat parade and Holiday on the Harbor this Saturday
The Carrabelle River
will light up for Christmas on Saturday as Carrabelle celebrates its annual Holiday
on the Harbor and Boat Parade of Lights.
The event begins at 5 on Marine Street in Carrabelle.
Community groups will be selling festival food, hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken fingers, and Christmas goodies.
Stores in Carrabelle will stay open late so you can do some Christmas shopping- and Santa Claus will listen to childrens’ wishes at the Riverfront Pavilion.
And once its dark enough, the boats will turn on their Christmas lights
and parade around the River – the parade ends with a big fireworks show.
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FWC Law Enforcement Weekly Report 12/05 - 12/11/2014
FWC
Division of Law Enforcement
Weekly Report
December 5 – December 11, 2014
This report represents some events the FWC handled over the past week;
however, it does not include all actions taken by the Division of Law Enforcement.
Patrol, Protect, Preserve
NORTHWEST REGION
ESCAMBIA COUNTY
Officers Livesay, Cushing and Investigator Goley worked a night-hunting detail in conjunction with conservation officers with the Alabama Department of Natural Resources (DNR). The officers were positioned on both sides of the state line in an area where reports of poaching were occurring. During the detail, two juveniles were arrested by Alabama DNR officers for attempting to take deer with a gun and light.
OKALOOSA COUNTY
Officer Arnette inspected a large amount of trash discarded in the Yellow River Wildlife Management Area. Using the evidence at the scene, Officer Arnette revealed possible suspects. An interview with a suspect revealed his involvement with the trash being dumped. The subject was issued a notice to appear for littering over 15 pounds.
SANTA ROSA COUNTY
Officer Hutchinson was on patrol when he observed persons trying to put out a fire that had gotten out of control. He began assisting them as Officer Johnson responded to assist. The fire threatened to burn a large pile of hay bales the farmer had stacked up. Officer Hutchinson successfully used his winch bumper to push several bales out of the way preventing the fire from reaching the stack. The fire was eventually extinguished and the farmer was very appreciative of the officers’ assistance.
WALTON COUNTY
Officer Brooks located a concealed vessel along a creek bordering Nokuse Plantation after receiving information of subjects trespassing. Officer Brooks tracked two subjects from the vessel and located them hunting. One of the subjects had been warned previously for trespassing on the property. Both subjects were in possession of rifles. They were placed under arrest and booked into the Walton County Jail for felony trespass. A records check revealed one of the subjects had a felony conviction and should not possess a firearm.
Lieutenant Hollinhead stopped a vehicle in a field after observing a light being displayed in a manner capable of disclosing the presence of deer. The two subjects in the vehicle were in possession of a spotlight and rifle they were using. They had shot the rifle twice before they were stopped. An interview revealed the subjects had shot at an alligator in a pond on the property. The subjects were cited for attempting to take an alligator and attempting to take a deer with a gun and light.
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Small commercial boats will continue to be exempt from Clean Water Act rules
Small commercial boats will likely get
another 3 year reprieve from having
to meet federal environmental regulations for water discharges.
Small
commercial vessels around the country were facing new federal permit
requirements for discharges that occur during normal operations.
The
Small vessel General Permit was expected to take effect for commercial vessels
less than 79 feet on December the 19th.
Commercial
Boats larger than 79 feet have been required to have the permit since 2008.
This
week, however, Congress passed the
Coast Guard Authorization Act, part of which allows small commercial vessels to
continue to operate outside of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean
Water Act rules regulating incidental water discharges.
Under
the measure, water released during normal vessel operation including washing
the deck or using onboard bathing facilities will be allowed for an additional
three years, after the current exemption expires this month.
Without the exemption it’s estimated that nearly 140
thousand vessels around the country would have had to significantly change
their operations to ensure compliance with the new regulations.
Senator
Bill Nelson said “This is a common sense exemption for our commercial operations
like charter boat captains and commercial fisherman.
Nelson
said he supports a permanent exemption for small commercial fishing boats.
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Thursday, December 11, 2014
Lawmakers give small boaters a break
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congress today passed legislation exempting small boats from federal environmental regulations for water discharges, and it is now headed to the president for his signature.
Included in the Coast Guard Authorization Act adopted by both houses of Congress today, the provision allows small commercial vessels to continue to operate outside of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Water Act rules regulating incidental water discharges.
Under the measure, water released during normal vessel operation including washing the deck or using onboard bathing facilities will be allowed for an additional three years, after the current exemption passed in 2008 expires later this month.
“This is a common sense exemption for our commercial operations like charter boat captains and commercial fisherman,” said U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), a longtime advocate for small commercial vessel exemption. “I supported a permanent exemption for these fisherman, but Senate Republicans only allowed them three years.”
Nelson’s home state has been referred to as the “fishing capital of the world,” with a roughly $5-billion fishing industry largely comprised of the small vessels impacted by this legislation.
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Gov. Scott Announces the Appointment of Jon Steverson as Secretary of DEP
|
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Carrabelle Parade of Lights and Holiday on the Harbor this Saturday!
Hello Good Friends!
Be sure to join in the fun at Carrabelle’s
Boat Parade of Lights
&
Holiday on The Harbor
Saturday evening, December 13th
Marine Street will be glowing with lights and the River Walk will be the place for watching the decked out boat regatta.
Community groups will be selling festival food, hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken fingers, and Christmas goodies.
Local vendors will have unique gifts. Shops in Carrabelle will be open!
SANTA
At the Riverfront Pavilion
with
FIREWORKS
After the Boat Parade of Lights
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NWFWMD Governing Board Appoints New Executive Director
HAVANA - The Northwest Florida Water Management District Governing Board today appointed Brett Cyphers as Executive Director. Cyphers has served as the Assistant Executive Director since June 2012, and will replace Jon Steverson, who was appointed as Secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
“Over the past two and a half years, the District has taken significant steps forward in the protection of the water and natural resources of Northwest Florida,” said Governing Board Chairman George Roberts. “Brett has played an integral role in helping advance the mission of the District and the priorities of the Governing Board, and we’re excited to work with him as Executive Director as we continue this progress.”
As Assistant Executive Director, Cyphers spearheaded budget and operational reform efforts at the District, resulting in increased transparency and accountability and the development of a fiscal approach that dedicates more taxpayer funds to projects with the most direct benefit to the natural resources and communities of Northwest Florida.
Since arriving at the District in 2012, Cyphers has worked to implement projects and programs vital to the restoration and protection of priority waterbodies, such as the Apalachicola River and St. Andrew Bay watersheds, as well as the region’s many springs, including Wakulla and Jackson Blue springs. During that time, the District has also expanded its efforts to support local governments and utilities as they work to ensure a clean and reliable water supply to communities through a Water Supply Development Grant Program that has awarded nearly $18 million in grant funding over the last two years.
Prior to Cyphers’ appointment at the District, he oversaw water management district budget development at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. He has also served Floridians by working on water and environmental policy issues at the Executive Office of the Governor, Florida Senate and House of Representatives, and the Southwest Florida Water Management District.
Cyphers is a veteran of the United States Army and Florida National Guard and holds a degree from Florida State University. He lives in Tallahassee with his wife and three daughters.
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Endangered Whooping Cranes making their way to St. Marks
A
flock of endangered whooping cranes will soon move into their winter home at
the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge.
The 7 cranes are
currently flying from Wisconsin to Florida as part of a federal program to
rebuild the bird’s population.
They were in
Georgia on Tuesday.
The cranes left
Wisconsin in October trailing an ultralight aircraft.
This is the 14th
year of the project led by the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership.
The birds are
some of the most endangered in the world.
In 1950 there
were estimated to be only 16 whooping cranes remaining in the wild.
Presently there
are approximately over 500 birds in existence, about 97 in the
wild in eastern North America.
The St. Marks refuge
has a three-acre pen with two ponds to provide protective habitat for the birds
where they will stay until they migrate back to Wisconsin
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Florida DEP permit activity for Wakulla County
|
FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
BOB MARTINEZ CENTER
2600 BLAIRSTONE ROAD TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA 32399-2400 |
RICK SCOTT
GOVERNOR
CARLOS LOPEZ-CANTERA
LT. GOVERNOR
CLIFFORD D. WILSON III
INTERIM SECRETARY
|
|
http://live.oysterradio.com/
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
MICROBIOLOGIST BECOMES FIRST WOMAN TO COMPLETE FLORIDA’S CIRCUMNAVIGATIONAL SALTWATER PADDLING TRAIL
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Florida Consumers to Receive National Ocwen Settlement Checks this Week
TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Attorney General Pam Bondi announced today that more than 14,000 Floridians will receive checks totaling more than $16 million this week as a result of the national Ocwen mortgage settlement. The checks, in the amount of approximately $1,150 per claim, are being distributed to eligible consumers who lost their homes to foreclosure between 2009 and 2012. Attorney General Bondi’s office played a leading role on the executive committee that helped negotiate the $125 million settlement between Ocwen and the attorneys general of 49 states, state banking regulators and the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The lawsuit alleged that Ocwen signed foreclosure-related documents outside the presence of a notary public and without personal knowledge that the facts contained in the documents were correct. Ocwen also allegedly committed various errors and abuses in their mortgage servicing processes.
Consumers should expect their checks to arrive via mail this week. The checks are being mailed with a cover letter under the signature of Attorney General Bondi and Commissioner of the Office of Financial Regulation Drew Breakspear. The amount of payment for each claim was determined by the number of eligible claims submitted.
To be eligible, consumers must have had their mortgage serviced by Ocwen Loan Servicing, Litton Loan Servicing or Homeward Residential Holdings LLC (previously known as American Home Mortgage Servicing) at the time of the foreclosure and must have lost their home to foreclosure between Jan 1, 2009 and Dec 31, 2012. Consumers must also have made at least three payments on their mortgage and the principal loan balance must have been less than $729,750 for a one-unit property.
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Red Knot to get federal protection under the endangered species act
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has announced federal
protection for the rufa subspecies of the red
knot, a robin-sized shorebird that likes to winter in North Florida.
The bird has
been designated as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act which means it
is at risk of becoming endangered throughout all or a significant portion of its range.
Since the 1980s, the knot’s population has fallen by about 75 percent in some key areas, largely due to declines in one of its primary food resources – horseshoe crab eggs in Delaware Bay.
Since the 1980s, the knot’s population has fallen by about 75 percent in some key areas, largely due to declines in one of its primary food resources – horseshoe crab eggs in Delaware Bay.
Although this threat is now being addressed by
extensive state and federal management
actions, other threats, including sea-level rise, some shoreline projects and coastal development,
continue to shrink the red knot’s
wintering and migratory habitat.
Some rufa red knots fly more than 18,000 miles each year between breeding grounds in the Canadian Arctic and wintering grounds along the Gulf Coast, southeast
United States and South America.
Some rufa red knots fly more than 18,000 miles each year between breeding grounds in the Canadian Arctic and wintering grounds along the Gulf Coast, southeast
United States and South America.
The U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service analyzed more than 1,700 scientific documents, and
considered issues raised in more than
17 comments provided during 130 days of public comment periods and
three public hearings.
The Service is
currently reviewing the U.S. range of the rufa red knot to identify critical habitat.
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County commissioners consider projects for possible state funding
County commissioners are giving
some thought to which local projects they would like to submit for state
funding.
Last year the board submitted 5 projects that included the
dredging of the Eastpoint Channel and Creekmore channel in Apalachicola, drainage
improvements in Apalachicola and Carrabelle and money to purchase the El’s Court
property east of Carrabelle.
None of the projects were funded last year.
But commissioners are now considering which projects they
will submit for possible funding this year.
They have discussed sending last year’s list with two
additions that include Five hundred thousand dollars to purchase a permanent
location for the Supervisor of Elections and $250K to help upgrade the old
Apalachicola Research Reserve Building at Scipio Creek in Apalachicola.
The board has until January the 31st to submit
the projects to Senator Bill Montford’s office – and said they will approve a
final list of projects in order of importance in January.
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Franklin County to begin local road paving program
County commissioners have started discussing a
local road paving project.
The county will have about 1.7
million dollars in its gas tax fund by the end of the fiscal year, which should
allow commissioners to get some paving done.
Each commissioner would get
about 350 thousand dollars for work in his or her district.
Commission chairman William
Massey said he would like to see the paving begin as soon as possible as he has
one road in his district that is “absolutely gone.”
The commissioners say they will
begin working as soon as possible with the county’s engineer on a list of roads
in each district the commission would like paved.
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Outstanding in the Field in Apalachicola with 13 Mile Seafood
January 10 event with Apalachicola's 13 Mile Seafood Is Second Stop on
Outstanding in the Field's Winter Tour
Chef Irv Miller of Pensacola's Jackson's Steakhouse will prepare the multi-course
table-to-farm feast on the shores of Apalachicola Bay
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On January 10, the traveling culinary circus called Outstanding in the Field comes to the Florida Panhandle for a table-to-farm dinner featuring oysterman Tommy Warden of 13 Mile Seafood and other local farmers and food artisans. Guest chef Irv Miller of Pensacola's Jackson's Steakhouse will prepare the multi-course meal in Outstanding's pop-up kitchen on the shores of Apalachicola Bay. "Dining at the water's edge at an oyster farm isn't your everyday experience, but we love finding new places to put our long table," said Outstanding in the Field founding chef/artist Jim Denevan. "Last winter was our first visit to the Florida Panhandle, and we loved it. Chef Irv Miller was part of the kitchen crew and we're thrilled to have him helm our kitchen this year. I can't wait to see what he does with Tommy's fresh catch."
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Based in Santa Cruz, CA, Outstanding in the Field is a nomadic "restaurant without walls" that has staged more than 600 events and welcomed more than 80,000 guests at its long table set in farm fields and orchards, on beaches and mountaintops, in barns and greenhouses. Hundreds of talented culinary artists -- including dozens of Top Chefs and James Beard award winners and nominees -- have cooked in OITF's traveling kitchen.
Back in the summer of 1999, Chef Jim Denevan came up with the idea of setting a table on a farm and inviting diners to an open-air meal in celebration of the farmer and the gifts of the land. Outstanding in the Field has now done table-to-farm dinners in all 50 states across the USA and nine countries around the world.
Outstanding's communal table, carefully composed alongside the ingredients for the evening's meal, inspires both conversation at the table and a broader discussion about food, community and the meaning of place. After a tour of the farm, diners take their seats alongside the farmers, cheesemakers, ranchers, foragers, fisherfolk, brewers, winemakers and other local food artisans who have provided ingredients for the feast, coming together in delicious communion to break bread and share stories.
"How people think about food has changed so much since the Outstanding bus first crossed the country," says Denevan, who is also an artist internationally known for his panoramic drawings on sand, earth and ice. "Everywhere we go, we discover passionate farmers and regional chefs with national reputations using ingredients in fresh new ways to create exciting meals for adventurous diners. From the beginning, we set out to inspire an appreciation for local farmers, and the food culture has traveled right along with us. We're proud to be the hardworking roadies who set the stage for our rock-star farmers."
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Florida DEP permit activity for Franklin County
|
FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
BOB MARTINEZ CENTER
2600 BLAIRSTONE ROAD TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA 32399-2400 |
RICK SCOTT
GOVERNOR
CARLOS LOPEZ-CANTERA
LT. GOVERNOR
CLIFFORD D. WILSON III
INTERIM SECRETARY
|
|
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Tuesday, December 9, 2014
More clam farmers requesting approval to grow oysters
More clam farmers in Alligator Harbor are hoping to try out oyster aquaculture – a move the county opposes.
The county Commission learned last week that 3 more clam leases are requesting to use the full water column in order to test oyster aquaculture.
In 2002, the state approved 46 1.5 acre leases in Alligator Harbor near Alligator Point for clam farming to allow local seafood workers to grow clams commercially.
Clams are grown on the bottom of the harbor so boats can still access the area where clam farming is taking place.
Last summer the Florida cabinet began to allow leaseholders to use the full water column on their clam leases to grow oysters.
Currently 28 of the 46 original clam leases have approval to use the full water column for oysters.
County commissioners have opposed allowing oyster farmers to use the full water column because they say it keeps commercial and recreational fishermen and boaters from operating in certain areas of the bay.
They feel, however, that the state is determined to push oyster aquaculture as the future of the industry even if the process creates divisions between oyster farmers and fishermen and shrimpers.
The County Commission did agree to send a letter to the Department of Agriculture opposing the additional oyster leases.
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Franklin County approves grant for drug investigator at Sheriff's office
County
commissioners last week approved a grant to help fund a drug investigations
officer for the Franklin County Sheriff’s office.
The grant will provide 41
thousand dollars for the position.
The money will come from the
Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
County administrator Alan Pierce
said this is a grant the sheriff’s department gets periodically – once the
money becomes available it will be transferred from the county to the sheriff’s
office.
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Service Protects Red Knot as Threatened Under the Endangered Species Act
Designation highlights concern over impacts of climate change, development across Americas
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced federal protection for the rufa subspecies of the red knot, a robin-sized shorebird, designating it as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. A “threatened” designation means a species is at risk of becoming endangered throughout all or a significant portion of its range.
“The red knot is a remarkable and resilient bird known to migrate thousands of miles a year from the Canadian Arctic to the southern tip of South America,” said Service Director Dan Ashe. “Unfortunately, this hearty shorebird is no match for the widespread effects of emerging challenges like climate change and coastal development, coupled with the historic impacts of horseshoe crab overharvesting, which have sharply reduced its population in recent decades.”
Since the 1980s, the knot’s population has fallen by about 75 percent in some key areas, largely due to declines in one of its primary food resources – horseshoe crab eggs in Delaware Bay, an important migratory stopover site. Although this threat is now being addressed by extensive state and federal management actions, other threats, including sea-level rise, some shoreline projects and coastal development, continue to shrink the shorebird’s wintering and migratory habitat.
Changing climate conditions are also altering the bird’s breeding habitat in the Arctic and affecting its food supply across its range, in particular through climate-driven mismatches in migration timing that affect the peak periods of food availability. The bird must arrive at Delaware Bay at exactly the time when horseshoe crabs are laying their eggs.
“Although historic threats in the Delaware Bay area have been ameliorated thanks to the actions of federal and state partners, our changing climate is posing new and complex challenges to the red knot’s habitat and food supply,” Ashe said. “It has never been more critical that we take positive action to save this bird.”
One of the longest distance migrants in the animal kingdom, some rufa red knots fly more than 18,000 miles each year between breeding grounds in the Canadian Arctic and wintering grounds along the Gulf Coast, southeast United States and South America. One bird, banded by biologists in 1995 in Argentina, has been nicknamed Moonbird because he has flown the equivalent
of a trip to the moon and at least halfway back in his 21 or more years of migrations.
Along its epic migration, the red knot, which can be identified by its
rufous breast, belly and flanks during breeding season, can be found across 27 countries and 40 U.S. states in flocks ranging from a few individuals to several thousand. Although rufa red knots mainly occur along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, small groups regularly use some interior areas of the United States during migration. The largest concentration of rufa red knots is found in May in Delaware Bay, where the birds stop to gorge themselves on the eggs of spawning horseshoe crabs; a spectacle drawing thousands of
birdwatchers to the area. In just a few days, the birds nearly double their weight to prepare for the final leg of their long journey to the Arctic.
International, state and local governments, the conservation community, beachgoers and land managers are helping ensure red knots have safe areas to winter, rest and feed during their long migrations. These partners help knots in a variety of ways, including managing the harvest of horseshoe crabs (which are caught for use as bait in conch and eel pots), managing disturbance in key habitats, improving management of hunting outside the United States, and collecting data to better understand these birds.
In making its decision, the Service analyzed the best available data in more than 1,700 scientific documents, and considered issues raised in more than 17,400 comments provided during 130 days of public comment periods and three public hearings. Protections under the ESA will take effect 30 days after publication in the *Federal Register*.
As required by the ESA, the Service is also reviewing the U.S. range of the rufa red knot to identify areas that are essential for its conservation, known as critical habitat. The Service expects to propose critical habitat for the rufa red knot for public review and comment in 2015 after completing the required review of economic considerations.
Visit http://www.fws.gov/northeast/redknot/ to read the final rule and
response to comments; view and download video, photos and maps; and explore more resources, such as an interactive timeline and infographic. The rule will be available at www.regulations.gov on December 11, 2014, under docket number FWS-R5-ES-2013-0097.
http://live.oysterradio.com/
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced federal protection for the rufa subspecies of the red knot, a robin-sized shorebird, designating it as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. A “threatened” designation means a species is at risk of becoming endangered throughout all or a significant portion of its range.
“The red knot is a remarkable and resilient bird known to migrate thousands of miles a year from the Canadian Arctic to the southern tip of South America,” said Service Director Dan Ashe. “Unfortunately, this hearty shorebird is no match for the widespread effects of emerging challenges like climate change and coastal development, coupled with the historic impacts of horseshoe crab overharvesting, which have sharply reduced its population in recent decades.”
Since the 1980s, the knot’s population has fallen by about 75 percent in some key areas, largely due to declines in one of its primary food resources – horseshoe crab eggs in Delaware Bay, an important migratory stopover site. Although this threat is now being addressed by extensive state and federal management actions, other threats, including sea-level rise, some shoreline projects and coastal development, continue to shrink the shorebird’s wintering and migratory habitat.
Changing climate conditions are also altering the bird’s breeding habitat in the Arctic and affecting its food supply across its range, in particular through climate-driven mismatches in migration timing that affect the peak periods of food availability. The bird must arrive at Delaware Bay at exactly the time when horseshoe crabs are laying their eggs.
“Although historic threats in the Delaware Bay area have been ameliorated thanks to the actions of federal and state partners, our changing climate is posing new and complex challenges to the red knot’s habitat and food supply,” Ashe said. “It has never been more critical that we take positive action to save this bird.”
One of the longest distance migrants in the animal kingdom, some rufa red knots fly more than 18,000 miles each year between breeding grounds in the Canadian Arctic and wintering grounds along the Gulf Coast, southeast United States and South America. One bird, banded by biologists in 1995 in Argentina, has been nicknamed Moonbird because he has flown the equivalent
of a trip to the moon and at least halfway back in his 21 or more years of migrations.
Along its epic migration, the red knot, which can be identified by its
rufous breast, belly and flanks during breeding season, can be found across 27 countries and 40 U.S. states in flocks ranging from a few individuals to several thousand. Although rufa red knots mainly occur along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, small groups regularly use some interior areas of the United States during migration. The largest concentration of rufa red knots is found in May in Delaware Bay, where the birds stop to gorge themselves on the eggs of spawning horseshoe crabs; a spectacle drawing thousands of
birdwatchers to the area. In just a few days, the birds nearly double their weight to prepare for the final leg of their long journey to the Arctic.
International, state and local governments, the conservation community, beachgoers and land managers are helping ensure red knots have safe areas to winter, rest and feed during their long migrations. These partners help knots in a variety of ways, including managing the harvest of horseshoe crabs (which are caught for use as bait in conch and eel pots), managing disturbance in key habitats, improving management of hunting outside the United States, and collecting data to better understand these birds.
In making its decision, the Service analyzed the best available data in more than 1,700 scientific documents, and considered issues raised in more than 17,400 comments provided during 130 days of public comment periods and three public hearings. Protections under the ESA will take effect 30 days after publication in the *Federal Register*.
As required by the ESA, the Service is also reviewing the U.S. range of the rufa red knot to identify areas that are essential for its conservation, known as critical habitat. The Service expects to propose critical habitat for the rufa red knot for public review and comment in 2015 after completing the required review of economic considerations.
Visit http://www.fws.gov/northeast/redknot/ to read the final rule and
response to comments; view and download video, photos and maps; and explore more resources, such as an interactive timeline and infographic. The rule will be available at www.regulations.gov on December 11, 2014, under docket number FWS-R5-ES-2013-0097.
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